Hey everyone! Adam, from TFG Radio, here to once again wax poetic about games long gone.
Back in the day Games Workshop used to actually have a historical games department. they produced a lot of games for a whole host of different periods. Many of you may remember Warhammer Ancients Battles as that was probably the most popular ruleset. I have played almost all of them with some being unable to be played due to the scarcity of the rules because the department appears to have shut down abruptly. This week I’ll show you some of the least known games from the Warhammer Historical department.
Warmaster Ancients
Warmaster, basically the epic scale version of fantasy but at 10mm scale, had become popular and so there case a historical version focusing on ancient battles. I enjoyed this game a lot as they allowed me to play large battles with figures that were small enough to give me the sense of big battles and used game mechanics that I was already familiar with. Playing this game and Warmaster easily helped me in learning a few of the historical games produced by Warlord Games. Although I now use 15mm figures mainly, I still enjoy playing the newest versions of this old historical game.
The Great War
I love World War 1. It is perhaps my favorite period of study and to wargame. I was really excited when Games Workshop released this book. It plays similar to 40K at that time, 5th edition, but their is an important difference. Even as early as 2008 Games Workshop had the idea of changing the ballistic and weapon skill to show what the model needed to roll to hit, just like the current edition of 40K. To think this drastic change was around for over 10 years before being implemented. It was truly ahead of it’s time. Now I just need to find the supplement that was released just before the closing of the department. I am always on the look out for it.
Kampfgruppe Normandy
Speaking of the closing of the department, this one is one of those unicorn books for me. Games Workshop had actually announced and produced a set of rules for World War 2. I was really looking forward to this book and would finally get me to play World War 2. Unfortunately this book was another casualty of the department closing. The book was made but there were not that many copies produced. It is a book that is rarely seen and seems to be highly sought after. I want it just to have and see the rules as sometimes there is a glimpse of what could be ported over from the historical side to the 40K or fantasy side. I continue on my quest and hope to find a copy soon, as well as the Napoleonic game they made but that is even more scarce.
That’s all for this week. Hope you enjoyed the article. Let me know what you think, and what Warhammer Historical games do you miss, in the comments section below. Don’t forget to visit our Facebook, Twitch, and Patreon pages to stay up to date on what we’re up to and when episodes drop!
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