On Saturday the 15th of December Wargames Foundry are going to be hosting a Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader participation game.
 The game is being run by Andy and Gareth, a pair of veteran gamers who are providing all the models and scenery for the game.
Their blog is www.talesfromthemaelstrom.blogspot.co.uk Contact so they have an idea about numbers.
Open from 10am and games will be running between 11am and 4pm. Anyone is welcome to drop in and take control of a squad from one of the factions battling it out on a destabilized Imperial world.
Company founder, Bryan Ansell, will be there at some point in the day. Betting he hasn’t seen a game of 1st edition Warhammer 40,000 in decades.
The company has found a very old master mould for a pair of fishmen with science fiction guns, Bryan Ansell converted from fantasy models to play test Laserburn and later on Rogue Trader. A new production mould is under way so they can have them as giveaway models for anyone there on the day.
Well what you waiting for, and hopefully an opportunity to chat to Matt Adlard who is trying to garner support for a Games club at the factory.
 Tea, coffee, biscuits and possibly even cake for anyone who turns up!!

Nottingham is no stranger to the tabletop gaming industry and Geek culture with all it entails, we have seen the likes of Games Workshop, Forbidden Planet, Alt and Dicecup rise and sometimes fall. However it looks like we will

Geek Retreat (Image from Google Maps, used, under fair use.)

be seeing the latest in poplar trend towards gaming Cafes with the announcement of a Geek Retreat store soon to be opened in Nottingham.

 

For those who don’t follow popular trends or have missed out on the often miss abused idea that being a geek is something to hide, as those kids who read comic books and played games have grown up and realised there is a business and a business model in their hobby, so why not franchise it. And with thriving and expanding universities and colleges within the city, Nottingham has a ready market for trade, and a long history of being the ‘Lead Belt’ with regards Tabletop gaming, and so it’s obvious it ticks all the right boxes for a Geek Retreat Franchise, yet like anything it’s about Location, location, location.

 

I think board games in general are making a resurgence due to people being overly saturated within electronics most of their waking lives. It’s a great way to just unplug.
Nottingham Board & Wargames Club Member

We have also seen a massive cultural shift towards the traditional Geeky with superhero movies consistently becoming the highest grossing films in the world. The video games industry is a mult ibillion pound industry and Kickstarter has brought to the fore the popularity and revenue of Board games.

With the very loud purple and yellow logo and shopfront. You will if nothing else not miss the place as you pass by, but on entering you’ll find not just another comic or games store, but a popular and trending gaming cafe filled with a focus on gaming and a gaming space and not merchandising as its whole. A place that pushes open gaming and a cafe culture.

This is where people come to hang out and play trading card games, either on their own initiative or in store organised competitions. Geek Retreat also provides a cafe as well, helping to push its Gaming cafe ethos obviously, catering to the high level of drinks, cooked hand foods and snacks that gamers will work through as they spend 6 to 8 hours playing games.

The products Geek Retreat sell are becoming more popular, and the whole geek culture industry has seen an amazing 19 – 22% growth pattern over the past few years (bucking a lot of local retail trends) , which has also be seen with local Games Workshops recent rise.

Geek Retreat sells the types of products that are made to be played with and enjoyed, both as a social and competitive nature, discussed and treasured. They are also offering a place where people can come and game and be safe sharing these experiences.



So 2018 saw the disaster of collapsing retailers with many sinking into administration. With other brands and local start ups all considering a wave of shutdowns. And as we are seeing the troubles are a reflection of a change in culture towards enjoying experiences rather than buying products. We are seeing people trying to make the most of their time doing something with family or friends and if you are going to have an amazing time doing something you can put on Instagram, or FB. Yet shopping this comes with a double edged blade, as gamers are like a lot of savvy shoppers quite cerebral and can quickly workout that the cost of a days gaming at a Boardgame Cafe while fun, could have the costs cut by half if they go shopping online, get it same day or next day and play with friends at home. And while gamers are part of the same community, their goals and needs are different. Recently seen with the closure of the local Flag Store Chimera, as they migrate to online sales. This environment then obviously sets the stage for competitive or specialist groups to adopt a mindset that is more “us vs. them” rather than “us as a whole.” The functioning gaming groups then stop communicating politely or otherwise with each other and that’s when things start to go tribal.

Geek Retreat Birmingham

However as the franchise pack says Geek Retreat ethos is built around the idea of ‘community’. It’s about people coming together in a dedicated space to share their hobbies and interests with like-minded others. Obviously, community is absolutely at their core. With a ready market and stores in several cities they have put the ground work into a successful brand and dedicated community of customers over the past three years adding value to those core relationships. Geek Retreat marks itself  as a champion of the geek community and caters its products and events to those in demand from its regular customers, so time will tell on the Boardgame Cafe culture and if Nottingham’s abundance of gaming venues and cafes can all play nice.

 

Nottingham Gamer Petitions Ikea to build Gaming Tables

Ok a bit of light news for a change, with everything being so heavy and dark in the news its always nice to have something that raises a smile and the spirits.

Image result for board gaming table examples (Table an example only and not to be confused with any Ikea actual products)

(Table an example only and not to be 
confused with any 
IKEA actual products)




Brad Smoley it seems is it seems both passionate about gaming and socially aware with regards how many in the community are cash strapped in these hard times and so has decided to petition IKEA to help out the fellows gamers by having them design, build and sell gaming tables. However this is not as crazy as it might sound.
There has in the community been several attempts over the years to develop a gaming table that provides for the gaming community at large and as a family dining table. However funding and costs have always made this inappropriate.
Brad Smoley it seems is it seems both passionate about gaming and socially aware with regards how many in the community are cash strapped in these hard times and so has decided to petition IKEA to help out the fellows gamers by having them design, build and sell gaming tables. However this is not as crazy as it might sound.

And here is why Brad decided to petition IKEA, as an industry leader in sleek and well designed home furniture with an ethos that started as an idea in the woods of southern Sweden more than 70 years ago and what now has become ‘The IKEA Concept’ an ever evolving design processes still improving. So if they are ever evolving and designing new lines then it is reasonable that a product that could see grow in sales would be something that they would be interested in and it would allow gamers who already buy book cases and storage units for games to extend the look to a table.

With IKEA’s existing ranges and lighting ideas this could turn out to be something of a game changer (No pun intended) and one I would very much like to see happen.

Brad Smoley’s Letter to IKEA

IKEA


The board gaming community is passionate and particular about their gaming accessories. They are also a large group with disposable income. There have been many attempts in the community to develop a high-quality table appropriate for both dining and gaming, but few have been affordable enough for the community at large to enjoy.

That is why this petition has been created. IKEA is an industry leader in creating multi-functional furniture at affordable prices. The tabletop gaming community is already a heavy user of IKEA’s KALLAX product as it is an efficient way to store and display their gaming collections.

An affordable multi-function dining table designed by IKEA with an under-table storage area/gaming surface would be an incredible addition to not only IKEA’s line up of products, but the board gaming community’s list of essential gaming accessories.

And the Petition has been open a couple of days and has already garnered over Twenty two thousand petitioners, Let’s make it happen!

Petition Ikea to design and Sell a Gaming Table

If you have been in the Industry or merely just watching the tabletop gaming news will know that the once owner of Saxon Miniatures miniatures was looking to sell the business in order to expand the company range. The core concept they were looking at was to develop a merged take-over were the current owner and sculptor in order to allow them to expand the range of miniatures.

This is an interesting concept as the current range of figures are exquisite as the Saxon Warbands below show.


And for a while, it seemed that Saxon Miniatures was going to fall by the wayside like so many great companies however it Warlord Games has just come to the rescue… With an interesting news announcement.

Warlord Games Warlord Games is delighted to announce its acquisition of the Saxon Miniatures Dark Ages ranges from History Maker.

Paul Sawyer, Head of Product Design at Warlord Games, says “One of the cornerstones of the Warlord Games offer is our Hail Caesar game and the very first Warlord products were plastic Early Imperial Roman Legionaries (ten years ago!) so this period of military history is very dear to our hearts. The Dark Ages are a popular and exciting period for wargamers so when Saxon Miniatures wbd01(2)became available we jumped at the chance to add it to our Hail Caesar range. Renowned author, John Lambshead has already almost completed writing the first of three supplements covering this period and we hope this will be released during 2018. We are delighted that Colin has agreed to carry on sculpting for us and adding to this great range. We’ll be releasing these gorgeous figures as soon as we possibly can so keep an eye on our email newsletters and social media channels.” ‘
And to quote Colin Patten, the owner of History Maker, said: “I am really pleased to announce that Warlord Games are the new owners of the Saxon Miniatures Range. To be honest it will be a great relief to concentrate solely on the sculpting while a super-efficient machine handles all the rest, including the shows! Look out for a constant stream of new figures, warbands, and armies. Lastly, a huge thank you to all my customers – you will never know how much you were all appreciated“.

What this news from Warlord games sees is an expansion of their Arthurian –  British & Saxon lines, and adding newer aspects like El Cid, and a variety of Normans, Saxons and new an invigoration of Viking Warbands and with what looks like a restructuring of the company, sudden lack of vacancies, could mean that the company is about to expand its line and the company profile. This would tie in nicely with the Warlord Games anniversary of Bolt Action 2nd ed release and also intertwine with the upcoming launch of a new collection of Tank War sets, set to be released in the fall of 2017, a new license deal with the BBC on Dr Who and bringing Tim Bancroft onto the Warlord team to help develop the Gates of Antares development and communications and finishing with the upcoming Blood Red Skies.
So Exciting times ahead.

 

GW & Ninja Division Licence Deal–Latest images(2)

In what has been seen as a sudden flurry of activity by GW with the release of new AoS Generals handbook, BloodBowl, Necromunda and other exciting activities like the Devir Licenses Games Workshop Characters for Wacky Racing Game:  Gretchinz’ is the second surprise with regards licensing. As GW has just announced a licensing deal with Ninja Division to develop an Interactive Card Game ‘Doom Seeker’ set against the popular background of the Warhammer Fantasy Old World background.

Set in the ‘Warhammer Fantasy’ Old World the game is rumoured to be a Card Game “Current name of Doom Seeker” where the players take the role of a Dwarven Slayer (Think Gotrex Troll Slayer series by William King, Not Buffy Vampire Slayer .Ed) the aim is to die with the most Glory and glorious way. Where everyone is out to fight and slay the biggest and most terrifying monsters, with the one who dies with the most glory winning.
Everything one has heard suggests that this will be a group based game should prove both a fun game and visual feast as its looking to be overseen by Ninja Division’s Co Owner and it’s Creative Director John Cadice. So for those worried about the look and style should be reassured.
However, with GW’s tendency towards protecting its core product it is very unlikely (to impossible) that we will see Chibi Dwarf Slayers unless they go with a  Kickstarter or release exclusive model.
This will be a self-contained game and according to rumours going to contain everything needed to play. Inc, Game cards, dice and tokens (Probably thick  Card stock,) and a retail price of around £22 to £27.
Release date is expected Mid Spring 2018


 

N-Fx Game Design Studios pushes out newline of Terrain for Gates of Antares

 

 

N-Fx Game Design Studios A division of N-FX designing and manufacturing, have started what seems to be an interesting and possible exciting new line for both |Warlord Games popular sci-fi game Gates of Antares and branching out towards products for the miniature and war game industry. Crystals.


Scale: 28mm
Resin
Made to Order

While many in the core design industry may know of N-Fx, they are still a small entity in regards a wider knowledge of the gaming industry, however it is looking like that is about to change with an interesting new release Resin Crystals. However what makes these a particularly good resource is that they have a round base allowing them to be placed into a standard skirmishing mdf base hole allowing terrain to be placed anywhere on a board in more interesting ways.


Requires Assembly

Each set contains 4 different crystals that are between 25mm and 35mm tall. They are designed to fit on a 20mm or larger base, and can be used to create exciting terrain features or unique basing elements for larger models.


They are of cause available from the N-Fx Webstore, and through Warlord Games Store and really  do allow the casual gamer to put some bling on the table and with a little create and thought, including a few small flashing led’s placed under the crystals really could make it a blinging table

This is a fun line and could see the company really moving places in the future so one to watch.

So after this interesting little tibbit from last months Necromunda ,

 

So exciting times for Games Workshop in the release of Necromunda; And even better not a re-release of the old system but a newer developed system designed around a sleeker WH40k.
If you’re new to Miniature Gaming you may not be familiar with Necromunda, except as tales of the Glory days, often reminisced on by gronards and Oldhammer gamers, well it was a favourite  with many in the gaming community as it was a way to take a gang of misfits and both progress theme through a game and develop their story as they fought or died in the dark underbelly of the Hive worlds. It allowed players to dive into the underworld of the Imperium, allowing players to control their own Hive Gang augmented with black market cybernetics, gene modifications and scavenged or stolen weaponry. And while WH40k places you in the macro scale of General of a vast army Necromunda goes the other way with a microscale approach of Gang leader, looking out for gang members.
According to sources at the Forge World Open Day, Andy Hoare believes, “They’re absolutely nailing it in terms of how to keep all the great stuff, yet adding to the new system and in order to bring in new things, like Hive Secondus, The Ash Wastes, new gangs.
And,
 
“We’re broadly looking at a game based on the 8th Edition 40k mechanics, but tailored to a form of skirmish warfare. We’ll see the addition of Action Points, which will be used to active gang members (in a similar way to how Space Hulk works). Different actions will cost different points, for example activating a Heavy Class Ganger will cost 2 Action Points, however, a basic Juve Ganger will cost only one.
 
We’ll be looking at a release schedule very  much like BloodBlowl, this see a,
‘Preview’, launch of the initial box set. Like BloodBowl it will be a self-contained box with steady releases.
 
The box itself will contain the Escher and Goliath gangers which have been seen already, the rules, game accessories and terrain either similar to or most likely Shadow War terrain as the Specialist Games studio do not have the resources to produce terrain solely for Necromunda, so they are trail blazing the Shadow War release with all the cool terrain that was released with that boxed set.
(This does highlight the small nature of the specialist Games team and the explanation to the cries of why not release X,Y,Z sooner) and subsequently in individual kits until present. The rules will allow for play in the way players are used to on gangways, ramps and gantries, but also in tunnels making use of the Zone Mortalis tiles available from Forge World.
 
We will see all the gangs from Hive Primus (See Below) return, along with the gangs from Outlanders and Fanatic. We will also see new gangs and some expansion of the fluff on Necromunda.
HIVE SECONDUS was written about in the Fanatic days, a Hive terrorised,  overrunning with an established Genstealer cult, subsequently nuked by the Necromunda Defence Forces to rid the planet of the infestation. However, the Hive topples on its side with most of the Cultists surviving. This results in the Defence Forces building a large trench system in the surrounding Ash Wastes to isolate the remains of the Hive from the rest of the planet.
Even better it was hinted “We will be visiting this intriguing story in the future!”
Keep your eyes on Warhammer Community for all the latest news and previews.
More Pics coming shortly.

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Perry Miniatures release TravelBattle
Alan and Michael perry of Perry’s Miniatures are renown for their figure sculpting skills and exquisite miniatures in all scales from 15mm to the mighty 90mm, and while 28mm is preferred, it seems that figure sculpting is not skill they have, as they engage in a new area of tabletop gaming with TravelBattle, a self contained 8mm! board wargame that can be played on the go.
While a board wargames may not be new, what TravelBattle brings to the table (No pun intended: Ed,) is a way for those familiar and more interested in traditional wargaming to be able to utilise existing skill sets and Historical gaming
Ok strange one here most of the post is missing please keep notice as will fix this. 
Super secret history of the Tau by Gav Thorpe.

A quick one today. 

From ones usual wandering in the interweave one came across an interesting article by Gav Thorpe, and how the Tau a species by Gw for its 40k game came to be.
This is an interesting and insightful piece and shows how a core idea can undergo several itinations before it is released in its final polished form. It is also an cautionary tale for those looking to get into the gaming industry of how your super special idea can be broken down and never see the light if day or redeveloped to fit the company needs.
Still it is an interesting piece and has Gav’s usual informative style.
For the complete and original article.