Twenty years ago, few people would have predicted that a set of fantasy wargame rules designed to allow players to fight tabletop battles with hand-painted miniatures and produced by a small Nottingham-based company would grow to become the world-wide phenomenon that is Warhammer today.

And that Games Workshop, the company that nurtured and developed this hobby would grow to become a multinational company with direct operations around the world, whilst still retaining its cottage industry feel and a passionate belief in the quality and depth of its products.

And that by 2002, Warhammer itself would be published in seven different languages - English, French, Spanish, German, Italian Japanese and Mandarin Chinese! And that over the last five years the game and its associated products would generate revenues for Games Workshop in excess of $330m.

Over the years, Warhammer has of itself spawned a whole range of additional games and supplements. Warhammer Fantasy Role-play (WHFRP) became a best selling role-playing system. Man O' War enabled players to take to the high seas and fight naval battles in the Warhammer world. Warhammer Quest was a classic 'dungeon bash' board game and the recently published Warmaster allowed players to fight tabletop battles on a sweeping epic scale.

But far more than simply being a game, Warhammer and its science fiction cousin - Warhammer 40,000 - have grown to become widely known fantasy worlds that encompass tabletop wargaming, Black Library fiction, comics, role-playing games, computer games, collectable card games and art-books.