A Question of Honour: an Interview with Warring States Organiser Kieran Byrne

 

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

As part of our continued and ongoing commitment to organised play, we at Asylum Wargaming will be attending the forthcoming Warring States event in Nottingham. Don't know what a Warring States event is? Or even where Nottingham's at? Then don't worry, you don't need to know ... because I've interviewed event organiser Kieran Byrne to get your answers for you. You're welcome.

Hello Kieran, and thank you for joining me. Can you begin by introducing yourself?

Many will know me from various social media outputs surrounding Warlord Games. Being a member of both the Combined Operations podcast—which is based around my first love, Bolt Action—and the relatively new Three Swords podcast, which focuses on Test of Honour. I also run two Bolt Action groups on Facebook, being Bolt Action KL and the Bolt Action Honved, which are for players of Dutch and Hungarian armies in Bolt Action.

Apart from that I playtest for Warlord Games, whether on my own or at the club I attend, Infamous Wargaming.

You cite Bolt Action as your 'first love'; how long have you been playing BA, and what first attracted you to it?

I was a big gamer in my early teens but drifted away from the hobby in my late teens when the group split up. Some years later I discovered Airsoft guns and the subgenre of WWII Airsoft events, in which groups of grown men disappear into the woods together, get dressed up in World War II kit and shoot one another all weekend. Unsurprisingly, there are a large number of wargamers in that scene, and in late 2012 / early 2013 one such wargamer brought some of his Bolt Action armies to play with in the mess after an event; I couldn't have been more hooked more quickly.

Kieran in Airsoft action!

So, moving onto Test of Honour and Warring States, can you tell me about the event?

Absolutely. Warring States will be a campaign event for Test of Honour; that is to say the day doesn't focus entirely on a competitive tournament. I have a background of putting on what have been described as 'story driven' Bolt Action tournaments with a narrative element; I wanted to do Warring States in the same way.

The key aim for Warring States is to ensure everyone gets as much out of it as they can, so I want to steer away from the kind of tournament which encourages a certain section of players to embrace their more 'competitive' nature and  side, especially as Test of Honour is still relatively new and a lot of our players may still be learning the game.

Good to hear. As a guy who rarely dips his toe into tournament play I can relate to those who find the thought of min/maxing and cheese lists daunting. But how do you aim to avoid the kind of scenario where 'newbs' may be pummelled by power gamers?

Look, you can't really complain about power play, min/maxing or whatever if that's the way the tournament's structured; you're going to get it as soon as you offer big prizes for those who win the most games. With Test of Honour, however, the basis of the game—and its various unit cards—means nothing really stands out as overtly powerful; that mitigates against the concept of only winning if you take 'x' unit. 

Also, in Test of Honour the only game mechanic that can be open to abuse is the Fate Card deck. Whilst some decks could be stuffed with what are regarded as 'better cards' from all the expansions, we've tried to curb that by stipulating which cards can be included in a player's deck. It's all going to be a bit of a trial and error with this first event, but the feedback I've had regarding the tournament pack has been positive.

The other thing about tournaments is you have to be up front with your players; make the statement of what is expected at the event and you'll be surprised by how your players buy into it, and those that don't like it just don't book on.

A Test of Honour battle rages. Photo by Alfonso Oclaf

And what has take up been like so far?

When we were looking at where to hold the event, and through our club links with Warlord, we only really had it in our heads that we wanted to hold it at Warlord HQ in Nottingham. The building they're in includes a really good event space so it seemed like a no brainer to go there. Thanks to that and generous offers to lend us scenery and buildings on the day we can easily accommodate 40 players. At present we have 20 confirmed players with others expressing interest and waiting to confirm once pay days roll round, etc.

Even at 20 players it should still be a great event, right?

Oh yeah, totally. Numbers don't always translate to bigger being better. Also, as I will be doing all the admin on the day, smaller numbers is better for me...

More Test of Honour awesome courtesy of Alfonso Oclaf

So what format can players expect on the day?

There will be four rounds of games, so hopefully people will play against a good mixture of warbands. This as a campaign event which focuses on the build up to a famous battle from the period, and all the games propel the storyline toward that battle. If players invest and immerse themselves in the event and its narrative they will leave with a good tale to tell about their hero and warband.

And how many points can players field?

It's going to be 24  points, which is seen as the set level in many cases. However, the points total builds from round to round, so a player's full warband won't hit the table until the final game. This means the player will have a bit of decision making to do from game to game. We have put the Event Guide on the Facebook group already, so hopefully people will already be planning and counter planning...

Thanks for your time, Kieran; Warring States sounds like an awesome event in the making, and we can't wait to see you there.

Find out More about Kieran's 3 Swords Tests of Honour podcast.
Art by The Lucky Orc.

Warring States takes place on Saturday 30th September at Warlord Games HQ in Nottingham. Tickets are still available, and those interested in attending should contact Kieran via the Warring States Facebook page.

Asylum Wargaming will be in attendance at Warring States, and we shall show much honour, fail many tests, and do much losing...

...We will, however, draw the line at sepukku.

Another Round? Another interview with Luke Fellows

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

As part of Asylum Wargaming's continued support and enthusiasm for organised play, Steve JohnSnow and I are pleased to announce we are attending the this year's Beers of War event. A Kings of War tournament, Beers of War is a relaxed combination of wargaming and ... yes, you guessed it ... beer. Regular readers will know Steve and I attended the inaugural event last year as the Kings of Phwoar! team*, and we're very much looking forward to this year's event.

In anticipation of Beers of War 2, I recently interviewed the organiser—and star of YouTube smash Luke's APS—Luke Fellows about both last year's event, and his expectations for this sophomore tournament.


You've run your inaugural Beers of War event since we last spoke. How did that go?

It was great for a first event, and we [Luke and event co-organiser Lee Fellows] loved running it. To be honest, I don't remember much after dinner as I was drunk! Jokes aside it was great, and we learnt a lot. We were glad it came together as well as it did; for a first event it went really well.


Tell us a little more about Beers of War 2: the Second Draught.

Beers of War 2 is being held on 8th July in Wakefield. This time it's in a new venue, Westgate Common Club. It's a bigger place with cheaper beer for the people that don't win games...

Last year's event in full swing.

 So what are you changing this time?

Nothing much has changed apart from the venue. Also the terrain I've built will be more suitable for a movement-based game like Kings of War. The terrain I built for last year's event looked great, but was a little hard to navigate around, so I've fixed that for this year's tournament.

And how’s your YouTube channel going?

The channel is going from strength to strength, but looking after our baby daughter has reduced the time I have available to paint and film. I still aim to post one video a week, and I'm sure my regular viewers understand.


Kromlech Iron Reich Goblins, as recently seen on Luke's APS.

Luke's shiny new bike.

Aside from Beers of War and Luke’s APS, what else is new and shiny in the world of Luke Fellows?

Funny you should ask! I've bought myself a new motorbike, just so when I have some down time I can let my hair down by riding around the Yorkshire Dales and Moors. I've also launched a new YouTube channel called Luke's Ride Outs, so anyone into bikes can watch me on there as well.


And to sign off, what does Luke Fellows do when he’s not painting toys or ruling YouTube?

Changing my baby daughter's dirty nappies. Washing my baby daughter. Feeding my baby daughter. Watching In the Night Garden with my baby daughter...

...But if I get a few hours here and there I go out on the bike for a ride. It's surprising what a ride can do to my productivity!

Thanks for your time, Luke. Steve and I are lookforward to seeing you at the event.


Tickets for Beers of War 2: the Second Draught are still available here. Steve and I will see you there, and a full report of our misadventures is coming your way next week.

*Last year Steve and I won two and drew one on our way to winning the Wooden Spoon; this year we're going one better by losing all three matches. You heard it here first!

Check out Luke's superb YouTube channel for stacks of
miniature paintin', terrain makin', ass-kickin' goodness! 

Countdown to ChillCon: an Interview with Word Forge Games' Mark Rapson

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

It's Asylum Wargaming's very first wargames show this forthcoming Saturday, and this week I'm interviewing some of the great and the good you can expect to see at the show. And so—hot on the heels of my interview with Gav Thorpe—I would like to present you with an interview with one of ChillCon's co-sponsor, Mark Rapson.


Hello Mark, and thank you for taking the time to chat with me today. Perhaps you'd like to begin by telling us a little about yourself?

Mark Rapson

I'm Mark Rapson, and my company is Word Forge Games. WFG is the company behind the vehicular combat game franchise: Devil’s Run, and the cheeky battling hamster game full of double entendre, CheekZ. We also cast miniatures for third parties—in both resin and metal—and render and 3D print!


I'm familiar with Devil's Run, so we'll come to that later. In the meantime, can you tell me a little about the hamster game?

CheekZ is a card game of bluffing and forward thinking. If I were to compare it to anything it would be Poker, but that is a very loose comparison. What I particularly like about it is its artwork, but also what Andy Ransome the designer has done with the cheekiness of the game. There is a lot of tongue in cheek fun to be had, with lots of double entendre. It works on two levels: for the kids it’s cute and gets them thinking mathematically; and for the grown-ups there is a whole barrel of laughs to be had.


It's interesting to see how different Cheekz and Devil's Run are. Do you have a third game up your sleeve? Or will you concentrate on your existing properties?

We actually have another three up our sleeves! Next up is a small project with local street artists. The game will be called Throwdown and is a card throwing game! I am excited about this as it's a cool rule set and it's awesome to work with the local community of artists. Our longer timescale project is called Star Knights, and like Devil's Run is a BIG project which we will build into a franchise. We haven't shared much yet, but I am personally very excited about this and the work that is being done right now on it. But our new big project is a licenced project for a 15mm tank battle game. It is a tabletop game, straight out the box. It will come to KS shortly. It is very cool with awesome models and a cool aesthetic; but the rules and how the game play is what really makes it for me.


Exciting times! I'm guessing you can't tell me the name of the tank license, right?

Yes I can. It's Absolute Decimation. Check www.wordforgegames.com for more info.


And how did the hook-up with the street artist come about? That's quite leftfield.

I had a flash of inspiration for a new game as I was tidying the house. It wasn't fleshed out, but as I cogitated it over the next day or two I settled on a brick wall idea for the background of the cards, and a graffiti look. I was going to ask my business partner to create the graffiti look, but the very next day an artist called Tim from BLINK Photography walked into my shop, Crescent Gaming Consortium, for the first time. We began chatting and I explained about Devil's Run and art, and he said, "Well, if you ever need any graffiti-style art, let me know..." I can't decide if that was fate, act of God, or blind luck ... but I'll take it!

So what are Throwdown!'s mechanics?

Throwdown! is a simple card game; think Twister crossed with a throwing game. Lots of skill, but lots of laughs too. It's also suitable for game for 1-4 players (and up to 8 if you combine the two variant games together).

Taking the card to the right as an example, if you can throw the card into the ThrowZone whilst jumping in the air, you earn 10 points.


And I assume different cards call for the player to perform different actions in order to earn points?

Yep!

That's a neat idea. Certainly a greater level of physical activity than most card games call for.

Going back to something more conventional, what can you tell us about Star Knights?

Star Knights is the beginning of our next big, home grown franchise. In essence, it's a Space Opera.

The first product will be Star Knights: Solar Crusade, a game created in the tradition of the classic dungeon crawl games like Hero Quest and Descent. But we're doing something special with Star Knights by making it a 1 player game as well as a fully immersive multiplayer. The board game will come with modular board pieces that will be double-sided. Players will be able to place them in specified order or free form. The models will be one piece and of the highest quality. They'll also be rendered by our very own Ben, and also cast by our team. There will be four different races in the game. We've shown the 'lion' race already, but wait 'til you see the other stuff!

If you'd like to learn more then check the face book page at https://www.facebook.com/gamestarknights/.


So looking ahead to ChillCon, do you have anything special in store for the show?

Yes, these two miniatures:


Nice! Something to look forward to! I take it these are for Devil's Run? And am I right in thinking Route 666 is now out of print and we can look forward to the second edition?

Yes. We've now moved onto Devil's Run: Reaper's Revenge, and soon will have the retail game, Devil's Run: Hell's Highway. Devil's Run is going from strength to strength. A lot of people—including our awesome community—have worked really hard on it all!


Thanks for your time, Mark. All the best for Star Knights, and we look forward to seeing you at ChillCon...

...And in the meantime, let's all enjoy this space bull man from Star Knights:

Countdown to ChillCon: an Interview with Gav Thorpe

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

It's the run-up to ChillCon '17, Asylum Wargaming's debut wargames show. To commemorate I'm bringing you a week of interviews with various ChillCon '17 traders, sponsors and other illuminati, including the likes of Daruma Productions' Mark Wallace, Warploque Miniatures' Alex Huntley, and Mark Rapson of Word Forge Games.

First and foremost, however, I present an interview with Gav Thorpe. An author and games designer, Gav boasts an illustrious career with Games Workshop, including a stellar contribution to the lore of both Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000, and a host of novels for Black Library. He has recently left Games Workshop to pursue a fulltime career as a writer. He will also be at ChillCon '17 showing off his pet project, Big Stompy Robots.


Gav, please will you take a moment to introduce yourself?

Gav Thorpe. He has all his own teeth.

I'm Gav Thorpe, author and games designer. Most folks will know me either from my days as a games developer for Games Workshop, or as a writer for the Black Library, or both. I've worked on several editions of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000, and created the Inquisitor game, as well as contributing to the likes of Battlefleet Gothic, Titan Legions, Gorkamorka! My other games design work includes Cutlass! for Black Scorpion Miniatures. I've also freelanced for the video games industry, most recently as World Creation Consultant for Ubisoft Montreal on the For Honor title. I'm middle-aged, a little overweight, have all my own teeth, and I live with a very understanding partner called Kez and an amazing three-year old called Sammy.

Impressive, especially the possession of all your own teeth. If you had to choose a top three, however, what would they be, and why? 

Top of the list would be Inquisitor, simply because we got to explore so much crazy stuff. Not only were we able to steer the game in a dark direction, but we also revisited one of the staples of 40K that had been ignored for a while: the Inquisitors. The legacy of that work continues today, a lot of it thanks to projects like Inq28 and John Blanche's continuing involvement as a creative and hobbyist through Blanchitsu and so on.

Battlefleet Gothic was also a great project because of my long time love for all things Napoleonic and naval. Writing the history of the Gothic War and working on the characters and background of the Imperial Navy was very fulfilling. Also I was able to come up with something a bit different for the campaign system—the subsector maps and the like—which was very satisfying. And the game is great to play, so a winner all round.

I think my other proudest achievement isn't a single project, per se, but my tenure as Warhammer Loremaster. Not only did I get to work on some cool books in that time—Dwarfs, Beasts of Chaos, for instance—but I also got a real buzz helping the creative team evolve the imagery of armies like Lizardmen, revitalise the Bretonnians and Wood Elves, create the Ogre Kingdoms, and bring events like Storm of Chaos to life. Oh, and we got a plastic giant too!

That's a list you can be justifiably proud of. But can you go back a little and tell us how you came to write for Games Workshop? 

I was fortunate enough to contact Games Workshop when they were hiring Assistant Games Developers. I showed some Blood Bowl rules to designer Jervis Johnson at Games Day '93. He suggested that I send them to him at GW, so I did, along with a cover  letter asking for a job. I went to Nottingham, talked to Rick Priestley, and started a week later. 

The Assistant Games Developer contract was two years, the second of which was spent on White Dwarf magazine. I had another year as a Dwarfer and then—armed with that experience—went back into the Games Design department.

White Dwarf issue 127

So, and this is the last Games Workshop question before we take a look at Big Stompy Robots, what are your favourite 40K and WFB armies, and why?

My number one love for 40K are the Eldar. As I recently celebrated on my blog, the update of the Eldar back in White Dwarf issue 127 was a formative moment for me. 

In Warhammer I I'm drawn to the dwarfs. I love their background, and the playstyle of rock hard, dependable infantry and lethal war machines suits me well. 

I'm lucky that I've been able to work on both factions in my time at GW and as a Black Library author. 



A pair of Gav's Big Stompy Robots

And so onto Big Stompy Robots. As someone unaware of the game, can you bring me up to speed?

Recently I've embarked on an ambitious hobby/games design project. Last year I was approached by the organiser of Nottingham's ROBIN wargames show to conduct a short seminar. Feeling enthused, I  offered to also run a participation game during the event.

I had about six weeks to create a 10mm scale mech-fighting game. This included designing the rules system, creating the board, and assembling the mechs themselves. I managed to get the game ready in time, and I dubbed it Big Stompy Robots. For the moment my only goal is to have some fun games. However, should it go well I’ll continue developing the game with a more commercial goal in mind.

I’ve been kicking around various games ideas for years, obviously, but I ended up going with something new for Big Stompy Robot (although drawing from other ideas I’ve had over the last couple of years).The main point is that the player is a pilot of a single mech rather than commanding a force. It gives the feel of being in control of a complex fighting system, monitoring power levels, the pilot 

More Big Stompy Robots!

interface and the physical positioning of the mech on the field of battle. The player distributes power through the control system of the mech via dice on a series of cards that represent the mech’s systems. These dice determine the activations of the mech, and when it takes an action those dice are then used to resolve that action. Damage is represented by negative damage dice getting introduced into the system, reducing the effectiveness of the systems as they accrue.

I've blogged about it on my website, gavthorpe.co.uk and folks can check out a growing number of gameplay videos on YouTube.


Thank you, Gav, a pleasure to chat with you.

You can enjoy Gav's Big Stompy Robots game—and a host of others—at ChillCon '17 on Saturday 27th May. That's this Saturday. Yes, this Saturday. Better get your tickets fast...

Meet the Inmates: Ben Moorhouse, the War Terrier

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

You may have noticed we're mad about the fantasy skirmish game Anyaral: The World of Twilight. That's because there's a lot to be mad about. Not only does the game boast a neat and original system, but the miniatures are gorgeous! Don't believe me? Then prepare to be converted by Ben Moorhouse AKA War Terrier. Ben has been a fan of Anyaral since the beginning, and he's joined us today to tell you why...

...Over to you, Ben.

Hi, I'm Ben and I've been a wargamer for more than twenty years, and my Anyaral: The World of Twilight figures have to be amongst my favourite miniatures to date.

I first spotted these quaint dinosaur-like creatures during their initial Kickstarter campaign, and I bought a starter set to see what the game was like. I liked the miniatures immediately due to their creativeness and how easy they were to paint. I tend to do more painting than playing and these figures have been an ideal way to improve my techniques; I've been really pleased with the results!

Gil Masharl, travelling biologist

It's probably worth starting off with a quick introduction to the setting for the game, although if I'm honest my WoT figures sneak into my other games all the time; they make a really unique Frostgrave Warband! The World of Twilight is an alternate fantasy skirmish game set in the land of Anyaral. The world centres around the fortunes of the Fubarnii Empire, once slaves of the powerful Devanu, now masters to themselves since their craftsmanship enabled them construct weapons and to overthrow their oppressors. The Devanu, a race of vicious predators, are now isolated in an area known as the Argoran Wastelands and frequently raid Fubarnii territory.

The creator of Twilight: The World of Anyaral, Mike Thorp, has been working hard to increase his range of models including the introduction of the most recent faction, the Casanii, via a second Kickstarter campaign (soon to be available on The Asylum, I'm sure!) Some of these models feature in the pictures below.

Loranti Pargal, trader

Jenta Spear

Jenta Hunter

On to the figures themselves... Aside from the great sculpting and character of the models my favourite aspect of this range is the absolute freedom it gives you to paint whatever scheme and colours you want. If you're anything like me and get incredibly bored endlessly painting olive drab onto a WWII force, WoT presents you with the opportunity to let your imagination run wild and allows you to go crazy with your paint palette. These aren't humans so you're not limited to particular skin tones or camouflage patterns and, more importantly, they're not your regular high-fantasy line of miniatures which bring with them certain stereotypes of colour scheme.

Nurasem Plutom

Nurakira Acolyte

The first things that springs to mind when seeing these miniatures are dinosaurs, and I used this inspiration when it came to painting. After some quick internet research I had a load of starting points for schemes which allowed me to really go to town. I'm not really a painter that uses washes and glazes very much and I generally stick to the layers approach and this works really well on these miniatures. As well as using lighter tones to bring out the shape of the model, there's also an incredible amount of opportunity here to paint texture into the design in the form of mottled skin or rough hide. On most of the models I've used thin lines of highlight to give the skin a rougher appearance, and I think it's worked really well.

I wanted to give a more tribal appearance to the Casanii miniatures, and the obvious answer was an aboriginal war paint design. So, after yet more internet research, I had a small force set out in some nice striking white marking over a darker skin tone for my fledgling force (these are my favourite so far).

Casanii Feral Mutts

Young Gil and Critters

Casanii

Casanii Erillai Rider

Grishak Beasts

In conclusion, I'd thoroughly recommend picking up one of the starter forces, even if only for how much fun they are to paint! I hope you've enjoyed the images here. If you'd like to see more of my World of Twilight collection feel free to check out my site, War Terrier, which is less of a blog, and more a collection of pictures.

Thanks again to Ben. If you like what you've seen here, then check out Asylum Wargamings' range of Anyaral: The World of Twilight miniatures, starter sets and accessories. Tell him I sent you.

Join us next time, when we'll be meet another special guest from the wonderful world of wargamery weirdness. Until then, Inmates...

...Stay crazy.

Want more Anyaral in your life? Then knock yourself out at our webstore.

 

Meet the Inmates: Painted by G

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

I have a special treat for you. Today's edition of Meet the Inmates beings you hobby superstar Graham Shirley of Painted by G fame. Graham has kindly taken time out of his busy schedule to not only tell us about his background, interests and achievements, but to also show us some of his beautifully painted miniatures...

...So let's hear it for Graham.

Hi, I'm Graham (G) and I run the Painted By G commission painting service. Whilst I love all aspects of the wargaming hobby, for me it’s always been about the painting!

Click to enlarge

I think what really hooked me on painting when I first started was the progression; every model I painted was better than that one before, if only slightly. It was so easy to see. and ever since I started it’s been a huge motivator!

Click to enlarge

After the obligatory time away from the hobby in my 20’s I found a ton of old miniatures in my parents' attic. A quick search on eBay showed that they might be worth a quid or two.  A few sales later a couple of the guys who'd bought my old minis got in touch asking if I’d paint something on commission. I agreed, so I bought some new paints and brushes... Seven years later and now I’m painting minis for people all over the world!

Click to enlarge

We've had an addition to the family since then, so I’m just doing singles figures for people these days. That said, I don’t have any plans stop anytime soon.

Click to enlarge

Since picking up the brushes again, I’ve been sucked back into collecting armies and playing at tournaments. I play Warhammer Fantasy Battles and now Age of Sigmar almost exclusively. I’ve got plenty of interest in other game systems (and painted stuff for most of them) but time being so precious these days, it’s better for me to focus my attention on what I like most.

Click to enlarge

I won my first Golden Demon in 2014, which was a lifelong dream come true! It was for a commission piece which I entered before sending to my client (it’s now in Australia). Since then I’ve picked up a few Best Painted trophies for my Orcs and Goblins (sorry Orruks and Grots) at various tournaments and Armies on Parade. I’ve just had the last run out with them for a while at a local tournament last weekend, so I’m now working on my Death army. Also the new Khorne book is going to get me digging out a half-finished army too...

Click to enlarge

If you want to see more of his beautiful work, visit www.paintedbyg.co.uk. You can also find Graham on  Facebook (Graham Shirlie) and Twitter (@PaintedByG).

That's it for today, Inmates. Don't forget to follow us, don't forget to share, and please take a moment to let us know how much you enjoyed Graham's post. Most importantly, come back soon for more hobby awesome. Until then, Inmates...

...Stay crazy.


Click to enlarge