"Why is 3rd Edition Warhammer So Hard to Find?" Topic

I hear great things about 3rd edition. I've been watching ebay and the sale threads here, but I rarely more like never see Warhammer 3rd edition come up for sale. A couple guys in ebay stores want $50-60 plus shipping for the rulebook, but that seems a bit out of my league, and others since they never sell it. Just one of those things I wonder about.

3rd Ed? That was a nightmare of a system…

I found it the worst of the early editions, having caused more problems than fixed in 2nd Edition.

I have the book somewhere… Nice big hardback number.

I have heard the most recent is the best. I have not played it I quit at 4th editon.

If you want a good warhammer type game, try Armies of Arcana.

Those that bought the 3rd edition are too embarrased to resell it.

I got a copy of 3rd Ed Warhammer Armies on ebay for about $20 USD a couple of years ago. Just keep looking.

We still play WFB 3rd Edition, lots fun. I suppose one man's nightmare is another's fun game system with lots of character and options…

wfb3ed.bofthebb.com

I was kind of interested in Warhammer back in the earlier days of White Dwarf… it did look like a game with lots of character and options… less rigid than it seems now.
Never got the chance to try it though…
The only games like it that I've played have been FR!2&3 and a bit of Warlord.

Because people aren't selling it…

Was it because so many were poorly bound and fell apart?

I just recently found a softback version of 3rd edition at Halfprice Books. Since the cover of my hardback came off long ago and it was only $10, I picked it up. I didn't even remember there being a softback edition.

I picked one up for a few pounds a year ago on ebay and the army list book for a bit less.
Maybe because it was my era but I think third was the best version of WFB a lot of the good stuff went in 4th. Magic could be powerful in third but was a one shot deal thanks to magic points.

3rd edition was a lot of fun, but can be greatly improved by adding in the rule that was later added where combat resolution modified the losers break check and outnumbering adding to combat resolution. Otherwise a unit of Leadership 10 Dwarves in heavy armor was almost unbreakable.

Personally I really enjoy 6th edition. I didn't bother with 7th mostly because I didn't think it added enough.

Ed G.

The rulebook and army list book seem to come and go in spurts on eBay. I still have my original books, but found replacements in very nice shape (nearly new condition) during the last year, and I didn't spend a ton of money on them.

Of course in third edition one army list book covers all the armies plus mercenaries and allies as well. No need to buy loads of army books so in the long run even if it seems expensive two books for third edition is probably cheaper than the rules plus loads of supplements for the newest version of WFB.

I have 3rd edition, hardback, with Armies and Siege in storage all in very good condition. Make me an offer.

pmancini at yahoo.

I've completely lost track of what edition is which… Was third edition the boxed set that came with Elves and Goblins, Brettonians and Lizardmen, or Empire & Orcs?

I've completely lost track of what edition is which… Was third edition the boxed set that came with Elves and Goblins, Brettonians and Lizardmen, or Empire & Orcs?

None of them. Third edition was just two hardback books the rulebook and the armylist book, 4th edition was the elves, goblins and cardboard cutouts.

Those that bought the 3rd edition are too embarrased to resell it.

Oh snap.

The 3rd edition had great photos of miniatures. I think a lot of collectors like this set. I recall it had armies painted by many of those that worked at GW at the time. I recall some great shots of Kev Adams orc army with conversions. I no longer have the book.

Steve
Cavalcade Wargames
cavalcadewargames.com
nycjadie.wordpress.com

It's full of nice pictures and signifies the good old days for gamers of my generation, before it became cynical with bright colours and comedy sized weapons to attact kids. So a lot of people probably keep it for nostalgia value.

There are probably 10 times as many warhammer players now compared to then so it wasn't printed in the kind of numbers that later editions were. Although my copy has staid solid GW hardbacks were notoroius for falling apart, my copy of rogue trader is all loose pages now, so again, fewer copies in circulation.

The formations got a bit tiresome with ordinary units going in and out of skirmish formation, forming squares or wedges. And the cannon were 100% accurate cutting a 2" swathe of destrucion through my elite units every turn. Still

I think the flavour and illustrations in the 3rd edirtion are what really makes it – bought mine off ebay for a few quid last year just as a bit of a nostalgia trip – have now found myself buying an entire Wood Elf army off ebay, consisting mainly of the old 80s figs (and Zoats!) that are pictured in the book to go up against my 3rd edition Orcs – Just need Skarloc's archers to put Ruglud (the original and the best!)and his Spike Can Commandos in their place!

Although didn't play many games with it when I were a lad as my mates all bought into 4th ed I love the fact that the rules were so detailed and in some cases over complicated – sad as it might be I've loved opening the book up at random pages to read about anything from special rules for soldiers armed with pikes or how to work out pivoting pushbacks, not to mention all the creatures that have now sdaly disappeared like the Fimir, hobhounds, troglodytes and Norse war mammoths…

Well I picked up my copy of the Rulebook and Siege Book nearly 18+ years ago.

I did not play it since right after I got them 4th Edition came out and when 5th Edition came I quit playing since the game turn to crap.

Has not gotten any better over the last two Edition's.

Sell them no they are of far better quality then what GW has been selling for the last 7+ years.

I've completely lost track of what edition is which… Was third edition the boxed set that came with Elves and Goblins, Brettonians and Lizardmen, or Empire & Orcs?

Third edition was just books.

4th Edition was Elves and Goblins.
5th Edition was Bretonnians and Lizardmen.
6th Edition was Empire and Orcs.
7th Edition was (and is) Dwarves and Goblins.

Has not gotten any better over the last two Edition's.

"Better" is relative. The game keeps shedding details, but what is left behind has been slowly getting better written. The percentage system for army building from 5th and earlier has its advantages, but so does the Core/Special/Rare system of 6th and 7th. Characters riding monsters are no longer the universal arms race they were under 4th and 5th.

Stupid mistakes get made in every edition. In 7th the top of that list is the Daemons book. Most of the rest of 6th and 7th is quite decent. I won't bother putting minis on the board for 4th or 5th, since I don't own enough dragons.

Monsters and big gizmos have been getting better.
War alter, stardragon, lizard gizmo, hydra… abomination.

Daemons are just completely utterly overpowered-broken.

War Altars have been around since 3rd or earlier. They went absent for a couple editions in most armies, but used to be present in just about every list. Only the Skaven, Dark Elves, and Empire kept them in 4th-6th, while the Dogs of War got one in 5th-6th and the Brets got one in 6th. I don't count the stationary options available to Tomb Kings or the Dwarfs, as War Altars are supposed to be able to move. The "Lizard Gizmo" made its first appearance in 6th in one of the variant lists, and is really more of a large war machine, IIRC.

Of course, the game used to have baggage trains as well. The 7th Ed box gave me hope we would see them again, with the Grudge Cart, but that was not to be.

I think that book is hard to find because many of them disintegrated. Seems like most of the GW books of that era, if used at all, simply fell apart.

Details have been dropped, but so has a bunch of chrome that over-complicated the game beyond reason.

IMHO (and I've been gaming since 4th edition) the 7th edition rules are the best written.

I do NOT mis having a binder with hundreds of pages of typed upa nd printed off errata, and rulings from "on high" about how this immovable object deals with that irresistible force situation.

Under 7th edition rules, I have yet to encounter a situation that was not covered in the rules in a clear manner.

Is 7th perfect? No. I miss being able to field 25% of my force as allies. It gave one a reason to start collecting a second army (which could obviously grow into a full army).

But I DO NOT miss the dragon and big beastie arms race. I DO NOT miss HEROHAMMER (tm). It was so bad I simply quietly refused to play in games of more than 1500 points (so no lord characters at all), and no dragons.

Anyway, for clarity, the 7th edition rules rock. And while some of the stuff I liked from past editions is gone, the games I do get to play are much more fun, because I'm now playing a game and having fun, and not being frustrated by poorly written confusing passages.

Steve

Wheeling.

The outermost model is not defined.
Hence the "goblin sling shot" where you measure movement of the front corner of the single column as it's rear whizzes across the table.

Whether it's the arc or straight line measured is not defined.

There are a number of others.
Plus the faq made several rules work in very odd ways.
Redirecting with skirmishers for example.

Where can the FAQ for thrid edition be found? I've never found one and I've been playing the game since it came out. Thanks!

Yeah, Hero Hammer isn't much of a problem anymore, the problem now is "Deathstar" units. Units that are essentially unstoppable, in 99.9% of situations. Usually a unit with a combination of characters, magic items, and other upgrades that are really difficult to counter without specific knowlege you are facing the Deathstar unit.

Vampire Counts and Dark Elves are extremely good at this, but there are others out there from the other armies as well.

"but there are others out there from the other armies as well"

As I found a few weeks ago, the "red-headed step-child" of 6th and 7th, the Dogs of War, are actually quite handy at dealing with some of the biggest and scariest cavalry types in the game. Pikes are a wonderful thing against cavalry that *must* charge, as long as you have someone with good leadership nearby to make that "Charged by Fear" roll.

Pirazzo's Lost Legion will be in my army makeup as long as the local players will allow my Dogs to take the field.

"But won't you be saying the same thing about 8th Edition and so forth?"

Better written < > better rules

But if the 8th edition rules are "better written" then yes, we'll be saying that about them. Will they be better rules? Probably not. WFB hasn't had a purge of mechanics to quite the same extent 40k did from 1st to 2nd or 2nd to 3rd, but it has lost wrap-around and all the special formations and the functions of standard bearer and musician that went with them. It also lost most of the truly gonzo magic last seen in 3rd as a side effect of becoming a tournament game.

Fimir in 6th? Wish I'd known Warpstone was wandering beyond WFRP territory and grabbed that…