On August 28 students from New York Film Academy’s Game Design program took a trip to playtest a new version of the table-top miniatures game, Warhammer 40k. The version the students tested has not been released to the public. Along with their instructor, John Platten students were invited to test the Warhammer 40K game with developers of the game and provide creative feedback.
When asked why it was important for the class to test Warhammer Platten said, “Games Workshop has been successfully blending complex narratives with miniatures gameplay for years. As our class focuses on the intersection of story and mechanics, we played a game of Warhammer 40,000 to explore how the grimdark science fiction universe of the property creates a more engaging experiencing than simply following a ruleset. For our class, story matters because it provides a context for gameplay that can fire the imagination.”
Created by Games Workshop, “Warhammer 40k” is a table-top fantasy game where the players can play as humans, elves, dwarfs, and even the undead in a seemingly never-ending war. 40K finds players in the 41st millennium of a century’s long war. Created in 1983 the game has seen several updates, new additions, and storylines.
In Warhammer, the setting is dark but the payoff in the adventure players are able to experience is vast. Here’s a brief description of the world the players are dropped into:
“To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be relearned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods.”
Each time Warhammer is played it is different than the last time. New players might be surprised to discover that there is an entire galaxy and a timeline, which can be daunting for beginners. But the rules aren’t much different than most role-playing games (RPG) and once gameplay starts is relatively easy to pick up the game.
The New York Film Academy would like to thank Games Workshop for letting our students provide feedback on the design of their upcoming game. Warhammer 40K is now available for pre-order here.