Warhammer 40,000 - set in a science fantasy universe - has just turned 25. Why are grown men still launching tabletop war?

You may have walked past one of the hundreds of Games Workshops on the High Street. You may even have wandered in, especially if you are a teenage boy or the parent of one.

If you know your Necrons (virtually invincible soulless metal warriors) from your Dark Eldar (sadistic elfin pirates), the chances are you are one of the dedicated tribe who have signed up to what fans call The Hobby.

Most days of the week, on table tops in "hobby centre" shops, in office lunchrooms, and bedrooms, players gather around home-constructed battle fields with miniature ruins and petrified forests. They assemble and paint small model fighters from a chosen army (several to collect) and using dice, tape measures and special rule books, battle rival militia in a fictional science fiction universe set in the 41st Millennium, called Warhammer 40,000.

Launched 25 years ago, 40K was so named to distinguish it from traditional fantasy Warhammer of elves and vampires. Both lines, together with a Lord of the Rings brand, continue to attract hundreds of thousands of new fans in Britain and across the world - 70% of sales are abroad.

The appeal is in collecting, assembling and painting the models, for play, which are manufactured in Nottingham (and Memphis, Tennessee) and sold through the Games Workshops chain and by mail order. Blood, torn flesh, grimacing skulls and very large guns and tanks feature prominently in the detailed artwork.

Despite the competition from online or console-based gaming, Warhammer continues to thrive, with successful spin-off novels set in the 40K universe. How many other British companies, for example, could report a 40% rise in their latest half-year pre-tax profits?

It's like why theatre remains popular in the age of cinema," says 32-year-old Andrew Ruddick from Cambridge, explaining its enduring appeal. He describes himself as a "relapsed" Warhammer gamer, slipping back into it in his 20s with friends. "There's an intimacy. With tabletop gaming you are there."

Several hundred such gamers gather regularly at Games Workshop's Hall of Fame, next to its Nottingham factory, for tournaments. Most, but certainly not all, are male.

They play on teams with names like Alfa Geek, Purple Pain and I See Lead People. Heavy rule books or codices (all published by GW) are consulted intently. Templates and tape measures are used to confirm terrain advanced and numbers of casualties. Occasionally a whoop of victory goes up from a table.

Kathryn Turner, 13, is playing a doubles match with her father Stephen against two strapping 30-something blokes. The poker-face calm with which she deploys her Tyranids (world-devouring aliens) is impressive.

"It's fun and I like spending this time with my dad," she says. Her mother Sue is one of the crop of self-confessed Warhammer Widows who spend all day in the cafe. Kathryn admits to sometimes wearing pink on the first day to psych out the male opponents. "I'm moving on to play with Sisters of Battle next," she says - it's an army of fanatical warrior nuns with flamethrowers.

The whole aesthetic is, as Andrew Ruddick puts it "very masculine". But the appeal is its epic scale, says Warhammer fan and Marvel X-Men comic writer, Kieron Gillen. "It's a hilariously OTT maximalist universe at an operatic pitch. There are some people who think less is more. Warhammer, conversely, believes that more is always more."

Foot-high model Titans can be brought out for particular battles. "Warhammer gone nuts," as my 12-year-old son puts it.

Gillen contrasts Warhammer 40K to role-playing fantasy gaming like the online World of Warcraft (the modern equivalent of Dungeons and Dragons). "In Warcraft it's made so there are no bad guys. In Warhammer there are no good guys. They're all bad. It's a universe that's simultaneously nihilistic and joyous. It's incredibly British in that way."

Gary Chalk, a 59-year-old fantasy game creator and illustrator, knows all about its Britishness. He used to design Warhammer and Warhammer 40K games in the 1980s and 90s. His trademark wit is evident in Bloodbath at Orc's Drift (an elvish version of the Michael Caine film Zulu) and a naval ship battle he called "All the Dwarves Love a Sailor". Still an enthusiastic table-top gamer, he does, however, believe Games Workshop uses its monopoly on the products to target and exploit increasingly younger fans. The prices for essential models, paints and books are "eyewatering", he says.

"They are not selling a hobby. They are selling a craze."

Several players say they feel exploited. "You need at least £200 just to set up a half-decent legal army for a game, and if you want a board and scenery to go to play with friends you're looking at least £200 on top of that," says Craig Lowdon, 25, of Crewe.

Games Workshop's executives say they don't do media interviews, preferring to focus on their hobbyists. But CEO Mark Wells e-mails me about the claim of price exploitation. "That would go against everything we stand for. It's just not in our nature," he writes.

And Chalk claims the game is now less interesting. "The original rules were about fantasy combat and creating character. Now the rules only work within their imaginary world, with their figures and it cuts out all the other influences."

But its legion of fans, including older fans, see a timeless appeal.

"[There's] the satisfaction of looking at ranks of badly-daubed Skaven (man-sized anthropomorphic rats) and knowing they're yours and you made them in a real way," says Kieron Gillen.

"It's absolutely the part of the brain that made other generations make model trains."

But CEO Mark Wells e-mails me about the claim of price exploitation. "That would go against everything we stand for. It's just not in our nature," he writes

Warhammer fan and Marvel X-Men comic writer, Kieron Gillen.

But CEO Mark Wells e-mails me about the claim of price exploitation. "That would go against everything we stand for. It's just not in our nature," he writes.

Jeep wrote:"Why are grown men watching people chase a ball up and down a field?"

Jeep wrote:Gee whiz, just a bit condescending. I'd like to see the backlash if they printed something similar about sports fans. "Why are grown men watching people chase a ball up and down a field?"

I'll gladly compare the price of an army to a season ticket for a pro football or soccer team. Unlike the season ticket, the army can last years. (Not that I don't enjoy going to the occasional game, but...)

CT GAMER wrote:I can't wait for her next article:

"Why are grown women obsessed with watching total strangers buy real estate and bake cup cakes"

CT GAMER wrote:I can't wait for her next article:

"Why are grown women obsessed with watching total strangers buy real estate and bake cup cakes"

Jeep wrote:Gee whiz, just a bit condescending. I'd like to see the backlash if they printed something similar about sports fans. "Why are grown men watching people chase a ball up and down a field?"

Several players say they feel exploited. "You need at least £200 just to set up a half-decent legal army for a game, and if you want a board and scenery to go to play with friends you're looking at least £200 on top of that," says Craig Lowdon, 25, of Crewe.

reds8n wrote:

Warhammer fan and Marvel X-Men comic writer, Kieron Gillen.

I guess that's another sortof celebrity yes ..?

thenoobbomb wrote:There are some very hater comments in the comment section of that article..

Graphite wrote:Oh, god, the fools opened it to comments.

This is going to be awesome.

You could find better things to do with your time, but at least they are not playing war games with real peoples lives like the politicians and those who control them.

The reason these games, whether it be on a table or on screen, are so successful in modern Western culture is that very few people get any sense of accomplishment from their real lives anymore. Let's face it, these men are generally single, therefore not providing for their families. Most of them work fairly boring jobs, therefore not finding satisfaction there either. It's artificial success.

Infinitely preferable to play at fantasy war than to 'play' at the real thing. I don't read daily reports of young men destroyed from playing Warhammer.

Who cares - as long as they aren't harming anyone, can't see a problem at all. Let people occupy themselves as they see fit. Better than going out and actually shooting anyone. Jheeeez.

Now you'd think after all these years the beeb would dig out the chap who invented the game wouldn't you! Ah well... nice to see Warhammer 40K is still round and obviously retains its ability to enthrall, challange and entertain after 25 years. I only wish I could say the same

Rick Priestley

The reason these games, whether it be on a table or on screen, are so successful in modern Western culture is that very few people get any sense of accomplishment from their real lives anymore. Let's face it, these men are generally single, therefore not providing for their families. Most of them work fairly boring jobs, therefore not finding satisfaction there either. It's artificial success.

93.
Bibi
Just now

Why are grown men still launching tabletop war? ... Probably because most people still raise their sons to think violence, weapons, armies and killing are in some way *cool*. Also, no doubt, because of the glorification given to war by the worldwide media (& particularly in the UK) - there is scant coverage given to the dreadful tragedies befalling ordinary people at the hands of soldiers.

Foot-high model Titans can be brought out for particular battles. "Warhammer gone nuts," as my 12-year-old son puts it.

rockerbikie wrote:Wow that is a good read but kinda insulting towards me.

69.
Rick Priestley
2 Hours ago

Now you'd think after all these years the beeb would dig out the chap who invented the game wouldn't you! Ah well... nice to see Warhammer 40K is still round and obviously retains its ability to enthrall, challange and entertain after 25 years. I only wish I could say the same

Rick Priestley

notprop wrote:I 71. IanSturrock name check, first Dakkanaut on the list. How dare thee disrespect the creators hobby supplies!

Ian Sturrock wrote:

notprop wrote:I 71. IanSturrock name check, first Dakkanaut on the list. How dare thee disrespect the creators hobby supplies!

Heh-heh! Couldn't resist weighing in with my favourite massive GW rip-off...

I was reading an old WD about making your own wargaming table (before they started wanting to sell you a wargaming table...) and the amount of PVA involved at GW prices would be insane! But that was back in the day when, rather than saying "Buy 100 pots of Bestial Brown to paint your desert board", they actually recommended going in to B&Q and having the staff mix up a big pot of Bestial Brown shade.

The PVA thing just REALLY bugs me. Forever. It's just that PVA is PVA is PVA... there's no real difference between the brands. So charging more than ten times the usual retail price, screams RIP-OFF.

Samira Ahmed considers the therapeutic benefits presented by the fantasy worlds of Harry Potter and Warhammer
Every generation has its teen moral panic exploitation movie. In the 1930s it was Reefer Madness. In the ’50s it was Beat Girl (the evils of Soho coffee bars and bongos). For my generation it was 1982’s Mazes and Monsters, in which a very young Tom Hanks goes mad and (spoiler alert) DIES after being sucked into the evil world of fantasy role-playing games at university. The film, falsely claiming to be based on a true story, was unconvincing even at the time. But it captured the adult world’s distrust of adolescent escape fantasies.

In modern Britain it has been easy to sneer at more recent cases of American school districts banning the supposedly satanic Harry Potter. Immersion in JK Rowling’s retro wizard-school world is big business, despite its frustratingly lazy inconsistencies (I’ve lost count of the number of times I have heard earnest 20-year-olds explaining away the holes in her plotting and rules of magic). For those unable to get to Universal Studios’ Harry Potter World in Florida, Warner Brothers is starting tours of the HP sets at Leavesden Studios in Hertfordshire from April.

But that mass-market example aside, a purer form of a fantasy universe is accessible on almost every major city high street. Games Workshop is a quiet British success story. It makes models in a factory in Nottingham for a fantasy table-top gaming universe called Warhammer 40,000 (set in the 41st millennium), as well as Warhammer – an older, more traditional elves and dwarf version. And it sells them for lots of money. Half-year profits to the end of November were up 40 per cent to £9.5m and turnover rose by five per cent to £62.7m. Seventy per cent of sales are to customers abroad, mainly in North America, Japan, Germany, France and Spain.

Its owners don’t advertise. They don’t do media interviews. Hobbyists come to play weekend tournaments in a massive gaming hall. Its low-techness is its charm. The passion is in the detail: beautiful artwork and detailed imagined worlds. Parents paying for their children’s hobby do gasp at some of the hefty prices for the models and accessories, but the shop staff can bring cripplingly shy young teenagers out of their shell with the enthus-iasm of a shared world.

The escape it provides is not new. In Billy Liar (pictured) the eponymous hero lives in a fantasy world of epic scale. In the film he and Julie Christie’s character dream of building a secret model version of it in their attic. Seeing the film again recently and watching my son and his friends playing table-top games, it struck me that it is the sense of control and enriched imagining that appeals first to adolescents.

If you’re lucky you get to grow up and make a living out of that imagination. Researching Warhammer 40K I was struck by the number of 20, 30 and 40-somethings for whom table-top fantasy gaming was a crucial rite of passage on the path to a career in the creative industries – journalism, animation, film-making or graphic novels. Witness, for instance, X-Men comics writer Kieron Gillen, or the dating and sex columnist, Andy Jones (who, incidentally, shatters the most common slur hurled at gaming geeks).

I can't help thinking the Bronte sisters would have been great Warhammer enthusiasts. As children, in the rigidly controlled confines of the Haworth parsonage, they created the fantasy worlds of Angria and Gondal, about which they wrote detailed stories. They imagined characters and adventures for a set of toy soldiers given to their brother, Branwell. I like to imagine Anne playing the Sisters of Battle (zealot warrior nuns with heavy weaponry).

At a time when young people are more than ever under pressure – whether for qualifications whose value is constantly tinkered with by politicians and profit-making exam boards, or for finding jobs and status in a time of shockingly high youth unemployment – the temporary escape from a bleak reality seems more valuable than ever.

Last year I watched the lame end of the Harry Potter saga in open-mouthed horror. Harry, Hermione and their chums have lost countless friends and loved ones in their battle against evil. But unlike the epic world of Warhammer 40K, where planets and dynasties are at stake, the final proof of Harry’s ‘triumph’ is turning up at platform nine and three-quarters a middle-aged, middle-class home owner with a job who is able to afford to have kids of his own. Now that really is a fantasy.

but the shop staff can bring cripplingly shy young teenagers out of their shell with the enthus-iasm of a shared world.

mattyrm wrote: I like how the UK still makes up for 30% of all sales.

Our nation is still king of the nerd,

AustonT wrote:I love that there's a picture with the caption "women and girls do play" and no women, or girls in the picture.

blood reaper wrote:God.....

Honestly, the media makes anyone who plays war-games look like non-sociable, timid and weak and too afraid to do anything else,

olympia wrote:I'm sure everyone here knows what condescending means.

MeanGreenStompa wrote:
Just consider matty, he's a quiet little wallflower.

Skarwael wrote:

MeanGreenStompa wrote:
Just consider matty, he's a quiet little wallflower.

... that could kill you in .1 of a second.

MeanGreenStompa wrote:

mattyrm wrote: I like how the UK still makes up for 30% of all sales.

Our nation is still king of the nerd,

Indeed, Blighty has always been mighty powerful with Boffins.






I bet at least one of the above has wargamed... (perhaps Brian May from Queen has taught his chum Sir Patrick... He does look like an inquisitor).

MeanGreenStompa wrote:

Skarwael wrote:

MeanGreenStompa wrote:
Just consider matty, he's a quiet little wallflower.

... that could kill you in .1 of a second.

He's a squaddie, not Jack Bauer...

Joey wrote:The ironic thing about everyone complaining about how condescending the article was is that they sound like a 14 year old girl trying to sound like a grown-up. I didn't find the article condescending at all.

If only I hadn't agreed to that soul pact!

mattyrm wrote:

AustonT wrote:I love that there's a picture with the caption "women and girls do play" and no women, or girls in the picture.

I have only met one girl in a GW, and she had teeth like a witch doctors necklace. Maybe they didnt picture any because they look like men?

And I'm only kidding before the militant women on dakka start busting my balls.

Well, about the fact that all female wargamers are ugly, im sure this isnt the case.

I was being honest about the teeth though.

mattyrm wrote:
That is true, I didn't find it even remotely offensive. It was an amusing article, and neither of the blokes in the video had neck beards!

AustonT wrote:

mattyrm wrote:

AustonT wrote:I love that there's a picture with the caption "women and girls do play" and no women, or girls in the picture.

I have only met one girl in a GW, and she had teeth like a witch doctors necklace. Maybe they didnt picture any because they look like men?

And I'm only kidding before the militant women on dakka start busting my balls.

Well, about the fact that all female wargamers are ugly, im sure this isnt the case.

I was being honest about the teeth though.

I've seen maybe a handful of women playing 40k, of them maybe one of them was attractive enough to feth...once, and never call.

Joey wrote:

AustonT wrote:

mattyrm wrote:

AustonT wrote:I love that there's a picture with the caption "women and girls do play" and no women, or girls in the picture.

I have only met one girl in a GW, and she had teeth like a witch doctors necklace. Maybe they didnt picture any because they look like men?

And I'm only kidding before the militant women on dakka start busting my balls.

Well, about the fact that all female wargamers are ugly, im sure this isnt the case.

I was being honest about the teeth though.

I've seen maybe a handful of women playing 40k, of them maybe one of them was attractive enough to feth...once, and never call.

Girls who wargame aren't really less attractive than any other girls. They dress less flashily, so men take less notice, but I wouldn't say on average they were any less attractive.

AustonT wrote:
I've seen maybe a handful of women playing 40k, of them maybe one of them was attractive enough to feth...once, and never call.

Ratius wrote:

but the shop staff can bring cripplingly shy young teenagers out of their shell with the enthus-iasm of a shared world.

What a beautiful line.
Im not sure its true in all cases but the sentiment behind it is terrific.
Kudos.

Agamemnon2 wrote:

AustonT wrote:
I've seen maybe a handful of women playing 40k, of them maybe one of them was attractive enough to feth...once, and never call.

Really. Could we have less of this kind of figurative dick-waving. Some of us actually balk at being associated with sophomoric bullcrap masquerading as "humor". It's sexist, lowbrow and brings wargaming as a hobby into disrepute.

mattyrm wrote: Hey I'm not a squaddie... Comparing Royal Marine Commandos to Squaddies is like comparing Pigeons to Peregrine Falcons!

Dysartes wrote:

mattyrm wrote: Hey I'm not a squaddie... Comparing Royal Marine Commandos to Squaddies is like comparing Pigeons to Peregrine Falcons!

So, following you comparison as presented, RMCs are pigeons?

Agamemnon2 wrote:

AustonT wrote:
I've seen maybe a handful of women playing 40k, of them maybe one of them was attractive enough to feth...once, and never call.

Really. Could we have less of this kind of figurative dick-waving. Some of us actually balk at being associated with sophomoric bullcrap masquerading as "humor". It's sexist, lowbrow and brings wargaming as a hobby into disrepute.

Agamemnon2 wrote:
Really. Could we have less of this kind of figurative dick-waving. Some of us actually balk at being associated with sophomoric bullcrap masquerading as "humor". It's sexist, lowbrow and brings wargaming as a hobby into disrepute.

Agamemnon2 wrote:.. brings wargaming as a hobby into disrepute.

mattyrm wrote:

Dysartes wrote:

mattyrm wrote: Hey I'm not a squaddie... Comparing Royal Marine Commandos to Squaddies is like comparing Pigeons to Peregrine Falcons!

So, following you comparison as presented, RMCs are pigeons?

Well caught...

You know what I meant!

Agamemnon2 wrote:

AustonT wrote:
I've seen maybe a handful of women playing 40k, of them maybe one of them was attractive enough to feth...once, and never call.

Really. Could we have less of this kind of figurative dick-waving. Some of us actually balk at being associated with sophomoric bullcrap masquerading as "humor". It's sexist, lowbrow and brings wargaming as a hobby into disrepute.

mattyrm wrote: I have only met one girl in a GW, and she had teeth like a witch doctors necklace.

jbunny wrote:

mattyrm wrote: I have only met one girl in a GW, and she had teeth like a witch doctors necklace.

I thought that is how all British peoples teeth looked.

Lord of Timbraxia wrote:

jbunny wrote:

mattyrm wrote: I have only met one girl in a GW, and she had teeth like a witch doctors necklace.

I thought that is how all British peoples teeth looked.

OOOOOOOHHHH NO YOU DIDN'T!!!

Darn ye Americans and your superior dental care......

Rayvon wrote:I have a freind that claims alot of American film and TV stars actually have their teeth bleached white by a laser machine, is this true ?
I always wonder as nearly everyone i know has good teeth and none of them are shiny white, ts just not natural !

Rayvon wrote:I have a freind that claims alot of American film and TV stars actually have their teeth bleached white by a laser machine, is this true ?
I always wonder as nearly everyone i know has good teeth and none of them are shiny white, ts just not natural !

Eiríkr wrote:I sincerely wish that the BBC had taken their cameras in store, perhaps. They chose some rather poorly painted models, in some chap's back room. Alas! The awesomeness that could have been created were the BBC readership shown Marines ripping apart Tyranids in 'Eavy Metal standards!

mattyrm wrote: I like how the UK still makes up for 30% of all sales.

Our nation is still king of the nerd, and I think that is a good thing rather than a bad. I prefer the company of table top gamers to football hooligans anyway.

MightyGodzilla wrote:Lol, you don't bleach your teeth with a laser. But yeah, you can go to the dentists office for a bleach treatment or do it at home with a kit. Some people I know use an airbrush and white paint. But firing a laser into your pie hole.....that ain't safe!

WOMEN are celebrating the science fiction-themed tabletop wargame that has been the default female entertainment of the last 25 years.

Created in 1987, Warhammer 40,000's mixture of realistic turns-based strategy gaming and a dystopian sci-fi universe was an instant hit with millions of women, many of whom became self-confessed obsessives.

Teacher Emma Bradford, who was excitedly buying 25th anniversary limited edition lead figures at her local Games Workshop, said: “A lot of people say this, but there's something about Warhammer games that just resonates with my vagina.

"I play with an Imperial Guard army, my best friend Mandy uses Tyranids who, as all ladies know, are a race of quasi-reptilian aliens whose voracious appetite for bio-mass has propelled them into conflict with the Imperium.

"We get together for a skirmish every Wednesday. Once in a while we get all the girls together for a major campaign which takes up to four days which is just so much fun.

"Afterwards we like to post the statistics on the internet."

Personal trainer Nikki Hollis said: "Girls loving Warhammer 40K is such a cliché, but like many stereotypes there's a large element of truth.

"The best thing about 'the hobby', as we women refer to it, is painting the little lead figures, or 'miniatures' as they're properly called.

"I love doing that classic girl thing of being of putting on pyjamas, getting under a load of duvets and painting intricate banners on a Chaos Eldar battalion."

She added: "War gaming drives my boyfriend nuts, he just wants to talk about his emotions and drink hot chocolate."

Warhammer 40,000 spin-offs includes a successful series of novels by sci-fi-strategy-chick-lit author Helen Fielding about a neurotic young space marine called Nicola and a range of organic face creams named after different types of space weaponry.

reds8n wrote:http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/arts-&-entertainment/girls-celebrate-anniversary-of-warhammer-40,000-201203145006/

WOMEN are celebrating the science fiction-themed tabletop wargame that has been the default female entertainment of the last 25 years.

Created in 1987, Warhammer 40,000's mixture of realistic turns-based strategy gaming and a dystopian sci-fi universe was an instant hit with millions of women, many of whom became self-confessed obsessives.

Teacher Emma Bradford, who was excitedly buying 25th anniversary limited edition lead figures at her local Games Workshop, said: “A lot of people say this, but there's something about Warhammer games that just resonates with my vagina.
.

reds8n wrote:http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/arts-&-entertainment/girls-celebrate-anniversary-of-warhammer-40,000-201203145006/

Teacher Emma Bradford, who was excitedly buying 25th anniversary limited edition lead figures at her local Games Workshop...

Warhammer 40,000 spin-offs includes a successful series of novels by sci-fi-strategy-chick-lit author Helen Fielding about a neurotic young space marine called Nicola and a range of organic face creams named after different types of space weaponry.

MightyGodzilla wrote:Lol, I was just joking about the white paint!!!