Ion Age Year One Collection now online!

Posted on July 30, 2014 by Gavin Syme

Have a look at one of the blogs that I run. My baby brand The Ion Age is about to be one year old and its got me really pumped up and happy. There is a lot of 15mm scale science fiction wargaming on the global market. In fact its just about the most vibrant and busy genre and scale as far as I can tell. This means the ideas and therefore the competition is intense. Far more so that back in 2005-6 when I brought Laserburn back to the market and Alien Squad Leader gave my 15mm.co.uk dominance in the marketplace for a few years. Despite and because of this The Ion Age is doing really well with the ethos of fun, afforable, characterful space opera with a more old school look and taste. In fact its going well enough to be occupying more of my own time than I expected. So August will be a month of celebration and offers and gifts as well as new releases.

I will be talking more about this and also addressing my own personal failings to get Patrol Angis to the market within the first year but more on that later. For now its pumped and happy.

GBS

Find me on Facebook…finally

Posted on July 24, 2014 by Gavin Syme

I reached the needed one thousand asks and finally signed up for Facebook this week. I actually have been trying to avoid it due to the extra work involved. Those who know me know that I just have to answer every comment and email and message sent to me and sometimes it takes me literally hours each day. I do wonder sometimes if the old adage ‘if someone takes the time to write to you then you write back’ is meant to apply to the information age but in any event its what I do.

You can find me by searching Facebook for me as: Gavin B Syme.

As result of this taking up of Facebook I am making efforts to join up with communities on that platform and making friends too. By extension the weekly news, blog posts and product releases that I make from work are also going to feature on Facebook too. It will not take long for me to get as noticed as I am on Google Plus.

Aside from this the current heat wave that is going on in Scotland is making life sticky for me and its been a ruddy long day too. That being said that fact that we are so busy is a great thing and as I look towards the first birthday of my baby (that is The Ion Age not one of my actual children!) I am so proud of how well it is going. It seems that honesty, quality, service and pricing never go out of fashion. My good lady cheered me up by send me a picture this afternoon of the Poet and the Warrior having fun in the park in Girvan with the free kite display. These huge kites are easily 50 to 150 feet long and it really makes the sky line pretty in the 25c to 30c heat.

GBS

Now we are Twelve the Thinker

Posted on July 18, 2014 by Gavin Syme

I waited until the day after, the morning after, my eldest son’s birthday to make this small blog post. The Thinker is now twelve and the time has passed so quickly it hardly seems real to me. He had a great day yesterday electing to travel to a local leisure pool and enjoy the flumes and fun with his family and close friends (it was also the first time that I have been down a flume in more than a decade!).

It was an important birthday for him in my eyes as it marks the start of his journey to adulthood and I will tell you why. The Thinker now has his own bedroom and has moved out of the shared room with his two brothers for the first time. That room has a brand new desk and book rack in it for his soon to start school work for secondary school after the summer holidays. He now has his first mobile phone which is an entry level model on a pre-pay contract meaning he can begin to interact with the digital world and learn those lessons too. As always I am humbled by the adoration that people have for my son who is a wonderful boy, always helpful and always polite. Cards, gifts and mementos came to him across the day. Even a great new cover for his new bed!

It will not be long before I am speaking about him becoming a teenager….

Happy Birthday my Son. From the very start and your first smile until each passing moment and your smiles of today you are the centre of my life.

GBS

Taken from Alternative Armies blog – Modular Elf Dragoons

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Gavin Syme

“Captain Sharke looked grim. The scars on his face were livid in the cold of the Catalucian mountains and there was a fleeting inch of snow on the barren ground around him. With an eye long used to war Sharke was watching distant horses down in the sheltered valley while he and a half dozen Rifleorcs were up the hill side where they could not be followed. Damn Dragoons, damn ruddy Elves. Why was it always these pointy eared prancing Ferach that made his life hell. Everywhere in Catalucia the threat of roving patrols of Dragoons kept the Army of Albion on its toes. While the distant port city of Kooruna was the goal of the marching army he was headed away from them on his own mission. Well he would be if he could just get shed of these damn Dragoons. Sharke told the rest of the Orcs to get to their feet and they grumbled and grunted in cold limbed discomfort. It was warmer in the valley, the wind did not cut as deep into sodden uniforms. But on the ridges and hill tops they remained; for a sabre from horseback could and would cut all the deeper.”

Ever since the start of the germ of the idea that would become the huge range that is now Flintloque was first shown to me many years ago (1996) something has stuck in my mind. Those who have had the fortune to play Flintloque or Slaughterloo with me in person will know that I am a big fan of the Ferach Empire of the Armorican Elves. That is the nation that I like to play on the wargame table. Yes, I choose the Elf Voltiguers in the original box set not the Orc Rifles!

So, what was my idea. Well, during the writing period of 5025 War in Catalucia it occurred to me that although the miniature range had a large variety of Elves and a set of excellent elite cavalry in the form of the Corps Imperial des Dragons the Armoricans did not have Line Dragoons. That is the typical cavalry version of the typical infantry found in 51504 Elf Line Infantry; something for all seasons and reasons. Ferach Elf Line Dragoons were something that had a good fit to the Catalucian campaign and indeed beyond. I asked around and players agreed that this would be a set of miniatures ideally suited to battlefield and skirmishing alike. With that agreement the long process was begun in the winter to bring Ferach Elf Line Dragoons to the wargaming table.

Alternative Armies prefers to produce miniatures in white metal that are single piece with an integral base meaning little in the way of assembly but with a potential for conversions and personalisation. This time I wanted to try something a little different with the Dragoons. I wanted more variety in horses and in riders too. Not a plan for the whole range, oh no, but tried out here. After a lot of concept sketching and looking at uniforms and horses we came up with a modular system in white metal that I hope will really appeal.

The next blog post about the Ferach Line Dragoons will show and tell you a lot more but for the moment I will say that the modular concept reached a state of master molding at the start of this month. It has worked better than I had hoped and it means the ability to assemble a horse in a variety of poses and riders in such a variety of posing that a whole unit will never look the exact same twice. These will be fitting foes for fleeing infantry Valon wide and in every Elf army.

If anyone has questions please do ask them or email me with them and I will do my best to answer. I know its been slow for Flintloque in the last year but that is changing. This is the start and there is a lot more to come. Something about a sea port city and trying to get there next…

Thanks for Reading.

GBS

Original Blog Post Here.

Graduation Glasgow University 2014

Posted on July 6, 2014 by Gavin Syme

I was invited to Glasgow University on the Wednesday of this week to be a part of my sister in law’s graduation from the university. I was honoured to be selected as tickets are rare and it meant I would once more be able to walk the halls of my old haunt and enter the illustrious Bute Hall for the ceremony. By an odd coincidence it was twelve years to the day after my own graduation from the university in exactly the same ceremony but this time I was able to see it from the outside without the gown and the mortar board.

The programme of events. We were lucky with a mild and dry day and it was really fantastic to see all the smiling faces full of accomplishment. I will admit it was a lot of deja vu on my part but I will avoid going into details. I had not been back to the university since 2002 but I keep in touch with letters and email. Its a place that holds and radiates its five hundred years of scholarship and its formed the minds of thousands who have shaped the modern world. I have done a lot since I graduation not least the public work I am known for but I have gotten married, bought two homes, had three children, travelled, wrote, thought and fought the good fight.

A view of the side of Bute Hall to give an idea of the scale of the stone work. My sister in law Kirsten Loy was the star of the day and trust me it only seems like yesterday when she applied to go to university. While some might argue the benefit of further education I can tell you from my perspective that you go in one person and come out another better one more suited to the rapidity of the world now and better to deal with it. So congratulations and I am so proud of you. I wait to see where you go now!

I will end with the above photo of Kirsten on the left and my good lady on the right. I am so lucky to be part of a world of such beautiful and talented women.

GBS

Going on all three platforms now!

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Gavin Syme

Today marked a grand day for me personally. A day I have been working towards since last year. A day that proves if you try hard enough you can actually achieve next to anything. Do not take that as some sort of self improvement propaganda its simply a plan with a lot of hard work. Thousands of hours and admittedly a thousand disappointed people (I do have to sleep and see my children) have taken me to this day. While I will resume my game development and so on soon today is all about the Three Platforms. Alternative Armies on its new website launched Project Darkhelm, 15mm.co.uk on its new website released the second to last re-mastered code for Laserburn and lastly following up on last month’s awesome early supporter deal my baby The Ion Age ramps up for its One Year Anniversary with another great offer on hover vehicles. We are back to the situation of one year ago plus more with weekly releases across three platforms or websites and their connected blogs.

Click on the links for details and forgive me not explaining it all here as I have already typed some six thousand words today plus other tasks.

I would actually be interested to hear if anyone out there manages so many different brands and systems and their support. We could have quite a good conversation I think. I admire other workers in the industry and enjoy the chats I do have with several of them each week. So. A little round of applause for me and a bow, thank you. I would have posed this yesterday in lead in but I was happily attending my old haunt Glasgow University to attend the graduation of my sister in law Kirsten Loy. Congratulations girl and well done. A full post soon on this with my own reflections at returning some 12 years to the day since I myself graduated and not since.

Enjoy the pictures and thanks for all the kind words on Google Plus and other forums too. I adore you all…really 🙂

GBS

Meeples and Miniatures 128 on Flintloque

Posted on July 1, 2014 by Gavin Syme

A surprise for me this morning as I was made aware that some good lads in the podcast miniature broadcast business had taken the time to review one of the many systems I have authored or otherwise worked on. In this case it was Flintloque and especially 3rd edition. Here is the link. The section on Flintloque begins at 1.04.50 hours into the broadcast (if you want to skip to it) and its very informative. Have a listen. I recommend headphones if you have a noisy room around you.

I might take some wee issues with some minor parts of it but then it is my ‘baby’ as it were but overall the fan of Flintloque who champions it in the interview Mike Hobbs fights his corner very well pointing out the adoration that many have for the game and its miniatures. Along with the high quality and value of the books and rule system. As he points out its been around for near twenty years now and its been bubbling away the whole time. Actually just one wee issue…’a fundamental flaw’ with the system. Sorry its not a fundamental flaw if you simply do not like Flintloque, that is not a flaw its only your choice. After all WW2 wargaming makes me snore.

Enjoy!

GBS

Effort and Reward at Schools End

Posted on June 29, 2014 by Gavin Syme

The school term has ended and the summer holidays begun here in South Ayrshire. Huzzah you might think but no. It means seven weeks or so of entertaining children and educating them yourself rather than the teachers. Teacher work so hard, they do. Really…I am not joking. In fact while I am working they are, when they are off for the whole summer…well I am still working. Anyway let me not suggest that education needs an overhaul bringing it into the modern world the rest of us live in let me instead brag a little about my three. The Thinker, the Poet and the Warrior did well this year and I reward them for that.

Society now seems in a fair bit of imbalance towards children but not in my home. Rewards and treats are earned. You get what you need and then your good behaviour and excellent performance combined with contributing ideas and thought in conversation gets your rewards. End of term means an accounting of those prizes earned in term time and I reward well. As the image above shows it was a good payout as a small pile of award stars, certificates and so on were presented to me. Well done you three!

GBS

Queens Baton Relay 2014 – June 20th 2014 Girvan

Posted on June 20, 2014 by Gavin Syme

While work prevented me attending the Queens Baton Relay today as it went through Girvan on its way up the coast and through South Ayrshire (well local big wigs get paid for standing in the sun and I don’t hey ho) my good lady got me some pictures and a little booklet. You can see the cover of the booklet above and a picture of the baton carrier who had done some good work for local children at Girvan Hospital below. It has been a lovely week of sunny weather and it shows in the pictures. Such a blue sky and the heat made for fine baton walking conditions.

My eldest son as a part of his class attended the event (one of the last things he had to do before his primary / elementary schooling ends for good in a week or so) and was given the distinction of carrying the flag for his class’s chosen commonwealth nation South Africa. He had a smashing time and a well deserved way to end his last little school year. Top of the class and a thoroughly nice child who is turning into a young man that I am rightly proud of to my core. Have a look below and check out that springing step and grin!

As for the Baton Relay itself I really don’t care about it but it was nice to see some crowds and smiling faces in the town. Interestingly enough when you read the baton booklet a sizeable piece of the text is given over to ‘Business Branding’. While it urges that everyone have fun and benefit from the relay it makes it clear that again and as always know your place. Don’t be naughty and try to make a few quid off the back of the games (just like the Olympics in 2012) as copyrights and brands are jealously guarded. While I agree and understand this after all big companies have paid big to advertise and we want to keep it clean it does make me grin falsely when I consider that a local person baking little cakes for 50p with the word’s ‘Queen and Baton’ on them to sell for an hour in their little town will be coshed all the same. Heck if I was to say the name of my employer and put it in this posting I would be breaking the law….gotta love sport eh.

Well got to get on….

GBS

Alternative Armies is changing Website!

Posted on June 18, 2014 by Gavin Syme

This is taken from the Alternative Armies blogger blog as of noon today. For your information as a follower of this website of mine. GBS :

Alternative Armies is moving!

We are about to move our website and email accounts to a new service provider and system. This will greatly improve what we can show you (we are beginning Project Darkhelm and we have a lot of Flintloque miniatures coming) and make us more effective for offering deals, viewing on mobile devices and blogging too. While the process of moving should be painless we do need to tell you all some information. So please read on.

The process will begin on Wednesday 18th June 2014 at 8pm GMT and we estimate it will all be complete within fourty eight hours. However it may take up to a week. We will let you all know once the shiny new site is up and running. We will have launch offers too so something to look forward to.

We will be deactivating our payment gateway and current website and email system between 4pm and 7.45pm GMT on the 18th of June 2014. Please DO NOT email us on our normal email address during the transfer period as we may lose your email in transit. All orders placed with us will be filled and dispatched as normal and all email already in progress with us will be answered by our proxy.

Our sister brand www.15mm.co.uk is going to help us out during the transfer with our email as a proxy. If you want or need to contact Alternative Armies during this period please email us on sales@15mm.co.uk and they will pass it directly onto us and in turn we will respond by that email address. We will announce here that all is well on the new site and email systems once ready so that live will continue as normal for us and our customers.

Lastly once the new website is up and you can see it please delete all your page links to parts of the current website as they will no longer work and check your computers cache too as this may show you a ‘ghost’ vision of the website that no longer represents the live one. Its an exciting time and you want to ask me something please do it in the comments below as well. Go HERE.

Gavin Syme (GBS)

Creative Manager – Alternative Armies