Category Archives: Gaming Concepts

I spend a lot of time writing, designing, testing and playing wargames of all kinds as part of my job. In these posts you can read about ideas and concepts that occur to me during these processes. Sometimes these ideas will become living breathing titles and miniatures and at other times they might well end up being nothing at all but a pleasant thought.

Tabletop Wargaming blog goes live!

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Today is a grand day as it is the day that I release my own purpose build wargame blog on the world!  TableTopWargamer.Blogspot.Co.Uk

This blogger blog is quite seperate to my presence here and it will only deal with my wargaming projects.  These projects will include everything I do personally and for the company too including playtesting, battle reports, figure painting and more.  So if you see something on Barking Irons Online from this point it will most likely be on TableTopWargamer too.

Why announce this today…well its down to the first project I have undertaken on TableTopWargamer.  Scenarios for HOF Fire-Team.  The first of these has just gone live and you can see here and look at an AAR on the scenario on the new blog too.  Nice tie in eh!

I will make some announcements here about TableTopWargamer but the two sites are very different beasts so there will be little in common posting’s wise.  See you on the bloggosphere!

GBS

An Advert for MW352 Magazine

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It is that time again.  A wee bit of graphic design to create an advert for the August 2012 Issue of Miniatures Wargames magazine.   I used the same basic shape and template that I did the Issue 351 or July issue but the subject matter is rather different.  This time the whole Altuos range of 15mm Renaissance Historicals gets the glossy treatment that it has so long deserved.  Expect to see this one in the shops in a few weeks time at most.  Click on it to see it larger.

Some people have told me that magazine advertising in the wargaming industry is as dead as a dodo since everyone now only wants to look at blogs and online groups for their news and ideas.  Perhaps this is so but we will find out.  Some of those same people have said that one of the worst ideas is to advertise something as unfashionable as 15th to 17th century historicals but lets just say that I not only have faith in this superb range brought back from dusty ruin but also that I like a challenge.  I have done my best so it will be up to MW and Andrew Hubback to see if 15mm.co.uk will see a return on this advert.

But its not all about money, far from it.  These are super miniatures and they were for the most part VERY popular in the 1980’s.  While part of the range has been re-released for some time I have not gotten around to the rest of it but knowing this advert is steaming towards the presses will make me hurry up!  To that end expect a posting on this very blog about inky hands and a load of photos of 17th century figures and artillery real soon.

GBS

Cultists, Ashigaru and Arid World Warriors – Concept to Completion

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A while ago I discussed with Elton Waters some idea for expanding the HOF 15mm Science Fiction range at 15mm.co.uk.  We went over many ideas, keeping some, discarding others and also paying a lot of heed to the hundreds of requests that customers had made in responce to being asked ‘what next?’ in miniature designs and releases.  While I cannot discuss everything we worked out (that would spoil the surprises to come this year!) the time has come for the first three of the agreed sculpting sets to be set loose on the world!

Starting last week and over the next few weeks three new packs will be added to the 15mm.co.uk website.  I have included some of my thoughts on each of them under the pictures. They are:

HOF76 Corporate Ashigaru

This pack is one of my personal favourites of the year so far.  The Corporate Ashigaru went up on the 15mm.co.uk website Friday last.  Full of character these three came about from an ideas session about who would be perfect for troops in a ‘Cyberpunk’ setting.  While the HOF range already had cyborgs and so on one area not covered was Japan.  The Japanese feature heavily in vintage Cyberpunk writings and wargames so what better than some near future hired guns in armour that mimics that of the Tokagawa period of Japan’s history.  Great for skirmish gaming and as bodyguards to your leaders. So look out for HOF76!

HOF77 Cultist Command

It would be no mistake to tell you just how popular the current HOF Cultists are.  Infantry and Heavy Weapons packs go out all over the world to wargamers and many of those happy customers come back and ask for expansions to that part of the range.  Highest ranking among the requests were ones for a Command set featuring characters who would be fit to lead their fanatics on their missions.  So Elton and I agreed on a theme, that of robes and bare feet, then we thought about poses.  I knew we needed a ‘grand pooba’ a head honcho (far left) and a second in command (one in on left) to get the Cultists properly instructed.  But on top of that Elton came up with the idea of the ‘propagandatron’ (middle) upon which the cult can broadcast its views to the world while in battle.  Added to this someone to wave the flag and a general runner rounded out the concept and then the sculpts.  HOF77 is bound to please many.

HOF78 Arid World Warriors

I like to introduce new ideas and new sections into the ever growing HOF range and on that note we either pick an idea from the ‘suggestions’ pile (like we did with the HOF Rim Mercenaries) or I let the designer make a suggestion.  In the case of the Arid World Warriors it was the latter and Elton suggested some Human warriors from a very dry environment.  Lots of science fiction settings take place in deserts and other dry places so when you need an enigmatic tribe or some plain old raiders to take on your regular forces these are your fellows for the job.  HOF78 is a first in the range.

So get along to 15mm.co.uk and check them all out.

GBS

Flintloque special scenarios for the big UK summer 2012 events

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Sharke Rides!

This summer the UK has two big events on the go for 2012.  These are the Olympics and the Queens Diamond Jubilee which take place on the 27th July to 12th August and the 2nd to 5th June with the Jubilee coming first.

I would like to do my part to celebrate these two fantastic events (as I watch them from all the way up here in Scotland) so there will be three brand new free Flintloque scenarios put up on Barking Irons Online.  These will be put up on or around the big days for each event and will be themed to those events.  Here is a little sneak peek at what to expect:

Diamonde Jubliees – The Goblin Queen is celebrating her ascension to the throne of Al-Garvey and her guest Kyng Gorge of Albion, upon visiting her, has given her a gift of diamonds. Now those diamonds are in danger. Can the Blacke Watchit protect two monarchs and the jewels?  A bonkers scenario for two players for Flintloque 3rd edition.

Visting a Kyng – Obidiah Hogswill is a nasty piece of work but sometimes he aids the Army of Albion indirectly by his actions.  The deserter general and his minions have found out that a deposed Elvish princess has become the lover of a Dark Elf noble allied to the Elves of Armorica who is promising to seduce Kyng Gorge III!  This princess is rumoured to have a sizable fortune in jewels among her baggage and Obidiah means to have them…after all Muvver says they is rightfully his!  A trecherous scenario for two players for Flintloque 3rd edition.

Sharke’s Olympnik – Captain Sharke has stolen the box of medals that Marshal Sault plans to give out to his best officers.  Now Sharke and his fellow Orcs must ride like the wind to escape not only a chasing squadron of Elf Lancers but also scattered troops from the Army of Armorica who bar their way.  An exciting two player ‘steeple chase’ moving table scenario for Flintloque 3rd edition.

Each scenario will be a full length and is designed for two players and or solo play too.

GBS

Article for Irregular Magazine

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After my look at the great free Wargame title Irregular Magazine I struck up a conversation with Dave Barker from the mag and after a chat I offered to write an article for the summer edition (yes, I talk myself into all kinds of things!).  But to my credit when I learned the theme of the issue was to be ‘Mysteries of the East’ it gave me a chance to make use of my knowledge of Japan and Japanese culture.  So I put forward an idea and it was accepted!

More on this when its time but my good friend Sam Croes has agreed to create a piece of art for use with the article.  And what is the article…well did you know that in the 23rd century all disputes in Japan are settled by the use of giant robotic sumo?  I shall say no more.

GBS

Blogger and Wargaming

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Over the last week or so I have watched with  interest some messages posted on The Notables Yahoo Group about why the majority of the wargames I have created or maintain do not have ‘a big presence on the net’.  You might think this strange what with this blog along with the official company websites and Barking Irons Online plus Orcs in the Webbe and other websites all having our material but that is not what the posting was really about.  To me the posting which kicked off this discussion (and confirmed by those who replied to it) was about Blogger.

You see the vast majority of wargamers who are online in their own right use Blogger, a simple and free tool provided by Google, to get their hobby across to the world.  Blogger is a community unto itself in that it links up among its own blogs and its users.  In fact in order to post on blogs like Tony Harwood’s I had to create a ‘Blogger ID’ even though I do not have a blogger blog.  So if you are on Blogger and you search for the wargame products I produce then you will not see them as none of the current online presences we have are part of Blogger.  Makes sense eh!

I had been thinking of putting up my own wargaming experiences, my collection, my terrain and my methods in the form of photos and perhaps video too and this is decided me.  I will do it and I will use Blogger as the platform for it. Separate to my online personal presence here.  When its done you will see all you want to see of my wargaming including the play testing and concept gaming for new games and scenarios.  This will take some time as I am as always ruddy busy with many things but more on this when I have it.

GBS

Villiam Bedsforc the Bombardier – ‘Bange Off!’

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Villiam Bedsforc. Ladies and Ale...its his bag baby!

It is now May and since Tony Harwood unintentionally released VLE12 Bombardier Bedsforc on his excellent blog back in early April you could say he caught me napping!  What with me not intending to release the miniature until the middle of May.  You can see a picture of the laddy above as rendered by Edward Jackson, resident Valonian artist.  What with Salute and the much higher than expect level of orders pre and post the event it has taken me about two weeks longer than expected to get around to the insert and scenario for this character but now the time is at hand!  So I am on time, ahead of time and behind of time depending on how you look at it.

The scenario is called ‘Bange Off’ and concerns the Bombardier, his ale and his glory  for Albion and the family brewery.

During the  week beginning 7th May the Alternative Armies website will be updated to include full details for VLE12 and the scenario will appear on Barking Irons Online in due course!

GBS

USE ME Starter Packs – Theory Distilled!

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The Controller says 'I command thee, create starter packs!'

Over the last week I instigated a conversation about the possible creation of Starter Packs, complete games, for the USE ME series of titles.  Primarily the grand daddy of the series UM001 USE ME 15mm Science Fiction.  I put forward many possible ideas but all around the core idea that a starter pack would contain a rule book, miniatures, dice, rosters, scenarios and so on.  Essentially you would get all you need in one box to get playing.

There was a good response to this posing of the idea.  More than twenty posts on the Notables Yahoo Group and a dozen emails direct to me from players including Chris K and Craig Andrews.  All of these putting forward their take on what a complete pack should be.  Variations of content and direction were batted back and forth until distilled into a fairly even brew that left me to finish it and put it into cask (can you tell I am itching to drink that bottle of real ale I got at the weekend!).  Well the process of fermentation is now complete and I can put forward what the final starter pack will be and also what packs there will be in the near future.

A USE ME Starter pack for sci-fi will contain the following:

UM001 Rulebook, Approx Thirty Miniatures, Two D6 Dice, Scenario Sheet (3 complete linked scenarios with solo play option), Pre-Filled Rosters (for the supplied miniatures and scenarios), Plastic Bases:  All in a box. There will be an unpainted and a pro-painted option available.   All you need to play right out of the box!

The first packs will be the following and they will appear on 15mm.co.uk over the next couple of months:

UMS01 – Danger on Outpost 32.  Alien Greys are looking for test subjects on the human built Outpost 32, will the diverse population of the outpost give in without a fight?

UMS02 – Ziggurat of Clem IV.  The Zidhe wish to capture the secrets of the Progenitors but will the  Octopods let them have their way?

UMS03 – Rage of the Machines.  Automatons run wild with a virus that requires the attention of the Prydian Army to put right.  Shut them down before they shut you down!

UMS04 – Livestock of the Earth.  The Argo City of New York is suffering from a bombing campaign by the fanatical ‘Livestock of the Earth’ cult.  Can bombs be defused and people kept safe amid attacks by the cult?

So I hope this grabs you.  Each starter pack will be around or under the 20.00GBP mark and offer a small saving over separate purchasing.

GBS

The Free Scenario for USE ME Eldritch Horror

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With life now returning gradually to normal after the mad weekend of Salute 2012 I was putting the final touches to the free scenario mentioned on page four of UM013 USE ME An Eldritch Horror.  This free scenario will begin mailing out to those who requested it from tomorrow.   Almost all of the titles in the series have a free folder of files or just a scenario but I will admit that my workload has meant that I have to write and test these scenarios in my own time at the weekends.  Below is an extract from this two page scenario…enjoy!

GBS

An Eldritch Plant indeed!

An Evil at the Buresmouth Tavern

Captain Standish stood back from the blurred glass panes of the ‘Fisherman’s Ankle’ tavern and considered the grotty little town that was Buresmouth. He was not local to the area and it showed. For a start he has the right number of fingers and toes which, he was beginning to feel, was not the case for many of the local people. Standish and his fellow investigators had been brought to the tavern following a rumour of a cult that had begun to worship a growing plant that was most certainly a creation of the elder gods.

This plant was in the remotest part of the tavern’s plot of land and the main room of the tavern was serving as a gathering point for those who sought to undo the evil of the unknown. Standish had been among the last to arrive and the small army detachment (former rank had it privileges after all) he had recruited for the night had already invested the tavern. They would begin shortly. Standish knew that he would be outnumbered, but dealing with cultists was one thing…if anything from beyond this realm was here then that would be a different and rum deal for all of them.

Salute 2012 – My take on the day

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Driving into London is a hairy experience at the best of times.  I know, I have asked those who live and work there.  But for me and the rest of the team it is a once a year event and sometimes getting to Excel is an adventure in itself.  Luckily this time the trip inside the M25 and then through many, many streets passing such sights as the Angel Islington, the Spittalfields Market and the Moorfields Eye Hospital (plus many streets that feature on the Monopoly Board!) went well and when the doors opened the Alternative Armies / 15mm.co.uk trade stand was set up and ready.  It did not take long for the crowds to build as you can see below.

What do you mean you can't see me, I am near a white wall!

I am always awed by the sheer scale of a hall at Excel (and Salute only occupies half of the possible space!) and if you have not been you can see above what I mean.  I took this standing next to our trade stand which was no where near the opposite wall so this is not the whole length of the hall.   At this point I have no idea of the attendance but I think it topped five thousand and felt just as busy as last year.  I did manage to walk round the whole hall once and said hello to many traders whom I know and also a good number of the Warlords themselves who are customers of ours.

I did not work on the stand this year instead I went back to my 90’s roots and took on the challenge of the ‘Sharkes Gingerbread’ demo scenario for Flintloque.  You can read all about the scenario over on Barking Irons and I managed to entertain a good two dozen with it who all went away happy.  I played as the Gingerbread Men and lost and lost and lost.  The most memorable event on table was watching Sharke being killed by a Trolka armed with a Skandavian Kannonderbuss (basically a musket that is a 6lb cannon!) at short range; even his legendary status did not save him.  A big thanks to Tony Harwood for giving me the actual Gingerbread House from his article; it was photographed a good thirty times across the day and I have seen it on three other blogs so far!  Below is a picture of one of the games in progress; it was excellent fun and really entertaining.  Being my first public demo in…humm…maybe three years.

Can I play mister?...I love Flintloque!

The trade stand itself was right next to the demo game table and it was busy for the whole day.  As yet I cannot say what the highest selling codes of the day were but I am fairly certain of some.  We ran out of the packs used in the demo game (including the Gingerbread Men) and handed over a good deal of Sharke’s Chosen box sets which was the big release for April for Flintloque.  HOF Fire-Team was greeting with big grins and open hands (only being released this week no one had seen it before!) and the print edition of MOTH went down well.  But!  I only put half the number of USE ME books we brought back on the van with there being virtually none of some of the books left out of the now Twelve titles in the series.  I am told that the article in Miniature Wargames reviewing USE ME was quoted by many (I will review that current issue given to me by MW Editor Andrew Hubback himself real soon) and also the poster showing the series brought gamers over.  I took a photo of part of the ‘books table’ so you can see this.

Can I speak to Omer Golan, is he here? If I take all twelve can I get one free?

It would not be Salute without meeting my good friends both old and new.  I apologise in advance if I miss anyone out but I must have spoken to a hundred plus people and my throat still hurts!  First off the Warlords themselves including musical and sculpting talent Steve Young (he of Burrovian fame for those in the know).  Thanks Steve for the novel too…all good Joccian fodder!  And then a new talent by the name of Sam Croes (he of the Ion Age art and tiles already on the blog) who is a super guy and a real pleasure to speak to (I will not go into what we spoke of…but great things will happen later this year!).  The feature writer for Starburst magazine whose card I got.  I also got to meet Darker Horizon’s column writer Gary Mitchell and thank him for his full page review of mine and the company’s work.  I also later on got to meet the editor of MW Andrew Hubback who impressed me with a huge knowledge of the hobby and views similar to mine that diversity in wargaming is the key to its continual thriving.  I am sure I am missing people…   Edward Jackson, artist extraordinary of Valon (he draws all the art for Flintloque and other ranges too) with his good lady spent some time and made me smile…he is a really talented fellow and brimming with ideas.  Watching ‘Jacksorc’ talking with Rob Alderman (sculptor of a good number of current Flintloque miniatures) and Tony Harwood..you could almost see the lightening of ideas in the very air!  Below is a picture taken of that chat (sorry I am not in these pictures, but hey I need to press the button!).  Again there were many more people….

Feel the talent! Yes...I was lurking next to the Flintloque racks!

I got myself some swag too.  I will not reveal who make ‘swops’ with me for our stock in return for theirs (more this year than last) but it will keep me in reading for a few months.  I got a copy of the Aeronef rules by Wessex Games,  a title I had been lacking that was recommended to me.  I look forward to digging in this pile when time allows.  We also ended up with a good number of Salute promo materials that were handed in at the stand, mugs, badges, the salute miniature, magazine and bundles of business cards and flyers.

Rob Alderman asked me to do a video interview (good thing I brushed my hair!) so in return I got a snap of him holding his favourite reading material…

Don't hurt me...I will hold the books!

All in all this years 40th Anniversary Salute show was a roaring success for both me and the company too.  It never ceases to amaze me what talent exists not only in the world but also in connection with me.  Wargaming is home to some of the nicest people you will ever meet.

Thanks to all of you dear customers…I ate prime steak on Saturday night!

GBS