Rolling (Dice) Back The Years – One Gamer’s Journey Back To The Old World

Two decades ago (ouch!), as a spotty teenager, I discovered Warhammer Fantasy Battles. I remember being spellbound by this whole new world – the Old World! Impulsive by nature, I chose my army based on one picture: the cover of the Empire army book. I should naturally have been a Bretonnia player, as I love high medieval England, but for some reason the Empire just spoke to me.

But then what's not to love about this?

Flicking through the book, my first unit was chosen on the basis of one single photo of a Talabecland handgunner.

The colours were so bold and the gun looked so cool! I immediately bought a unit and painted it up. It proved both exciting and frustrating. Yellow was just too hard to get right (find out if that has changed over the coming months) and I soon switched to paint the rest of the army in the easier Middenland blue.

As real life took over and Games Workshop got obsessed with selling huge units and expensive war-machines, I drifted away from the hobby. It felt like the fun had been taken out of it. Where were the days of A Tale of 4 Gamers?

The inspirational and ever popular series first appeared in UK White Dwarf issue 218. 

But in late 2018, with nostalgia kicking in, I decided to go back in time and do my teenage-self justice by realising the dream of painting up a Talabecland army. This has also coincided nicely with meeting some of the friendly 6^th edition Warhammer players from The Old World Lives (check out their podcast!).

The Theme’s The Thing

Wargamers tend to broadly fall into 2 categories: 1) those who love tactics and will optimise their lists & 2) those who are all about what we fondly call “fluff” – that is to say theme. I’m firmly in the second camp and will (to one former opponent’s delight) happily throw away a tactical option in order to enhance the theme.

The overall colour scheme had been established by the fluke of falling in love with one photo in the 5^th edition (my first) army book. Red and yellow it would be. But themes go way beyond colours. A uniform is nothing without a story. So where to start?

Walking in the woods in autumn, with brightly coloured leaves falling all over the place and the wind howling through branches is one of my favourite pastimes. My Talabecland force just HAD to be based in the woods. Where, though? Perusing the Old World map, you will see that the promisingly named “Great Forest” covers most of the Empire. Should my base be near a main city like Talabheim or the Empire’s capital Altdorf?... No chance! Give me secluded woods near a remote border any day! Besides – that’s where all the action happens!

My Chaos war tribe is from a patch of land in Norsca near Kislev. It therefore made total sense to establish a force just within the Empire, where they might risk frequent encounters as the war tribe raids through Kislev (those Kislevite horsemen will always let them through instead of fighting like men!). So I chose the narrowest strip of Talabecland, sandwiched between Ostland to the West and Ostermark to the East, with the steppes of Kislev just above.

Vergessenwald - the forgotten forest in the northern border lands of the Empire

If the army is set in a forest, their symbol has to be an animal, right? So which animal? Again, the choice came from a personal fondness. Though I lived in France for many years before returning to England, the heraldry of my home town – Leicester – had stayed with me. A fox it would be! And along with the symbol, it would prove a great excuse to sculpt loads of fox fur! (Disclaimer: I don’t fox hunt in real life)

Eagle-eyed footy fans will notice the design is pinched from a certain team

Of course, being so remote, this part of the Empire is bound to attract all the wrong types, from outlaws fleeing the Emperor’s justice to work-shy drunks and all-round dodgy characters. This will give plenty of conversion opportunities.

What’s In A Name?

To make a name for yourself, you must first have a name. After much trawling through Germanic names, I settled for Friedrich.

The great thing about the Old World is that the cartographers don’t give much detail, leaving gamers free to fill in the gaps. As Friedrich lives in a secluded part of the Great Forest, “Vergessenwald” (forgotten forest) seemed appropriate.

Thus was born the legend of Friedrich, the Fox Lord of Vergessenwald!

Keep checking this page to see Friedrich’s warband grow and defend the Empire from marauding war tribes, as I seek to rekindle my love of the Old World in true Tale of 1 Gamer fashion!

Next time: see how my test minis went and meet a bearded gate-keeper who’s a bit too fond of Kislevite vodka…

You can also follow my progress on Instagram @foxlordpaints