Fjodin adds some cracking miniatures to the SHM Range

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Gavin Syme

Creatures and Nightmares!

Today I added four more new 15mm scale miniatures to the SHM Range on 15mm.co.uk. All of them created by the talented Fjodin who resides in Australia. Its true that Fjodin has other miniatures in the range but these ones, as you can see above, are excellent and to me his best yet. Three sort of ancient creatures and a nightmare horror to go with them. Useful for all sorts of things I am sure.

Only a Pistol? You are in trouble my friend!

I have included another image of the new miniatures above, a scaling shot with a standard sized Human for comparison. The point of this posting aside from virtually patting Fjodin on the back is to once more make the point that I am justly proud of the whole concept of SHM. While I do not know if these miniatures will sell well enough to cover the costs of molding and so on that is not the point with SHM. Yes, money is not the point. The point is that above you can see four miniatures (five if you include the Human Commander) which most likely would NOT EXIST without SHM. The talent that Fjodin has developed and the exposure he has had to gain more work would have been MUCH more difficult for him to achieve. So the wargamer benefits and the designer benefits too. To my knowledge I am the only person offering the chance for novice designers to get virtually any concept into production if they have the talent.

SHM gives the wargamer awesome and odd miniatures and the designer the confidence to grow. Sometimes all you need is a chance.

Well done Fjodin!

GBS

Muskets, Shako’s and Fantasy from the Talented Mr Minadeo

Posted on July 30, 2013 by Gavin Syme

The Injia Game set up for play!

My good friend Bob Minadeo runs a great wargaming blog of which I am a frequent visitor and sometimes blogger about. He recently put up a posting with a double claim to fame for it was not only in celebration of his latest published rules set (which he let me look at and is excellent) but also the putting into it the awesome fantasy nature of Flintloque. Using his newly published rules from 2 Hour Wargames and all pro-painted miniatures from his collection by Alternative Armies Bob has put up a posting with plenty of images and its a fine read too.

I like to think I contributed a bit to the process….I helped with the uniform of his Othari Cavalry as Skinners Gnolls and I sometimes assist in choosing miniatures and bits from the massive World of Valon range to suit his latest slightly demented on table scheme. Such as the miniature below which featured in the ultimate part of the ’98 Campaign.

A Furry Top O’ the morning to ya!

Well done Bob!

GBS

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

Posted on July 9, 2013 by Gavin Syme

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

Kingdom of Heaven – Movie Making Book Review

Posted on July 7, 2013 by Gavin Syme

Get yer books only a Pound, only a Pound!

Taking a stroll through a local pound shop a couple of months back with a good friend I stopped in front of the ‘all books £1.00’ display and among the tacky crap (who wants a PJ and Duncan 1993 fan sticker book honestly!) I spotted a pile of thick glossy movie tie in books. Ah ha, I thought and had a dig through. While most were for chick flicks and kids movies there was one that caught my eye. The Kingdom of Heaven story behind the film and the making of the movie introduced by Ridley Scott.

Costumes used in the film

In its pages there are three main parts. The Introduction, the Kingdoms of the Holy Lands (Part 1) and Swords and Stones (Part 2). The introduction by Ridley Scott discusses the notion for the movie while part one has sections firstly on the history of the actual Crusades then their leaders followed by how you dramatise such stories and then lastly choosing the cast for the film. It is the second part that most interests me with sections on computer graphics, scene setting, costumes (see above), weapons, artillery, heraldry and more with plenty of images to go along with the descriptions.

For one pound I just snapped it up!

Books like this are always useful. I might get something out of it for historical wargaming or even ideas for science fiction or fantasy too. As for the movie to go with it…it left me cold I seem to remember.

GBS

USEME Prohibition Gangsters – WIP

Posted on July 4, 2013 by Gavin Syme

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

Tony Harwood publishes and ships his first book!

Posted on July 3, 2013 by Gavin Syme

Book Anyone?

I have known Tony Harwood for more than a decade and he is a great fan of Flintloque so when he mentioned online that he planned to publish a book of his terrain ideas and works I was very interested. Tony makes wonderful terrain for several different game systems and also for a couple of companies too. All of this is in his own unique style. I actually own a piece of his terrain which Tony very kindly gifted to me last year (is it in the book we will see!) for the Sharke’s Gingerbread adventure at Salute.

My House is a very, very fine Gingerbread House

One hundred copies of the book have been printed and it looks like it is selling well. I have held off ordering just now as I wanted Tony to expand his fan base and I will pick up a copy once the huzzah calms down a bit. Writing, Editing, Laying Out and Publishing a book is a daunting process (trust me I know!) and all that before you take it to a market and attempt to sell what you have come to love and often loath so much to interested parties. Tony’s works deserve to be seen by all those who are interested in wargame terrain and how it can be constructed.

You can see some of Tony’s work over on Barking Irons Online and also on his own Blog along with the book itself.

Well done Tony!

GBS

Tabletop Wargamer Blog is no more…

Posted on June 8, 2013 by Gavin Syme

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

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Gavin Syme

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

Salute 2013 for GBS

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Gavin Syme

The Shirt and the Badge

Well that is Salute by for another year and while others have posted their reviews of the show (very few this year compared to previous years, or perhaps I am missing them) I have just got to it as its a long trek home and the wind down afterwards always takes a day or so. So how was the show for me and for Alternative Armies?

The front of the mighty Excel Centre home of Salute 2013

Personally for me I thought that Salute 2013 was down on last year in terms of attendance and that the average spend in the trade hall was lower too. How do I know this, well I don’t for sure but I can guess at it from the following information. No que at the gents toilets at 1pm, only a minute’s wait for a coffee at 2pm and a virtually empty hall half an hour before the doors closed. The crowd was never all that dense at any trade stand. As always the Warlords were polite and helpful and the Excel staff were excellent. The weather was lovely and the traffic shuffle out of London was easier than normal too. Oh and I noticed some of the free plastic miniature sprue that was this year’s entry gift left laying once all the stands were broken down so I have a good half dozen of them!

For Alternative Armies it was a good day considering the above and while the total take was down on last year the overall month of promotion (which ends this Friday) was WAY up on the year before mainly due to a great pulse of SHM, Laserburn, Security Force Alpha and HOT orders on 15mm.co.uk. So all in all it was a super top month for the company.

I did not purchase anything this year at Salute which is odd and for once I did not get offered any freebies either (not a lot of give away for me awwww!) but it was kind of my plan as what I did want to do with my wargaming budget this month and what I got for doing Salute was to get a brand new wargaming table. So no new rulebooks, figures or terrain but I did get the table TODAY and its a beauty but more on that in another posting.

A photo for the Typhon demo game 2013

I have also decided that I will not be doing any more demo games at wargame conventions myself as I did not get to play Typhon myself at all. My attention was taken up with conversations, hand shaking and other duties. It seems my infamy is too great just to toss the dice all day anymore. Thank though to Craig Andrews of Barking Irons and Orcs in the Webbe fame for fielding the Typhon game four times in the afternoon.

Eve Hallow attended Salute for the first time this year and he did an excellent post about it too. He travelled to London with my good lady wife…but he did make her carry his dirt filled coffin all the way to Excel!

Great to catch up with Edward Jackson, Steve Young, Bob Naismith, Sam Croes, Craig Andrews, Bill Hilton, Sandy B, Rob Alderman, Elton Waters and Russ Grey on the day; you guys make the trip worthwhile alone. Thanks also to the hundred plus wargamers who spoke with me I can’t name you all but I took all your input and suggestions onboard and thanks for the kind words too.

Feel the Force in one to one scale!

So good result all in all. I will see you there next year!

GBS

Gavin Syme

The online residence of wargame creator and writer Gavin Syme

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