Welcome to Woehammer – have you noticed the lovely feeling of no adverts (ads), no pop-ups and no auto-playing videos? Well, that’s the norm here at Woehammer.
But this is only possible because of our wonderful Patreons. So, some articles over 1 year old will now display our Patreon request at the top of the article… like this one! Don’t worry, we are not adding ads – but if you can afford to donate to the site, we would definitely appreciate it.Membership is available from just £1/month (plus taxes!!)
John Blanche is the person I need to thank for two things. Firstly getting me into 40k with the amazing box art from the 2nd edition of Warhammer 40k, and secondly for giving me the inspiration to collect Blood Angels.
2nd Edition Boxed Set
I spent hours pouring over the box art and taking in every minute detail in all its glory.
John Blanche became associated with Games Workshop in 1977 producing the cover art for the 4th issue of White Dwarf and the box art for the British edition of Dungeons & Dragons which the company had the license for. In 1978 he produced the first full colour art cover for the 7th issue of White Dwarf.
Dungeons and Dragons artwork by John Blanche
After 1978 he continued working with the company producing many illustrations for White Dwarf and the cover art for the first edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battles in 1983.
Warhammer Fantasy 1st Edition
In 1986 Blanche was made in-house art director of Games Workshop, a position he has held ever since. As well as producing his own work and commissioning others, Blanche also produces designs for Citadel Miniatures.
John Blanche’s minotaur with miniature Mona Lisa.
Blanche’s style is unique and has been termed by many as “Blanchitsu”, a term which is also used by hobbyists who try and emulate his images using miniatures.
A “Blanchitsu” style miniature
John Blanche’s work has brought many into the hobby including myself and will continue to do so for many years to come. John Blanche can be credited with making Warhammer 40,000 grim dark and for that as a fan, I thank him.
The Woeful Brush Painting Competition Sponsored by SCN Hobby World
Closing date for entries 30th November. £1 entry, win your choice of a Start Collecting or Combat Patrol box set!
Welcome to Woehammer – have you noticed the lovely feeling of no adverts (ads), no pop-ups and no auto-playing videos? Well, that’s the norm here at Woehammer.
But this is only possible because of our wonderful Patreons. So, some articles over 1 year old will now display our Patreon request at the top of the article… like this one! Don’t worry, we are not adding ads – but if you can afford to donate to the site, we would definitely appreciate it.Membership is available from just £1/month (plus taxes!!)
Games Workshop is a FTSE 250 company and is about to break into the FTSE 100. It has come a long way from its beginnings in 1975 as a small mail order company run from a bedroom….
The Beginnings
Games Workshop was founded in 1975 by John Peake, Ian Livingstone CBE and Steve Jackson.
At the time they shared a flat in Shepherds Bush in London and wanted to go into business together manufacturing games. The name Games Workshop was chosen as it reflected their ideas for crafting the games by hand.
John Peake was a craftsman who began by making backgammon boards with inlaid Mahogany and Cherry Oak veneer.
Ian Livingstone was an author who started out by writing the hobby magazine Owl & Weasel which would eventually evolve into White Dwarf.
Steve Jackson began his career in 1974 as a freelance journalist with Games & Puzzles magazine. He worked alongside Livingstone on Owl & Weasel and was responsible for much of its content.
Owl & Weasel #1
Games Workshop in the 70’s
They sent their first copies of Owl & Weasel to subscribers of the Albion fanzine, Brian Blume who was the co-founder of American publisher TSR received one of these copies. Blume sent them a copy of TSR‘s new game Dungeons & Dragons in response.
Livingstone and Jackson were so impressed by this game that they worked out an exclusive deal with Blume to be the seller for Dungeons & Dragons in Europe.
Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition
Later that year Livingstone organised their first convention (the first Games Day). Because they were selling product out of their flat, people would turn turn up looking for a store that didn’t exist. As a result in 1976 they were evicted from their flat by their landlord. 1976 also saw John Peake leave Games Workshop as he had no interest in Roleplaying games and the direction the company was taking.
1975 Games Day Prgramme
Livingstone and Jackson opened their first store in 1978 in Hammersmith in London. White Dwarf was first published in the previous year to mainly promote their new shop opening. The name White Dwarf was chosen as it the name would tie to both Fantasy (a Dwarven Character) and Sci-Fi (a type of star).
White Dwarf #1
Livingstone would eventually step down as editor of White Dwarf in 1986 (issue #74).
In 1979 Games Workshop provided the funding to found Citadel miniatures in Newark-on-Trent. Citadel would go on to produce all the metal miniatures used in Games Workshops‘ roleplaying and tabletop wargames. There was a brief period at this time were TSR and Games Workshop considered merging until Livingstone and Jackson backed out of the idea.
During the late 70’s and early 80’s the company’s publishing arm also released UK reprints of American RPGs such as Call of Cthulhu, Runequest, Traveller and Middle Earth Role Playing, which were expensive to import.
1980’s
Games Workshop grew though the 1980’s and saw 250 employees on its payroll by the end of the decade.
In 1982 Rick Preistley and Jervis Johnson both joined Games Workshop (Priestley joining Citadel Miniatures). Brian Ansell the manager of Citadel asked Rick Priestley to develop a medieval-fantasy wargame that would be given free to customers to encourage them to buy more miniatures. a year later and Warhammer Fantasy Battles was released in 1983 and was quickly followed by more of their own games such as Blood Bowl (1986) and Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader (1987).
Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader
In 1984 Games Workshop stopped distribution of its products in the US through independent hobby game distributors and instead opened its Games Workshop (US) office.
1990’s
1991 saw a management buyout for by Tom Kirby and Brian Ansell, when Livingstone and Jackson sold them their shares for £10 million.
Games Workshop went on to refocus their efforts on Warhammer Fantasy Battles and Warhammer 40,000, their most lucrative lines. They also targeted a younger audience which brought them great success but saw it lose some of its older fan base.
Games Workshop was now expanding across Europe, North America and Australia and the company was soon purchased by private equity firm ECI Partners and floated on the London Stock Exchange in October 1994.
In October 1997 all UK based operations were relocated to a new headquarters in Lenton, Nottingham.
Timeline
1975 – Founded by John Peake, Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson.
1975 – Deal with TSR to be the exclusive seller of Dungeons and Dragons on Europe.
1976 – John Peake leaves Games Workshop
1977 – the first White Dwarf is published
1978 – Games Workshop open their first store in Hammersmith, London.
1979 – Citadel Miniatures founded
1982 – Rick Priestley and Jervis Johnson join Games Workshop.
1983 – Warhammer Fantasy Battles of first published
1986 – Blood Bowl is first published
1987 – Warhammer 40,000 is first published.
1991 – Management buyout by Brian Ansell and Tom Kirby who focus the company on their own in-house games.
1994 – Company purchased by Private Equity firm ECI
1994 – Floated on the London Stock Exchange
1997 – Moves headquarters to Lenton, Nottingham.
2001 – Games Workshop acquires the rights to produce Lord of the Rings tabletop games.
2015 – Games Workshop switches their Fantasy wargame ruleset from Warhammer Fantasy Battles to Warhammer Age of Sigmar.
2017 – Tom Kirby steps down
The Woeful Brush Painting Competition Sponsored by SCN Hobby World
Closing date for entries 30th November. £1 entry, win your choice of a Start Collecting or Combat Patrol box set!
Welcome to Woehammer – have you noticed the lovely feeling of no adverts (ads), no pop-ups and no auto-playing videos? Well, that’s the norm here at Woehammer.
But this is only possible because of our wonderful Patreons. So, some articles over 1 year old will now display our Patreon request at the top of the article… like this one! Don’t worry, we are not adding ads – but if you can afford to donate to the site, we would definitely appreciate it.Membership is available from just £1/month (plus taxes!!)
Following on with our series of interviews, this week I talk to Declan (@rightangle79) about his gaming history.
Ok, first question. When did you first get into wargaming?
I first played in 1989 on the floor of a friend’s living room! We played Space Marine 1st Edition (the Epic game that came after the Titan only version). I played Blood Angels (unpainted) and he played Ultramarines also unpainted!
Already getting ready for Heresy!!
So was Space Marine the first game you collected an army for?
Yes, blood angels but I didn’t really know what I was doing. I bought 2nd Ed warhammer and played some 2nd Ed Blood Bowl but it was the 3rd Ed warhammer starter set with Goblins and Elves that got me collecting… and I immediately knew I wanted to play goblins… which was great because another friend liked the Elves.
Do you still have those first Goblins you bought?
Definitely have some of them. They are the monopose ones with spear and bow. I have a unit of the bow Gobbos in my AoS Gloomspite army.
So what drew into the hobby? What do you find it gives you?
I love all the many facets. I first did it to play with friends then at Uni I only did the painting side as there was no club there (but I got into board games there). Now I paint in the evenings so I’m not just staring at a screen all day and then go to some tournaments. With COVID this was obviously not allowed but my wife is very good about me going to tournaments at weekends so I’ve got quite a few organised before Christmas.
What’s your most memorable gaming moment?
I was playing GG with allied Gitmob grots at Sheffield Slaughter against Nurgle with their first book. It was against a GW employee who I won’t name as they get enough grief! His Great Unclean One had a -1 to hit within 12″ bubble. My shaman cast a spell on 60 Gitmob archers, who walked into the 12″ range, fired at the GUO and took it off! He was a little shocked but took it very well!
You’ve been to many tournaments now, are there any armies you particularly fear when you see their name on the list?
I’m okay with most although if I’ve got my Gitz there’s a fear for all of them! More seriously it’s more the player than the army in most cases. Sure Tzeentch/Archeon before the FAQ or Nagash and friends is very difficult but they aren’t pick up and play lists.
The worst thing for me is playing against a shooting army that can’t be caught or can do so much damage I can’t get close enough. I think GW routinely underpoint shooting units. Still I have a unit of 60 Shootas which are almost as expensive as 30 sentinels so they must be as good! 🤞
Hahaha! So if Gloomspite were to get a new Battletome what changes would you like to see?
Removal of ‘Keyword Bingo’ – Fanatics are not Grots for example and the Fungoid Shaman can’t have the Wizard Artefacts. A few bonuses to cast. Giving back some cheap units (we lost units of 5 Hoppers and 6 Squigs in the GHB2021 but Aetherwings are still allowed in 3s!) I’d like to see each of the four ways to play the army work (Grots, Troggs, Squigs, Spiders). New models for Spider Riders and Spider Boss. Simplify the Gobbapalooza. And give us a theme rather than just ‘comedy’. And finally… they need to point random movement correctly. Boingrots seem to be pointed like they always roll a 12″, so either reduce randomness (6+D6) or reduce points. Sure it runs the risk of everything working and us being unstoppable for one game in 36… but stops us losing the other 35!!…. I’ll get off my soapbox now 😀
It would make sense to point random movement a little more than the average dice roll in my opinion.
They definitely point it as if you get the maximum! Definitely not the average. Bounders are 7″ movement cavalry but pointed very high!
So apart from Age of Sigmar, which other games do you play?
I play a lot of board games and keep track of them on Boardgamegeek. This year there’s been a lot of Hanabi, 7 Wonders and Terraforming Mars. I find it really interesting to see all the different rules available the interactions and how theme is dealt with.
For wargames I like historical but haven’t played recently. I have a 2000 point ‘War and Conquest’ Saxon army and loads of painted Greeks and Macedonians. This game was designed by Rob Broom who was head of GW Historical before they stopped the line.
Declan’s Warmaster Goblins
I also play lots of Warmaster and have an Empire army and recently painted Goblin army and a Macedonian Army for Ancients. Its such a great rules set that generalises the units and make maneoveur and where you charge the key element.
Some of Declan’s 15mm miniatures for ParWars
Have you ever been tempted to write your own rules for a game?
I keep thinking I’d like to design a board game but with so many releases now it needs to be good to be a commercial success. Normally I’m happy to play with rules friends are using… during lockdown I Painted a 15mm army for ParWars for example just to give me more potential games and opponents.
What was the last game your played, and against who?
2000 points against Will’s KO at the club (Chumps). I was trying out my Gitz and he was trying a slightly off meta KO list with some units deployed on the board not in boats. I made a deployment mistake with my Spider and he killed it turn one, but such that I couldn’t counter in my turn 1. I also wasn’t aggressive enough with my unit of 60 Shootas as I was worried about Unleash Hell. When I did charge though it was fine! It was a close loss and very useful game.
What are you working on at the minute, and do you have any pictures?
I am doing some scenery for Kill Team having just finished a quick Genestealer Kill Team (which is an article!!).
Name one game you would love to see be remade by GW.
My gut feeling is warmaster because I’d like to see the toys they would sculpt, but I would be worried about them changing the game… so I’ll say Battlefield Gothic or a re-release of Cursed City.
Magnus did nothing wrong! Yes or No?
Magnus — He did nothing wrong!
If you were to fall to chaos which power would you devote yourself to?
Nurgle… I have in the past played a small Warhammer Fantasy Chaos army in a very fetching putrid green!
On our YouTube channel we had a series known as A Tale of Painters. However, since life has got in the way a little recently and my time for filming and editing videos is very limited o thought it would be best to continue the series in the blog.
So I’ve included (most) of the Woehammer team below and what they’ve been working on since our last episode.
40k Ben
Since the last episode, Ben has been busy on a number of projects. But perhaps his most impressive in this time is his Bel’akor. Ben has even done some on source lighting to great effect!
Bel’akor
Ben even had his first few games of Age of Sigmar against AoS Ben and Declan.
40k Ben’s Chaos v AoS Ben’s Seraphon
As well as this Ben set himself the challenge of painting all this:
For September! As you can see he’s already well on target.
Dave
Dave has started a new Ossiarch Bone Repears army, and has given himself a deadline of 3rd October to have them done. His entire army is around 50 models and so far he’s painted one……
AoS Ben
As always Ben has been extremely busy, as well as finishing his Seraphon army and attending a few tournaments he’s now decided to build another Kharadron Overlord army, the Ghostlords 2.0!
Ben’s Seraphon army
All of his models are always painted to a very high standard and his basing is, in my opinion world class.
Ben recently completed Spiderman using just contrast paints:
Friendly neighborhood Spiderman
Ben also painted the Kruleboy half of the Dominion boxed set:
Ben’s Kruleboyz
Declan
Declan has been busy painting some more units for his Goblin Warmaster army:
Warmaster Goblin Wolf Riders
He’s also recently gotten into Kill Team and has painted up some scenery for his games.
Liam
Liam hasn’t had as much time as he would like to paint. But saying that he’s now down to fifteen models in his pile of shame. He did manage to paint Ghazghkull:
Paul
As always Paul has probably painted around 15 armies in the time since our last episode.
Paul has recently painted a lot of stormcast in order to play Path to Glory in his local gaming club.
Some of Paul’s Stormcast
He’s also been cracking on with his historicals backlog…..
Sexy Saxons
Sarah
Our plastic crack dealer from SCN Hobby World has been continuing her amazing work on her Orks. With an amazingly grubby looking dreadnought.
Green is Mean…
Ed
Ed has been cracking on with his Lumineth to make sure that they’re ready for his first tournament.
Ed was so keen on getting these ready he even had a roadmap for their painting schedule..
As you can see his models are coming on nicely…..
Ed’s Kangaroos
Guests
Jack
This time around we have a guest on our episode. Jack has submitted his Trogg via email to thewoehammer@gmail.com.
The skin on this Troggoth is awesome and you can really get a sense of the icy effect that Jack was after. I’d love to see an entire army of these boys.
If you’d like to submit models for us to look at and include then please either email us at thewoehammer@gmail.comor use #woehammer on Twitter or Instagram.
Don’t forget that we’re doing our first painting competition sponsored by SCN Hobby World where you can win your choice of a Start Collecting or Combat Patrol box for painting any single miniature on a 50mm base. For details see our post on the competition here.
To follow any of the guys above on social media simply click the links below.
Last week we covered the first five games in the all-time top 50 Fantasy battle games, if you’ve not read it, why not take a look now before continuing?
The ratings are taken from BoardGameGeek.com and I have only included games which have more than 50 votes against their name. This may mean that some of the more recent rules are missed off the list (Conquest: The Last Argument of Kings, being one).
The listed is sorted by the highest rated to the lowest, with games of equal ratings being split by the number of votes (the more votes, the higher their placing).
45. Warhammer Fantasy Battles (5th Edition) (1996) – Games Workshop
The fifth edition starter set
The fifth edition in 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.Sold as a box set containing not only the rulebooks, templates, dice and rulers, but also two armies of plastic miniatures to be able to play the game “out of the box”, the Bretonnians and Lizardmen. The rules were very similar to that of the fourth edition which itself underwent a re-write compared to the third Edition.
In 1997, the fifth edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battles won the Origins Award for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Miniatures Rules of 1996.
A Box of Crusaders made by Reaper Miniatures for Warlord
Warlord is a complete game system that uses the Reaper Adventure Game Engine (R.A.G.E.) which was designed for faster play. Each model in the game has a set of numbers and abilities that dictate how well it performs in the game. These numbers and abilities are listed on a Data Card, a record sheet about the size of a standard poker card. A key component of the R.A.G.E. system is the Damage Track. Each row of stats on the Data Card represents a Damage Track which is the total points of damage that the model can sustain before being destroyed and removed from play. As a model takes damage (or injuries), its stats usually change to reflect how those injuries change the performance of the model on the field of battle.
Warlord takes place in the war-torn land of Taltos in the world of Adon. The region is a place of dry, blistering summers and mild winters. Various leaders and their forces battle for control of their own destinies. They battle for the power to become Warlords and become legends by their own hands; some are just and fair while others are cruel and capricious. Life in Taltos is brutal but there is a fortune to be made and eternal fame to be won.
Confrontation is a skirmish level tactical fantasy miniature wargaming in which the combatants are represented by metal or plastic figures in 28 mm scale.
The game is set in Aarklash, a world of medieval fantasy where knights, wizards, priests and barbarians fight each other as well as fantastic creatures such as wolfen, elves, orcs, goblins and the undead. The entire world is at war and all are fighting for the supremacy of the continent.
The rules are intended to be versatile, and are able to represent a small fight between a handful of warriors just as well as a large skirmish between several dozen soldiers and their leaders. The last rules were in its fourth edition, a single hardback edition. The first edition was only available in French, German and Italian, while the second was available in French, German, Italian, English and Spanish. Rackham collapsed in 2010.
In the late 1980s, game designer Stephen Baker moved from Games Workshop to Milton Bradley, and convinced Roger Ford, Milton Bradley’s head of development to allow him to develop a fantasy genre game. Kennedy gave him the go-ahead if he kept the game simple. Basker contacted his former employer, Games Workshop, to develop the plastic miniatures that would be needed in the game, but he then decided to draw on their expertise in the fantasy game field to help develop the game. The result was the fantasy board game HeroQuest (1989), an adventure game where the players cooperate against a single adversarial Games Master. The game was released in Britain, Europe and Australia in 1989, and a slightly different version was released in America and Canada in 1990.
The game consists of a board and a number of individual miniatures and items. The protagonists are four heroes (“Barbarian”, “Dwarf”, “Elf” and “Wizard”) who face a selection of monsters: Orcs, Goblins, Fimir, Chaos Warriors, a Chaos Warlock/witch Lord (which represent many of the named characters for the various quests), a Gargoyle and a number of Undead: skeletons, zombies and mummies.
Chronopia: Dark Fantasy Battles was a tabletop miniature game published by Target Games. Players would field an army composed of 25 mm miniatures which were composed of pewter, resin, or a composite of both. The game featured eight different armies for players to choose from. The game is an adaption of “Drakar och Demoner” a Swedish role playing game very similar to Dungeons and Dragons.
Chronopia is a 28mm-Skirmish-Fantasy-System.
In principle there are two kinds of strategy plays: Skirmish and rank & file. First turns around smaller engagements in loose formation, the other tells large mass battles with arranged army rows.
Chronopia alternating activation of the units, different actions, basing on d20´s and the general simplicity and an nice playing speed. All this was formed by Target Games into an extremely flexible and innovative game.
This winter we’re holding our first painting competition “Woeful Brush”. The first online painting competition open to everyone.
To enter you’ll need to paint a single miniature to the best of your abilities and submit its pictures to our email address. The maximum base size for a miniature in the competition is 50mm. For example you can paint a single primaris intercessor and place them on any base that is equal to or under 50mm.
Your miniature can be from any game system you wish, even non Games Workshop systems or games.
The Prize, your choice of Start Collecting or Combat Patrol box for either Age of Sigmar or Warhammer 40k
The grand prize is a Start Collecting box or Combat Patrol box of your choice. The prize is being provided by SCN Hobby World who are our sponsor for this event. By signing up to their newsletter on their website you can benefit from up to 25% off the recommended retail price of Games Workshop products.
SCN Hobby World
All submissions to the competition must be made via email to thewoehammer@gmail.com before midnight on 30th November 2021. The picture of your model should be on a plain background and your email address must be included on a piece of paper included in the photograph. We will only be able to accept one submission per person.
We’re also asking for a small entry fee of £1 per entry which will cover postage costs as well as fund future competition prizes, the fee must be paid via PayPal to thewoehammer@gmail.com.
The wider community will then vote for their favourite submission via a series of polls each lasting 24 hours. These polls will take place on this website and on our Twitter and Facebook accounts.
The overall winner will then be announced on 1st January 2022 and will be contacted for their choice of prize.
How to Enter
1) There is a £1 entry fee which should be paid by PayPal to thewoehammer@gmail.com. Proceeds will be used for postage, future events and competitions only.
2) paint a single miniature from any games system you like (yes, non GW games systems are allowed). The miniature must be able to fit on a 50mm base.
3) Take some photos of your miniature and make sue that the email address that you’re submitting the pictures from is shown on a note inside the photo.
4) email your submission to thewoehammer@gmail.com
Rules
1) the competition is open to everyone (apart from Woehammer members).
2) The winner will be determined by community voting on Twitter, Facebook and here on the Woehammer website.
3) Your entry must be a single miniature on a maximum base size of 50mm.
4) Non-Games Workshop miniatures are allowed, but must be limited to the earlier specified base size.
5) bases can be scenic in nature and does not have to be that models specified base (i.e. 32mm for a Space Marine Intercessors)
6) only one submission per person and to be made via email to thewoehammer@gmail.com
7) submissions must be sent to the above address by midnight on 30th November 2021.
8) voting will commence on 1st December in blocks of four entries. All references to the artist of the submission will be removed for voting and to remove popularity influencing.
9) the winning artist will be named upon the final vote on 1st January 2022.
10) Your entry must be your own work and not that of a commission painter.
Last week I interviewed Woehammer Ben from the channel, which you can read here. This week we’re moving onto Woehammer Dave, also known as our very own Chaos Dave.
When did you first get into wargaming?
My first year of senior school.
And what game was it that first drew you in?
A friend had been given the Epic Space Marine starter box for their birthday. We played a few games together and I got hooked.
But you hate Space Marines!
I don’t hate space marines, I dislike Primaris. Also, back then it was Space Marines or nothing as that was all that you got in the box.
So your first game was epic? What games do you play now?
Currently AoS, 40K and Kill Team are the ones I’m actively working on. With a bit of interest in a few others but not the time. Historically, I played Epic, Adeptus Titanicus, Necromunda, Battletech, Warhammer Fantasy and 40K.
I’d consider non-GW games but there aren’t active gaming communities I’m aware of.
You’re big chaos player, has that always been the way?
Not really. I started out in Epic with Salamanders, I painted my marines dark green because that’s the paint I had. I flitted around with armies in fantasy for a while, between orcs and goblins and high elves (good starter set) before settling on Undead for a long time. When I started 40k my first army was Orks, then I collected Space Wolves.I had a break from the hobby and when I started again I collected Dark Eldar (from the starter set) and then later Word Bearers. In Fantasy I collected Skaven and Empire and in 8th edition Beastmen and mixed chaos.
I started playing Ultramarines later on after another hobby hiatus.
No! Not the Smurfs!
That was one of the reasons I started them. They’re cool and don’t deserve the hate.
When I started Epic the poster boy armies were Ultramarines and Thousand Sons. I would have done ultramarines then if I a. Had the paint and b. My mate hadn’t got dibs
I prefer the twilight marines….. So what was your last game and against who?
Age of Sigmar against @dreadmund (Ed). Slaves to Darkness versus Lumineth.
How did that go?
My take a bit of everything list did not do too well against Ed’s tournament list.
What are you working on at the minute, and do you have any pictures?
Ossiarch Bonereapers for Age of Sigmar. I got an eBay ‘rescue’ army for cheap. I’m aiming to have them finished for end of 3rd October.
Dave’s first OBR model
Rear of the year?
This is the one I’ve finished. No pressure!
What’s happening on the 3rd?
Nothing. It’s just the deadline I’ve set myself.
Love that paint job.
Thank you. I might add some pigments to the base because it feels a little bit flat.
What’s your most memorable gaming moment?
The first Warhammer Fantasy campaign I took part in ended in a big four way battle, which was another first for me. My High Elves and my friend’s Imperial Dwarves versus a combined Wood Elf and Empire army. It was the first time I’d used Wardancers and I remember charging them into a unit of trash human infantry and just blending them. They just kept blending and blending these infantry units which kind of suited our opponents but I was having a wonderful time. It kind of defined how I tended to like to play the game from then on. Sometimes I’ll charge even if it’s a bad idea, just for the blood and glory!
So what do find you get out of the hobby?
I find the painting to be relaxing and a good stress reducer. Also enjoy the banter. Playing the game is obviously challenging to some extent at the moment but I enjoy the spectacle of the games.
Quiz time! Name five GW games that aren’t AoS or 40k.
Warhammer Fantasy Battles. Horus Heresy. Dark Future. Trolls in the Pantry. Gorkamorka.
Magnus did nothing wrong! Yes or No?
Everybody has ‘done things wrong’, especially in 40k. I think his initial motivations and intentions were largely good but also self-serving and hubristic.
If you were to fall to chaos which power would you devote yourself to?
The Lore Nerd answer is all Gods are Chaos Gods. So my answer would probably be Tyrion for AoS as he doesn’t seem, unusually, to be actively shit to his followers. Cegorach for 40k for similar (though less strong) reasons.
If you’re going to hold me to the ‘big four’ though…. my answer is Tzeentch. Or is it?
Welcome to Woehammer – have you noticed the lovely feeling of no adverts (ads), no pop-ups and no auto-playing videos? Well, that’s the norm here at Woehammer.
But this is only possible because of our wonderful Patreons. So, some articles over 1 year old will now display our Patreon request at the top of the article… like this one! Don’t worry, we are not adding ads – but if you can afford to donate to the site, we would definitely appreciate it.Membership is available from just £1/month (plus taxes!!)
Following on from the success of my article on Jervis Johnson. I thought I would continue this into a series with another great games designer, Alessio Cavatore.
Alessio who hails from the City of Turin in Italy moved to the UK in 1995 and joined Games Workshop in the same year as a translator.
A year later and Alessio was made a games developer and was set to work writing several supplements for Warhammer Fantasy Battles before heading up the Lord of the Rings Strategy Game.
2004 was the year that saw Alessio made responsible for all the rules published for Warhammer Fantasy Battles, Warhammer 40k and Lord of the Rings. Two years later and he would write the rules for the 7th edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battles.
As well as writing the rules for Mordheim alongside Rick Priestley and Tuomas Pirinen, Alessio has been involved in games for both Warlord Games and Mantic Games. With Bolt Action (Warlord Games) and Kings of War (Mantic) all receiving input from this talented writer.
Out of the 73 games and add-ons that Alessio has worked on to date, that number includes;
Mordheim (Games Workshop)
Warhammer Fantasy Battles – 7th Edition (Games Workshop)
Kings of War (Mantic)
Bolt Action (Warlord Games)
The Lord of the Rings: Strategy Battle Game (Games Workshop)
Conquest: The Last Argument of Kings (Para-Bellum)
Warhammer 40,000 5th Edition (Games Workshop)
As a side note, Alessio, Brian Nelson and the Perry Twins all had cameo appearances in The Return of the King film as Rohirrim at the Battle of Pelennor Fields. They can be seen near the Mumakil when Pippin goes searching for Merry after the battle.
Behindtherules.com conducted an excellent interview with Alessio back in 2010, if you would like to learn more about Alessio and his rules writing you can find the 1st part of the interview here.
Like Jervis, the wargames community owes a lot to Alessio for his contribution to the industry and for what he continues to contribute.
I’m also hoping that articles like this will show that many of the rules sets you may dismiss out of hand have often been worked on by a writer you know and love that has worked for Games Workshop at one time or another.
Why don’t you let us know in the comments below which of Alessio’s games is your favourite, and why not suggest someone to focus a future article on.
So with August over its time to review the Path to Glory campaign.
Three games took place this month. Two between Ben and Declan which you can read here, and another between Aron and his friend Rick.
Declan managed to take two wins against the forces of Chaos and he advanced further north-east on the map, building a small settlement around a realmgate. To the south-east of his settlement he discovered Wild Lands which are currently under the control of the Undead (Aron).
Meanwhile Aron’s forces led by the Vengorian Lord Shana, the Flame of the Heavens successfully repelled a chaos incursion into their lands, utterly defeating the force leaving no one alive to tell the tale.
After the battle his scouts returned advising him of a Troggoth settlement that had sprang up to the north just beyond the wild lands around what they had assumed to be a ruined realmgate.
Shana had to plan their next steps carefully.
Aron’s Undead Forces
We haven’t yet covered Aron’s forces in the campaign. Aron has 2,000 points of Soul light Gravelords.
Led by Shana, Flame of the Heavens a Vengorian Lord the forces include two heroes Wilhelmina Carmel a vampire lord in the thrall of Shana and Machtrohl the Unbroken, Shana’s iron fist.
Aron’s forces includes the following units;
Deathrattle Skeletons (Bone Legion)
Dire Wolves (Alpha)
Zombie Dragon (Deadarire, Bringer of the Dead)
Vargheist (Primus)
Blood Knights (Lord Vahl’s Riders)
Deathrattle Skeletons (Ossius Legion)
Grave Guard (Order of Merihim)
Black Knights (Knights Noir)
As Aron has a 2,000 point list he was able to claim three territories at the start of the campaign. He chose a Settlement, Arcane Waypoint and some Wild Lands.
No games for Rhys, Dave, Ed or myself yet. But watch this space. I have a feeling Nurgle and Chaos may be rumbling soon…..
Orange Ben and @rightangle79 (Declan) are both off to the Facehammer Grand Tournament this weekend (11th & 12th September 2021). I thought it would be a great time to interview them about their tournament lists and their past glories…..
Ok. So you’ve both been to tournaments before, what do you enjoy the most about them?
Ben: For me it’s mainly seeing friends and looking at cool armies. But mainly this:
Declan: Seeing friends, having a beer and chatting about Warhammer. It also means I have a deadline for painting toys… which I almost always need. For most tournaments I include something new to paint.
So which armies are you taking to Facehammer this year? Care to share your lists?
Ben’s Kharadron Overlords (Ghostlords)
Declan’s List
Loonboss – Clammy Hand
Fungoid Cave Shaman – Hand of Gork
Madcap Shaman – Hand of Gork & Moonface Mommet
Webspinner on Arachnarok Spider – Curse of da Spider God & Amulet of Destiny
60 Shootas
20 Shootas
40 Stabbas
2 x 20 Stabbas
2 x Sneaky Snufflers
Rippa’s Snarlfangs
Scuttletide
Scrapskuttle’s Arachacauldron
Emerald Lifeswarm
2120 points; 214 wounds; Warlord; Hunters of the Heartlands; Vanguard
This is my favourite at the moment. Other option is full squigs.
Do you have battle plans or tactics in mind for when you make it to the tournaments?
Ben: To a certain extent, you know you need to claim objectives so you need units that can do that.
Declan: Gloomspite outside Troggs can struggle to kill things so I need to play like Gargants – get on objectives early and start scoring. Hand of Gork (movement spell) is critical in the list as it means people can’t leave objectives unguarded. I have the Spider to get Monstrous Takeover early and get the option of broken ranks with him. Although I need to protect him or lose him on my turn to prevent him giving 1 point away. 2nd turn is normally Ferocious Advance with Loonboss and both Fungoids (who spend most of their time hiding behind the Loonshrine). Finally I don’t mind losing units because I want as many opportunities as possible to get them back – hence Clammy Hand (Roll twice for reinforcements from Loonshrine).
Ben’s Ghostrek
Ben, I notice you have the dreaded Gotrek! Facehammer have slightly adjusted rules for him now, how do you think he’ll do?
Ben: He is still super smashy, he is there to kill gargants!
Declan, Sounds like a thorough plan. I love the Arachnarok unit, I’ve seen people include more than one, you weren’t tempted to do this?
Declan: I want to try a horde army because its my normal playstyle and is against the meta with reinforcement points and no horde discount. Unfortunately points are too high normally, but with an extra 150 it’s worth a go. I also want GW to see that people will take armies which are rubbish if they get small boosts. GG effectively have c8% reaction in points at facehammer which is what they need before the book. Unfortunately 60 Grots went from 360 to 450 which is criminal for a low power level book.
Have you ever crossed swords with each other in a tournament, if so how did that go?
Declan: I think we played Ogor v GG didn’t we? On the way in people were complaining about your list being too good and I said it was fine… then gummed you up with Grots?
Ben: Yeah it was the cows Throwing snowball list, I told everybody it was rubbish but no one believed me and then I got grotted!
Declan: Ah yes… you forgot the Stonehorns!! I did have 180 Grots in your defense.
Ben: 2+ I do six mortal wounds, cool, there are 54 left.
Declan: Yeah… no where near enough damage.
Whats your most memorable moment at a tournament?
Ben: Played a chap called Laurie who Declan will know, with a shooty stormcast list, and turn one took off his archaon off turn one, was crazy good.
Declan: I was playing GG with allied Gitmob grots at Sheffield Slaughter against Nurgle with their first book. It was against a GW employee who I won’t name as they get enough grief! His Great Unclean One had a -1 to hit within 12″ bubble. My shaman cast a spell on 60 Gitmob archers, who walked into the 12″ range, fired at the GUO and took it off! He was a little shocked but took it very well!
Ben’s Ghostlords Army
For someone looking to go to their first tournament, what advice would you give?
Declan: Definitely take the plunge. Let the TO and your opponents know it’s your first tournament. Take an army you know (don’t go for LRL net-list). Limit your warscrolls where possible. If you can bring 6 or fewer it gives you a chance of remembering the rules. Play the objectives!
Ben: Agreed
Looking at each others list, how would you try and defeat them?
Ben: You can’t ask us that we might play each other! But the short answer is throw Gotrek at him and shoot him a lot.
Declan: I think I probably have the advantage due to numbers here. If I can get on the objectives early it’s difficult to get me off them. Especially as Ben’s units flying in the boats don’t count as on the objective. I also just played Will with his KO and the grots can actually damage the units with shooting, and in combat. That said no doubt we’ll play now and Ben will rightly beat me!
