The End Is Nigh!
So it seems that White Dwarf, Games Workshops official monthly magazine is coming to a deathly demise. However from its ashes it seems a new lease of life is being pumped into Games Workshops monthly publication system.
Personally, I've got an emotional attachment to White Dwarf, it was my first avenue into the hobby. I remember my Mum buying me issue 238, with the words 'Mordheim' spread across the front and a little metal elf called 'Anur' stapled to the front - after reading this issue, I was hooked and I wanted to digest more GW goodness. To me, White Dwarf was an avenue into the wider hobby and back in those days when the internet had no prominence it was effectively the only way of discovering the game besides going into a store and having an intro game. I knew from that day on that this magazine was going to take me on a journey but I didn't expect it to take a hold as much as it did at the time... (I became a huge child nerd)
Inevitably all good things must come to an end, and as sad as that would be, they've only gone and replaced it with something new!
The Future Is Weekly
After that depressing 'Hoo Haa' it's time to give you the lowdown on what is changing, and the changes are so massive that it's going to shake up our preconceptions of GW releases and they way that they relate to 'us' as consumers. Games Workshop for as long as I can remember have always released miniatures and books to coincide with a White Dwarf release, in layman's terms, we get twelve releases every year rain or shine. Recently however the rate of releases has been increasing, and in some cases certain 'products' have actually been left out of their flagship magazine - especially digital editions of their products. Now this modern rate of releasing new products is now re-working the way GW publicize their miniatures.
Enter the White Dwarf Weekly, now off the bat, this seems to be a new magazine which is particularly focused on the new products for us hobbyists to consume. However instead of it being every month it's going to be every week, this will allow GW to focus their attention to releases on a smaller scale instead of having to spread all of their effort across a range of products. This will also open up an avenue for a higher release schedule as they'll be able to publicize and promote a larger quantity of miniatures and books and not have to worry about the 'Magazine' element. Suggesting that White Dwarf Weekly will more likely be a 'Catalogue' with other hard selling articles within. And this doesn't bother me, as undoubtedly it will bother some people, because if it's not claiming to be something it isn't then what is their to complain about?
What About Hobby Stuff Man?
Well, here's the thing, another new monthly magazine is going to be released called Warhammer Visions - now this is really exciting. I don't want to speculate on what it is going to contain, but from what I can determine it is going to be a hobby magazine, something which has been missing from the old White Dwarfs for sometime. I personally don't know what to expect but if it's all about the hobby and not about selling miniatures then I think it will do extremely well and truly bridge a gap between GW and it's fans. Imagine a magazine where Beastmen are pitched toe to toe with Skaven in a month where neither of them had been released, or perhaps a Beastmen article about raiding Empire caravans in the woods and playing games to recreate it! (I'm clutching at straws here but more Beastmen articles would go down a treat!) Although anything is possible, and this magazine really could be the new holy grail for the hobby and every other like minded individual who just wants to have fun with their miniatures, and it might even spur people on to collect new things, which in the end is what they want right?
Watch this space, I think it's a very exciting time to be interested in our hobby.
Edit:
Now officially sourced,
http://www.games-workshop.com/
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