Retro Recall: Warhammer Fantasy Battles
January 8, 2019 by dracs
As we have observed many times in the past, we live in a golden age for the tabletop hobby. So many great new games are coming out every year that our entertainment-starved minds are hard-pressed to keep up! (won’t stop us trying, mind you).
Having said that, it is still nice to take some time to return to old favourites and look back at where the hobby has come from. So welcome to Retro Recall, our new series of articles where we delve into gaming’s long and varied history in search of some nostalgic classics.
In The Beginning
Looking back through my own gaming history, there are many options to choose from. However, one game stands head and shoulders above the others, dominating the landscape of my recollections like a mighty colossus painted in Citadel Burning Gold. It can be none other than Warhammer Fantasy Battles by Games Workshop.
Many of you will have heard me rant on about this game in the past. And I don’t intend on stopping now. This game blew my tiny single-digit-aged mind! It all started when a friend of the family lent me the rulebook for the game's fifth edition. I poured over this book long into the night, reading all about this world and its people.
I had, by this point, become well acquainted with classic fantasy works such as The Hobbit, Redwall, and the infallibility of adults. But here was a world full of even more colourful figures! There were noble elves, stoic dwarfs, loathsome Skaven, and terrifying undead (I kept their pages closed with paper clips). And with each new bit of lore, each new miniature revealed, I gradually realised that here was a world I could participate in. Here was one I could shape myself!
Then I turned that fateful page and it was love at first sight.
Frogs had long been my favourite animal as a kid. And here was one not only being treated as a great king but according to the book, was an even more powerful wizard than the elves!
The next day, I took the book back to our family friend, bubbling with questions about these Lizardmen I was to become so enamoured with. He invited me along to the local gaming club he ran and even went so far as to give me his old Lizardmen army that he no longer used.
From there, the obsession only grew. I read everything I could about it, introduced my friends to it, and began to write stories to go along with our games. It encouraged me to be creative in ways a dozen frustrated school teachers had never managed.
Even now, years after the game has faded from ascendance, I love to see the tactics and style of massed ranked games. Its replacement, Age of Sigmar, has done a lot to make the game accessible again, and opened the world up to a far more creative direction, breaking away from the Tolkien influences of its predecessor. However, I still miss the grim, down-in-the-dirt feel of Warhammer Fantasy Battles, often with the sly bit of humour to remind you not to take it all too seriously.
And a word to the wise; don’t mess with a Skink...
"...there were noble elves, stoic dwarfs, loathsome Skaven, and terrifying undead (I kept their pages closed with paper clips)"
Supported by (Turn Off)
Supported by (Turn Off)
"I still miss the grim, down-in-the-dirt feel of Warhammer Fantasy Battles..."
Supported by (Turn Off)
OK so when did it get called “Warhammer Fantasy Battles” as opposed to “Warhammer Fantasy Battle” as is shown in the last picture in the article on the spine of the Third Edition version on the top of the pile of Army Books? or is it some kind of Lego thing where some people have added an at the end S to make it sound all wrong?
3rd edition was called “Warhammer Fantasy Battles”, 2nd was “Warhammer Fantasy Battle” and had AFAIK no box set like 3rd and newer with miniatures in it but was only the books.
Nope 3rd edition came out in 1987 and was in hard back book as shown above. This was the first version I owned in about 1988/89 the fourth edition came up in a box in 1992 and was as far as I was aware still called Warhammer Fantasy Battle.
“3rd edition was called “Warhammer Fantasy Battles””
Nope, see above.
Huh, you’re right; I’ve always seen it written as the plural, but it looks like the singular is actually the correct. ?
I actually think it sounds ‘better’ with the ‘s’ at the end. Wiki says Battle though so maybe the s was just added over time…I don’t think it really matters though.
@brennon I guess it’s what you are used to I think it sounds wrong but I started off when it was Warhammer Fantasy Battle 🙂
And I thought you loved a good game of pedantry Ben 🙂
“OK so when did it get called “Warhammer Fantasy Battles” as opposed to “Warhammer Fantasy Battle…”
The year 2000, 6th ed,
1st Edition, “Warhammer – The Mass Combat Fantasy Role-Playing Game”
2nd Edition, “Warhammer – Fantasy Battle Rules”
3rd Edition, “Warhammer – Fantasy Battle”
4th Edition, “Warhammer”
5th Edition, “Warhammer”
6th Edition, “Warhammer – The Game of Fantasy Battles”
7th Edition, “Warhammer – The Game of Fantasy Battles”
8th Edition, “Warhammer – The Game of Fantasy Battles”
Bloody millennials ruin everything, but actually I see what has happened the called it “the game of…” Which actually makes sense so it’s not actually Warhammer Fantasy Battles at all and never has been ?
It was always just Warhammer to me, the other game was 40k and the other other game was Woof-RUP.
whamster
And let’s not forget it’s upstart little brother “warty thou”
That’s not retro… that’s still a new edition to me.
Since 6th edition was my first version of WHFB rules that I played I don’t have any experience from 5th edition but I have seen people refer it as Herohammer because those seemed to be most important part of any army and you could end game on turn 1 with single spell without giving other player even chance to do anything by killing other player’s general and making rest of his or her army run off table. With 6th edition they changed that making it so that single character couldn’t win games anymore and more emphasis put on blocks of… Read more »
This was my first introduction in table top gaming as well.
Ah, the fond memories of Bretonnian knights charging lizardmen.
Bretonnian and Lizardmen always seemed an odd match up to me. When I came into the game, the starter box was Orcs vs Empire. Was there ever a narrative to go alongside the Lizardmen / Bretonnian match up?
I don’t think that there was anything special in the box narrative wise like you have in later editions. It was indeed a strange match up but at that age I didn’t know it yet and it didn’t matter. Just having a cool box of new stuff to play with was enough.
I came in late to WHFB(s) when my son picked it up. We jumped in right as 8th was released, but I can relate to be drawn to a single army – dirty Skaven for me. My son went high elves, then night goblins, before settling with dark elves, but Clan Skryre had me at hello for the life of 8th edition.
Skaven! … We can no longer be friends.
5th edition as first version… kids today…
I had (and still have) 2nd edition which was more than a decade before…
The good old days of puns like the scenario in the box… the Magnificent Sven… Citadel Journal with Jaek and Helwood… Bugman’s Brewery….
I still have my 2nd edition, signed by Rick and Richard, I should make an effort to get to a Foundry open day at some point and get Bryan to complete the triumvirate.
@avernos You could go to the Oldhammer convention tha takes place every year. Its in August usually
https://www.wargamesfoundry.com/pages/oldhammer
aye, that’s what I was thinking. no rush, the box has only had 2 names for almost 30 years, another couple won’t hurt it
On a side note to this great nostalgia trip… I am worried about the fact that we live in the golden age of wargaming since usually after the golden age we have a decline.
I think we’ve been through some declines already. And the good thing about gaming declines is we still have the ones from the previous time to carry us through.
Couldn’t agree more.
never played Warhammer on the table loved the horned rat and the other one on the PS and reipropiated boxes for heroquest an the like, a good article @dracs
From WHFB RTS games Dark Omen was my jam back in day. I never played Horned Rat and to me Mark of Chaos didn’t feel as fun as Dark Omen.
Blimey I remember Dark Omen! Played it at a friend’s house, scared the crap out of me when the skeletons appeared and then borrowed it for a week.
I enjoyed Mark of Chaos, but it definitely fell short of what I wanted. Mostly because what I wanted was for it to just be an Age of Empires re-skin.
Ooh that’s the one good call man.
I am going to jump in here and say WHFB was a great game for it’s time and when AoS dropped I was sceptical. Now I have read some novels and the lore and I am really enjoying it. The game runs smoother than WHFB and the realms have added size to the story allowing for more “things” to exist and more stories to take place. Saying all that I loved WHFB and i look on it with fond memories, tried to play a game a little while back though and like watching an old TV show sometimes .. it… Read more »
aye but AoS isn’t a massed battle game like fantasy, it’s like equating draughts as playing smoother than chess. It’s true but they’re not the same game
Indeed those two are different kind of games. AoS is more fantasy 40k (it even has it’s own take on Space Marines) which is ironic since 40k was science fantasy version of WHFB. WHFB is based on ranks and had it’s own tactical aspect because of it. Besides IMO WHFB world was far more interesting than AoS world will ever be.
correct
Like WHFB but in a different way formations and movement is one of the key elements tactically. The difference is you can string models out over a line or you can bunch them together into a mass attack and the size of the bases will also play a big part in how much pile in you get. Stormcast resemble Space Marines I agree but when you look into the lore and paint and play with them you quickly realise they are altogether different other than the armour resemblance. In the lore they do know fear and doubt, their spirits are… Read more »
I wouldn’t agree with this .. it isn’t a “ranked” mass battle game but there are horde armies that consist of more that 100 models and people use movement trays .. so it can be a mass battle game depending on the faction you take ..
you’re wrong, sorry. It just becomes a bigger skirmish game. I don’t care if people use movement trays or not. The fact that there are no ranks, flanks or rears is the point. It doesn’t matter where you attack someone in AoS the attacks are the same and there are no negatives. The fact you can do it with 300 sigmarines on trays doesn’t make it massed battle. There are consequences in rank and flank games that AoS doesn’t have, ergo not the same
Well horses for courses .. as a guy who is 52 years old this year and has played both Warhammer and 40K since it’s inception (with a couple of breaks I admit) I think AoS is a huge improvement on Fantasy Battles (Oh and I play KoW and Warpath too).. The game flows and is fun and the community is very open and friendly to new people. I know there are many who love the old game and will stick with 9th age or KoW .. but dismissing AoS as Sigmarines without giving it a real look is a shame… Read more »
I don’t dismiss it because of Sigmarines, I dismiss it because it’s not the game I want to play and I read the lore when they brought it in and it was terrible, that may have changed subsequently the the initial release lore was terrible and made me in no way want to play it. When they removed humanity from warhammer what is the point in fighting? If everyone is dead and factions are having a never ending war then there are no risks or rewards to be had.
For me, Age of Sigmar was something that had me very angry when it came out because it was replacing such a beloved part of my childhood.
However, it has since grown on me and these days makes me very excited at all the possibilities it allows. I feel it sacrifices some of WFB’s character for greater creative freedom though. Which is not a bad thing, it’s just different.
We played the first two editions and then got into Grenadiers Fantasy warriors which we thought was a better ruleset.I think it was released just after 3rd edition came out
I remember that, to which my dwarf army owes a debt of gratitude that could never be repaid. 🙂
A all still available through lovely free downloads at http://www.mirliton.it Would love to reduce to the size to 10mm and do it all over again
Bryan Ansell with an author credit. This article has made an old man very happy.
lest we forget Richard Halliwell, the rockstar designer people seem to have forgotten. A tragic tale.
And me TBH. I’ve just goggled him and … wow. This was during my hiatus from gaming and I just had no idea.
Hope you’re doing well, sir!
I’m keeping the best. Still starting many projects and finishing none 🙂
Currently I’m not finishing some Saga and revisiting not finishing my Rorke’s Drift ^^
Rorke’s Drift eh? Coincidentally I’ll be adding that to the list of things I won’t finish as well soon enough. Great minds think alike (and fools seldom differ)
watch this space, or at least the weekenders 😉
If mine get any momentum behind them I’ll make a project.
Yes; love the old stuff as we played for our Christmas game. Warhammer the black books 1st edition. the Elven alliance V’s a mixed army of men dwarf and the dead (Skeletons).
You might think of that being a bit of a mixture but; was an end to a D and D campaign. The Elves being the bad guys.