Warhammer Fantasy Battle
Encyclopedia
Warhammer: The Game of Fantasy Battles (formerly Warhammer Fantasy Battle and often abbreviated to Warhammer, WFB or WHFB) is a tabletop wargame created by Games Workshop
. It is the origin of the Warhammer Fantasy setting
.
The game has been designed with regiments of fantasy miniature
s. It uses stock fantasy races such as human
s (The Empire
, Bretonnia
, Kislev
), Elves (Dark Elves
, High Elves, Wood Elves
), Dwarfs, Undead
, Orcs and Goblin
s, Vampire
s, as well as some more unusual types such as Lizardmen
, Skaven
and the daemonic forces of Chaos
. Each race has its own unique strengths and flaws; Wood Elves, for example, have the most powerful archer
s in the game but have poor overall defence and Bretonnia have the strongest cavalry
but weak infantry
.
Since first appearing in 1983, Warhammer has been periodically updated and re-released with changes to the gaming system and army lists. The current official version is the eighth edition, released on 10 July 2010.
Warhammer is a tabletop wargame where two or more players compete against each other with "armies" of 20 mm - 200 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 a balanced and fair manner. Games may be played on any appropriate surface, although the standard is a 6 ft by 4 ft tabletop decorated with model scenery in scale with the miniatures. Any individual or group of miniatures in the game is called a "unit", whether represented by a single model, or group of similar troops.
The current core game rules are supplied in a single book, with supplemental Warhammer Armies texts giving guidelines and background for army-specific rules. Movement about the playing surface is generally measured in inches and combat between troops or units given a random element with the use of six-sided dice. Army supplements also assign points values to each unit and option in the game, giving players the ability to play on even terms. An average game will have armies of 750 to 3,000 points, although smaller and larger values are quite possible. There are also different rules for movement, shooting, combat and so on, the action usually being dictated by the roll of a 6-sided die or a 'D6', or it can be a 6-sided 'scatter' die used to generate random directions, often used alongside an 'artillery
' die, used mainly for cannon
, stone-throwers, and unusual variant artillery.
. Warhammer is notable for its "dark and gritty" background world, which features a culture similar in appearance to Renaissance
Germany crossed with Tolkien's Middle-earth
.
The geography of the Warhammer world strongly resembles that of Earth. This is said to be due to the actions of an ancient spacefaring race known as the Old Ones. This mysterious and powerful race visited the Warhammer World in the distant past. Establishing an outpost, they set about manipulating the geography and biosphere
of the planet. Assisted by their Slann servants, they moved the planet's orbit closer to its sun, and arranged the continents to fit their standard geomantic
template.
The Old Ones were subsequently expelled from their colony when the polar warp gate that they had created collapsed and chaos gained entry to the world. Before leaving however, they had established the Lizardman empire, and had conducted numerous genetic experiments, which had led to the races of elves, dwarfs, men, ogres and halflings.
The men were the slowest to develop, but eventually formed several strong realms, able to resist both the forces of Chaos and the older powers. Chief amongst these are The Empire, Bretonnia
, and Cathay. Nehekhara, a former empire of men to the south of the Old World, has since become undead via a curse. Its long-dead armies now march to war under command of the Tomb Kings
..
The forces of evil are often depicted as not a localised threat, but a general menace. The Skaven
exist in an "Under Empire" in extensive tunnels beneath the other races, while the Orcs and Goblins
are nomadic, and regularly attack without warning. Chaos and the Undead also routinely infiltrate the other nations, especially the Empire.
The current Empire Army Book describes the Warhammer World to be in the Year of Our Lord Sigmar
2522 although this may differ between races. A timeline in the same army book placed the Sigmarite year zero at the ascension of Sigmar to the throne of the Empire.
. Starting in the 4th edition individual books were released for each army.
In the 8th edition of the game, the following armies have individual army books:
The following armies have had, during 6th edition, official rules available from the Games Workshop
website. All of these armies have since had those rules taken down and are no longer considered official armies. While still usable during 6th and 7th edition, the release of 8th edition has rendered these armies unplayable without an update. Whether or not any of these armies may come back with official rules and/or new models has not been announced:
Armies that were left unsupported prior to 6th edition::
While the eight main lores can be used by many armies of the Warhammer world many races have their own unique magical Lores.
have been made to the magic, army composition systems, and specialist troop types.
, Reaper is considered as the ancestor of Warhammer Fantasy Battle. Reaper is more a skirmish game for up to 30 miniatures rather than a large-scale wargame.
, Richard Halliwell and Rick Priestley
was published in 1983 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 and features an introductory battle 'The Ziggurat of Doom'. Vol 2: Magic which explains rules for wizards of 4 different levels. Higher level wizards have access to more powerful spells. In this system, 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 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 1984 the second edition was released, incorporating some of the Forces of Fantasy material, White Dwarf articles and Citadel Compendium material. Again a boxed-set of three black and white books (with colour covers). Combat explains the core rules and turn sequence, Battle Magic which largely retains the system as the 1st Edition, as well as adding specialities of Illusionists, Demonologists, Elementalists, and removing the requirements for Amulets. The centre pages are an introductory scenario "The Magnificent Sven" for which cardstock figures were also supplied in the box. The Battle Bestiary book features descriptions of the races, monsters and includes several example Army Lists and a Points System for players to develop their own open-ended armies.
Also in the Battle Bestiary is the first appearance of the Warhammer 'Known World' along with a map, and a timeline which includes the Slann
, Incursions of Chaos
, inter-elf wars and The Empire
. Minor rules modification included rationalising all statistics to use numbers, and increasing all creatures' Strength by +1.
Campaign packs produced were Terror of the Lichemaster, Bloodbath at Orcs' Drift (1985, referring to Rorke's Drift
) and Tragedy of McDeath (1986, referring to Macbeth
). The pack Blood on the Streets was card buildings for terrain.
In 1987 the 2nd edition rules were expanded with the Ravening Hordes army lists which provided a more 'realistic' method of forming armies along stricter racial lines.
The full boxset has a common value of around £100
es and wizards. It kept the same magic system and open-ended army design system as 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 Editions 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 the briefly published competing Fantasy Warlord
.
The third edition was expanded with the Realm of Chaos - Slaves To Darkness (tome one) followed by The Lost And The Damned (tome two) - and Warhammer Siege books.
. 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 the game "out of the box". The rules underwent a re-write compared to 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 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 amount of points that could be spent on "characters", troops and monsters and so on. The books also included background on the particular army, illustrations and photographs showing models and have remained with the game though updated with the rules. The fifth edition won the Origins Award
for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Miniatures Rules of 1996.
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 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, Grudge of Drong, Perilous Quest.
The fourth edition featured High Elves versus Goblins. The fifth edition, released in 1996, re-introduced the Bretonnian forces, which had been left out of the 4th edition, and re-worked the Slann heavily to create the Lizardmen
armies.
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 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 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 the larger rulebook has two extensive addition sections "The Warhammer World" (68 pages) and "The Warhammer Hobby" (56 pages) plus slightly expanded appendices.
The new starter set named Island of Blood contains facing armies of High Elves and Skaven. A condensed mini-rulebook, as well as 10 standard dice, one scatter and one artillery die, two 18 inch rulers, and three blast templates are included in the box.
On Friday the 23rd of July, Games Workshop began posting an "unboxed" series detailing the contents of the new game box called "A Blog of Two Gamers"
The first army to be introduced to 8th edition is Orcs and Goblins. They are one of the most popular Warhammer Fantasy armies, but their release in 8th edition was not totally expected, as a couple of armies are still in 6th edition.
Games based on the Warhammer setting, but not sharing the rules, include:
Games Workshop
Games Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...
. It is the origin of the Warhammer Fantasy setting
Warhammer Fantasy (setting)
Warhammer Fantasy is a fantasy setting, created by Games Workshop, which is used by many of the company's games. Some of the best-known games set in this world are: the table top wargame Warhammer Fantasy Battle, the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay pen-and-paper role-playing game, and the MMORPG...
.
The game has been designed with regiments of fantasy miniature
Figurine
A figurine is a statuette that represents a human, deity or animal. Figurines may be realistic or iconic, depending on the skill and intention of the creator. The earliest were made of stone or clay...
s. It uses stock fantasy races such as human
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
s (The Empire
The Empire (Warhammer)
In Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe, The Empire is one of the human political factions and armies, and is featured in many games and novels. In terms of location, language, culture, and society, it bears a strong resemblance to the Holy Roman Empire...
, Bretonnia
Bretonnia
In Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe, Bretonnia is a country located west of the Empire, between the Grey Mountains and the Great Ocean in the lands that were once part of the domain of the Elves...
, Kislev
Kislev (Warhammer)
In the Warhammer Fantasy setting, Kislev is the name of a Slavic/Kievan Rus'-themed fictional country that sits northeast of The Empire, between it and the Realm of Chaos. Between Kislev and Norsca lies Troll Country, while beyond that lie the magic-tainted Chaos Wastes...
), Elves (Dark Elves
Dark Elves (Warhammer)
In Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe, the Dark Elves are a race of harsh, warlike and vicious Elves. They are also known as the Druchii in most Warhammer fiction books. They cruel, sadistic raiders with much disdain for all other races, especially their lighter kindred the High...
, High Elves, Wood Elves
Wood Elves (Warhammer)
In Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe, the Wood Elves are a variety of Elves who live in an enchanted forest in eastern Bretonnia, referred to as "Athel Loren"....
), Dwarfs, Undead
Undead
Undead is a collective name for fictional, mythological, or legendary beings that are deceased and yet behave as if alive. Undead may be incorporeal, such as ghosts, or corporeal, such as vampires and zombies...
, Orcs and Goblin
Orc (Warhammer)
Orcs are one of the races in Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy universe, and are related to goblins. The brutish orcs, though less intelligent, tend to dominate the meeker goblins...
s, Vampire
Vampire Counts
Vampire Counts are one of the two factions of the Undead playable in the tabletop wargame Warhammer Fantasy Battle, the other being the Tomb Kings, from the sixth edition onward when Games Workshop divided the old Undead forces...
s, as well as some more unusual types such as Lizardmen
Lizardmen (Warhammer)
The Lizardmen are an army in Warhammer Fantasy Battle-Development history:In earlier versions of the setting there was a separate Slann army based in Lustria...
, Skaven
Skaven
Skaven are a race of man-sized anthropomorphic rat-creatures in Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy setting. They were officially introduced as a new Chaos race in 1986 by Jes Goodwin....
and the daemonic forces of Chaos
Chaos (Warhammer)
In Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 fictional universes, Chaos refers to the often stereotypically malevolent entities which live in a different timespace, known as the Warp in Warhammer 40,000 and as the Realm of Chaos in Warhammer Fantasy...
. Each race has its own unique strengths and flaws; Wood Elves, for example, have the most powerful archer
Archery
Archery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...
s in the game but have poor overall defence and Bretonnia have the strongest cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
but weak infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
.
Since first appearing in 1983, Warhammer has been periodically updated and re-released with changes to the gaming system and army lists. The current official version is the eighth edition, released on 10 July 2010.
Playing Warhammer
The current core game rules are supplied in a single book, with supplemental Warhammer Armies texts giving guidelines and background for army-specific rules. Movement about the playing surface is generally measured in inches and combat between troops or units given a random element with the use of six-sided dice. Army supplements also assign points values to each unit and option in the game, giving players the ability to play on even terms. An average game will have armies of 750 to 3,000 points, although smaller and larger values are quite possible. There are also different rules for movement, shooting, combat and so on, the action usually being dictated by the roll of a 6-sided die or a 'D6', or it can be a 6-sided 'scatter' die used to generate random directions, often used alongside an 'artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
' die, used mainly for cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
, stone-throwers, and unusual variant artillery.
The Warhammer world
Warhammer is just one of many games set in a fictional universeWarhammer Fantasy (setting)
Warhammer Fantasy is a fantasy setting, created by Games Workshop, which is used by many of the company's games. Some of the best-known games set in this world are: the table top wargame Warhammer Fantasy Battle, the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay pen-and-paper role-playing game, and the MMORPG...
. Warhammer is notable for its "dark and gritty" background world, which features a culture similar in appearance to Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
Germany crossed with Tolkien's Middle-earth
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the fictional setting of the majority of author J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place entirely in Middle-earth, as does much of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales....
.
The geography of the Warhammer world strongly resembles that of Earth. This is said to be due to the actions of an ancient spacefaring race known as the Old Ones. This mysterious and powerful race visited the Warhammer World in the distant past. Establishing an outpost, they set about manipulating the geography and biosphere
Biosphere
The biosphere is the global sum of all ecosystems. It can also be called the zone of life on Earth, a closed and self-regulating system...
of the planet. Assisted by their Slann servants, they moved the planet's orbit closer to its sun, and arranged the continents to fit their standard geomantic
Geomancy
Geomancy is a method of divination that interprets markings on the ground or the patterns formed by tossed handfuls of soil, rocks, or sand...
template.
The Old Ones were subsequently expelled from their colony when the polar warp gate that they had created collapsed and chaos gained entry to the world. Before leaving however, they had established the Lizardman empire, and had conducted numerous genetic experiments, which had led to the races of elves, dwarfs, men, ogres and halflings.
The men were the slowest to develop, but eventually formed several strong realms, able to resist both the forces of Chaos and the older powers. Chief amongst these are The Empire, Bretonnia
Bretonnia
In Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe, Bretonnia is a country located west of the Empire, between the Grey Mountains and the Great Ocean in the lands that were once part of the domain of the Elves...
, and Cathay. Nehekhara, a former empire of men to the south of the Old World, has since become undead via a curse. Its long-dead armies now march to war under command of the Tomb Kings
Tomb Kings
In Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe, Tomb Kings is the name given to a series of kingdoms, and an army in the Warhammer Fantasy Battle game. Up until and including the fifth edition of Warhammer, there was an all-inclusive Undead army, with the skeletons and mummies being the...
..
The forces of evil are often depicted as not a localised threat, but a general menace. The Skaven
Skaven
Skaven are a race of man-sized anthropomorphic rat-creatures in Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy setting. They were officially introduced as a new Chaos race in 1986 by Jes Goodwin....
exist in an "Under Empire" in extensive tunnels beneath the other races, while the Orcs and Goblins
Orcs and Goblins
Orcs & Goblins is a supplemental book for the Warhammer Fantasy Battle tabletop game. The phrase "orcs & goblins" also refers collectively to all of the races that are described in this book, which includes other "greenskins" as well. The book includes background information, illustrations, and...
are nomadic, and regularly attack without warning. Chaos and the Undead also routinely infiltrate the other nations, especially the Empire.
The current Empire Army Book describes the Warhammer World to be in the Year of Our Lord Sigmar
Sigmar
Sigmar Heldenhammer is a fictional deity in the Warhammer Fantasy setting. He is the patron deity of The Empire. Before he became a god, Sigmar was a man, albeit an exceptional, perhaps even superhuman one...
2522 although this may differ between races. A timeline in the same army book placed the Sigmarite year zero at the ascension of Sigmar to the throne of the Empire.
Armies
There are a number of playable armies for Warhammer, which are representative of one or other of 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 ArmiesWarhammer Armies
Warhammer Armies was a supplement published by Games Workshop in 1988 for the 3rd Edition of their Warhammer Fantasy Battle table top game....
. Starting in the 4th edition individual books were released for each army.
In the 8th edition of the game, the following armies have individual army books:
- BeastmenBeastmen (Warhammer)Beastmen in the fictional Warhammer Fantasy setting from Games Workshop are humanoid creatures with a variety of animal features, usually including cloven feet, horns, excessive body hair, and bestial faces. They are mutants formed from humans by the corrupting influences of Chaos such as warpstone...
- Bretonnia
- Daemons of Chaos
- Dark ElvesDark Elves (Warhammer)In Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe, the Dark Elves are a race of harsh, warlike and vicious Elves. They are also known as the Druchii in most Warhammer fiction books. They cruel, sadistic raiders with much disdain for all other races, especially their lighter kindred the High...
- Dwarfs
- The EmpireThe Empire (Warhammer)In Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe, The Empire is one of the human political factions and armies, and is featured in many games and novels. In terms of location, language, culture, and society, it bears a strong resemblance to the Holy Roman Empire...
- High Elves
- LizardmenLizardmen (Warhammer)The Lizardmen are an army in Warhammer Fantasy Battle-Development history:In earlier versions of the setting there was a separate Slann army based in Lustria...
- Ogre Kingdoms
- Orcs and Goblins
- Skaven
- Tomb Kings
- Vampire Counts
- Warriors of Chaos
- Wood ElvesWood Elves (Warhammer)In Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe, the Wood Elves are a variety of Elves who live in an enchanted forest in eastern Bretonnia, referred to as "Athel Loren"....
The following armies have had, during 6th edition, official rules available from the Games Workshop
Games Workshop
Games Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...
website. All of these armies have since had those rules taken down and are no longer considered official armies. While still usable during 6th and 7th edition, the release of 8th edition has rendered these armies unplayable without an update. Whether or not any of these armies may come back with official rules and/or new models has not been announced:
- Chaos DwarfsChaos DwarfsChaos Dwarfs are a fictional race in the Warhammer Fantasy universe in which they are described as being an off-shoot of the Dwarfs who have been corrupted by the forces of Chaos. They are represented within Warhammer Fantasy Battle, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Blood Bowl and other games produced...
(White Dwarf Presents Army Book was released during 4th Edition as a collection of White Dwarf Articles, but still considered official rules. An official Chaos Dwarf army list was included in Ravening Hordes at the start of 6th edition. The army list was included in the reference section of 7th edition, but has been removed from the 8th edition rulebook. This model line was discontinued at the end of 5th edition and is no longer supported by the main rules. Forge World is releasing new Chaos Dwarf models under their new Warhammer Forge line. Rules for Chaos Dwarfs are expected in their first Warhammer supplement.) - Dogs of WarDogs of War (Warhammer)In the fictional Warhammer Fantasy setting and Warhammer Fantasy Battle tabletop wargame, Dogs of War is a collective term for various mercenary groups...
(Official Army Book was released during 5th Edition, Regiments of Renown and Mercenary Army lists for 6th edition were released on the website. Some of this line remains available from direct order and is the only discontinued army for which you can still buy models from Games WorkshopGames WorkshopGames Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...
directly.) - KislevKislev (Warhammer)In the Warhammer Fantasy setting, Kislev is the name of a Slavic/Kievan Rus'-themed fictional country that sits northeast of The Empire, between it and the Realm of Chaos. Between Kislev and Norsca lies Troll Country, while beyond that lie the magic-tainted Chaos Wastes...
(Army book was given away free with White DwarfWhite Dwarf (magazine)White Dwarf is a magazine published by British games manufacturer Games Workshop. Initially covering a wide variety of fantasy and science-fiction role-playing and board games, particularly the role playing games Dungeons & Dragons, RuneQuest and Traveller...
magazine during 6th edition. This model line has since been discontinued and is no longer supported.)
Armies that were left unsupported prior to 6th edition::
- FimirFimirFimir are a fantasy race created by Graeme Davis and Jes Goodwin at the end of the 1980s for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and the 3rd edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battle .-Fictional ecology:...
- Slaan
- ZoatZoatThe Zoats are a race of centaur-like lizard creatures that appear in Games Workshops Warhammer Fantasy. Zoats were also present in the earliest editions of Warhammer's companion Warhammer 40,000 science-fiction setting, but have since been written out of the background.Zoats are large, strange,...
Magical Lores in the Warhammer World
The eight main Lores of the warhammer world are used by multiple armies and races, and are the only Lores available to Empire, Bretonnian and Lizardmen armies. Dwarves do not use magic at all.- Lore of Light
- Lore of Metal
- Lore of Death
- Lore of Life
- Lore of Heaven
- Lore of Shadow
- Lore of Fire
- Lore of Beasts
While the eight main lores can be used by many armies of the Warhammer world many races have their own unique magical Lores.
- Lore of Dark Magic (Dark Elves)
- Lore of High Magic (High Elves)
- Lore of Athel Loren (Wood Elves)
- Lore of the Little WAAAGH (Goblins)
- Lore of the Big WAAAGH (Orcs)
- Skaven Spells of Ruin (Skaven)
- Skaven Spells of Plague (Skaven)
- Lore of the Wild (Beastmen)
- Lore of Nurgle (Warriors of Chaos)
- Lore of Slaanesh (Warriors of Chaos)
- Lore of Tzeentch (Warriors of Chaos)
- Daemon Lore of Nurgle (Daemons of Chaos)
- Daemon Lore of Slaanesh (Daemons of Chaos)
- Daemon Lore of Tzeentch (Daemons of Chaos)
- The Black Art/Lore of the Vampire (Vampire Counts)
- The Lore of Nehekhara (Tomb Kings)
- Lore of the Great Maw (Ogre Kingdoms)
- Lore of Ice (Kislev)
Editions of the game
Throughout the eight editions of the game, the core movement, combat and shooting systems have remained generally unchanged, with only minor revisions between editions. The most significant changes which ensure incompatibility between editionsPlanned obsolescence
Planned obsolescence or built-in obsolescence in industrial design is a policy of deliberately planning or designing a product with a limited useful life, so it will become obsolete or nonfunctional after a certain period of time...
have been made to the magic, army composition systems, and specialist troop types.
Inspiration
Published in November 1981 for its second edition (1978 for the very first one), and written by Richard Halliwell and Rick PriestleyRick Priestley
Rick Priestley is a miniature wargaming designer and author who lives near Nottingham, England.Priestley worked extensively for Games Workshop...
, Reaper is considered as the ancestor of Warhammer Fantasy Battle. Reaper is more a skirmish game for up to 30 miniatures rather than a large-scale wargame.
First edition (1983)
The first edition, written by Bryan AnsellBryan Ansell
Bryan Ansell is a British role-playing and war game designer. He founded Asgard Miniatures before creating Citadel Miniatures in the late 1970s...
, Richard Halliwell and Rick Priestley
Rick Priestley
Rick Priestley is a miniature wargaming designer and author who lives near Nottingham, England.Priestley worked extensively for Games Workshop...
was published in 1983 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 and features an introductory battle 'The Ziggurat of Doom'. Vol 2: Magic which explains rules for wizards of 4 different levels. Higher level wizards have access to more powerful spells. In this system, 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 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
Dark Elves (Warhammer)
In Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe, the Dark Elves are a race of harsh, warlike and vicious Elves. They are also known as the Druchii in most Warhammer fiction books. They cruel, sadistic raiders with much disdain for all other races, especially their lighter kindred the High...
), the appearance of Red Goblins - and that Citadel Miniatures
Citadel Miniatures
Citadel Miniatures Limited is a company which produces metal, resin and plastic miniature figures for tabletop wargames such as Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000....
order codes are given.
Critical reaction
Despite many rules inconsistencies, inadequate roleplaying rules, typing errors and poor presentation, the battle system was thought to be excellent and exceptionally simple and playable in comparison to other miniatures games of the time. The psychology rules - for determining how classic fantasy racial types behave towards each other - and the fumbling of magic were well regarded and thought to enhance the fantasy feel of the game and provide entertainment.Second edition (1984)
Also in the Battle Bestiary is the first appearance of the Warhammer 'Known World' along with a map, and a timeline which includes the Slann
Lizardmen (Warhammer)
The Lizardmen are an army in Warhammer Fantasy Battle-Development history:In earlier versions of the setting there was a separate Slann army based in Lustria...
, Incursions of Chaos
Chaos (Warhammer)
In Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 fictional universes, Chaos refers to the often stereotypically malevolent entities which live in a different timespace, known as the Warp in Warhammer 40,000 and as the Realm of Chaos in Warhammer Fantasy...
, inter-elf wars and The Empire
The Empire (Warhammer)
In Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy fictional universe, The Empire is one of the human political factions and armies, and is featured in many games and novels. In terms of location, language, culture, and society, it bears a strong resemblance to the Holy Roman Empire...
. Minor rules modification included rationalising all statistics to use numbers, and increasing all creatures' Strength by +1.
Campaign packs produced were Terror of the Lichemaster, Bloodbath at Orcs' Drift (1985, referring to Rorke's Drift
Rorke's Drift
The Battle of Rorke's Drift, also known as the Defence of Rorke's Drift, was a battle in the Anglo-Zulu War. The defence of the mission station of Rorke's Drift, under the command of Lieutenant John Chard of the Royal Engineers, immediately followed the British Army's defeat at the Battle of...
) and Tragedy of McDeath (1986, referring to Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
). The pack Blood on the Streets was card buildings for terrain.
In 1987 the 2nd edition rules were expanded with the Ravening Hordes army lists which provided a more 'realistic' method of forming armies along stricter racial lines.
The full boxset has a common value of around £100
Third edition (1987)
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 heroHero
A hero , in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, their cult being one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion...
es and wizards. It kept the same magic system and open-ended army design system as 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
Warhammer Armies
Warhammer Armies was a supplement published by Games Workshop in 1988 for the 3rd Edition of their Warhammer Fantasy Battle table top game....
in 1988, until then use of the 2nd Editions Ravening Hordes list was encouraged. This is partly because it was the last edition published before Games Workshop
Games Workshop
Games Workshop Group plc is a British game production and retailing company. Games Workshop has published the tabletop wargames Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000...
took a different commercial approach, leading to competition from former GW employees in the briefly published competing Fantasy Warlord
Fantasy Warlord
Fantasy Warlord is a fantasy miniatures game released in 1990 by Folio Works. It was written by Ian Bailey and Gary Chalk who also did the illustrations....
.
The third edition was expanded with the Realm of Chaos - Slaves To Darkness (tome one) followed by The Lost And The Damned (tome two) - and Warhammer Siege books.
Critical reaction
Aspects such as the 'fast-paced' rules system and developed fantasy background were highly praised with negative criticisms reserved for the 'wordiness' of the text and that the images, rather than illustrating the text, were largely decorative. The main differences to the 2nd edition noted were the rules on routing, charging and less clarity in the presentation, subsequently making the rules more complex to learn and use.4th edition (1992) and 5th edition (1996)
The fourth and fifth editions of the game, released in October 1992 and 1996, respectively, were similar to each other but quite different from the third. 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 fodderCannon fodder
Cannon fodder is an informal, derogatory term for military personnel who are regarded or treated as expendable in the face of enemy fire. The term is generally used in situations where soldiers are forced to deliberately fight against hopeless odds in an effort to achieve a strategic goal...
. 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
Figurine
A figurine is a statuette that represents a human, deity or animal. Figurines may be realistic or iconic, depending on the skill and intention of the creator. The earliest were made of stone or clay...
to be able to play the game "out of the box". The rules underwent a re-write compared to 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 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 amount of points that could be spent on "characters", troops and monsters and so on. The books also included background on the particular army, illustrations and photographs showing models and have remained with the game though updated with the rules. The fifth edition won the Origins Award
Origins Award
The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 Origins.The Origins Award is commonly...
for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Miniatures Rules of 1996.
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 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
Isha
* Hebrew word meaning "woman"* Isha'a, the Fard daily Salah prayers in Islam* A Sanskrit term for "God, deity", see Ishvara* A name meaning: deity; the ruling Goddess; the Lord, One who protects, Supreme.* Another name of Goddess Kali* An Indian given name...
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, Grudge of Drong, Perilous Quest.
The fourth edition featured High Elves versus Goblins. The fifth edition, released in 1996, re-introduced the Bretonnian forces, which had been left out of the 4th edition, and re-worked the Slann heavily to create the Lizardmen
Lizardmen (Warhammer)
The Lizardmen are an army in Warhammer Fantasy Battle-Development history:In earlier versions of the setting there was a separate Slann army based in Lustria...
armies.
6th edition (2000) and 7th edition (2006)
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 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 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 the larger rulebook has two extensive addition sections "The Warhammer World" (68 pages) and "The Warhammer Hobby" (56 pages) plus slightly expanded appendices.
8th edition (2010)
According to the official Games Workshop webpage, the 8th edition of Warhammer was made available for pre-order on 14 June 2010 and was released 10 July 2010.The new starter set named Island of Blood contains facing armies of High Elves and Skaven. A condensed mini-rulebook, as well as 10 standard dice, one scatter and one artillery die, two 18 inch rulers, and three blast templates are included in the box.
On Friday the 23rd of July, Games Workshop began posting an "unboxed" series detailing the contents of the new game box called "A Blog of Two Gamers"
The first army to be introduced to 8th edition is Orcs and Goblins. They are one of the most popular Warhammer Fantasy armies, but their release in 8th edition was not totally expected, as a couple of armies are still in 6th edition.
Derivative games
Games based on the core Warhammer mechanics and rules include:- Warhammer Ancient BattlesWarhammer Ancient BattlesWarhammer Ancient Battles is a ruleset for miniatures wargames produced by Games Workshop's Warhammer Historical Wargames imprint...
(often referred to as "WAB" and sometimes Warhammer Historical). Intended to simulate armies of the real world of the Ancient and Medieval periods. - A science fiction based skirmish wargame using similar rules was developed as Warhammer 40,000: Rogue TraderWarhammer 40,000Warhammer 40,000 is a tabletop miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop, set in a dystopian science fantasy universe. Warhammer 40,000 was created by Rick Priestley in 1987 as the futuristic companion to Warhammer Fantasy Battle, sharing many game mechanics...
by Games Workshop and released in 1987. Originally using a minor variation of the 2nd edition Warhammer Fantasy Battle rules, the two games have subsequently taken different development paths. - The first edition of Blood BowlBlood BowlBlood Bowl is a Fantasy Football game created by Jervis Johnson for the British games company Games Workshop as a parody of American Football. The game was first released in 1987 and has been re-released in new editions since...
uses the same basic turn system and character statistics as Warhammer to simulate a fantasy American footballAmerican footballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
game. Rules for ranged combat applied to ball throwing. Since the second edition of Blood Bowl the game has taken its own development path. - Games Workshop released a skirmish scale wargame set in the world of Warhammer called MordheimMordheimMordheim is a tabletop game produced by Games Workshop. It is a skirmish variant of the company's popular Warhammer Fantasy game set on a smaller scale with players fielding 15-20 models each, rather than the 150-200 models allowed in Warhammer Fantasy....
. It is set in the destroyed city of Mordheim. It uses the same basic rules as Warhammer, but modified to support activation of individual models in a small gang. It also has a campaign system which you use to improve your warband as they gain experience. - The Warhammer Fantasy Battles rules led to Warhammer Fantasy RoleplayWarhammer Fantasy RoleplayWarhammer Fantasy Roleplay is a role-playing game set in the Warhammer Fantasy setting. Over the years, it has been through a number of phases and different publishers, most of which were related in some way to Games Workshop...
in 1986, again using the same statistics, although presented as percentiles rather than 1–10 to give more detail and differentiation between characters than is required in a wargame. In 2005 Black IndustriesBlack IndustriesBlack Industries was the role-playing game imprint of BL Publishing, the publishing arm of Games Workshop. It was announced on January 28, 2008 that it would cease operations after its products currently scheduled for release are published....
released a second edition and Fantasy Flight Games now owns the rights to the game and continues to support it.
Games based on the Warhammer setting, but not sharing the rules, include:
- WarmasterWarmasterWarmaster is a ruleset for tabletop wargames written by Rick Priestley, published by Specialist Games , 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...
, representing very large-scale, epic battles. Warmaster uses smaller models than Warhammer using 10 mm as opposed to 28 mm, with different rules regarding troop movement and combat. - In 1993, Games Workshop released a naval wargame set in the world of Warhammer called Man O' War.
- In 1990, Games Workshop released a strategic wargame of empire building, Mighty EmpiresMighty EmpiresMighty Empires was a board game published by Games Workshop. It was intended to add a strategic layer to Warhammer Fantasy Battle giving rise to campaigns where the results of one battle would affect later battles, although the game included simple point based rules if the players did not have...
, intended both as a stand-alone game and as a way to manage a campaign of miniature battles. - Warhammer Fantasy Battle has been adapted as computer games: the 1995 Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned RatWarhammer: Shadow of the Horned RatWarhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat is a real-time tactics computer game published by Games Workshop in 1995...
, its 1998 sequel Warhammer: Dark OmenWarhammer: Dark OmenWarhammer: Dark Omen is a real-time tactical wargame and the sequel to Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat. It is a seminal exemplar of a game of the real-time tactics genre. First released for PC, it was later released for the Sony PlayStation...
, Warhammer: Mark of ChaosWarhammer: Mark of ChaosWarhammer: Mark of Chaos is a real-time tactics game set in the Warhammer universe. It was developed by Black Hole Entertainment and co-published by Namco Bandai Games in the US and Deep Silver in PAL territories...
and the MMORPGMMORPGMassively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
, Warhammer Online: Age of ReckoningWarhammer Online: Age of ReckoningWarhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy setting. It was developed by Mythic Entertainment and simultaneously released in North and South Americas, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand on September 18, 2008...
which was released on 18 September 2008. - On 1 October 2011, Games Workshop released the one-off game, DreadfleetDreadfleetDreadfleet , is a limited edition two player game from Games Workshop that is set in the Warhammer Fantasy world. One player takes command of the Grand Alliance which is composed of the greatest pirate captains, whilst the other commands the Dreadfleet, a force composed of undead captains and their...
.
See also
- Warhammer computer gamesWarhammer computer games- Warhammer Fantasy :The following games are set in the Warhammer Fantasy Battle, Blood Bowl and HeroQuest settings.-Warhammer 40,000:The following games are set in the Warhammer 40,000, Epic, Space Hulk and Space Crusade settings....
- Armies of WarhammerArmies of WarhammerArmies of Warhammer are components of the table-top games Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000. The armies have been defined into a separate "army list," and they are described in more detail in the Army Book or "Codex". Players of either game, or their spin-offs, have a wide variety of...
External links
- Games Workshop Creators of the games Warhammer
- HeelanHammer Podcast - A UK based Podcast dedicated to Warhammer Fantasy
- The Bad Dice Podcast - The UK's 1st Warhammer Podcast A Podcast from the UK dedicated to Warhammer Fantasy
- Podhammer - The Warhammer Podcast The first podcast dedicated to Warhammer Fantasy
- BoLS: Warhammer Fantasy Daily Updates
- Battle Reporter - A Warhammer Blog A fan's blog dedicated to Warhammer Fantasy
- The Waaagh Cast! - A Warhammer Fantasy Podcast A Podcast about the game of Warhammer Fantasy
- WarhammerUSA - The USA Rankings A website dedicated to ranking all the Warhammer Fantasy players in the United States of America
- Marcus Beli Fan website of Warhammer Fantasy, in Spanish.
- Garagehammer - A podcast with long and detailed episodes.