Interview with Gavin Thorpe

Strike to Stun: How did you get into the hobby?

Gavin Thorpe: I blame my cousin. He's a few years older than me, and collected Citadel miniatures when I was 8 or 9 years old. Then, out of the blue, my grandparents bought D+D for my brother and me, and my dad DMed a couple of games and I was hooked on fantasy from then on. I played quite a bit of roleplay games with my cousin, friends at school and the like, and got more and more into miniatures as well, playing oodles of the original Space Hulk, before launching into Adeptus Titanicus (and later Space Marine) in a big way. I bought and played every 'big boxed game' from Adeptus Titanicus to
Advanced Space Crusade - I stopped at Tyranid Attack because it seemed the same as Advanced Space Crusade. One of my best Xmas presents ever was getting Mighty Empires one year. I was very good and didn't buy it for myself, and getting that big box wrapped up was great! Better than a bike or a TV any time. I still have them all in various states of repair!

StS: How did you get the job as game designer for Games Workshop?
What was your previous occupation?

Gav: I joined Games Dev when I was 19, and so had only a few part-time jobs before then (working on a market stall selling cakes and comics was the first, turfing drunks out of an off-licence was the last!). There'd been an ad in White Dwarf for Assistant Games Developers, which I'd ignored on account of not meeting some of the requirements listed (like being 20 or older, and having a graduate education...). However, I was writing all kinds of nonsense for myself and friends, and I took some rules for Blood Bowl quadrupeds to Games Day to show to Jervis (with Zoats, what was I thinking?). He was impressed and asked me to send them to him as the Studio,
so I did. With a CV and a letter begging for a job to empty their bins! There were still Asst vacancies to fill, I went for an interview and started a week later. I've been doomed ever since.

StS: Are there any other fantasy games you play besides of Warhammer?

Gav: Not really fantasy games, no. I play quite a lot of board and card games, and I like innovative, simple games systems. I've been playing quite a few of Columbia Games' 'block' games with a friend recently. I keep beating him as William Wallace in Hammer of the Scots!

StS: The last months have seen the release of many cool armybooks and preview armylists. How much is your work?

Gav: A lot, and not a lot... Hordes of Chaos was one that was directly headed by
me, and much of the book physcially written by myself and Rick. The Tomb Kings was very much a collaborative effort with Alessio and Anthony, though I was the main games developer behind that as well in terms of the briefing and imagery. Lizardmen was Ant's first 'solo' project, although I retained a great deal of creative control, much of it was written (and re-written!) by him. My role of Loremaster extends to all Warhammer-related projects and so I keep my finger in every pie. I've just helmed Beasts of Chaos, for instance, but I'll not be working directly on Bretonnia. I'm probably only going to write a couple more army books directly (as in, they will say 'By Gav Thorpe' inside), as we've honed our design process into a lean, mean, designing machine lately and I will be working more on the development of our imagery and Intellectual Property, and less on the direct Games Development side of things. That's not to say I'm turning my back on Games Dev, far from it, but it's time to approach projects and Warhammer from a
more overview-orentated role, and less about individual words on pages. This is a great opportunity for the rest of the guys to step up to the plate and show what they're capable of!

StS: And what do you think about the recent products for WFB?

Gav: They're the best ever. Hordes of Chaos, for me, was groundbreaking for a number of reasons. It was the culmination of many aspirations that we have developed since Warhammer 6th edition was released, in terms of design, graphics, writing and content, and we've continued to improve upon that in later volumes. Still, they'll not be as good as the next one, that's my philosophy.

StS: When you take a look at the forums and rumours at www.games-workshop.com you notice that a lot of people would like to see again a Fimir army for WFB. Is there a chance that those people will ever get their Fimir armylist? Perhaps in the second part of the Chaos-armybook? I know, this question is nasty, but I have to ask it ;o).

Gav: Probably not an army list as they're expecting it. Certainly not in Beasts of Chaos! I'm looking into the many ways we can release or re-release miniatures and races for Warhammer, not just through entire army books. If some of those work out, maybe we can do something with Fimir (or Fimir-like) in the future.

StS: Will there be a summer-campaign this year? And if yes, what's the topic?

Gav: This year's campaign is Eye of Terror for 40K. However, there'll be plenty of other gaming activity for Warhammer. I beleive the US are adding more stuff to their Skirmish activities, as well as looking at campaigns and other types of gaming. Here in the UK there will be campaigns, gaming leagues and also games run using the Warbands system published in the Path to Glory articles.

Next year, it will be Warhammer's turn. I'm just plotting it now...

StS: Which armybooks will be released in the next future and will you be involved in the creation process?

Gav: All of them! Beasts of Chaos is probably the last I'll write directly though.

StS: Although there is a new version of WFB out now, it seems that the races and armies remained the same (besides of a few minor modifications). Don't you think
its time to for new armies/races to be created?

Gav: Might be...

StS: Are the rumours about an official Kislev Armybook true?

Gav: Not an army book, but a White Dwarf/ Annual feature that brings back the Kislevites, with some new additions. This is planned towards the end of the year.

StS: Will there be an armybook for the "Dogs of War"?

Gav: Yes and no. I don't think that having them as a traditional-style army book worked, and it didn't do them justice. I certainly envisage some kind of supplement detailing Dogs of War and Regiments of Renown, but I haven't worked on the details. I might tie this in with something to do with allies as well. The main obstacle with Dogs of War is the duality of the army we created. Essentially, we released the Tilean army with a few weird add-ons, and mixed this up with the Regiments of Renown ideas. I think that altough Tilea should be a feature, it should be less prominent than it is at the
moment. The other problem is plastics. With any other army, it's quite straightforward to work out what Regiment sets need designing (basically Core troops...) but with an army like Dogs of War that is supposed to be really diverse and unregimented, the answer isn't as obvious. I'm sure we can work something out, but I don't have the answers at the moment.

StS: And will the Chaos Dwarfs get their own Armybook?

Gav: No comment. ;-)

StS: The news that Hogshead stopped producing Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and gave back the license to Games Workshop hit the WFRP-fan-community like a bomb. Do you know what GW plans with WFRP? Will there be a new license given away?

Gav: It was a shame that Hogshead took the decision they did, but I can fully understand the reasoning behind it. I don't deal with the licensing end of things, but I gather that we'll be looking into RPGs more fully in the future. Meanwhile any serious proposals for the license (i.e. with a business plan attached, not just a bunch of gamers with some 'good ideas') can be directed to Games Workshop Head Office at the UK address, clearly marked as such.

StS: The release of Warhammer Online comes nearer and nearer. What do you think about Warhammer Online?

Gav: It's looking great! If they manage to realise everything they're aiming to do, it's going to be visually stunning and have really deep gameplay. I'm not an online player myself, but this is sorely tempting me to invest in a PC. Obviously some compromises have had to be made in terms of the relationship with the background, and their own game mechanics, but essentially it has all the look and feel of the Warhammer world. I just hope that online gamers out there appreciate something that's a bit different and
more characterful than some of the more generic fantasy games already available (not mentioning any names...). The magic system, for instance, is a great reflection of the way magic works in the Warhammer World, because unlike many other fantasy universes, it's one of the underpinnings of the way the world functions.

StS: Gav, you are WFB-game-designer and you are writing stories for Inferno! and the Black Library. What are you doing when you are not designing or writing?

Gav: I have a Gamecube and PS2 that keep me pretty busy! I also have a swelling
DVD collection, and I spend a lot of time socialising (i.e. down the pub!). As mentioned earlier, I also like playing german-style board games, as well as games like Risk, Axis and Allies, card games and so on.

Gav: You might have guessed already, but I really like games of all types!

StS: How do you see the future of the Warhammer Games and wargaming in general?

Gav: The future of Warhammer is looking fantastic, even if I do say it myself. Looking at the quality of recent books, and the effort that's being put into up-and-coming miniatures ranges and books, things have never looked better (from our end). In terms of the Warhammer hobby in general, it's still continuing to grow steadily, and has picked up dramatically over the last year or so now that we've started having something that looks more like a proper range of armies available. One of the things I'm looking forward to is branching out in different directions in terms of the types of supplements we can provide. Although we'll still be releasing new Armies books and revisiting older books, in a couple of years time we'll be able to think about Siege supplements, campaign games, Allies and Mercenaries, and all that kind of stuff.

Gav: Wargames in general have had an upsurge in quality in recent years as well,
from other fantasy/ sci-fi systems to historical wargaming. In particular, more widespread desk top publishing, graphics and art applications have meant that the physical quality of rulebooks these days is far improved from the photocopied, stapled affairs of my youth - although there's still plenty of those niche companies around too! I also think that the production quality of Warhammer Ancient Battles has shown that you can look good and have a proper game system too - if something is high quality, people will buy it, it's not just about making stuff on the cheap and selling it for peanuts at games conventions.

Gav: Oddly enough, one of the main trends in historical gaming at the moment is a
move towards fantasy/ alternate history game settings. This was something Jervis Johnson predicted about five years ago (clever chap that he is). I find this very exciting myself.

StS: Do you think that LotR (the movie and the game) will bring new live into the scene? Do games like Warhammer benefit from this new fantasy boom?

Gav: I certainly think that it won't hurt. There have been very few (only one or
two) really good fantasy films ever made, and certainly in terms of mainstream media sci-fi has had the edge for the last thirty years or so. However, with LOTR and even TV shows like Xena and Hercules, a new generation is now being suckled on fantasy imagery as well as laser guns and space battles. I still think it'll be a while before you see a TV show with the money and production quality of something like Babylon 5 or Star Trek in the fantasy genre, but it's only a matter of time before US network heads
(who have all the money) start thinking about the LOTR bandwagon.

Gav: In terms of Warhammer, this may prove to have a positive effect, and there
is evidence that gamers attracted to LOTR sometimes move on to collect Warhammer as well. It is because of this surge in fantasy visibility that we're taking great pains to keep Warhammer as distinct as possible, and emphasising the 'renaissance fantasy horror' aspects that make it different from most other fantasy universes. Warhammer (in any media) should offer something different to the norm, and hopefully that will attract people who've seen one too many cloned high fantasy settings.

StS: What do you think about Strike to Stun?

Gav: Really nicely done. I was surprised you haven't yet had a review of Riders of the Dead by Dan Abnett, what with the whole Kislev theme and everything! Easy to navigate, which is always top of my personal website pritority list, with some quality material in there.

StS: Gav, thanks for the interview.

Gav: My pleasure.