Lore: Unboxing Warhammer – 1st Edition
Let me tell you the days of HIGH ADVENTURE….
I’ve been playing Games Workshop games since 1988, but when I recently came into possession of a copy of Warhammer 1st Edition from 1982, I felt like more like Indiana Jones than veteran wargamer…
First of all, let’s remember this is THE SEMINAL product that started it all. The product that would launch an industry giant.
It was a different time, and Warhammer 1st Edition was in most ways a typical gaming product of its day: a cardboard box with three softcover black and white rule books with no professional typesetting, layout, and art on par with the first edition of Dungeons and Dragons (not the greatest).
It was the work of a youthful Rick Priestley, John Blanche, Bryan Ansell, and Richard Halliwell.
Inside the cardboard box we see the three core books:
Volume 1 : Tabletop Battles
Volume 2 : Magic
Volume 3 : Characters
It’s all in here, the neolithic bones of our current game system. Borrowing heavily from Tolkein, you get all the standard Fantasy races, standard beasties (heck even the Balrog is in there by name), and so many others.
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| Beware the Giant Weevil! |
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| A Giant Frog? Wait for it…. |
Perhaps my favorite beastiary section is this one. Almost 30 years later, one race has a fantastic line of minis and several army books, while the other… well… you know…
You get the very first magic and movement phases:
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| Wheeling and Turning (that’s it) were the only game in town. |
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| Ahh, that explains the Giant Frog |
There is no Old World, no Warhammer world, no history, just some little crazed and revolutionary rules for using units of fantasy lead miniatures to fight out epic battles. But who in their right mind would ever sign up for that kind of hobby?
HOMEWORK: Please come up with the unit entry for the standard Manfish. Include it’s pointcost, equipment and special abilities as well, just like you would see in an 8th Edition Army book.
