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The Warhammer 40k universe is imo the best out there. It's so well developed, and it's what always keeps me coming back more than anything else.

Even though I suck at painting, the models also keep me coming back. Particularly the xenos models. I've yet to see a model which catches my eye in the same a Trygon or Overlord managed to.

Games Workshop has given me Warhammer 40k, the thing that has engulfed my life since I started just over a decade ago. I hardly go a day where I don't run through an army list in my head or imagine what the 13th black crusade was like for a Cadian guardsmen when I am supposed to be taking notes during Calculus. And especially when I am on scouting and patrolling labs for ROTC, I imagine that I am an Imperial Guardsmen.

Naturally over the course of my gaming career I have recieved some models with broken or missing parts. Their Customer service team is probably one of the best I have ever had to deal with.

Their stores are employed by people who love the games they sell, and are very knowledgable and seem like they care.

As corny as it sounds, Warhammer 40k has legitamately changed my life.

really nice models and fluff.

I started playing back at the end of Rogue Trader, beginning of 2d edition.

My first army was a box of Squats, a thudd gun, a raiper from the IG that I took from them, and an extra box of IG guys.

After the 2d edition boxed set, I continued down my road to ruin and continued to buy buy buy like a mad dog. Then I broke my back, and GW's game systems got me through that. I ended up dropping my other gaming for the hotness that GW had on thier hands with the 2d edition, and played nothing but as they grew the game in new directions, first with the vehicle sets, then as they poped out the plastic boxed sets.

LOVED the small in mag games and add ons of WD back in the lat 100's, and the articulos of the same time...

Fast forward to now- I am back into what I started with, and pushing myself to buy RT only. With GW, buddy is only half the word, but I do have a fondness for the old school Olly squats, The perry's, and Brian Nelsons stuff.

GW has good things going for it with thier Space Hulk, Tyranid attack, and other boxed gateway drugs, as well. I still love 2d edition Space hulk, and have the add on game boxed sets.

I like to strip out the fat that they became, so now I focus on the old RT era and second edition stuff that I still have in boxes upon boxes in the house.

We had quite a good group once upon a time, and I found at least 4 more of quality that strangly enough had GW games as a center piece that they all had in common....

Through all of the time, I got into 3d edition fantasy, played and got into Hogshead Fantasy RPG's, Car Wars, Necromunda, ( of which I am the only one to have almost every miniature for the first edition...) Mordhiem, ( of which became a nice diversion to pit bands of wargamers against large scale invasiont ype armies in a pitched battle that is still legondary in some circles, and Played at least one of each army as the game progressed. I have a current hose full of the stuff, along with my new aquisitions that are starting to grow at an even faster pace...

I now play almost exclusivly skermish games, and paint the RT stuff for kicks.

I was positive here. hope you like it.

40K (probably) matters to me more than it matters to most of the people at this board.

That’s a fairly big statement, so what do I mean by that? Well, if we’re going on about our history and experiences with the good side of GW, then allow me to explain my history with them and the game. But before I say that, I have to say that I am physically and mentally incapable of separating the GW that created the Warhammer 40,000 universe from the GW that embargoed my country, raised prices beyond reason, through the power of pure hubris introduced a shoddy product under the guide of the greatest thing since sliced bread when all they were really doing is finding a cheaper production material, that treats its customer base like a necessary evil, that writes a rules system with a ‘near enough is good enough’ design ethos, and lets Matt Ward keep writing fluff. But with that said I’ll give it a shot...

I adore 40K. I’ve been playing since 2nd Ed came out. The first thing I got was Tyranid Attack, and I’ve loved the Tyranids ever since, and the Tyranids remain the one thing in 40K where I’m willing to ignore all the problems and bad rules. Tyranids are the one thing that would cause me to break my own embargo on GW products (well that and an Ad Mech Codex). When I stopped playing 40K during high school and it made the jump to 3rd Ed, Tyranids were the thing that almost made me jump back into the game. I picked it up again after uni started (and I’ve been here ever since), but it was always the Tyranids that kept me around. I’ve remained a staunch Ultramarines player from the time when the colour of your armour was essentially meaningless (all Marines were the same) and stuck with them through all the Internet Hyperbole and tired (and often fallacious) Ultramarine hate. I started Guard the moment they previewed the Leman Russ in White Dwarf, and now my Imperial Guard, at 30,000 points, dwarfs every other army I own, except Chaos, who I started when Andy Chambers’ amazing 2nd Ed Codex came out (I said I wasn’t going to get a fourth army... but that book was too good not to jump in).

I jumped into Necromunda when it was first released – I still remember the preview in WD, where some small photographs showed off design studio/white dwarf crew playing on these strange multi-level buildings – and now own virtually every gang in the game. It remains, to this day, my fav GW product of all time. I even got my name into Necromunda magazine once! No game has eclipsed Necromunda for me. Normally I’d talk about the missed opportunities with Specialist Games, but I’m (trying to) stay positive.

In the years since I’ve tracked down (to great expense via eBay) complete copies of 1st and 2nd Ed Space Hulk, plus Deathwing and Genestealer, as well as almost every Warhammer Quest product ever made. Weirdly I never play Hulk – but those tiles are worth their weight in gold for the 40K RPGs, but we’ll get to those. I bought 3rd Ed Space Hulk immediately after seeing the box art – that was all it took. Quest is a hilariously awesome game that punishes the players waaaay too much, but it’s such a huge amount of fun that it doesn’t matter. When Quest was first released it was actually my first step into the realm of Warhammer Fantasy. I had no interest in Fantasy, and still don’t play it, but the day in GW Chatswood (the original store, not the second or third store) when I was asked to play the Elf to make up the numbers in a demo game was a moment that changed my perception of WFB. After Quest got me in I was willing to give other fantasy based games a try, which is how I wound up playing Blood Bowl. Still don’t have many matches under my belt, but it’s a great game. This is the point where I’d talk about how these are gateway products and that promoting them would bring more new blood into the hobby, but, again, staying positive.

I lovingly built up a Lost & The Damned army when the Eye of Terror Codex came out (now that army is invalid) and jumped at the chance of building an Inquisitorial army via the Daemonhunter and Witch Hunter Codices (also now an invalid army). I built a Deathwatch army after the whisper that there might be a Deathwatch RPG. I build an Ad Mech army (thanks Micro-Art Studios!) out of my love of all things Skitarii (the Tech Guard from 2nd Ed Epic were always a fascination). GW can’t invalidate armies that don’t have rules in the first place, so I think I’m safe with those two.

Eventually GW decided to jump into the world of 40K-based RPGs. I’d never played an RPG before (aside from computer game RPG’s, and even then the only D&D based one I had ever played was the first Dungeon Siege), but I bought it anyway as it sounded interesting. After proving to be a huge hit and a major success, with the print run selling out in 6 days, GW did the only logical thing and shuttered the sub-company that made the game... no HBMC... positive! Stay positive! Then, after doing something that didn’t make any sense, GW went and made the best decision they have ever made and decided to licence their planned series of RPGs to another company, Fantasy Flight Games, where the game has expanded out to 4 games (including the Deathwatch game I had craved so much). Flash forward from the release date of Dark Heresy to today, the 2nd of Feb 2012, and I’m actually writing for the 40K RPG line. So y’all can call me a GW hater all you like folks, and I won’t deny my problems with the company, but I tell no lie when I say that 40K probably matters to me more than it matters to most of you.

I’m never going to like GW. I’m never going to understand the white knights that attempt to explain away all the problems or, worse, pretend they don’t exist. I’m never going to understand or accept the strange way the fine folks in Lenton run their company.

But I’m not giving up on 40K either. Too many good memories are attached to that game, and as long as I can experience 40K via a slight detour (the wonderful people at FFG) then I will continue to do so.

@H.B.M.C. Thank you for your posting. I knew by your content (as well as others on this site) that you worked in the entertainment industry and is passionate with your ideals.

I wish there was more I can say but in a way you have said it for me.

-Adam

My favorite part about GW is the fact they made a game that I can play with my friends. My wife is very cool with it because she knows where I am at all times.... at work, at my desk painting, at the game store or in the bathroom (where I am most likely reading a codex).

The thing that keeps me hooked is definitely the fluff.

I remember reading a friend's copy of the 3.5 Edition Chaos Codex, and being simply blown away... the Rubric Marines oozed badass-ness, and Khorne Berzerkers need no explanation. I was hooked, and even after passing through several other races (Tau, Space Marines, Imperial Guard and Tyranids) none evoke the sheer tragedy and bitterness that Chaos do.

As the Horus Heresy novels came out, I fell even deeper in love with Chaos - specifically, the tragic fall from grace that Fulgrim and Magnus the Red suffered, and the terrible betrayal Alpharius was forced to carry out. And then there's the Night Haunter - Conrad Kurze, killed by a lone assassin - M'Shen. The references to Apcalypse Now, one of my favorite films, and certainly one of the greatest ever made, still make me smile. Horus' story arc alone is simply amazing, and I enjoy to no end the lore of the Legions.

For all the badness GW causes, I can just curl up with one of my Horus Heresy books and immerse myself in that rich universe.

For me it the positive things of GW that I like would have to be, for a few reasons firstly there games. Blood bowl, Inquisitor, WHFB, 40k are all very fun adaptations of board game to play.

The models in there own right are very nice, while not the most accurate anatomically they still produce very nice high quality and professional looking models!

Theres a lot of angst going on about the financial side of GW so I don't have much to say there other then the customer service fits the prices of the items I am buying. If I EVER have a problem with a GW product I can take it back, even if its opened, trimmed down and practically assembled if I descover a fault that is not of my own doing GW will accept responsibility and simply replace it. THIS IS USEFUL FOR .. finecast~

Ontop of that, of course the in house events and such are all very nice but the most utter importantly positive attracting element to GW?

The're stores, they are open professionally represented with friendly motivated staff who genuinely enjoy the game that they are trying to sell. Not only this but to me the presentation of GW stores by far beats that of local gaming stores I have seen come and go which appear to look more like pawn shops then hobby shops, windows darkened an plastered with hobby stickers or advertisement and a dimply lit room with a poor quality gaming table inside and an overly casual unprofessional interior which brings about a feeling of uneasiness.
Especially those clubs/stores which are like, in the upper room or compartment of another store which you kinda feels is actually a part of someones house or pub that you've never met before etc etc. Doesn't feel too nice to take steps into. HOWEVER a GW store to me is a complete opposite, and the fact they have stores that are for the most part usually very full makes for a more welcoming, warm and inviting gaming community then the other various games/clubs etc that you see here and there.


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of course I love the faction and universal fluff for all GW games I think that is a given for most people

I love the IP, the histories and background of the games, most of the aesthetics are beautiful.

The models are, mostly, also the best around. Jes Goodwin, Juan Diaz, Brian Nelson - these guys are worth their weight in gold.

I love that GW are bringing people into the hobby, allowing them a 'gateway drug' into the world of wargaming/painting and modelling.

I just came back from Dakkacon, I love the gamers and the community we've built. I love a good game of 40k or fantasy with a good player, a challenging and also relaxing pastime.

I love talking with and watching my wife as she learns more, painting and modelling, with her tyranids.

GW made a great decision in allowing FFG to create RPGs based off of their IP. Their backstory is one of the most unique and expansive in the history of epic storytelling.

Their models are beautiful, for the most part, and the move to finecast, regardless of quality, was definitely a step in the right direction.

I love the fact I can go almost anywhere and find great people willing to play a game.

Their customer service is perhaps the best of any company in the world.

5th ed 40k was a huge improvement over previous systems, and if someone else could step in and make the same sorts of improvements Alessio did in 6th, I have no doubt 40K will become a much more popular game.

I will never buy a non-necron model from GW ever again unless they make some drastic changes in their corporate decision-making processes and their rulesets.

The fact that I can still "live" in the 40k universe through Dark Heresy/Deathwatch is fantastic, and I hope that I will be able to enjoy 40k as well too sometime in the not-so-far-future.

Games Workshop have crafted some of the most comprehensive product lines I can think of... to be engaged creatively via painting and modelling, to be entertained by the games, both tabletop and videogame, to be engrossed in fluff nearly constantly via books, codexs and yes even WD, to bring as many people together in mutual interest...

They have got a hell of a lot of it right to get to where they are. There aren't all that many hobbies I can think of that span as wide an age group as this one.

A while ago, after I was SURE I had tried everything, and exhausted every possible choice of things to make my life seem less bland, I discovered Warhammer 40k. And its really picked me up off the ground since. I click with what Games Workshop has done with the idea, the storyline, the models, the game. I love all of it. And they arent some main stream fags that just make something, then ditch it in a couple months to make the next best thing. I hate that. Ive heard grouches about the cost of the models, but I can tell anyone out there, MMO subscriptions, Magic cards, my motorcycle, and my painting supplies all cost hundreds, if not thousands, more than I spend, have spent, or ever will spend on Warhammer 40k. And I have 5 diffrent armies. Heck, the models are so sturdy, I know guys that still play with 2nd and 3rd ed models, and they look fantastic. And when it comes down to sheer amount of great ideas for storyline, these guys are the bomb. I will admit that they dont have as many alien races as some IP's. They sure dont embrace the 'societal norm' of encouraging Democracy and freedom in their works. But they sure nail warfare, alien races, and massive machines right on the head. They have even managed to fuse the worlds of magic and technology together, and also convert technology into a religon. They have ideas that just blow me out of the water. Call me a GW fanboy, but Ive gotta say, when it comes to all around reason to geek, Warhammer 40k has it. And Im sorry that I didnt recognize any of the other great aspects of GW, but most I havent seen. I also VERY much respect their paints. Ive heard BS about how their paints arent the greatest.....but Ive painted for years, not just miniatures, and I can safely say that GW's paint line is very fine for the price. Their primer....ehh...diffrent story, buuuut, other than that, they do quiet well. Anyways, thats my rant.

1. They got me into the miniatures game hobby originally.
2. They have had a huge influence on the fantasy/science fiction-side of the miniatures games hobby due to their size and success; there have been ex-GW employees involved in the startup of nearly every successful new miniatures gaming company founded the last ten to twelve years. Who is to say these people would have been able to stay in the business had they not been nurtured by GW?
3. Epic is an awesome game, one of the better designs for that scale out there.

Gitsplitta wrote:Hmmmm..... things I like.

- the universe
- the stories (even the little one's in the dex's and such)
- the artwork
- many of the models
- the way the shake the game up every few years by making a new edition. I think without this practice, 40k would have gone the way of the DoDo years ago.

thanks for pointing out the artwork, I feel that much of it is overlooked. I'm not talking about the covers you see on books, or necesarily what you find in codices, but the core rulebook and the errata show gorgeous concept drawings for aliens and members of the imperium; specificallly the guy that does tthis stuff:

John Blanche's 'scribble art' (as I call it) is a point of contention among a lot of us. It's one of those love-it-or-hate-it style things. I can't stand it to be honest, and prefer the art of people like Mark Gibbons. Others really like it.

That said, even if you don't like Blanche's stuff, he is one of the key (if not the most key) person in the world when it comes to realising the world of 40K as a visual style. He literally is the reason why some of the things in 40K exist as they do. And when the miniature makers make something that fits with Blanche's style - the Vostroyans being a great example - it really works.

Mark Gibbons art is amazing. His 2nd edition Tyranid art is what made me start them all those years ago.

Aside from the obvious hours of enjoyment I had as a child (and still, the occasional Mordheim or BloodBowl weekend)

curran12 wrote:The community grown in GWs are by far the best.

This is the thing for me. At least in the UK, where we had very few independent stores, they are a gateway of getting new blood into wargaming.

Not just for the gamers themselves, but many of the most talented games designers and artists started their careers with GW. So without them, we would have no Mike McVey, no Dwarf King's Hold from Mantic, perhaps a different FoW, no Perry Brothers. There are many more. Also, the whole industry has prospered at least in part because they have moved it beyond a niche hobby (or at least, increased the size of that niche).

Some of the incredible artwork and writing they have had done from them over the years. Twenty years ago, I got a copy of Space Marine by Ian Watson. It was the one of the best books I had ever read, and it's been read through so many times that it has started to come apart from its bindings. It was no surprise it used to go for $300+ on ebay at times. Now, 20 years later, reading the wonderful Soul Hunter series by ADB and Dan Abnett's Prospero Burns. The universe GW created is extremely powerful, and has been home to some wonderfully talented artists and writers over the years.

Artwork like this:



Finally, of course the great online community that has sprung up around GW, and the hours of fun I have had trolling on forums.

The key thing about GW for me was that they formed a big centre of excellence that has acted as a university to develop sculptors who have gone on to form their own companies in other genres.

I have fond memories of GW. I mean, I DID like them at one point enough to become rather obsessive about them before I just became absolutely fed up with them.

But, I would like to thank GW (or more specifically, Halliwell, Priestly and Ansell) for two things specifically though which has brought great enjoyment and one of which still brings me great enjoyment.

Rogue Trader and Space Hulk.

Rogue Trader for showing that GW once was a company that could be a bit gritty and not take itself too seriously and be a game company run by gamers for gamers.
Space Hulk for being a great game design even today.

My personal opinion is that GW products can actually present reasonable value for money, if you take them for all they're worth. For example, my local GW offers:
-Free painting and modeling assistance from some really great staffers.
-Free paints, tools etc. to use in-store.
-Free fully modeled tables to game on.
-A whole host of locals up for a friendly game.

It's this sense of 'hobby', the capacity to bring people together, that actually makes GW prices seem manageable. But just in general, I like GW because it has allowed me to meet great people who are similarly passionate about the hobby, and the staff of my local GW are completely fantastic.

I have given up on GW, sold my armies etc... for reasons not for this thread, BUT I do still very much enjoy the background of all of GWs products - from Grimdark 40k to the slighty goofy origins of Bloodbowl! I'll always pick up the latest HH book and most of BL's production, so credit where credit is due - GW did a great job creating and sustaining such impressive universes.

Also the paints - specifically the washes/glazes and the foundation paints, they are top notch.

The concept of living rulebook and the specialist game site.

Seriously, what other compagnie have older product that don't sell well and say:
"Let's give the rulebook in PDF, so people can still play."

Wow

I have to thank GW for giving me something to long for as a 10-year-old, something to do on weekends in highschool, and something to balance out my personality now that I do have a life. There's almost nothing in my life that has been as constant as warhammer and I will never regret the money I spent on this stuff, even if I don't spend much anymore and don't plan to in the near future.

They make really detailed plastic kits ( both terrain and models) that are fun to build.

40k has some nice art.

40k has a decent enough amount of lore/ back story

Lots of people play GW so it is easy to find people to play.

Those are the main things I like about GW

So, while avoiding what others have said previously, I think I can say one thing I appreciate about 40k/WHFB is the direction that these games have taken. Instead of keeping with the goofy, childish style of 2nd Edition 40k and following the Star Wars model of turning a good thing into a children's belching joke, GW got serious about their property and grew the maturity of their games in both background material and models.

They tend to make purdy stuff.

GW is really the only games, models and rules producer that I have ever played. While Privateer Press' work does intrigue me (as does Infinity), there aren't a lot of my friends that play it, and I already have WAY too many unbuilt and unpainted models around to look into another system. Kind of a forced loyalty, in a way...

My friend introduced me to 40k back in Rogue Trader days, when we were both in Jr. High / 8th grade I want to say. 1987-88 maybe?

I really like GWs different take on the far future. At the time I'd seen nothing like it, knowing mostly only Star Trek, Star Wars (the original good films), Battletech. The dark universe they made was very interesting and different, and had enough of the fantastic, like psychic powers, space monsters, hand to hand combat, etc, to really please the fantasy enthusiast in me.

The models and general design of the models are really great, the forces each feel different enough from each other and how they play, and it appeals to my artistic and creative side.

I've been absorbed in Warhammer since I was 13 (now 35!) and I think there are positive aspects to be taken from the different eras. The current models are (with the odd exception) amazing and the support for army books is as good as it ever has been (with apologies to Tyranid players).

Back in the day though, I think they were more comitted to the hobby (i.e. proper modelling with bits and pieces) aspect which I found very inspiring and White Dwarf had great personality.

The beautiful models.
The glorious fluff.
The fluid, engaging gameplay.
The wonderous customer service.
The fact that the combination of these factors makes me want to collect every single fething army.