So when I DM I have a bit of a running joke in that, very frequently, there's a game in my settings called 'Turbines and Trenchs'. The idea is simple. It's WWI except in the style of Warhammer. Different factions, units, squads, elite units (tanks/planes/etc), and so-forth. There's even been lots of talk of an upcoming 'second edition'. There's only one problem...
I know nothing about Warhammer. My entire knowledge begins and ends with generic info and little bits of conversations I picked up from hearing other people at the gaming store (which I no longer have access to) talk in the background. That I know that Warcraft and Starcraft were both inspired by Warhammer is pretty much the pinnacle of my knowledge and I've been constantly relying on the fact that no one ELSE in my group plays Warhammer to get by. Even if I started buying stuff and learned how to play I don't think it would change anything since I'd be the only one who plays and, thusly, learn nothing more than the rulebook.
I don't want to continue like this. I want this game to be the nice little background thing/running joke/easter egg and everyone I've used it around has enjoyed it in it's limited exposure; but I want it to actually... make a bit of sense and be at least vaguely consistent with how either version of Warhammer is played IRL. Please, any advise, quips, or just... anything... to help me flesh it out for when they actually start talking.
By Warhammer I'm assuming you mean warhammer 40k, which is the sci-fi space one, not warhammer fantasy which is the fantasy one!
Warhammer 40k is played using an army of miniatures which you buy, build, and paint. Each unit has a number of points that they are worth, and you build an army to a points limit, so more powerful units cost more points, so you have less of them.
The system runs on a roll to hit, roll to wound, roll to save system, with lots of convuluted rules tacked on like rerolls, feel-no-pain, and so forth. Focus for now on the basics!
So a unit of 10 guys with rapid-fire guns will shoot 1 shot each or 2 at half range. You roll the 10 or 20 dice (d6), looking for values equal to or over their ballistic skill (EG 4+) - each of these is a hit. You then roll one dice per hit, comparing strength of the attack to the toughness of the target, to see if you wound. Then the target player rolls saves, and deducts the armour piercing of the gun from their roll. If the save is failed, the gun causes it's damage, which is typically one, and it is deducted from the targets wounds value. 0 wounds = dead.
Actually playing the game in d&d would probably get pretty boring, especially as it's 2 player and a game can last hours. So importan tthings you may find more useful are:
1: The miniatures are expensive. Someone who's had their collection stolen might move heaven & earth to get them back.
2: The miniatures get made obsolete every few years/decades. Old models, made out of metal not plastic or resin, are worth more, most of the time.
3: They take a long time to paint well. I can imagine a Beholder being obsessed with the game.
4: 40k lore changes regularly, and it divides the community, every time.
5: There are as many rulebooks for the Space Marines, their flagship army, as there are for everything else combined. You could parody this by having the allies get every supplement under the sun and the axis getting one book to share. you could even have said beholder try to take control of the company that makes it just to get a balanced codex.
Warhammer Fantasy no longer exists, it was replaced by Warhammer Age of Sigmar, which plays more like 40k. If you want to learn all about Warhammer, these are the guys to teach it to you: (www.miniwargaming.com). I hope that helps.
Alright. I can already see some things; like a noble giving a quest to get his figurines back. I will definately be trying the beholder painting as well. What about anything specific regarding the various factions (especially how they relate to the WWI setting) or the like? Mostly looking for quips/comments/the like I can drop.
Edit: I'm also surprised how close I got to an accurate representation considering the most I ever saw of a game came from a youtube video from Josh Strife Hayes trying to play the Warhammer 40K MMO and seeing if he could play a game of 40K while still in the que.
General tropes, some mechanics (already given), and a few things I can easily do that would make sense. Like, I dunno... I know the Russians would be Kislev, the Germans the Empire, and some stuff like that; but just... I generally want it fleshed out and to sound like it's a real thing so even just a few comments about how actual players would talk if it actually existed would be helpful.
The game of WH40k is a battle strategy game in which a player can build an army utilizing units from any one of a number of different factions. The Imperial Guard are one of those factions. If you are really interested in learning more I strongly suggest that you check out two resources. The first resource is the website of the game’s publisher where you can familiarize yourself with the models of the various factions and have a mental idea what we’re talking about visually. The second resource is a website where you can watch people play games of 40k with each other at a pro/semi-pro level and they actually even have videos specifically intended to teach new people how to play the game.
For quips and common things you have a few ones to pick from:
The flagship for 40k is the ultramarines faction of Space Marines. They are commonly referred to by people who play other factions as "Ultrasmurfs" or just Smurfs, because they're blue.
Space Marines (likely to be the allies in the WW2 version you're making) have so, so, so many more codexes (army-specific rules books) than everyone else. Orks have 1 book with all the klans rolled into it; space marines get a new book for each chapter, despite being very, very similar to one another.
Chaos are generally depressingly weak as an army. Their lore is summarised as being corrupted by the 4 gods of chaos (Slaanesh, Tzeench, Khorne, and Nurgle) and turning evil and spiky. They were notoriously powerful in their 3.5-edition codex, so anyone complaining that the Axis were nerfed with their new 4th edition codex would get a smile from those who know.
So when I DM I have a bit of a running joke in that, very frequently, there's a game in my settings called 'Turbines and Trenchs'. The idea is simple. It's WWI except in the style of Warhammer. Different factions, units, squads, elite units (tanks/planes/etc), and so-forth. There's even been lots of talk of an upcoming 'second edition'. There's only one problem...
I know nothing about Warhammer. My entire knowledge begins and ends with generic info and little bits of conversations I picked up from hearing other people at the gaming store (which I no longer have access to) talk in the background. That I know that Warcraft and Starcraft were both inspired by Warhammer is pretty much the pinnacle of my knowledge and I've been constantly relying on the fact that no one ELSE in my group plays Warhammer to get by. Even if I started buying stuff and learned how to play I don't think it would change anything since I'd be the only one who plays and, thusly, learn nothing more than the rulebook.
I don't want to continue like this. I want this game to be the nice little background thing/running joke/easter egg and everyone I've used it around has enjoyed it in it's limited exposure; but I want it to actually... make a bit of sense and be at least vaguely consistent with how either version of Warhammer is played IRL. Please, any advise, quips, or just... anything... to help me flesh it out for when they actually start talking.
By Warhammer I'm assuming you mean warhammer 40k, which is the sci-fi space one, not warhammer fantasy which is the fantasy one!
Warhammer 40k is played using an army of miniatures which you buy, build, and paint. Each unit has a number of points that they are worth, and you build an army to a points limit, so more powerful units cost more points, so you have less of them.
The system runs on a roll to hit, roll to wound, roll to save system, with lots of convuluted rules tacked on like rerolls, feel-no-pain, and so forth. Focus for now on the basics!
So a unit of 10 guys with rapid-fire guns will shoot 1 shot each or 2 at half range. You roll the 10 or 20 dice (d6), looking for values equal to or over their ballistic skill (EG 4+) - each of these is a hit. You then roll one dice per hit, comparing strength of the attack to the toughness of the target, to see if you wound. Then the target player rolls saves, and deducts the armour piercing of the gun from their roll. If the save is failed, the gun causes it's damage, which is typically one, and it is deducted from the targets wounds value. 0 wounds = dead.
Actually playing the game in d&d would probably get pretty boring, especially as it's 2 player and a game can last hours. So importan tthings you may find more useful are:
1: The miniatures are expensive. Someone who's had their collection stolen might move heaven & earth to get them back.
2: The miniatures get made obsolete every few years/decades. Old models, made out of metal not plastic or resin, are worth more, most of the time.
3: They take a long time to paint well. I can imagine a Beholder being obsessed with the game.
4: 40k lore changes regularly, and it divides the community, every time.
5: There are as many rulebooks for the Space Marines, their flagship army, as there are for everything else combined. You could parody this by having the allies get every supplement under the sun and the axis getting one book to share. you could even have said beholder try to take control of the company that makes it just to get a balanced codex.
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
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Warhammer Fantasy no longer exists, it was replaced by Warhammer Age of Sigmar, which plays more like 40k. If you want to learn all about Warhammer, these are the guys to teach it to you: (www.miniwargaming.com). I hope that helps.
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Alright. I can already see some things; like a noble giving a quest to get his figurines back. I will definately be trying the beholder painting as well. What about anything specific regarding the various factions (especially how they relate to the WWI setting) or the like? Mostly looking for quips/comments/the like I can drop.
Edit: I'm also surprised how close I got to an accurate representation considering the most I ever saw of a game came from a youtube video from Josh Strife Hayes trying to play the Warhammer 40K MMO and seeing if he could play a game of 40K while still in the que.
The Imperial Guard are basically like a WWI style army, and specifically the Death Core of Krieg.
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Forgive my ignorance, but The Imperial Guard?
Just to get an understanding? What exactly are you looking for?
Lore information on Warhammer 40k to be used within a WWI style game?
If yes, oh boy... hang in for a lot.
Warhammer 40k has extensive lore and background that you cannot just summarize in a couple of forum posts.
Or are you generally looing for general tropes about the hobby?
General tropes, some mechanics (already given), and a few things I can easily do that would make sense. Like, I dunno... I know the Russians would be Kislev, the Germans the Empire, and some stuff like that; but just... I generally want it fleshed out and to sound like it's a real thing so even just a few comments about how actual players would talk if it actually existed would be helpful.
The game of WH40k is a battle strategy game in which a player can build an army utilizing units from any one of a number of different factions. The Imperial Guard are one of those factions. If you are really interested in learning more I strongly suggest that you check out two resources. The first resource is the website of the game’s publisher where you can familiarize yourself with the models of the various factions and have a mental idea what we’re talking about visually. The second resource is a website where you can watch people play games of 40k with each other at a pro/semi-pro level and they actually even have videos specifically intended to teach new people how to play the game.
I hope that helps.
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For quips and common things you have a few ones to pick from:
The flagship for 40k is the ultramarines faction of Space Marines. They are commonly referred to by people who play other factions as "Ultrasmurfs" or just Smurfs, because they're blue.
Space Marines (likely to be the allies in the WW2 version you're making) have so, so, so many more codexes (army-specific rules books) than everyone else. Orks have 1 book with all the klans rolled into it; space marines get a new book for each chapter, despite being very, very similar to one another.
Chaos are generally depressingly weak as an army. Their lore is summarised as being corrupted by the 4 gods of chaos (Slaanesh, Tzeench, Khorne, and Nurgle) and turning evil and spiky. They were notoriously powerful in their 3.5-edition codex, so anyone complaining that the Axis were nerfed with their new 4th edition codex would get a smile from those who know.
good luck!
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
Other tropes:
Warhammer is effing expensive.
You always buy more than you need.
When you assemble and paint every last miniature you own you will immediately drop dead.
Thank you all for the help! I will be putting this to good use.
There’s a reason they call it “plastic crack.”
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