 | |
| Industry | Miniature wargaming and Board game publisher |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2007 |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | John Stallard, Paul Sawyer, Alessio Cavatore, Rick Priestley |
| Website | Warlord Games |
Warlord Games is a British miniatures and wargame publisher, based in Nottingham, UK.
Warlord Games produces both miniatures for wargames as well as the wargames themselves. Black Powder, set in the game of the musket, is mentioned in several books dedicated to wargames set in this period. For example, Donald Featherstone, in his 2010 book Battle Notes for Wargamers, cites the rules used in Black Powder as especially suitable for recreations of the Battles of Wynendael, [1] : 64 Prestonpans, [1] : 74 Guilford Courthouse, [1] : 84 Maida, [1] : 94 Aliwal, [1] : 103 Wilson's Creek, [1] : 112 Little Big Horn, [1] : 122 and Modder River. [1] : 132
Warlord Games's most popular game to date is Bolt Action .
Their games are well-known enough that they were used several times by Rick Priestley and John Lambshead in their 2016 book Tabletop Wargames: A Designers' and Writers' Handbook to illustrate various points. For example, Priestley and Lambshead point to the "Blunder Table" in the wargame Black Powder, using it as an example of a mechanism that "introduces a moment of high drama into the game. It drives the narrative of the battle. Although the result affects only one side the roll engages the attention of both." [2] : 48 Likewise, Priestley and Lambshead use Bolt Action to explore nested systems of sequential mechanics, giving as the example "shooting that results in one or more hits (primary rolls) results in a morale effect (represented by a 'pin' state) even where all those hits fail to cause casualties (secondary rolls)." [2] : 50
In the same way, Javier Gomez in his 2015 book Painting Wargaming Figures, used figurines produced by Warlord Games as examples to demonstrate various ways to paint historically accurate figurines for use with specific battles, including a Thirty Years War gun and crew, [3] : 224 a Roman centurion [3] : 285 and a Celtic warrior. [3] : 302
Warlord Games was started in 2007 [4] by former Games Workshop employees John Stallard and Paul Sawyer. In July 2023, Warlord sold 25% of shares to Hornby for £1.25 million. [5]
A wargame is a strategy game in which two or more players command opposing armed forces in a simulation of some military operation. Wargaming may be played for recreation, to train military officers in the art of strategic thinking, or to study the nature of potential conflicts. Many wargames re-create specific historic battles, and can cover either whole wars, or any campaigns, battles, or lower-level engagements within them. Many simulate land combat, but there are wargames for naval and air combat, as well.
Warhammer 40,000 is a miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop. It is the most popular miniature wargame in the world, and is particularly popular in the United Kingdom. The first edition of the rulebook was published in September 1987, and the 10th and current edition was released in June 2023.
Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming in which military units are represented by miniature physical models on a model battlefield. The use of physical models to represent military units is in contrast to other tabletop wargames that use abstract pieces such as counters or blocks, or computer wargames which use virtual models. The primary benefit of using models is aesthetics, though in certain wargames the size and shape of the models can have practical consequences on how the match plays out.
Warhammer is a tabletop miniature wargame with a medieval fantasy theme. The game was created by Bryan Ansell, Richard Halliwell, and Rick Priestley, and first published by the Games Workshop company in 1983.
A fantasy wargame is a wargame that involves a fantastical setting, and employs rules for elements such as magic and non-human intelligent creatures.
A man-to-man wargame is a wargame in which units generally represent single individuals or weapons systems, and are rated not only on weaponry but may also be rated on such facets as morale, perception, skill-at-arms, etc. The game is designed so that a knowledge of military tactics, especially at the small unit or squad level, will facilitate successful gameplay. Man-to-man wargames offer an extreme challenge to the designer, as fewer variables or characteristics inherent in the units being simulated are directly quantifiable. Modern commercial board wargaming stayed away from man-to-man subjects for many years, though once the initial attempts were made to address the subject, it has evolved into a popular topic among wargamers.
Donald F. Featherstone was a British author of more than forty books on wargaming and military history.
Tony Bath (1926–2000) was a British wargamer who favored the ancient period. He was the founder of the Society of Ancients.
Rick Priestley is a British game designer and author mainly known as the creator of Warhammer miniature wargame.
Ian Marsh is a British writer, magazine editor, and entrepreneur.
The Society of Ancients (SoA) is an international, non-profit organization based in the UK that aims to promote interest in Ancient & Medieval history and wargaming, covering the periods from 3000BC to 1500AD.
Micro armour refers to scale models made of lead, pewter, die cast metal or plastic, usually used for wargaming purposes. Variations of the name include: mini armour, microscale, mini tanks, miniature armour, miniature tanks, micro tanks, minitanks, minifigs, armour figurines, tank figurines, etc. are also used. Micro armour is a sub-category of model military vehicle miniature figures used for military simulation, miniature wargaming, scale models, dioramas and collecting.
Angriff!, subtitled "A practical set of World War II Wargaming rules for use with the HO and MICRO scale enthusiast", is a set of rules for miniature wargaming set in World War II designed especially for use with HO scale and 1:285 scale micro armor. The booklet was released by Z&M Publishing Enterprises in 1968.
Wargames Illustrated is a magazine dedicated to miniature wargaming which is focused on historical tabletop wargames. The monthly magazine has both paper and digital editions and maintains editorial, design and administrative staff in Nottingham, England.
Alessio Cavatore is a game designer.
Bolt Action is a miniature wargame produced by Warlord Games. It is set during World War II and uses 28mm-sized models. The game was developed by Alessio Cavatore and Rick Priestley. The first edition of the rulebook was published in 2012, and the second edition was published in 2016. Supplements for the game include: The Korean War, and Konflikt '47, set in a Dieselpunk and supernatural alternate history of World War II.
A wargame is a strategy game that realistically simulates warfare. Wargames were invented for the purpose of training military officers, but they eventually caught on in civilian circles, played recreationally.
Richard Fretson Halliwell was a British game designer who worked at Games Workshop (GW) during their seminal period in the 1980s, creating many of the games that would become central to GW's success.
The lead belt is a name given to part of the English East Midlands, including Nottingham, because of the number of wargames manufacturers based there. A key factor is the location of Games Workshop, the biggest wargames miniature manufacturer in the world. Games Workshop was brought to Nottingham by Bryan Ansell in the early 1980s. Ansell had previously founded Citadel Miniatures at Newark, Nottinghamshire in 1979. Many former Games Workshop staff have gone on to found other manufacturers in the area and the 8—10 companies in the lead belt account for 90% of the British wargames miniature market. Because of the concentration of wargaming businesses the lead belt is the subject of organised tours for wargamers from North America.