In case you were wondering, some of the parts to make my groovy Rough Riders were sculpted by Rob at Curious Constructs.

Monday 25 March 2013

An old White Dwarf Praetorian Battle Report

(that my UK and US mates probably haven't seen before)
One thing that I really enjoy is old White Dwarf articles. I’m a sucker for the old models and as a gamer from way back I always enjoy reminiscing about a …. more complicated time. OK, the rules are way better now, but painting, terrain and other aspects of the hobby were far more basic back in the day.
Do you also enjoy 80s and 90 White Dwarfs? Did you lose/ sell/ destroy your old magazines? Or are you too lazy to go dig them out of the shed?  Well fear not my fellow commanders the good Colonel is here to take you back down memory lane! 

Welcome to Col. Ackland's Old Guard
- A new series where the old Colonel posts up his favourite White Dwarf articles from 'back in my day'.

For the first post in this short but happy series I chose the first Australian battle report to feature in a White Dwarf. Praetorians Vs Imperial Fists!
White Dwarf 232 from April 1999
(just in time for it's 14th birthday)

I love this article for several reasons. First off, it was Praetorians (nuff said - I'm a Praetorian nut!). Secondly, it was Australian -and this was at a time when warhammer in Oz wasn't the hype that it is now. You might say that we were just a small colony of the UK 40k Empire. And thirdly, it was 3rd edition 40k. Despite all its clumsiness, 3rd ed will always be special to me, mostly because I don't think that I will ever be able to play as much 40k as I did back then!

Although it's a straight forward write up the models are pretty groovy. Even when this article was written some of the models included were retro. Check out the MK1 Land Raider (later to be knows as the Proteus) and you have got to love that funky colour scheme on those tanks - white with black turrets -awesome! Finally, no top shelf battle comes without adding the players own house rules for some units. Check out the 'King Russ' and 'Crazy Joe'!

To repost this article I have cut up the section so they can be read by flicking from one picture to the next (or it might just be easier to view the whole article so I have posted those pics first).  I'm open to suggestions if this doesn't work.
As for copyright I don't have a clue if I'm allowed to do this but all I'm trying to do is share some old 40k loving of some way out of print articles. I have the full PDF scans of these so if you would like them shoot me an email (listed on my blogger profile page).  Be sure to drop me a comment if you like/hate the article or have thoughts on it.
Well, that's enough from me...
                                              as you were!







































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10 comments:

  1. Admiral Drax25 March 2013 at 11:03

    I love that Chris "couldn't resist the lure of the new plastic terminators" - priceless!

    ...and that tank scheme makes for surprisingly effective 'dazzle' camouflage too...

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    1. Col. Ackland25 March 2013 at 22:43

      Not that I have ever seen Dazzle on a tank, LOL.
      I totally love the way they talk about the space marine models being 'old school'- so what does that make them now? Ancient?
      Thanks for stopping by Admiral ;)

      Delete
  2. Koloth25 March 2013 at 22:10

    Thanks for putting this up. Good to see something from an Aussie WD. I loved 3rd ed too, and I always wondered about the rules for the King Russ.

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    1. Col. Ackland25 March 2013 at 22:58

      You're totally welcome!
      It wasn't all that common to have Australian/ New Zealand articles in our WD's back then. I believe they were mostly reproductions of the UK magazines with the advertisements swapped. Out of interest I might see if I can find out what the UK WD had in place of this article...
      Happy gaming Koloth!

      Delete
  3. Col. Ackland25 March 2013 at 23:10

    Out of interest, according to pdf’s on the net the US May 232 WD had the same articles as this one but a Battlefleet Gothic battle report in place of this article.

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  4. Colonel Winterborne26 March 2013 at 10:23

    Thanks for posting that, a very enjoyable read and certainly something I doubt many of us British gamers have ever seen before.
    I'm looking forward to your next post!

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  5. Nic E26 March 2013 at 22:22

    I dont remember this one I should still have the wd232 but its packed away some where ontop of a cupboard. I missed third ed just a little bit but w---er players spoiled it for me Im loving sixth and the new group of gamers I surround myself with.

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  6. ClauseIV191830 April 2013 at 05:14

    Have just started collecing Praetorians, so this Bat Rep was a nice distraction on the Tube home today. Many thanks for that!

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  7. Col. Ackland27 May 2013 at 14:10

    You are all very welcome. I hope I don't get hit by the GW legal team....

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  8. LW6 December 2013 at 19:22

    This was the first WD I ever read - standing around the Aberfoyle Park Newsagent on consecutive weekends.

    I always remembered that report for the Praetorians and the Yellow-yellow marines (I had no idea about chapters at that time).

    3rd ed was my introduction to this universe and it is my most played addition - with games every week with the guys at school. The game count definately dwindled off through 4th.

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