White Dwarf (magazine)
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White Dwarf (German edition)
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| description | Tabletop magazine |
| publishing company | Games Workshop Germany GmbH |
| First edition | December 1994 |
| Frequency of publication | weekly |
| Sold edition | approx. 28,000 copies |
| (own information) | |
| Editor-in-chief | Mark Latham |
| Web link | games-workshop.de/home/whitedwarf |
The White Dwarf (dt. White dwarf ) is one of Games Workshop publicized magazine, which is to the fans of tabletop directed -Play. The magazine was founded in 1977 and initially appeared in English, but since 1994 also in German, here with a monthly circulation of around 25,000 copies. From January 2014 to August 2016, the White Dwarf was published weekly and was accompanied by the monthly magazine Warhammer Visions.
history
Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone , the founders of Games Workshop, produced the Owl and Weasel leaflet from February 1975 . After 25 issues, it became the White Dwarf .
The first edition of the magazine appeared in England in June 1977 with a circulation of 4,000 magazines. Back then, the magazine's focus was still on pen & paper role-playing games , such as Dungeons and Dragons , which was then licensed by Games Workshop . The presentation of the White Dwarf was still quite simple: the magazine initially consisted of only 32 pages and was completely black and white. According to Ian Livingstone , the name of the magazine was chosen deliberately as it can refer to both fantasy (see dwarfs ) and science fiction (see white dwarf ).
From issue 7 (June 1978) the White Dwarf appeared for the first time with multi-colored title pages, from issue 32 (August 1982) in monthly publication. Initially, the White Dwarf dealt with numerous role-playing games from various manufacturers. But over time, the magazine became the pure in-house magazine of Games Workshop and Citadel Miniatures , especially with the success of their own tabletop systems Warhammer Fantasy (from 1983) and Warhammer 40,000 (from 1987). For this reason, the magazine now calls itself the “Games Workshop Hobby Magazine”.
The first German-language edition of White Dwarf was published in December 1994 with a length of 64 pages. This German version, which initially appeared every two months, consisted only of translations of the English editions. The volume of the issue increased rapidly and from issue 14 the German version appeared monthly. In the course of time, the German version also had its own German editorial office based in Düsseldorf, which resulted in numerous own reports, including those relating to Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The 100th edition of the “German” White Dwarf finally appeared in April 2004. In the meantime, after 160 editions (April 2009), this edition again consists almost exclusively of translations from the English original. The own, German editorial part was largely given up again from 2006. The 200th edition was published in August 2012.
Content
It reports mainly on products and rule extensions for Warhammer Age of Sigmar, Warhammer 40,000 and the Lord of the Rings tabletop game . Ancillary systems such as Raumflotte Gothic , Gorkamorka , Mortheim or Bloodbowl are or have been given space. In addition, there are game reports, handicraft and painting instructions for miniatures or terrain. Another field is background information ( Warhammer Chronicles ) about the peoples of the game world and short stories. Most of the time, individual issues are devoted to a particular people or system and contain reports and articles with this focus. At irregular intervals, often at the start of a new edition or a new system, the magazine also comes with extras such as plastic or tin miniatures, cardboard buildings, stickers or posters.
The mail order pages, through which you can contact the “mail order trolls” in order to purchase models or individual parts, as well as dealer lists are also an integral part of the magazine. There is also an event calendar in every issue.
criticism
Games Workshop and the White Dwarf sometimes come under criticism due to the rigid policy of differentiation from other tabletop games . The publication only deals with products that are sold by Games Workshop or reports on current operations in this company. When reporting on trade fairs or exhibitions, only news about Games Workshop is mentioned. The magazine is also criticized for a change in style felt by many players and readers, which is less aimed at ambitious and loving reporting on the hobby, but rather at pure marketing and advertising.
The editor Martin Ellermeier writes in the irregular German tabletop magazine Tabletop Insider that at Games Workshop there is now “company politics and business, instead of hobby fascination”.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tabletop Insider , October / November 2009 (No. 2), page 18