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

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 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 literature and drama ...

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 publishe ...

'' 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, ...

. 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 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 novels and audiobooks (and has previously produced art books, background books, and graphic novels) set in the '' Warhammer Fanta ...

which, as a result, produced the magazine '' Inferno!'' (July 1997–November 2004). In 2000, Priestley designed the 6mm-scale mass combat Fantasy wargame '' Warmaster''. 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. 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

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 Beyond may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Beyond'' (1921 film), an American silent film * ''Beyond'' (2000 film), a Danish film directed by Åke Sandgren, OT: ''Dykkerne'' * ''Beyond'' (2010 film), a Swedish film directed ...

'' through Warlord Games in 2015.

Personal life

Priestley was born on 29 March 1959 in Lincoln, England. He studied "Archaeology with Classics and Ancient History" at Lancaster University, graduating in 1981. He lives near

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

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 ''Terror of the Lichemaster'' is a board game published by Games Workshop in 1986 as a mini-campaign for ''Warhammer Fantasy Battle''. Games Workshop also offered related metal miniatures that could be purchased for use with the scenarios. Game ...

'', a set of three linked scenarios using the ''Warhammer Fantasy Battle'' rules *'' Warhammer Ancient Battles'' (with Jervis Johnson,

Alan and Michael Perry Alan and Michael Perry (born 1961) are former Citadel Miniatures designers, and two of the most renowned and prolific sculptors for the miniature wargaming hobby. They worked for Games Workshop from 1978 until 2014, and during that time worked o ...

) * ''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, Jervis Johnson and Gavin Thorpe in later editions) *''

Necromunda ''Necromunda'' is a skirmish tabletop war game produced by Games Workshop since 1995. It has been relaunched as ''Necromunda: Underhive'' in 2017. In ''Necromunda'', players control rival gangs battling each other in the Underhive, a place of ...

'' (with Andy Chambers and Jervis Johnson) *'' Warmaster'' (with

Alessio Cavatore Alessio Cavatore is a game designer. Early life and education Alessio Cavatore was born in Turin, Italy, on Valentine's Day, 1972. Career In 1995 Cavatore moved to Nottingham (U.K.) to work for Games Workshop. He wrote several supplements for ' ...

and Stephan Hess) *'' Warmaster Ancients'' *''The Alamo: Victory or Death'' *'' The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game'' (with

) Since joining Warlord Games, he has authored or co-authored the following games: *''Black Powder'' (with Jervis Johnson 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