Yarkshire Gamer Podcast - Episode 60 - Summer Brews in the Binyard

 

Its that time of year again where the gang meet up in our terrace bin yard to chew the fat on the hobby in general.

The episode can be listened to via the link below or on any major Podcast Host 

https://kenrtai.podbean.com/e/episode-60-summer-brews-in-the-binyard-24/

Today I'm joined by regular guests Alex Sotheran from Storm of Steel and Iain McDonald from Flags of War, we have a quick catch up whilst Alex saves up the money for his internet connection before he tells us how he became the "face" of Warlord Games.

Its then time for the panel to ratify the recent entries into Wargames Room 101 before moving on to draw Rounds 1 and 2 of the World Cup of Historical Wargames Miniature Manufacturers and yes the Perrys are in it !

We then finish of with the usual #askournora listeners questions where we discuss weighty topics like which pizza topping we would be.

Hope you enjoy, as always with these shows they are not for the faint hearted and best listened to in a darkened cellar with soundproofing.

Regards Ken

The Yarkshire Gamer

And here's the previous episode on the utubes 

Yarkshire Gamer Podcast - Episode 59 - Pete Brown TAG

 

Welcome to Episode 59 and today I am chatting with Pete Brown who is the main man at The Assault Group who are probably better known as TAG.

The episode is avaliable on all major Podcast hosts and vis the link below,

https://kenrtai.podbean.com/e/episode-59-pete-brown-tag/

Pete has had a interesting journey in the hobby prior to setting up TAG, he's worked at Table Top Games, Games Workshop and Wargames Foundry so it was great to chat about his career in mould making and casting and especially chatting about Bob Connor the owner of TTG who is sadly no longer with us.

TAG are probably best known for their extensive range of 28mm Renaissance Figures, covering most nations and conflicts in the period, as Pete is a self confessed list ticker he is always keen to finish off his ranges and not leave customers hanging on for that final pack in a range.

Its another wide ranging chat about the hobby which I'm sure you will enjoy.

TAG figures can be purchased via their website, link below,

https://theassaultgroup.co.uk/

The next episode with be the Summer Edition of Brews in the Bin Yard which will include the draw for the World Cup of Historical Wargames Miniature Manufacturers.

Until Next Time, Sithee

Regards Ken

The Yarkshire Gamer 

And here is the last episode on the utubes 

The Final of The World Cup of Historical Wargames Miniature Manufacturers

 

It's the Final, 157 Manufacturers have fallen by the way, there have been 21,756 votes so far but now its time to get it down to one. Get voting now, poll open until 18.30 on Sunday.

#wargames #wargaming #history #Miniatures

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/4bR7EU54o7u9iY2E/ 

Yarkshire Gamer Podcast - Episode 58 - Joe Bilton - Wargames Terrain

 

After our double header history fest on Jutland with Nick Jellicoe its time to get back to basics with a special episode on Wargames Terrain.

The episode is avaliable on all major Podcast hosts or via the link below 

https://kenrtai.podbean.com/e/episode-58-joe-bilton-wargames-terrain/

My guest is Joe Bilton aka @Joe_Wargamer on Twitter (sorry Elon, its Twitter mate) who during the 5 years or so he has been in the hobby has produced some superb quality tables with an emphasis on more realistic terrain.

His day job is creating maps for Wargames, mostly Role Play and Fantasy style stuff but with an increasing amount of historical stuff chucked in, here's a link to the company

http://www.heroicmaps.com/

All the usual sections are there and we have a cracking entry into Room 101, I can feel the Twitters lighting up already !

The final section of the show is a deep dive into terrain making with some top tips and ideas for improving the look of our wargames tables.

My next guest will be Pete from TAG, I'm a big fan of The Assault Groups Italian Wars figures so I'm really looking forward to that one.

Sit back and relax with a nice brew and a Garibaldi and enjoy the episode.

Until next time, Sithee

Regards Ken

The Yarkshire Gamer

The previous episode is available on the Utubes 

World Cup of Historical Wargames Miniature Manufacturers - QUARTER FINALS

 

Here's the draw for the Quarter Finals of the Yarkshire Gamers World Cup of Historical Wargames Miniature Manufacturers. Ties start next Monday, the numbers in brackets are the seeding at the start of the competition.

There have been just over 16,000 votes so far which is more than the whole of the Rules competition last year so thanks to everyone for getting involved, it's been great to see the Manufacturers themselves getting involved and as we get further into the competition I'm sure the tension will rise.

The Quarter finalists will form the Seeds for the next Manufacturers World Cup which is scheduled for 2028 😁. Match ups will start on the dates below and as usual run for three days which means I should be able to get the Semi finals away the week after.

TIes and vote links will appear here when live

The QFs are off with Steelfist taking on Victrix, it's an interesting match up, both have had two tough rounds to get here. Voting open on my FB for 3 days

The winner is Victrix 

The winner is Empress Miniatures 

The winner is Pendraken 

And the winner is Perry Miniatures 

World Cup of Historical Wargames Miniature Manufacturers - Round 2

 

Round 2 is here and so are the seeds and thank God, the Perrys are now in the draw and people can stop asking "where are the Perrys" !

Game 1 is a match up between AB Miniatures who have amazing ranges of 18mm Napoleonics (which were game changers on release and still stunning today) and 20mm WW2. They are up against the top qualifier from the Preliminary Round Victrix who are producing a growing range of high quality multi part 28mm figures from a number of Historical periods.

The winner is Victrix with 551 to 426 votes

Game 2 sees the old school Skytrex with their massive ranges of ships and military vehicles take on the 2nd highest finisher in the Preliminary Round Empress Miniatures. Empress got a large amount of votes in their first round tie so this could be a tough tie.

The winner is Empress Miniatures by 451 to 133

Game 3 underway, can the old school Elite Miniatures see off the Challenge of new kid on the block Bloody Miniatures, the seeds traditionally don't do well so we will find out in three days.

The winner is Bloody Miniatures who win 227 to 123

Game 4 in Round 2 sees No 1 seed Perry Miniatures take on Bad Squiddo. Bad Squiddo got a high number of votes in their Round 1 victory over Footsore and all the other seeds are getting battered at the moment so who knows the outcome, we've got three days to find out

The winner is Perry Miniatures with 429 votes to 325

Half way through Round 2 and Game 5 is underway, Heroics and Ros and Gripping Beast clash in this battle to get to the Quarter Finals, voting in the usual place 

The winner is Heroics and Ros with 463 votes to 406

The World Cup keeps rolling and Rd 2 Game 6 sees an interesting match up between Peter Pig and Baccus. Get down to Yarkshire Gamer and get your vote in.

The winner is Baccus 6mm 

A bit late starting today (it is Sunday 😆) Game 7 is old vs new, Minifigs vs Steelfist get voting now 

The winner is Steel Fist 

Final match up of Round 2 sees the 2nd seed @WargamesFoundry take on 3rd I the Prelim @pendraken a big match up for the final tie. Voting is down at the Yarkshire Gamer FB page 

The winner is Pendraken 

World Cup of Historical Wargames Miniature Manufacturers ROUND 1

Here we go with Round 1 where the 16 Manufacturers who recieved the highest number of votes in the Preliminary Round play off against each other to earn the right to meet a seed in Round 2 (Perrys, Foundry etc await).

I'll use this page for all of Round 1, putting the links to the voting for each Round as results as they happen, apologies the voting is restricted to Facebook as I haven't found a suitable alternative.

There will be one new vote each day and each vote lasts 3 days

ROUND 1 - GAME 1

The World Cup is off, A proper David and Goliath match up, between Warlord and Bloody Miniatures, can a small focused quality range beat a huge multi scale multi period company, we've got three days to find out, link below to FB vote

This vote ended 4th July 2024 Bloody Miniatures won with 62% (357 votes) against Warlord Games 38% (218 votes) a big shock in the first game !

Day 2 is Round 1 Game 2 and this sees Empress Miniatures take on Wargames Atlantic 

Empress Miniatures came second in the Preliminary Round and are best known for their 28mm metal ranges which simply ooze quality, there are so many ranges to choose from but my personal favourites are the Spanish Civil War and ECW ranges.

Wargames Atlantic specialises in 28mm plastic boxes sets and produces some excellent figures that often fill a gap in the existing market, a highlight for me is the 28mm WW2 Partizan range which is top quality and highly versatile.

Can we forgive WA for the Landsknecht Ogre Box or will Empress take home the crown, we've got three days to find out 😁

The vote ended on the 5th July 2024 with an amazing 1380 votes cast. Empress Miniatures won the day with 732 votes to Wargames Atlantics 648

Day 3 match up is the Renaissance Bowl between TAG and Steelfist, both manufacturers of high quality 28mm metal figures for the ........ Renaissance (as well as other periods)

Tough choice as I love them both, vote on the link below

This vote ended on 6th July 2024 with both sides getting 272 votes so look out for a sudden death shoot out later in the week.

If you vote once today make it in game 4 of the World Cup of Historical Wargames Miniature Manufacturers 

Today's match up is of two very different companies 

The Plastic Soldier Company or PSC have brought an affordable range of WW2 figures and models to the hobby, the kits and Soldiers are available in multiple scales and are easy to put together, a great way to build some impressive armies.

Gripping Beast are best known for their 28mm Ancient to Medieval ranges which are available in both metal and plastic. Their figures are full of detail and character and grace many tabletops throughout the land.

Who will prevail, we have 3 days to find out.

Get voting, Regards Ken 

This vote ended on the 7th July 2024 with Gripping Beast being the winners with 380 votes to 207

Did you forget to vote yesterday, well why not vote today in Game 5 of the Wargames Miniature Manufacturers World Cup, its an interesting match up but there can be only one, head over to the Yarkshire Gamer FB page to put your X in the box

#wargames #wargaming #Miniatures 

This vote ended on 8th of July with Baccus 6mm being the winners with 296 votes to 194

Game 6 sets off this morning with Footsore taking on the might Bad Squiddo. Are you Gangs of Barnsley or Team Dice Bag ? Get voting on the Yarkshire Gamer FB page now !

This vote ended on the 9th July with Bad Squiddo being the winners with 684 votes to 624

Today's match up is 10mm vs 15mm with Pendraken vs Battlefront, it's an interesting match up and Pendraken has set off like a stabbed rat !

Get voting down at the Yarkshire Gamer FB Page

This vote ended on the 10th July with Pendraken winning 319 votes to 91 

The final game is underway and votes can be cast on the Yarkshire Gamer FB page 

This voted ended on the 11th July with Victrix winning by 445 to 175

A live 1 hour Penalty Shoot Out was held on Friday 12th with Steelfist coming out on top after a hard fight, Steelfist progress 

The World Cup of Historical Wargames Miniature Manufacturers 2024

 

Last year I ran a World Cup of Historical Wargames Rules this year it's the turn of the Manufacturers. The top 8 seeds have been picked by an esteemed group of 4 people that I know and during the last week the 16 first round places have been voted for, please see below.

Here are the results of the preliminary round of The World Cup of Historical Wargames Miniatures

The Companies below will form pot1 and will form the 8 "home" teams in Round 1

1. Victrix Miniatures 315
2. Empress Miniatures 305
3. Pendraken Miniatures 206
4. Warlord Games 205
5. Baccus6mm 171
6, Footsore Miniatures & Games 170
7. The Plastic Soldier Company 168
8. The Assault Group 149

Pot 2 will contain the following Companies who will be the away teams in Round 1

9. Front Rank 148
10. Bad Squiddo 146
11. Gripping Beast 144
12. Old Glory 107
13. Steel Fist Miniatures 104
14. Battlefront 104
15. Bloody Miniatures 99
16. Wargames Atlantic 90

The winners of the 8 Ties will progress to Round 2 where they will meet the seeds shown in the bracket below, after that the ties will follow the chart as below.

Each match will be voted for on FB and each vote will last 72 hours.

The draw for the rounds will take place during the recording for the Brews in the Binyard Podcast on the evening of 24th Jun.

For those who are interested here are the remaining manufacturers who missed out

17. Aventine 85
18. Eureka 78
19. Forged in Battle 76
20. Crusader 75
21. Artizan 74
22. Early War Miniatures 68
23. Claymore Castings 66
24. Xyston Miniatures and 1st Corps 60
26. Calpe 55
27 DIxon Miniatures 53
28. Gringo 40s & Essex 52
30. Piano Wargames 51
31. Flags of War 50
32. Offensive Miniatures 48
33. Airfix 43
34. May 40 40
35. GHQ
36. Bicorne Miniatures 35
37. Copplestone Castings and North Star 34
39. Rubicon 33
40. Irregular Miniatures 31
41. Adler Miniatures 30
42. Andeluvian and Hinchcliffe Miniatures 27
44. Ebor Miniatures and Galloping Major 26
46. Battle Honours and Fireforge Miniatures 23
48. Elhiem Miniatures 22
49. Connoisseur, Navwar and Museum Miniatures 21
52. Iron Duke, Langton and Kallistra 20
55. Great Escape Games and Tumbling Dice 18
57. Khurasan Miniatures 17
58. Brigade Games 16
59. 1898 Minaturas 15
60. Matchbox and Pulp Figures 13
62. Mike's Models, Trent and Redoubt Miniatures 12
65. Alternative Armies and Italeri 11
67. Bavaria Miniatures 10
68. Fizzers Metal Men, Eagle Figures, Athena Miniatures, Revell, Zvenda, Black Tree Design, Reconquer 9
75. Crann Tara, Scotia Grendel, Red3 Miniatures, Newline Designs, Frei Korps 15, 8
80. Gladiator, Boot Hill, HaT, Baueda, SHQ 7
85. Black Hussar, Simons Soldiers, Fife and Drum, Strelets, Great War Miniatures, Legio Heroica, Warfare Miniatures 6
92. Caesar, Raventhorpe, Tin Soldier, Lancashire, Grubby Tanks 5
97. Curtneys, Renegade, FAA, Brittania, Steve Barber, Naismith, Companion Miniatures, Franznap Miniatures, Spencer Smith, A&A, Xan Miniatures, Corvus Miniatures 4
110. Minden, Davco, Mirliton, Liberation, Drews Militia, Matchlock, Table Top Games, Linera A, Polly Oliver, Avanpost, Garrison 3
121. Tanatus, Lurkio Figures, Checkpoint, Under Fire, Jacobite, WTJ, Agema, Lancer, Hinton Hunt, Wee Wolf Miniatures, V&V 2
132. Acorn Miniatures, Shako 64, Keelman, Wargamer, Warrior, Heer46, Thoroughbred, Brown Water Navy, Scarab, Revier, Alternative Miniatures 1
143. Fixed Bayonets, Scheltrum, Pandyman, Black Sheep, Thistle and Rose, Tundraworks, Oddizal Osmy, Blue Moon, Petes Flags

Thank you to everyone who took part in the first part of this World Cup, a total of 4748 votes cast so far.

The draw for the first two rounds was done last night and will be out soon.

Regards Ken 

The Yarkshire Gamer

Yarkshire Gamer Podcast Episode 57 - Nick Jellicoe - Jutland and Aftermath

 

Hi everyone.

No surprises with the content of this episode as I present the second part of my interview with Nick Jellicoe. In the first part we covered a lot of the background to the battle and the characters involved.

In this part of the interview we look in detail at the battle itself, going through each of the major phases of the action at Jutland. We then finish the show off with a quick look at John Jellicoe after the Battle.

The two episodes weigh in at just over 4 hours and I have to say I enjoyed every minute of each one. I would like to thank Nick for being so generous with his time and hopefully you enjoyed our chat as well.

Next episode will feature Joe Bilton, Joe is one of the leading terrain makers out there and his recent Stalingrad table at Salute was a joy to see. As some one who often shies away from that side of the hobby from both an enthusiasm and talent perspective it will be great to hear from Joe on how he gets excited over some grass tufts and a bit of scatter !

So until next time, Sithee

Regards Ken

The Yarkshire Gamer 

Here's the Utubes version of the last episode