"For more than a hundred centuries..."

"For more than a hundred centuries the Emperor has sat immobile on the Golden Throne of Earth. He is the Master of Mankind by the will of the gods and the master of a million worlds by the will of his inexhaustible armies. He is a rotting carcass writhing invisibly with power from the Dark Age of Technology. He is Carrion Lord of the Imperium to whom a thousand souls are sacrificed each day, and for whom blood is drunk and flesh is eaten. Human blood and human flesh- the stuff which the Imperium is made.


To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live the cruellest and most bloody regime imaginable. This is the tale of these times. It is a universe that you can live today if you dare- for this is a dark and terrible era where you will find little comfort of hope. If you want to take part in the adventure then prepare yourself now. Forget the power of technology, science and common humanity. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for there is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter and the laughter of thirsting gods.


But the universe is a big place and, whatever happens, you will not be missed...."


And so it began!


September 1987's issue of White Dwarf contained a very special section; the introductory article to Games Workshop's long, long awaited science fiction game called Rogue Trader. 


The game had been in production since the early 80s and had been through many guises before it finally saw the cold light of print. This blog, the sister site to my Warhammer 3rd Edition blog, hopes to document the history of this iconic game and provide a chronological exploration of the game's releases, rules and background. And, of course, plenty of painted miniatures from my (admittedly small at the moment) collection of Rogue Trader miniatures from 1987-1992 and the collections of others.