If you are wondering what all the fuss is about or if you haven't yet been exposed to the latest buzzword in Warhammer, this is where you can get the straight story with no hype. If you want the GW introduction go to their web site and click on Warhammer and then click on the Skirmish heading. You will find out one thing either way, Warhammer Skirmish is not something new. It's not a new idea and it doesn't have new rules. If you have a copy of the Warhammer Fantasy rulebook, then you have all the rules to play skirmish games. Look in the appendix and you will find the rules for siege games, campaigns and skirmish battles. But in spite of the fact that it isn't really anything new, many players will feel that they are discovering it for the first time. The reason for this is simply exposure.

Games Workshop U.S. is promoting Warhammer Skirmish for the first time since it dropped Town Cryer from the pages of White Dwarf. For background on Skirmish games, let me take you back to White Dwarf 223 August 1998 (U.S. edition). Starting on page 34, is an article by Tuomas Pirinen titled "Warhammer: City of the Damned, A Warhammer Skirmish Campaign". In this article Tuomas talks about playing "... a few battles using the rules for skirmishing from the Warhammer rulebook..." He explains that he wanted to create "continuity" in the skirmish battles. What set Mordheim apart from Warhammer Fantasy were the extensive rules for individual combat and advancement during the course of a campaign. The City of the Damned was a highly evocative setting, and proved a great place to battle with small groups of models over multi-level terrain.
For anyone who enjoyed playing Mordheim, Warhammer Skirmish is almost a step backwards.

Warhammer Skirmish depends on scenarios for its identity. Take away that element and you are left with a small and rather tame battle with a handful of models. But with a good scenario to provide the foundation of the battle, Skirmish games are great fun. The beauty of the Skirmish game is that you can set up and play the game in a shorter amount of time and with less table space than a full-scale battle. The typical Skirmish battle only requires a 2'x2' surface and takes from 15 minutes to an hour. A real plus for this type of game is that you only need a few models (pick your favorite models that you have fully painted) if you have been "into" Warhammer for any length of time then you will have more than enough minis to play Skirmish battles.
The important thing is the scenario. A good objective and a couple of special rules will change the small fight into a tactical challenge. Good terrain helps as well.

The boys in Baltimore realized that, to many Americans, a Warhammer battle looks like too much trouble. All those miniatures to collect, a place large enough to play on, and the time it takes to set up and play a large battle, meant that the gamer with a casual interest will stop in the store, admire the beautifully painted miniatures and then go away with nothing. The 50 page Warhammer Skirmish supplement opens with this description: "Warhammer Skirmish is a jumpstart into a world of fast, fun, and furious gaming possibilities." Clearly it was the opportunity to add new players to the game that prompted this sudden interest in small-scale battles. For the veteran gamer the question may be "why bother with Skirmish games?" For those overseas the question is likely "what are we missing out on?" I will start with the second question first. You "aint missin nothin". Don't fret if you can't get the Warhammer Skirmish Booklet where you live, and don't pay some outrageous price to have one sent to you. Not that the supplement isn't any good, its fine. It does what it should do, it gives the novice or uninspired gamer a foundation for playing some interesting small-scale battles.

About the Warhammer Skirmish Booklet itself I will now elaborate.
There is a table of contents inside the front cover. Next is an introduction section of three pages, a page promoting the purchase of the Warhammer rulebook (so you can get the skirmish rules) and a plug for Mordheim.
A two-page spread about terrain, the typical "what you will need is..." sort of article. Then on page 8, the scenarios begin. I don't need to describe the content and layout for you, because it matches the ones on the website exactly. There are 25 scenarios in the booklet, the details of which are not on the website, but the names and synopsis is!

Of the illustrations and photos in the Skirmish Booklet only 7 are rip offs from the past. One photo from the recent article about chaos from WD, one illustration from the old Bretonnian army book, one illustration from the new Skaven army book, an old how to paint a battle standard sidebar from WD. There are also two photos from the Warhammer Siege supplement, and a picture of some cool pieces of scenery from the release of Warhammer 6 (including the bell tower converted from the Warhammer fortress tower). The rest of the booklet is new material, mostly photos of new terrain projects and games in progress that illustrate the new scenarios.

New rules? There is a small side bar with house rules for: Mounted models, Swarms, Missile Fire, and Poisoned attacks. Other than that the only other rules given are the special rules within some of the scenarios.

Now is this supplement necessary? Not really, but at $4 US I think its well worth having, particularly for a Mordheim/Skirmish fanatic like myself. But for those for whom it means a larger investment, I say don't do it. You can get plenty of good scenario ideas from the Games Workshop website. If you haven't been to the site and checked out the Warhammer Skirmish section, be sure to do so. The "package deals" aren't that good, but the terrain projects are cool, and the scenario list is a must.