Baby steps

Welcome to the first post in my first ever blog. A momentous occasion for sure, only I don't really know exactly what it is that I am going to fill this space with. I do know that this is going to be dedicated to my re-discovery of Warhammer Fantasy 3rd Edition, a journey in which I hope to remind myself of the joys of playing Warhammer. Playing for the sake of a good time and a memorable game, not (as has become prevalent in modern Warhammer) a test of who can build the best list and find the most loopholes / nuances in the rules to defeat their opponent. This isn't tournament Warhammer, it's Oldhammer. Probably better described as tabletop fantasy roleplay battle...

Anyhow, for a start I am going to use this place as an area where I can document what (3rd edition or earlier) miniatures I have found lying in the dusty corners of my painting studio and how that rag-tag collection grows into what will hopefully become a few armies. I am also looking to re-learn the rules by playing through a few of the old mini campaigns. Then maybe I can look at some bigger games.

So what is my gaming history and why 3rd edition? Well 3rd edition is the first set of Warhamemr rules I discovered. Exactly when or where I managed to get my hands on the rules I am not sure. Sometime in the early 90's, possibly 1993 when I was in my first year at university and discovered my very first ever wargames club (good old WARP for those who may have been a Wits). I do know I borrowed the rule book from someone and scanned it into a fax machine from which I printed out the pages - most probably just the basic rules but they were enough. I have vivid memories of the artwork and miniatures presented in the book. Looking at my eBay bought copy of the rules today I am still just as enthused by the images on these old pages so they clearly got something right back then!

Come to think of it I do remember playing a game of Warhammer with a school friend back in 89 or 90. The devastation caused by a vortex of chaos spell remains fresh in my memory banks! :) So I clearly found the rules before my days at university. Anyhow, I digress...

My miniature collection started purely as a way to represent the various roleplaying characters me and my friends were playing in school. It evolved to try and cover using them as Blood Bowl miniatures too, so what I have in my original collection from the late 80's is a very mixed bag. Some years later on of these friends donated his collection (mostly Dwarves) to me, but as they were largely pre-slotta base and I was not playing Warhammer at the time they got lost in the cupboard. I got back into Warhammer in 5th edition, but only started playing in 6th edition.I started a Bretonnian army and kept going with them till 8th edition where I have found my enthusiasm to play Warhammer has waned as the whole tweaking your army for tournament play type games left me cold.

So now I embark on a new journey. Lets hope nostalgia is even better than I remember it to be! :D