New White Dwarf; Spanish Gameboard Marathon
September's edition of White Dwarf is here and for all of us that have ordered a copy of The Island of Blood it's not a moment to soon. The first 50 pages are focused entirely on the fantastic boxed game including an in-depth chat with the designers on how the models came together, and Jervis takes up the story of the battle for the Island of Blood, a piece of Warhammer background that you wont find anywhere else. If painting is your thing then the rest of the contents of this edition are a must have, every page seems to be bursting with tips for making your models look better, from painting dead flesh to rolling out some fantastic Imperial Guard tank markings. If you've been building up your Warhammer 40,000 Daemon army over the past month then don't miss out on this issue as it contains four new Daemon Apocalypse data sheets. Each one includes new special rules for helping you crush your foes.
Here are some of our favourite pages from this month's edition:
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Warhammer just gets bigger and better with every passing month and we loved the double page spread of the amazing board that depicts the Battle for the Island of Blood. The office is already talking about how we might fight a similar battle and with all the terrain building going on this week this article has some great tips to help you build that board you have always dreamed of starting.
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We were all really happy to see the return of 'Ask 'Eavy Metal'. Never before has an article contained so many individual painting tips, helping you to take your models to the next level. From painting power weapons to Gretchin skin this one has it all. We especially loved the final page on painting a free hand banner which you can see below.
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Christian Byrne is one of the great army painters of the Studio and if you are in the middle of painting a The Lord of the Rings force, then Christian's 'Army Masters' is a great read. Even if you don't play The Lord of the Rings then the 25 or so painting tips and guides in the article might just teach you something to use on your own models.
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Even with all the painting tips in the other articles the White Dwarf guys still managed to squeeze in a painting workshop article on Imperial Guard Tank markings. The article takes you through painting camouflage, company markings and personalisation. Each section also includes a host of alternate schemes. So if you are about to paint a tank or want to add more details to your existing ones then don't miss this edition of White Dwarf.
The September edition of White Dwarf is available to pick up in your local Hobby Centre from tomorrow and popping in is also a great excuse to find out what they have going on for the Island of Blood launch next weekend. If you can't make it to a store then you can order it below and we will ship it out first thing on Monday.
To round off our week of scenery here on games-workshop.com we thought we would hand you over to our friends in Games Workshop Spain. On Wednesday we heard rumours of two hundred metres worth of gaming board sections being painted for the Throne of Skulls tournaments. A quick phone call to Jon Hart in Spain confirmed this and he promised to take some pictures and tell the story for us. So I'll hand you over to Jon:
Jon: This years Throne of Skulls Tournament season is fast approaching and preparations are well underway across the world to make these events exciting and special for all those who take part. Today's blog comes from Spain where we have just completed the task of painting 60 Citadel Real of Battle Gameboards! With a few dedicated friends, some pizza, Citadel Scenery Painting Packs and a handful of trusty bath sponges we managed to get this mammoth task done in just one day. Here is how we did it.
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When we started to plan for this years Throne of Skulls tournament we took on board (no pun intended) the feedback we received from the people who took part in last years tournaments. One of the biggest pieces of feedback we received was that we could improve the tournament scenery and boards. So taking the feedback on board (honestly I don't mean to keep writing it) we rolled up our sleeves and prepared to get our hands dirty. Click on the image to see part of the huge pile of gaming tables we ordered in for the tournament.
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The tool of choice for our budding painters was the faithful bath sponge. Using the large pots of Calthan Brown found in the Citadel Scenery Painting Pack, diluted in a little water our team was able to paint all 360 sections brown before lunchtime. Click on the image to see the brown sponge technique in action.
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By lunchtime we had accumulated brown game board sections in every available flat space of our office, in the time it took the last ones to dry we ordered in enough pizza to feed our 20 or so volunteers. Click on the image to reveal the cheese based secret of our success.
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After giving our sponges a good rinse under the cold tap we were ready for the second phase of the operation. For this we divided into three teams, team one was charged with gently sponging Tausept Ochre highlights selectively over the established brown base coat. At the same time team two got on with the second highlight of Dheneb Stone, sponged onto the extreme edges of the detailed parts of the game boards.
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Team three had the important task of applying large quantities of flock to the, now highlighted, game board sections. A wide variety of techniques were developed by them to get the right consistency of flock onto the table. The PVA glue, again from the Citadel Scenery Painting Pack, was diluted with a little water and applied with the large brush from the same pack. The flock went on with a mixture of sprinkling, patting, squashing and bashing with a broom.
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As the day drew to a close, our team pushed even harder to finish off the last of the tables. In a final, herculean effort, including a trip to the local Hobby Centre to purchase more flock, we had achieved our goal. 60 Citadel plastic game boards painted in one day! The whole day was a really memorable occasion for Games Workshop Spain, it really was a great team effort from all involved.
If you want to find out more about your local Throne of Skulls tournaments then be sure to check out the Community and Events section of the website which you can access from the homepage.
Thanks Jon, whether you are painting a single Gameboard for yourself or a bunch for a local gaming club it just goes to show that simple and fast techniques really can give you a great finish.
Have a great weekend of terrain building. Here in the UK we have a national holiday on Monday so What's New Today will be back on Tuesday when we will round up the scenery week and show some of the pieces you have sent in to us.