Category Archives: News

Because of my role as Creative Manager of Alternative Armies and 15mm.co.uk I have access to material, news and information that will not be made public on the company websites for days or even weeks to come. I share it here in this category of posts.

Support Cyberpunk Horror

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What’s this?  An appeal to donate money to a new charity for man machines that do grotesque things?  No, its just a catchy title for this posting which concerns what I have been up to over the stretch of yet another Bank Holiday in the UK.  Aside from talking Flintloque with Eve Hallow and a few other things I have been putting to bed three new paid for PDF downloads to be added to the growing list of such that 15mm.co.uk sells.

Released back in time for Salute 2012 this year there have been a number of wargamers eagerly awaiting the time when UM010 Support Pack, UM011 Cyberpunk and UM013 Eldritch Horror would be put out for use on computer screens, portable devices and the infamous ‘ease print’ for a cheap hard copy too; all for the princely sum of just five dollars.  Each of them involves little in the way of real work (well as I would count it) but it needs a dozen or more hours of digital layouts for the purpose designed files for screen viewing and searching.  I have had close to a hundred emails saying how much this is appreciated as few company’s seem to take this time and simply issue a PDF of the print file which often does not display properly and is not tagged for searching.

Each time a new release is made for USE ME I sit back and think of how great it is to see the series grow.  I have said before that I did not expect thousands of copies sold, magazine and blog coverage, a frankly awesome day of sales at Salute 2012 or the constant ping of download versions flying off to far off lands.  All from my own home brewed rules set.  It will soon be time to set up an account and then make these and the rest of the digital titles available through specialised online sellers of such versions.  Not to mention the next new print titles too.

Release is going to be end of this week with an email campaign too courtesy of Mail Chimp.   If you are reading this later than that then refer to the below.

If you want to learn about USE ME then go along to 15mm.co.uk to see the series.

GBS

O.G.Joel takes on a new USE ME project

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The Space Cockroach (as Omer Golan Joel refers to himself online) is a busy man indeed.  On top of his gaming interests and work he writes USE ME series titles and as of this week he and I agreed that his next project will be USE ME 6mm.  Covering World War Two, Ultra-Modern and Science Fiction this planned new rule set will be in the usual format and will feature all arms from infantry to vehicles, aircraft, orbital support and so on.  You can read more about his plans over on this post on his blog.

I am looking forward to this set of rules since O.G.Joel and I both feel that the ‘engine’ of USE ME is well suited for adaptation to 6mm and that the wargaming market is in need of a fast, easy and tactical set of game rules for this scale and setting.  More of this when the time is right but I think 15mm.co.uk might well be publishing this title at the end of the year or early in 2013.

Expect another posting on the talented Space Cockroach on an ultra-modern theme soon.

GBS

Danger on Outpost 32!

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I really do need to keep track of time.  Really I do, as I seem to have lost a couple of months.  I blame the summer holidays from the schools.  Having the three little demons at home has thrown me for six and no mistake.  My own work output has dropped by about half over the last eight weeks.  Leaving aside the fact that I personally think that eight weeks is WAY too long for children to have off school (poor overworked teachers they say, what about all of us who work on while they relax for twice the time I get off in a whole year!) my reason for this post is to announce a return to normal once more with my next project about to go on general release as of the end of this week.

Danger on Outpost 32

This follows up on the WIP posts from back in May.  Have a read of those for the concepts and so on behind the USE ME Starter Packs and the over all plan.  But DOOP32 (catchy eh!) is all you need to play in a handy box which, trust me on this, is really good for carrying about your current Flintloque project too.  A rulebook, two dice, twenty seven miniatures and twenty seven bases along with a set of sheets with three scenarios and rosters.  The miniatures are from the HOF range and the SHM range and include some crackers such as the Prang that Eli Arndt designed for the range. Packed full of Fun!

You will be able to see more images once it is uploaded to the site along with a link to download a PDF of the included sheets, so you can read them and use them if you already have the rules and miniatures to hand.

DOOP32 was a small project that came about due to some conversations mainly with Chris Knowles (head blogger on Dropship Horizon blog) and a few dozen requests from customers who desired to get a whole game in a box for USE ME.  It was about fifteen hours work all in.  A testament to the rugged simplicity of the rules system and the 15mm scale.   I do not know how well it will sell but time will soon tell and I await wargamer responses with eager nervousness.  One additional point worthy of mention is that many of the requests for a starter pack was that it be affordable as most wargamers are working to a tight budget these days.  Well I took this on board and DOOP32 is very affordable at only twenty pounds which is spot on budget for what you get.

You can see the whole USE ME Series on 15mm.co.uk.

GBS

Noble Knight Games now carrying 15mm.co.uk ranges

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Something I had been working on for several weeks a wee while ago has now become public knowledge so I can mention it on the blog!  Below I have lifted the text from 15mm.co.uk as it saves me a bit of typing:

We are proud and pleased to announce that Noble Knight Games, one of America’s foremost suppliers of wargame miniatures, roleplay games, out of print titles and much more, is now stocking 15mm.co.uk and Alternative Armies products. NKG aim to provide a top notch service and with that in mind if you are in North America please go along to their website on the links below and have a look. You can order HOF,HOT, Laserburn, HOTT Armies, Altuos and all Alternative Armies starter sets and rulebooks like HOF Fire-Team and the USE ME Series. All prices in USD and provided locally to American gamers. If you are a fan of Noble Knight Games and of us as too you can now combine both interests in one order!

Additionally if you can’t see one of our products on the NKG website that you would like to order please email them and let them know!

I am very pleased with this new arrangement with Aaron Leeder over at NKG’s as I have watched his work with admiration from afar for years.  Noble Knight often causes referrals to Alternative Armies. When they, NKG, pick up small amounts of stock (Firefight 1.0, Flintloque 1.0, 2.0, Erin and other miniatures) from their sources and sell it on using their webstore.  Their customers then coming to us directly for more.  Back in the 1990’s Alternative Armies product was in most of the thousands of gaming stores in the USA before the big distributors went belly up.  This results in little amounts of treasure popping up all the time.

Once more the peoples of the USA can access the goodness of the Alternative!

You can read more and follow the links by going to 15mm.co.uk now.

GBS

15mm.co.uk sponsors HOTT Zaragoza tournament 2012!

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I am pleased to announce that 15mm.co.uk is an official sponsor of the 2012 Zaragosa HOTT 2nd Edition tournament to be held in Spain on 15th September. The tournament is to be held in Zaragosa and expects more than twenty active players on the day. Working with organiser Ignacio Poblador several prizes have been supplied for the winners of the event including two 24AP complete HOTT Armies and some HOT packs of 15mm Fantasy miniatures. In addition to this 15mm.co.uk has supplied a special voucher for all players on the day which will get them 10% off an order on the website.

Here is the information for the event which, along with a transation into spanish will appear on 15mm.co.uk later this week.

I Torneo de HotT Zaragoza “Vamos a Chichimequear”

Date: Saturday, September 15

Place: The neighbor of the beast, located in Luis López Allué No. 6

Game schedule:

9: 30 – Reception of players
10: 00-11: 00 – 1St round
11: 15-12: 15 – 2Nd round
12: 30-13: 30 – 3Rd round
FOOD
17: 00-18: 00 – 4Th round
18: 15-19: 15 – 5Th round

Price: 10€ (Payment in hand the same day of the tournament)

Rules:
-Rules, version 2.0.
-We accept all the land available in the regulation unless the BUA.

Army lists:
They will be delivered at the time of registration, with armies of 24 AP according to the rules of the game (12 point maximum in troops of 3 or more AP).

Scale:
The armies must be based for 15 mm scale, its size being that the player you prefer (although we recommend the use of 15 mm or similar).

In case of not having the player of an army, the Organization will have several armies in order to assist participants who have warned him previously. However, do not have strengths for these armies day today, so yes we would need that they trajesen their own strengths (are DBA camps or prepared itself).

Score
The classification will be sorted according to the number of WINS/losses, and in the event of a tie, with the difference between points killed / lost points.

Awards

-Rated first
-Runner-up
-Third classified
-Better painted army
-Best army
-Kills General
-Wooden spoon
-Possible surprise prizes as receive from sponsor.

You can view the original page with this information in Spanish here: http://laarmada.info/index.php?topic=19502.0

Adios!

GBS

Advertising in Miniature Wargames Issue 352 – Results!

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Following up on last months look at the result of 15mm.co.uk advertising in Miniature Wargames Issue 351 it’s time for a round up on the advert placed in Miniature Wargames Issue 352.  You can follow the link backs to previous posts to see those results and the advert in question but it was an advert for the Altuos 15mm Renaissance range of white metal historical miniatures.

Last month’s look at the results of magazine advertising were positive in fact 15mm.co.uk has continued to receive orders citing the USE ME advert right up to this week.  So quite happy there. However the response to the Altous advert have been quite frankly a disaster.  Enquiries and orders citing the advert were virtually non existent and the level of sales for the Altuos range actually fell 25% overall during the calendar month of the advert.  How the advert actually reduced sales is beyond my ability to understand but I expect (and hope) they were not connected.  Web views on those pages relevant ran about 10% down on the month before but total visits remained the same.  Based on the results of last months questionnaire on the Notables Yahoo Group it seemed that outside of the UK few read MW magazine and many prefer to get content online too.  But there was a solid core of players who read it each month.

The 15mm Renaissance range is fairly popular for 15mm.co.uk.  Not on the same level as HOF 15mm Science Fiction and Laserburn but it more than holds its own for players of FOG and DBM and so on in the historical gaming clubs and societies across the world.

Frankly this has left me rather glum and puzzled.  Comments and thoughts welcome on this by reply or by email.

So what is the link between advertising and figure / rules choice for wargamers?

GBS

Tiny Mecha Designs by Eli Arndt

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Over the last month Eli Arndt, talented sculptor in the SHM Range, has been working on finishing his Fleet Scale Mecha.  You can see these above in an image I linked to from his own blog.  Normally I do not post about ‘greens’ or if you prefer miniatures which are not yet molded for white metal production but I am making an exception for these little fellows.  Once Eli has completed the designs he will be mailing them to 15mm.co.uk for inclusion in its ‘6mm scale’ range.  While these are not actually 6mm scale their naval scaling for comparison to starships puts them roughly into that category; certainly in terms of producing them for sale.

Eli and I are good friends who speak regularly and he has turned down offers from other companies to get ahold of these sculpts in favour of working with me on them.  Of course this makes me happy and it also pays me back for the faith I had in him when he was just starting out with his first Uhul designs a couple of years ago.  Thank you Eli.

I will be posting more on these tiny mecha when the time comes and looking at game systems they can be used with.

GBS

Jeff Worley about to enter the SHM 15mm Sci-fi range

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A few months ago a great guy by the name of Jeff Worley told me of a miniature he had sculpted.  He offered it to 15mm.co.uk for inclusion in the SHM range which as regular readers will know is open to all novice and otherwise designers and is a place where all kinds of miniatures see the light of day.  The miniature was a ‘human commander’ and I asked him to send it across the pond so that I could see if it would mold up ok.  I was pleased to be able to tell him it would and now the time has come for the miniature to be released so that every wargamer will have a chance to get their casting of Jeff’s work.

The miniature has been coded SHM41 Human Commander and will be released this Friday on 15mm.co.uk (if you are reading this after then just go along to the website and click on SHM to see it).  As a single man sized figure it will be just 0.40GBP.  As you can see above it is a super and unique looking 15mm miniature with a lot of uses.  What springs to mind for me is the obvious squad leader but also perhaps tank driver or crew or perhaps private security too.

Jeff did not tell me his final intended use for the miniature but I look forward to seeing what he does with it.

Well done my friend!

GBS

Can you ‘Kickstart’ miniature designs by appealing direct to Wargamers?

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I saw an interesting posting on the Dropship Horizon Blog a few days ago.  At the time I was too busy with other things to do anything on it so I just bookmarked the page and moved on.  But now, here I am back again.  What is it about you ask?  Well it is about a theory.  Can you get the wargaming public to finance your new miniature designs and through that your new company without those wargamers seeing miniatures upfront or the promise of any end result?

There are a huge number of miniature wargame companies across the world and this is a great thing as it brings diversity and great choice to thousands of customers each day.  Many of these companies I do not know the names of and a large number exist only for a few months or a year and then fold for one reason or another.  But in the last couple of years the way of beginning a company has changed.  While I will not go into the other ways of making the process easier with free e-commerce software, low cost hosting, print on demand books, electronic publishing and so on I do want to look at Indeigogo and Kickstarter for funding miniature design work by using this as an example.

You can see the posting here and read about it but the gist is as follows. A brand new (so new they do not have a website or any presence I would find beyond this and a few other blog postings) and shiny new company called ‘Grinning Skull Miniatures’ wish to release a range called the ‘Oggum’, 15mm scale white metal miniatures of science fiction war pigs.  You can see a screen grab below.

Taken on 5th August 2012

The aim of the Grinning Skull is to raise 2000USD for their range of 15mm miniatures.  They have given themselves until 4th September 2012 to raise the funds.

Will they do it?  I shall check back near the end of the time allotted to find out and will post a second time on this topic then.  But my gut feeling is no, they will not.  Will I be incorrect?

GBS

Win the Pin by Creating a Character this Weekend!

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This week I made a posting here about my Flintloque pin badge which I wore for years at demo games all over the world back in the 1990’s.  There has been a lot of interest from members of the Notables Yahoo Group in my offer to let someone win it and I would post it to them.  So after asking for suggestions how to go about choosing a winner the method suggested by Chris Pryme was chosen and that is for me to note down the email addresses of every Notable who makes a posting between Friday 3rd and Monday 6th August HERE.  I will then randomly select the winner and contact them to ship them the pin.

But what Flintloque related subject should be discussed by Notables to get their postings on the group for a chance to win.  While a message on ANY Flintloque or Slaugherloo subject will be entered I want to make it a little more interesting so I offer a second competition within the first!  I want the Notables to suggest a character profile for an as yet unreleased Flintloque miniature!

Who is this fellow?

Above you can see artwork of the miniature and below an image of an assembled master casting in white metal.  The miniature is a high ranking Trolkin Officer mounted on a Muskox.

The prize in this second competition is the miniature in question worth about 8.00GBP and not to be released for several weeks yet.  The terms are that you need to post a message on the Notables Yahoo Group between 3rd and 6th August telling me who this character is, his story, an idea of his Flintloque and or Slaughterloo profiles in play.

I will get you started with his name ‘Colonel Skand Stoyne‘.  About two hundred words will be fine.  It does not have to be super accurate or points based as I will choose a winner and assist in finalising the text and so on for release of the miniature.  You can read the Notables Message on this competition HERE.

So you have the chance not only to win an unreleased miniature but also to name it and in the process the chance to also win my personal pin badge!  Excellent!  Get over to the Notables and post your idea!

GBS