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Warhammer 40,000

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Warhammer 40,000 (informally known as Warhammer 40K or just 40K) is a science fiction tabletop miniature wargame, produced by the British gaming company Games Workshop. Play centres around 28mm scale (approximately 1:65) miniature figurines produced by Citadel Miniatures, which represent soldiers, creatures and vehicles of war. The game requires a combination of tactics and luck.

File:40k 4th ed rulebook.jpg
Cover of the Warhammer 40,000 4th edition rulebook

Warhammer 40,000 is the science fiction companion to Warhammer Fantasy. It allows for less regimental, formation-based movement, and deals with more advanced weaponry.

History

 
Rogue Trader - the first edition of Warhammer 40,000

The first edition of the game, Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, was published in 1987. Game designer Rick Priestley was responsible for creating the original rules set and the Warhammer 40,000 gameworld. This original version came as a very detailed rulebook, making it most suitable for fighting small skirmishes. Much of the composition of units was determined randomly, by rolling dice.

A few elements of the setting (bolters, Dreadnought armour) can be seen in a set of earlier wargaming rules called Laserburn produced by Tabletop Games. The influence of these can also be seen in the prototype Necromunda game mechanics. Laserburn was turned into the computer game Laser Squad that subsequently evolved into the X-COM computer games.

The second edition was published in late 1993, aimed at making it easier to fight larger battles. This and later developments of the game are the work of editor Andy Chambers. This version relied greatly on cards, and came as a boxset including Space Marine and Ork miniatures, scenery and dice, as well as the main rules. An expansion pack titled Dark Millennium was later released.

The third edition was released in 1998, and again concentrated on streamlining the rules for larger battles. The rulebook was available alone, or as a boxset with minatures featuring the Space Marines and the newly introduced Dark Eldar.

Current State of Play

The fourth edition of the game was released in 2004. This edition is not as major a change as prior editions were as it did not break gamers' old army lists or codexes. The new rulebook is published in hardcover, and a truncated version of the same rules is available as part of an introductory boxed set, Battle For Macragge, featuring the Space Marines and Tyranids.

As with prior versions, the main rules are included in the rule book with supplementary details being available for each army in the form of Codex books, each detailing either one army, a part of an army or sometimes extra rules for a specific form of battle (such as Cityfight). As of January 2006 the Space Marines and Tyranid codexes have been updated to fourth edition and the new Black Templars codex was released in early November 2005. The next codex to be released will be the Tau Empire, containing the new Vespid mercenaries and several other Tau updates. A supplement covering the Taros campaign (Imperial Armour Volume 3: The Taros Campaign), including additional units and models available from the Forge World subsidiary of Games Workshop, is also available.

For materials done under the previous iteration of the rules, there exist errata and FAQ files, to ensure potential rules conflicts between editions are resolved universally.

Warhammer 40,000, the Game

Overview

Each player assembles an army, consisting of pewter and plastic miniature figurines - each, usually, representing a military unit from one of the official lists. These armies are constrained by rules contained within the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook, as well as in several army-specific Codexes.

The size of the army is determined by "points", with each unit having an associated cost proportionate to its potential worth on the battlefield. Before a game the players agree on how many points will be used as the maximum army size and each assemble an army up to that maximum limit. Common game sizes are usually between 500 and 2000 points, but can be much larger. The games generally run from half an hour to several hours depending on the size of the armies.

Play is divided into turns, with each player choosing specific actions for all of his units on his turn, and using dice to determine the results of those actions. Each battle, at the onset, is assigned a set of additional rules and a goal (collectively called a "scenario") specific to it. The simplest of these is a basic "cleanse" mission, which ends after six turns, the victor being declared based on who controls the four quarters of the battlefield; more complex goals can include night fights, take-and-hold missions, and various others.

Some players organize a series of scenarios, called a campaign, where two or more players fight against each other in a number of battles. These campaigns may feature their own special rules, and are tied together by a storyline, which might alter according to the results of each scenario when it is played. Every few years, a global campaign is held in which people submit the results of their games to Games Workshop. These results are collated, and together affect the storyline of the game, which is then and is accounted for in the next rulebook and fiction releases. The latest of these global campaigns was the Eye of Terror Campaign.

Collecting

As of February 2006, new players wishing to start playing should expect to spend upwards of £100 to £160 for a reasonably sized (1,500 - 2,000 tournament size) army, including costs for rulebooks, codexes and paints.[1] (however new players are encouraged to build their army in step rather then getting it all at once) Players must purchase units; which are available individually, in squads or in boxed sets. A typical blister pack with one to three models will cost from £4 to £12, with the cost of boxed sets varying widely (£18 to £75), depending on the contents. [2]

In addition to the current line of units, Games Workshop makes available past model lines as a part of their mail-order-only "Classic" series. These are models that have been used for earlier versions of the game. This is the only way to get certain factions (for example, Eldar Harlequins), which have been discontinued.

Modelling

File:SpaceMarineBeingConverted.jpg
Mixing parts from different models is a popular method of conversion

Since the models are hand-painted and assembled by the player, players are encouraged to design their own paint schemes as well as using the pre-designed ones displayed in the various books. They are also encouraged to further modify their figures and vehicles using parts from other kits and models (known as "bitz" to players), or scratch-made from plasticard, modelling putty, or whatever the modeller can scrounge up. These conversions are often entered into contests at sponsored tournaments and similar gaming events.

Terrain is a very important part of play. Although Games Workshop has terrain kits available, many hobbyists prefer to make their own elaborate and unique set pieces. Common household items like soft drink cans, coffee cups, styrofoam packing pieces, and pill bottles can be transformed into ruined cathedrals, alien habitats, or terrain with the addition of plasticard, putty, and a bit of patience and skill.

Background

Setting

The Warhammer 40,000 game world is most readily characterized as a gothic science-fantasy setting. The central and most popular elements of the Warhammer 40,000 universe are the Space Marines, futuristic versions of fantasy knights and the finest warriors of the Imperium of Mankind, a dystopian and degenerate galaxy-spanning civilization.

Since it originally was created as a sci-fi spin-off of the Warhammer Fantasy Battle game, the Warhammer 40,000 gameworld contains many elements of the fantasy genre, for example the concept of magic and adapted versions of classic fantasy races. The eclectic mix of inspirational sources for the Warhammer 40,000 universe include classic and contemporary sci-fi, horror and fantasy movies and television series and the works of renowned genre authors such as Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert, H.P. Lovecraft, Michael Moorcock, J. R. R. Tolkien and Robert A. Heinlein (Heinlein's novel Starship Troopers inspired many elements such as elite marines in powered armor, and drop pods in which encased Space Marines and equipment are fired from orbiting ships down to the battlefield). These and other sources of inspiration, such as medieval, baroque and surrealist art (especially the works of H. R. Giger), and popular depictions of historical settings (such as the World Wars, Victorian Britain, Imperial Rome, The Inquisitions, Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia) leads to a wholly unique fictional universe, in which every side is to some extent evil – though some are slightly less evil than others.

For example, The Imperium of Man, is generally thought of as the "good side", and while it may be true that there are many good people within it, as a whole it is an oppressive, xenophobic, corrupt mess of an organization. The only reason it can maintain any semblance of control of its population is because being worked to the bone night and day in total, oppressive adoration of the Emperor is better than being worked to the bone night and day in total, oppressive adoration of the Gods of Chaos, only to end existence as a sacrifice for a god hungry for souls.

The physical setting of this story is the Materium, with all action here in the Milky Way Galaxy. Much of this is controlled by the The Imperium of Man, though he is not the only galactic denizen. A dynamic, galaxy-spanning story line is possible because of a separate plane of existence, the Immaterium or "Warp."

The Warp is described as a realm of energy, where thought can take physical form, and with currents and eddies that make traveling vast interstellar distances difficult, yet possible. As this is a realm of thought, a coalescence yields the often sinister warp entity. The strongest of these entities are the Chaos Gods, Khorne (a god of rage, bloodshed and war), Nurgle (a god of despair and decay), Tzeentch (a god of change, deception, scheming and magic) and Slaanesh (a god of pleasure, pain, depravity and decadence).

Indeed, the gods of Chaos actually are either core aspects of the human psyche or natural forces with profound impact thereupon. The Chaos gods have a dynamic, antagonistic relationship; Khorne rivals Slaanesh, while Nurgle rivals Tzeentch. Nurgle (decay is entropic and is associated with a negative increase in free energy) and Tzeentch (potential energy and complexity by definition oppose entropy) represent opposing forces (and both draw power from their psychological effects); Khorne and Slaanesh are more subtle – the actions of a Khornate devotee affect a victim, the actions of a Slaaneshi devotee affect the devotee (the victim is merely an instrument). Chaos and the Warp are still more complicated, considering there exist many other minor Chaos entities, some of which are worshipped in place of the four major powers of the warp.

Armies/Races/Species

Main article: Warhammer 40,000 species

The Warhammer 40,000 game, and consequentially the fictional universe, is made up of many races and species. The playable armies in the game are the Chaos Space Marines, Daemonhunters, Dark Eldar, Eldar, Imperial Guard, Necrons, Orks, Space Marines, Tau, Tyranids and Witch Hunters.

Notable characters

The Warhammer 40,000 universe and game are made up of many different characters, each important in some way. Some of these characters are more important to the universe and game than others. The list below contains a selection of the greatest characters.

Warhammer 40,000 spin-offs

Main article: Warhammer 40,000 spin-offs

Warhammer 40,000 has, over the years, inspired many spin-off games. The most popular of these include the miniature-based games Battlefleet Gothic, Epic Armageddon, Inquistor and Necromunda, all of which are available as "Specialist Games" from the Games Workshop website, and the video games Dawn of War and Fire Warrior.

References

See also

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