Warhammer - The Heavy Metal of Board Games

Imaginary Worlds

Eric Molinsky

Arts, Science Fiction, Fiction, Society & Culture

4.8 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 21 June 2023

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As the Warhammer franchise reaches its 40th anniversary, the company Games Workshop’s stated goal of “total global domination” is going swimmingly. But there’s one person who hasn’t gotten swept up in the war of miniature game pieces: me. I go to a Warhammer 40K tournament at The Brooklyn Strategist to learn why this tabletop role-playing game is so beloved and addictive. And I talk with game designer and author James Wallis about how a small company in Nottingham captured the zeitgeist of Thatcher-era Britain and infused their game with satire – even if some players missed the joke. James’ latest book is “Everybody Wins: Four Decades of the Greatest Board Games Ever Made.” Curious what painted Warhammer miniatures look like? Check out the Instagram accounts for Tabletop Minions, David Nordquist, Vincent Venurella and Louise Sugden. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to Imaginary Worlds, a show about how we create them and why we suspend
0:05.0	or disbelieve.
0:06.0	I'm Eric Mullinsky.
0:09.2	It's just after 10 a.m. on a Saturday.
0:11.9	I'm in a game shop called the Brooklyn Strategist.
0:15.0	Long time listeners might remember this is where I learned how to play D&D and Magic
0:19.4	the Gathering.
0:20.4	Today, I'm watching a Warhammer Tournament.
0:23.8	There are a lot of different games in the Warhammer Universe.
0:29.0	The most famous one is Warhammer 40k.
0:32.6	It takes place around 40,000 years in the future, and that's what everyone is playing here
0:37.3	today.
0:38.3	There are about a dozen tables with two opponents at each table.
0:42.2	There are huge competitive championship tournaments out there for Warhammer.
0:47.1	This one is fairly casual.
0:49.3	Everybody is just playing rounds against the person standing across from them.
0:54.0	Everyone is taking out their dice, their laptops, and most importantly,
0:58.8	figurines, armies of tiny, hand-painted warriors.
1:04.5	Now the figures are gray when you buy them.
1:07.0	The players have to paint them.
1:09.0	You actually lose points if you play the game with unpainted miniatures.
1:13.4	And the sculpting on these figures is amazing.
	...

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