Thursday 23 February 2017

ChillCon '17 is GO!



Hi, I'm Paul, and welcome to The Asylum.

So, as you might have guessed, tonight we're talking ChillCon '17. For those who aren't aware of ChillCon, it's Chilling Wargamers' and Asylum Wargaming's very own wargaming show. It debuts on Saturday 27th May, 2017, at Ecclesfield School in Sheffield (full address below), and it's brought to you in association with S.L.A. Industries: CS1 and Word Forge Games.


Things to See and Do, part one: Tournaments and Participation Games

Let me tell you, the place is going to be packed. Not only do we have demonstration and participation games including S.L.A Industries: CS1, Guild Ball, Halo Ground Command, Shattered Void, Scud Alley, AvP and more, but we're also hosting two awesome Kings of War and Bolt Action tournaments! Get in!

Due to this metric ton of awesome, there is only limited space in which to squeeze further participation games. Those wishing to stage such a participation game are invited to email us.


Things to See and Do, part two: Confirmed Traders

But what about the shopping? Well, we've got that covered as well. Just check out this line-up of 'A' grade trade:



Manufacturers of the wargaming miniatures and resin scenics.


For when you absolutely, positively, got to get the best mother-lovin' deals in
the room. Accept no substitutes.*

Producers of high quality painting and miniature hobby products.

Official show stockists of 4Ground, Crann Tara Miniatures, Heroes of the Dark Age, the Depot Battalion range and used figures, books and rule books.


Specialising in wargames miniatures and rules for the golden age of cult TV.

Creators of lovingly made custom embroidered dice bags.

Producers of quality wargaming terrain and accessories.


Co-sponsor of ChillCon, and the official home of S.L.A Industries: CS1.

Specialist in quality military books and wargame related titles.

Specialist commission painter.

PLEASE NOTE: Saddle-Goose Design's handstitched custom dice-bags will be exhibited at ChillCon by Glennbrook Games. Those of you who wish to pre-order a custom bag for collection at ChillCon, however, should contact Saddle-Goose Design beforehand.

Bringing you the highest quality and the best value in custom cut trays and cases.


Producers of lasercut scenery, accessories, movement trays and bases.

Creators of 6mm scale resin cast models and scenics.

Home of the Nightfolk range of 28mm white metal Goblins, Dwarves and other things that go bump in the night...

Creators of fantasy and sci-fi miniatures and the skirmish game, Burrows and Badgers.

 Purveyors of the hobby's most popular wargames models and accessories.

Creators of high quality 28mm figures & vehicles.

Producers ofhigh quality cast resin and metal miniatures.

Home of the world's largest range of 28mm wargaming miniatures.
The home of the unique fantastic skirmish game, Arcworlde.


Producers of highly detailed resin miniatures for both 15mm gaming and the starfighter dogfighting wargame, Shattered Void .

Co-sponsor of ChillCon, and masterminds behind such games as  Devil's Run and Cheekz.

Yep, we've got all that and more up our sleeve. Just watch this space for some major announcements. And I mean Bionic Man level of Lee Majors. Yeah, that big.
 
 


Things to See and Do, part three: Bring 'n' buy, Refreshments and Chill Con Carni

What? You want more? Okay, how about a Bring 'n' Buy, hot and cold refreshments, and piping hot servings of our very own Chill Con Carni? Satisfied? Good.



The Venue

ChillCon '17 will be hosted at Ecclesfield School, Chapeltown Road, Sheffield, S35 9WD on Saturday 27th May, 2017.  Click here for a useful guide on how to find us.


Tickets and Goodie Bags

Tickets are available here, and the first 100 entrants on the big day are guaranteed a goody bag of, well, goodies. You can also save £1.00 by buying your tickets in advance.

Our Charities


We will donate £1.00 from every ticket sold to our preferred charities:




The three of us involved in the organisation of ChillCon—Steve, Spud and myself—have picked these charities as they all mean something to us on a personal level. Please take a moment to visit their sites and consider making a donation. Thank you.

So that's it, Inmates. ChillCon is coming, and it's going to be insane. You'd be mad to miss.




ChillCon '17 is sponsored by Daruma Productions' S.L.A. Industries: CS1...




...And Word Forge Games.
 








*Yes, I'm biased...**


**...But we still do good deals.


Wednesday 8 February 2017

March of the Idiots: Asylum Wargaming at Beers of War, part one

Hi, I'm Paul, and welcome to tonight's edition of The Asylum.

Last time out I detailed the forthcoming Beers of War event, a Kings of War tournament hosted and organised by our friend Luke Fellows at Luke's APS. What I didn't mention is that myself and the pocket rocket that is Steve JohnSnow—my friend and partner at Asylum Wargaming—will be entering Beers of War under the moniker The Kings of Phwoar! Tonight therefore, as part of our March of the Idiots series—in which I detail Asylum Wargaming's entry and misadventures in various tournaments—I bring you an insight into The Kings of Phwoar!'s entry, and the mighty miniatures we'll be packing.

Beers of War is a co-op tournament of two-man teams fielding 1500pts (750pts per team member) worth of death and destruction. Steve has variously gone for
Undead
Abyssal Warriors
Gloranthan Ducks
Orcs
and I've elected to been told by Steve that I'm using Undead. This works just fine for me as I've been collecting Undead—more specifically Skeletons—for decades, and have a metric ton of those boney bad boys in the attic. Time to dust some off, me thinks...

So, here are some of the miniatures (in varying degrees of readiness!) I'll be fielding at Beers of Beer:

A Revenant King

A Troop of Revenants

Some Skeleton Archers

Some partially completed Skeleton Archers

Some Wights
 
This is, of course, just the beginning of the 750pts, and I'll be adding a few bits and pieces between now and Saturday (Saturday? That soon?!? Zoinks!) So stay posted, Inmates, 'cos I'll keep you up to speed. Until then...

...Stay crazy.

Tuesday 7 February 2017

An Interview with a Hobbyist, part two: Beers of War

Welcome to part two of our interview with Luke Fellows, professional hobbyist and star of the YouTube channel Luke's APS (Affordable Painting Service). Herein we'll learn about his current - and arguably most challenging - project, the forthcoming Beers of War tournament. So buckle up, Inmates ... things are gonna get boozy!


Not content with making a success of freelance miniature painting and having a stonkingly good YouTube channel, you’ve also organised a Kings of War tournament called Beers of War. Can you tell us a little about it?

Free Beer. Do I have to say more…?


…Oh, I do? Okay.

It’s a Kings Of War doubles tournament with an emphasis on fun and socialising without removing the competitive nature of the game. Each side plays three games rather than the usual four. This allows for more time between each game and a long dinner during which people can chat, eat and drink, or even slip in a fourth game if they so desire.


Me and my brother organised the tournament. Lee has been involved in organising music festivals and shows from the age of 16, and I, as a musician, have been in the entertainment industry from around 18. We have plenty of experience, and we’ve applied it to this event. Hence the free beer. People are suckers for free beer. We’ve also sourced plenty of good prizes.



What challenges did you face when organising the event?

One of the main challenges was finding a venue and knowing how big a venue we needed for our first venture.


One thing we notice when people talk about organising a wargaming event is they can’t find a good space for it. But they only look at hobby spaces and shops where everything is ready to go. You can put on a wargaming event anywhere. So we used our knowledge of venues in the area and found one we thought would work. You would be surprised how cheaply you can find a space to hire for a full day. Do your research, do the maths, and take the risk. We’re prepared to lose money in the beginning as an investment and make our money back from future events.


Another challenge has been getting all the tables and scenery sorted ourselves. However, we see it as once it’s done, it’s done. We can now put an event on anywhere using the same materials, or even sell the terrain for extra money on top.



In view of the fact Beers of War is already sold out, is it safe to assume you’ll be organising another?

Yes. In fact, we’re in the process of confirming a larger venue, and we have big plans for the future.



And what else do you see in both your tabletop future, and the future of your Youtube channel? Do you, for instance, have any more events lined up?


I hope to see the channel grow to the point where I can make a living from the hobby alone and set up a small business with a couple of friends and family. That’s the dream. I’m not going to pretend I’m in this for just the hobby alone and it’s all been about the art. It’s part of it, but if I can do it for a living and not have to work weekends and can support my family doing something I love, then I’m going to do it.

In terms of events I’m already planning a painting series to the tune of ‘paint good, quick’ in just a few simple steps. Companion videos will be a little more ‘advanced’, but they'll still stick to my ‘That'll do’ attitude, which a lot of my viewers appreciate. The majority of us just want to paint something good and play with it at the end of the day, don’t we?



And here endeth the sermon, Inmates. Please join us in thanking Luke for his interview.

So that's it for this edition of Asylum Wargaming's Writes of Asylum. We hope you join us next time when we'll bring you more tabletop awesome.    


Avail thyself of Luke's unique brand of awesome at his YouTube channel, Luke's APS!


Friday 3 February 2017

An Interview with a Hobbyist, part one: A Talented Fellow

Welcome to The Asylum's first interview ... and we're kicking off in style!

 
Luke Fellows is a commission painter who's really making a splash. With content that includes unboxing videos, battle reports and tutorials on terrain construction, his YouTube channel enjoys 16,000  subscribers and features videos attracting in excess of 8,000 views. Not content with this, he's also a professional musician in the band Twice Nightly and he's the brains behind February's inaugural Beers of War tournament. We're pleased to say he's taken some time from his busy schedule to talk to us here in The Asylum.
 
 
 

Can you tell me a little a bit about your background and what first attracted you to the hobby?

My mum bought me the 5th Editon Warhammer Fantasy set (the one with the Bretonians and Lizardmen) when I was 8 years old. You can imagine how well they were played with and how badly they were painted.

After that I pretty much forgot about wargaming. I made a very brief return when I was 16, but soon got bored after a series of awful experiences being ‘taught’ how to play at the local GW shop. My first experience was going down with the five Terminators and Dreadnaught I’d painted up because I thought they were cool, but the store manager refusing to teach me how to play unless I bought some ‘core choices’ and fielded a legal army. He didn’t understand that I just wanted a feel for the game. It was a sour experience which led to me learning from my brother Lee instead. I lost interest soon afterwards.

Three years ago, however, I started again after talking to my brother about having a lot of free time on my hands as a working musician and only working weekends for most of the year. I said I wanted to try wargaming again, but something that wasn’t 40k or Warhammer; something cheaper and with simpler rules. We did some browsing and settled on Bolt Action.

Long story short I then painted my first miniatures in years just using some simple techniques I picked up online, and posted them here and there on the internet. My officer model got over 100 likes on one page and people were shocked at how well I did for someone with very little painting experience. A lightbulb went off and—as I did with music—I set about seeing how I could make money out of something I enjoy, so I started doing commissions. Soon people were asking me for videos on how I do things, and so I created my YouTube channel.

 
 It’s clear you’re a gifted miniature painter. Do you think being a good miniature painter relies on natural talent, or can any cack-handed individual learn to paint to a high standard?

I wouldn’t say I’m gifted. I think to a certain extent anyone with one hand, a set of brushes and paints can learn to paint to a good standard, especially at 28/32mm scale. It’s just about technique. I learnt by watching countless hours of YouTube videos and deciding what I thought was a waste of time and what wasn’t in order to paint a miniature I was happy with.

E.g. I won’t spend time doing the iris and the pupil on a miniature of that size, or going round the entire miniature highlighting every dimple and arse crack when you can achieve almost the same effect with drybrushing, a wash and glaze, using trios of colours and contrasting those colours to make the mini pop from four feet away. That’s the key to a good looking miniature.

I would definitely say doing decorating, fine arts and antique furnishings/restoration clued me in on things like drybrushing, glazing, thickness of paint, types of paint, stripping, spraying etc. I had all this basic knowledge before I even applied it to miniatures.
 
 
Your YouTube channel—Luke’s APS—is pulling in a ridonculous amount of subscribers right now. Any idea why?
 
People already knew who I was via the Kings Of War Fanatics on Facebook, and I think what really helped. People also really started to pay attention when I knocked out a 2000pt Slayer army within a week and then went to win Best Painted at my first tournament. 

I like to think the growth of my channel is reinforced by a combination of my personality and informative content. Also, it isn’t all down to me. I’ve had help from people such as Asylum Wargaming’s very own Spud the Wargamer Viking, Pezapoo etc. That helped me become established and ‘accepted’ within the online community.

 
Here endeth part one, Inmates. Be sure to join us on Tuesday night when we bring you part two of this illuminating interview. You'd be mad to miss it.
 


 




Wednesday 1 February 2017

Welcome to the Asylum

Hi, my name is Paul, and I'd like to welcome you to The Asylum.

The Asylum is the official blog of Asylum Wargaming, and it exists as a window onto which games we're playing, which miniatures we're painting, and which publishers we're diggin'. You can look forward to seeing our misadventures in various tournaments, and behind the scenes insights into the organisation of our first wargaming show, Chill Con. You can look forward to interviews with leading industry figures, reviews of our favourites games, and galleries spotlighting our favourite miniatures. Even better, you can look forward to us focusing on you: what you're playing, what you're painting, and what you're diggin'. Because this blog isn't just about us; it's about you, our readers, our customers, and our supporters. Because without you there wouldn't be an Asylum Wargaming, and we love you for it...

...So welcome to The Asylum; we're all in it together.