White Dwarf (magazine)
Cover of White Dwarf issue 1, June/July 1977
|
|
| Editor | Jes Bickham |
|---|---|
| Categories | Wargames |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| First issue | June/July 1977 |
| Company | Games Workshop |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Website | www.games-workshop.com |
| ISSN | 0265-8712 |
White Dwarf is a magazine published by British games manufacturer Games Workshop serving as a promotions and advertising platform for Games Workshop and Citadel Miniatures products.
On launch it initially covered a wide variety of fantasy and science-fiction role-playing games (RPGs) and board games, particularly the role playing games Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D), RuneQuest and Traveller (which were all published by other games companies), the magazine underwent a major change in style and content in the late 1980s and is now dedicated exclusively to the miniature wargames produced by Games Workshop, mainly the core systems of Warhammer Fantasy Battle, Warhammer 40,000 and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Strategy Battle Game.
Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone initially produced a newsletter called Owl and Weasel, which ran for twenty-five issues from February 1975 before it evolved into White Dwarf.
Originally scheduled for May/June 1977 but first published one month later on a bimonthly schedule with an initial (and speculative) print run of 4,000, White Dwarf continued the fantasy and science fiction role-playing and board-gaming theme developed in Owl and Weasel but, owing to the increase in available space, began to produce reviews, articles and scenarios to a greater depth than had previously been possible.
The magazine was hugely influential in the 1980s when it helped popularise role-playing games in the UK. This included material for the 'big three' role playing games of the time: AD&D, RuneQuest and Traveller. For a time White Dwarf also contained material for those American RPGs for which Games Workshop had the UK licence, competing directly with TSR's own UK publication, Imagine, and various other mainstream UK and imported fantasy and science-fiction gaming magazines.
...
Wikipedia