I promise I'll get to the whole "lead belt" thing in due course. But I've nearly finished both the research and the script for my next episode, which will be a look at CMON Ltd, its origins, its tactics and its relationships with the miniatures wargaming and boardgames industry, plus some predictions about what will, in my opinion, soon follow.
It's been an interesting and confusing journey. There are things CMON has done that I've applauded - either for their foresight or for their cou...
2022-10-11 10:17:04 +0000 UTC
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It ain't pretty and it certainly ain't anyone's idea of "finished" but, as promised, my most beloved mech-level backers get to see the raw text of Horizon Wars: Midnight Dark.
Truth is, I could've kept on tinkering with this for weeks to come until I thought it was "ready" for you but, luckily, I promised you'd have it this month and didn't feel inclined to keep you waiting any longer.
Even though this isn't finished - for a start, the Strategic Assets section hasn't been...
2022-09-19 16:57:08 +0000 UTC
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GAMES WORKSHOP’S COMPLICATED HISTORY WITH THE LAW
Games Workshop is an endless source of interest in our industry, for a variety of reasons. But a price of being tabletop wargaming’s largest gorilla is that legal developments that impinge upon the industry are likely to hit them first. And no one can say they haven’t been proactive over the years when it comes to establishing precedent and caselaw when it comes to the fine art of playing toy soldiers.
As there have been so...
2022-09-01 11:01:03 +0000 UTC
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This morning I woke up to discover that Horizon Wars: Zero Dark has sold its 1000th copy!
I'm not making a big thing about this off Patreon, because 1001 is, for some reason the threshold for Platinum best-seller status on WGV, and I don't want to be seen to be pressuring anyone into buying a copy just to feed my ego. Here, though, I know that either you already own it or you are confident that, much as you might support my work, you don't feel the need to add ...
2022-09-01 07:45:27 +0000 UTC
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It should be no surprise the GW - a company almost 50 years old and the titan of its niche market - has been to court a few times in order to firmly establish its rights to its intellectual property and to its way of doing business. However, because it is the biggest gorilla in a very small room, whenever they flex their muscles, the landscape of the industry changes around them - and not always in the way that they hope or expect. I take a trip through what I think are the most signifi...
2022-08-31 14:24:19 +0000 UTC
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You'll find that there are a few bits here that didn't make it into the final edit. In the case of the comment about events, I removed reference to Historicon and Salute because, actually, both post-date GW and were set up in the 90s (that'll teach me to do my research before I record). And I removed the reference to Henry Hyde because I was worried it would be misconstrued.
Now I am always reluctant to stray into the bottom half of the Internet, but I was intrigued by the number of p...
2022-08-25 08:13:09 +0000 UTC
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The subject of community volunteers in the miniatures wargaming market has been a controversial one over the years. I took a whistle-stop tour through its recent history, why companies love volunteers, what problems they can create and why Games Workshop, in particular, ran and then killed its Outriders programme and why it won't come back.
Do check out the last few days of the Precinct Omega Kickstarter here:
2022-08-24 14:08:27 +0000 UTC
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I'll be at Chillcon this weekend and I'm going to have a stab at doing some livestreaming, as I have a new business mobile contract with unlimited data and a mobile hotspot device. I'll try to give patrons the nod when I'll be streaming at least a few minutes in advance if not a couple of hours.
As I'll be prepping for the event, I'm unlikely to be dropping a new animated video this weekend.
2022-08-16 11:29:43 +0000 UTC
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From now on, I'm going to release the scripts for my shows to the Heavy Elite and higher tiers. This includes any notes or annotations I make, unedited. Not much to talk about in this script, but you might interested to know that the bits in bold are those sections where I stumbled or stammered in rehearsal (yes, I rehearse!) so I emphasized them to myself to make sure I knew they were coming up.
*
In 2022, I’m on a pretty strict “no new minis” drive while I...
2022-08-15 14:07:15 +0000 UTC
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*I am still writing games*
But the explosion of interest in my Warmachine MkIV episode means I'm quite focused on replicating that success in the hope of actually monetizing my YT channel (dreams of giving up the HR lifestyle proliferate).
So I've been brainstorming possible topics of interest that I think people might enjoy.
The Lead Belt - Let's take a look at England's so-called "Lead Belt" - the area of Nottingham and Derby where it seems like any miniat...
2022-08-15 08:01:01 +0000 UTC
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Corvus Belli has announced that they are releasing a fantasy game called "WarCrow". What might lie behind the timing of this release? What is Corvus Belli hoping to achieve and what are their odds of success? Find out more about Infinity the Game and its related properties here:
https://infinitytheuniverse.com/ Get previews of the plans for WarCrow here: 2022-08-14 12:39:27 +0000 UTC
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It might be a few episodes before she makes a return to the show, as animating her on top of animating myself might be a little time-consuming, although I think I've come up with a way to do it that is, at least, realistic on my time schedule.
As for a Bernard miniature, well... Let's get the Kickstarter finished first, shall we? And then we'll see.
2022-08-13 08:00:06 +0000 UTC
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I've been doing some work in my karate community to come up with some alternative apparel for training in hot weather when dogis and belts can be a bit uncomfortable. Nothing to do with Precinct Omega, of course, but while I was there I decided to make a 2022-08-12 09:30:54 +0000 UTC
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I'm happy to report that my most recent YT episode has been by some margin my most popular ever, garnering over 400 views in the first three days of release. I suspect this is a combination of factors.
The first and, I suspect, biggest is the subject matter, which obviously helps. The second is the fact that I did put a bit more effort into promoting it on social media (but not masses). The third might be the length, with sub-20-minute episodes seeming to be popular (not least, I think...
2022-08-11 10:57:10 +0000 UTC
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I don't need to tell you lot that the Precinct Omega Zero Dark Miniatures Kickstarter has launched, of course. And I'm not going to bother this community with details. If you're interested, you'll already either be subscribing to the newsletter or backing the project.
However, I thought you would be interested in the behind-the-scenes stuff that I don't talk about elsewhere. And the first of these topics to crop up is: OMG, the spam!!
As I run an independent busi...
2022-08-02 09:33:51 +0000 UTC
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More game design stuff for you. I've been spending a few hours of my holiday rolling dice.
Not, I hasten to add, actually playing a game. God forbid. But just sitting with my dice roller app and my favourite spreadsheet software tapping in numbers and I've ended up with this work in progress:
Glorious, isn't it?
So this was sparked by my playtesting a range of different options for...
2022-07-26 10:28:02 +0000 UTC
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Maths and maths-related stuff follows.
What I need to achieve, here, is a conversion system that changes the very basic original points values of elements (1, 2 or 3) into something more granular that fits the loose vision I outlined in the first article. So I'm expecting to see a points value more like 17 or 32 or 126 or something along those lines.
The components of an element are its stats and its abilities. In Horizon Wars, I worked hard to balance all four elements t...
2022-07-21 10:22:32 +0000 UTC
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First up, my contract is finished! So I'm now back at Precinct Omega full time until at least the end of September, but first... a holiday.
However, although I'm away and, therefore, not podcasting, I am still gearing myself up to be ready for at least a month of focused game design work and, after that, there'll be more game design work until I can secure another job to keep body and soul together.
And for those of you mostly here for game design content, this is good news becaus...
2022-07-19 19:40:58 +0000 UTC
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Warning: if you're here for Star Wars content, it's very minimal. This episode, we look at new releases from
Games Workshop
Corvus Belli
Kromlech
2022-07-08 09:17:50 +0000 UTC
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For those of your who like the "business insight" part of this Patreon, I thought you might be vaguely interested in this idea.
Planning for failure is what most of us do and what businesses tend to be, well, if not good at then natural at. My plan for failure, last year, was to return to my professional roots, which I did. I'm working with a small community benefit enterprise on the side, and they are great at planning for failure! But planning for success is where it seems a lot of s...
2022-06-28 08:30:04 +0000 UTC
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https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/heresyminiatures/28mm-sci-fi-miniatures
Despite my pledge to buy no new minis this year, I've made two exceptions. The first was a Zel tractor from Strato Minis to support the Ukrainian government in their resistance to Putin's invasion and war crimes (which I'm now painting and will be available for auction very soon, with proceeds go...
2022-06-27 09:51:16 +0000 UTC
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As a tabletop game designer, what are the factors at play in different settings that you need to be aware of? How do you develop a bespoke setting for a tabletop game?
I take a typically rambling look at the subject and, naturally, tie it all back to my favourite subject: myself.
If you want to get launch notification on the forthcoming Kickstarter, check it here: ...
2022-06-20 11:05:11 +0000 UTC
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This week's podcast will be a few days late, as I said a tearful farewell to the doggiest dog that ever did dog at the weekend.
He was a good boy. Would that the same could be said of me when my time comes.
2022-06-13 07:51:55 +0000 UTC
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No regular video, this week, due to personal reasons.
However, I did get a new set of brushes to replace the Army Painter Masterclass set I reviewed last time. Rosemary & Co is renowned UK manufacturer of paintbrushes for artists, but they have put together a set especially for miniatures painters. So I bought a set and give you my first impressions. Part 2 will be in a few months, once I've had a chance to get to know them in practice.
Patreon Exlusive Text
2022-05-30 11:25:26 +0000 UTC
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I'm not good at conventions. They tend to be too many people, too quickly, and my normally invisible social-anxiety that I keep comfortably medicated with pork pies and karate bubbles over until I'm a non-functioning wreck.
However, I've always had a good time at Chillcon. It seems to be just the right size for me and attract ...
2022-05-24 13:02:14 +0000 UTC
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Somewhat inspired by reference, last week, to the new Horus Heresy release teased by Games Workshop, I stumbled across a couple of other manifestations of retro-style tabletop wargaming in the form of Warzone Eternal, from Res Nova Games, and VOID Squad Tactics, from Seb Games:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...
2022-05-23 14:35:56 +0000 UTC
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I know you guys didn't sign up to pay for the privilege of me telling you about my Kickstarter, so I'm going to shift communications out and into a mailing list, because that's what all the cool kids are doing (I mean, that's what all the blogs tell me I should do for Kickstarter).
I've set up a landing page for subscribers on my website, which is here. Absolutely no more than one email a week, I ...
2022-05-18 16:28:32 +0000 UTC
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Those of you who've seen my Teemill shop or been paying attention to the opening credits of any of my recent videos will have noticed the emblem of my own secret society.
I thought it would be fun to do an animated version. But also this is a proof of concept for the possibility of a future Kickstarter or other ...
2022-05-16 15:56:39 +0000 UTC
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