White Dwarf 360 December 2009 - Fortress of Redemption

Inside this month's issue...

New Releases - With Christmas there is the release of the usual bundles including the Space Marine and Ork Megaforces as well as the Army Figure Cases. The awesomesauce Fortress of Redemption was also released.

White Dwarf: A Year In Review - Andy Hall takes a quick look at the White Dwarf's from 2009. Over the next few months I will continue with White Dwarf Wednesday with the aim to have my complete collection 'archived' by 2012... just in time for the world to end. The range of plastic miniatures that came out in '09 was staggering with things like the Stompa, Shadowsword, plastic Steam Tank and the release of Codex: Space Wolves with all the plastic box sets... so much plastic crack.

Old War Stories - Dave Andrews and Jeremy Something take a look at running your own campaign. Alot of interesting little ideas... there is even a look at Battlefleet Gothic!

Look to the Skies: Planetstrike Tactica - The word tactic in the Design Studio generally doesn't mean the same thing as it does for competitive gamers... a linchpin is a weaknesses. There are new planetstrike stratagems with little bits of background. There is even something for Witch Hunters and Daemonhunters.

Fortress of Redemption - Rules so the Fortress can be used as a terrain piece in a 'regular' Warhammer 40K mission. These rules would be great for a campaign...

Andy Hall's Game-A-Week - "Throughout 2009 Andy has been on a quest to play at least one game every week, with the aim of becoming a better player among his hobby peers. Here he recounts a journey of highs, lows and bad dice." He works with miniatures for a living... how hard is it to get a game?

A Tale of Four Gamers: Revisited - Nothing overly exciting about this. Except for one line on the page for Pete Foley... he's loaned his Eldar to the games develops for playtesting... It may mean nothing. Or it means there will be another Xenos army released before 6th Edition.

Blood and Sand: Battle Report - A War of the Rings campaign made up of multiple players and spans 14 pages...

Standard Bearer Blanchitsu - "Jervis is off 'finding himself' this month (although we're not quite sure how he lost himself in the first place), and John Blanche has returned to the pages of White Dwarf to talk about two of his favourite aspects of the hobby - modelling and painting." I particularly enjoy looking at Mr Blanche's drawings and miniatures as they seem to resemble each other rather well and fit in with the grim, dark nature of the 40K universe. Although I much prefer Jes Goodwin's drawings and designer notes.

Crimson Fists - Lots of eye candy for someone who plays Black Templars. I have always liked the pose of the Sergeant on page 76 with the way he is holding his bolter.

Modelling Workshop: Strongholds - Takes a look at preparing, assembling and painting both the Fortress of Redemption and a scratch built Empire Coaching Inn.

The Fort - Jervis Johnson presents a battlefield challenge with a mission specifically designed for the two strongholds built in the Modelling Workshop... this ties in nicely with the campaign theme that Jeremy and Dave started.

'Eavy Metal Masterclass - It features the Vermin Lord with a great step by step tutorial on painting skin and warp stones. It also includes an indepth tutorial on directional lightening... but nothing you can't get off the interwebz with alittle searching.

Ask 'Eavy Metal - Joe Tomaszewski explains how he paints scrolls and parchment...

The rest of the issue is filled with the directory and other stuff. Overall a rather boring issue that could be read in a two or three hours and never feel the need to pick up again unless you wanted the mission...