Warhammer 40,000 spin-offs
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Warhammer 40,000 spin-offs include the many side projects, copies, derivatives and other forms of spin-off, the creation of which has been influenced by the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop miniature wargame or its fictional universe. These come in many forms, including other tabletop games, board games, card games, books, comic books, computer games, and even music. Some of these are officially supported by Games Workshop and Citadel Miniatures, but many are not, rather being fan expansions of or additions to the original game.
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[edit] Miniature based games
[edit] Specialist games
These games are available from a sub-division of Games Workshop known as "Specialist Games".
- Battlefleet Gothic
- A spaceship combat game using unique scaled ships. An earlier version of this was known as Space Fleet.
- Epic
- The most recent (4th) edition of a much larger scale war simulation (Which is tactically more complex than Warhammer 40,000), using 6mm miniatures instead of the 28mm miniatures used in Warhammer 40,000. This edition of Epic is also known as Epic:Armageddon, while the 3rd edition was known as Epic 40,000.
- Inquisitor
- A smaller scale fight simulation, which uses relatively large 54mm models. Described as a narrative wargame, it uses elements of roleplaying.
- Necromunda
- Originally developed under the title "Confrontation", this is a simulation of gang fighting in the depths of an Imperial Hive City using 28mm models.
[edit] Other miniature based games
Other miniature based games in the Warhammer 40,000 universe include:
- Aeronautica Imperialis
- A game produced by Forge World that focuses on air combat using Epic-scale aircraft.
- 40K in 40 minutes
- A 'light' version of the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop game. The rules were published in White Dwarf magazine. The idea is to limit the choices of units and upgrades for each player so the game can be completed in a short amount of time (about 40 minutes). A streamlined version of these rules, called Combat Patrol, is present in the 4th edition of the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook.
- Advanced Space Crusade
- A board game, released in 1990, where 28mm Space Marine scouts raid/sabotage modular Tyranid bio-ships. In 1993 Games Workshop re-released the game under the title Tyranid Attack.
- Bommerz over da Sulphur River
- Board game where Epic-scale Ork aircraft bomb Imperial installations along a river while avoiding defensive weapons, Imperial fighters and rock formations. Rules and board pieces recently re-published on the GW Specialist Games Website.
- Gorkamorka
- A 28mm game of Ork gang fighting based on a desert planet, with a focus on scavenging and Ork vehicles. Later received an add-on, titled Digganob. It has been re-released on the Specialist Games website.
- Space Crusade
- Up to 4-player board game (published in conjunction with Milton Bradley Company) where 28mm Space Marines fight various enemies on board-based enemy space ships. Considered a sci-fi version of Heroquest (also a joint Games Workshop-Milton Bradley endeavor). Space Crusade received two addon boxed sets, Mission Dreadnought and Eldar Attack.
- Space Hulk
- A 2-player board game with modular interlocking room tiles where 28mm Space Marine Terminators fight Tyranid Genestealers on an abandoned maze-like spaceship (a "space hulk"). There were 2 editions, add-ons (for the first edition) titled Deathwing and Genestealer.
- Spacefarers
- The 1981 precursor to Warhammer 40,000 using Citadel Miniatures Spacefarers line of 25mm miniatures. The squad-based game mechanics are more similar to Necromunda than that of Warhammer 40,000.
- Space Fleet
- A beginners game that preceded Battlefleet Gothic and established a lot of the BFG background although most of the ship designs were completely replaced.
- Ultra Marines
- Board game that uses the same modular interlocking room pieces as 1st edition Space Hulk. Each player (box supports up to 4, any number can play) controls a competitive scout squad raiding abandoned maze-like spaceship (again a "space hulk") for artifacts. The game uses the same board pieces as Space Hulk, and uses an original method of rolling dice that involves throwing dice onto a printed grid.
[edit] Non-miniature games
[edit] Board games
These were all released at around the same time, having near identical gameplay mechanics with minor variations.
- Battle for Armageddon
- Map-based board game (1993) with numbered cardboard counters, acting out the (first) Ork invasion of the planet Armageddon. Add-on (Chaos Attack) was released soon after, acting out the Chaos invasion of the planet before the Ork invasions. Both were re-released as free PDF downloads from Games Workshop during the Third War for Armageddon worldwide campaign in 1998.
- Warmaster
- Not to be confused with the wargame of the same name, Warmaster is a counter based board game originally published in White Dwarf as an introduction to the board game idea. The game recreates the climax of the Horus Heresy with the final assault on Horus' battlebarge (later named the Vengeful Spirit in canon storyline). Recently republished on the Games Workshop Spain website.
- Doom of the Eldar
- Map-based board game from 1993 with numbered cardboard counters, recreating the Tyranid invasion of the Iyanden craftworld.
- Horus Heresy
- Map-based board game from 1993 with numbered cardboard counters. Recreation of the invasion of Earth during the Horus Heresy.
- Arena of Blood
- Gladiator-style game published in an issue of White Dwarf magazine. Players would pit teams of Dark Eldar Wyches against each other in combat.
[edit] Card based
- Citadel Combat Cards
- Non collectible card game from early 1990s with photographs of various GW models. Originally based on Warhammer Fantasy Battle models, later included Warhammer 40,000 cards as well. Gameplay mechanic very similar to the card game War.
- Dark Millennium
- A collectible card game currently produced by Sabertooth Games. Dark Millennium shares its name with an expansion set published for 2nd edition Warhammer 40,000.
- Horus Heresy CCG
- A collectible card game formerly produced by Sabertooth Games. Recreation of the events of the Horus Heresy
- Warhammer 40,000 Collectible Card Game
- A collectible card game formerly produced by Sabertooth Games.
[edit] Roleplaying games
- Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay
- Currently being developed by Black Industries, the first of three volumes, entitled Dark Heresy, was released in February 2008. Each volume will offer a different style of roleplaying, all using the same background as Warhammer 40,000.
[edit] Other
- Lost Patrol
- While this 2-player game uses 5 Marine Scout miniatures, the rest of the game uses counters. Scouts explore hex-based jungle tiles avoiding generic "lurker" monsters.
[edit] Computer games
Several computer games have also been based on Warhammer 40,000. Among them:
- Warhammer 40,000 Online (working title) (release date TBA)
- An online role-playing game for personal computers which is in development as of 2007
- Warhammer 40,000: Squad Command (2007)
- A strategy game for the PSP and Nintendo DS
- Warhammer 40,000: Glory in Death (2006)
- A turn-based strategy game made for Nokia N-Gage platform
- Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War (2004)
- A real-time strategy game featuring the Space Marines, Eldar, Orks, and Chaos Space Marines, and its expansion pack, Winter Assault, which introduced the Imperial Guard and a new unit for each of the previous armies. A second expansion, Dark Crusade, was released by publisher THQ which added the Tau and Necrons to the mix as well. The third expansion, entitled Soulstorm was released in March 2008, containing the Dark Eldar and Sisters of Battle as playable races, while adding aerial units to the previously released armies.
- Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior (2003)
- A first-person shooter featuring the Tau.
- Warhammer 40,000: Rites of War (1999)
- A turn-based strategy game using the Panzer game engine.
- Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate (1998)
- A turn-based strategy game featuring the Ultramarines.
- Final Liberation: Warhammer Epic 40,000 (1997)
- A turn-based strategy game recreating Epic 40,000 with two races, Imperial Guard (reinforced with Ultramarines) versus the Orks with one single-player Imperial campaign. The game was going to have other races added, but plans for the other races never eventuated.
- Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels (1995)
- Updated RTS/Shooter featuring the Space Marines. It recreates the board game Space Hulk with multiplayer support. Playstation and PC (older/slower machines only, as the game runs on the internal CPU clock for game speed).
- Space Hulk (1993)
- A RTS/Shooter featuring the Space Marines. It recreates the board game Space Hulk. PC (DOS) and Amiga.
- Space Crusade (1992)
- Based on the popular board game by Games Workshop. The time is around 40,000, which means that the game is of course taking place in the popular fantasy game Warhammer 40,000 (also known as Warhammer 40K, or just 40K). Games like Warhammer: Final Liberation and Space Hulk are other games taking place in the same period. You control a force of different Space Marines that have to fight against other enemies including Chaos Space Marines at different places including several old Space Marine outposts.
The popular computer game StarCraft by computer game company Blizzard is thought by some to have been largely inspired by the Warhammer 40,000 universe. A later game by Blizzard, Warcraft III, pokes fun at this fact as a dwarf states "This warhammer costs 40K!".
[edit] Non-wargame products
[edit] Comics
Warhammer Monthly was a comic book, published by Black Library, which ran for over 5 years. These comics have been collected together and released as a series of trade paperbacks. These comics themselves have been the source for a series of miniatures and new rules (see Black Library gaming (Warhammer 40,000)).
A comic independent from the Warhammer Monthly is the comic Deff Skwadron featuring an Ork fighta-bommer team and their battles.
In 2006, Games Workshop licensed the comic books rights to Boom! Studios. That publisher's first Warhammer 40,000 release was Damnation Crusade, written by Dan Abnett.
[edit] Film
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Several years ago, Games Workshop announced that Exile Studios would produce a CGI movie based upon the Bloodquest graphic novel. A trailer was released, but the project was later put on indefinite hold. Exile Studios since disbanded.
For the 25th Anniversary Games Day, Games Workshop released (for limited sale) a short movie entitled Inquisitor. This move was created using clips and footage that was created as a pitch to G.W. for a movie deal. There were also trailers for two other films, "Hive Infestation" and "Blood for the Blood God". "Hive Infestation" pitted Space Wolf terminators against a genestealer cult infestation of a hive world. "Blood for the Blood God" was the second trailer released, and portrayed orks and Dark Angel marines fighting along with an inquisitor, much in the style of the Epic 40,000 video game cut scenes, but little information was given on this short film aside from a shot of a berserker of Khorne.
Another one was Damnatus, a German fan film developed over four years. Games Workshop announced in July 2007 that they would not give permission for the movie to be released because of copyright issues between Anglo-American copyright and Continental European Droit d'auteur. Games Workshop claim they would not have been able to grant permission for the film to use Warhammer 40,000 IP without giving up their claim to it.
[edit] Gaming magazines articles
White Dwarf magazine follows various aspects of Warhammer 40,000 with battle reports, tactics, variant army lists, variant rules and miniature converting and painting. It also contains short stories and background articles. White Dwarf promotes and covers various artistic works along with the miniature lines.
[edit] Music
In the late 1980s the death metal band "Bolt Thrower" wrote lyrics dedicated to the Warhammer 40,000 universe and used 40k artwork on their first album cover.
In the early 1990s, Games Workshop created its own short-lived record company, Warhammer Records. The only band under this label was D-Rok (who published one album, Oblivion, in 1991). A fragment of D-Rok's song "Get out of my way" was used in the computer game "Space Hulk", published by Electronic Arts in 1992.
In early 2000s, the band Art of Perception was licensed to produce several Warhammer-inspired soundtracks.
Games Workshop produced CD recordings and soundtracks for several of its collectors' edition novels, including the Gaunt's Ghosts.
[edit] Novels
After initially publishing the Warhammer and Dark Future books themselves Games Workshop's sister company, Black Library, began publishing novels, comic books, and art albums based on the Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 universe. Novels include the Gaunt's Ghosts series and Eisenhorn trilogy by Dan Abnett, the Space Wolf series by William King, and the Inquisition War trilogy by Ian Watson.
See also Category:Warhammer 40,000 novels
[edit] Short fiction
From 1997 to 2005, Black Library published INFERNO!, a magazine of short stories, artwork, and other features set in the various fictional universes of Games Workshop, and regularly featuring that of Warhammer 40,000.
[edit] External links
- Battlefield 40k Website
- BattleHammer 40k Website
- SpaceHulk Mod Website
- Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Website
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