Games - Warhammer Fantasy

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	Games - Warhammer Fantasy

Warhammer or Warhammer Fantasy is a fantasy setting created by Games Workshop, in which many games of that company are set, the best known ones being the Warhammer Fantasy Battles wargame, and the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay
role-playing game. There is also a related science fiction setting called Warhammer 40,000
.

It is notable for its "dark and gritty" aspect, and its background world, which features a culture very like Renaissance Germany crossed with Tolkien's Middle-earth. Chaos is central to the setting, as the forces of Chaos are attempting unceasingly to tear the mortal world asunder. The world itself is populated with a variety of races such as humans, dark elves, high elves, dwarfs, undead, orcs, lizardmen, ogres, and other creatures familiar to many settings.

History

The first edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battles was released by Games Workshop in the Spring of 1983. Prior to this release, the company dealt primarily with the importing of American Role-playing games, as well as support and review of gaming products through their periodical, White Dwarf. With the release of the third edition of the game in 1987 (as well as Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay the year before) the game moved from merely a set of wargame rules into a full-fledged fantasy setting.

In 1992 the fourth edition of the game was released, marking a newer era of greater mass-market appeal. Four years later the fifth edition upgraded both rules and miniatures, but did not fully replace core game mechanics, as previous editions had.

Warhammer Fantasy Battles is currently in its sixth edition (released in 2000), a change that dropped the card-based supplemental rules of the previous two editions, as well marked a shift toward balance-oriented tournament play. Re-releasing of old armybooks, beginning in 2006 with Warhammer Armies: Dwarves, has begun a new "rules recycling". A new edition is expected to be released within the next three years, probably sooner. Various ideas are being bandied about on most, if not all, Warhammer forums. The new edition will almost certainly be a mere upgrade of the 6th ed rules - fixing major griefs, such as the magic system, and re-wording rules to make them more comprehensible.

Warhammer Background

Setting

To many players, the story or background of Warhammer is just as important as games and miniatures. Alongside Dungeons and Dragons, Warhammer is among the oldest of commercial fantasy worlds, a direct descendant of both that game and Tolkien's Middle-earth. What is currently recognizable as the Warhammer World began with the first edition of the game, but took off as its own setting with the release of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and the 3rd edition in 1987.

Warhammer has developed a very recognizable stylistic image set. Skulls feature prominently, as well as gothic architecture, absurdly large weapons and shoulder-armor, and bizarre imagery reminiscent of director Terry Gilliam's work, as well as a strong dose of black comedy. From its inspiration from Michael Moorcock's novels, the Warhammer World is centered around the classic Man vs. Himself literary theme. The Chaos Gods are personified flaws of humankind; the inner literal daemons of living things come back through a magic medium to torment and kill. The ultimate victory of these forces is often hinted at, highlighting a strong assumption that sentient beings are fundamentally flawed and will eventually bring about their own destruction via the forces of Chaos. This is especially tragic in light of the outside, non-Chaotic forces that threaten civilized beings; rampaging Orcs, political strife, and general warfare.

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