Editing Valley Of The Four Winds

[[File:Valley Of The Four Winds.jpg|thumb|right|400px]]

Way back in 1980 during the early days of (modern, because Egyptian board games and Roman d20s is being a bit pedantic) /tg/ history, [[Games Workshop]] produced a board game/wargame hybrid called Valley Of The Four Winds. [[Lewis Pulsipher]] was the designer, and it was designed first as a story and setting (written by Rowland Flynn) and second as a game, which served only to justify its existence. The story was published in [[White Dwarf]] beginning in issue #8 and finishing in issue #12. 

Beyond that, Valley actually predates [[Citadel Miniatures]] and the actual models were instead made by the company [[Miniature Figurines]] which continued to produce the miniatures on and off from the time of publication to today. They are quite intricate, and sets of Valley Of The Four Winds miniatures are fairly valuable as collectors items or for proxies for Warhammer Fantasy players. Each was sculpted by [[Dick Higgs]], who favored a Flemish design to the models rather than the more familiar German, French, and Italian aesthetics Warhammer fans know. 

Many consider it to be the proto-[[Warhammer Fantasy|Warhammer]] as the original renaissance dystopian setting where battles between Undead who ally with horrible rotting things from the swamps struggle against an alliance of man, Elf, and Dwarf for the fate of the world. Interestingly, there are demons but they exist on both sides with the force of Good outright having a model where men carry a chariot where a wind demon rests. Undead control a similar model in the form of a bell, which awakens the dead.
The Evil faction models were quite graphic for a pre-[[Kingdom Death]] and [[Mierce Miniatures]] world with quite a few models of skeletons brutally murdering civilians in various states of dress as well as models representing Satan, a witch coven undertaking a ritual, and people being tortured. 

The side of good is controlled by a character simply named "Hero" who seeks to defend his city. The game was fairly basic, but had an extremely large line of minis for a mere board game. 

The Elf faction called "People Of The Pines" is blatantly stolen, although affectionately rather than the later practices of Games Workshop, from Moorcock via the posters of [[Rodney Mathews]]. People Of The Pines also included more generic [[Fey]]. 
Valley also features the first appearance of the Warhammer [[Orcs & Goblins|Goblin]] in the form of the "Spiky Goblinoids" (in appearance only, fungus origins came MUCH later). 
The Dwarf king model was actually a [[Kobold]], interestingly enough. 
The Wizard is served by mutated creatures.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Early Games Workshop Ad.png|The earliest Games Workshop miniature advertisement, proving that the spooky skeleton is the center to Games Workshops success.  
Image:Valley Demon.jpg|The Demon of Good. 
Image:Valley Bell.jpg|The Undead bell. Some believe this to be the inspiration for the [[Skaven]] [[Screaming Bell]] model. Can't rip yourself off, afterall...
Image:Valley Swamp King.jpg|The spirit of the Swamp. Unreleased models show [[Plaguebearer|portly bellies, and a fondness for carrying bells...]]
Image:Valley Dwarf King Kobold.jpg|The Dwarf King. Wait, what?
Image:Valley Board.png|The game board. 
</gallery>

==See Also==

* [http://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/index.php?title=Valley_of_the_Four_Winds The Lost Miniatures Wiki collection of Valley Of The Four Winds miniatures.]

[[Category:Games Workshop]][[Category:Board Games]]