White Dwarf (magazine)
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ISSN 0265-8712 | |
White Dwarf is a magazine published by British games manufacturer Games Workshop, which has long served as a promotions and advertising platform for Games Workshop and Citadel Miniatures products.
During the first ten years of its publication, it covered a wide variety of fantasy and science-fiction
History
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Originally scheduled for May/June 1977,[1] White Dwarf was first published one month later. According to Shannon Appelcline, "Issue #1 ... was a 20-page magazine printed on glossy stock with a two-color cover."[2] The magazine had a bimonthly schedule, with an initial (and speculative)[3] print run of 4,000. White Dwarf continued the fantasy and science fiction role-playing and board-gaming theme developed in Owl and Weasel. Due to the increase in available space, there was an opportunity to produce reviews, articles and scenarios to a greater depth than had been possible in Owl and Weasel.
During the early 1980s the magazine focused mainly on the "big three" role-playing games of the time: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, RuneQuest and Traveller.
In addition to this a generation of writers passed through its offices and onto other RPG projects in the next decade, such as
During this period the magazine included many features such as the satirical comic strip Thrud the Barbarian and Dave Langford's "Critical Mass" book review column, as well as a comical advertising series "The Androx Diaries", and always had cameos and full scenarios for a broad selection of the most popular games of the time, as well as a more rough and informal editorial style.
In the mid-late 1980s, however, there was a repositioning from being a general periodical covering all aspects and publishers within the hobby niche to a focus almost exclusively on Games Workshop's own products and publications. The last Dungeons & Dragons article appeared in issue 93, with the changeover being complete by issue #102. In this respect it took over some of the aspects of the
Grombrindal the White Dwarf is also a special character for the Warhammer
In December 2004, White Dwarf published its 300th issue in the United Kingdom and North America.
The monthly battle reports are a regular feature. Battle reports detail a battle between two or more forces, usually with their own specific victory conditions. The reports follow the gamers through their army selection, tactics and deployment, through the battle to their respective conclusions. The format varies, ranging from a simplified, generalized style to a more detailed and visual style.
The page count of the US and UK publications was substantially different (for example, bearing in mind the US/UK numbering difference: issue US #319, 156 pages; UK #320, 132 pages) with substantial differences in actual amount of content (for example in the same issues: US, 114 pages; UK, 71 pages) and each magazine had substantial overlap with the other as well as unique articles.[4]
2010s
In June 2010 Andrew Kenrick replaced Mark Latham as editor. Kenrick had previously been sub-editor, as well as sub-editing other Games Workshop material such as the most recent edition of
As of the October 2012 issue, White Dwarf was redesigned with a new nine-member production staff with Matthew Hutson, Kris Shield and Andrew Kenrick continuing from the previous version, and six new members, including Jes Bickham as the new editor. Bickham had previously edited the Battle Games in Middle-earth magazine.[5]
White Dwarf continued to be published on a monthly basis until issue #409, January 2014. On 1 February 2014, the magazine moved to a 32-page format, published weekly and renumbered from issue 1.[6] Warhammer Visions, a monthly sister title, was launched at the same time, in a format favouring the imagery over text. The weekly version of White Dwarf lasted for 131 issues and in September 2016 the magazine returned to its monthly format, also subsuming Warhammer Visions.
See also
Notes
- ^ The North American publication number is one less than the corresponding issue for the United Kingdom publication.
References
- ^ Livingstone, Ian (April 1977). "White Dwarf". Owl and Weasel (25). Games Workshop: 6.
- ISBN 978-1-61317-075-5.
- ^ "eidosinteractive.co.uk". Archived from the original on 15 September 2008. Retrieved 28 August 2008.
- ^ "Comparing White Dwarf US 319 and UK 320". Dakka Dakka. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
- ^ "What's New Today from the White Dwarf Team". Games Workshop. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
- ^ "White Dwarf magazine goes weekly!". Games-Workshop. 15 January 2014. Archived from the original on 10 March 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
Bibliography
- Haley, Guy (December 2004). "The History of White Dwarf". White Dwarf (300). Games Workshop: 6–11.
- [email protected]. "A Brief History of White Dwarf". Archived from the original on 30 April 2007. Retrieved 31 March 2007.
External links
- Index to White Dwarf — browsable index by topic, covers #1-100, The Best of White Dwarf Articles #1 to #3, and The Best of White Dwarf Scenarios #3