Warhammer Fantasy Battle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Warhammer: The Game of Fantasy Battles Warhammer Fantasy Battle 7th edition rulebook | |
|---|---|
| Image:Warhammer rulebook 7th.gif | |
Warhammer: The Game of Fantasy Battles (often abbreviated as "Warhammer", "Warhammer Fantasy" or "WHFB") is a tabletop wargame created by Games Workshop and set in the Warhammer Fantasy setting.
The game is played with 'regiments' of fantasy miniatures . It uses stock fantasy races such as humans, elves, dwarfs, undead, orcs, lizardmen, etc. Each race has its own unique strengths and flaws. Elves for example have some of the most powerful archers and magicians in the game but have fewer specialised close combat units.
Since first appearing in 1983, Warhammer has been periodically updated and re-released with changes to the gaming system and army lists to improve playability. The current official version is the 7th edition released on 9 September 2006.
The Warhammer Fantasy setting led to Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay in 1986 and a science fiction based wargame using similar rules was developed as Warhammer 40,000.
Warhammer Fantasy Battle has been adapted as computer games: the 1995 Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat , its 1998 sequel Warhammer: Dark Omen and the upcoming Warhammer: Mark of Chaos. (also see Warhammer computer games).
Contents |
[edit] Playing the game
Warhammer is a competitive tabletop wargame where two or more players compete against each other with "armies" of plastic and White metal miniatures. The rules of the game are contained 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.
Core game rules are supplied in a single book, with supplemental Warhammer Armies texts giving guidelines 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 1,000 to 3,000 points, although smaller and larger values are quite possible. At the present time, there are 16 different armies: Beasts of Chaos, Bretonnia, Chaos Dwarfs, Dark Elves, Dogs of War, Dwarfs, High Elves, Hordes of Chaos, Lizardmen, Ogre Kingdoms, Orcs and Goblins, Skaven, The Empire, Tomb Kings, Vampire Counts, Wood Elves. In addition, there are some smaller forces like the army of Kislev, which are usually not completely supported in miniatures.
Game play follows a turn structure in which one player completes all movement for troops, then simulates casting spells (when spell-using units are available), uses all ranged or missile weapons in the army, then any units touching fight in melee or close-combat. After finishing, the second player does the same. This repeats for a number of equal turns, generally six, although occasionally to a time limit or until no units are left on the playing surface. The winner is often determined by victory points; earning a number equal to remaining points value of their own surviving units and the value of enemy units killed. Special factors, or "objectives" can add or subtract from this total based on pre-defined goals.
Dice rolls always use traditional six-sided dice, with a high result being desirable (in most cases). For example; an archer unit may be given a statistic that allows it to hit on the roll of a four or more. Various factors can change this number, reducing or raising the number needed. Mitigation of random results is a large part of the game, as well as traditional battlefield tactics.
[edit] Collecting
Warhammer players commonly collect and paint one army (or more) of their choice. Armies can be built up from the available "army boxes" or "battalion sets" or slowly collected, one miniature or unit at a time, to build up a reasonable sized fighting force. Others simply collect the miniatures because they like the way they look. There is also an interesting amount of rare, old, Out Of Print Warhammer miniatures that are traded on online auction sites such as eBay. Some serious collectors have been known to pay large amounts for one rare, OOP miniature. Many of the various Warhammer races have both plastic and metal miniatures available to the player/collector.
An average Warhammer army will cost two to three-hundred US dollars at full retail value, although purchasing online or finding used miniatures can decrease this cost. Different forces will incur different costs as well, depending on the points cost of the miniatures in the game. A box of 12 Chaos warriors may cost 35 USD and be 360 points, while a box of 20 Skaven clanrats costs the same in currency, but is worth only 100 points in the game.
[edit] The miniatures
The games uses models on the 28 mm-40 mm (approximately 1:64) scale. This is defined as being the height of a normal human, larger creatures such as dragons can be up to 10 cm long.
Models come unpainted and unassembled and as such players can spend a great deal of time painting and modifying the miniatures so that they represent the army's background. This is reinforced by an annual painting competition Games Workshop holds in various countries (several competitions in the United States) known as the Golden Demon. Players compete in a number of categories to win bronze, silver and gold golden demons for painting. In actual practice, games are often played with unpainted or half-painted miniatures. In tournaments, there are often prizes for the best-painted army (in addition to prizes for winning the actual games) or points deducted for having unpainted miniatures. 'Painted', in this case, is usually defined as 'having at least three colours', owing to the unscrupulous practice in times past of spray-painting a regiment one colour.
To build an average army one has to buy between 50-100 miniatures which makes Warhammer an expensive hobby. However the gaming system is flexible so that players can easily opt to play smaller battles of 30-40 models etc. Generally a plastic squad or regiment costs about CAN$45, AUD$50, ₤18, US$35 for about 16 models. Individual characters are usually cast in metal and therefore cost more; however these can often be expected to be more powerful and worth more anyway. A common practice in friendly games, though not in tournaments, is to substitute one model for another, as in 'This dragon counts as a wyvern'. In extreme cases entirely un-game-related objects are used, as in 'This ketchup bottle counts as a Greater Demon of Khorne.' This has led to the development of two subcultures (with considerable overlap) within the Games Workshop hobby, 'painters' who concentrate on buying, assembling and painting the correct models, and 'gamers' who are more interested in the actual rules and tactics, and perfectly willing to use proxy models for an interesting game. In tournaments, the "What You See Is What You Get" (WYSIWYG) principle is applied to models which leads to the phenomenon of dedicated gamers staying up all night before the tournament starts putting the finishing touches on their regiments, so that those models will be allowed to be used.
[edit] The armies
There are a number of playable armies for WFB, these are representative of one or other of the factions or races that are present in the Warhammer world setting. Over the various editions of the game the armies have been presented in collective books like Warhammer Armies for the 3rd edition or from the 5th edition onwards in individual books each one covering a separate army.
The current edition of the game has (of 2006) the following:
- Beasts of Chaos
- Bretonnia
- Hordes of Chaos
- Dark Elves
- Dogs of War mercenary units
- Dwarfs
- The Empire
- High Elves
- Lizardmen
- Ogre Kingdoms
- Orcs and Goblins
- Skaven
- Tomb Kings
- Vampire Counts
- Wood Elves
The following are not in publication:
[edit] Editions of the game
Throughout the seven editions of the game, the core movement, combat and shooting systems have remained generally unchanged, with only minor revisions between editions. The largest changes have been made to the magic and army composition systems.
The first and second editions of the game were similar: both came in a box set which contained only a set of books, no miniatures. Both featured a completely open-ended army design system and a magic system based on wizards of differing levels. Higher level wizards had access to more powerful spells. In this system, a wizard picked his spells at the start of the game, and as he cast each one it depleted a store of magic points, until at zero points he could cast no more. Magic was extremely powerful in early editions of the game. The biggest changes between these editions were visual: different artwork and an improved editorial process making clearer rules.
The Third Edition of the game was published in a hardback book. It had the most in-depth and complex movement and manoeuvre system of any edition. Other improvements 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 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. The third edition is fondly remembered by many long-time fans of the game, in spite of its somewhat cumbersome rules and long play time. This is partly because it was the last edition published before Games Workshop took a more commercial approach, leading to a schism in the company and the brief publishing of the competing Fantasy Warlord.
The fourth and fifth editions of the game were quite different from the third, but similar to each other. Fifth edition in particular became known perjoratively 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 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. The magic was based on the play of cards, making magic a bit like a game within a game. The fourth edition was also the first edition to enforce the use of army lists in the form of "Warhammer Army" books. 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 etc. These editions were not overly popular with older players and long-term fans, although the magic system was perceived to be well designed, and the fifth edition in particular won the Origins Award for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Miniatures Rules of 1996.
The sixth edition was also published as a box with rulebook and miniatures (Orcs and Empire). After 'Herohammer' this edition put the emphasis back on troop movement and combat: heroes and wizards are still important but are incapable of winning games in their own right. There was also an all-new magic system based on dice rolling, which some fans feel makes magic a bit too powerful in the game. A new series of army books were released for the various armies in the game. Most long term players feel that sixth was a more balanced edition of the game than previous incarnations.
The curent (seventh) edition was released on 9 September 2006. It is available as a rulebook, as well as a starter box with miniatures - The Battle for Skull Pass - containing Dwarfs and Goblins.
[edit] See also
da:Warhammer de:Warhammer fr:Warhammer Fantasy Battle it:Warhammer Fantasy Battle pl:Warhammer Fantasy Battle fi:Warhammer sv:Warhammer
