LOST WARHAMMER: THE TILEAN RAT

This is part of a series on unpublished Warhammer supplements. The first post in the series can be read here.

There were many different reasons why a great number of Warhammer supplements and adventures went unpublished. Some were lost because of a lack of developer time. Some because of a lack of management interest. Some fell victim to the changing background. However, to my knowledge, only one went unpublished because of censorship.

There was one scenario I ended up stopping publication of. It was based on the characters from the Maltese Falcon. A major difference was that Gutman (the character played by Sydney Greenstreet in the most famous film adaption) ran a brothel in addition to his other nefarious activities. Given that WD was increasingly being aimed at a younger market it hardly seemed appropriate subject matter. Because the text and illustrations had been completed the idea was to use the scenario in a compendium-type publication as Flame’s readership was somewhat older. In the event it never saw the light of day.

– Tony Ackland, Realm of Chaos 80s

Remember the scenario inspired by the Maltese Falcon? The main setting was a brothel. Although edited by Mike [Brunton], he had left when it was due for publication in White Dwarf. Once I pointed out that putting it in White Dwarf might not be the most appropriate place for it. I had the idea that it could be included in a Flame compendium, but we were closed down before that could happen.

– Tony Ackland, op cit

Illustration for the adventure, by Tony Ackland

It seems probable the scenario that Ackland refers to is connected with a short story called ‘The Tilean Rat’ by Sandy Mitchell (a pseudonym of Alex Stewart). The story was first published in Wolf Riders (1989) and subsequently reprinted in Laughter of the Dark Gods (2002). It is a parody of The Maltese Falcon set in Marienburg, featuring a halfling detective named Sam Warble.

Wolf Riders (1989), edited by David Pringle

An NPC profile for Sam Warble was published in White Dwarf 120 (December 1989). Ackland may be referring to material that was excised from this article. However, Mike Brunton did not leave Flame Publications until December 1990, so Tony Ackland’s comments about timing seem to point to a separate article. It was perhaps part of the Marienburg series that appeared in White Dwarf around the same time (issues 118-135, October 1989-March 1991). One of these pieces, in WD128 (August 1990), describes the character Lisette from the story.

Extracts from ‘Wolf Riders’ in White Dwarf 120 and ‘Marienburg’ in White Dwarf 128

Thanks to Wolf for his assistance in identifying ‘The Tilean Rat’.

The next ‘Lost Warhammer‘ post is here.

For more on the Marienburg articles, see this post.

The Oldhammer Fiction Podcast has a reading of ‘The Tilean Rat’.

This post has been modified since it was first published. Title art by Tony Ackland. Used without permission. No challenge intended to the rights holders.