The Ion Age by Gavin Syme….now live!

Today is the day that the hardest secret I have had to keep in my professional working life becomes common knowledge.  Today I personally told five thousand wargamers and by extension of that over this week maybe two or three hundred thousand more through forums and news portals about the existence of The Ion Age.   A brand new wargaming website, brand new products, brand new approach and all based on my favourite science fiction setting which I first learned about nearly twenty years ago.

Its been a slow build and a lot of work but over the last year the pieces have been put in place and the future literally written as I expanded and hardened the fiction that already existed into a bigger and better format upon which a lot can be hung.   It is one thousand years since the end of the great Khanate War and the betrayal of Prydian space by the fanatical Templars and after an age of darkness and an ongoing bitter civil war between powerful Marcher Barons a great leader has emerged to take command of the Prydian Army and its knights.  Princess Daphne Cyon has her work cut out for her though for as well as the Leagues of Yordan and Canlaster there is the situation in the Camarthen star cluster to now contend with…..

There is a blog for The Ion Age upon which I will be putting the majority of my thoughts on this subject as it grows and encompasses more and more.  Have a look and bookmark it or follow it.  The blog will fill you in on the rest of the details such as the free miniature with every order (changed every month see below), the weekly releases, the loyalty system with earned goodies, new rules sets and more.  Oh and what is coming on Thursday of this week.

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That is it for now.  After all I have a universe to build but stick around to see a future filled with hope, bravery, mighty deeds and not the same old hand cranked gaming fodder.  This is the Ion Age and  its going to be a blast!

GBS

“The Jaws that Bite, the Claws that Catch”….

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A snapshot taken moments before a bloody and savage death for an intrepid explorer of the wild ways and places.   Rumour has it that this fearsome beast is no myth and poetic imagining but is instead a white metal reality coming this week for pre-order at 15mm.co.uk.  I could not possibly say at this time but perhaps in a few days time….a more in depth look maybe.

For now gaze and long for it…I know I do.

Now I must go a galumphing back to work.

GBS

USEME Prohibition Gangsters – WIP

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Top of the World Ma!

There are some more USEME Titles in the planning stage over at 15mm.co.uk and while I have posted about my own title in the next three (Alien Safari , delayed I know!) I have said nothing about the others; so here it goes!  Provisionally titled UM015 USEME Prohibition Gangsters this booklet presents rules for two scales (15mm and 28mm) in wargaming the period in American history when booze was illegal and tommy guns the norm.  That is the 1920’s and 1930’s.

This is not a period I know much about really so I was delighted when Bob McAlister over in the USA told me he was keen to write just such a title.  With some assistance from his good lady and playtesters UM015 has shaped up as a solid and themed set of rules.  Its the first set of wargame rules Bob has written that has made it to published stage and he is rightly proud of this achievement.

Skirmishing is the name of the game and the idea is that small groups of Cops, G-Men, Molls, Gangsters, Hooch Runners and others fight it out over objectives such as hidden stashes, nightclubs and speak easies, warehouses, the open street, flop houses and more.  As with most USEME titles its ten or so characters a side but you can use more plus the solo rules engine is attached.  In fact Bob handed in a manuscript that was too long when his two scenarios were included so these will be given away free on the website and also included in the paid for PDF version.

As USEME’s are budget titles for gaming fun I opted for public domain photographs and so on for the internal pages of the book and the cover is a clever bit of dress up fun on a sunny day from the creative commons licence on Flickr.

I feel that in terms of the way it plays this vision of USEME is most like UM003 USEME WW2  written by Omer Golan but without the armoured vehicles and aircraft of course and a lot more car chases.  This title will be published later this summer.

GBS

USEME Zombie Dawn makes a return from the dead…

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I wanted to do a quick shout out about one of my own titles from the highly successful USEME series of Wargaming Titles; UM009 USEME Zombie Dawn.  It is now back in print after a gap of a couple of months and I am greatly pleased to be able to say that its second print run is larger than the first.  At the weekend I went to see World War Z at the cinema which was good but the book version (rather different…well actually REALLY different to the film) was what was in my mind while I wrote this title a couple of years ago.  It was actually down right funny to see Glasgow portrayed as Philadelphia in the film.  St Georges Square is very familiar to me and with its, as far as I know, unique bright red tarmac surface it looked sod all like America!  🙂

The 2nd print run features only an update to the listing of top sources for inspiration and an update to the list of available titles on its last page.  When the book went to print originally its ninth position on the list was the end of the list but now it goes up to number fifteen and Zombie Dawn is nearing the middle of the listing of titles.  More on the new titles when the time comes.

Because of the new movie being at cinema’s now I asked for and got permission to put up a special ‘Z Deal’ this week.  So until Monday of next week you can go to 15mm.co.uk and get a print copy of UM009 and a pack of 15mm Zombies (sixteen of them) for just 6.25GBP saving thirty percent off list.  Excellent eh!

Shameless self promotion finished!

GBS

Tabletop Wargamer Blog is no more…

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Its a sad but valid day today for its time for me to retire the Tabletop Wargamer blog that I had begun in an effort to show everyone my own personal efforts in wargaming at home away from work.  I got a collection of Ion Age and Flintloque miniatures, I got a fine gaming buddy, I got terrain and even a spiffing table upon which to play…but… Time was not on my side.

As it happened the wargamers who provide me with a living were far more keen on me penning and testing rule systems and fiction than they were on reading about me playing!  That is fine as I have to add that I have found it hard to get the time for focusing on my own efforts and I do not want my own efforts to compromise the happiness that my work brings others.  Lastly exciting projects have developed that will need more of my time and involve blogging so you will all see me on another blog soon enough.

So Tabletop Wargamer is no more.  Thanks to all those who contributed comments, emails and more to the fifteen thousand views it built up.  If anyone wants any of the content from the blog, pictures, scenarios and such I have them but most are already on Barking Irons Online for you to read free.  They are in the HOF Fire-Team and Flintloque pages on the whole.

‘I am numbers not a free man!’  To paraphrase ‘The Prisoner’.

GBS

The Table of Babel

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The Table with my goods upon it

As I noted in my Salute 2013 posting last week upon my return to Girvan I managed to buy some furniture which I had been after for some time.  While none of you will be interested in the three piece suite or such you might well be keen on the above.  A lovely and believe me bloody strong and heavy table.  Its not quite six feet by four but it is ideal for office work and for wargaming too.  Sitting atop its four solid wood legs is a solid wood top, weighing in at over 75kgs for the whole piece.

I know its a little egotistical to have put all of my own writing and published titles on the table along with my Flintloque miniatures but hey, its my table after all.  It will see a lot of use in times to come and it has a lot of potential for underside storage too which I think is vital for wargaming terrain and all the other needed materials therein.  The room I work in is nearing its capacity for storage of books and other materials.  ‘Table of Babel’ well a play on words but also with a more serious intent…who knows just what gaming will be created or taking place on its solid surface.  The peoples of a thousands worlds and dimensions many, creatures and robots, Dragons and Orcs.

Also before I am asked, and I will be asked, what price such a table fit for the gods of gaming?  Well….let’s say a copy of Slaughterloo is the same price.  Bargain!

GBS

Giving in to the Pressure of Wargamers – Security Force Alpha

Security Force Alpha sculpted by Elton Waters

Last week I released a whole miniature sub-range into the HOF 15mm Science Fiction miniatures line.  This was the eight packs and about thirty poses in the ‘Security Force Alpha’ or SFA set.  Due to technical problems caused by an internet war (of which the company was not a part but we did lose our websites for twelve hours or so) I did not post about this here at the time.  I was going to let it pass, after all there is a lot going on, but the response to the release has been frankly huge.

Dropship Horizon Blog, the best place online for the latest and greatest in 15mm science fiction wargaming announced the release and this sparked off a lot of views and then comments.  I added my own comments and then watched as email messages began to arrive at 15mm.co.uk congratulating us upon releasing, at last, a generic human force that is not another cookie cutter power armoured ‘not marines’ at a good price.  Other emails asked, some even pleaded (steady on!) that we release SFA as single miniatures as well as packs.  I had intended to do this, after all it has been getting done now for the majority of the range over the last year plus, but typically it would be a gap of several weeks or a month before it happened.  The reason for this is simple.  News is constant and the effort that went into the SFA frankly deserves a second bit at the news cherry.

After thinking it over, with Salute 2013 so near, I decided to give the wargamers what they wanted.  As of Thursday this week the whole SFA range will be out as singles.  Personally I think this is in the main for wargamers to get bundles of the two prone casualty poses in the SFA Command Pack as well as the kneeling Laser pose in the SFA Support Pack.

So pressure on 15mm.co.uk does pay off for wargamers.  Makes me do more work, but it pays!

GBS

p.s.  Big Thanks to Chris at Dropship for his assist on this release.

SupaBases adds a String to the Bow

This posting is a little late as it had been planned for last Friday but if you look at the post previous to this one you will see that South West Scotland, where I live, was battered by one of the worst blizzards in living memory and that I was also affected by it.  Though the snows are currently gone, they may return, it has meant I am playing catch up now.  So…on with the show eh!

supalogo_wsThe ‘SupaBases’ logo designed by Sam Croes

Last week Alternative Armies and 15mm.co.uk both released the ‘SupaBases’ range of MDF Wooden wargaming bases into the hobby market.  This was the culmination of several months of effort on my own part and others as although there are a few other makers of these kinds of bases in 2mm and 3mm thickness’s none of them were suitable as suppliers to the company.  So we decided to create our own and we were determined to source the wood and get the job done in Scotland.   The bases are precision cut with a tool, not a laser, and this gives a lovely finish to what is currently fourteen different sizes of square, rectangular and circular.  You  can see them below in the picture.

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I personally think that although the company offers white metal and plastic bases these wooden bases have a lovely feel and especially for 15mm scale miniatures as singles and elements in wargames they give an impressive finish.  From this point on I will be using them for all of our own new releases and so on.

Its not always all about new miniatures and the excitement of new game systems sometimes its the tasks without the glamour which give a lot of satisfaction.  Hundreds of customers had asked if we would make these bases, so we did.   Not a lot more I can say except that if you want to you should give them a try especially the larger ones like the 75mm and 100mm circles as these are not practical in other materials and allow for some great set pieces or dioramas or vehicle mounts.   Thanks for reading and if you want to see the SupaBases then click on your choice of link below:

15mm.co.uk        Alternative Armies

GBS

Eli’s Vergan’s are my kinda Miniatures!

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SHM54-SHM57 Vergan Free Traders

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SHM54-SHM55 Rear View

These are due to release this week but I wanted to give a little post about them here before that as I have to say that I just love the alien species of Vergan created by Eli Arndt for the SHM line on 15mm.co.uk.  Eli has created and is creating a number of alien species and these are one of my favourites.  Why do I like them so much?

Well its partly style and its partly ethos.  You can use them in any game system and they are of Human height with greater bulk so they match in with ease.  Their style is pure space opera of the kind that Star Wars promotes where alien races are welcomed and not automatically targeted as ‘Xenos’ to be exterminated just for the sin of existing like in some other settings.  They remind me of aliens produced in 25mm scale in the 1980’s back when larger scales were as open to experimentation as the smaller 15mm scale is now.  Its a shame that the seeming  increased ‘need for polish for its own sake’ in the wargaming industry, sometimes without any visible increase in quality or value for money, has meant that only 15mm scale now see’s such bold and different designs in the 21st century.  Ethos wise its just that.  Fun and good value combined with not taking themselves too seriously.  Perfect for me and for 15mm.co.uk.

Why call them ‘Free Traders’ and not ‘Soldiers’?  Eli said to me when he sent me the designs that he thought of the Vergans as merchants not mercenaries.  After a bit of thought I came to agree with him.  Some of the other races in SHM like the Prang are blatantly militaristic but the Vergans seem to carry weapons mainly for self defence.  Part of a starship crew or in a spaceport these blob shaped and many tentacled fellows might just heft an energy rifle only when the traitorous Human they are dealing with tries to double cross them.  The aliens are not always the bad guys…humm…I can feel a USEME scenario brewing now.

The Vergans join the first of their kind (SHM20) as single miniatures but also as a value pack.  I do hope that Eli makes more of them in the future (perhaps a Vergan child or female) but he is a busy guy with LNG and other projects so time will tell.

GBS

Creative Staff Meet – February 2013

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Eve, GBS and Sam

Its been a hectic week for it was time for the ‘creative staff meet’ hosted this time by me here in Girvan in Scotland.  As you can see from the picture above myself (centre…ain’t I pretty!), Sam Croes on the right and the crypt keeper himself Eve Hallow on the left (yes, he does manage speak with that on!) had a jolly time of it.  Being face to face allows for a lot of conversation and ideas to flow quickly and they did.  It did mean that I have been out of the office all week but I do promise to catch up on, what I am told, is all of the fifty plus emails for me that are awaiting answers.

As well as work we did do some sight seeing too as it was Sam’s first time here in Ayrshire so I took him to see Alloway and the land of Burns along with some scenic sights.  This was made easier by four dry and sunny days in a row which for Scotland is a rare thing.  Eve did not come along…sunlight does not agree with him strangely…

Sam was kind enough to give me some pressies from his homeland of Belgium and I gave him some goodies from here as did Eve Hallow.  I have not pictured all of the presents as I drank some of them and ate others but I will review the excellent looking comic books and the music too.  Time should not be so pressed now for me.

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Gifts from the lands of Ghent!

Its rare to have so much talent in one room and it was a blast and I can’t wait until we all meet up again in London at Salute 2013 in April.  In a time of instant communication and ever faster computers sometimes you just can’t beat working shoulder to shoulder on exciting things for the future of miniature wargaming.  Eve say’s he might even turn up to Salute without the mask or his shovel for digging up corpses!

GBS