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An Introduction to Warhammer |
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Written by Earl Cadfael
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Thursday, 15 September 2005 |
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Page 1 of 6  Warhammer is a game of fantasy battles in which the
players paint large armies of model soldiers and then use them to play
out battles against each other. The player who inflicts the most
casualties is most often the winner. The game simulates movement,
combat, shooting and magic spells with a system of game turns, phases
and die rolls. There is plenty of opportunity for strategy, tactics and
luck. The game also opens the gates of a complete hobby where you will
want to collect and paint a lot of models. The game is produced by Games Workshop,
a British games company that also sells several other games (including
the similar Warhammer 40,000). Games Workshop also publishes a monthly
magazine called White Dwarf that has a lot of invalueable information
for any Warhammer player. Warhammer is currently in its 6th edition and
it is wise to check that any supplements or models bought are
compatible with these latest rules.
 GW History
In my collection I have an old Games
Workshop catalogue. It was probably published in 1981. It tells the
story of how GW was founded by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone in
1975. They started as importers of American games (among them Dungeons
& Dragons).
In 1977 the first
issue of White Dwarf was published and in 1979 GW obtained licenses to
print the Dungeons & Dragons and Traveller games. In 1980 GW
published their first games titled: Dr Who, Apocalypse, Valley of the
Four Winds and Warlock. In 1981 GW had 22 employees and two shops.
The
catalogue goes on to describe several games, among them the four above,
AD&D, Traveller, Runequest and several others from TSR, GDW,
Chaosium and other companies. One page is devoted to Citadel
miniatures.
Moving through my game collection I
find an old Monster Manual for the AD&D game. It was printed in
December 1978 and has soft covers. It is interesting to note that it
bears GW's logo right next to TSR's on page three. A small note says:
"Published in the UK under licence from TSR HOBBIES, INC".
My
collection of White Dwarf starts off with issue 24 (April/May 1981). It
has a lot of articles for D&D, including an adventure called "The
Lair of Maldred the Mighty". There is also a one page ad for Citadel
miniatures, but no mention of Warhammer.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 21 September 2005 )
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