Inside Portsmouth's Thriving Local Warhammer Community

How the world of Warhammer is reaching new heights in the tabletop gaming world

Whether or not you have heard of Warhammer before or are just getting started, you may have wondered what the global sensation is all about.

While often confounded with Dungeons and Dragons [a role-playing game], World of Warcraft [a series of video games with a similar name] or Magic: The Gathering, the Warhammer franchise has collected millions of fans globally.

Warhammer itself is a tabletop miniature wargame with a medieval fantasy theme.

As of January 2025, there are over five hundred and fifty stores worldwide, one hundred and thirty-four of them residing in the UK.

The franchise has a wide collection of Warhammer media for fans to consume, with over eight hundred novels, merchandise ranging from clothing, gifts and plush toys and over sixty titles of video games.  

In the financial year ending May 2024, Games Workshop's (the company behind Warhammer) global revenue amounted to approximately 525.7 million British pounds.

The company with Nottingham roots, was reported by Reuters in January 2025 to have experienced a 33.4% surge in half-year profit, aided by the demand for its Warhammer products.

While Warhammer is not the only wargame available, it is the only one with its own retail chain.

Games Workshop is the largest and most successful hobby miniature company in the world with its Warhammer webpage having 4.7 million users.

Today, even the likes of celebrities such as singer Ed Sheeran, and actors Tom Holland and Trey Parker are fans of the hobby.

What is Warhammer?

Warhammer is a fantasy theme game in which players simulate battles between armies using plastic miniatures.

The game is part collecting, arts and crafts element, and part assembling the pieces has various elements to its hobby.

The game involves three main universes or settings in which the story can take place. These are the 'Age of Sigmar' known as the Mortal Realms, 'Warhammer 40K' which is Earth set 40,000 years into the future or 'Warhammer Fantasy' a dark fantasy world.

These settings are rich in lore, and gameplay and have various races such as elves, dwarves and orks inhabiting their lands.

Within the game, players have armies which are fighting in a war against each other. These armies are hand-crafted, extremely detailed minitures which you assemble yourself to be used on the gameboard.

To play, you need miniatures, dice, a rulebook, a tape measure and a codex [a book containing specific rules] for your chosen faction.

The game involves two or more people, with one army or more per person. Each game can be between 60 minutes to a few hours or more.

The game is constantly added to and expanded with Warhammer currently in its 10th and current edition released in June 2023.

The history of Warhammer

The sci-fi fantasy game was invented by friends Bryan Ansell, Richard Halliwell and Rick Priestly. The game was first published by Games Workshop in 1983.

Games Workshop was founded in 1975 by school friends Ian Livingstone, Steve Jackson and John Peake.

Games Workshop opened its first shop in 1978 on Dalling Road, Hammersmith, London. The company expanded into Europe in the early 1990s and the US, Canada and Australia.

Warhammer is inspired by sources including J.R.R Tolkien (Lord of The Rings author), Paul Anderson (science fiction writer) and real-world history such as the Holy Roman Empire.

Warhammers' local popularity in Portsmouth

Local co-founder and co-owner David Hennion of the independent game shop 'A Fistful of Dice' within Southsea, Portsmouth shed some light on the popularity of Warhammer and Portsmouth Warhammer fans.

Hennion, who has been working at the shop since its beginning in 2014, regularly holds events in its downstairs games room.

The store has an online shop for pre-orders and is open daily and available for customers to practice their craft and hobby within their space.

David Hennion shared: "The most popular thing that we sell and it's probably 40k, within its own right, 35% of the business"

When regarding the popularity of Warhammer he says that Warhammer offers: "I think more than anything else it's a disconnect"

Hennion notes "Analogue game I call it. So it's like, physically there you get to disconnect from the digital world and worry about something completely different. Which is quite nice"

He also shared regarding the Portsmouth location "Elm Grove is really good because it's sort of halfway between most of the university and mostly private population of students"

The shop located on Elm Grove is home to Warhammer products, role-playing games, board games, trading card games (such as Yu Gi Oh and Pokemon), and related gaming accessories. 

Local Portsmouth Warhammer player Jack Carpenter, 19, has been a fan for over five years and first piqued his interest in school.

Carpenter said his favourite part about Warhammer "Is definitely the story. As ridiculous as it can be, it is marvellous. And when you know about it, it adds a whole other layer"

He described the hobby as "It's just fun" and enjoys the many YouTube videos and content creators that share Warhammer lore and history.

In conclusion, Warhammer has amassed millions of fans, with over eight hundred thousand subscribers on YouTube, over seven hundred thousand followers on Instagram and almost two hundred thousand followers on Facebook.

Warhammer, with its strong community and continuously inventing different ways to enjoy the franchise, Warhammer remains one of the most successful and loved names in gaming.