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White Dwarf is a Magazine published by British Game s manufacturer Games Workshop . Initially dedicated to all kinds of Role-playing Game s, the magazine is now dedicated exclusively to the Wargame s produced by Games Workshop, mainly the core systems of Warhammer Fantasy Battle , Warhammer 40,000 and The Lord Of The Rings Strategy Battle Game . Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone initially produced a magazine called "Owl and Weasel" which ran for approximately twenty-five issues before being re-vamped into "''White Dwarf''". First published in 1977 and focused on Wargaming and role-playing, it received a strong boost when the first editions of the RPG Dungeons & Dragons , published in the UK by Games Workshop, referred to ''White Dwarf'' on its back page. This allowed people who had bought this game to order the magazine directly from Games Workshop, establishing its circulation. The magazine was hugely influential in the 1980s when it helped to popularise RPGs, including those American RPGs for which Games Workshop had the UK licence. In addition to this a generation of writers passed through its offices and onto other RPG projects in the next decade, such as Phil Masters and Marcus L. Rowland. Today the magazine focuses exclusively on miniature wargames and thoroughly covers the models, Miniatures and hobby stuff created by Games Workshop. It often includes articles on rules updates, scenarios, campaigns, hobby news, photos of recently released miniatures and tips on building terrain and constructing or converting miniatures. Grombrindal the White Dwarf is also a special character for the Dwarf Army , whose rules are published only in certain issues of ''White Dwarf'' (being revamped for the most recent edition of the rules). It is never stated who exactly the White Dwarf is, but it is implied that he is the spirit of '''Snorri Whitebeard''', the last king of the Dwarfs to receive respect from an Elf. The image of the White Dwarf has graced the covers of many issues of the magazine, and is regularly featured in the interior artwork as well. The image was also used on the Character Sheet for the Dwarf character in Hero Quest . ''WHITE DWARF'' TODAY Recently, ''White Dwarf'' published its 300th issue in the United Kingdom and North America. Each issue contained many special "freebies" as well as articles on the history of the magazine and the founding of Games Workshop. Fans of the role-playing-based older version of the magazine are often quite scathing and dismissive of its current incarnation, referring to it as a "miniatures catalogue" rather than an actual magazine. Among the old magazine's much-missed features are the satirical comic strip Thrud The Barbarian and Dave Langford's "Critical Mass" book review column, as well as the more rough and informal editorial style. Another Criticism is the price. Although GB£4.00 is a normal price for a magazine; many readers only play one of the three core games ( Warhammer , Warhammer 40,000 and The Lord Of The Rings SBG ) which are featured in the Magazine , which each share it, roughly equally, resulting in the typical reader getting a third of the magazine for the whole price. The Lord Of The Rings SBG section of recent White Dwarf issues has also been sharply criticised for the lack of content and ridiculously simple painting guides, and has been viewed as little better than a catalogue. However, now that the extremely popular Battle Games In Middle Earth magazine has finished its series, two members of its team (Mark Latham and Glenn More) have joined the White Dwarf team. As articles in Battle Games in Middle Earth outdo even Warhammer articles in White Dwarf, it is expected that White Dwarf's future articles will be improved to the BGiME "masterclass" standard, as Steve Hammatt (who is currently Forum Moderator for the Games Workshop forum ) said: "Hopefully this will mean good things for future LOTR content in White Dwarf." [http://www.angelfire.com/rings/firstwarofthering/BGIMEJoinsWD.html] SPINOFFS There is also a biweekly online supplemental e-zine '' Black Gobbo '' that is produced by Games Workshop's US studio. It includes two regular columns, "Rules of Engagement" and "Ask the Scenery Guy," to help answer gamers' questions. Similar to its printed counterpart, it is devoted to the games and hobbies created by GW. In the late 1980s, mail-order subscriber copies of White Dwarf also received a small companion magazine 'Black Sun', written, illustrated and produced by Tim Pollard (with occasional contributions from other GW authors such as Andy Chambers ). It contained very informal 'inside' information from the Citadel Mail Order Department, news, game reviews, articles and competitions as well as a short lived cartoon serial. Some new rules for then current GW products also debuted in 'Black Sun'. UK ''WHITE DWARF'' EDITORS
SOURCES ''White Dwarf 300'' - The History of White Dwarf SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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