Alongside the UK publishing rights to several American role-playing games in the 1980s (including Call of Cthulhu, Runequest and Middle-earth Role Playing,) Games Workshop also secured the rights to produce miniatures or games for several classic British science fiction properties such as Doctor Who and several characters from 2000 AD including Rogue Trooper and Judge Dredd. Alongside the rights to reprint Iron Crown Enterprises' Middle-earth Role Playing, Citadel Miniatures acquired the rights to produce 28 mm miniatures based on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
In conjunction with the promotion of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy in 2001, Games Workshop acquired the rights to produce a skirmish wargame and miniatures, using the movies' production and publicity art, and information provided by the original novels by J.R.R. Tolkien. A 25 mm scale was used. The rights to produce a role-playing game using the films' art and both the book and the movies' plots and characters were sold to another firm, Decipher, Inc. Games Workshop also produced a Battle of Five Armies game based on a culminating episode in The Hobbit, using 10 mm scale.
In February 2011, Warner Bros. Consumer Products announced that it had extended its six-year agreement with Games Workshop, continuing its exclusive, worldwide rights to produce tabletop games based on "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings." Games Workshop announced plans to expand their offerings of battle-games and model soldiers, and to continue to develop and increase offerings based on J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy books.
Games Workshop has expanded into several divisions/companies producing products related to the Warhammer universe.
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Forge World makes specialist resin miniatures and conversion kits for Games Workshop's titles as well as its Specialist Games range. Forge World was also responsible for the Warhammer Historical line of historical wargames rules, including Warhammer Ancient Battles, all of which were previously published by as a component of Black Library. In August 2018, Forge World announced substantial changes to its U.S. pricing model in exchange for faster and less costly shipping services to the United States. As of 31 October 2023, the Forge World website was made defunct as part of the company merger under the banner name "Warhammer" in one website, the resin kits sold were also marked as "Advance model kits" with an age rating attached
BL Publishing was the fiction, board game and roleplaying game publishing arm of Games Workshop. They comprised several separate imprints; Black Library, Black Flame, Solaris Books and Warp Artefacts.
The company has hard-to-reproduce, unique intellectual property, and a good export record. Sales slowed around 1999-2000 due to supply chain issues, but quickly rebounded a few years later.
Miniature games
Games Workshop previously produced miniature figures via an associated, originally independent, company called Citadel Miniatures while the main company concentrated on retail. The distinction between the two blurred after Games Workshop stores ceased to sell retail products by other manufacturers, and Citadel was effectively merged back into Games Workshop.
Current core games
The following games were in production as of June 2026:
Warhammer Age of Sigmar (4th Edition, 2024)
Warhammer The Old World (2024)
Warhammer 40,000 (11th Edition, 2026)
Warhammer: The Horus Heresy (3rd Edition, 2025)
Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game (2nd Edition, 2024)
Other games
The following games were in production as of 2024:
Adeptus Titanicus – A new version of the original game (released 2019).
Aeronautica Imperialis – Aerial combat game, updated from the Forge World version (released 2019).
Blood Bowl – an American football style game using fantasy creatures. Originally released in 1986, it was revived in 2016 with a "Second Season Edition" in 2020.
Legions Imperialis – a war game set during the Horus Heresy, in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, Legions Imperialis is a revitalised version of Epic 40,000.
Necromunda Underhive – a skirmish game set on a hive world which pits gangs of humans against each other (released 2017), updated from the 1995 version.
Warcry – A skirmish game set in the Age of Sigmar universe (new edition released 2022).
Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team – A skirmish version of Warhammer 40,000, using the same factions and units (new edition released 2024).
Warhammer: Underworlds – A game set in the Age of Sigmar setting combining miniature gaming and deck-building (released 2017).
Warhammer Age of Sigmar universe
Warhammer Quest: Shadows over Hammerhal (released 2017)
Warhammer Fantasy universe
Advanced Heroquest
Kerrunch – a simplified version of Blood Bowl.
Man O' War – a game of naval combat in a fantasy world. Two expansions were also released, Sea of Blood and Plague Fleet.
Mighty Warriors – a simplified version of HeroQuest, designed to be introductory games for younger players. More of a light Skirmish game using AHQ minis set in a dungeon with modular tiles to create the maps, pitting the hero characters against Skaven ratmen.
Dragon Masters – a board game which played like a simplified version of Mighty Empires, in which players take the role of competing Elven princes in Ulthuan.
Warhammer Fantasy Battles – a game of mass fantasy battles.
Terror of the Lichemaster, a set of three linked scenarios using Warhammer Fantasy Battle setting and rules.
Warhammer Quest – a game of dungeon exploration and questing, effectively an updated version of Advanced Heroquest.
Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower (released 2016) – dungeon crawl game in the Warhammer Age of Sigmar universe. Despite sharing the Warhammer Quest brand, rules and settings are completely different from the original game.
Warhammer 40,000 universe
Adeptus Titanicus (The original game in the Epic series, which dealt solely with combat between Titans.)
Codex Titanicus (Expanded rules for the above, adding rules for Ork and Eldar titans along with expanded rules for Eldar, Orks, Imperial Guard infantry and vehicles.)
Advanced Space Crusade
Assassinorum: Execution Force
Bommerz over da Sulphur River (Board game using Epic miniatures.)
Blackstone Fortress – a dungeon crawl game set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
Epic 40,000 (The precursor to Epic Armageddon, although some people still use the terms interchangeably, alongside Epic.)
Gorkamorka (A vehicle skirmish game set on a desert world, revolving principally around rival Ork factions.)
Digganob (An expansion for Gorkamorka, adding rebel gretchin and feral human factions.)
Lost Patrol
Shadow War: Armageddon – an updated version of the Necromunda skirmish ruleset, using the current Warhammer 40,000 factions in place of Necromunda's human gangs (released 2017).
Space Fleet (A simple spaceship combat game, later greatly expanded via White Dwarf magazine with material intended for the aborted 'Battleship Gothic', itself later relaunched as Battlefleet Gothic.)
Space Hulk (Four editions were published; expansions are listed below.)
Deathwing (An expansion boxed set adding new Terminator weapons and a new campaign.)
Genestealer (An expansion boxed set adding rules for Genestealer hybrids and psychic powers.)
Space Hulk Campaigns (An expansion book released in both soft- and hard-cover collecting reprinted four campaigns previously printed in White Dwarf.)
Space Marine (The original Epic-scale game concerning troops and infantry, 1st edition was compatible with Adeptus Titanicus, 2nd with Titan Legions).
Titan Legions (An update of Adeptus Titanicus, effectively an expansion of Space Marine 2nd edition.)
Tyranid Attack (An introductory game reusing the boards from Advanced Space Crusade.)
Ultra Marines (An introductory game reusing the boards from Space Hulk.) Reviewer Matt Sall praised Ultra Marines' unique game mechanic for determining the accuracy of weapons fire and close combat attacks: the game box featured a grid printed on the inside of the lid; dice were thrown into the lid, and results (HIT or MISS) were read from the squares in which the dice landed.
Specialist Games
Warhammer Fantasy universe
Dreadfleet – a naval combat style board game (limited stock) released in October 2011.
Mighty Empires – a hexagonal tile based campaign supplement to WFB that was also playable as a game in its own right.
Mordheim – a skirmish game. An expansion called Empire in Flames was also released.
Warmaster – a game for fighting larger battles with smaller (10 mm) miniatures
Warhammer 40,000 universe
Battlefleet Gothic – a game which depicts battles between fleets of space ships.
Epic – a game for fighting larger battles with smaller (6 mm) miniatures (known as Epic Armageddon in its current edition).
Inquisitor – a skirmish/role play game using larger (54 mm) more detailed miniatures and intended for older gamers.
Necromunda – a skirmish game set on a hive world which pits gangs of humans against each other, using modified 2nd edition Warhammer 40,000 rules, which are more detailed than newer editions and more suitable for skirmish games. Originally printed in 1995, it was revived at the end of 2017.
The Lord of the Rings universe
The Battle of Five Armies – a game for fighting larger battles with smaller (10 mm) miniatures. The game was named after (and initially centred on) the Battle of Five Armies, one of the later scenes in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit.
The Strategy Battle Game was expanded with new supplements. In 2009 an expansion for the game entitled 'War of the Ring' was released, allowing players to recreate large scale battles in Middle-Earth. In December 2012 Games Workshop released the first wave of models based on the movie The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
Forge World
Aeronautica Imperialis – a game based around Epic scale aircraft combat
Licensed games
These games were not made by Games Workshop but used similar-style models, artwork and concepts. These games were made by mainstream toy companies and were available in toy and department stores.
Battle Masters (published by Milton Bradley)
HeroQuest (published by Milton Bradley)
Kellar's Keep (Expansion for HeroQuest)
Return of the Witch Lord (Expansion for HeroQuest)
Against the Ogre Horde (Expansion for HeroQuest)
Wizards of Morcar (Expansion for HeroQuest)
The Frozen Horror (Expansion for HeroQuest)
The Magic of the Mirror (Expansion for HeroQuest)
The Dark Company (Expansion for HeroQuest)
HeroQuest Adventure Design Kit (Expansion for HeroQuest)
Adventure Design Booklet (Expansion for HeroQuest)
Space Crusade (published by Milton Bradley)
Mission Dreadnought (Expansion for Space Crusade)
Eldar Attack (Expansion for Space Crusade)
Warhammer brand acrylic paints
Games Workshop produces a line of acrylic paints for painting miniatures, under the Warhammer Colour name, previously Citadel Colour. At the end of March 2012 the company announced a new range of over 145 colours made in the UK. The current Warhammer Colour paint types are:
Base: Pigment-dense for high opacity. Intended to offer good coverage over a primer layer for a strong foundation of colour.
Layer: Thinner and less pigment dense than Base paints for slight translucency. Intended to be built up over multiple layers to create smooth transitions of colour or value.
Shade: Acrylic ink based "paints" that are thin and flow easily into recessed details. Intended to be applied as a wash to add depth and shadow.
Dry: Thick, paste-consistency paints with maximum pigment concentration. Intended to aid in dry-brushing to achieve easy highlighting of models.
Air: A selection of colours from the Base and Layer lines that are thinned down, as well as some "Clear" paints. Intended to be used through an airbrush.
Technical: A range of non-standard "paints" to achieve additional effects. These include gloss paints for slime or wet blood, semi-transparent glossy paints for gemstone effects, weathering effect paints, spectral effect paints, textured pastes for gaming bases, acrylic mediums, and acrylic varnishes. Intended for adding finishing details to models.
Spray: Spray-can paints that come in black, white, and a small selection of colours from the Base line. Intended as a primer layer and to add a foundation coat of colour quickly.
Contrast: Thinned paint and medium mixtures that flow into recesses similar to Shade paints, but also stain the raised details creating a blended fade from highlight to shadow. Intended to be applied over specialised Spray paints to give an effect similar to using a Base, then Layer, then Shade, but in one coat of paint to speed up the painting process.
Contrast paints were added to the Games Workshop paint range in 2019, promoted as speeding up the painting process for players. The existing range of paints was also expanded and reorganised when Contrast was released, and branding changed from Citadel to Citadel Colour. The previously available Glaze line of paints was discontinued, replaced with the introduction of the Air Clear paints, the previously available Edge line of paints were combined into the Layer line, with some colours also being renamed, and the previously separate Texture line of paints was combined into the Technical line.
Role-playing games
Several of the miniatures games (e.g. Inquisitor) involve a role-playing element; however, Games Workshop has, in the past, published role-playing games set within the Warhammer universe. Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay was first published in 1986; a second edition appeared in 2005 published by Black Industries, part of GW's fiction imprint BL Publishing. In 2018 a 4th edition was published by Cubicle 7.
Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy, the first of three proposed role-playing games set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, was released in late January 2008 and sold out almost immediately. In September 2008 production was transferred to Fantasy Flight Games.
Fantasy Flight Games subsequently published four other roleplaying games; Rogue Trader, Deathwatch, Black Crusade, and Only War, set in the same Warhammer 40,000 universe and employing similar mechanics.
Out of print
Golden Heroes – a superhero roleplaying game, published in 1984 after initially being published on an amateur basis.
Judge Dredd: The Role-Playing Game – published under licence in 1985.
Stormbringer – the third edition of the game, published under licence from Chaosium in 1987.
RuneQuest – GW published the second edition under licence from Chaosium, and the third edition under licence from Avalon Hill in the UK.
Call of Cthulhu – GW published the second and third edition rules in the UK, along with their own adventures and supplements.
Traveller – GW published Classic Traveller rules, supplements and adventures under licence from Game Designers' Workshop from 1979. They published their own supplement, character and starship sheets in 1981.
In Search of New Gods – a roleplaying game adventure, published in 1986
Out of print, republished
The following games are technically out of print in their original editions, but have had new versions (in some cases heavily revised, and in some cases, with additional game expansions) published by Fantasy Flight Games.
Dark Heresy – an RPG based in the WH40k Universe where players control one member of an Inquisitor's retinue.
Board games
Games Workshop had a strong history in boardgames development, alongside the miniatures and RPGs. Several may have had roleplaying elements, or had miniatures included or produced. Spacefarers released in 1981 was one of these board games with a set of miniature rules especially designed for use with Citadel Miniatures' figures.
Licensing for an undisclosed proportion of Games Workshop's back catalogue of board games was transferred to Fantasy Flight Games as part of the same transaction which included Black Library's Role Playing Games. Fantasy Flight has republished revised editions of a number of these games. At the time of the announcement, Black Library had only one boardgame in print, the 4th Edition of "Talisman". Fantasy Flight subsequently released revised editions of Talisman and of other former Games Workshop boardgames. In September 2016, Fantasy Flight Games announced the termination of its licensing agreement with Games Workshop.
Games Workshop currently has several standalone board games in production.
Assassinorum: Execution Force
Blood Bowl
Deathwatch: Overkill
Gorechosen
Lost Patrol
Stormcloud Attack
The Horus Heresy: Betrayal at Calth
The Horus Heresy: Burning of Prospero
Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team
Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower
Out of print
Apocalypse: The Game of Nuclear Devastation (not to be confused with the expansion Warhammer 40,000 Apocalypse).
Battlecars
Battle for Armageddon
Chaos Attack (Expansion for Battle for Armageddon)
Block Mania – 2000AD Judge Dredd setting
Mega-Mania (Expansion for Block Mania)
Blood Royale (multiplayer, battle and resource game of medieval Europe)
Calamity
Chainsaw Warrior (solo play game)
Cosmic Encounter (under licence)
Curse of the Mummy's Tomb
Dark Future (similar to Car Wars)
Doctor Who: The Game of Time & Space (1980)
Doom of the Eldar
Gobbo's Banquet
Hungry Troll and the Gobbos
Judge Dredd (see 2000 AD character Judge Dredd for background)
Kings & Things (under licence)
Oi! Dat's My Leg!
Quirks (under licence)
Railway Rivals (under licence)
Rogue Trooper (see 2000 AD character Rogue Trooper for background)
Squelch!
Space Hulk
Super Power
Trolls in the Pantry
Valley of the Four Winds
Warlock
The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (based on the Fighting Fantasy game book)
Out of print, republished
The following games are technically out of print in their original editions, but have had new versions (in all cases heavily revised and in some cases with additional game expansions) published by Fantasy Flight Games.
Chaos Marauders – A boardgame of 'orcish mayhem'.
Dungeonquest
The Fury of Dracula
Talisman
Warrior Knights
Trading card games (TCGs)
Games Workshop released a trading card game (TCG) in 2018 based on the Age of Sigmar universe called Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Champions Trading Card Game.
