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Fanatic

Book2.jpg Publications Portal

Fanatic, or Fanatic Games,[1] or the Fanatic Design Studio[4], was established in 2000 within Games Workshop to provide dedicated support for games other than Warhammer, Warhammer 40000, and Lord of the Rings. It was felt at the time that the "other" smaller games, dubbed Specialist Games, had been overshadowed by the popularity of these main titles.[1]

Fanatic logo

History

Purpose

Led by Jervis Johnson, the team ensured all content was official and involved input from the main studio designers. Fanatic released magazines, gaming supplements, and new miniatures, acting as a global champion for these games. Each supported game had its own magazine, offering news, new rules, articles, and updates. Annual supplements compiled new models, rules, and updates from the past year, ensuring players had the latest information.[1]

Although commonly misunderstood as a separate entity, Fanatic was a department within Games Workshop, focused on supporting and producing material for the "specialist games" range.[4] The term "specialist range" was coined to avoid having to write "the games that Fanatic support" all the time.[2]

Another misconception was wether the content produced by the Fanatic Design Studio was official, which was adressed by Jervis Johnson:

Although I really hate the term, yes, all of the stuff Fanatic produces will be official additions to the games we cover. The Studio Games development team will be fully involved in the project, so players can know that the original designer has either written or approved all of the material that fanatic produces.[1]

-Jervis Johnson, 'Head fanatic', 2000[1]

Although it can be argued that this situation ceased to apply when starting with Fanatic Online #14, fan-made content became the main element of the online publication, even though it was curated by Andy Hoare, a member of what remained of the studio.[8]

Small Operation

Fanatic was a small operation running on a shoe-string budget. All of the material produced was to be made in short runs, in some cases literally to order (i.e. when an order was placed, the miniature would be produced). All of their resources were focused on maximizing the support for those games, with a willingness to cut corners on the presentation.[1]

Demise

Support for Fanatic Games dwindled over time, as the multiple magazines were replaced by a single Fanatic Magazine[5] for a year (2004-2005), which was itself replaced by Fanatic Online,[6] a free online pdf featuring rules written by the community and curated by Andy Hoare in a single-man operation,[7] which ran for 98 issues.

Allegedly, the Specialist Games website was closed in 2008, and the Specialist Games range was not available anymore by 2013.

Specialist Games range

 
Specialist Games logo

The range of games included in the "Specialist Games" range was the following[1][4]:

Warhammer 40,000 Universe

  • Epic Armageddon - The 4th Edition of Epic. A miniature tabletop wargame set in the 41st millennium meant for playing massive battles at 6mm scale.[1]
  • Battlefleet Gothic - A miniature tabletop wargame set in the 41st millennium that revolves around spacecraft combat.[1]
  • Inquisitor - A miniature tabletop wargame set in the 41st millennium involving skirmish combat at 54mm scale.[1]
  • Necromunda - A miniature tabletop wargame set in the 41st millennium involving skirmish combat at 28mm scale.[1]

Warhammer Fantasy Universe

  • Blood Bowl - A miniature tabletop game based on American football, set in the world of Warhammer and played at 28mm scale.[1]
  • Mordheim - A miniature tabletop wargame set in the world of Warhammer involving skirmish combat at 28mm scale.[1]
  • Warmaster - A miniature tabletop wargame set in the world of Warhammer meant for playing massive battles at 10mm scale.[1]

Sources

External links

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