Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader: A Retrospective. PART ONE: Prelude...

 

In 1983, an advert appeared in the First Citadel Compendium ('An Irregular Journal') for a forthcoming game from Games Workshop, called 'Rogue Trader'.

Written by Rick Priestly, the text on the advert promised:

• Spacecraft Combat in Deep Space
• Space Sectors
• Space Lane Encounters
• Planetary Encounters
• Journeying to Planets
• Roleplaying the Ship's Crew
• Advancing your Ship's Crew
• Bounty, Commerce, Piracy
• Systems and Repairs
• Alien Trade
• Encounters and Technology
• ...Can you survive an encounter with Dr Gostalo's Amazing Inter-Galactic Psycho-Circus?, Can you handle Fear and Loathing in Los Asteros? can you uncover the fate of Herst Crabble's Fabulous Skystar? 

Find out with Rogue Trader - adventure, mayhem and destruction on a cosmic scale.

The Citadel Compendium, 1983

The first advert for Rogue Trader!

Following this advert, the trail would go cold on Rogue Trader for nearly 4 years.  

Games Workshop would follow this with the subsequent releases of 1st and 2nd edition Warhammer Fantasy Battle, which, as the title suggests, concentrated on what they felt was the more popular Fantasy genre for massed battles.

The writer, Rick Priestly, had been working on licensed games for Games Workshop such as the Judge Dredd Roleplaying Game, when he returned to the idea of Rogue Trader.

Work on Warhammer 40,000; Rogue Trader (referred to as RT throughout this article) began in earnest alongside the 3rd edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battle (WFB), with which it shares many similarities in style and rules (more on this later).

The public got the first, proper view at what RT would be in White Dwarf 93 (September 1987). 

A four page, full colour insert set the premise and setting of what RT was, starting with the now famous introductory text that has graced the beginning of every 40k rule book since:

This single paragraph, for me,  created the entire game's setting; it was a world of horror, of hopelessness and a constant state of warfare. 

In 1987, we were still in the grips of the Cold War, Gorbachev was yet to come to power and the world was constantly on the precipice of Nuclear War.  Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Government was 8 years into its rule, the recession years of the early 80's still loomed large, with the fallout of the Coal Miner's Strike being felt by those in the East Midlands (where the writers lived). 

Talking to the blog, Tales From The Maelstrom, Rick recalled how he was influenced by the themes of 2000ad, Larry Niven, Harry Harrison and others, to come up with a form of open-play skirmish game with a role-playing element, moderated by a Games Master.  This, combined with the politics of the time made for a dark satirical universe, the likes of which hadn't really been seen in the war-games community before.

The artwork in the preview supports this - mostly black and white drawings, it evokes a strange, gothic style, dark, cable filled rooms, with shadowy figures with skull faces hunched over arcane machinery. One piece shows an emaciated man at the heart of a machine, plugged into what looks like a arterial tubes, unable to support his own weight, yet powering the machine... the piece is titled 'The Emperor' and is our first view of him:

To me, as a 13 year old, obsessed with books on Durher and Bosch, this artwork immediately attracted me to the setting. Combined with the colour artwork, which had, to me, more than nod to 2000ad (with which I'd realise was down to the fact that the artists such as Carl Critchlow worked on both titles) which showed gritty Space Marines at rest in what looked like a bar and hunting a villain, I was sold.

'Smash The Empire'!

This juxtaposition of the arcane with the irreverent is for me, the heart of what 40k was, and still is - the phrase 'Grim Dark' had yet to be taken seriously, this was the age of the anti-authority, punk ethos in the game (as can be seen through the depiction of the Space Marines sat in a bar with almost- Vietnam style scrawling on their armour), offsetting the sheer horror of constant war and the cheapness of life.

The preview ended with adverts for the first two boxed sets of miniatures for RT: Imperial Space Marines, and Space Orks.

The Imperial Space Marine box (referred to by it's stock code, RTB01) was Games Workshop's first box of multipart, plastic miniatures (they'd produced plastic miniatures previously under the 'psychostyrene' brand for Fighting Fantasy amongst others previously, but these were monopose miniatures). 

Imperial Space Marines Boxed Set Advert

With enough parts to make three complete ten man squads, this box was a MUST HAVE for those who wanted to play as Space Marines (which were already available as metal miniatures at this point prior to the rulebook coming out).  The early releases of this box were in green styrene, which, with later releases, changed to a beige styrene.  

The second box set, RTB02, Space Ork Raiders, contained 17 metal miniatures (lead at this point) - nicely sculpted and full of character, as with the Space Marine box, these Orks would set the tone for the faction for the next 30 years.

So that's the preview. In the next article, I'll be going through first impressions of the RT rulebook!

I'd love to know your first experiences of RT - where you there at the start? What did you think? Let me know by leaving a comment!

Necromunda - Bitten by the Bug!

Ah, new games..!

When the first Necromunda came out, I was in my early 20's, and loved it. I still have some of my original Orlock gangers, now stripped back from the frankly appalling paint jobs I gave them!

The original packing for the Gangs back in the 90's...

What remains of my 1st House Orlock Gang!

For those who don't follow the various games from GW, Necromunda is a skirmish level war-game, which can be played on a board (the Underhive) or on multiple levels (the Spires) giving a huge range of tactical options to the players.

Each player takes control of a Gang - of which there are six - chosen from the Noble Houses of Hive Primaris;

Escher - Mistresses of Poison and Drugs
Orlock - The House of Steel
Goliath - the Forgebrutes
Cawdor - The largest, and poorest House, religious fanatics
Delaque - Masters of intrigue and spy craft
Van Saar - Techno lords

Of the six, I've always gravitated to Orlock and Escher - they scream 90's metal bands to me, all leather coats, studs and BIG HAIR!

So, I've bought the main box, which contains both Escher and Goliath gangs (enough to start both), but this past weekend allowed me chance to purchase the new Orlocks early... a chance I didn't pass up!

The new Orlocks!

Flipping through different schemes, and looking at the minis, I wanted to paint mine in a way that would make them stand out a little.  Whilst I was looking at them, and browsing the internet, a film from 1988 was playing in the back ground... one of my all time favourites..

AKIRA.

An animated movie, based on a 2000 page Manga of the same name, AKIRA tells the story of a gang of biker youths in Neo-Tokyo, a hive of gangs, unrest and strange goings on... it was settled - I'd be painting my Orlocks to match the head of the gang - a youth named Kaneda:

Character study of Kaneda by Katsuhiro Otomo

In uncharacteristically short space of time, I've now got a fully painted gang! These have took me a little over 12 hours to paint, and I've enjoyed every minute of it!

The whole Gang! Love the Harpoon gun!

The Gang Leader - showing the 'pill' detail on the back of the jacket

The plan is to buy a 2 box when they're on full release to add in more weapon options, and then another box when the trailed weapon expansion packs are released.

In terms of building the minis, they're great to put together - there's enough scope to convert the gangers in multiple manners with little difficulty, and I can easily see ways to swap parts with the Cadian Imperial Guard kits, to allow for even further customisation.

Now to choose which Gang to tackle next - or do I do the Hired Guns?

40k - A 30 Year Obsession - Part Two

Where were we...

The year is 1988, 40k has been out for nearly a year, and I still haven't bought any miniatures of my own.

Growing up was a difficult thing for me; my Father raised me and my brother (who had special educational needs) on his own following the break up of his marriage when I was six months old.  This situation during the 1980's wasn't as commonplace as it is now, made even more odd by the fact it was my Father, not my Mother, who had sole custody (I hadn't seen my mother for more than an hour in my entire life at this point).  The situation meant that we had little money (he didn't work so he could look after us), so buying toys and luxuries was a rare occasion - birthdays and Christmas at the most.

So as I turn 13, I took a paper round as well as cleaning, peeling and cutting potatoes at a local takeaway shop to make a little money I could spend on myself.

This work gave me the opportunity to indulge in my hobbies, and is something I still feel strongly about now - I work, save and then spend on what I want - this isn't the cheapest of hobbies and never has been!

But enough of the scene setting - you're here to read about 40k!

White Dwarf 105, October 1988 (TM Games Workshop)

Up to this point (October 1988) I'd been using Des' minis - mainly Marines, Imperial Army and Squats (yes, Space Dwarves..).  However, with the publication of White Dwarf 105, and its amazingly colourful Dave Gallagher cover, this all changed.

The Eldar had been part of the background in the RT rule book - a race of long lived aliens who acted like pirates, raiding settlements and enslaving the residents to do their bidding.  With WD105, this was deepened into a tragic tale, with the Harlequins forefront in its telling.

A Troupe of warrior artistes, the Harlequins cemented what it was to be Eldar in my head - beautiful, graceful, terrifying and deadly.  Performing feats of acrobatics whilst shooting their enemies, their suits shimmering as they flipped and kicked, the Harlequins were also fighting doom in their lives - the Fall of the Eldar (which we would learn more of in later years, and will be covered in this blog in subsequent chapters), striving to keep She Who Thirsts at bay (the Chaos God Slaanesh had been created by the Fall of the Eldar) and the rest of the Eldar race safe..

But that's only half the story for me, for a great story in a war-game is almost pointless. Without great rules, and great, attractive miniatures it can be missed (and there have been many such examples).

Luckily, Games Workshop had Jes Goodwin - designer of not only the Space Marine, but also the Eldar.  I don't think it's putting it lightly that to say without his designs and sculpts, the Eldar wouldn't have the mystique, the attraction that they do.

White Dwarf 105 gave me background, it gave me visuals and importantly, gave me rules for a new range of miniatures that were being released.

The box art matched that of WD105 - but in widescreen, giving room to Dave Gallagher's amazing art (which depressingly, I knew I'd never be able to replicate on the miniatures). The box contained 18 Harlequins, sculpted by Jes Goodwin and cast in white metal.

RTB6 Eldar Harlequins Box Set (Artwork by Dave Gallagher, Minis sculpted by Jes Goodwin, TM Games Workshop)

With a little practice, I managed to get a nice quarter - pattern I was happy with (maybe..)

Eldar Harlequin High Warlock - the sole survivor of that first army (Authors own, sculpted by Jes Goodwin, TM Games Workshop)

Playing the game with the Harlequins was a lot more difficult than painting them however! It took me months to work out how to use them after playing with Space Marines, who could stand and shoot and take hits, the Harlequins were fast but fragile - to make the most of their abilities, I learned that you needed to keep moving and hitting to stay alive!

But, I persevered, and slowly and surely began to win as many games as I lost. 

I kept on with the Harlequins for a few years, flirting with Marines along the way (as well as Imperial Guard, but that's a story for a different time), but I wanted more from them - more depth, more miniatures! I'd added Eldar Guardians to the Harlequins with a few squads already, but with White Dward 127, and the introduction of the Aspect Warriors, my fate was sealed...

White Dwarf #127 (Authors Own, TM Games Workshop)

Next: White Dwarf 127, Aspect Warriors arrive!

RIP White Dwarf - you will be missed!

As so it comes to pass, that the venerable old dwarf is being put out to pasture....

White Dwarf, the in-house magazine of Games Workshop has been part of my hobby since I started.

My first issue, which I paid for myself, out of my meagre pocket money was issue 98:

Since then I've bought every issue without fail. Even through the last 10 years or so, when it declined in quality, culminating in the infamous 'Giant' issue of issue 320, and the recent resurgence in quality, I have never stopped.

Since last January I moved over to the digital version, but carried on.  Even in the dark days, I would find inspiration in the photos of the miniatures, from conversion ideas to wanting a new army, WD inspired, cajoled and edited me into purchasing new shiny toys - my Eldar, Blood Angels, Imperial Guard, Empire, Chaos Warriors and Bretonnians armies were all as a result of drooling over studio armies that I wanted to match.

Who can forget, it was through WD that we got Ghazkull Thraka, Iyanden as a ghost ship, the battle for Ichar V, Medusa, and Storm of Chaos? 

It's true that it's nothing like it once was, but what magazine is now? With the increase in rumour sites, sneak peeks such as the first ever pictures of Aspect Warriors are now pored over in minute detail as soon as the rumour mills can grab them.

I would in fact argue that these rumour mills are detrimental to our hobby - each release is almost now greeted with cries of 'well, we know all about this release, what's next? I demand to know!' Rather than getting excited over the kits in front of us.

With rumour control getting silly, it was only a matter of time before GW cracked down, reducing the previews to a trickle only scant week before their release.

Of course with the retirement of White Dwarf, we'll be getting WARHAMMER VISIONS in its place -what will the future hold? Will the quality return, making it a must purchase magazine?

Only time wil tell.

Good bye old friend, you will be missed.

EDIT:

It's now Saturday Morning, and no sign of any change to either The White Dwarf page or the subscription page....  I've also now had it confirmed that whilst the monthly magazine will be called 'Warhammer Visions', there will be a WEEKLY magazine called 'White Dwarf'!  the plot thickens....

EDIT TO THE EDIT:

My sources have confirmed the following:

The Truth... From February, there will be two publications:
1) White Dwarf Weekly. This will be concentrating on new releases, which will now be spread across the month rather than in big 'splashes' once a month (this also means more can be released quickly). The price is to be £2.40, and will be around the 100 page mark, and will concentrate each week on a different faction / game, which will mean if you don't like the content one week, you may like the next... 
2) The new monthly version is called 'Warhammer Visions' and will be ADVERT FREE, but full of hobby content in terms of the return of 'Eavy Metal masterclasses, army tactica, lots of reader's collections and more painting stuff. this will be 240 pages and £7.20.

NOW - the prices.... £2.40 for a weekly is around the same as a copy of 2000ad, or a couple of Sunday newspapers. £7.20 for 240 pages is equivalent to most of the higher-end magazines out there, and is certainly on par with some of the magazine I buy such as Comic Heroes, Empire and most console gaming magazines... 

I have high hopes for these both - if they can pull it off, this could well be the start of something good. I'll give them both a try, and only then, decide whether to bother or not.