So, if say, I did actually pick up and start playing WFB, do I tell people that I play “Warhammer”? Because that’s what the game is. People will think I play 40k though.
Jordan Sorcery has a great series on WFB. I really recommend checking it out. It’s made me think about what I’m looking for in a game. I’m not positive I’m really looking for a mega-tactical war simulation. A mild and friendly herohammer experience actually sounds kinda fun. Plus, I wouldn’t have to field massive battalions of troops. I can get by with a few sets of guys with some heroes added in.
We’ll see, I still haven’t assigned much time and zero money to making this happen. I think I’ve always been reticent is that I figure I’ll get trounced. My general “game strategy” is to dive in headlong and swinging as hard as I can. Turns out, that’s not especially strategic
Current plan is to:
- Finish reading the rules
- Print out Warhammer Battle Magic
- Read some basic army lists
- See if I can assemble two <1,000 point armies
I think I can manage all that.
Here’s what I’ve printed so far:
- How to play Warhammer (I had to reconstitute the document from a YouTube video! I couldn’t find a scanned copy anywhere)
- Rulebook
- Battle Bestiary
- Battle for Maugthrond Pass
- Warhammer Arcane Magic
- Dwarf army book
The next step is to print out Warhammer Battle Magic and some card templates. I’m going to do that tonight.
I’m torn about the magic system. It’s going to take some learnin’ to figure that out. I get the sense (from reading online) that the advanced magic system was either abused (by competitive players) or not really used at all (probably more casual players) at the time. But I’m sure there’s plenty of middle ground in there, being able to play a game today with the benefit of 20:20 hindsight.
Procuring the magic cards/items and accouterments may be a bit of a challenge. The Warhammer Battle Magic sets are $$$ and almost universally incomplete. Oh well. It’s only 30+ years old. Here’s what should be in the box set.
| Component | Quantity |
| Illustrated Rulebook | 1 |
| 36 Card Magic Deck | 36 |
| Spell Effect Templates | 10 |
| Counters, Warp Tokens and Card Markers | 54 |
| Colleges of Magic Cards | 80 |
| High Magic Cards | 10 |
| Dark Magic Cards | 10 |
| Orc Waaagh! Magic Cards | 10 |
| Skaven Spells | 13 |
| Spells for the Chaos Gods | 12 |
| Magic Item Cards | 111 |
A surprising turn of events is that Games Workshop still actively sells scatter dice! Those have to be the most reasonable and modesty priced items GW has ever listed.
As far as versions go, I’m pretty committed to 4th edition. It debuted very near the start of my GW infatuation, and ended right at the end. Seems like what I’m looking for. So, by extension, I have nearly all the White Dwarf magazines during that era. So I can peek back in time at the goings on and mine my own possessions for treasures rather than acquiring new objects. Fun!
So that’s the state of things today. Who knows where this will lead. The odds of playing an actual game are slim. Though I do own a great big green tablecloth…
