Warhammer 40,000 (commonly referred to as "40K") is Games Workshop's science fiction table top miniatures wargame. It is set in the far distant future of their Warhammer (a fantasy setting) universe where there is, apparently, nothing but war. A typical game can be played in a few hours, and consists of game play between two players on a table top playing field about 4 feet square. The playing surface can vary, as can the number of players and the size of each players' force. A force, or army, is created based on a point system. The average size army for a game is between 1,500 and 2,000 points. The fewer the points allotted per side, the shorter the game (usually).
I was given my first taste of 40K at a local hobby shop. Han's Hobbies (now long out of business, but not forgotten) was the place. It was a store in an old converted house. All the rooms were gone, and the store was the main living area of the house without any interior walls. Their back office and storage area was the garage - and the site of their dark hour gaming sessions. When I innocently asked about the game with the neat looking painted figures, they could hardly wait to introduce another innocent to the dark work of Games Workshop gaming. That first game cost me nothing except an evening of my time. But, they knew. Few can resist the temptation of those beautifully crafted miniatures. I was hooked. So, it came to pass that I first began playing 40K shortly after Games Workshop revised and rereleased the game as 2nd Edition. I believe that was around 1995. I would meet with a few other players on Sunday's and we'd set up games that had huge armies. Each player would bring to the game an army ranging anywhere from 1,000 to about 4,000 points in size, and we'd have 2 or 3 people per side. Imagine, a conflict with anywhere from 6,000 to 8,500 points per side! For the experienced 40K players, they can realize the size of the armies being assembled. For those of you that have no idea how many miniatures a force that size is composed of, allow me to offer a some additional information. If you were playing, say Space Orks, or perhaps Imperial Guard, a typical miniature has a point value of around 10 points. Space Marines have a typical point value of around 25 points. So, a 2,000 point army of Space Orks could be about 200 miniatures. Now, consider a force of 8,500 points in Space Orks...huge. Yes, I was hooked. I had to keep up with the others! I couldn't continue to field those simple figures that the boxed set started me out with. I needed more, and I needed variety. I soon had a vast array of Space Marines (Imperial Fist Chapter) to play with. We used 40K rules, but what we set up for our battles were armies approaching the point scale of Warhammer 40K Epic. Insanity, I tell you -- but what an Instanity!
| Space Marines, |
| Imperial Guard, |
| Space Orks, |
| Chaos, and |
| Tyrranid figures. |
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