129-594: Warmaster is a ruleset for tabletop wargames written by Rick Priestley , published by Specialist Games (a division of Games Workshop ), and set in the Warhammer Fantasy setting. It is different from Warhammer Fantasy Battles in both appearance and gameplay. It is intended for 10 –12 mm miniatures . Basic troops are based on stands, of which typically three make a unit. Generals, Heroes and Wizards are mounted individually or with their retinue . Gameplay focuses on command and control. While magic
258-474: A "balanced and fair" manner. Games may be played on any appropriate surface, although the standard is a 6 by 4 ft (1.8 by 1.2 m) tabletop decorated with model scenery in scale with the miniatures. Any individual miniature or group of similar miniatures in the game is called a "unit". The core game rules are supplied in a single book, with supplemental Warhammer Armies texts giving guidelines and background for army-specific rules. Movement of units about
387-432: A base to be stable and have naturally rectangular shapes; in such cases, the distances between units may be measured from the edge of the model itself. Some miniature wargames use the dimensions of the model to determine whether a target behind cover is within line-of-fire of an attacker. Most miniature wargames are turn-based. Players take turns to move their model warriors across the model battlefield and declare attacks on
516-411: A boxed game called Great Battles of Middle Earth: The Battle of Five Armies based on the battle from the book " The Hobbit ". The rules are heavily based on Warmaster, and it uses the same miniature scale. The boxed set contains rules, 10 mm plastic miniatures, and scenery (plastic hills, ruins and a cardboard river). Additional miniatures for this game were cast in white metal . While detailed in
645-476: A community that kept growing. Around the same time in the United Kingdom, Donald Featherstone began writing an influential series of books on wargaming, which represented the first mainstream published contribution to wargaming since Little Wars . Titles included : War Games (1962), Advanced Wargames , Solo Wargaming , Wargame Campaigns , Battles with Model Tanks , Skirmish Wargaming . Such
774-545: A complete boxed set game complete with plastic miniatures (Dwarfs and Goblins), The Battle for Skull Pass supplement book and a soft-cover rulebook that has less artwork and background material than the hardback version. The smaller rulebook from the boxed set was approximately half the size of the large book both in size of the cover and page count. The "Basic Rules" and "Advanced Rules" sections of both books were identical in text, layout, illustrations, credits, page numbering and ISBN . The two books had different front pieces and
903-399: A fair chance of winning. Miniature wargames are rarely set in urban environments. The first reason is that it is harder to reach models when there are many buildings in the way. Another reason is that the buildings may highlight the abstract scale at which the wargame operates. For instance, in the 28 mm wargame Bolt Action , a rifle's range is 24 inches, which is barely the length of
1032-408: A few houses at 28 mm scale. If placed in an urban environment, a rifleman would not be able to hit a target at the far end of a small street, which shatters the illusion of realism. The scale of a model vehicle can be expressed as a scale ratio. A scale ratio of 1:100 means that 1 cm represents 100 cm; at this scale, if a model car is 4.5 cm long, then it represents a real car that
1161-406: A fictional setting and may thus feature fictional or anachronistic armaments, but the setting should be similar enough to some real historical era of warfare so as to preserve a reasonable degree of realism. For instance, Warhammer Age of Sigmar is mostly based on medieval warfare, but includes supernatural elements such as wizards and dragons. The most popular historical settings are World War 2,
1290-760: A game determines the type of units used, with popular historical themes including WWII, the Napoleonic Wars, and the American Civil War, while Warhammer 40,000 is the leading fantasy setting. Models, historically made from lead or tin, are now typically made of plastic or resin, with larger companies favoring plastic for its mass-production advantages. While some companies sell pre-painted models, most require assembly and customization by players. In historical miniature wargames, generic models are used, but fantasy wargames, like Warhammer, feature proprietary models, making them more expensive. The community
1419-499: A general menace consisting of disparate factions, many of which are typically also at odds with each other. The Skaven exist in an "Under Empire" (an extensive network of tunnels beneath the planet's surface), while the war-loving Orcs and Goblins are nomadic (although they are most common in the Badlands, Southlands, and Dark Lands) and regularly amass large numbers and stage raids without warning. Similarly, Ogres are most common in
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#17327910859881548-668: A hat). Furthermore, the advertised scale of a model may not reflect its actual scale. In order to make their products stand out against their competitors, some manufacturers make their models a little oversized, e.g. a model from a certain manufacturer that is advertised as suitable for 28 mm wargames could actually be 30 mm tall in practice. This makes the model look more imposing, and allows for more detail. Manufacturers of generic wargaming models are generally obliged to build their models to some standard scale so as to ensure compatibility with third-party wargames. Manufacturers who make proprietary models designed exclusively for use in
1677-442: A little undersized compared the scale so as to make more room on the table for the warriors. Like wise model figures will often be oversize for the scale, for example many games use 25 mm figures appropriate to a 1:60 scale when the game is played at a larger scale such as 1:360. Most miniature wargames do not have a fixed time scale (i.e. how many seconds a turn represents). Most wargame rulebooks instead prefer to define how far
1806-461: A mass fantasy combat system, I would recommend Warhammer ; but if all you want is a fantasy role-playing game, it would perhaps be better to look elsewhere". In the May 1984 edition of Dragon (Issue 85), Katherine Kerr was not impressed, and called it "one of the most irritating new games I’ve ever read." She found the manuscript full of typographical errors, and "On top of it all, the authors have
1935-466: A miserable command of the English language. Their prose is even more awkward than the usual low level of gaming writing and is studded with grammatical errors." She found the game system divided between a good combat system and a poor roleplaying system, and called the effort "two separate games with a weak attempt to link them together. The first, a set of rules for tabletop battles with miniature figures,
2064-498: A model battlefield, with the primary appeal being recreational rather than functional. Miniature wargames are played on custom-made battlefields, often with modular terrain, and abstract scaling is used to adapt real-world ranges to the limitations of table space. The use of physical models to represent military units is in contrast to other tabletop wargames that use abstract pieces such as counters or blocks, or computer wargames which use virtual models. The primary benefit of using models
2193-549: A more widely varied army (including cavalry, Sword Masters, mage, and a general mounted on a griffon). Published in November 1981 for its second edition (1978 for the very first one), and written by Richard Halliwell and Rick Priestley , Reaper is considered the ancestor of Warhammer Fantasy Battle . Reaper is more a skirmish game for up to 30 miniatures rather than a large-scale wargame. The first edition, written by Bryan Ansell , Richard Halliwell and Rick Priestley
2322-544: A number of new rule clarifications and unit modifications. The campaign rules have been described as a good way of linking battles, but are not suitable for historical campaigns. A new supplement for a later period, Warmaster Medieval Armies was released in December 2008. This supplemental book contains 30 new army lists and a number of significant rule changes from the Fantasy and Ancients version. Knights are introduced as
2451-551: A period from early Biblical times to 1066. The rules are different from the original 'fantasy' version to better represent historical battles and units. Cavalry, for example, was made weaker in relation to infantry in favour of armies such as the Romans and the Norse. October 2006 saw the release of Warmaster Ancient Armies , which includes 20 new army lists (all of which are set prior to 1000 AD), along with rules for campaign play and
2580-477: A powerful unit shifting the game balance back towards cavalry, like in the original, Fantasy version. Special rules are provided for sieges, period equipment, and larger command elements called batailles. Warmaster works at a higher organisation level than Warhammer Fantasy to represent very large battles in the Warhammer world. The components of an army are divided into two basic types: units and characters. In
2709-500: A premium on sociability. (This has changed somewhat with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Wargamers (miniature and board) have become quite creative in devising ways to play games while maintaining social distancing.) Consequently, conventions and clubs are important to the wargaming community. Some conventions have become very large affairs, such as Gen-Con, Origins and Historical Miniatures Gaming Society 's Historicon , called
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#17327910859882838-424: A professional painter. Historical miniature wargames are typically designed to use generic models. It is generally not possible to copyright the look of a historical soldier. Anyone, for instance, may freely produce miniature models of Napoleonic infantrymen. A player of a Napoleonic-era wargame could thus obtain their models from any manufacturer who produces Napoleonic models at the requisite scale. Consequently, it
2967-411: A sample campaign "The Redwake River Valley". Very little world background is given at all and the race descriptions are kept to a minimum, and most of the background given is in describing the origins of magic items. Some notable differences to later editions are the inclusion of Night Elves (later Dark Elves ), the appearance of Red Goblins – and that Citadel Miniatures order codes are given. In
3096-712: A set of fantasy miniatures rules." The first edition was extended with Forces of Fantasy boxed set in 1984. The second edition of Warhammer was released in January of 1985. It split the rules into three rulebooks — Combat , Battle Magic and Battle Bestiary , with full-colour artwork by John Blanche . There were few substantive changes in rules, but major clarifications of the original rules were included. New rules included uses and effects of standards and musicians, flying, fortifications, fire, artillery, chariots, reserve units, specialist spellcasters, and poisons. This edition also further developed "The Known World", which
3225-425: A set of rules for individual characters under Chainmail , and entitled it Dungeons & Dragons . Further developments ensued, and the role-playing game hobby quickly became distinct from the wargaming hobby which preceded it. Although generally less popular than wargames set on land, naval wargaming nevertheless enjoys a degree of support around the world. Model ships have long been used for wargaming, but it
3354-493: A specific historical period or fictional genre. Rules also vary in the model scale they use: one infantry figure may represent one man, one squad, or much larger numbers of actual troops. Wargaming in general owes its origins to military simulations , most famously to the Prussian staff training system Kriegsspiel . Consequently, rules designers struggle with the perceived obligation to actually 'simulate' something, and with
3483-532: A specific wargame do not have this concern. For instance, Warhammer 40,000 officially does not have a scale. It doesn't need to conform to a standard scale, because Games Workshop is the exclusive manufacturer of official Warhammer 40,000 models, said models are intended exclusively for use in Warhammer 40,000 , and Games Workshop doesn't want players using foreign models from other manufacturers. Most miniature wargames do not have an absolute scale, i.e. where
3612-439: A spell. Shooting is not very deadly, but any hits scored may force an enemy unit to fall back and cost the player further command rolls to draw back into combat. Shooting is therefore primarily aimed at disrupting enemy formation and cohesion rather than destroy them. After the shooting phase follows the combat phase, all units involved in combat may roll a number of six-sided dice equivalent to their attack value. Units based along
3741-468: A terrific set of rules." Overall, Brown though this game "accomplishes handily what it sets out to do. [...] All the elements are there — monsters, magic, heroic characters — the works. I've never seen as complete a rules set as this one." He concluded, "Can I recommend buying it? Well, yes I can, since I have an interest in all types of gaming. If you’re a science-fiction gamer and that's it, Warhammer Fantasy Battle probably isn't for you. However, if you get
3870-692: A training tool in 1824. After Prussia defeated France in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, wargaming spread around the world and was played enthusiastically by both officers and civilians. In 1881, the Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson became the first documented person to use toy soldiers in a wargame, and thus he might be the inventor of miniature wargaming, although he never published his rules. According to an account by his stepson, they were very sophisticated and realistic, on par with German military wargames. Stevenson played his wargame on
3999-407: A two-foot long piece of string. Wells was also the first wargamer to use models of buildings, trees, and other terrain features to create a three-dimensional battlefield. Wells' rulebook was for a long time regarded as the standard system by which other miniature wargames were judged. However, the nascent miniature wargaming community would remain very small for a long time to come. A possible reason
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4128-445: A unit can move in a turn, and this movement range is proportioned to the size of a typical game table. For example, Bolt Action sets a movement range of six inches in a turn for most units. There are many miniature wargaming rules, not all of which are currently in print, including some which are available free on the internet; many gamers also write their own, creating so-called "house rules" or "club sets". Most rules are intended for
4257-450: A wizard picks his spells at the start of the game, must have the correct equipment (usually Amulets), and as he casts each one it depletes a store of 'constitution' points, until at zero points he could cast no more. Vol 3: Characters introduces 'personal characteristics' statistics, rules for roleplaying (including character advancement through experience points and statistic gains, random encounters, equipment costs, and alignment) and has
4386-409: Is 4.5 m long. When it comes to figurines of humans, the preferred method of expressing scale is the height of a figurine in millimeters. There is no standardized system of measuring figurine size in the wargaming hobby. Some manufacturers measure the height of a figurine up to the crown of the head, whereas others may measure it up to the eyes (the latter is more sensible if the figurine is wearing
4515-524: Is a smaller niche within the larger hobby of miniatures wargaming. Aerial combat has developed over a relatively short time compared with naval or land warfare. As such, air wargaming tends to break down into three broad periods: In addition there are science fiction and "alternative history" games such as Aeronefs and those in the Crimson Skies universe. Wargaming was invented in Prussia near
4644-646: Is an adaptation of The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game rules for naval conflicts. The game's mechanics centered around boarding parties, with options for ramming actions and siege engines . As such, the ship's scale ratio corresponds to the 25 mm scale miniatures used by The Lord of the Rings . Model ships are built by hobbyists, just as normal miniature terrain, such as " great ships " of Pelargir , cogs of Dol Amroth and Corsair galleys . Air wargaming, like naval wargaming,
4773-502: Is based on a combination of aspects of the Holy Roman Empire and Renaissance Germany, and Bretonnia , which is based on Arthurian legends and medieval France. Sigmar, founder of The Empire, wielded a mighty Dwarf-made Warhammer from which the name of the "Warhammer Fantasy" setting is derived. There are also numerous other nations which are fleshed out in the background information but are not represented by playable factions in
4902-411: Is dense and wordy. The wealth of diagrams is good, but their captions aren’t always clear. The abundance of photos, illustrations, and paintings is often visually stimulating, but many of these graphics are of marginal or negligible relevance to the accompanying text. The black-and-white photographic reproduction is surprisingly poor." He concluded with a strong recommendation: "The fantasy campaign setting
5031-412: Is destroyed or the attacker does not wish to pursue the enemy. Even before Warmaster Ancients were published, there had been attempts to use the fantasy rules for purely historical armies. However, they had significant drawbacks – cavalry under the fantasy rules were too powerful, skirmishers too weak and some historical troop types were not catered for at all. The gameplay for Warmaster Ancients follows
5160-407: Is difficult if not impossible for a historical wargame designer to oblige players to buy models from a certain manufacturer. By contrast, fantasy wargames feature fictional warriors, and fictional characters can be copyrighted. By incorporating original characters into their wargame, a wargame designer can oblige the player to purchase their models from a specific manufacturer who is licensed to produce
5289-579: Is immersion, though in certain wargames the size and shape of the models can have practical consequences on how the match plays out. Models' dimensions and positioning are crucial for measuring distances during gameplay. Issues concerning scale and accuracy compromise realism too much for most serious military applications. Miniature Wargames can be skirmish-level, where individual warriors are controlled, or tactical-level, where groups are commanded. Most wargames are turn-based, involving movement and combat resolved through arithmetic and dice rolls. The setting of
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5418-647: Is naval wargaming before the advent of computers. Historically, these models were commonly made of tin or lead, but nowadays they are usually made of polystyrene or resin. Plastic models are cheaper to mass-produce but require a larger investment because they require expensive steel molds. Lead and tin models, by contrast, can be cast in cheap rubber molds. Larger firms such as Games Workshop prefer to produce plastic models, whereas smaller firms with less money prefer metal models. Wargaming figurines often come with unrealistic body proportions. Their hands may be oversized, or their rifles excessively thick. One reason for this
5547-462: Is primarily an aesthetic one. Models offer a visually-pleasing way of identifying the units on the battlefield. In most miniature wargame systems, the model itself may be irrelevant as far as the rules are concerned; what really matters is the dimensions of the base that the model is mounted on. Distances between infantry units are measured from the base of the model. The exception to this trend may be models of vehicles such as tanks, which do not require
5676-406: Is relatively rare. Players more often prefer to design their own scenarios. The first advantage is that they can design a scenario that fits the resources they have at hand, whereas reconstructing a historical battle may require them to purchase additional models and rulebooks, and perhaps a larger game table. The second advantage is that a fictional scenario can be designed such that either player has
5805-527: Is set in a fictional universe notable for its "dark and gritty" background world, which features influences from Michael Moorcock 's Elric stories, and also many historical influences. The geography of the Warhammer world closely resembles that of Earth because of manipulation by an ancient spacefaring race known as the Old Ones. This mysterious and powerful race visited the Warhammer World in
5934-476: Is simply super. The series of revised editions, supplements, and magazine support articles indicates that Games Workshop is interested in and capable of catering to the gamer’s appetite for new features, refined editions, and elaborated fantasy campaign materials." The fourth and fifth editions of the game, released in October 1992 and October 1996, respectively, were similar to each other but quite different from
6063-415: Is social, with conventions and clubs playing a significant role. Painting and assembling models are integral aspects of the hobby. The hobby primarily attracts older enthusiasts due to the time, skill, and financial investment required. A miniature wargame is played with miniature models of soldiers, artillery, and vehicles on a model of a battlefield. The benefit of using models as opposed to abstract pieces
6192-425: Is strongest, but this could be almost anywhere. The 8th Edition Empire Army Book describes the Warhammer World to currently be in the year 2522 (Empire calendar), whilst the current Lizardmen Army Book puts the collapse of the warpgates at −5700 on the same calendar, thus the fictional history spans at least 8200 years. There are a number of playable armies for Warhammer , which are representative of one or other of
6321-446: Is to make the models more robust: thicker parts are less likely to bend or break. Another reason is that manufacturing methods often stipulate a minimum thickness for casting because molten plastic has difficulty flowing through thin channels in the mold. Finally, odd proportions may actually make the model look better for its size by accentuating certain features that the human eye focuses on. Wargaming models are often sold in parts. In
6450-561: Is used in the game, its effect on the game is limited. The game is designed to focus on the general's ability to command rather than just his army's ability to fight. In the Warhammer 40,000 universe, Epic fills much the same "large scale battle" role as Warmaster does in Warhammer Fantasy , though the two systems do not share rules, and Epic is intended for slightly smaller 6 mm miniatures. The original version,
6579-504: Is very good; the second, pieces of a fantasy role-playing game, is embarrassingly bad." In the same issue, Ken Rolston also reviewed Warhammer , and although he agreed that the rules were "hardly a model of English usage or proofreading," they were well-organised and readable. Rolston agreed with Kerr that the miniatures rules were the strong suit of the system, but he also admired the psychology rules that determined how classic fantasy racial types behave towards each other. However, he found
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#17327910859886708-634: The Games Workshop website, and were usable throughout the 6th and 7th editions. These rules have since been taken down, and they were unplayable in the 8th edition. Armies that were left unsupported prior to the 6th edition: Whilst armies would have a typical aesthetic some players would use a method of customisation known as converting, or 'kitbashing'. To convert a model, a player would take parts of other model kits and them it to make aesthetic/cosmetic changes to another model. A kitbash would typically have no effect on rules or gameplay. Throughout
6837-483: The Warhammer universe . Many of these novels are still in print under the Warhammer Chronicles imprint. Warhammer is a tabletop wargame where two or more players compete against each other with "armies" of 25 mm – 250 mm tall heroic miniatures. The rules of the game have been published in a series of books which describe how to move miniatures around the game surface and simulate combat in
6966-399: The "mother of all wargaming conventions". Players also tend to be middle-aged or older. One reason is that the hobby is expensive and needs higher disposable income that older people tend to have. Warhammer Fantasy Battle Warhammer (formerly Warhammer Fantasy Battle or just Warhammer Fantasy ) is a tabletop miniature wargame with a medieval fantasy theme. The game
7095-508: The 20 mm edge have a tremendous advantage against units based on the 40 mm edge, allowing them to pack all their attacks in a narrow frontage, with two units being able to combine their attacks onto a single enemy unit. Once two units have exchanged blows the number of hits are totalled. The loser with the lowest total hits is forced to fall back, while the winner has the option to stand, pursue or fall back. Fights may continue, even against multiple enemy units in succession, until one side
7224-526: The 40 mm edge, while cavalry, chariots, monsters and artillery are based along the 20 mm edge. Characters represent commanders such as generals, heroes and wizards and may be based as the player desires, generally on round diorama-sculpted coins or 40 or 20mm wide bases in order for them to be included directly in combat alongside the troops. Gameplay proceeds with the rolling of dice . Units in Warmaster must be activated and moved by rolling against
7353-482: The 7th edition (2006) was the first to be titled as a scenario ("The Battle for Skull Pass") instead of just Warhammer Fantasy Battle. For example, the High Elves have appeared in the 4th edition (1992) and the 8th edition (2010); while the 4th edition only contained Spearmen and Bowmen figures (essentially, just two types of figurines) plus cardboard cutouts for the general and a warmachine, the 8th edition contained
7482-709: The Bretonnian forces, which had been left out of the 4th edition, and re-worked the Slann heavily to create the Lizardmen armies. In 1997, the fifth edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battles won the Origins Award for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Miniatures Rules of 1996 . Chris McDonough reviewed Warhammer in White Wolf #34 (Jan./Feb., 1993), rating it a 3 out of 5 and stated that "Overall, flaws aside,
7611-726: The Colour Magic spells were in the rule book for players to use if they wanted. Several boxed campaign packs were produced, Tears of Isha for example, gave a campaign for High Elves and included a card "building" to assemble. Likewise, the Orc and Goblin themed campaign Idol of Gork included card idols of the Orc deities Gork and Mork . The others were Circle of Blood (Vampire Counts vs Bretonnians), Grudge of Drong (Dwarves vs High Elves) and Perilous Quest (Bretonnians vs Wood Elves). The fourth edition featured High Elves versus Goblins. The fifth edition, released in 1996, re-introduced
7740-487: The July 1983 edition of White Dwarf , (Issue 43), Joe Dever gave the system a positive review, saying, "If you regularly wargame with miniatures, or have been wondering what additional fun you could have from your rapidly growing collection of fantasy figures, then I recommend you check out Warhammer and let battle commence!" Chris Hunter reviewed Warhammer for Imagine magazine, and stated that "if you are looking for
7869-410: The Napoleonic Wars, and the American Civil War (in that order). The most popular fantasy setting is Warhammer 40,000 . Miniature wargames are played either at the skirmish level or the tactical level. At the skirmish level, the player controls the warriors individually, whereas in a tactical level game he or she controls groups of warriors—typically the model warriors are mounted in groups on
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#17327910859887998-737: The Ogre Kingdoms and in the eastern Mountains of Mourn, but are depicted as unscrupulous wandering warriors who are always hungry, and who sometimes hire themselves out as mercenaries to both the forces of order and disorder. In addition to the chaos-worshiping Warriors of Chaos who live in strange Chaos Wastes north of the other faction's lands, chaos cults often arise within human and elven nations. Beastmen are depicted as mutants dwelling deep in forests and impossible to fully eradicate. Vampires and necromancers raising armies of undead are also depicted often as an internal threat. Chaos Daemons are restricted to manifesting themselves where magical energy
8127-638: The Old Ones, nor were they part of their plan, and their origin is not made clear in the setting. Beastmen and Skaven were the result of mutation from raw magical energy at this time. Eventually the Chaos Daemons were driven back by Lizardmen and Elves, with the Elves performing a great ritual to drain out the raw magic that was flowing into the world and sustaining the Daemons. Some creatures, such as Dragons and Dragon-Ogres, are stated to have existed prior to
8256-455: The aesthetic and cause confusion. A miniature wargame is played on a model of a battlefield. The model battlefield is usually mounted on a table. As far as size goes, every part of the battlefield should be within arm's reach of the players; a width of four feet is recommended. Most miniature wargames are played on custom-made battlefields made using modular terrain models. Historical wargamers sometimes re-enact historical battles, but this
8385-785: The aesthetic and cause confusion. In 1987, Games Workshop released a science-fiction spinoff of Warhammer called Warhammer 40,000 . Like Warhammer , Warhammer 40,000 obliged players to buy proprietary models from Games Workshop. Warhammer 40,000 became even more successful than Warhammer . The success of the Warhammer games promoted the sales of Games Workshop's line of gaming models. Other game companies sought to emulate Games Workshop's business model. Examples include Mantic Games , Fantasy Flight Games , Privateer Press , and Warlord Games , all of which have released their own miniature wargame systems that were designed to promote sales of their respective lines of proprietary gaming models. This business model has proven lucrative, and thanks to
8514-411: The arrival of the Old Ones. After this, Elves and Dwarfs flourished and created mighty empires, but eventually they were set into a slow decline. A series of civil wars amongst the Elves split them into two groups – the malicious Dark Elves and righteous High Elves. A petty war between the High Elves and Dwarfs served only to diminish both races and caused the High Elves to abandon their colonies. Some of
8643-431: The battle, in which Stuart Asquith writes: When refighting a particular battle, it is important to adhere as closely as possible to the original historical engagement. The counter-argument is that the wargamer(s) know who is going to win. Fair comment, but knowing the outcome of any battle does not usually prevent one from reading about that action, so why should such knowledge debar a refight? He adds that unless at least
8772-422: The box set rule book, these extra miniatures were sold separately. They were discontinued shortly after being released. The box set remained in print for a longer while. It was removed before the launch of the 28 mm line based on the movie "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey". Also in 2005 Warhammer Historical published Warmaster Ancients , a modified version of the Fantasy rules suitable for battles covering
8901-504: The briefly published competing Fantasy Warlord . The third edition was expanded with the Realm of Chaos : tome one, Slaves To Darkness , followed by tome two, The Lost and the Damned ; and Warhammer Siege books. In Issue 37 of Challenge , Timothy B. Brown commented, "I admire miniatures use in role-playing games, and I feel Warhammer Fantasy Battle , though not futuristic, is
9030-423: The case of plastic models, they're often sold still affixed to their sprues . The player is expected to cut out the parts and glue them together. This is the norm because, depending on the design of the model, it may not be possible to mold it whole, and selling the parts un-assembled saves on labor costs. After assembling the model, the player should then paint it to make it more presentable and easier to identify on
9159-814: The center of production to this day, while other companies started in England and the United States. Rules can vary greatly between game systems; both in complexity and era. Historical rulesets range from the ancient and medieval ships to the fleets of the Age of Sail and the modern era . Often the hobbyists have to provide their own models of ships. The 1972 game, Don't Give Up The Ship! , called for pencil and paper, six-sided dice, rulers and protractors , and model ships, ideally of 1:1200 scale. The elaborate rules cover morale, sinking, fires, broken masts, and boarding . Dice determined wind speed and direction, and hence
9288-484: The chance to look through it, you might change your mind." In the February 1989 edition of Dragon (Issue 142), Ken Rolston gave the third edition high praise, saying, "If you’re serious about fantasy tabletop gaming, Warhammer Fantasy Battle (WFB) is probably your only choice. Rolston liked the "fast-paced" rules system and developed fantasy background, and his only reservations were about presentation: "The text
9417-637: The colonists refused to leave their homes in a magical sapient forest and over time developed into the enigmatic and isolationist Wood Elves. A period of seismic activity caused by the Slann decimated the underground holds of the Dwarfs, while attacks by Skaven and Goblins, who breached the Dwarf strongholds from below, only made things more desperate. The Humans were the slowest to develop, but ultimately formed several strong nations able to defend themselves from aggressors. The Nehekharan Empire (based on Ancient Egypt)
9546-406: The combat rules were designed to model the capabilities of the warriors in very great detail. Strictly speaking, Dungeons & Dragons did not require miniature models to play, but many players found that using miniature models made the fights easier to arbitrate and more immersive. In 1983, a British company called Games Workshop released a fantasy miniature wargame called Warhammer , which
9675-498: The command value of a character; units can be activated multiple times, though the roll becomes progressively more difficult. If a commander fails his activation roll, he can no longer command units in that turn. Units may be moved into contact with enemy troops and are considered charging. To enable commanders to move their armies around, units can be formed into brigades of up to four units. Once all units have been moved eligible units are allowed to shoot and wizards may attempt to cast
9804-600: The daemonic forces of Chaos to pour forth into the Warhammer world. At this point, the Old Ones disappeared. Before leaving, however, they had established the Lizard men (ruled over by the Slann) as their servants. In addition they had created the races of Elves, Dwarfs, Humans, Halflings and presumably the Ogres (who are assumed to be an unfinished attempt by the old ones to create the ultimate race). Orcs and Goblins were not created by
9933-493: The distant past. Establishing an outpost, they set about manipulating the geography and biosphere of the planet. With the assistance of their Slann servants, they moved the planet's orbit closer to its sun, and arranged the continents to their liking. To travel between worlds, the Old Ones used portals to another dimension ("warp gates"), which they built at the north and south poles of the Warhammer World. Eventually, however, these gates collapsed, allowing raw magical energy and
10062-603: The early 1970s. The first known occurrence, from 1970, is a set of rules by Len Patt published in The New England Wargames Association's bulletin, The Courier. In 1971 a set of medieval miniatures rules entitled Chainmail , published by a tiny company called Guidon Games , headquartered in Belfast, Maine included a fantasy supplement detailing rules for battle involving fantastic creatures. Later, in 1974, TSR designer E. Gary Gygax wrote
10191-411: The eight editions of the game, the core movement, combat and shooting systems remained generally unchanged, with only minor revisions between editions. The most significant changes which ensure incompatibility between editions have been made to the magic, army composition systems, and specialist troop types. The starter armies in the box sets have grown more detailed with each succeeding generation, and
10320-498: The end of the 18th century. The earliest wargames were based on chess; the pieces represented real military units (artillery, cavalry, etc.) and squares on the board were color-coded to represent different terrain types. Later wargames used realistic maps over which troop pieces could move in a free-form manner, and instead of chess-like sculpted pieces they used little rectangular blocks because they were played at smaller scales (e.g. 1:8000). The Prussian army formally adopted wargaming as
10449-401: The extent that a chess player would recognize wargaming merely as a different scaled version of his or her own game. During the 1960s and 1970s, two new trends in wargaming emerged: First were small-unit rules sets which allowed individual players to portray small units down to even a single figure. These rules expanded the abilities of the smaller units accordingly, to magnify their effect on
10578-417: The factions or races that are present in the Warhammer world setting. For the first few editions of the game armies were presented in collective books like Warhammer Armies . Starting in the 4th edition individual books were released for each army. In the 8th edition of the game, the following armies had individual army books: During the 6th edition, the following armies had official rules available from
10707-524: The fan-administered site Specialist Games. In mid-2006, a new online supplement was added to the Specialist Games website, known as Warmaster Armies . This supplement includes slightly revised lists for the six original armies (High Elves, Empire, Dwarfs, Chaos, Orcs and Goblins, and Tomb Kings of Khemri), alongside new lists for eight forces (Dark Elves, Skaven, Bretonnians, Lizardmen, Kislevites, Vampire Counts, Daemonic Hordes, and Araby). This
10836-552: The fantasy ruleset Warmaster , was first released in 2000. As with most of the "specialist" games products, the support strategy from Games Workshop has evolved over time. Once a part of the Specialist Games division, Warmaster was then directly supported by Games Workshop itself, albeit at a reduced level. In 2013 Games Workshop stopped producing the miniatures and started to remove them from their webstore as stocks ran out. A freely downloadable "Living Rulebook", along with supplements and archived magazine articles, are available through
10965-483: The figurines exhibited firearms). When two infantry units fought in close quarters, the units would suffer non-random losses determined by their relative sizes. Little Wars was designed for a large field of play, such as a lawn or the floor of a large room, because the toy soldiers available to Wells were too large for tabletop play. An infantryman could move up to one foot per turn, and a cavalryman could move up to two feet per turn. To measure these distances, players used
11094-442: The figurines, terrain, movement and firing ranges all conform to single scale ratio. This is largely because of the need to compress the battle into the confined space of a table surface. Instead, miniature wargames prefer to use abstract scaling . For example, a 28 mm model rifleman realistically ought to be able to hit a target from 20 feet away, but this is larger than most tables. A miniature wargame would not be much fun if
11223-450: The first printing and soft-cover after that. After the fifth edition, this edition put the emphasis back on troop movement and combat: heroes and wizards were still important but became incapable of winning games in their own right. There was also an all-new magic system based on dice rolling. The seventh edition rules were released on 9 September 2006. It was available in two forms: as a single hardback rulebook for established gamers and as
11352-443: The first two editions. However, by this stage the use of army lists was very much encouraged. Army lists for this edition were published in a separate book called Warhammer Armies in 1988; until then, use of the 2nd Edition's Ravening Hordes list was encouraged. This is partly because it was the last edition published before Games Workshop took a different commercial approach, leading to competition from former GW employees in
11481-633: The floor, on a map drawn with chalk. The English writer H. G. Wells developed his own codified rules for playing with toy soldiers, which he published in a book titled Little Wars (1913). This is widely remembered as the first rulebook for miniature wargaming. Little Wars had very simple rules to make it fun and accessible to anyone. Little Wars did not use dice or computation to resolve fights. For artillery attacks, players used spring-loaded toy cannons which fired little wooden cylinders to physically knock over enemy models. As for infantry and cavalry, they could only engage in hand-to-hand combat (even if
11610-472: The game "out of the box". The rules underwent a re-write compared to the 3rd Edition. A completely re-worked magic system was produced which was available as a boxed expansion set. Rather than selecting spells they were drawn at random and the magic phase was based on the play of these cards, making magic a bit like a game within a game. The magic system was further expanded by the Arcane Magic box set and
11739-475: The game table. Understandably, the time and skill involved in assembling and painting models deters many people from miniature wargaming. Some firms have tried to address this by selling pre-assembled and pre-painted models, but these are rare because, with current technologies, it is hard to mass-produce ready-to-play miniatures that are both cheap and match the beauty of hand-painted models. The other options for players are to buy finished models second-hand or hire
11868-423: The hobby in the late 1960s and into the 1970s. In 1956, Tony Bath published what was the first ruleset for a miniature wargame set in the medieval period. In 1971, Gary Gygax developed his own miniature wargame system for medieval warfare called Chainmail . Gygax later produced a supplement for Chainmail that added magic and fantasy creatures, making this the first fantasy miniature wargame. This supplement
11997-405: The initial moves are recreated, "then an interesting medieval battle may well take place, but it will not be a re-creation of Crécy." Still, rules aimed at the non-professional hobby market therefore inevitably contain abstractions. It is generally in the area of the abstraction liberties taken by the designers that the differences between rules can be found. Most follow tried and true conventions to
12126-456: The launch of Warmaster Podcast in 2016. With a growing FB community, YouTube videos and more tournaments globally, Warmaster is experiencing a renaissance with an expanding base of new converts and returning players. The new ruleset incorporates many of the 2009 supplement army lists but has a working committee that looks to refine the lists to make them balanced and playable as well as tweak current army lists. In 2005 Games Workshop released
12255-474: The magic element of the Chaos box set. The fourth edition was also the first edition to enforce the use of army lists in the form of separate Warhammer Army books for the separate racial groupings. These books prescribed for each army a limited number of unit choices; specifying limits on the number of points that could be spent on "characters", troops and monsters and so on. The books also included background on
12384-474: The marketing resources of these companies, sci-fi / fantasy wargames have displaced historical wargames in popularity. Players of miniature wargames tend to be more extroverted than players of board wargames and computer wargames. Players of miniature wargames are obliged to meet in person and play in the same room around a table, whereas board wargames can be played via correspondence and computer wargames can be played online; therefore miniature wargaming places
12513-663: The miniature wargaming hobby was to network players across America and the UK. At the time, the miniature wargaming community was minuscule, and players struggled to find each other. In 1956, Scruby organized the first miniature wargaming convention in America, which was attended by just fourteen people. From 1957 to 1962, he self-published the world's first miniature wargaming magazine, titled The War Game Digest , through which wargamers could publish their rules and share game reports. It had less than two hundred subscribers, but it did establish
12642-548: The models could shoot each other from opposite ends of the table, and thus not have to maneuver around the battlefield. The 28 mm wargame Bolt Action solves this problem by compressing the range of a rifle to just 24 inches; likewise, a sub-machine gun's range is 12 inches and a pistol's range is 6 inches. These ranges may not be realistic, but at least their proportions do make intuitive sense, giving an illusion of realism. Abstract scaling may also be applied to figures and terrain features, e.g. model houses and trees may be
12771-502: The models created for the Warhammer line in a new setting and game system. In 2024, Warhammer Fantasy was brought back in a reboot known as Warhammer The Old World , which brings a new version of the old rules and updated models. The Warhammer setting is inspired by the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien , Poul Anderson and Michael Moorcock . The fictional background for the game was developed in rulebooks, White Dwarf magazine , Inferno! magazine , and more than 150 novels set in
12900-525: The opponent. In most miniature wargames, the outcomes of fights between units are resolved through simple arithmetic, usually combined with dice rolls or playing cards. All historical wargames have a setting that is based on some historical era of warfare. The setting determines what kind of units the players can deploy in their match. For instance, a wargame set in the Napoleonic Wars should use models of Napoleonic-era soldiers, wielding muskets and cannons, and not spears or automatic rifles. A fantasy wargame has
13029-400: The original 10 mm Games Workshop-produced miniatures, figures are cast 6 men to a strip, though many gamers base their miniatures with other maker's figures to produce 4-12 figure-per-base bases in order to create a variety of mass effects. Standard bases for Warmaster Ancients are 40 mm x 20 mm elements. Units are normally made of three such elements each. Infantry are based along
13158-400: The original", although he noted that this edition had "not ironed out all the problems." Alcock especially disliked the mechanic of "throwing a bucket full of dice to cause casualties and then find that your opponent gets most of them back with a saving throw." However, despite these issues, Alcock concluded that " Warhammer does remain the only viable set of fantasy mass battle rules", and gave
13287-438: The overall battle. Second was an interest in fantasy miniatures wargaming. J.R.R. Tolkien 's novel The Hobbit and his epic cycle The Lord of the Rings were gaining strong interest in the United States, and as a result, rules were quickly developed to play medieval and Roman -era wargames, where these eras had previously been largely ignored in favor of Napoleonic and American Civil War gaming. The two converged in
13416-497: The particular army, illustrations and photographs showing models and have remained with the game though updated with the rules. The magic system was reworked and re-released in December 1996 as a single box covering the magic for all the armies. The magic was "toned down" (WD204) with spell casting limited to the players' own turn. The multiple card packs of the Colours of Magic system was replaced by 20 Battle Magic spell cards but
13545-548: The playing field and simulate a battle. The outcomes of fights between the models are determined by a combination of dice rolls and simple arithmetic. Though the gameplay is mostly based on medieval warfare, it incorporates fantasy elements such as wizards, dragons, and magical spells. Warhammer was the first commercial miniature wargame designed to use proprietary models. Prior to this, miniature wargames rulesets were designed to use generic models that could be bought from any manufacturer. The first edition rulebook for Warhammer
13674-525: The playing surface is generally measured in inches, and units' combat performance is dictated randomly by either the roll of a 6-sided die (a 'D6') or a 6-sided 'scatter' die. The latter is often used to generate direction, commonly alongside an 'artillery' die, for cannons , stone-throwers, and other artillery . Each unit and option within the game is assigned a point value for balancing purposes. A game will commonly have armies of 750 to 3,000 points, although smaller and larger values are possible. Warhammer
13803-463: The preceding 10 years. Since 2017 a revamped ruleset was released by the Warmaster community called Warmaster Revolution . Bringing together elements of Warmaster Ancients and some extra 'house rules', Warmaster Revolution has quickly established itself as the ruleset of choice for Warmaster players. Its release coincided with a marked upturn of interest with the game, due in no small part to
13932-549: The requisite models. An example of this is Warhammer 40,000 which features many original characters who have a distinctive aesthetic, and Games Workshop and its subsidiaries reserve the exclusive right to manufacture models of these characters. Games Workshop models tend to be expensive because competing manufacturers are not allowed to offer cheaper copies of official Warhammer 40,000 models. While there's nothing to stop players using foreign wargaming models (generics or proprietary models from other wargames), doing so could spoil
14061-526: The role-playing system to be "primitive". In the January–February 1985 edition of Space Gamer (Issue No. 72), Edwin J. Rotondaro also thought the system was divided between good miniatures rules and bad roleplaying rules. "Overall, I have to say that Warhammer is a good miniatures game, but a terrible roleplaying game. The system is flexible enough to be used as a mass combat module in most RPGs, but you have to decide whether it's worth [the price] for
14190-421: The rules are fun and it's a nice set for those looking to join the fantasy battle hobby. Unfortunately, because of the miniature choices and the lack of magic, it's not the 'everything in one box' game that I hoped it would be." The sixth edition, released in 2000, was also published as a box with soft-cover rulebook and miniatures (Orcs and Empire). The Rulebook was also available for separate sale, hard-cover in
14319-453: The same base. Miniature wargames are not played at the strategic or operational level because at that scale the models would become imperceptibly tiny. Miniature wargames are generally played for recreation, as the physical limitations of the medium prevents it from representing modern warfare accurately enough for use in military instruction and research (see the section below on abstract scaling for one reason). A historical exception to this
14448-413: The same basic procedure as Warmaster Fantasy, but differs in the following way: Quite a few rulesets have been written using the basic Warmaster mechanics. Miniature wargaming Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming in which military units are represented by miniature physical models on a model battlefield. Miniature wargames are played using model soldiers , vehicles, and artillery on
14577-440: The second edition an overall rating of 8 out of 10. The Third Edition of the game was published as a single hardback book in 1987. It had the most in-depth and complex movement and manoeuvre system of any edition. Other changes included a variety of new specialist troop types, rules for war machines and a more finely tuned system of representing heroes and wizards. It kept the same magic system and open-ended army design system as
14706-456: The seldom compatible necessity to make an enjoyable 'game'. Historical battles were seldom fair or even, and the potential detail that can be brought to bear to represent this in a set of rules always comes at the cost of pace of the game and enjoyment. In Osprey Publishing 's book about the Battle of Crécy , from its series on historical campaigns, there is included a detailed section on wargaming
14835-427: The setting with original characters with distinctive visual designs. Games Workshop's official line of models for Warhammer eventually took on such a distinctive look that rival manufacturers could not produce similar-looking models without risking a lawsuit over copyright infringement. Although there was nothing to stop players of Warhammer from using foreign models from third-party manufacturers, doing so could spoil
14964-403: The ship's speed and the use of its cannon by measuring angles with the protractor. In naval wargaming of the modern period, General Quarters , primarily (though not exclusively) using six-sided dice, has established itself as one of the leading sets of World War I and II era rules. Some land-based miniature wargames have also been adapted to naval wargaming. All at Sea , for example,
15093-403: The tabletop game, some of which are loosely based on real-world nations from various historical periods. These include the southern realms of Estalia and Tilea, representing medieval Spain and Renaissance Italy respectively, as well as the far eastern Empire of Grand Cathay, analogous to a fantastic version of Imperial China. The forces of disorder are often depicted as not a localised threat, but
15222-419: The third. The fifth edition in particular became known pejoratively as "Herohammer" because of the imbalance between the very powerful heroes, monsters and wizards in the game and blocks of troops which existed effectively as cannon fodder . Both editions of the game were sold as box sets containing not only the rulebooks and a variety of other play aids but also sufficient plastic miniatures to be able to play
15351-406: Was created by Bryan Ansell , Richard Halliwell , and Rick Priestley , and first published by the Games Workshop company in 1983. As in other miniature wargames, players use miniature models ( minis ) to represent warriors. The playing field is a model battlefield comprising models of buildings, trees, hills, and other terrain features. Players take turns moving their model warriors across
15480-410: Was followed in 2009 by a fan-based supplement release. This included a large number of alternative, trial or fan designed army lists. The Warmuster publication aimed to promote ongoing development of the game but has since been superseded and refined (see below for Warmaster Revolution ). In 2010 Warmaster 2nd Edition was released, which compiled and clarified the siege rules written for the game over
15609-495: Was geographically and socially based upon Earth. Paul Mason reviewed Warhammer II for Imagine magazine, and stated that "All in all, Warhammer is a much improved package, which covers the field of Fantasy Figures Wargaming with simple rules, and yet more comprehensively than virtually any other product." In the June 1985 edition of White Dwarf (Issue #66), Robert Alcock called the second edition "a predictable expansion of
15738-454: Was inspired by the growing popularity of The Lord of the Rings novels by J. R. R. Tolkien . Gygax later went on to develop the first tabletop role-playing game: Dungeons & Dragons . Dungeons & Dragons was a story-driven game, but adapted wargaming rules to model the fights players could get in. Battles in Dungeons and Dragons rarely featured more than a dozen combatants, so
15867-500: Was published in 1983 as Warhammer The Mass Combat Fantasy Role-Playing Game and consists of a boxed set of 3 black and white books illustrated by Tony Ackland: Vol 1: Tabletop Battles , which contains the core rules, turn sequence, creature lists, potion recipes and features an introductory battle 'The Ziggurat of Doom'. Vol 2: Magic which explains rules for wizards of 4 different levels and the higher order arch magi. Higher level wizards have access to more powerful spells. In this system,
15996-408: Was released in 1983, and the line was supported for thirty years by model releases, supplementary rulebooks, and new editions of the core rules. The eighth and final edition of the core rules was released on 10 July 2010. The game is no longer supported by Games Workshop, and the last supplementary rulebook was released in 2015. It was replaced later that year by Warhammer Age of Sigmar , which uses
16125-574: Was the first great Human empire, but due to a curse by Nagash (the first necromancer) they became an undead faction known as the "Tomb Kings" who now dwell in The Land of the Dead (former Nehekhara). Nagash, in his efforts to find eternal life, also created the first Vampires, an entirely separate undead faction. At the time of the setting's destruction (according to the setting's fictional timeline) there were two prominent Human nations: The Empire which
16254-528: Was the first miniature wargame designed to use proprietary models. Games Workshop at the time made miniature models for use in Dungeons & Dragons . Warhammer was meant to encourage customers to buy more of these models. Whereas miniature models were optional in Dungeons & Dragons , Warhammer mandated their use and the battles tended to be larger. Initially, Warhammer had a threadbare fictional setting and used generic stock characters common to fantasy fiction, but as time went on, Games Workshop expanded
16383-559: Was the introduction of elaborate rules in the early 20th century that made the hobby more popular. Small miniature ships, often in 1:1200 scale and 1:1250 scale , were maneuvered on large playing surfaces to recreate historical battles. Prior to World War II, firms such as Bassett-Lowke in England and the German company Wiking marketed these to the public. After World War II, several manufacturers started business in Germany, which remains
16512-428: Was the popularity of such titles that other authors were able to have published wargaming titles. This output of published wargaming titles from British authors coupled with the emergence at the same time of several manufacturers providing suitable wargame miniatures (e.g. Miniature Figurines, Hinchliffe, Peter Laing, Garrison, Airfix , Skytrex, Davco, Heroic & Ros) was responsible for the huge upsurge of popularity of
16641-482: Was the two World Wars, which de-glamorized war and caused shortages of tin and lead that made model soldiers expensive. Another reason may have been the lack of magazines or clubs dedicated to miniature wargames. Miniature wargaming was seen as a niche within the larger hobby of making and collecting model soldiers. In 1955, an American named Jack Scruby began making inexpensive miniature models for miniature wargames out of type metal . Scruby's major contribution to
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