Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Unofficial WFB Armies

Hey Everyone

Hope you all are doing well and welcome once again to this bastion of nerdiness...where we converge with our passions for all things collectable/geeky.

Well, fantasy to me always made me think of knights, castles, elves and orcs. Stereotypical settings of medieval Europe come to mind as great works such as LoTR and WFB have been prevalent in my fantasy geekdom. Perhaps I failed to ask myself this: why is the fantasy genre dominated by western imagery? How was the rest of the world like during the same time? They must have their share of warring warlords and armies of renown...

The college course I am taking now is exploring eastern themes in fantasy (albeit still written by American authors), and it is indeed very interesting to learn about eastern themes that deeply move us inside - such as the need for balance of power, acceptance of both good and bad parts of oneself, and the inter-relatedness of all nature (mankind included). It's my observation that fantasy is a literary form shared across all cultures, as each has its own unique stories that have their own heroes and villains...and perhaps non-Western themes mainstream fantasy have much to offer beyond the staple of Western fantasies (part of the reason why I shunned the Fable series).

While going through a list of WFB-themed blogs (courtesy of "Sigmar"), I came across a forum that posted unofficial WFB army lists that include armies such as Cathay, Nippon and Araby, armies that I only read in the background but never see on the tabletop, with the exception of JQ's warhammer campaigns. Go ahead and check them out...and they somehow added an "Amazonian" army list, perhaps after the upcoming Blood Bowl video game announced the inclusion of Amazons as a playable faction. Read: nubile scantily-clad women = fanning the fires in potential male consumers.




The army lists look kinda cool, and I am not sure if we could try a playtest of the lists and see how the armies work. Some of the cover-art look really well-done too, apparently it's mostly the work of a guy called Mathias, who works to put together an army list replete with histories and illustrations.

When it comes to fan-related stuff, they have my utmost respect...spending the time to create their own original additions out there for others to see. Somehow filling the gaps left behind by the official-creators - who are also pissing me off with increasing prices and changing rules. Man, their creativity is really something and I guess playing out their army lists could be a way of recognizing their dedication!

13 comments:

  1. Yeah, I saw all this army books before on that blog.

    Really awesome and cool. And lots of effort and hard work with no GW support to have done it.
    Respect goes to Markus and to all those who have TRUE passion for the game than those money mongers called GW

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  2. Hmm is it safe to say that since so many of us have the same sentiments about GW, that its pretty much a wrong move by the company to kill their customers appetite with such price hike measure?

    I'm taking that in view that Josh has pretty much the same sentiments as Jiaqi and other readers here

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  3. Haha yeah...I have exactly the same sentiments. I really don't like it when companies are out there to make more money in the name of 'serving you better'.

    Other consumer-friendly companies like GHQ and Valve get my vote.

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  4. I am not too sure if anyone has heard about this before but Games Workshop is like the Mercedes Benz of Wargaming.

    Its the brand that marks up the price to an insane level.

    HAHa, I am not really sure of Games Workshop charging you more to serve you better. I do Know that they are charging more.

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  5. HAHA and yet we continue to buy and buy and buy.

    There is this new game that is competing with GW called Mantic games. But Warhammer's popularity is still consuming every wargamer and the community itself. So unknown gaming systems still find it difficult to penetrate the market even though Warhammer is charging everyone of us insane prices.

    The insanity of consumerism.

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  6. One thing you gotta give to GW is that they continuously improve their figures and sculpts and their constant changing of the gaming rules has improved or provide new dynamics to the game that many Wargames don't have.

    For better or worse, they have strive to be as always - Ever-changing. which is their trademark.

    Not saying i hate the price hikes.. But not many other wargaming companies have that trademark. ANd its a good marketing strategy. If u change or improve a system, people will have to buy new books, new figures and thus this will renew profits from an existing customer base.

    My oh my.. i becoming really methodical.

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  7. Grreat Resources. Downloaded a few of these warhammer army books. Gives me so much inspiration to play these armies!! Thanks for the information!

    ANd in my opinion, Mantic Games is pretty limited for now and rather crap despite the really nice pacakaging.

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  8. @chaoslurker
    GHQ is also everchanging. In fact they release new miniatures every month and update many of its old mini stuff since 1967, before GW got its name.

    Yet their prices remain reasonable and they dun increase it like its an inflation crisis going on.
    I appreciate GW for their ever-changing tactics to bringing new products but changing the gaming system over and over again can be a bit disorientating that's why GHQ tries to keep things constant. But each has its pros and cons.
    I just wished GW would stop making it so hard for poor ppl like me to play the game :$

    And Jake, Mantic games isn't that bad. Sculpts look pretty good but it is a lil different from how GW does it. It is limited but I am pretty sure they are expanding their range.

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  9. I do intend to rephrase myself. I meant to say Not that I am saying I don't hate the price hike. I do in fact detest it a lot.

    Very good points Jiaqi. However, the Warhammer Fantasy Community is still the largest wargaming community.

    So unless u dun regularly play it, to get ur fix of wargaming, Warhammer is the way to go.

    I dunno about GHQ wargaming community.. But its not that easy to rally a group of peeps to play other games as easily as warhammer.

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  10. @chaoslurker

    True that. All of what you say are realities of the wargaming world. Warhammer is still the coolest shit in town and i would say most of its methods of marketing and its products are still THE best.

    Can't stop the warhammer train!! CHOOO CHOOO!!!

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  11. Hahaaaa..
    Unless that Train meets the Desolater!

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  12. Desolater.. The Warhammer Steam Train is gonna run over you and The Bloodthirster is going to eat ur remains for breakfast..

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