Generally speaking this is the UK* / NE** version however seeing as the WD is written centrally the content will be the same in the US*** and OZ****.

* United Kingdom / England / Dear Old Blighty
** Northern Europe = Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and other countries able to speak and understand English because they don't dub everything they come across
*** United States / America / Yankee Town / The Good Ol' South
**** Oceania = Australia, New Zealand and other prison colonies of semi-importance

+ + +

What does the cover promise?
Not a whole lot of new stuff really. Then again, December is traditionally not a release heavy month for GW. Anyway, the cover is a lovely rendition of the Fireloques of Ferlangen, by David Gallagher and had originally been featured in the Empire uniform and colour source book released earlier this year.

Other than that, we've got a massive multi-player War of the Ring battle report in store, a Vermin Lord masterclass, the WotR Blood and Sand campaign and the Fortress of Redemption.

Editorial?
Mark is doing a classic "I can't believe a year has already passed" speech paired with the promise of making the mag even better next year. Biggest promise appears to be more special articles, such as "Old War Stories", an irregular series I immensely enjoyed. Other than that, it's mostly hinting at new articles starting next month and nothing much else.

Monthly Releases
Fortress of Redemption, Space Marine megaforce, Ork megaforce, Empire Brigade, Orc & Goblin Brigade, Realm of Battle board extensions, coloured army cases and baby dragons for the Collectors Range. All of these can be found on the GW site.

News
Beastmen are confirmed for February, Chaos Rising is glimpsed at and Fantasy Flight Games' 3rd edition Fantasy Roleplay is previewed. Hints are also dropped at an upcoming December site uploads regarding snow, winter and other such white things.

Articles
Please note: I am skipping the War of the Ring sections for the sake of keeping my sanity and your attention.

A year in review a.k.a. about a dozen issues of misery. We're being treated to a very brief recap of the WD's of this year, with some of the issue highlights being shown. Nothing to see here, move along.

Old War Stories! Now this is something I enjoy reading about. Both chaps are sharing anecdotes again and telling you why running a campaign or two can be fun and what kind of impact it can have on your army. Also included are some very nice Empire conversions, some nice casualty rules for keeping things "real" when it comes to wiped out units and a glimpse at what might come, all thanks to running a campaign and letting your imagination run wild. A nice little addition is how to do a proper 40k campaign. It's pretty brief but the ideas given by incorporating Battlefleet Gothic with Planetary Empires and regular 40k . The article ends with a challenge to see who could set up the most exciting game. We're promised that we'll probably see ship to ship fighting amongst other things. Good show!

LOOK TO THE SKIES! Phil Kelly pens a lovely defender article for Planetstrike games. With basic tips on to best deploy your Bastions and what you should take to the field. As an added bonus he has also written a new Stratagem for EACH race out there, including both Inquisition armies. Some are drab, but others are tasty ("Promised Land" for the Imperial Guard) to the brilliant ("It's Raining Orks" for well, Orks).

Fortress of Redemption. Basically the rules are repeated again along with a small guideline on how to field it in regular games of 40k.

GAME-A-WEEK recounts Andy Hall's new year's resolution of playing at least one game per week and in doing so, sharpen up his commanding skills so that he could compete with the big boys again. All in all, a fun read that might inspire others to do the same.

A Tale of Four Gamers. Just a quick recap as to what they have been up to. The Marine player swoons over the Crimson Fists bits pack along with the purchase of two drop pods for Planet Strike. The Chaos player has built his own Red Corsairs bastion complete with battle cannon turret. The Eldar player has loaned his Eldar army to the games developers for playtesting, so instead he did a Chaos army for fantasy. Finally, the Ork player added a Fighta Bomma plus Zagstrukk and his Boyz.

No Jervis this month, instead we've got a serious case of Blanchitsu, where he once again in a very nice manner talks about how he feels about the hobby and how his art style has influenced others. Nice read.

Crimson Fists conversion pack highlight. Just some product demonstrations.

Modelling Workshop: Strongholds. Boring at first as it goes to look at the Fortress of Redemption, how to best build it and then paint it. More interesting is a quick (and sadly, too brief) guide on how to convert the Warhammer Fantasy buildings into a suitable Empire Coaching Inn.

Battlefield Challenges.. this time featuring the FORT. Basically in the centre of the board is a fortress or reinforced position held by a squad no stronger than fifteen. This squad is to hold the location until relief arrives. He who holds the location at the end of the game wins.

'Eavy Metal Masterclass: the classic Vermin Lord. A good tutorial as always, of the same high quality and taken all the time to show every step of every important bit. There's also an extensive guide on how to paint directional lighting.

NEXT MONTH
Tyranids, Skaven scenarios and some WotR crap regarding Harad and Rhûn.

Verdict?
Eh, it was okay. Not the finest, but it did the trick I guess. The painting masterclass is as topnotch as always and the Planetstrike article is a welcome addition. Same goes for John Blanche's article and the Old War Stories segment.

Not a must-have kind of issue, but it may amuse some still.