When Brian came online today, he expressed annoyance at me. I knew how he felt. I had woken up feeling tremendously annoyed, guilty, and ashamed. It was as though we’d got drunk last night and ended up fucking each other. But no, it was much worse: we had made the decision to resume our Warhammer collections, and had already placed a few orders. The result of a day long nostalgia-fest on X-Fire.
Around about 1994, I discovered Warhammer, which is a table-top battle game played with an assortment of miniatures. There are a variety of armies to choose from and the units you can field are restricted by each player being allotted a certain number of points, with which their units are “purchased”. Of course I was far too young to even begin to grasp the relatively complex rules governing the game, but I did love fantasy, and I was irresistibly drawn to these imaginative hosts and the fascinating characters that led them. I still remember my first battle. It was myself versus Andrew and we were using the armies supplied in the boxed-set. I went as the High Elves and he played as the Orcs and Goblins (though it was actually a pure goblin force that was supplied with the set). We didn’t have a clue what we were doing. Our rules were formed from a severe misunderstanding of what the rulebook said and pure guesswork. We even measured everything in millimetres instead of the proper inches, and when you’re moving regiments forward at four millimetres a turn, well, it doesn’t exactly make for a fast-paced game. Despite that, it was without a doubt the best Warhammer battle I ever had. It was an engagement fuelled purely by our childhood imaginations. Our love of this new (to us) concept just overwhelmed any worries either of us might have had about not playing the game properly. I believe Andrew won, if you can truly win such a battle.
My latest e-bay purchase: the fourth edition rulebooks, where it all began for me.
The years went by and I found kinship with the Undead, almost all my friends got into the game, weekends became the time for battle, the Warhammer club was born in High School, and countless fantasy men and monsters lost their lives in epic table-top warfare. But inevitably, I drifted away from the whole scene as I made new friends and went off to do my own thing. I always retained my affection for the hobby though. I also still associate my friends with the armies they originally played as: Andrew is Orcs and Goblins, Brian is Chaos, Chris is Dwarves, Ross is Skaven, DJ is Wood Elves, and I am Undead (and High Elves on occasion). I often flirted with the idea of returning to the game. Only now has that become a real possibility because like with all of Games Workshop’s products, Warhammer is what you might call “fucking expensive”. If you’re fielding a moderate three thousand point army, you’re playing with quite literally hundreds of pounds worth of models, and that’s not even factoring in the books, paints and tools you’ll also need.
Haha, after reading your post I spent quite awhile pouring over the Games Workshop Online store! I too used to play Warhammer in my early teen years. As growing up I had three brothers and quite a few friends that mustered together armies to do battle in various campaigns across our respective homes. We were largely 40k players initially but later branched into the realm of the original Warhammer.
I played Wood Elves and still have maybe a 1200 point force packed up in boxes somewhere. Would definitely be keen to see how your Undead army takes shape and see some of your painted warriors when the time comes. Remember when you bought some modeling clay and were getting into miniatures a bit and aiming to make a minotaur was it? Which might have become a snail?
Seems the perfect sort of hobby to get into for the Winter and the occasional skirmish with a band of the Boffin’s warriors probably wouldn’t hurt either, haha. Looking forward to seeing where this project takes you creatively. Certainly is the sort of undertaking that will only enhance and inspire your other pursuits. Looking at the Games Workshop store though I noticed how much everything cost and I was like whoa!! I remember it being a very pricey hobby back in the mid to late nineties when I played. As it was hard to even afford a small war party. But it sure hasn’t gotten any more affordable in the intervening years. Still, they become works of art once painted and a fine hobby. If I had someone to battle I’d gladly break out my fighters and wage war, haha.
Good stuff man, happy holidays from the States! Peace!
~ Chris the Islander
How funny, I recently picked up a copy of Hero Quest off eBay after a similar nostalgic urge.
I love Hero Quest. I’ve got two boxed copies of it in the attic. Brilliant game. Absolute classic. Was once tempted to hunt down all the expansions complete on e-bay but it proved to be an impossible task.