This week I’m back with some more vintage ads. I’m turning to the pages of White Dwarf magazine. Issue #64 features cover art by Peter Andrew Jones and comes from April of 1985.

Launched in 1977 by Games Workshop, the company behind the Warhammer franchises, White Dwarf began as a general-purpose gaming magazine. Its early issues covered role-playing games, board games, and wargames. By the time this issue hit the stands in April 1985, White Dwarf had transitioned more towards supporting Games Workshop’s own products, though it still provided a wealth of content for the broader gaming community.

Growing up in the US during the 1980s, issues of White Dwarf were nowhere near as accessible as Dragon magazine (at least in Rochester, NY). However, I always tried to pick up a copy when I was able. A number of the monsters from the AD&D Fiend Folio had appeared previously in the pages of White Dwarf and somehow it just felt like a rare treat to get hold of one. At any rate, on with the ads:

Warhammer Fantasy Battle Rules

I don’t suppose I could showcase ads from an issue of White Dwarf with including at least on ad for a Warhammer product. Here we have an ad for the 2^nd edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battles.

The boxed set includes three rule books—covering Combat, Battle Magic, and Battle Bestiary—along with character cards, a play sheet, and an introductory scenario titled “The Magnificent Sven.”

Outside of the occasional convention game I was never lucky enough to be exposed to Warhammer. The interest was there but my meager teenage funds wouldn’t have been sufficient to tackling buying and painting armies.

Talisman of Death

Next up is an ad for Talisman of Death, which was part of the Fighting Fantasy gamebook series by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. This particular entry to the series invites readers to take on the latest challenge set in the once-peaceful world of Orb, where dark forces are working to unleash the evil power of the Dark Lord.

These made their way to the US, though to what degree I cannot say. In Rochester, NY I vividly recall finding a copy of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (I believe the first of the series). Unlike the “Endless Quest” series produced by TSR Hobbies and other “choose your own path” books, the Fighting Fantasy titles added actual die rolls to the experience. This further simulated playing and actual role-playing game and I found it to be much more engaging.

Star Trek III Starship Combat Game

I have no recollection of this product. As I’ve mentioned previously, while I was fascinated with various wargames, most of my experience in the 1980s was limited to tabletop role-playing games. While I do vividly remember Star Fleet Battles by Task Force Games, this one escapes me.

The ad promises a thrilling experience where you can outmaneuver enemies to achieve victory, hide in asteroid fields, lay traps with gravity mines, and engage in battles for the control of planets. It emphasizes allowing players to command the legendary USS Enterprise, Klingon battle cruisers, Romulan warships, or various other starships available in the game.

The most interesting part of the ad to me lies in the fine yellow print at the bottom. Apparently Games Workshop licensed this one from FASA to sell in the UK. They has previously held the official distribution rights to Dungeons & Dragons and other TSR products in the UK.

Earth Wood

Earth Wood was another play-by-mail (PBM) game. These are still a bit fascinating to me. This appears to have been a PBM wargame. In a game like this, players would submit a series of orders, then the gamemaster would make any appropriate rolls or checks to determine the outcome and send out results to the player(s) involved.

Reading through the description, I can really see how it would be easy to get drawn in to a game like this. I would love to hear from someone who actually played one of these back in the day, as the concept has always been very interesting to me.

The thing that really gets me with these is the per turn charge, in this case £1.50/turn. I can’t swear to it but I believe that would have been roughly $1.95/turn back in 1985. It certainly would have been too rich for my blood back then.

The Chaos of Doom

This advertisement is for The Chasm of Doom which was apparently a book in the “Lone Wolf” solo role-playing adventure series. I’ve never encountered these so please chime in if you have some experience with them. The product is described as a “unique and action-packed solo adventure”, so it appears that these would be something also the same lines as the popular Fighting Fantasy series I mentioned up above.

Apparently, players would take on the role of the “Lone Wolf” and proceed to tackle continuing adventures. The game boasts over 50 line drawings plus a full-color game map and action chart. Unlike the Fighting Fantasy series, these seem to emphasize that no dice are needed due to their “unique combat system”. Again, I’d be interested in hearing what the mechanic was.  

De Luxe Fantasy Puzzles

This ad caught my eye, not because it was a game or game-related product but rather because it struck me as odd to see a product like this being licensed by Games Workshop. Never having been a fan of puzzles, I initially though it odd that there was a product like this. However, a bit of investigation showed me that TSR was producing Dungeons & Dragons puzzles during this same time period. As a matter of fact (and even more odd to me), even Wizards of the Coast has produced jigsaw puzzles. I honestly never knew puzzles were so popular. Are you a puzzle person?

Conclusion

That’ll do it for this week. Have you had any encounters with any of these products? Did reading through these bring back memories of any others? Leave me a note and let me know. In the meantime, stay warm and good gaming!

For maps & plot hooks, go here.

For my Idea Chest posts, go here.

For some random tables, go here.

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Finally, for a bit about me and some general stuff, this is the spot.