Our Question of the Month episode for August. Find the September question here, and the latest from the website right here.

Robert's back, and we're rolling some dice to playtest a game. The aim is to have a go-to ruleset that supports any future scenarios we play.

It’s embarrassing to think that the Tabletop Miniature Hobby Podcast has hit 80+ episodes without having Mike Hutchinson on. That said, it was well worth the wait, and the timing was definitely right, with lots of cool new projects in the pipeline.

Mike’s hobby origin story, as well as his thoughts on Gaslands and A Billion Suns, have been well-covered elsewhere. For an excellent fix on that front, I’ll point you to two episodes of the Paint All The Minis podcast (here and here).

And, speaking of podcasts, Mike co-hosts a superb show of his own with game designer pal Glenn Ford. Rule of Carnage is essential listening (or viewing!) for anyone in this hobby. It’s a true masterclass on games design, and has led to the pair writing an academic textbook on the subject, too!

Mike’s rank-and-flank fantasy battle game Hobgoblin is the Box Office topic right now, and I took the opportunity to learn more about it before my inevitable purchase. He’s also been tinkering with Chess under the “Chess 28” banner and has created a new open-source ruleset called Flagstone.

Mike runs a Patreon to help support his income now that he’s gone full-time into game design. It’s brilliant news for our hobby that Mike’s brain can be put to work around the clock now, so be sure to help keep the jar topped up with fluid.

Paul, aka Gribbles Miniatures, from our Discord community, joins me to discuss the development of his Our Town zombie survival ruleset.

Also mentioned on this episode:

• 15mm project update
• 'Goblin Green Bases' merch on TeePublic
• Question of the Month for May 2024

The question of the month for April 2024 was around introducing Warhammer 40k or Age of Sigmar players to non-Games Workshop games. How did you do it, what did you play, and what was the response?

And, the question of the month for May 2024 is: What rules have you created or adapted to improve your favourite gaming system?

This might be a homebrew rule or something you’ve ported over from another game. The point is, you tried it, it worked well, and you kept on using it.

Submit your answer here

Also mentioned on this episode:

• The Royal Orce with Mark (Crown of Command podcast)
• A Massive Game of Warhammer

Father and son duo Rob and Norman join me for a chat about wargaming in the family, their local wargaming club, and their imagi-nations campaign.

• HAWKS wargaming club
• Rob's blog
• Norman's blog

If you’ve come across 28 Magazine before, you’ll know about its striking aesthetic, stunning artwork, and incredible photography. On this episode of the Tabletop Miniature Hobby Podcast, I’m joined by editor Sampsa Nylund to find out more about 28, not just as a magazine, but as a community.

There’s also an audio battle report of a slightly homebrewed version of Song of Blades & Heroes. I set the scene for this scenario a few weeks ago, and it was time to get down to it and roll some dice.

Our guest this week is Kevin from our Discord community, who talks about his hobby origins going up in smoke and then returning years later via his young son. He also enjoyed a career sculpting for TV sets and designing costumes, and we talk about the overlap between this and the tabletop miniature hobby.

Let's hear your answers to the question of the month for March 2024.

Also, you can now get your answers in for the April QotM.

Have you ever introduced a Warhammer 40k or Age of Sigmar player to a non-GW game?

How did you go about it? What game did you suggest or play? And what was the response?

Record your answer

An audio battle report from a recent game of Planet 28, followed by a plea for voice feedback, a plan for a new game, and some random setting ideas. Here's all the photos and other such links.

Josh—a former Eavy Metal painter from the Goblin Green bases/Red period—started the Crown of Command podcast early on in the pandemic. It has since become one of the best podcasts for the HeroQuest generation, and he's also grown a brilliant YouTube channel around it.

The Crown of Command has also enabled Josh to run a thriving Patreon where he delivers painting lessons and has gone full-time as a commission painter.

Open Combat is one of my original and favourite miniature agnostic skirmish games. On this episode, I'm joined by Carl Brown who created it along with a cool little medieval strategy board game called Lucrum. You can find all of Carl's games on his website secondthunder.com

This is a whirlwind report of Bring Out Your Lead 2024, the world's finest celebration of Oldhammer. Check out the pictures here, as well as an interview with organizer Garth about the event's roots.

It's vox populi time, our question of the month for February 2024 was: Warhammer: The Old World - Will you be playing it? (If so, why? If not, why not?)

Thank you so much to everyone who submitted.

The new question of the month (March 2024) is: What hobby-related thing have you recently changed your mind about?

Submit your voice feedback here.

And a massive thanks to Alternative Armies for sponsoring this episode. Here are the 15mm fantasy buildings I was talking about. 

I'm joined by Ed from our Discord community, who drinks a staggering 17 pints during the course of this episode and lambasts me for my anti-competitive views.

There's much to catch up on after so many great conversations on the podcast, recently. Here's an attempt to do just that:

• Voice question of the month - will you be playing Warhammer: The Old World?
• A game of Brutal Quest in Mordheim, ships for Armada
• Basing miniatures before undercoating them (15mm trolls)
• Best miniature game mechanics
• Painting Jareth/David Bowie the Goblin King (and a Kev Adams demon)
• Review of the Sci-fi Skirmish Scenarios book
• The Slow Hobbyist Manifesto
• Single miniature and arena combat game ideas

With the obvious exception of Games Workshop stuff from the mid-90s, Joe McCullough’s games probably get more coverage on the Tabletop Miniature Hobby Podcast than any other. Fortunately, Joe’s a lovely guy as well as a brilliant games designer, and has been gracious enough to guest on the show not once, not twice, but three times!

• Joe McCullough on creativity, inspiration, and gnolls (March 2022)
• Frostgrave, Stargrave, Silver Bayonet, and the Worlds of Joe McCullough (Sept 2021)

In our January 2024 round, we’ve some new releases to catch up on, including Frostgrave: Fireheart, Old Bones, and Rangers of Shadow Deep: Tenebrous Citadel. On top of that, there are some listener questions and a few of the recurring ones I’ve been asking other rules writers.

On that last note, I’ve also started to compile answers to the “favourite game mechanics” question into one blog post, too. You’ll also find answers there from Gav Thorpe, Andy Chambers, Tuomas Pirinen, Jervis Johnson, and Alessio Cavatore.

Chris Snyder joins me to talk about his two favourite topics - Man O' War and remote gaming. Special thanks to Warbases for sponsoring this episode.

I'm joined by another lovely member of our Discord community, David of the 5thHammer Youtube channel. On this episode, we discuss his hobby origin story, opening old blister packs, and the art of having patience.

Cam's another positive member of the Bedroom Battlefields Discord Community, and he joins me for a chat about his hobby origins, being a good steward of the hobby, and his love of Man'O'War.

Also mentioned on this episode:

• The Slow Hobbyist Manifesto
• Usborne World of the Unknown books
• The Lambton Worm

Jamie, AKA Kazdok from our Discord community joins us to talk about his hobby origin story, writing his game Of Knights & Quests, and the simple tactic of painting one miniature a week.

Mark's back for a wee chat about various hobby topics, including:

• Survey: What's been your game of 2023?
• Hobby goals, resolutions, and hopes for 2024
• Collecting more scenarios, as opposed to more rulesets
• Sci-fi Skirmish Scenarios - great book by John Lamshead
• Stargrave: Dead or Alive
• Labyrinth
• The Argos Catalogue

Mark and I chat over a range of hobby topics, including ImagiNations, painting 15mm, Space Weirdos, and getting into Mantic's naval combat game Armada. I also talked about a recent narrative scenario I've been planning for Song of Blades & Heroes.

The question of the month for July 2024 was about your favourite hobby content channels. The response was initially slow, but we got a lot of feedback and recommendations in the end. There are many podcasts, YouTube channels, and blogs mentioned here, and you'll never be stuck for a hobby content fix again!

And here's the link for next month's QotM while we're at it.

We recently published written Q&As with Jervis Johnson and Rick Priestley on BedroomBattlefields.com. Lewis from the excellent Oldhammer Fiction Podcast was kind enough to record them for me, meaning you can now enjoy them in audio form.

Also mentioned on this episode:

• Warbases - a brilliant company making terrain, movement trays, and more
• Send us a voicemail - What hobby-related thing have you recently changed your mind about?

Stuart from Great Escape Games joins us to talk about his journey from Games Workshop store manager to Wild West gunslinger. As well as running the Cardiff store, Stuart also had a couple of his armies featured in White Dwarf and even won a WFB staff tournament whilst working at GW.

These days, Stuart has traded in his red jersey for a Stetson, as one of the big focuses of Great Escape Games is Dead Man's Hand. For the past decade, DMH has given players the opportunity to fight out gun battles in the Old West, and it'll be given some TLC in 2024 with its new edition Dead Man's Hand Redux - coming to Kickstarter at the end of the month!

The main focus of this episode is to talk through my recent blog post of the same title: Solo, Co-op, & Narrative Wargaming Campaigns

Also Mentioned

• Interview with Rick Priestley
• Feedly and Instapaper
• Realm of Chaos, Cosmic Horror, & Lovecraftian Random Events
• Echoes of the Abyss: Planet 28 Battle Report
• Recent Goblin paintjobs
• 15mm stuff
• Patreon
• My First White Dwarf

There are few names as respected and influential in this hobby as Alessio Cavatore. Known for his work on iconic games like Warhammer 40k, Bolt Action, and Kings of War, Cavatore has left an indelible mark on the hobby. However, what sets him apart isn’t just the games he’s worked on, but his philosophy that rulesets can be smaller and simpler, and that big, heavy rulebooks don’t necessarily make for better games.

Just like our episodes with fellow industry legends Gav Thorpe, Andy Chambers, and Tuomas Pirinen, Alessio will be asking the same lineup of recurring questions. These throw up some interesting angles, including:

• The fact that he doesn’t paint miniatures
• His surprise at GW blowing up The Old World
• His new-found appreciation for K-Pop

Solo wargaming has countless benefits, but many hobbyists are put off because they feel it'll be too predictable without an opponent on the other side of the table. In this episode, William of the William's Wargames YouTube channel digs into some of the reasons why these assumptions are way off the mark. He also points to some great resources, too, including a book called the The Solo Wargaming Guide.

It was a real pleasure to chat with Calum AKA Doctor Spork who's an active member of our Discord Community. You can also find and follow him on Mastodon.

Battle Systems terrain has been on my radar for a few years now. It appealed to me when I first heard about it, and I’d always planned to pick up a box or two at some point.

Having recently got into Planet 28, the timing felt right. My sci-fi terrain has, until now, been pretty non-existent, and my skirmish terrain, in general, has lacked depth, levels, and floors.

Like most hobbyists, I don’t have much room for storing terrain (and certainly not for leaving it set up), so the idea of Battle Systems’ “flat-packed” cardboard offerings was quite irresistible.

There’s also a strange nostalgic appeal of cardboard terrain, from those classic Warhammer 40k ruins and Epic Space Marine skyscrapers to the little cottages White Dwarf would teach you to make out of old Cornflakes boxes.

So I reached out to the good folks at Battle Systems and enquired about reviewing two kits that caught my eye, and they very kindly agreed to send them out to me. The kits are the Frontier Core Set, and the Art Deco High Rise.

I should clarify that I don’t do this often, if ever. Not that there’s anything wrong with the strategy, but I only want to spend my limited hobby time with stuff that I really like, or, like the look of. And like the look of Battle Systems, I do. So, let’s see what to make of it all…

The first thing I noticed upon opening the boxes was just how much terrain is packed into them. I mean, it’s pretty obvious from looking at the box covers, but it’s worth reaffirming that you get a lot of stuff, here.

I actually found it quite intimidating at first, looking at everything in its flat-packed form. I watched a couple of YouTube videos to see examples of other folks putting Battle Systems terrain together, but it is pretty self-explanatory. Once I got started and stuck a couple of walls together, I quickly lost myself in the task. I found it quite therapeutic, actually. Like building a big 3D jigsaw.

Taking a break for a bit, I rolled out the neoprene mat from the Frontier Core Set. Whilst the detail on it is excellent, the overall quality I’d describe as “fine”. I have a few neoprene mats from GameMat.eu, and they’re of superior quality. But it’s possible that Battle Systems make them this way as it’s easier to fold them in boxes.

Back to the cardboard terrain, the attention to detail in the artwork design is second to none. It’s almost telling you a story of its own as you pop bits out and join them together. They’re double-sided too, so you don’t need to pay too much attention when you’re building it.

I’m curious as to how others put their Battle Systems terrain together. I imagine it’s a bit like fiction writers: You have the meticulous planners who know every tiny detail before they get to work. Then, you have the “seat of the pants-ers” who just start and see where it takes them. I think I identify more with the latter, though maybe the more experienced you get with the kits, the more likely you are to dream up some grand designs.

Battle Systems terrain is almost the polar opposite of the 2D neoprene terrain I talked about recently, and yet, I like these 3D cardboard structures just as much. As ever with this hobby, there are no right or wrong ways to do things. Everything is an option, and everything has its place.

I’ll admit that I don’t see me getting much use from the scatter terrain in these kits. I found them a bit fiddly to put together and didn’t do a great job with some of the smaller parts. This wasn’t a major selling point for me anyway. I was really after the big stuff – walls, stairs, walkways, etc.

I’m excited to bring more of a multi-layered, multi-platformed experience to my skirmish games. I do own a lot of cool terrain, but my miniatures are almost always fighting out their battles on the ground floor. Now, they’ll have the opportunity to climb, jump, and fall from two or three-storey structures. That adds so much to the narrative, the scenario objectives, and the potential for a good tale at the end of it all.

So, in summary, these kits get two big thumbs up from me. I can see myself getting a lot of use out of them, and the potential for variety is limitless. I often joke about our terrain collections having us fighting over the same three farmhouses on the tabletop. With Battle Systems terrain, there’s no danger of that.

It’s worth noting, too, that although I’ve got sci-fi and apocalypse settings here, Battle Systems also has an excellent-looking fantasy range on their website.

Hopefully, you’ve enjoyed this whirlwind review, and it has answered some of the questions you might’ve had. Here’s a quick recap:

• Flat-pack storage takes up very little room.
• Limitless variety of build options.
• Beautifully illustrated card.

• Increased setup time – This is definitely not a time-saving tool.
• Relatively fragile – you’ll need to take very good care of it.

Now, who wants to get some meatballs?

The Frontier Core Set is available for £84.99, whilst the Art Deco High Rise costs £37.99. Thank you very much to Battle Systems for sponsoring this content!

Being a proactive fellow, I've been on the hunt for a dungeon crawler I can eventually play with my daughter. She's only two at the moment, and I don't fancy waiting another ten years, so I'd been Googling "dungeon crawlers for kids". I'll admit it was a somewhat half-hearted search, but it didn't throw up anything that caught my attention.

Anyway, it turns out that all I needed to do was attend this year's Tabletop Scotland to find what I was after. I hadn't been through the doors two minutes when I spotted a lovely wee game called CoraQuest. I had a chat with the nice chap from Bright Eye Games, got shown the basics, and did the old "take my money" routine.

When I got a look in the box that evening, I learned more about the game's origins, and it turns out there's a heartwarming tale of a Dad (Dan) and daughter (Cora) creating it as a lockdown-era project in 2020.

Anyway, the next natural step in this sequence of events was, of course, to have a chat about it on the podcast. In this episode, you'll hear from CoraQuest co-creator Dan about the game's background, how it plays, and the media frenzy that followed its release!

Links

• CoraQuest on Amazon (affiliate link)
• CoraQuest official website
• Bright Eye Games

Everyone's favourite demolisher of walls, Jason, took his van to Bring Out Your Lead earlier this month. On this episode, he'll talk you through it whilst you quietly weep because you missed out.

Then, fellow TMHP Discord community legend Mark will ask you your opinion on potential hobby events in 2024, and you'll gladly fill out his survey right away. You will!

No serious hobby podcast could run for a couple of years without having Andy Chambers on it. And although isn't a serious podcast, Andy was kind enough to dedicate some of his time to working his way through my list of questions. So, what's he not very good at? What myths and misconceptions would he like to dispel? And what's he working on right now? I'll answer that last one up-front - it's called Zeo Genesis and you should definitely sign up for playtesting access!

A bit of a solo ramble around various recent topics:

• Bedroom Battlefields Patreon
• Wayland Games
• Miniature Wargames Magazine
• Podcast chat with Tom Holden
• Podcast chat with Conrad Kinch
• Podcast chat with John Treadaway
• White Dwarf 166
• Solo Wargaming Book
• Question of the Month

Following my recent Q&A with Gav Thorpe, I had the pleasure of talking to another of my heroes: Tuomas Pirinen.

Famed for (but certainly not limited to) masterminding the cult game Mordheim, Tuomas has a wealth of experience and insights we can draw from. And though he now earns a living in video games, we certainly haven’t lost him from the hobby. I was excited to learn about Trench Crusade – a 32mm scale grimdark miniatures game he has designed.

"We don’t stop playing because we get old, we get old because we stop playing." – George Bernard Shaw

On this episode, I cover a diverse (and hopefully, interesting enough) range of topics, starting off with how I'm moving from 6mm to 15mm as my mass battle scale. I also dip into the White Dwarf Highlights section of our Discord Community, give my thoughts on Planet 28, and talk books (including Deathwing, Game Wizards, Talking Miniatures, and Grim Dark: A Very British Hell).

Finally, I'm asking for support in a fundraising venture in memory of my wee brother - you can find the full details at backonside.co.uk/ross

I’ve spoken to many great people in this hobby since I launched the Tabletop Miniature Hobby Podcast. But, until now, I’d never sought out any of the household names from White Dwarf/Games Workshop. There were a few reasons for this, but the main one was that I didn’t want to recreate the “talk me through your career” conversations available on many other channels.

Don’t get me wrong, I love listening to these, and have heard more than a few. But I’m always keen to explore alternative angles and seek out new insights. With that in mind, I came up with a list of recurring questions I could ask each of my hobby heroes – the plan being to edit them together in “themes” to create a type of audio documentary, as well as release them as individual podcast episodes (like this one).

I tentatively started to reach out to the people I had in mind, and was absolutely thrilled when Gav Thorpe agreed to have a chat. I’m sure Gav needs no introduction to any listener of this podcast, but you’ll find his website at gavthorpe.co.uk, and he runs a Patreon, too.

On this episode, I ask Gav questions about budget hobby purchases, common myths, and when he last changed his mind.

If you’re new to the podcast, thanks so much for giving it a shot. Here’s where you can follow, subscribe, and find a full list of episodes.

I took one of those notions recently to get myself a copy of Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader, leading me to this post on the Tales From Farpoint blog. Aside from learning that GW was employing a somewhat absurd "just pop into the shop" policy, I started to browse through all the other great content here. Fast forward a few weeks, and I managed to grab a chat with Richard, the fine fellow who runs it. As always, I learned many new things, including the existence of a couple of cool-sounding games called Planet 28 and Brutal Quest.

Famed in our Discord community for his ingenious DIY travel wargame boards, Alex of therecouldhavebeensnakes.com joins me to talk about the wonders of 15mm scale miniatures, as well as the aforementioned travel gaming.

Following our episode with Mayhem creator Brent Spivey it was time to give the game a wee playthrough. We really enjoyed it and it's certainly one we'll be adding to our regular rotation.

Roving report Mark drove his Empire Steam Tank to the Partizan Wargames Show, got absolutely tanked up on Bugman's XXXXXX, and attempted to start fights with several gamers and traders. On this episode, we hear his apology in full.

Warhammer (in its various iterations) turns 40 this year. We're told the game is coming back... but will it be released by 2063? On this episode, I chat all things fantasy with GJ. He's someone you've likely heard before, talking passionately and knowledgeably about the game on shows such as The Wargames Orchard, The Crown of Command, and now, his new show, Forces of Fantasy.

I was leafing through the latest edition of Miniature Wargames magazine when I came across an advert for a new game called The Doomed, scheduled for release in early August 2023 by Osprey Publishing.

The Doomed immediately jumped out to me, and I wanted to learn more. It looks like another exciting miniature agnostic title to add to my collection. I tracked down author Chris McDowall (Into the Odd, Electric Bastionland), and he was kind enough to spend some time with me talking about the game, as well as his hobby history.

Oh, and we also briefly touched upon reading toothpaste ingredients whilst sitting on the toilet in the mid-90s. Halcyon days...

If you liked the Fighting Fantasy books, you'll love Escape the Dark Castle. On this episode, we play through a full game, exploring sinister chambers, fighting weird and wonderful creatures, and eating an awful lot of bread.

Ryan, AKA Donjuandon, from our Discord community, joins me to chat about a wide range of topics, including collaborative solo campaigns, 3D printing, and the importance of physical analogue hobbies. Find Ryan's 3D models on his Cults3D page.

Karl of Chicago Skirmish Wargames joins me to discuss the history and ethos of the club, as well as how they defend their fruit. We also talk about "cheapskate hobbying" - particularly the art of "toybashing" miniatures and terrain.

Podcasts are long-form content that enables us to really dig into a topic and spend some time with it. Whilst some folks enjoy Instagram and short videos, they can't deliver that same level of depth and engagement. But is the podcasting market already too saturated to jump in? Or worse still, are podcasts dying out?

I'm joined by Jason, who's a valued member of our Discord Community. We chat about the goal setting and project management of painting big blocks of troops, as well as the long-term patience and planning required to eventually get them on the tabletop.

Award-winning game designer Brent Spivey joins me for a chat about two of his cult games, Mayhem and Rogue Planet.

You can keep up with future updates from Brent by visiting his website Bombshell Games.