Gameplay in Brief:

A tabletop fantasy miniatures wargame, Warhammer can be played with 20 miniatures per side or hundreds of miniatures per side. A huge range of models are available, and players often spend more time painting the figures than they do playing the game.

The Basics:

For 2 or more players (best with 2 to 4), ages 10 and up. About four hours per game.

Designers:

Warhammer Fantasy Battle was designed by Bryan Ansell, Richard Halliwell, and Rick Priestly.


Publisher:

Warhammer Fantasy Battle was published by Games Workshop in 1983.

Genre:

Warhammer Fantasy Battle is a miniatures game with a battle theme.

Expansions:

Now in its 7th edition, Warhammer has also spawned many expansions and stand-alone games, including Warhammer: Mighty Empires and Warhammer: Battle for Skull Pass.

Why Warhammer is Part of the Games Timeline:

Although Chainmail came first, Warhammer virtually created the modern miniatures game industry, including Mechwarrior, MageKnight, the Lord of the Rings Battle Game, Star Wars Miniatures, and HeroClix.

Here are the other games I believe are the most culturally and historically significant games published since 1800.