• Mike Hobbs – Funeral Webcast
    It was Mike’s funeral today. Due to COVID restrictions, attendance at the service was strictly limited, and I know so many people would have wanted to pay their respects. The service was recorded and is available to watch for the next week. Should you wish to watch please use the link and [...]

  • Mike Hobbs – A Book of Condolence
    Following the outpouring of messages from the community following the passing of Mike Hobbs, I thought it would be nice to have a permanent record of these to pass on to his wife, Mandy. I have created a Book of Condolence for Mike – you can find it at the following link: [...]

  • Mike Hobbs – The Welsh Wizzard
    As I write this, I am still reeling from the shocking news of the sudden death of Mike Hobbs, only a few days after his 55th birthday. I first met Mike on the UK show circuit as he used to help on the trade stand for Musketeer Miniatures with his long time friend Bill Thornhill. I was introduced to [...]

  • Painting Tally – March 2021
    A decent month for painting, but not on a par with last month. Some would argue that it may appear better than I think it was as cavalry count as two models… Anyway, two-thirds of the month was spent painting wolf riders – I added a further 25 to existing models, including these: These [...]

  • Burrows & Badgers – New Kickstarter running until 2nd April 2021
    Michael and Jo at Oathsworn Miniatures have launched their biggest ever Kickstarter project for Burrows & Badgers, with a whopping 30 new miniatures being added to the range. The Dark, The Devout and The Heroic brings the undead into the realm of Northymbra, and those which fight them. The [...]

  • Goblin Wolf Rider host is complete
    Almost exactly a month after starting them, the Goblin Wolf Rider host has been finished and is ready to join the rest of the army… There are ten scouts… Fourteen riders with hand weapons… Six characters… And five [...]

  • Hobby Update – 8th March 2021
    A fairly productive weekend has seen a group of Goblin Wolf Riders finished and another about 80% complete. This latest group is armed with spears and shields. 20 down, 15 to [...]

  • Evil Dvergr Dwarves on Kickstarter
    I have been a fan of Colin Patten’s Dark Age sculpting for some time – especially his twist on fantasy miniatures, right back to the days of the original Vendel Miniatures ranges. A few years ago he sculpted an new range of Dwarfs for Conqueror Models, and is now following these up with [...]

  • Painting Tally – February 2021
    February has been a hugely productive month for me – I’ve probably painted more models in a month than at any other time, even if I have slowed down a little in the past few days. I have spent the month concentrating on painting my Goblin army, finishing the infantry and starting on the [...]

  • Who let the Wolves out?
    With the Goblin Infantry finished (at least for now) the last few days have been spent building and priming Goblin Wolf Riders. I started painting them over the past weekend. I started with a unit of wolves without riders in order to figure out how to paint them. The plan was to paint them with [...]

  • Goblin Wolf Riders – An attack of Deja Vu
    The next stage in my Goblin army was to assemble a number of Wolf Riders, using miniatures from the Oathmark Goblin Wolf Riders box set Having assembled them, I looked and had a sudden attack of deja vu – the last time I had 30+ cavalry models on that tray, the happened to be Norman Knights, [...]

  • Goblin Infantry finished – Hobby Update 17th February 2021
    Well, I say finished. They are almost finished – one thing remains to be done, as you will see. The weekend saw the completion of painting my Oathmark Goblin Infantry. These have now been based and are pretty much ready for battle. First up is a group of 5 Goblins wielding dual weapons. These [...]

  • Hobby Update – 13th February 2021
    Reached the end of what has turned out to be a very productive week. The last figures of my latest Goblin unit – Goblins with Hand Weapons – were finished on Thursday, and I spent Friday and this morning finishing the basing. Our weekly ‘Paint and chat’ session has just [...]

  • What accounts for the increased painting speed?
    It has been noted that my painting output appears to have increased dramatically over the past few weeks, and I was asked on Twitter what accounted for this – was it regular painting time or using Contrast paints? The character limit of Twitter stopped me from fully expanding on this, so here [...]

  • Hobby Update – 9th February 2021
    Started the week with another ‘Paint and chat’ session. These type of get togethers on social media – whether on Google Meet, Jitsi, Discord or whatever other platform you wish – have been an invaluable way of sharing hobby time. I hope that even when we can all safely mix [...]

Painting & Modelling

Battle Reports / Gaming Sessions

  • Review: Chain of Command: At The Sharp End Campaign Handbook
    Rating: At The Sharp End (ATSE) follows the release of the Chain of Command platoon-level skirmish wargame rules from Too Fat Lardies last year. Chain of Command is designed around using text-book, full strength units with a few additional extras. However, in the heat of battle, this set-up would [...]

  • Review: Went The Day Well?
    Rating:  A Very British Civil War first hit our wargaming tables around 2009, and is the brainchild of Solway Crafts and Miniatures . Since that time, there has been a steady release of new supplements detailing various units and factions within this alternative history, but up until now these [...]
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    Miniatures Review – Reinforcements By Post
    Welcome to Episode 5 of the Meeples & Miniatures Miniature Review Show. In this show, I do something a bit different, and rather than review a miniatures range, I’m reviewing a miniatures painting service: Reinforcements By [...]

  • Review: Fistful of Lead – Reloaded
    Rating: Fistful of Lead: Reloaded is a set of wargaming rules for ‘Gunfights in the Wild West’, published by Wiley Games. It was funded by a kickstarter project which was launched in November 2015, which had 132 backers and raised just over $8,000. Fistful of Lead (FoL) is a skirmish [...]

  • Review: Black Powder – The Last Argument of Kings
    Rating:  Almost as soon as the original ‘Black Powder’ rules were released, there were rumblings about adapting these rules for fighting the earlier Horse & Musket period, and this supplement – penned by Pete Brown – formalises these adaptations. Black Powder: The Last Argument of [...]

  • Review: Lords of Waterdeep
    Rating: If you have ever played in a fantasy role-playing game you will recognise the scene: The party is in a tavern when they are approached by a stranger – the representative of some sponsor – who asks them if they are looking for work and then proposes that they be hired to escort a [...]

  • Review: Lord of the Rings – The Card Game revisited
    Rating: The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game was originally released by Fantasy Flight Games in 2011, and upon release very quickly became one of my favourite games. I and my son Josh are big Lord of the Rings fans, and so we played this game a lot over the next couple of years. Then with one thing [...]
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    Legitimacy review @ Scimitar Wargames
    I mentioned that we’ve played several of Minion Games new releases in recent weeks. I’ve recorded my thoughts for a forthcoming podcast, but Richard Hardy, another member of Scimitar Wargames group, has shared a few thoughts on the game Legitimacy. You can find the review by following [...]

  • Review: The Chicago Way
    Rating: “You wanna know how to get Capone? They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. *That’s* the *Chicago* way! And that’s how you get Capone” Jimmy Malone, The Untouchables (1987) Back in 2013, Great Escape [...]

  • Review: UFO Squad – Vehicles and Buildings
    Rating:  Crossover Miniatures has just released UFO Squad, a set of skirmish rules for fighting battles of Humans vs Aliens, inspired by the games that we saw in the old X-COM: UFO Defense computer game. Following on from the rules and the Human and Alien Troops, we also have a range of vehicles, [...]

  • Review: Longships: The Wrath of the Vikings
    Rating : The Dark Ages as a gaming genre has been under something of a revival ever since Saga appeared on the scene a couple of years ago. Longships is Peter Pig’s addition to this growing catalogue. The rules concentrate, as you may well gather from the title, on the Vikings as the main [...]

  • Review: Classified
    Rating: Classified is the eighth scenario supplement for the Force on Force rules for modern warfare, which were published in 2011. It is once again published by Osprey Publishing. In many ways, this supplement takes Force-on-Force back to its original Ambush Alley roots, as it covers Special [...]

  • Review – Hail Caesar: Army Lists: Biblical & Classical
    Rating:  As soon as Hail Caesar hit the wargaming public back at Salute (was it only 7 months ago?) an outcry was seen on many different forums… Where were the army lists? Where were the points values? How could gamers possibly be expected to play this game without them? I must admit, I found [...]

  • Review: Dead Man’s Hand
    Rating: In my experience, Wild West games tend to be very hit or miss affairs (no pun intended). They tend to be games that promote style over substance – they can look incredibly pretty, as you can produce some stunning scenery to fight over, but (if you’re not careful) they can be dull as [...]

  • Review – VIII Corps: The Somme 1916
    Rating: VIII Corps: The Somme 1916 is the first in a series of games written by Neal Reid and published by Vexillia Limited. VIII Corps is a card game, currently available in PDF ‘print and play’ format, which is designed to give the players some appreciation of the difficulties faced [...]

  • Review: Soldiers of God
    Rating:  Soldiers of God is a set of Ancients rules written by Warwick Kinrade and published by Artorus Games. The game is specifically aimed at gaming tabletop battles during the Crusades. The book is in softback A5 format and is printed in full colour on high quality, glossy paper and comes [...]

  • Review – Saga
    Rating:  Saga is the long-awaited and much-anticipated Dark Age skirmish wargaming rules from Studio Tomahawk & Gripping Beast. The rules are aimed at being played in 28mm scale, on a 4’ x 3’ table (designed so that it could be played on the author’s kitchen table!) with warbands [...]

  • Review: Battlegroup – Fall of the Reich
    Rating: Battlegroup Fall of the Reich (FotR) is the third volume of the Battlegroup Kursk WWII rules that were released in 2012 by Iron Fist Publishing. As you might expect, Battlegroup Fall of the Reich looks at the last months of the war, as the Allies marched into Germany on both the Eastern and [...]

  • Review – I Ain’t Been Shot Mum: Battle for Liberation
    Rating:  Battle for Liberation is a supplement for the I Ain’t Been Shot Mum (IABSM) 3rd Edition World War II Company Level rules from Too Fat Lardies. It covers the World War 2 Western Front from 1943 – 45, from the invasion of Sicily to the final battles in the heart of Germany, and gives [...]

  • Review: The Campaign for Kharkov: October 1941
    Rating: This 48 page book, available as a PDF or an e-book, is a campaign supplement written by Chris Stoesen for the Chain of Command World War II Platoon level rules from Too Fat Lardies. It is worth noting that this supplement is not a complete game in itself, and you will need both a copy of [...]

  • Review: Sword and Spear
    Rating: Sword and Spear are a new set of wargames rules for gaming in the Ancient period, from the time of the Ancient Egyptians right through to Medieval Europe. They have been written by Mark Lewis, and the Second Edition is published by Great Escape Games. The rules are designed for armies made [...]
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    Richard III: The War of the Roses
    Wednesday night at Scimitar Wargames Group saw my first play of the much anticipated follow-up to Columbia Games Hammer of the Scots, Richard III: The War of the Roses. There has been a lot of buzz about this game, and I was very keen to try it. My Reaction? To be perfectly honest, somewhat mixed. [...]

  • Review: Painting Wargames Figures – Early Imperial Romans
    Having recently played the forthcoming ‘Infamy, Infamy!‘ rules from Too Fat Lardies, it seems an opportune moment to take a look at a book which gives a detailed painting guide for Early Imperial Romans. Written by the same author as WWII In The Desert, Painting Wargaming Figures: [...]

  • Review: Battles in the Age of War
    Rating: Battles in the Age of War (BAW) is a set of wargames rules designed for Samurai Warfare in the Sengoku period between 1467 – 1650. They were written in 2008 and are published by Peter Pig. The rules are 136 pages long, perfect bound and are black & white with a full colour soft [...]

  • Review: Tanks – Panther vs Sherman Starter Set
    Rating:   Gale Force Nine, the company behind titles such as Firefly: The Game and Spartacus: A Game of Blood and Treachery, have recently released a new game – Tanks: The World War II Tank Skirmish Game. This new game has been launched with the Panther vs Sherman Starter Set, plus a set [...]
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    ‘Saga’ review online
    Saga is the new, upcoming Dark Age skirmish game from Gripping Beast. Like many others, I saw this game at Salute,, and really liked what I saw. I actually got to play (and win!) a game at Partisan last Sunday. It really is an excellent game, and I will be chatting some more about this on the [...]

  • Review: Banzai
    Rating: Banzai: Age of the Country at War is a set of wargaming rules written by Robert Fellows and published by 2D6 Wargaming in 2016. This game is written to be used with 6mm miniatures using 60mm x 30mm basing, though it should work for any scale miniatures as long as the basing has a 2:1 ratio [...]

  • Review: AW Miniatures 28mm Samurai
    Rating: I have recently been putting together a couple of forces for Seven Swords (The Samurai version of Dux Britanniarum from Too Fat Lardies). To this end I have been using lots of models from my collection (rather than simply buying new models). I had bought several different packs of Sengoku [...]
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    A Horse! My Kingdom for a horse!
    After a week’s break from gaming club (My son was performing in a concert last Wednesday evening) last night saw what was actually my first board game played face-to-face for several weeks. Having bought it a few weeks ago, I was really glad to get War of the Roses: Lancaster vs York to the [...]

  • Review: Gothic – A Dark Companion for In Her Majesty’s Name
    Rating: Gothic is the third supplement for the Victorian Science Fiction rules In Her Majesty’s Name, written by Charles Murton and Craig Cartmell, but it is the first published directly by The Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare, as opposed to Osprey Publishing. Whilst the original IHMN rules [...]

  • Unboxing Test of Honour – Core Box & Faction Boxes
    As you no doubt know by know, I have been in a state of excited anticipation ever since Warlord Games announced that they were releasing Test of Honour. Well, the time has come and everything has arrived – I ordered my copy from PE2 Collectibles, which meant that I didn’t get the Geisha [...]

  • Osprey Boardgames – The King is Dead
    Osprey Publishing are just about to launch their very first boardgame. It’s called ‘The King is Dead’. It is set in Dark Age Britain after the death of King Arthur. I have received a review copy of the game – I only managed to open it to have a quick look inside the other [...]

  • Review: Deep Cut Studios Print-O-Mat
    Rating: Over the last couple of year, game mats have become have become a common accessory for players of all sorts of tabletop games, be it Miniatures Games, Boardgames, Card Games or Role Playing Games, with neoprene backed mats (mousepad material) seen as the premium product choice. Up until [...]

  • Review – Mortem Et Gloriam
    Rating: Mortem et Gloriam is a new set of Ancients mass battle rules, written by Simon Hall, who was previously a co-author of the Field of Glory rules, which were published by Osprey Publishing. The first thing of note about these rules is that they are not presented in a traditional bound [...]

  • Review: Polemos S.P.Q.R.
    Rating:  2011 has definitely been the year of the Ancients rules, with several different sets being released. S.P.Q.R. follows these, it’s publication having suffered a couple of delays (not the least being a rather large roof leak that left the area of the Baccus studio where pictures are [...]
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    New Uncharted Seas ships
    I bought some of the new wave of Uncharted Seas release from Stafford Games on Friday – tey arrived on my desk this morning – and thought that I would put up some pictures and some immediate impressions. The Dwarf Heavy Cruisers look simply awesome! An improvement on the basic Cruiser, [...]

  • Review: Test of Honour Ronin
    Rating:  The Ronin box set for Test of Honour was one of the wave one expansions for the game. The box set allows players to field a force comprising fully of masterless Samurai, led by a special character – Tadashi ‘The Dishonoured’. The box contains the aforementioned metal [...]

  • Review: UFO Squad – Defenders of the Earth
    Rating: UFO Squad is the new sci-fi skirmish game from Crossover Miniatures, where squads of human troops defend the earth from the threat of alien invasion. As well as the rules, Crossover has produced a range of figures for the game. In this blog, I’m taking a look at the human troops. [...]

  • Review – Thud & Blunder
    Rating: Thud & Blunder is a set of skirmish rules for warfare set in a land of high fantasy. The rules are written by Charles Murton and Craig Cartmell of The Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare, who have also authored In Her Majesty’s Name, Daisho and Blood Eagle. They are available as [...]

  • Review: Bad Squiddo Games Onna-bugeisha
    Rating: Bad Squiddo Games have released the first three packs of what promises to be an expanding range of Onna-bugeisha miniatures for Feudal Japan. The first pack contains three miniatures wielding katanas and is priced at £10 at time of writing. The detailing on the figures is very crisp, which [...]

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Mike Hobbs – Funeral Webcast

by Neil Shuck in Editorial

It was Mike’s funeral today. Due to COVID restrictions, attendance at the service was strictly limited, and I know so many people would have wanted to pay their [...]

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