White Dwarf 526 pairs Dawn of War IV with hobby extras

White Dwarf 526 gives painters more than 350 free Blood Ravens decals and a step-by-step guide to Gabriel Angelos’s chapter colours. If you paint Blood Ravens, build big Space Marine forces, or keep White Dwarf for the extra hobby inserts, this is the issue that earns desk space.

The biggest non-hobby pull is Dawn of War IV, and the magazine leans into it with an exclusive interview with Creative Director Jan Theysen. The game is the long-awaited fourth entry in the series after a nine-year gap, and it is being made by Deep Silver and KING Art Games for Steam in 2026. Its campaign returns to mass-battle, base-building roots and brings back the Blood Ravens, Orks, Necrons, and Adeptus Mechanicus, with the story co-written by Black Library author John French. That section is mainly for gamers and lore readers, but it gives the issue a sharper hook than a standard preview spread.

For painters, the better value sits in the Blood Ravens material. The transfer sheet is the kind of extra that actually gets used, especially if you have ever tried to make a force of tactical marines, veterans, or a named character like Gabriel Angelos look closer to the game art rather than a generic red chapter. The paint guide should be the more practical part, because the Blood Ravens scheme lives or dies on getting the red, edge highlights, and chapter markings clean enough to read at arm’s length on the table.

The issue’s other hobby standout is Mark Kilburn’s Genestealer Cults collection, described as an industrial collective built from a mix of Warhammer kits. That is the sort of feature worth opening for conversion ideas, not just army admiration, because it points straight at kitbashing and display work instead of pure lore. White Dwarf 526 also packs a battle report set outside Nan-Li in the eastern reaches of the World of Legend, using the new Warhammer: The Old World core set. That set has 54 miniatures, including 22 brand-new Warriors of Chaos and 32 Grand Cathay models, so the report doubles as the first real look at the new Warriors of Chaos kits in play.

Ciaphas Cain gets a smaller but useful nod as well, with background for readers who may have just seen his new miniature go on sale. Taken together, this is a Blood Ravens issue first, a Dawn of War IV tie-in second, and a decent collectible for anyone who wants a White Dwarf with tangible hobby payoff instead of just lore padding.