Happy Warhammer Quest Day!
On this day, 30 years ago, Warhammer Quest held its launch party. Merry Quest day! May you keep the spirit of Warhammer Quest all year long. And here’s to hoping Games Workshop does something fun and interesting with WHQ, we’re overdue!
It’s the 21st century, why are we still playing in dungeons?
The age old question: why are there so many fully stocked treasure chests in the labyrinthine corridors? What is it about a romanticized semi-medieval setting that fires up the imagination? There have been plenty of medieval revivals over the years. The Wikipedia page on Medievalism is quite interesting. It ranges from what is now classic literature, to Danny Kaye in The Court Jester, to contemporary Renaissance Fairs and Larping. I think it’s because the fear of darkness, the unknown of rounding corners, mysticism of magic, and a general love of swords. Lots of kids go through a fear of the dark, it’s primal. We can’t see in the dark. There’s monsters there! We can’t see around corners either. There could be treasure! Also, there’s monsters there! Magic, fairies, wizards, and enchanted objects. That stuff goes back a loooooong ways. Just check out the Clan MacLeod fairy flag. Swords. So much of…
Follow-up on mini painting priorities
Back in November I revamped my hobby priorities. No more hoarding unassembled models… So now, six months later, I have a bunch of assembled, unpainted models. Which, I actually feel better about that a bunch of stuff still in the box. I can touch and see them, even throw them into a game if I want (sure, that doesn’t happen much, unpainted minis! Eww!). Since I just finished painting everything (except for a few expansion stragglers) for Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower, I don’t have any really pressing hobby demands. So here’s my updated, current priority list: Games workshop display pieces I have a number of nice GW minis that aren’t necessarily ones I’d use in a game. They are however, very cool, in my opinion. These are the minis I’d be sad if I never painted, even if they’re not particularly “useful”. Gotrek, Felix, Grombrindal, and Jakkob Bugmansson XI. Double…
What I’d like to see in the next Warhammer Quest
I think it’s universally agreed that the most magical part of Warhammer Quest 1995 is the Roleplay Book. That’s what I’d really like to see in the next iteration of Warhammer Quest. Since the ’95 version, the game has shrunk. Monster, treasure, actions, and adventure types have been reduced. And that’s OK for the most part. But eventually the beauty of running a GM-less game that nearly rivals a full roleplaying experience has slipped away. I’d really like to see a Roleplay-like book make a comeback. The Soulbound Ulfenkarn source book is somewhat along those lines. It provides a lot of flavor and adventure prompts. I’ve flipped through my copy, it’s very cool. Game Master (GM) needed though. One of the best parts about Warhammer Quest 1995 is that everyone can be a hero, no GM required. And, I’d say that we’re due a new installment: We’re currently in the…
Scotland Forever
I was extremely fortunate to have spent the last two weeks in beautiful sunny Scotland. I’m not even joking, it was sunny while I was there. It rarely rained and even if it had, it still would have been a great trip. While in Edinburgh, I stopped in the Warhammer store on Castle St. and picked up a Sloppity Bilepiper and the 2025 Black Library Celebration. So far, the highlight is “The One Road” by David Guymer. As a collector of all things Gotrek, I was really happy to see that story in there. It was a quick, fun read, though Gotrek factored in as only a minor character. The short story bridges into Verminslayer, that I haven’t checked out yet, as it still has limited availability. I wanted to hit an independent game store while I was there, but the timing didn’t work out. As much as I like…
Warhammer Quest Rumors
Nothing substanciated, but I was in my local Warhammer store recently and talked to the GW associate. He said that he didn’t expect to see any additional Cursed City content. Not surprising, and probably true. Though it’d be great to get another White Dwarf or two. BUT! He said that he expects to see more from the Warhammer Quest line. How much insider knowledge does my store manager have? Probably very little. Am I happy about it? Yeah, I’d say so. Am I also sad having further confirmation that Cursed City is dead, in a coffin, buried deep underground? Yeah, I am. Cursed City is pretty fun. I really like the theme, characters (in-box and expansion), and minis. So we’ll see! Fingers crossed. Though that upcoming Old World RPG is still in the back of my mind. I think the world is big enough for multiple, concurrent Old World RPGs.
There’s a new Old World Roleplaying game coming out, but it’s not Warhammer Quest
I’m up on most Games Workshop roleplay news, but I missed this one. GW announced on Warhammer Community the “imminent release” of Warhammer The Old World Roleplaying Game. Here’s a big write up from warhammer.com: https://www.wargamer.com/warhammer-the-old-world-rpg/exclusive Now what does this mean for a potentially new Warhammer Quest game? Who knows!?! Warhammer Quest and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying Game existed in parallel for one glorious year; 1995 (and I suppose lots of other years with Sliver Tower, Shadows Over Hammerhal, Blackstone Fortress, and Cursed City). But I’d say that sadly, this probably decreases the odds of a new Old World TTRPG. Cursed City is still an active, and if a 30th anniversary ’95 came out, it would complete directly with Cursed City, Soulbound, and the newly announced Cubicle 7 game.
Underappreciated YouTube channels
There’s no shortage of gaming content on YouTube. Here are some of my favorites: https://www.youtube.com/@52Miniatures https://www.youtube.com/@RandomMakingEncounters https://www.youtube.com/@magicdicemanufacturing https://www.youtube.com/@MattsHobbyHour https://www.youtube.com/@hammerthebacklog https://www.youtube.com/@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring https://www.youtube.com/@TheBattlinBarrowGaming https://youtube.com/@thedungeondive
Will there be a (new) Old Word TTRPG?
What I really mean is, will there be a new Old World Warhammer Quest? I hope so. But I suppose it depends on how well the Old Word does in general. Table Top Roleplaying Games (TTRPG) are really the sweet spot for me. A pure roleplaying game is too much. A GM is needed, few if any miniatures are used, and the playing surface is normally in the player’s minds rather than the table. I really like the minis. I like seeing the valiant hero engaged on a board or 3D terrain. My self-diagnosis is that growing up with HeroQuest locked my brain into the positiveness of board squares. I really like squares/hexs. There’s no tape measure necessary. Line of sight angles are obvious (normally). I’m sure full-on roleplaying games appeal to a lot of people, it’s just not what I prefer. Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay was first published way back…
Reevaluating Silver Tower Painting Effort
OK, so I may have underestimated the painting difficulty of the Silver Tower minis. Long story short: Having fun, but taking longer than expected. Rigor Ranking explained The number of miniatures tells you something, but not the whole story. So I went through and graded the miniatures based on the perceived rigor necessary to paint. Here’s my grading scheme: The updated table below shows Silver Tower jumping from a weighted average of 2.0 to 2.5. Quite a leap. Right up there with Blackstone Fortress. Here’s the updated details: Description Quantity Original Rigor Adjusted Rigor Chaos Familiar 8 1 2 Grot Scuttling 8 1 3 Kairic Acolyte 8 3 3 Tzaangor 6 3 3 Blue Horror 4 2 2 Brimstone Horror 4 1 1 Pink Horror 2 2 3 Skaven Deathrunner 2 2 3 Darkoath Chieftain 1 3 3 Excelsior Warpriest 1 3 3 Fyreslayer Doomseeker 1 3 3 Gaunt Summoner…