So, that’s it. After 8 years and countless hours… But makes me think of the wider impact this little game had for me personally…
I go back to the Public Beta. I’d been a huge 40K fan back in the 90s, in my teens, collecting a few small armies, playing a few games, but mostly being obsessed with the lore, particularly the history of the setting, what came before the 41st millennium. Reaching the 00s, like many, in my 20s, I gave it up.
This game released into beta just as I was coming off a horrendous 2 year project, and the nostalgia hit was massive. I started reading up on all of the 30k lore that had been developed in my time away from GW products. First online, and then the HH books themselves.
By late 2019, I was back in the hobby, buying models and soon would go on to play on tabletops. In turn, I also started actively running events and a v large Warhammer community, and have played the game on 3 continents. It’s made me umpteen great friends and a massive collection of folks I know and respect and enjoy hanging out with. I chat daily with people I’d never known… had the journey not started with this simple game, that I’ve kept playing for all those years, sitting in Terra with my Blood Angels, AL and EC decks.
It was a blast, and I’m really happy to share my wee story of a little free game, I’ve spent a fiver a year on as a token of gratitude, but owe much more to due to it having completely re-ignited a love of tabletop games and the Warhammer setting.