White Dwarf #23 - Planetstrike

While we wait on Waaagh! Ghazghkull to be available for download, we'll take a quick look at this week's White Dwarf, introducing the first installment of the Sanctus Reach Campaign - Red Waaagh!, which includes rules for Planetary Assault campaigns and games.

In addition, there is a collectible version which includes a novella about the same story line. The collectors edition is only $15 more than the two books alone, so comparitively a good deal.

The campaign book itself contains rules for twelve missions and five formations from both sides of the conflict, at least some of which can be guessed from GW's preorder page.

This White Dwarf features an article by Jervis talking about planetstrike, revealing it's an 8 page portion in the back of Red Waaagh!.Some rules hinted at are that, when playing planetstrike scenarios, the defender sets up the board in its entirety, likely including several free fortifications.

The next article discusses setting up a campaign, including creating maps for the campaign.

This week's Paint Splatter article discusses and demonstrates how to use glazes, and some of what sets glazes apart from washes.

Next is an article about some Imperial Knights in particular.

In the Rules section are rules for The Steel Host formation, an Astra Militarum formation from Red Waaagh! The formation consists of a Tank Commander, 3 Leman Russ squadrons, and 1 Hydra. All vehicles from the formation within 12" of the Tank Commander (including the commander himself) gain the preferred enemy special rule.

It doesn't take much thought to see how incredibly strong this formation is. This would be a terrific allied formation for just about any Imperial Army, and could add some insane punch to an already strong Astra Militarum list. With 5-12 Leman Russes leading the way, what else do you need? Several Punishers re-rolling 1s to hit and to wound seems strong to me. The formation could also make a squadron of Vanquishers worthwhile, with preferred enemy making them almost as reliable as having BS4.

With more and more formations becoming available, I expect you will start to see quite a few, and this one definitely contends for a strong entry. Besides, for anyone tempted by IG tanks, this means you don't need a bunch of guardsmen to use them, just straight tanks.