h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm sorry... but a good part of this article is so terribly wrong that I'm worried it made it to Edited status. Warhammer, in the original boxed form, was released in 1983, followed by Forces of Fantasy in 1984. The black-and-white covered books (of which there were three) included the whole Warhammer system which, at the time, was a clear root for the battle game and the roleplaying game that game in the late 80's. Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader was released in 1987 - by which time Citadel miniatures was a highly developed figure manufacturer. I remember visiting the workshop at the first Games Day and watching the white lead models being cast. Those were the days of quality White Dwarf and the first Citadel Journal, which originally featured drawings of all the models being sold and, later, pictures.

HeroQuest, released in 1989-90, was a joint venture with Milton Bradley games, now part of the Hasbro group. HeroQuest was MB Games responsibility and it was they, primarily, who released the various expandion packs - like Kellar's Keep, Return of the Witch Lord and Against the Ogre Horde. They also produced Space Crusade with Games Workshop, also releasing expansions themselves - like Operation Dreadnought. Games Workshop, seeking to make something of the games themselves beyond providing the figures, created Advanced HeroQuest, in 1990, and Advanced Space Crusade, games which spirited the concepts away from fixed boards to the segmented maps that allowed more flexibility.

HeroQuest was released in the United States in 1992. In the UK, at least three paperback books were released, written by Dave Morris and published by Corgi. These included at least two of the following: a short story; a HeroQuest solo Fighting Fantasy-style adventure; and, a solo HeroQuest adventure. White Dwarf included articles and adventures for HeroQuest and Advanced HeroQuest for a time, as did some smaller fanzines. Competition spawned games like DarkWorld from Mattel and DragonStrike from TSR, games manufacturers looking to take a share of the market for fantasy board games with plastic miniatures from MB. The talent at Citadel was clear as the competition never seemed to quite get the quality of detail quite up to their standards.

It is possible that HeroQuest and Space Crusade triggered an increase in the quantity of plastic miniature manufacture. It was around the early 90's that Citadel were producing masses of Space Marines, Skeletons and Genestealers in plastic, making huge armies a practicality rather than an expensive wish.

I own the original Warhammer boxed set, HeroQuest and several of the expansions, so I'm speaking from experience here. Warhammer was the original cornerstone of Games Workshops business in the production of original games, instead of collaborating on reprints from US games. HeroQuest was a jointed venture that helped introduce Games Workshop and fine plastic miniatures to the wider world.

Seems a shame to highlight the need for a revision so early... but the current entry is far from accurate. Happy to assist with providing the additional information.

In addition, availability of HeroQuest is not too bad. You can't buy it in a store, but it can found regularly on online auction sites in various states of repair and might be found in games stores or charity shops. Advanced HeroQuest and the various expansions for both games are far harder to find and some fetch far in excess of $100 in auction.

I believe that the concept was revived again by Games Workshop in the form of WarhammerQuest, too.

The Apprentice's right, you know.

Indeed he is. My mates and I spent many a happy hour playing HeroQuest, and it pointed me in the direction of Games Workshop, where I ended up getting into the Epic series of games. They were the most ridiculous games going really, but I loved 'em. Still have all the models up in the loft somewhere thinking about it...

Why didn't you lot chip in in Peer Review. I know for a fact that FC struggled over the construct of this one and peeked through peer review and took on all the comments that had been made there.

Thanks very much for the fresh information. When we have a new updating scheme in place, this is the kind of info that will be pumped back into the original entry. (As yet we have no specific time set for the introduction of a new updating scheme - it's a tricky business - but we're constantly thinking of ways to implement one.)

DD is right, though, when he points to the fact that this information would have been useful in Peer Review. The editorial team really does rely on the Community sorting out the facts from the errors in PR. (I personally, hadn't even heard of the game before, so I have to trust what you say.)

Anyway, thanks again for the information - this is why threads, in a way, are the life-blood of an entry.