Empire in Flames is a supplement published by Games Workshop in 1989 as the final installment of The Enemy Within Campaign created for the fantasy role-playing game Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay . Many players found this product disappointing, and in a later edition of the campaign, it was heavily revised.
Empire in Flames is the sixth and final part of The Enemy Within campaign, and picks up where the previous supplement, Something Rotten in Kislev , ends. The player characters return to the city of Middenheim and discover a civil war has broken out. The player characters must travel into the dangerous Black Fire Mountains to recover Ghal-maraz, the lost hammer of Sigmar in order to restore order to the empire. [1]
The six-part campaign The Enemy Within, designed for the fantasy role-playing game Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, was published between 1986 and 1989. The sixth installment, Empire in Flames, was a 152-page hardcover book written by Carl Sargent . Cover art was by John Blanche, interior art was by Tony Ackland, Paul Bonner, Gary Chalk, Colin Howard, Martin McKenna, Russ Nicholson, Adrian Smith, Stephen Tappin, and Bill Thornhill, and cartography was by Charles Elliot. [2] It was released in 1989.
In 1995, Hogshead Publishing acquired the license to Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and published an updated version of the series as six hardcover books. [3]
In 2017, Cubicle 7 acquired the license for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, [4] and in 2019, began publishing a Director's Cut of the campaign for the fourth edition of the game. There had been complaints that Empire in Flames was disappointing, [5] [6] and Cubicle 7 heavily revised it, releasing it as the retitled Empire in Ruins (2021), created by Graeme Davis, with contributions by Dave Allen, John Foody, TS Luikart, Pádraig Murphy, Clive Oldfield, Dylan Owen, Anthony Ragan, KC Shi, and Simon Wileman. [7]
In his 2023 book Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground, RPG historian Stu Horvath noted that Empire in Flames was "a disappointing climax [to the Enemy Within campaign] ... It is worth noting that Cubicle 7's lush, 10-volume modernization of the campaign (2020-2022) dramatically overhauls Empire, which is a welcome course correction." Nonetheless, Horvath suggested that this product as well as its predecessor, Something Rotten in Kislev, were both unneeded, and that the Enemy Within campaign should have ended with the fourth installment, Power Behind the Throne . [5]
In Issue 10 of Warpstone , John Foody suggested that players avoid Empire in Flames and instead wait for a revised product to be published. [8]
Beasts of War reviewed the Cubicle 7 revision to this product, Empire in Ruins, and commented, "The new books have been well laid out, packed with details, stunning artwork and some nice nods to the editions of old. They really are a love letter to The Old World and Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play, a perfect way to dive into this grimdark setting." [9]
Games Workshop Group is a British manufacturer of miniature wargames, based in Nottingham, England. Its best-known products are Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000.
Warhammer Fantasy is a fictional fantasy universe created by Games Workshop and used in many of its games, including the table top wargame Warhammer Fantasy Battle, the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (WFRP) pen-and-paper role-playing game, and a number of video games: the MMORPG Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, the strategy games Total War: Warhammer, Total War: Warhammer II and Total War: Warhammer III and the two first-person shooter games in the Warhammer Vermintide series, Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide and Warhammer: Vermintide 2, among many others.
The Enemy Within campaign is a series of adventures for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay where hidden powers of Chaos plot the destruction of the Empire. It was originally published by Games Workshop in the late 1980s. Praised as a detailed campaign that actually told a story, it was voted the best RPG campaign of all time by Casus Belli magazine.
Carl Lynwood Sargent was a British parapsychologist and author of several roleplaying game-based products and novels, who used the pen name Keith Martin to write Fighting Fantasy gamebooks.
Graeme Davis is a game designer, writer, and editor in the tabletop role-playing game industry.
Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay is a role-playing game system with multiple source books set within the Warhammer 40,000 universe. The first game using the system, Dark Heresy, was created by Black Industries, which closed soon after the initial release. Official support by Fantasy Flight Games was discontinued in September 2016. The license was later acquired by Ulisses Spiele, who published a new game, Wrath & Glory, in 2018.
Death on the Reik is a supplement published by Games Workshop in 1987 as the third installment of The Enemy Within Campaign created for the fantasy role-playing game Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.
Something Rotten in Kislev is a supplement published by Games Workshop in 1988 as the fifth installment of The Enemy Within Campaign created for the fantasy role-playing game Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. Although it received good critical reception, there were complaints that this product did not match the previous four installements in tone, and in a later edition of the campaign, Something Rotten in Kislev was replaced.
Chris Pramas is an American game designer and writer, as well as a founder of Green Ronin Publishing. He is best known as the designer of the Dragon Age RPG, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, and Freeport: The City of Adventure.
Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd is an Irish games company that creates and publishes tabletop games. Best known for its Doctor Who and Lord of the Rings games, Cubicle 7 offers titles covering a range of licensed and self-developed properties.
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay or Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play is a role-playing game set in the Warhammer Fantasy setting, published by Games Workshop or its licensees.
Hogshead Publishing was a British game company that produced role-playing games and game supplements.
Ross Watson is a designer of computer, miniature and role-playing games and a writer in various genres. Watson worked on the Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay line as the Lead Developer for Dark Heresy, was the lead designer for Rogue Trader and Deathwatch, and was part of the design team for Black Crusade. He was the lead developer for both Aaron Allston's Strike Force and Savage Worlds Rifts. His written works include the Accursed and Weird War I settings for Savage Worlds, contributions to the Star Wars: Edge of the Empire RPG, and the video games Darksiders II, Warhammer 40,000: Regicide, and Battlefleet Gothic: Armada. Watson has designed rules and scenarios for miniature game lines, such as Dust Warfare, and he has written for several card games, including Warhammer: Invasion, Empire Engine, and the Lost Legacy series.
Wilderlands of High Fantasy is a supplement for fantasy role-playing games published by Judges Guild in 1977. It is part of the same world as their earlier City State of the Invincible Overlord setting materials.
The Enemy Within is a supplement published by Games Workshop in 1986 for the fantasy role-playing game Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay as the introduction to the 6-part The Enemy Within Campaign.
Shadows Over Bögenhafen is a supplement published by Games Workshop in 1987 as the second installment of The Enemy Within Campaign created for the fantasy role-playing game Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.
The Restless Dead is a series of adventures published by Games Workshop in 1989 for the fantasy role-playing game Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.
Warhammer Campaign is a set of two adventures published by Games Workshop (GW) in 1988 for the fantasy role-playing game Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.
Power Behind the Throne is a supplement published by Games Workshop in 1988 as the fourth installment of The Enemy Within Campaign created for the fantasy role-playing game Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.
