What is Oldhammer to me? What is it to you?

So what is 'Oldhammer?' 

Although I own the two core WFB 3rd Edition rulebooks, Siege, and the Realm of Chaos Books, my gaming group and I actually never played 3rd Edition (or 1st, or 2nd). We cut our teeth playing WFB 4th edition, and spent a good year playing 5th edition nearly every weekend.

I think the general consensus on the definition of Oldhammer would be WFB 3rd Edition (or older) and 40k Rogue Trader. I respect that point of view and completely understand where it comes from. That said, to me, Oldhammer really includes anything before WFB 6th Edition and 40k 3rd Edition. Why? Because that was the golden age of tabletop gaming for me, and Warhammer/40k were my favorite dedicated hobby.

We spent hours collecting, painting, and battling it out in my older brother's garage on a ping pong table covered with green felt. Our scenery was primitive - a lot of it cardstock. A lot of it cut from foam insulation. A lot of it model railroad trees. At one point, my brother used the styrofoam packaging from a household appliance to construct a fortress...We even bought this spray stone paint and applied it after sealing the foam. It was glorious!

All things considered - when I talk about Oldhammer, I am talking about the games that brings back the best memories of the hobby for me and my gaming group. Although people who played WFB 3rd and 40k Rogue Trader saw a definitive shift in gameplay after those editions, for me and the games I spent the most time playing, the rules changed for 40k after 2nd Edition and WFB after 5th. Games Workshop changed as a company. White Dwarf changed. The hobby we knew and loved was never quite the same.

I'm planning on starting this blog with a focus on getting together a WFB 5th army or two and a 40k 2E army or two. I plan to chart my progress on these and post up pics along the way. While I won't be neglecting Rogue Trader and WFB 3E, for a while (at least), the focus will be on the editions we played the most of.

My next post will be an unboxing of a 1999 Skaven Clanrat Regiment, and a bit on the WFB 5th Edition starter box.

Welcome to my Hammerstorm Oldhammer Blog!

In 1987, I purchased my first Warhammer product - The Warhammer 40k Rogue Trader book. My local hobby shop carried the books, but had a very slim selection of miniatures. I acquired a GW catalog, scraped and saved over the next several months, and ordered my first miniatures - An Ork Dreadnought, Warbuggy, Space Marine Land Speeder, and a hand full of metal minis.

That started a lifelong hobby in wargaming for me that has continued through 6 editions of 40k, and, starting with WFB 4th edition, several editions of that game. I have even played a couple of games of Age of Sigmar. Even so, I have never had the fun of early days of 40k (playing Rogue Trader with the counters in the back of the book), 2nd Edition 40k, and WFB 4th and 5th editions.

I recently decided that I was going to pull out my old books, acquire the books I didn't have in my collection, and start adding to the older models I still possess. Unfortunately, as editions changed and model sculpts became more detailed, I sold off a lot of those older miniatures to afford new ones. Although I still have a nice selection, I would like to acquire, assemble, and paint up a selection of armies from youth over time.

I still game with the same three other guys I started playing 40k with back in the 80s, and at least two of them still have their Oldhammer WFB and 40k armies. These days, they tend to think that the newer models for the ranges are far superior. That being the case, I am hoping that seeing me work on this project, they will jump onboard and work on their own Oldhammer armies. If it works out, I'll be posting their project logs, battle reports from our battles, and maybe even full campaigns.

We will see how it goes. Now, off to scour eBay!