Warhammer 40,000
The Tabletop Battlegame of The Far Future
So, what exactly is Warhammer 40,000?
In a
nutshell, each player collects an army of Citadel miniatures then,
using the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook as a guideline, they fight epic
battles against their fellow generals. Dice (like you'd find in almost
any board game) are used to determine success and failure: to decide
whether a bolter shell hits its target, or whether a lascannon blasts
through the armour of a tank. Each game is played, not on a regular
'board' but on a special gaming area where models are not confined to
'squares' but are free to move as their controller wishes. Because
Warhammer 40,000 is not played on a set game board, tape measures or
rulers are used to see how far a miniature can move - an agile Eldar
jetbike can travel faster than a foot-slogging Imperial Guardsman after
all.
That all might sound a little complicated, but most
Warhammer 40,000 players find that after just a short game or two
they've grasped the basics. Seasoned Warhammer 40,000 generals find
that the rules become second nature, and they seldom need to refer to
the rulebook at all.
Getting Started
All miniatures wargames need a
few basic things before you can get started. First and foremost is a
collection of miniatures. Second a place to play. Thirdly, and just as
importantly, are the rules for the game. Warhammer 40,000 has grown and
developed over more than 20 years and the current rules are the best
ever.
There are two ways that you can get to grips with the
Warhammer 40,000 rulebook. It's available separately as a hardback
volume - more than three hundred pages of glorious artwork, background
and photography, as well as the rules themselves. This rulebook is the
indispensable guide for hobbyists everywhere, it details the rich and
colourful galaxy of Warhammer 40,000 and contains all the rules and
instructions that you need to get started with your own games.
The
second way to get your claws on the Warhammer 40,000 rules is with the
Assault on Black Reach boxed game. This awesome game in a box contains
two fledgling armies, the superhuman Space Marines and the brutal Orks
- as well as scenery, dice, measuring sticks, a getting-started guide
and a pocket sized rulebook. This book contains exactly the same rules
as the larger, hardback rulebook - but misses out on some of the extra
information contained in it (there's only so much you can cram into a
box
