- If you do not like strategy games, you probably will not like WarHammer.
Luckily for me, I love strategy games. Chess, checkers, Risk, Settlers of Catan... If there's some thinking that has to take place, I'm in. I mean, I guess even "Words With Friends" has some strategy involved, but you know what I mean. My main experience with strategy games were RTS computer games, specifically WarCraft and StarCraft. Ironically enough, Blizzard borrowed (heavily) from Games Workshop, so many of the races I was familiar with had WarHammer equivalents.
If you happen to be familiar with those Blizzard universes, Orcs are...well...like Orcs... Space Marines are like the Terrans. Eldar or Dark Eldar are like the Protoss. Chaos Daemons and the Tyranids are like the Zerg.
In any case, the same basic game-play rules apply to WarHammer 40K as they do to those RTS games except in WarHammer 40k, all those fancy graphics and animations that you would see on the computer monitor are determined by physically rolling dice instead of by the calculations of a processor. To me, that was an interesting concept. In some sense, I would just have to deconstruct my knowledge of StarCraft units and abilities, and reformulate it using physical models. The hands on aspect of the game was intriguing to me.
- If you are looking for a quick fix strategy game, you probably will not like WarHammer. It is a hobby that takes some time and effort to really be rewarding.
The best way I could describe WarHammer to someone would be to say it's like a combination of Chess and Risk. In Risk, it's about numbers and position on the board. In Chess, it's about utilizing the pieces' different abilities to eliminate the enemy. All those things are true in WarHammer, plus you get to paint and/or name all your pieces :-)
The other thing, other than any interest in strategy games, necessary to enjoy WarHammer is a basic understanding of a model's profile. No, I'm not talking about Megan Fox's Facebook page. I'm talking about various characteristics about a particular "piece." For example, if you play chess, you know that a rook (or castle) can move any distance but only in straight lines. In WarHammer, every unit has a different profile listing it's:
- Weapon Skill (WS) - Skill with a melee weapon
- Ballistic Skill (BS) - Skill with a ballistic weapon
- Strength (S) - How hard it hits
- Toughness (T) - How hard it can be hit
- Wounds (W) - How many times it can be hit without dying
- Initiative (I) - What order it hits (in close combat)
- Attacks (A) - How many times it hits
- Leadership (Ld) - Does it have the moral to hit?
- Save (Sv) - Does anything save it from being hit?
- If you don't have the mental fortitude for a complex game, you probably will not like WarHammer.
...
I say all that to say:
If you like strategy games and can handle a complex game with a bit of a learning curve, then you might like WarHammer. I did, and after I saw a couple of armies battle it out, I had to decide which one I wanted to play.
And, I'll pick up there next post.
