History of Warhammer

Games Workshop and its beginnings

If we want to talk about the history of Warhammer miniatures, it is necessary to take a look at its beginnings to understand the reason for its impact. This takes us to England in 1975, when the idea of two friends named Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson, to sell board games and role playing games by mail becomes a reality.

This company is called Games Workshop, which is still standing with its main store since 1978. From this small, even somewhat rudimentary venture, this universe we love was born.

Since its emergence, every so often they change some rules and aspects of the game with each edition, thus maintaining a universe in constant evolution and change, which makes it more striking. With its current extension of universes and armies, Warhammer has pushed the creativity of the players to the limit, becoming more than a role-playing game or a set of miniatures to collect.

The first miniatures

The idea of miniatures by Games Workshop has not emerged in a solid way from its beginnings, but appeared after a while and evolved progressively until reaching what we know today.

At the beginning, this company was only dedicated to review other tabletop games in the publications of its magazine called White Dwarft. However, in 1979 they took the initiative to sell generic miniatures to collect or use in other games, since at this point they still did not have their own history.

The main creator of these miniatures was Citadel Miniatures, who worked together with Games Workshop to make the fantastic miniatures possible. As time has gone by, they have improved with very detailed representations, allowing fans to assemble miniatures and paint their own characters and feel that it is something different every time.

The long awaited first edition

With the number of fans growing more and more, Games Workshop wanted to go a step further in the entertainment field by creating their own role-playing game and in 1983 Warhammer Fantasy Battle was launched.

The world of Warhammer continued to grow colossally to such an extent that novels began to be written about this universe. Due to the interesting and vastness of this universe, they have been able to get players from all over the world to compete against each other to prove their worth on the battlefield or create their own exhibitions.

This fantasy game has managed to attract the attention of fans of other role-playing games, so much so that we can say that Warhammer is the most popular tabletop role-playing game worldwide. Nowadays, you can find video games inspired by this universe, which gives us an idea of its success.

Editions such as Warhammer 40000, inspired by a dystopian world, have renewed the attraction of players with the inclusion of battle tanks and rules that provide a different experience to what was known about the universe, while retaining the most striking aspects.

Where does the inspiration for miniatures come from?

It’s no secret that every role-playing board game fan has a favorite character and identifies with some kind. That is why fantasy elements have been so successful and have managed to take root in the hearts of players. This added to the elements that give a touch of reality to the context, makes it hard to resist the appeal of Warhammer.

The influence of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings has undoubtedly been a wellspring of resources for this fantasy game, a whole situation of geopolitical conflicts that makes it seem so real. Becoming familiar with the lore is extremely important to understand the story and to create a link between people and the universe.

Heroic fantasy adventures and these mixed with futuristic elements are an important part of Warhammer. In this way, scenarios with elaborate stories that give meaning to each character of the miniatures are offered. This is why history of Warhammer 40k has been such a success, exposing a kind of apocalyptic chaos, but at the same time, maintaining classic elements.

The richness of real elements that the game offers also makes it very special and entertaining. Many regions have been inspired by real countries such as the Estalia region, which was inspired by the Spanish territory merged with Italy.

Warhammer has undoubtedly revolutionized the world of role-playing games, mixing real and fictional historical elements. To date there are 8 editions and thousands of satisfied fans who see this world, not only as a hobby, but as a way of life.

Thanks to its impact on the world, it has influenced the creation of different worlds belonging to different franchises, such as World of Warcraft or the Warhammer videogame itself, which have been very well received.

In history of Warhammer miniatures we see not only armies and characters, but a lifetime of work. Thanks to the effort to give an image to those elements of literary fiction that already existed, is that today we can enjoy the Warhammer miniatures and everything that surrounds them.