ISSUE 54
7 February 2015

Editor: Jes Bickham
jes@whitedwarf.co.uk

Publisher: Paul Lyons
paul@whitedwarf.co.uk

And so the Harlequins prove to be a full-on faction to be reckoned with on the battlefields of the 41st Millennium with the arrival of the Skyweavers – lightning-fast two-man jetbikes equipped with devastating weaponry. We’ve got all the info on this fantastic new kit, plus a painting guide and full rules, in this very issue of White Dwarf, along with a brand-new Harlequin-based scenario for your games of Warhammer 40,000. Phew!

Elsewhere, we also show you a slice of a simply incredible converted Ork army – if you like what you see here, you’ll find a massive 22 pages more of it in issue 14 of our sister publication Warhammer: Visions, where Waaagh! Git Stix is, quite fittingly, the Army of the Month.

We hope you enjoy the issue – come back next week for even more exciting features on the warriors of the Laughing God.

The Skyweavers are the most audacious of the Harlequins, daredevils who speed into war on the back of swift jetbikes. Passing through the enemy lines in a blur of motion, Skyweavers leave nothing but explosions and death in their wake.

Skyweavers are swift, lethal jetbikes that plunge into battle with guns blazing, the roaring of their engines rising like a crescendo as they weave through the fray. While the pilot steers the jetbike with incomparable grace, the Harlequin on the rear deals death with each swing of his bolas or thrust of his zephyrglaive.

The Skyweavers play a mysterious role in the plays of the Harlequins and a deadly one on the battlefield. The riders in the picture above represent the Skyborne Prince and the Great Falcon, the masks on the bikes themselves representing masculine and feminine aspects, Death and the Laughing God himself.

To the Harlequins, the Skyweavers represent part of the brood of the Cosmic Serpent from Eldar myth, a writhing mass of flying serpents that strikes down the Laughing God’s foes with their fiery bites. In battle this is exactly how the Skyweavers fight – shuriken cannons loosing a torrent of mono-molecular discs to scythe through armour and sever limbs. Enemies who cower within armoured vehicles are not safe either, for a Skyweaver can swap the customary shuriken cannons for haywire cannons when circumstances call for specialised wargear. Both the jetbikes in this multi-part plastic kit can be armed with either weapon, and both also have mirage launchers to confound the shots of their foes, underslung and mounted behind their main weapons.

There are plenty of aesthetic options for the two Skyweavers in this new plastic kit too. Each jetbike has a large mask set into its canopy, and there are four of these to choose from. The crew of the Skyweavers (two male and two female) also have lots of variety in their masks, with eight different designs, four of which match the masks set into the cowling of the jetbikes.

While the pilot – known as the Skyborne Prince – is hunched over his controls, his comrade, the Great Falcon, stands at the rear. A fearless hunter of the skies, the Great Falcon wields a star bolas with which he can ensnare and destroy his target, or a zephyrglaive to lop off heads as the Skyweaver passes. The kit contains two of each weapon meaning your riders can be equipped with either. Whichever you choose, the Great Falcons riding on the backs of the jetbikes look like daring heroes of myth, soaring into battle on powerful mythological steeds.

Above: The canopy of the Skyweaver jetbike can be decorated with any one of the four masks contained in the kit – each of these can be paired with a matching pilot’s mask found in the kit. Of course, if you prefer, the Skyweaver’s mask can be different from either of the crew – as if the Skyweaver itself was a player in the great displays put on by the Harlequins.

Above: From above you can see how the smooth lines of the Skyweaver’s canopy provides a fantastic canvas on which to paint not only the masque’s symbol (in this case, a diamond), but any other designs your heart desires.

Left: The rider on the back can be armed with either a zephyrglaive or the star bolas seen here.

Right - Top: The pilot, the Skyborne Prince, uses his targeting matrix to steer through the maelstrom of battle.

Right - Bottom: Harlequins decorate the cowling of their Skyweavers with the rune of their masque.

Left: The typical weapon of the Skyweaver is the shuriken cannon, a heavy weapon that spews out molecule-thick discs that can lop off limbs and heads with the ease of a dancer’s ribbon cutting through the air.

Right: Many Skyweaver jetbikes have their shuriken cannon swapped out for a haywire cannon, a complex anti-tank weapon that uses electromagnetic attacks

In appearance, the Harlequins inhabit a place somewhere between the Eldar of the Craftworlds and the Dark City – drawing upon elements of both without being definitively connected to either. The new Skyweaver models are a good place to see this connection illustrated – the jetbike draws on the design of both the Windrider and the Reaver jetbikes. The long, stretched cowling echoes the Craftworld Eldar, smooth lines uncannily (and deliberately) similar, and like the Craftworld Eldar, the Harlequins take great pride in embellishing this surface with the runes and heraldry of their masque.

Above: The Masque of the Soaring Spite ambush members of the Ultramarines Chapter and an Imperial Knight of House Terryn in the aftermath of a battle the Imperium had already thought won, and against another foe entirely…

The rear of the Skyweaver, however, draws heavily upon the design of the Reaver jetbikes. The pilot of the Skyweaver leans over his handlebars in a racing pose like that preferred by the Reaver gangs of Commorragh. This forward-leaning pose gives the pilot a clear view of the additional head-up display that emerges when the Skyweaver gets into combat, the eerie white mask set into to the canopy rising to provide extra targeting data. The back-swept stabiliser wings are also very much like those found on the Razorwing, complete with attitude vanes and the deadly-looking hook shape.

Even the armament beneath the Skyweaver nods to the Harlequins’ place between their kin. The standard weapon, the shuriken cannon, is a staple of the Craftworld warriors, who favour the deadly precision of the mono-molecular discs it fires and often mount them on their jetbikes and War Walkers. Conversely, the haywire cannon is clearly drawn from the same family of weapons as the haywire blaster carried into battle by the Dark Eldar Scourges and Talos Pain Engines, the distinctive pincer-like shape surrounding the muzzle giving them uniformity. The result of this coalescence of design enables the Harlequins to act as the bridge between both hosts in the case of a grand Eldar alliance.

By Dan Abnett & Karl Richardson
Hardback graphic novel | 96 pages

Back by popular demand, Lone Wolves pits the Space Wolves against the Great Devourer.

Lone Wolves is a Black Library classic, a graphic novel that tells the story of a pack of Space Wolves who come to the aid of the Imperial Guard. On the beleaguered world of Shadrac, a planet in the grip of a Tyranid invasion, all seems lost. That is, of course, until the noble sons of Fenris arrive with their own brand of heroism.

This is a thunderous tale, conveyed through the exceptional artwork of Karl Richardson and the words of Dan Abnett – the pace of the story barrels along with the enthusiasm of a Blood Claw, while the sensational artwork demands you come back to each frame and savour the details. First released as a collected story back in 2003, this is the sixth printing of the graphic novel! It’s simply that good.

Forge World make highly-detailed resin models, upgrade packs, large-scale kits and books for the worlds of Warhammer. This week we present an Imperial Fists Contemptor Dreadnought and the latest model in the Horus Heresy character series, Sevatar.

The Imperial Fists have always been heralded as the champions of the Emperor of Mankind, stalwart, golden warriors whose Primarch is renowned as the Emperor’s Praetorian. When the warning fires of the Horus Heresy were ignited, the Emperor summoned the Imperial Fists to him, the first and last line of defence against the Legions sworn to the cause of his traitor son.

The Imperial Fists Contemptor Dreadnought stands as a monument to the heroic nature of these Adeptus Astartes warriors, that even after death they willingly serve their Primarch. The sarcophagus proudly bears their Legion badge, a gauntleted fist symbolically clutching a laurel wreath in honour of their role as the Emperor’s champions. On the Contemptor’s shoulder guard are twin lightning bolts; the raptor symbol worn by veterans of the Terran Unification wars before the Great Crusade adorns his knee. Such distinctions mark the Dreadnought as a true hero of his Legion.

Left: The Imperial Fists Contemptor’s sarcophagus shows the traditional fist icon above a laurel wreath (signifying command) and the wings worn by loyalists.

Centre: Crossed swords were a popular army badge, worn, for instance, at the famous Battle of Phall.

Right: The Templar cross, a Legion honour marking.

Among the Legiones Astartes who turned against the Emperor, none were regarded with suspicion for as long as the Night Lords, whose methods could only be called barbaric at best (and at worst, downright murderous). Of that whole villainous band, Jago Sevatarion was regarded as first among equals. Sevatar, or simply ‘Sev’ as his closed inner circle called him, was the right hand of Konrad Curze, the Primarch of the Night Lords Legion and master of the Atramentar, the Legion’s famed Terminator elite.

During the early stages of the Horus Heresy, Sevatar distinguished himself among the ranks of the traitors, not only for his skill at arms but also his willingness to join the cause. Indeed, it was Sevatar who first uttered the words ‘Death to the False Emperor!’ – a warcry that would sound from the lips of renegades, traitors and heretics for 10,000 years. Even if his catalogue of butchery, battlefield slaughter and unforgivable murders were ignored, this one act would surely earn him a place of honour in the ranks of infamy.

As all Night Lords, Sevatar used terror as his weapon, and his armour is swathed in the flayed hides of his foes. Amid the gory accoutrements he wears hangs the broken wing from a Dark Angels’ helm, surely a trophy from his victory over Captain Alajos at Tsagualsa – a battle that almost saw the Dark Angels’ Primarch slain. Sevatar is armed, as always, with his Nostraman chainglaive, a deadly polearm that has claimed many lives, along with a dagger held tucked back by his vambrace.

Left: Sevatar comes with a choice of two heads: the power armour helmet shown opposite or his bare head. Sevatar is famously scarred, his face torn from a life of ceaseless violence.

Centre: Sevatar comes with an elaborate display base, depicting him poised for action at the top of a staircase, a recent victim sprawled at his feet – ‘Sev’ has killed a lot of enemies, and you could paint it in almost any livery you wish.

Right: As many of the Nightlords, Sevatar favours the Nostraman chainglaive as his weapon of choice.

Each month, White Dwarf’s sister magazine, Warhammer: Visions, features a new Army of the Month. This week, we thought we’d take a peek at a forthcoming collection and speak to the man behind it: we present Paul Evans and the Ork horde of Big Mek Git Stix.

Paul Evans is a hobbyist of many years, and the pride of his collection is a vast Ork horde based around a renegade Big Mek. A skilled painter, more than anything Paul loves converting, creating incredible models out of seemingly random parts. In fact, almost every model in his army is converted in some way, from the lowliest Ork Boy to the most monstrous of vehicles.

Paul’s Orks first took to the battlefield over 13 years ago and the army has grown steadily larger ever since to the point where it now dominates the majority of a gaming table (who needs deployment zones, eh?). What really sets it apart, however, are the conversions; it’s a veritable feast for the eyes. “I love converting,” explains Paul, “and Orks are the perfect army to create some really wacky models. I love the idea of a mad Mek welding together anything and everything he can get his hands on to come up with da perfect weapon or da best trukk. What I really like is the idea that nothing goes to waste in this army, that every battlefield is scoured clean, every city looted before Git Stix’s horde rumbles ever onwards.”

Paul has three goals when building new vehicles for in his army: “More guns, more speed and more armour. I imagine that Git Stix and his Mekboyz are constantly improving (in their eyes, at least) every vehicle, making it faster, more heavily-armoured or just strapping on new guns to give it more dakka.” Indeed, many of Paul’s vehicles are armed with more weapons than they can actually fire, but this hasn’t deterred Paul, who gave his Funda Ork Gunship – seen dominating the bottom half of the picture to the left – a grand total of 57 weapons (plus four or five things that could be weapons, but may just be decorative antennae). “It’s the Ork scavenging mentality,” explains Paul. “I save everything and find a use for it, just like an Ork. An armour plate or a spare gun barrel can always be welded to an Ork vehicle. On the Funda Ork they represent the deff arsenal, a weapon upgrade from Imperial Armour Volume Eight.”

BLUD FOR DA BLUD GOD!

When the new range of Technical paints came out, Paul was very keen (some would say overly so) to use them on his Orks. The paint that found its way onto almost every model in his army was Blood for the Blood God, which Paul has used to glorious effect on chainblades, power klaws and many a front bumper.

To get the splattered, random look of fresh impact damage, Paul loaded up a Large Drybrush with Blood for the Blood God and blew down an empty plastic pen tube through the bristles. The method is deadly accurate, but the result is intensely messy gore. The technique does require quite a bit of puff, though…

As you can tell from Paul’s models, he doesn’t limit himself to just using Ork kits. “With so many plastic kits out nowadays, there’s plenty of material for conversions,” laughs Paul. “I look at every new release, no matter what army it is, and ponder how I could turn it into something Orky. The concept is the easy bit, it’s getting the parts to fit together that’s difficult!”

Paul also has a distinctive painting style, a rough and ready look that suits the weld-it-don’t-paint-it attitude of his Meks. “I use Warplock Bronze, Leadbelcher and a wash of Typhus Corrosion for all the metalwork, followed by a grimy layer of watered-down Mournfang Brown in the recesses. I then use Runefang Steel and Necron Compound for the highlights.” When asked about the occasional patches of colour, Paul says, “I paint them on afterwards, then cover ’em in dirt and blood. It’s simple but effective.”

DA BITZ ROOM

Most people have a bitz box to keep spare parts in. Paul has a bitz room. Seemingly random parts, such as spare rocket components from the Manticore Rocket Launcher, leftover tank tracks and Helblaster Volley Gun barrels all go into the bitz room to be hoarded for eventual use on one of Git Stix’s future creations.

Paul’s army is led by the notorious Big Mek known as Git Stix (below), a renegade Mek who was once in the employ of a Bad Moon warband. His big break came when he was asked by the Warboss to build a massive cybork battlesuit – ‘no expense spared’ – a task that Git Stix undertook with no small amount of gusto.

The Warboss was on his way to collect the finished battlesuit when he had an unfortunate accident involving an airlock. Git Stix figured that it would be a shame to let his latest work of art go to waste, so he took the suit for safe keeping. He also encouraged da Bad Moon boyz to join him with a little persuasive stomping. Git Stix’s new incarnation, shown left, is comprised of so many parts it’s virtually impossible to name them all. The main features are the armour plates made out of Aegis Defence Lines, the klaw made from a Drop Pod’s fins and the cockpit, which was once a Tau Piranha. You can just see Git Stix peeking out from inside.

You can see more pictures of Paul’s incredible army in Warhammer: Visions 14, including plenty of close-ups of his Funda Ork Gunship.

With Harlequins dancing around the bunker this week, two of White Dwarf’s own Players donned their masks and domino suits, broke out the chequered paints and painted Troupes of their own.

The Masque of the Twisted Path are some of the most sinister of all Harlequins, luring friends and foes into the webway never to be seen again. They are also some of the most well-travelled of all Eldar and have been seen fighting alongside humans, Tau and even Orks, though to what end remains a mystery, for those that question their motives invariably disappear soon after.

The Twisted Path have a strange affinity with Craftworld Telennar and have often been seen performing there. Curiously, no one has ever disappeared from the Craftworld following a performance, though whether the inhabitants are cursed, blessed or simply not of interest to the Harlequins of the Twisted Path is unknown. Unsurprisingly, no one has stopped them to ask.

Players in the Masque of the Twisted Path wear a bright ensemble made up of reds, oranges and purples. Orange is the predominant colour on each model, with Wild Rider Red used as the basecoat and highlighted through Troll Slayer Orange, Fire Dragon Bright and finally Lugganath Orange. The purple areas were painted with Screamer Pink and washed with Nuln Oil to give them a deep, burgundy tone.

The weapons, wargear and armour are painted grey like the wraithbone of Craftworld Telennar. Dawnstone was used as the basecoat, followed by a layer of Administratum Grey and a careful wash of watered-down Sotek Green in the recesses. The masks were not washed, however, leaving them lighter than the rest of the model, serving as natural focal point of each miniature.

Left: The Troupe Master wears the Twilight rune of the heart upon his knee. The arcs on either side of the heart indicate his rank.

Right: The neuro disruptor is a strange, alien weapon. This one was painted the same way as the wraithbone parts of the model, but with Blue Horror as the final edge highlight and a layer of ’Ardcoat to make it shimmer in the light.

Left: The diamonds on the coats were marked out with a grid before each row was filled in with either orange or black.

Right: Each Player wears a pair of red streamers, a mark of their bloody reputation.

The Masque of the Winter Sun is one of the smallest Harlequin groups that guard the webway. While most Harlequin masques are willing to ignore the animosity between their divergent kin, the Winter Sun have not performed for, or fought with, the Dark Eldar for many millennia. Quite why is unclear, but their signature dance, the Broken Chalice, is a tale of treachery and hints at an ancient slight by their dark cousins.

The Masque of the Winter Sun were most recently seen alongside forces from Craftworld Mymeara and Craftworld Alaitoc fighting in the Maiden’s Veil, known to Imperial cartographers as the Karina Nebula. On Betalis III their holo-suits made them virtually invisible in the never-ending blizzards that dominate the Tormus Delta, enabling them to quickly bypass the Imperial defence lines. Only the intervention of Bran Redmaw’s Great Company saved the Imperial Guard stationed there from certain death.

The Masque of the Winter Sun are painted in a complementary colour scheme of blue and orange with details picked out in black and white. Each Harlequin’s armour was painted Temple Guard Blue to match the armour worn by the Eldar of Craftworld Mymeara, while their undersuits were painted white to continue the cold, wintery colour scheme. Rather than edge highlight or drybrush the white areas, they were instead dappled with tiny dots of White Scar over a Celestra Grey basecoat to give the impression of a shimmering white material.

In contrast, the jackets worn by the Winter Sun are bright orange, representing the sun in the winter sky. The jackets were painted with Doombull Brown, highlighted up to Troll Slayer Orange with a final sharp edge highlight of Lugganath Orange. The finishing touch was the streamers, one pink, the other green. They were painted in pastel tones to ensure they didn’t clash with or overwhelm the main colours.

THE RUNE OF UNSEEN MYSTERIES

Players of the Masque of the Winter Sun wear the Eldar rune of Unseen Mysteries, a combination of two Eldar runes. At the top can be seen the rune of enigmas, which is followed by the rune of the seer, its eye missing to signify the blindness of the ignorant.

Left: The Troupe Master bears a four-pointed star on his knee, indicating that his Troupe is the Dark Troupe of the masque. The masque’s symbol can be seen embroidered into the hem of his jacket.

Right: The Players of the Masque of the Winter Sun wear black diamonds on their holo-suits. Some feature them on white undersuits, others on orange jackets or boots.

Left: The Troupe wear noble masks, eschewing the use of those with skull-faces and daemonic aspects.

Right: Each player bears at least one green streamer and one pink one.

Sprues and Glue is our regular in-depth look at modelling Citadel miniatures. This week, we take a look at jetbikes. Or, more specifically, their flying stands, showing you how to model and paint them to match the rest of your army.

SKIMMING THE SURFACE

All skimmers and jetbikes (even some Warhammer creatures) come with a flying stand – a clear plastic stick attached to a plastic disc. While they can be left as clear plastic, it’s always a nice idea to paint the base to match the rest of your army (1).

The easiest way to do this is to leave the flying stem separate from the base, then model it as you would normally to match the rest of your collection, be it with sand and PVA glue (2) or Texture Paints (3). Just make sure you undercoat the base first so the Texture Paints can adhere to the smooth plastic. Once you’re done painting, apply a layer of Plastic Glue: Thick around the tab on the stem and glue it into place.

Top Tip: Any areas of clear plastic that show through once you’ve finished your base can easily be covered up with static grass or Mordheim Turf.

Of course, you might have stuck the flying stem to the base already. If this is the case, never fear. Take a small piece of masking tape and mask off the flying stem (4) before painting the base as you would normally. When you’re done, peel off the masking tape to reveal the clear plastic.

Here in the White Dwarf bunker, several of us simply undercoat the flying stem along with the rest of the model using Chaos Black spray (5). A neutral black stem is just as unobtrusive as a clear one – it’s all down to personal preference.

Because there’s no model standing on them, flying stands can sometimes look a little bare, making them the perfect candidates for extra details such as rubble or battlefield detritus. A couple of pieces from a Basing Kit or even some building off-cuts trimmed to size with a pair of Fine Detail Cutters (6) are the ideal way to add a few extra details. Simply glue the plastic bits to the clear base with Plastic Glue: Thick and resin components with Super Glue: Thick. Then finish the base as you would normally, with PVA glue and sand, or Texture Paints after undercoating.

If you’re feeling really adventurous, you could even add taller bits of rubble to the base (7) so the model looks like it’s swooping low over the rubble below. It’s a great way to make your jetbikes and low-flying creatures look as though they’re interacting with the battlefield terrain, flying dangerously close to it as they zip across the battlefield.

If you’re taking this approach, we advise building the model (in this example a Harlequin Skyweaver) first and test-fitting it to the empty, unadorned flying stand before applying any rubble. That way you can see how far the model can tilt over and still look natural while navigating the terrain around it. You wouldn’t want a tall piece of rubble modelled right in front of a jetbike’s vanes, for example, or in such a way that the jetbike can no longer be mounted on its stem. With the Harlequin Skyweaver it’s doubly important to make sure the position of the jetbike looks natural as there’s a second rider on the pillion. If the jetbike is canted over, the rider’s pose needs to reflect that. In this example (8), the jetbike is rolling to the left to avoid the terrain below it, sympathetic to the pose of the riders.

Remember, all these tips could also be used on stands for Flyers, too. You just might need a bit more rubble…

In this month’s Rules of Engagement we take a brief look at the idea of narrative missions and scenarios, and provide a great new example with a mission exclusive to White Dwarf (and perfectly suited to the new Harlequins, we might add): Unwelcome Visitors.

Rules of Engagement is a regular feature looking at the fine art of making gaming fun.

Regardless of victory or defeat, the real joy in playing our games comes from the war stories you generate on the tabletop – or in re-fighting great battles presented in the background of our army books, Codexes and other publications. There’s great pleasure to be had in recounting dramatic events from your games, and the mission presented in this issue’s Rules of Engagement is very much all about generating a brilliant narrative. For this reason, you should choose your army as if you were the director of a movie, or the author of a Black Library novel. Your aim should be to pick an army that is appropriate for the story the mission is telling. For the same reason, you should decide who will be the Intruder and who will be the Guardians based on the armies each player has and the models in them.

For example, if one player has a Harlequin army, then it will be ideal as the Intruder Force in this mission, and all the more so if it includes a Solitaire to be the Agent in the mission. On the other hand, a more traditional Eldar army is better suited to being the Guardian Force, especially (and rather appropriately) if it includes several units of Eldar Guardians.

A small force of intruders has managed to infiltrate an enemy base. One member of the force has penetrated deep into enemy territory in order to carry out a vital secret mission. That mission is complete, but the escaping agent is now being closely pursued by the guardians of the enemy base. Fortunately for the agent, his comrades are close at hand, and ready to help him make his escape.

THE ARMIES

Choose armies as described in the Fighting a Battle section of the Warhammer 40,000: The Rules. One army is the Intruder Force, and the other army is the Guardian Force. You can either agree who will take each role, or instead roll-off to see who picks which army is the Intruder Force and which army is the Guardian Force.

THE BATTLEFIELD

Use the Deployment Map included with this mission. Then, set up terrain as described in Warhammer 40,000: The Rules.

As you can see, the battlefield is divided into six equal sized areas numbered from 1 to 6. The thick black line between areas 1 and 6 and areas 2 and 5 represents an impenetrable barrier that cannot be moved or seen across during the game. In addition, models can only move and see into the area they are in, and the next higher or lower numbered area (e.g. a model in area 2 can see or move into areas 1, 2 and 3, and cannot see or move into areas 4 unless it first moves into area 3).

DEPLOYMENT

Players should first roll for Warlord Traits (page 124 of Warhammer 40,000: The Rules).

The player in command of the Intruder Force must then pick an infantry model from their army to be their infiltrating Agent. If the Agent is a model from a unit, then he is instead treated as being an independent character model during this game – he is operating on his own, away from his comrades. Note that the model must be an infantry model, so you can’t use models with jump packs or that are on bikes and so on. We’d recommend picking one of the more powerful character models from your army, but the choice is yours!

The Guardian Force is deployed first, anywhere in areas 3 and 4. There must be at least as many models in area 4 as there are in area 3.

The Agent is then deployed anywhere in area 1, and the rest of the Intruder force in area 6. The Agent cannot be placed in Reserves – he must be deployed on the battlefield – but other units from either side can be deployed in Reserves if desired. Intruder Force reserves that enter from their table edge must move into area 6.

FIRST TURN

The Intruder Force goes first unless the Guardian Force can Seize the Initiative (see Warhammer 40,000: The Rules).

GAME LENGTH

The mission continues until the Agent is removed as a casualty, or manages to reach area 6 (see the Victory Conditions below).

VICTORY CONDITIONS

The Guardian Force wins immediately if the Agent is slain. The Intruder Force wins immediately if the Agent starts an Intruder Force turn in area 6.

MISSION SPECIAL RULES

Night Fighting, Reserves.

Hitching a Lift: The Agent is allowed to grab a lift on any non-zooming vehicle or bike that he is within 1” of at the start of his Movement phase. Instead of moving the Agent normally, move the vehicle he is grabbing the lift from, and then place the Agent within 1” of the vehicle’s final location. The Agent can only grab a lift on one vehicle/bike per turn! Note that this rule doesn’t stop the Agent from boarding a transport vehicle using the normal rules.

Citadel Legends is a new feature looking at some of our favourite kits – not just for the amazing finished models they are, but for the fabulous kits from which they come. Our first Citadel Legend is the bellicose behemoth known as the Warhammer Giant.

Above: An Ogre Kingdoms Slave Giant goes toe-to-toe with a Giant fighting alongside the Orcs and Goblins.

The Warhammer Giant kit makes one of four different Giants, depending how you assemble it: the Ogre Kingdoms Slave Giant, Orc and Goblin Giant, Chaos Giant or Dogs of War Giant.

This towering brute, most commonly sighted marching alongside the ranks of the Orcs and Goblins, is a hugely popular kit. When first released in 2006 it didn’t just cause a stir with its fantastic design (and massive belly), but also with its frames, which are positively loaded with fantastic extras that can be used to add details to models and scenery throughout the Warhammer range.

For many, what makes the Giant so popular is that it can be built with several distinct looks right out of the box – there’s no need to ferret around for extras unless you really want to. Fancy a Slave Giant to accompany your Ogre Kingdoms army? Use the spiked collar. Want one for your Orcs and Goblins? Use the dragon jaw. Chaos Giant? Pick the horned head and cloven hooves – you get the idea.

On a sprue like this, the components usually face in different directions. The white boxes on the picture below show where we’ve flipped a component over to give you a better look atiit.

1-4 Giant body! How this slab-bellied beauty fits together in four parts is a revelation.

5 The running man. This fleeing peasant is a mainstay in dioramas and displays.

6 Squashed Goblin. The perfect addition to any big model’s base.

7 Loads of arrows. Glue them onto your model to make him a walking pin cushion.

8 The Giant even comes with a fully modelled base.

9-10 The beer barrel. Complete with rope for carrying.

11-12 Wooden cage. For storing prisoners, live food, heretics, etc.

13 The goat waterskin. It even has a cork in its mouth…

14 The man in the hand. We fear someone’s about to get their head bitten off…

15 How many Halflings can you fit in a bag? It looks like two or three good, juicy fat ones.

16 The dead cow. Perfect for a light snack or a ritual sacrifice.

17 The gibbet cage. Whether you’re hanging them by road signs to warn off criminals or bearing the bodies of heretics into battle as an Inquisitor, this is the strict disciplinarian’s must-have accessory.

18 The tongue. This tiny tongue fits into the Giant’s head, giving his gaping maw a wonderful 3D effect.

19-20 Ominous avians. This pair of crow and vulture are begging to serve as companions to Necromancers and anyone else fond of such carrion eaters.

21-26 Weird feet. The Giant has a choice of three pairs of feet, ranging from four-toed to cloven-hoofed.

27-32 Going clubbing. From a tree branch with a tombstone jammed through it (29) to a stone archway on a chain (32), the Giant has a number of ways to smash and bludgeon his victims.

Paint Splatter provides handy tips and stage-by-stage painting guides for the week’s key releases. This week we show you how to paint a Skyweaver from the Masque of the Midnight Sorrow.

WHAT ABOUT THE CREW?

The guide on these pages focuses on the Skyweaver jetbike itself, rather than the crew, who are simply members of the Masque of the Midnight Sorrow. Check back to last week’s White Dwarf for tips on painting them.

With the Skyweaver jetbikes, the focal point of the model is the jetbike’s canopy. It’s the perfect canvas for some elaborate freehand painting, especially if you fancy recreating the patterns such as the motley worn by the Harlequins themselves. For the Midnight Sorrow we went for a black and red chequerboard pattern – which might appear complicated but when you break it down into bite-sized stages, it really is quite straightforward.

As you can see under the steps listed for the engine canopy, you need to draw the chequer pattern out neatly first. If you aren’t confident doing it, there’s nothing wrong with experimenting on a different surface first either – try it out a few times on your palette to practise getting the spacing and pattern right.

The faded effect on the chequerboard is done by carefully highlighting with an emphasis on the left of the canopy, fading out to the right. Examine the pictures below to see what it looks like: essentially the first layer of highlights needs to go across two-thirds of the canopy from the left and then the second one will only go across about one-third. It’s another one of those techniques you will probably want to practice first. As for the orange pattern, this can be fairly random, especially if you want to help distinguish between the Skyweavers in your squadron.

SQUAD TAIL FINS

The Harlequin masques use the colour of their Skyweavers’ tail fins to mark one squadron from another – obviously you can do these in any colour you want. The example above uses a simple basecoat of Averland Sunset highlighted with Casandora Yellow and Dorn Yellow.

HEAD-UP DISPLAY

Painting the head-up display on the Skyweaver is simply a matter of painting an interesting pattern and then highlighting it. Using a Detail Brush, plot out your chosen design with Warpstone Glow before adding a second, finer layer of Moot Green with a Fine Detail Brush.

There’s no reason you can’t do different patterns from bike to bike, or add details like target blips if you feel like it.

Skyweavers are the lightning-fast death-bringers of the Harlequin masques, jetbikes piloted into battle with consummate skill and crewed by daring fighters. Here we present their rules, and tips on how to use them.

Skyweavers combine hard-hitting combat prowess with dazzling speed and heavy ranged weaponry to produce one of the most fearsome Fast Attack units you’re likely to lay your hands on.

With a standard armament of a shuriken cannon, you can rely on the Skyweaver jetbike to mow down medium infantry with relative ease (Fire Warriors, Orks and Tyranid Warriors all better look out), and even the best-protected warriors better watch themselves: if you get even a little lucky with your shooting attacks, you’ll get a few Bladestorm hits and kill some targets with no armour saves allowed. Not bad for the Skyweavers’ standard armament. If you want to equip your Skyweavers to take out vehicles, you can swap the main guns for haywire cannons, which are capable of bypassing any armour. A squadron of five or six Skyweavers can make short work of even the biggest tanks and walkers, as long as you can keep them safe from harm.

And that’s where their mirage launchers come in – although you can only use these once per game, they enable you to get a similar benefit to jinking, but still fire at full effect. That’s a big deal, and if you absolutely have to take out an enemy target, get into range, open fire and wait for the enemy to fire back before unleashing your mirage launchers – if you can weather the return fire, you’re in great shape to finish the kill in your next turn.

TACTICAL TEAMWORK

The Skyweavers work well alongside Harlequin Troupes, complementing the hard-hitting assault force with their heavier firepower and incredible speed. Use Skyweavers to soften up targets before charging your Troupes into the fray, or to take out threatening vehicles with their haywire cannons.

For especially hard-to-kill targets, don’t be afraid to gang up with both Harlequin Troupes and Skyweavers. The Hammer of Wrath hits you get when the Skyweavers charge into combat – combined with zephyrglaives, if you have them – are often enough to swing things in your favour.

UNLEASH THE TROUPE

Few units in Warhammer 40,000 come close to the fast-hitting power of a Harlequin Troupe. They combine the best in esoteric wargear with the individual close combat prowess of stone cold killers. Here are our top four suggestions for unleashing them to deadly effect:

The Path Less Travelled. Harlequins are not slowed, in the least, by difficult terrain, their flip belts ensuring they can bound and leap across anything in their path. As a result of this, you can plot your course into action regardless of obstacles.

Mask Yourselves. With the relatively fragile frames of the Eldar, Harlequins can’t really take a punch (much less a bolter shell). Avoid open spaces until you are ready to charge.

Choose Your Dance Partners. There isn’t much that a unit of Eldar Harlequins can’t overwhelm if they arrive in sufficient strength, so create fights that you have the advantage in. Either team up multiple units to tackle overwhelmingly large or durable foes, or leave those targets to someone else.

Choose Your Props Carefully. The Players in the Troupe have access to some amazing wargear, and to win fights you should take some (lots if possible). The Harlequin’s kiss and Harlequin’s caress will make short work of most targets (we recommend two of each). Likewise, consider taking some of the special pistols in your Troupe – neuro disruptors make a mockery of fleshy targets, while fusion pistols are the bane of tanks.

Heavily armed and incredibly fast, squads of Skyweavers outmanoeuvre their foes before cutting them to pieces with concentrated firepower. Their ripping streams of shuriken fire and crackling bolts of electromagnetic energy slaughter foot troops and reduce enemy tanks to sparking wrecks with equal ease. When they deign to close with the foe, Skyweavers are equally lethal, their players hurling star bolas or lashing out with zephyrglaives. The enemy can do little in return, for the jetbikes move faster than the eye can follow. Furthermore, they are wreathed in holographic fields and psychodisruptive mirages that confound sensors and tug at the sanity of those who dare to fight back.

WARGEAR:
Holo-suit
Star bolas
Mirage launchers
Skyweaver jetbike

SPECIAL RULES:
Fear
Furious Charge
Hit & Run

OPTIONS:
May include up to four additional Skyweavers
50 pts/model

Any model may replace their star bolas with a zephyrglaive
10 pts/model

Any model may replace their Skyweaver jetbike’s shuriken cannon with a haywire cannon
5 pts/model

HAYWIRE CANNON
This cannon cripples armoured targets with electromagnetic blasts.
Range - 24”
S - 4
AP - 4
Type - Heavy 1, Blast, Haywire

HOLO-SUIT
In battle, holo-suits transform Harlequins into dazzling blurs, their outlines exploding into blizzards of light that leave the foe’s aim confounded and their thoughts bewildered.

A holo-suit grants the wearer a 5+ invulnerable save.

MIRAGE LAUNCHERS
These pods launch holo-grenades that veil Harlequin vehicles from sight, surrounding them in a confusion of light and colour.

Once per game, instead of using its Jink special rule, a unit entirely composed of models with mirage launchers can trigger them when they are selected as the target of a shooting attack. If the unit triggers its mirage launchers, all models in the unit gain a 4+ invulnerable save against shooting attacks until the start of their next Movement phase.

SKYWEAVER JETBIKE
The jetbikes used by the Harlequins are swift, graceful mounts that enable their riders to soar across the battlefield.
A model riding a Skyweaver jetbike has a 4+ Armour Save and a shuriken cannon. Their unit type also changes to Eldar Jetbike.

SHURIKEN CANNON
Shuriken weapons fire lethally sharpened discs at high velocities, cutting their targets to pieces.

Range - 24”
S - 6
AP - 5
Type - Assault 3, Bladestorm

Bladestorm: When firing a weapon with this special rule, a To Wound roll of a 6 wounds automatically, regardless of the target’s Toughness, and is resolved at AP2.

STARBOLAS
Star bolas spin through the air before exploding furiously.

A Skyweaver can fire its star bolas in addition to its jetbike’s weapon.

Range - 12”
S - 6
AP - 2
Type - Assault 1, Blast, One use only

ZEPHYRGLAIVE
This blade is a perfectly balanced power weapon with great reach.

Range -
S - +1/User*
AP - 2/3*
Type - Melee

* Zephyrglaives have two profiles for both Strength and AP. The first is used only on a turn in which a model charges, the second is used at all other times.

Join us for a round-up of the week as we share comment, opinion and trivia on all the latest releases, plus other fun tidbits that have cropped up in the White Dwarf bunker. This week we look at Harlequin Skyweavers, some Giant components and a very fine Dwarf indeed.

SKYWEAVER SQUADRONS AND THE MASQUES

Harlequin masques are, by tradition, arranged in a way that pays homage to the ancient cadres of players worshipping Cegorach before the Fall. This gives them a degree of uniformity and means that each masque will normally boast two squadrons of Skyweavers (just as each Skyweaver also boasts two passengers). This is not a formal or absolute rule – indeed, there are many exceptions – but even so it is rare to see a Harlequin masque without at least one squadron of Skyweavers to perform in their dazzling portrayals of the mythic cycle, and many masques feature several.

Within the masque, each Skyweaver squadron will have its own distinct identity, marked out by the elaborate designs painted onto the engine cowling of their jetbike, along with the rune of their masque. The squadron members can be singled out through the markings worn on their shoulder armour and also by the colour of the patterns painted on the jetbike’s tail fins.

Of course, to the human eye, such details are often lost amid the swirl of dazzling colours, but to an Eldar’s preternatural senses they are clear as day.

THE SOARING SPITE

The Harlequin masque known as the Soaring Spite is renowned for its affiliation to the Eldar Craftworld Saim Hann and the intense spiritual bond they share. As such they frequently field far more Skyweaver squadrons than other masques. They are also renowned for their visits to Commorragh, where their Skyweavers engage in incredible aerobatic duels against the Reaver gangs in contests that shed no small amount of real blood.

In Sprues and Glue this week we looked at how to model flying stands, but the potential doesn’t end there. As the picture to the right shows, you could go the whole hog and remove the flying ‘stem’ altogether. This is an extension of some of the tips from Sprues and Glue – namely, the use of terrain elements on the base. The Tau Crisis Battlesuit shown here looks as though it’s leaping across ruins – lightly placing a foot down before springing off again using its jet pack for thrust – with the scenic elements supporting the model without the need for a flying stem. It takes a bit more effort to model the bases this way, but the results are impressive. You can do similar with most skimming models, and even with some that aren’t usually mounted on flying stands: imagine Space Marine Assault squads, Warp Talons or Dark Eldar Scourges leaping about, or what about a Talos Pain Engine drifting over the remains of its latest victim?

HEAD-UP DISPLAY

The Skyweaver’s engine canopy has a mask set into it, which actually conceals a complex holographic targeting system. When the Skyweavers are making their attack run, these masks will pop up and feed additional targeting information to the pilot as he dodges and weaves through incoming fire and delivers the killing bow upon the enemy.

From the modelling perspective, this means you can build your Skyweaver with the mask raised or lowered, whichever you prefer. If the mask is up, your Skyweaver is about to strike. If it’s lowered, it’s either cruising into battle or the pilot is simply showing off.

Notes from the worlds of Warhammer. This week: fast movers.

ORK BIKERS
Almost as famous for the noise they make as they roar across the battlefield as the carnage they leave in their wake, Ork Bikers are as obnoxious as they are deadly. Loaded up with two massive shootas fed by bulging ammo hoppers, the principle tactic of an Ork Biker mob is to howl across the battlefield with their guns blazing. If the high-calibre rounds happen to drop an enemy or two, so much the better, but the Orks riding these fuel-guzzling monstrosities are more than happy simply to ram their targets before setting about them with axes, wrenches and anything else to hand.

ROUGH RIDERS
The famous horsemen of Attila are notorious across the galaxy for their gallant cavalry charges against insurmountable odds. Unlike most fast attack units in the Dark Millennium, the Attilans ride thoroughbred horses rather than vehicles or war machines. Armed with high-explosive hunting lances, the Rough Riders can take down even Chaos Space Marines on the charge. With a bond between rider and beast that no mere machine can match, these expert cavalrymen remain relevant on hellish battlefields across the galaxy.

CORVEX
Said to be the last surviving jetbike in the armouries of the Dark Angels, Corvex is a relic that has been preserved for millennia. Not that its rarity means it’s hidden away – rather it’s ridden to war by the Grand Master of the Ravenwing. Armed with an underlsung plasma cannon and capable of incredible turns of speed, Corvex is perhaps the best-known and best-armed jetbike in the entire galaxy.

The White Dwarf team is a font of hobby knowledge, a metaphorical repository of useful facts. If you have a question about Warhammer 40,000 or Warhammer, need a bit of painting advice or you’re after a few tactical tips, drop us a line: team@whitedwarf.co.uk

LIVE FIRING EXERCISE?
Hello White Dwarf, when Space Marines train to use their bolters do they have a special shell, like a paint-marker round, or do they risk using real ones?
- Joseph ‘Live Fire’ Lenox

GROMBRINDAL SAYS
I have to imagine for most Space Marines the concept of firing bolter shells at each other is the kind of thing that gets them very anxious – cold sweats at night, phantom memories from the Horus Heresy, that kind of stuff.

What we do know for certain is that Space Marines train extensively, and with deadly force, against weaponised combat servitors (Black Library novels are full of examples of this, from the Heresy to the closing years of the 41st Millennium). With that in mind, it’s probably fair to say that they don’t actually shoot bolter shells at each other, and it doesn’t exactly seem like the Space Marine way to ever use less than lethal force.
- Grombrindal

This sturdy Dwarf Lord was sent in to us by Steve Garcia. It’s the first time he’s ever submitted something to White Dwarf, but not the last, we hope! Our favourite part of the paint job is the bright turquoise cloak, which he painted with a basecoat of Sotek Green and Sybarite Green mixed together, before shading it by adding Dark Reaper into the original mix for great results.

If you’ve painted a miniature that you think is worthy of a place in White Dwarf then why not send a picture to:
team@whitedwarf.co.uk

If it’s something we can use, we’ll be sure to get in touch.

One of the most instantly recognisable weapons in the Imperium, the Gauntlets of Ultramar were reclaimed by Roboute Guilliman from the body of a fallen foe and have been worn by his successors in the millennia since. Essentially power fists of incredible quality, they feature built-in storm bolters, making them formidable ranged weapons too. And yet, the best thing about these is their visual appeal. Who doesn’t want to see a Space Marine punching his enemy’s head off?

The Imperial Knight kit offers a choice of three face plates, and this is the most ominous. It marks out Knights of those houses aligned to the Adeptus Mechanicus and is deeply sinister

Painting the hair on the Skyweaver crew couldn’t be easier. Use Citadel Shades over a Ceramite White basecoat to provide striking colours, with darker tones in the recesses. If you want the colours to fade into one another, overlap the washes slightly when you apply them. Finally, if you fancy it, you can even highlight the individual strands. This is best done with a Fine Detail Brush and Citadel Edge paints to get the best results.

We took a look at the Warhammer Giant in our new Citadel Legends feature, but that’s not the only place you’ll find evidence of the big fella’s plastic wonder. Few (if any) kits are as routinely plundered as the Warhammer Giant. Keep your eyes out and you’ll see bits from the kit popping up in conversions and dioramas everywhere. The picture to the right shows a Golden Demon entry by the exceedingly talented Angelo Di Chello, with a cheeky crow showboating alongside the Dwarf lord (readers of Warhammer: Visions will recognise it from issue 12’s enormous Golden Demon gallery). The number of uses for bits from this kit is amazing.

We’re sure there are quite few more out there, so if you’ve got a favourite use of one of the bits from this (or any other!) kit, or if you’ve got a kit in mind that you think is worthy of Citadel Legends, why not write in and let us know? You can find the address in Ask Grombrindal, below.

The Crimson God is a C’tan Shard enslaved by the Novokh Dynasty millennia ago, and commanded by the Overlord known as the Crimson King. An unwilling vassal, the C’tan drifts ominously across the battlefield, meting out destruction with its incredible powers, but never quite in the way that the Necrons who have imprisoned him would wish for. Recent fighting in the Ultima Segmentum has seen the Crimson God distinguish itself against the Orkish hordes raging against the Novokh Dynasty, matching its divine powers against the wild and unpredictable might of the greenskins. More than once an Ork Warboss has been utterly erased from existence by Time’s Arrow, leaving the Orks confused, but not defeated, as the greenskins try to recall who it was they were following into battle.

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