Rick Priestley (born 29 March 1959) is a British game designerSlingshot, No279, Nov 2011, p1 and author mainly known as the creator of ''

Warhammer Warhammer may refer to: * War hammer, a medieval weapon Warhammer media franchise *''Warhammer'', a series of games and related media: ** ''Warhammer'' (game), a table-top fantasy miniature wargame, and origin of the franchise ** ''Warhammer Fan ...

miniature wargame Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming in which military units are represented by miniature physical models on a model battlefield. The use of physical models to represent military units is in contrast to other tabletop wargames that use ...

Career

Rick Priestley, with Bryan Ansell and Richard Halliwell, designed the

Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

Warhammer Fantasy Battle ''Warhammer'' (formerly ''Warhammer Fantasy Battle'' or just ''Warhammer Fantasy'') is a tabletop miniature wargame with a medieval fantasy theme. The game was created by Bryan Ansell, Richard Halliwell, and Rick Priestley; it was published ...

'' for

Games Workshop Games Workshop Group (often abbreviated as GW) is a British manufacturer of miniature wargames, based in Nottingham, England. Its best-known products are ''Warhammer Age of Sigmar'' and ''Warhammer 40,000''. Founded in 1975 by John Peake (gam ...

. The company released the game in 1983. Priestley also developed a science fiction counterpart for this wargame, which was released as '' Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader'' in October 1987. Priestley, with Andy Jones and

Marc Gascoigne Marc Gascoigne (born 5 July 1962 at Temple Ewell with River, near Dover, Kent) is a British author and editor. He is the editor, author or co-author of more than fifty books and gaming related titles, notably various ''Fighting Fantasy'' books, ...

of ''Warhammer'', developed the idea for the

Black Library The Black Library is a division of Games Workshop (formerly a part of BL Publishing) which is devoted to publishing List of Black Library novels, novels and audiobooks (and has previously produced art books, background books, and graphic novels) ...

which, as a result, produced the magazine ''

Inferno! ''Inferno!'' (originally ''Carnage'') was a bi-monthly magazine published from 1997 to 2004 by Games Workshop's publishing division, Black Library, which was initially just the name of the team brought together to work on ''Inferno!''.

'' (July 1997–November 2004). In 2000, Priestley designed the 6mm-scale mass combat Fantasy wargame ''

Warmaster ''Warmaster'' is a ruleset for tabletop wargames written by Rick Priestley, published by Specialist Games (a division of Games Workshop), and set in the ''Warhammer Fantasy'' setting. It is different from ''Warhammer Fantasy Battles'' in bot ...

''. Rick left Games Workshop in 2009, complaining that the corporate culture had grown too focused on sales and no longer cared about innovation in game design. He is now co-owner of Warlord Games, and also does consulting work on a freelance basis. He is a consultant at River Horse Games. At the end of 2011 he was elected to the committee of the

Society of Ancients The Society of Ancients (SoA) is an international, non-profit organizationWargames Illustrated August 2012 p48 based in the UK that aims to promote interest in Ancient & Medieval history and wargaming, covering the periods from 3000BC to 1500AD. Th ...

. Priestley helped design the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

miniature wargame ''

Bolt Action Bolt-action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the bolt via a bolt handle, which is most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon (as most users are right-handed). Most bolt-action ...

'' prior to its 1st edition in 2012. In December 2012 he announced plans to launch a new science fiction game ''The Gates of Antares'' with an initial attempt at funding raised through Kickstarter. It was released as '' Beyond the Gates of Antares'' through Warlord Games in 2015.

Personal life

Priestley was born on 29 March 1959 in

Lincoln, England Lincoln () is a cathedral city, a non-metropolitan district, and the county town of Lincolnshire, England. In the 2021 Census, the Lincoln district had a population of 103,813. The 2011 census gave the Lincoln Urban Area, urban area of Lincoln, ...

. He studied "Archaeology with Classics and Ancient History" at

Lancaster University Lancaster University (legally The University of Lancaster) is a public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several pla ...

, graduating in 1981. He lives near

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

Works

Priestley worked extensively for

. He is credited with authoring or co-authoring the following games: *''

'' (with Bryan Ansell and Richard Halliwell) **'' Terror of the Lichemaster'', a set of three linked scenarios using the ''Warhammer Fantasy Battle'' rules *''

Warhammer Ancient Battles ''Warhammer Ancient Battles'' (often referred to as "WAB" and sometimes Warhammer Historical) is a ruleset for miniatures wargames produced by Games Workshop's Warhammer Historical Wargames imprint. It is a rulebook for historical wargames dev ...

'' (with

Jervis Johnson Jervis Johnson (born 12 June 1959) is an English tabletop game designer. He worked as a designer and manager for Games Workshop for over 38 years, and was the head of its Specialist Games studio. In addition to his work on Warhammer Fantasy Ba ...

, Alan and Michael Perry) * ''1644'' *''

Warhammer 40,000 ''Warhammer 40,000'' is a miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop. It is the most popular miniature wargame in the world, and is particularly popular in the United Kingdom. The first edition of the rulebook was published in September 1987, ...

'' (with

Andy Chambers Andy Chambers (born 20 October 1966) is an English author and game designer best known for his work on over 30 Games Workshop rulebooks and sourcebooks. Personal life In 2003, he married Jessica Chambers after they met at KublaCon 2002. Caree ...

and

Gavin Thorpe Gavin Thorpe is a game designer who has worked primarily on board games. He has also authored a number of novels and short stories for the Black Library. Career Gav Thorpe has been designing and developing products for Games Workshop since 1994 ...

in later editions) *'' Necromunda'' (with

and

) *''

'' (with Alessio Cavatore and Stephan Hess) *'' Warmaster Ancients'' *''The Alamo: Victory or Death'' *'' The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game'' (with Alessio Cavatore) Since joining Warlord Games, he has authored or co-authored the following games: *''Black Powder'' (with

and John Stallard) *''Hail Caesar'' * ''Bolt Action'' (With Alessio Cavatore) * Beyond the Gates of Antares * Warlords of Erehwon * The Red Book of the Elf King (for Lucid Eye Publications)

References

External links

Personal website
Living people English fantasy writers Games Workshop Miniature wargames 1959 births {{UK-writer-stub