@@dragonsgreedgaming13Is there documentation to super this? Having attempted to play a game of rogue trader, a guy having a massive Slash in the background does fit... That said, glad they made the effort back then, it gave us the game we both love and hate to love rn
It's criminal that your video interviews with all these GW figures isn't getting more traction. Really appreciate this project, you're doing the history of the hobby a great service, and I hope you get recognition for that, down the line.
Ah, these are golden. Rules update videos are popular at the time, but there's only one Rick Priestly and I can't imagine he's gonna be doing this again soon. Thanks for what you're doing
This was wonderful to watch. Rick and the other original warhammer guys gave so much joy to my childhood. My original edition of Warhammer 40 Rogue Trader disintegrated through over use many decades ago. I think there was technical issue with the original pressing and the pages all stared falling out after a while! I got 40K and the original plastic set of space marines for Christmas 87 I was 12 years old at the time. That Christmas always sticks out as simply the best one ever, because I had been desperate to get 40k for several months and had been begging my parents for it. And they stepped up. The first "clue" was the space zoat with multi melta miniature in my stocking. And then when being made to wait what seemed like an age to open our main presents I still remember tearing the wrapping paper off to reveal the rule book. And then the next box was the space marine set!! It was a magical time, me and all my mates were just obsessed. I recently got hold of another copy of the original rule book just for nostalgia, whenever I read through bits of it I am taken back to the magical feeling of that Christmas in 1987. Some of my best childhood memories.
Necromunda is in every way the true successor to eighties 40k RT. Not just in the skirmish rules with a GM but also the anarchic feel and the open sandbox. I've even used the old RT space pirates minis as hive scum because they completely fit.
Does that go for the new Necromunda as well? Not played Necro before but very intrigued by it. It does look quite rule heavy, seems to take about 50 dice checks and rolls before you can actually kill someone.
Old Necromunda and later Gorkamorka feel like one of the last holdouts of 2nd edition principles. I think skirmish scale was the only workable way to play those rules. I can't imagine how you'd slam a unit of ten assault marines into a unit of 20 orks and settle that mess with those close combat rules where everything becomes little duels. I liked the light RPG elements in Necromunda where you were free to develop personalities and grudges for the gangs. And it seems people could get creative with an arbiter/ref setting up a greater campaign.
@@Mugdorna I thought Gorkamorka and old Necromunda had concepts and ideas from 2nd edition. It's not the completely wild chaos of 1st ed, GW is starting to grasp what they want the Imperium to be. The close combat rules that work like a set of separate little duels are there. Weapons have armour reduction. I like the concept of ammo rolls for guns.
@@odgeUKYes and no. Rules-wise, not really, except that it’s a skirmish wargame with rpg elements. Style-wise, yes mostly, but it’s pulling further away from it with every publication.
How intertwined was it? Early kriegsspiel could have a referee too. The ref is not telling a plot but judicating events, running neutral forces or revealing map information. I've read missions where a ref is supposed to know a disguised space vampire lurks inside a jokaero unit and is directed to spring that bloke and run him towards a shuttle at an opportune moment. There is an archeotech pylon no side knows what it does, and the ref reveals information to the first tech-priest and jokaero who investigates. A lot of them like to use doubleblind setups, no side knows exactly what the others got and where they are. I read one where you can find an ork duty roster in a room, and immediately learn exactly how many orks are on site.
Your channel is doing really important work for the community. I don't know how you manage to get access to all these legends and why they agree to give up their time for you, but thank god it's happening. Thank you, and your interviewees, SO much.
Just the perfect backdrop to a chilled out eve of painting. No hype, no flash clickbait intros, just a fascinating guy talking about helping to create a movement. You can tell the talent from Rick in his way he talks and it's complimented perfectly by the gentle nudges Tom gives to move it along or ask the questions we are all thinking. Great work as ever.
You are bagging some absolutely outstanding interviews. Can you please work on the sound. It sounds like the overflow on ricks basement toilet is running the whole time. I would love to here rick talk about what he's done since and what he's doing now, you may get a few less views as it's not about 40k but rick might look a little happier talking about it;) loved the interview though:)
In my experience, asking the person being interviewed to wear a mic or use a headset can already make a huge difference. Less noise pick-up, and better focus.
Yeah I love this but the sound is really poor. Worth putting up with and love the content but just wish the sound was a bit better (without background water/rain? noise)
Great interview, especially the part about the thinking behind the change from lead to pewter to plastics! An interview with Jervis Johnson would be fabulous, as would a Nigel Stillman one be! (Sorry for the grammar, being a not-native speaker)
Are you kidding me? I've just discovered this channel, and I can't believe it's even possible to have fresh interviews with all these legends in one place. Thank you! Also, if you can have an interview with Jervis Johnson it'll be awesome! Tuomas Pirinen and John Blanche... Camon! Mordheim is in my heart forever!
Me and my brother got the 40k 2nd Edition boxset for xmas in I think 97 or 98. Struggled with the rules a bit (but we simplified them), always loved the painting, miniatures and lore/stories. It was seeing John Blanches art at a young age that pulled me in, still have heaps of old White Dwarf magazines with me from 20 or so years ago.
Lovely interview!!! Really do like his notes on his anarchic view about economy and Warhammer both near the end. Always loved Ricks way of speaking about games, very realistic and very human, if that makes sense
It's always fascinating to listen to someone who created some great piece of art or culture that captures millions of people's passion. They have a vision and without realizing the import of what they are doing, they go from steep to step, and something amazing arises out of their personal heart, their commitment to their personal vision and creativity. Amazing!
Just discovered your channel by the TH-cam algorithm (here from arbitator Ian vids im guessing) and oh how I'm glad i did; that was a fascinating interview especially with the very early influences on the setting. Thanks, your new subscriber, steve.
I started college in 1993. By early 1994 I was introduced to 40K and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. Ive been a fan of the universe ever since. My 1st attempt at an army was Epic 40K, but I quickly became a space marine player. In 3rd Edition there were rules for making your own homebrew chapter. Which I collected until approx 2008. This was a great video. Fair play to Rick for such recall after so long.
"I created 40K as is, because I had to use the miniatures that we had in stock and give then sci-fi weapons" This blew my mind. All those decades of deciphering GW brilliance in fusing fantasy and gothic dark sci-fi and now... "Nah, I just had to cobble together what I had in the cupboard". Miracles happen by accident.
Loving this series of interviews. I hope there are more in the pipeline! This was another great insight into the background of why things happened the way they did.
Absolutely fascinating interview, with an absolute legend of game design. I spent much of my formative teenage years playing 2nd Edition, and still have all my old metal models. I still play 40K to this day, but 2nd Edition will always be my favourite. When my sons are a bit older I think we will do some 2nd Edition games so I can reminisce.
Thank you for the memories, the history, and for the decades of fun you and your games have given, sir. May you long continue to create and entertain. 😊👍
I don't play Warhammer, but I find videos about the history of games like this and DnD to be fascinating. It's also interesting what decisions were made because they thought it was good for the game, vs what was a good business decision.
god I really wish the audio was better on this precious documents you are producing. there is really some important information for posterity in theese videos!
never heard of your channel Rick Priestley wrote the most memorable things I read in elementary school. The process of figuring out how many shortcuts he used has been an Easter egg and a half.
Got the giggles at the point where Rick told us that you weren't allowed to sell their figures to under 14s. If anyone ever told the owner of a little model shop in a small Welsh town in the 1980s then he certainly took no notice whatsoever. Then again I went back there about ten years ago and he was still behind the counter looking exactly as he did way back when so it may be that he's just always been there and has seen many different trading standards come and go over the centuries and carried on regardless...
This is absolutely fascinating! I'd have loved to have played an Umpire controlled game of Warhammer 40k with our own hidden objectives and narrative focus.
Its still quite possible right now. I have a Convention game setup based on the current necromunda system where players control 1 member of a Deathwatch space marine squad performing a strike on a Genestealer cult hideout, where it operates as a quasi wargame quasi RPG
@@johnsnow5968 We have tried similar things using Inquisitor, Necromunda, Killteam etc. I personally prefer relatively simple systems, and Necromunda is the right level of complexity for me. Necromunda can be played with a heavier narrative and roleplaying if you so like, if the story of gang beef and hive exploration and urban intrigue is your thing. I was called in to play the cannibal forest dregs in an Inquisitor game. Three players were playing imperial mercenary teams trying to reach a crashed flyer. My instructions was to ignore the flyer. The meat is here! The roleplaying was mostly between the mercs as they learned what my NPC group was really there for and failed to negotiate a joint front. We tried a short scene-to-scene game in Killteam as traitor special forces during the beginning of the Horus Heresy. Our group was lunar gene-cultists or something sneaking around the unfolding chaos to steal a McGuffin. It was a mix of RPG and wargame, where our models were both moving around on a skirmish map and negotiating with scared people caught up in the chaos. Our playtest group saw a weirdly marked marine in a window and decided to avoid that. We chased after a rogue trader trying to leave the world with our rightful McGuffin and had a shootout at the bridge of a shuttle.
@@johnsnow5968 New Necromunda is a little too rules-heavy with cards and stuff, just a little too much for me. I liked how gangs in old Necromunda started out very equal (at least until Outlanders with spyrers and stuff, and the arbites gang/precinct in GW) and developed as they played. New Necromunda wants to hammer in what each gang does, and hammer it in hard. Each gang has a very clear schtick.
Modifying the already brilliant Necromunda to an RPG/scenario adventure game was easy and it was some of the most fun I've ever had. I even made a Rogue trader adventure arc where you were gangers that had stolen a ship. They landed on a planet to meet some smugglers but the camp was abandoned. After looking around a bit a lone Termagant appeared, then more, then larger Tyranids and the group was swarmed and chased back to the ship for a desperate stand while the captain warmed up the engines so they could escape.
It's a massive shame that Rick doesn't keep up with current 40K, as his insight on how to make the game better would be appreciated by the community so much. I'd love for him to do consulting work for GW's developers on how to make the rules far more tight and concise. The fact that he's not called upon is a shame.
Great series of interviews you have. These old heads are class acts. It is weird seeing my heroes decades later as older gents though, a little bittersweet. Subbed, mate. Best wishes.
Just getting here, but thanks so much for this. So fascinating! Never considered the commercial viability of Cards in multiple languages as being an issue. Makes so much sense as to why they disappeared as much as I loved those sets
Interesting to see the slit sleeves stuff was already there in the 70s, I always thought it was a mid 80s Adam Ant inspiration. TL;WR: The confusion of 40k with a narrative rather than a setting will kill it. That the bulk of new fans are introduced not through the correct context of the game but through "lore videos" and the HH books creates this confusion that will kill it. The most important statement though today is "The background of the setting was deliberately designed as a sandbox", I saw on reddit some guy asking if the two redacted Primarchs were intended to give GW "space" to "expand the lore". Though also important to appreciate the context of the statement with regard to Rogue Trader which became the much more coherent background in 2nd, I think the relative nature of 40k being a setting applies. The big threat to 40k going forward are the young Americans who have gotten into it through the HH novels and "lore videos" and who see it not as a setting but as a narrative and demand it cater to that. Sad part is, GW doesn't even see any money from them, they just watch TH-cam videos made by third parties. We see this being experimented with in AoS and none of the "story" being interesting because it's just "and here a battle occurred" and then it ends and somehow it's all the same status quo ante bellum except some meaningless changes to some maps that don't matter because land is abundant in AoS and hosted on different planes. As it's a setting for a wargame the wars can never really end, factions can never be destroyed and changes to the setting which would reflected in model ranges or factions changing drastically are similarly problematic. (AoS is effectively this itself) It all reminds me of the "Great Redesign In The Sky" paradox in computer programming, the nature of a setting for a wargame will naturally produce the same "problems" they sought to escape with AoS (Really AoS exists because ranked-based games aren't as popular as skirmish and any success AoS has over Fantasy was due to the massive hype and support it got.) Or the "induced Demand" paradox of infrastructure development where increases road capacity increases demand until it's jammed with traffic again. What's even worse is it's like a drug, the new "narrative" is summed up in a 5 minute TH-cam video and then it's over. Was it worth it? What's next? It's like how people are now more interested in the post-credit scene in MCU movies than the movies themselves. For this reason you don't expand the world of the wargame through in-universe narratives but through expanding the detail of the setting. The battle for Armageddon isn't interesting because it's another war between the Imperium and Orks, it's interesting because it allows you in a campaign book to detail the Steel Legion, their planet their regiments. In AoS it's the same guys smashing into each other like action figures without added interesting context or stakes because it's a setting for a wargame and you can't deliver those through battlefield results because you can't ever end the wars or have anyone truly defeated. Big sweeping descriptions of wars aren't interesting, maybe specific battles and stories do. Imagine if WW2 was described, there was a big war between the Axis and Allies. Not very interesting. In AoS like the HH we get endless nonsense about characters rather than the setting. Also the issue with larger models and bigger bases is one I share. The old marines on 25mm were fine, some people were very annoyed that they went a little over the rim. (Then make them more upright) The big bases make it hard for them to interact with a lot of terrain now. Gantries, steps and lots beside are now defacto impassable terrain for marines. Also on the original intention of the religion and nature of the state coming after the Emp, this is still the case and implied in the rule books but is confused because when they went back to the HH everything slowly became more and more 40k like. Another great reason why it shouldn't have been done. I always liked the idea that those paintings were of the people in 40k depicting the characters as they saw them using their references like ancient battles being depicted with soldiers wearing 15th century armour because it didn't occur the artists that the rough style of armour that had been around as long as anyone could remember could be different. But now it's taken as true that he went around wearing shiny gold armour all the time and was 10 foot tall because he had to be "god like".
@@boboayame2065it really is over. Remember when the Emps was a man in terminator armour? Might as well be a different IP. Still bigger than the UK's fishing industry, so it will get worse.
@@Finn-pe7uj The Emperor was a decaying husk wired into a life-support machine in Rogue Trader in 1987, as he is in modern 40K in 2024, and shown as such in the video above. He was only a man in armour in the Horus Heresy backstory, and only appears as such in the Horus Heresy material.
I kind of like how the Emperor didn't have consistent art or story. I liked to treat Him as one of the last mysteries of the galaxy. Dudes in the 35th millennium painting cathedral murals of Him have never seen Him in person. Neither has the most vitriolic propagandists of the corrupting powers portraying him as a drooling veggie. The people in the presence of the Golden Throne are counted in the hundreds, and they barely leave the palace. None of them talk. 1st edition had some ideas that the Emperor has some faculties left, but they gave him a more back seat role shortly. The one lore bloke I like is Oculus, because they are getting fairly good at radio drama and buy into the role as a pretty partial chronicler who constantly sneers at xenos as decadent filth. He had a pretty nice bit where the chronicler listens to an ancient recording of His voice and is immediately overcome by the sheer magnitude of just one sentence from Him in person.
@@adamwhitehead7289 That's the core idea they developed. It's a bit on and off in 1st ed if the Emperor has any agency, eventually they settled on the idea that He mostly does not act in the world. The art is always wonderfully inconsistent. Is He propped up on a literal throne of gold? Is He all wrapped up in gauze tape? Is there a hundred bare-chested custodian guards around Him? Bare-chested custodians is one of the things I miss from 1st ed. I always thought that this is all very theoretical to the chumps I actually play in games. Hive gangers, free traders, guardsmen and tech-guilders who will never see Terra in their life.
Rick mentions Starguard, which was the first SF wargame I played. I picked up a copy of from a local games shop in the UK, so I guess someone must have imported it at some point? We used a random assortment of minis most of which were Citadel's Spacefarers with a smattering of Ral Partha sci-fi guys who I think were being produced by Citadel under license at the time.
Thanks for getting this. Seeing the folks who wrote the books I spent half my childhood over is quite special. Fyi I much prefer Rick Priestley's background style: open, mysterious, characters have beliefs and not knowledge. And I agree with him on the size creep problem.
Absolutely fascinating. As I purchased and first played Laserburn and Traveller and enjoyed Elite I really related to Ricks take. Now I’m old I find his idea progression whimsical and nostalgic. I understand why GW has done what it did but as a physical rather than digital gamer for the past 40 odd years I can’t help feeling slightly abused.
Fascinating hearing him talk about how much organizations function on whimsy as well as how much of the setting was supposed to be ironic as well as the way the company made decisions in response to market considerations.
Great interview (despite the water...) and so interesting, 15 mins in, to hear reasons why it took so long for armies to be 'balanced'. Never knew that, yet their resistance to tourney-honing, now makes sence.
Sometimes GW at the time answered that the players should sort it out like gentlemen. If you think taking every steam tank in the empire in an army is silly, just make an agreement with your mates at the club not to do so. I remember the WFRP article for converting your WFRB adventurers into WFB models and vice versa, in case you really want to play a battle where your adventurers participate as heroes in a regiment. They outright state that this math can be used to strategically increase stats by swapping back and forth and abusing rounding errors, but you should not do so not because it is forbidden but because it is a silly thing.
This videos are gold, great Job, Im not even Brit. I am Spanish but love all about GW culture in 80s and 90s, in Spain all theese games arrived in early 90s with 4ed Warhammer Fantasty mostly when I discovered it, just few people could buy them imported in 80s.
Your videos are all great, sound quality here is definitely a huge bummer, but really appreciate the work you’re doing and super excited for the future of the channel. Thanks for sharing this
This video is so important for the future. Imagine watching this video 20 years in the future, when perhaps Rick aren't around anymore telling the stories.
These are great. I'd really like to know more about the paint development side of things. The naming conventions. The changes in formulation, like the mediums and pigment used and of course the pot designs. Also the box designs and printing variations. As a collector I've noticed massive variations and contradictions in the products that bear the same names even within one era and I'd like to know more about why that is.
Very interesting stuff Rick, many thanks. I always thought the reason 40K was too big for a 6x4 table was purely commercial pressure to sell more figures. I never realised it was originally based on a wargame for 15mm figures.
Great insight to how the studio was manipulated by retail, I know, I told them what they needed to do. Games didn't make money, figures did. No one entered the Golden Demon for the games only the figures and that's where GW made their fortune, from the passion created by the likes of Jes Goodwin, Bob Naismith, The Perry's, Ally & Trish, Dave Andrews and the countless other figure designers that made 40k what it is today. However, I forged the imperative and initiated some of GW's Retail practice's to this day that are still used, Blows trumpet, sits back & awaits critique....available to be interviewed..just ask from a GW Retail manager from Oldhammer times.
So many interesting points of view shared here, loved listening to them all as it helps me with my own business/projects. I wish I could prepare a series of responses to each one them, but instead I am going to underline the one which stuck out to me the most and that is why I loved these games so much, but no longer: This constant obsession with a perfectly balanced game people have nowadays completely ruined WH and WH40k for me, which removed a lot of its original charms and made every army feel more generic and less unique. Worst of all this obsession breeds the worst kind of gamers the "metagamer" which tends to have the most toxic personality online/offline, and completely killed any interests I used to have because if you do not play with that level of obsession, you are either treated with the "you don't get the game" attitude or if you do find a way by chance to win (perhaps a series of lucky dice roll) this person will scramble through the manual to find a rule you did not follow, so they can explain why you are winning, or just be a grumpy ass for the rest of the session. I know that not every player is like this of course, but what I am saying is, when you put this kind of competitive attitude in a game, you are more likely to attract the toxic gamers as well as the "normal" ones and I wish so much this franchise had gone a totally different path.
Guy in the back just taking a massive slash
Is that a cistern filling, maybe an aquarium too close to the mic?
@@alexjones1027 Fish tank, he says so in the description.
Fishtank indeed, a likely story. More like a Clan Moulder incubation pod.
@@dragonsgreedgaming13Is there documentation to super this? Having attempted to play a game of rogue trader, a guy having a massive Slash in the background does fit...
That said, glad they made the effort back then, it gave us the game we both love and hate to love rn
@@spinocus :D
Sunday morning, mug of tea, and Filmdeg drops a video of Rick Priestly talking about early 40k. Life is good.
Are you me? Why are you under every video I watch? 😂
@@WozWozEre you must have great taste 😁
And a cheeky spliff 😬😶🌫️
The simple things in life. Subtlety is the nuance that makes life livable. Cheers! From California on a Sunday morning.
*coffee 😜
It's criminal that your video interviews with all these GW figures isn't getting more traction. Really appreciate this project, you're doing the history of the hobby a great service, and I hope you get recognition for that, down the line.
The 'community' want warmed over 'lore' videos about how super tall 'astartes' are, own no models and don't know who these people are
Appreciate the kind words. Hopefully people will just continue to discover and enjoy them
To be fair the water fountain background noise is very vexing but I'm curious what Rick has to say so I'm trying to tune it out
Couldn't agree more ! Superb videos. I could listen to Rick Priestly all day
Ah, these are golden. Rules update videos are popular at the time, but there's only one Rick Priestly and I can't imagine he's gonna be doing this again soon.
Thanks for what you're doing
That was simply superb. As a 47yr old who was heavily into Rogue Trader, this was a mine of information. Thanks
Glad you enjoyed!
This was wonderful to watch. Rick and the other original warhammer guys gave so much joy to my childhood. My original edition of Warhammer 40 Rogue Trader disintegrated through over use many decades ago. I think there was technical issue with the original pressing and the pages all stared falling out after a while! I got 40K and the original plastic set of space marines for Christmas 87 I was 12 years old at the time. That Christmas always sticks out as simply the best one ever, because I had been desperate to get 40k for several months and had been begging my parents for it. And they stepped up.
The first "clue" was the space zoat with multi melta miniature in my stocking. And then when being made to wait what seemed like an age to open our main presents I still remember tearing the wrapping paper off to reveal the rule book. And then the next box was the space marine set!! It was a magical time, me and all my mates were just obsessed.
I recently got hold of another copy of the original rule book just for nostalgia, whenever I read through bits of it I am taken back to the magical feeling of that Christmas in 1987. Some of my best childhood memories.
Rick is the GOAT of GW rules writing. When he left things started sliding downhill
Fact. They're both his universes.
Agree!
He is to gaming as Stan Lee is to comics. For me, the Rick/Jervis/Andy era was the golden age.
Absolutely!
Two war games rooms in Rick’s house. Love it!
Necromunda is in every way the true successor to eighties 40k RT. Not just in the skirmish rules with a GM but also the anarchic feel and the open sandbox. I've even used the old RT space pirates minis as hive scum because they completely fit.
Does that go for the new Necromunda as well? Not played Necro before but very intrigued by it. It does look quite rule heavy, seems to take about 50 dice checks and rolls before you can actually kill someone.
Old Necromunda and later Gorkamorka feel like one of the last holdouts of 2nd edition principles. I think skirmish scale was the only workable way to play those rules. I can't imagine how you'd slam a unit of ten assault marines into a unit of 20 orks and settle that mess with those close combat rules where everything becomes little duels.
I liked the light RPG elements in Necromunda where you were free to develop personalities and grudges for the gangs. And it seems people could get creative with an arbiter/ref setting up a greater campaign.
Original Necromunda was fun. It's seemed very akin to the original RT.
I haven't played in 15 years so.cant comment on the current edition.
@@Mugdorna I thought Gorkamorka and old Necromunda had concepts and ideas from 2nd edition. It's not the completely wild chaos of 1st ed, GW is starting to grasp what they want the Imperium to be. The close combat rules that work like a set of separate little duels are there. Weapons have armour reduction. I like the concept of ammo rolls for guns.
@@odgeUKYes and no.
Rules-wise, not really, except that it’s a skirmish wargame with rpg elements.
Style-wise, yes mostly, but it’s pulling further away from it with every publication.
Fantastic interview. (Could've done without the aquarium sounds though😂😅). Thanks Lads!
I do miss some of the roleplaying of early 40k
How intertwined was it? Early kriegsspiel could have a referee too. The ref is not telling a plot but judicating events, running neutral forces or revealing map information. I've read missions where a ref is supposed to know a disguised space vampire lurks inside a jokaero unit and is directed to spring that bloke and run him towards a shuttle at an opportune moment. There is an archeotech pylon no side knows what it does, and the ref reveals information to the first tech-priest and jokaero who investigates. A lot of them like to use doubleblind setups, no side knows exactly what the others got and where they are. I read one where you can find an ork duty roster in a room, and immediately learn exactly how many orks are on site.
@@SusCalvinit was as intertwined as you wanted to make it
I'm actually playing rogue trader campaigns these days, it's a very modular ruleset
Your channel is doing really important work for the community. I don't know how you manage to get access to all these legends and why they agree to give up their time for you, but thank god it's happening. Thank you, and your interviewees, SO much.
Thanks for you efforts Rick. I have a copy of Rogue Trader on my book shelf and it was my gateway drug into the 40K universe.
Excellent interview! Absolutely love Rick Priestley. Keep up the great interviews.
I'll always miss the original genestealer cults and their gangster limousine in the original rules!
Very Curtis Mayfield.
The cult limousine is a nice bit of swagger. It's how I always imagine genestealer cults rolling up.
Just the perfect backdrop to a chilled out eve of painting. No hype, no flash clickbait intros, just a fascinating guy talking about helping to create a movement.
You can tell the talent from Rick in his way he talks and it's complimented perfectly by the gentle nudges Tom gives to move it along or ask the questions we are all thinking.
Great work as ever.
The thing about memory hits close. People talk about what they did in school and such and I can barely remember last month.
You provide us with an immeasurably valuable service by creating these videos, friend. Thank you for that.
Rick, Thanks for the memories and friendships playing your game over the past 30 years!
You are bagging some absolutely outstanding interviews. Can you please work on the sound. It sounds like the overflow on ricks basement toilet is running the whole time. I would love to here rick talk about what he's done since and what he's doing now, you may get a few less views as it's not about 40k but rick might look a little happier talking about it;) loved the interview though:)
In my experience, asking the person being interviewed to wear a mic or use a headset can already make a huge difference. Less noise pick-up, and better focus.
Yeah I love this but the sound is really poor. Worth putting up with and love the content but just wish the sound was a bit better (without background water/rain? noise)
Love the interview, but I need to pee! 😅
They have a mermaid harem, the water running sound in the background can not be helped. It's in the description.
@@paulie-g I always wondered what he did with the cash.
Great interview, especially the part about the thinking behind the change from lead to pewter to plastics! An interview with Jervis
Johnson would be fabulous, as would a Nigel Stillman one be! (Sorry for the grammar, being a not-native speaker)
Would be so important for the nostalgia, and the future, having all these peoples story on video.
Excellent suggestions
Honey wake up, new Rick Priestley just dropped
I played Warmaster against Rick Priestley and his Bretonnians once. I think its one of my hobby highlights
Next time I film with him we’re covering Warmaster
Gotta get that sould level up, but always good listening about the glory days
Are you kidding me? I've just discovered this channel, and I can't believe it's even possible to have fresh interviews with all these legends in one place. Thank you! Also, if you can have an interview with Jervis Johnson it'll be awesome!
Tuomas Pirinen and John Blanche... Camon! Mordheim is in my heart forever!
NICE. More interviews are on their way!
Me and my brother got the 40k 2nd Edition boxset for xmas in I think 97 or 98. Struggled with the rules a bit (but we simplified them), always loved the painting, miniatures and lore/stories. It was seeing John Blanches art at a young age that pulled me in, still have heaps of old White Dwarf magazines with me from 20 or so years ago.
Fascinating interview especially how assumptions about the market intersects with design decisions, and the artist’s creative responses to that.
Thanks for making war gaming and board gaming better, more socially acceptable and fun.
Lovely interview!!! Really do like his notes on his anarchic view about economy and Warhammer both near the end.
Always loved Ricks way of speaking about games, very realistic and very human, if that makes sense
It's always fascinating to listen to someone who created some great piece of art or culture that captures millions of people's passion. They have a vision and without realizing the import of what they are doing, they go from steep to step, and something amazing arises out of their personal heart, their commitment to their personal vision and creativity. Amazing!
Just discovered your channel by the TH-cam algorithm (here from arbitator Ian vids im guessing) and oh how I'm glad i did; that was a fascinating interview especially with the very early influences on the setting.
Thanks, your new subscriber, steve.
I started college in 1993. By early 1994 I was introduced to 40K and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.
Ive been a fan of the universe ever since.
My 1st attempt at an army was Epic 40K, but I quickly became a space marine player.
In 3rd Edition there were rules for making your own homebrew chapter. Which I collected until approx 2008.
This was a great video. Fair play to Rick for such recall after so long.
I think it's really important to interview these guys while they are still alive and well. These might be really valuable in the future :)
These videos are so great. This is the kind of history that needs to be recorded.
1990 was when my older brother and I started playing Warhammer and 40K. Still going strong. Thanks guys.
What a lovely guy. And what a great story too. Thank you for putting this together!
"I created 40K as is, because I had to use the miniatures that we had in stock and give then sci-fi weapons"
This blew my mind. All those decades of deciphering GW brilliance in fusing fantasy and gothic dark sci-fi and now...
"Nah, I just had to cobble together what I had in the cupboard".
Miracles happen by accident.
This is absolute gold! Just amazing and fascinating!
Loving this series of interviews. I hope there are more in the pipeline!
This was another great insight into the background of why things happened the way they did.
Absolutely fascinating interview, with an absolute legend of game design. I spent much of my formative teenage years playing 2nd Edition, and still have all my old metal models.
I still play 40K to this day, but 2nd Edition will always be my favourite. When my sons are a bit older I think we will do some 2nd Edition games so I can reminisce.
More absolute gold. Thank you for doing this.
great interview! thanks for posting!
Another great vid - thank you Rick and Tom!
Thank you for the memories, the history, and for the decades of fun you and your games have given, sir. May you long continue to create and entertain. 😊👍
Fantastic piece of history.
I'm glad this video exist so this knowledge won't be lost to time.
Fan-bloody-tastic. Thank you for these!
Beautiful content.
I don't play Warhammer, but I find videos about the history of games like this and DnD to be fascinating. It's also interesting what decisions were made because they thought it was good for the game, vs what was a good business decision.
god I really wish the audio was better on this precious documents you are producing. there is really some important information for posterity in theese videos!
never heard of your channel
Rick Priestley wrote the most memorable things I read in elementary school.
The process of figuring out how many shortcuts he used has been an Easter egg and a half.
Got the giggles at the point where Rick told us that you weren't allowed to sell their figures to under 14s. If anyone ever told the owner of a little model shop in a small Welsh town in the 1980s then he certainly took no notice whatsoever. Then again I went back there about ten years ago and he was still behind the counter looking exactly as he did way back when so it may be that he's just always been there and has seen many different trading standards come and go over the centuries and carried on regardless...
This is absolutely fascinating! I'd have loved to have played an Umpire controlled game of Warhammer 40k with our own hidden objectives and narrative focus.
Its still quite possible right now. I have a Convention game setup based on the current necromunda system where players control 1 member of a Deathwatch space marine squad performing a strike on a Genestealer cult hideout, where it operates as a quasi wargame quasi RPG
@@johnsnow5968 We have tried similar things using Inquisitor, Necromunda, Killteam etc. I personally prefer relatively simple systems, and Necromunda is the right level of complexity for me. Necromunda can be played with a heavier narrative and roleplaying if you so like, if the story of gang beef and hive exploration and urban intrigue is your thing.
I was called in to play the cannibal forest dregs in an Inquisitor game. Three players were playing imperial mercenary teams trying to reach a crashed flyer. My instructions was to ignore the flyer. The meat is here! The roleplaying was mostly between the mercs as they learned what my NPC group was really there for and failed to negotiate a joint front.
We tried a short scene-to-scene game in Killteam as traitor special forces during the beginning of the Horus Heresy. Our group was lunar gene-cultists or something sneaking around the unfolding chaos to steal a McGuffin. It was a mix of RPG and wargame, where our models were both moving around on a skirmish map and negotiating with scared people caught up in the chaos. Our playtest group saw a weirdly marked marine in a window and decided to avoid that. We chased after a rogue trader trying to leave the world with our rightful McGuffin and had a shootout at the bridge of a shuttle.
@@johnsnow5968 New Necromunda is a little too rules-heavy with cards and stuff, just a little too much for me. I liked how gangs in old Necromunda started out very equal (at least until Outlanders with spyrers and stuff, and the arbites gang/precinct in GW) and developed as they played. New Necromunda wants to hammer in what each gang does, and hammer it in hard. Each gang has a very clear schtick.
That was wonderful! Thanks for doing these. The hour was over too soon.
Modifying the already brilliant Necromunda to an RPG/scenario adventure game was easy and it was some of the most fun I've ever had.
I even made a Rogue trader adventure arc where you were gangers that had stolen a ship. They landed on a planet to meet some smugglers but the camp was abandoned. After looking around a bit a lone Termagant appeared, then more, then larger Tyranids and the group was swarmed and chased back to the ship for a desperate stand while the captain warmed up the engines so they could escape.
It's a massive shame that Rick doesn't keep up with current 40K, as his insight on how to make the game better would be appreciated by the community so much. I'd love for him to do consulting work for GW's developers on how to make the rules far more tight and concise. The fact that he's not called upon is a shame.
I don't feel hesitant about saying "legend" for Rick. A hero to many.
Great series of interviews you have. These old heads are class acts. It is weird seeing my heroes decades later as older gents though, a little bittersweet. Subbed, mate. Best wishes.
Really enjoyable interview! This is turning into a great series - keep up the good work and many thanks to you both 😊
Just getting here, but thanks so much for this. So fascinating!
Never considered the commercial viability of Cards in multiple languages as being an issue. Makes so much sense as to why they disappeared as much as I loved those sets
Your interviews are so cool to watch. Thank you!
Very informative bit of history, thank you for taking the time to do this 😊
Interesting to see the slit sleeves stuff was already there in the 70s, I always thought it was a mid 80s Adam Ant inspiration.
TL;WR: The confusion of 40k with a narrative rather than a setting will kill it. That the bulk of new fans are introduced not through the correct context of the game but through "lore videos" and the HH books creates this confusion that will kill it.
The most important statement though today is "The background of the setting was deliberately designed as a sandbox", I saw on reddit some guy asking if the two redacted Primarchs were intended to give GW "space" to "expand the lore". Though also important to appreciate the context of the statement with regard to Rogue Trader which became the much more coherent background in 2nd, I think the relative nature of 40k being a setting applies. The big threat to 40k going forward are the young Americans who have gotten into it through the HH novels and "lore videos" and who see it not as a setting but as a narrative and demand it cater to that. Sad part is, GW doesn't even see any money from them, they just watch TH-cam videos made by third parties.
We see this being experimented with in AoS and none of the "story" being interesting because it's just "and here a battle occurred" and then it ends and somehow it's all the same status quo ante bellum except some meaningless changes to some maps that don't matter because land is abundant in AoS and hosted on different planes. As it's a setting for a wargame the wars can never really end, factions can never be destroyed and changes to the setting which would reflected in model ranges or factions changing drastically are similarly problematic. (AoS is effectively this itself) It all reminds me of the "Great Redesign In The Sky" paradox in computer programming, the nature of a setting for a wargame will naturally produce the same "problems" they sought to escape with AoS (Really AoS exists because ranked-based games aren't as popular as skirmish and any success AoS has over Fantasy was due to the massive hype and support it got.) Or the "induced Demand" paradox of infrastructure development where increases road capacity increases demand until it's jammed with traffic again. What's even worse is it's like a drug, the new "narrative" is summed up in a 5 minute TH-cam video and then it's over. Was it worth it? What's next? It's like how people are now more interested in the post-credit scene in MCU movies than the movies themselves.
For this reason you don't expand the world of the wargame through in-universe narratives but through expanding the detail of the setting. The battle for Armageddon isn't interesting because it's another war between the Imperium and Orks, it's interesting because it allows you in a campaign book to detail the Steel Legion, their planet their regiments. In AoS it's the same guys smashing into each other like action figures without added interesting context or stakes because it's a setting for a wargame and you can't deliver those through battlefield results because you can't ever end the wars or have anyone truly defeated. Big sweeping descriptions of wars aren't interesting, maybe specific battles and stories do. Imagine if WW2 was described, there was a big war between the Axis and Allies. Not very interesting. In AoS like the HH we get endless nonsense about characters rather than the setting.
Also the issue with larger models and bigger bases is one I share. The old marines on 25mm were fine, some people were very annoyed that they went a little over the rim. (Then make them more upright) The big bases make it hard for them to interact with a lot of terrain now. Gantries, steps and lots beside are now defacto impassable terrain for marines.
Also on the original intention of the religion and nature of the state coming after the Emp, this is still the case and implied in the rule books but is confused because when they went back to the HH everything slowly became more and more 40k like. Another great reason why it shouldn't have been done. I always liked the idea that those paintings were of the people in 40k depicting the characters as they saw them using their references like ancient battles being depicted with soldiers wearing 15th century armour because it didn't occur the artists that the rough style of armour that had been around as long as anyone could remember could be different. But now it's taken as true that he went around wearing shiny gold armour all the time and was 10 foot tall because he had to be "god like".
Hear hear, alas though it is far too late, the goose is cooked
@@boboayame2065it really is over. Remember when the Emps was a man in terminator armour? Might as well be a different IP. Still bigger than the UK's fishing industry, so it will get worse.
@@Finn-pe7uj The Emperor was a decaying husk wired into a life-support machine in Rogue Trader in 1987, as he is in modern 40K in 2024, and shown as such in the video above. He was only a man in armour in the Horus Heresy backstory, and only appears as such in the Horus Heresy material.
I kind of like how the Emperor didn't have consistent art or story. I liked to treat Him as one of the last mysteries of the galaxy. Dudes in the 35th millennium painting cathedral murals of Him have never seen Him in person. Neither has the most vitriolic propagandists of the corrupting powers portraying him as a drooling veggie. The people in the presence of the Golden Throne are counted in the hundreds, and they barely leave the palace. None of them talk. 1st edition had some ideas that the Emperor has some faculties left, but they gave him a more back seat role shortly.
The one lore bloke I like is Oculus, because they are getting fairly good at radio drama and buy into the role as a pretty partial chronicler who constantly sneers at xenos as decadent filth. He had a pretty nice bit where the chronicler listens to an ancient recording of His voice and is immediately overcome by the sheer magnitude of just one sentence from Him in person.
@@adamwhitehead7289 That's the core idea they developed. It's a bit on and off in 1st ed if the Emperor has any agency, eventually they settled on the idea that He mostly does not act in the world.
The art is always wonderfully inconsistent. Is He propped up on a literal throne of gold? Is He all wrapped up in gauze tape? Is there a hundred bare-chested custodian guards around Him? Bare-chested custodians is one of the things I miss from 1st ed.
I always thought that this is all very theoretical to the chumps I actually play in games. Hive gangers, free traders, guardsmen and tech-guilders who will never see Terra in their life.
I am loving these interviews, thanks!
Wow. Great interview with a legend
Rick mentions Starguard, which was the first SF wargame I played. I picked up a copy of from a local games shop in the UK, so I guess someone must have imported it at some point? We used a random assortment of minis most of which were Citadel's Spacefarers with a smattering of Ral Partha sci-fi guys who I think were being produced by Citadel under license at the time.
Thanks for getting this. Seeing the folks who wrote the books I spent half my childhood over is quite special.
Fyi I much prefer Rick Priestley's background style: open, mysterious, characters have beliefs and not knowledge.
And I agree with him on the size creep problem.
This is a brilliant interview
I owe this guy so much of my childhood, thank you so much for creating the start of my addiction 😂🙏❤️
I just discovered this channel. Thank you for bringing Chaos to the world.
Absolutely fascinating. As I purchased and first played Laserburn and Traveller and enjoyed Elite I really related to Ricks take. Now I’m old I find his idea progression whimsical and nostalgic. I understand why GW has done what it did but as a physical rather than digital gamer for the past 40 odd years I can’t help feeling slightly abused.
Another brilliant video from Filmdeg !
Fascinating hearing him talk about how much organizations function on whimsy as well as how much of the setting was supposed to be ironic as well as the way the company made decisions in response to market considerations.
Absolutely fascinating. Thank you.
I loved this. I think you should have a chat with Jervis if possible, too. But talk Blood Bowl to him :D
Great interview (despite the water...) and so interesting, 15 mins in, to hear reasons why it took so long for armies to be 'balanced'. Never knew that, yet their resistance to tourney-honing, now makes sence.
Sometimes GW at the time answered that the players should sort it out like gentlemen. If you think taking every steam tank in the empire in an army is silly, just make an agreement with your mates at the club not to do so.
I remember the WFRP article for converting your WFRB adventurers into WFB models and vice versa, in case you really want to play a battle where your adventurers participate as heroes in a regiment. They outright state that this math can be used to strategically increase stats by swapping back and forth and abusing rounding errors, but you should not do so not because it is forbidden but because it is a silly thing.
That was one of the most interesting videos I've seen in a long time.
Fascinating to hear the origin of 3rd edition.
You might also enjoy the video I did with Andy Chambers where he covers 3rd edition
@@Filmdegminiatures indeed I’ve been loving these interviews
This videos are gold, great Job, Im not even Brit. I am Spanish but love all about GW culture in 80s and 90s, in Spain all theese games arrived in early 90s with 4ed Warhammer Fantasty mostly when I discovered it, just few people could buy them imported in 80s.
I've really enjoyed listening to this. Thanks.
Absolutely love these videos. Thank you for them
After all interviews, i can only hope that current GW will heal and take a customer/fan path instead of the current road.
awesome interview. Original necromunda was amazing and the current version might actually be a little better!
that was fascinating, thanks for the insights
Thank you Mr. Priestly!! You helped make my childhood awesome!
I love these interviews
This an amazing bit of history, I'd love to see the same from Jervis
Gee, I had all three of those first big boxes, 40k, fantasy battle, epic. I almost forgot about those.
Your videos are all great, sound quality here is definitely a huge bummer, but really appreciate the work you’re doing and super excited for the future of the channel. Thanks for sharing this
Great video but I would have loved to have heard Rick explain himself the influences that helped him craft the whole narrative of Warhammer 40k.
This video is so important for the future. Imagine watching this video 20 years in the future, when perhaps Rick aren't around anymore telling the stories.
Watching this now, as someone who has been in the hobby for over 30 years is a trip.
Future generations will be perplexed at whether we had a Waterworld era no one told them about or whether Priestley had a captive mermaid in his bath
These are great. I'd really like to know more about the paint development side of things. The naming conventions. The changes in formulation, like the mediums and pigment used and of course the pot designs. Also the box designs and printing variations. As a collector I've noticed massive variations and contradictions in the products that bear the same names even within one era and I'd like to know more about why that is.
The return of the master! And to Richard Halliwell RIP. Please someone, a long tribute video to Haliwell's work.
this guy is the living JRR Tolkien of sci-fi
Very interesting stuff Rick, many thanks. I always thought the reason 40K was too big for a 6x4 table was purely commercial pressure to sell more figures. I never realised it was originally based on a wargame for 15mm figures.
Great interview. Didn't half make me need a piss though...
Great insight to how the studio was manipulated by retail, I know, I told them what they needed to do. Games didn't make money, figures did. No one entered the Golden Demon for the games only the figures and that's where GW made their fortune, from the passion created by the likes of Jes Goodwin, Bob Naismith, The Perry's, Ally & Trish, Dave Andrews and the countless other figure designers that made 40k what it is today. However, I forged the imperative and initiated some of GW's Retail practice's to this day that are still used, Blows trumpet, sits back & awaits critique....available to be interviewed..just ask from a GW Retail manager from Oldhammer times.
Great content as always! Any chance you could fix the audio in the future? Love it regardless.
22:47 Thank you so much!
So many interesting points of view shared here, loved listening to them all as it helps me with my own business/projects.
I wish I could prepare a series of responses to each one them, but instead I am going to underline the one which stuck out to me the most and that is why I loved these games so much, but no longer:
This constant obsession with a perfectly balanced game people have nowadays completely ruined WH and WH40k for me, which removed a lot of its original charms and made every army feel more generic and less unique. Worst of all this obsession breeds the worst kind of gamers the "metagamer" which tends to have the most toxic personality online/offline, and completely killed any interests I used to have because if you do not play with that level of obsession, you are either treated with the "you don't get the game" attitude or if you do find a way by chance to win (perhaps a series of lucky dice roll) this person will scramble through the manual to find a rule you did not follow, so they can explain why you are winning, or just be a grumpy ass for the rest of the session.
I know that not every player is like this of course, but what I am saying is, when you put this kind of competitive attitude in a game, you are more likely to attract the toxic gamers as well as the "normal" ones and I wish so much this franchise had gone a totally different path.
No, Mr Priestley, thank you, for everything.