We’re a personable bunch at Warlord Games (apart from the Sawyer chap) and to give you a look at the human side of the company, Dave Holmes gives you an insight into our Mail Order department.
Dave: Working at Warlord Games is always varied and demanding, in no small part due to the amount of exciting new releases that come from the Studio to distract us from our work. With the explosion of Bolt Action keeping us extremely busy over the past few months I thought it would be a nice idea to give you a brief insight into what we get up to in the Mail-order department (and a very good excuse for me to sit down for half an hour).
The Warlord Games Mail Order department currently comprises The Two Daves. 50% of the department is me, Dave Holmes (otherwise known as Eamonn) and the other 50% is the venerable Dave Lawrence (hitherto referred to as Boycie).
For me, the day begins at the unholy hour of 6am and the first priority for the day is obviously a cup of coffee to kickstart our minds. Having achieved a suitable level of caffeine in the body, all of the customer orders from the past twenty-four hours are printed from the system.
The first port of call, having printed the orders, is the Trade warehouse where I pilfer as much stock as possible to fulfil Mail Order requirements (Shhh, don’t tell the guys in the Trade department!). Once I’ve safely squirreled away these products in Mail Order HQ, it’s time to start compiling Mail Order only products such as the majority of our Bolt Action vehicles or individual figures ‘Reinforcements’.
Should we be out of any necessary resin components, I make a list and head over to the Resin-making unit where I plead with them on bended knee (just where Warlord’s resin-making expert Rachel likes her men…) to shoehorn the bits I need in with their already busy workload. I would describe to you how the resin-casting process works but I have absolutely no idea – it’s all pixie magic to me. I suspect it may involve strange incantations and the sacrifice of small animals although I can’t be sure. However it is achieved, a few hours later I will have all the bits I asked for.
After gathering up all the resin components needed it’s time to head off to the Production warehouse and cast all of the metal components that are required, if they are not already in stock. All of our metal components are made by a process of centrifugal spin-casting. Circular rubber or silicone moulds are spun very quickly whilst being clamped firmly together and molten metal is poured in via a small hole in the top.
The spinning motion of the mould pushes the metal to all the extremities and once it has cooled (this only takes a few minutes) the mould can be peeled open and the shiny new figures removed. Needless to say the casting process is a fairly dangerous one with molten metal and noxious gases (the gases being from the casters, not the casting process) so protective equipment and stringent health and safety procedures are vital.
Having risked life, limb and nasal health in the name of metal components, it’s time to gather up all the items acquired throughout the day, collate them into the relevant orders and prepare them for postage around the world. Perhaps the most important aspect of the process (for me at least) is to write hilarious and witty jokes (well, I think they’re funny anyway…) and comments on the compliment slips that are included with the orders. Should you receive one of my examples of comedic genius, there’s no need to thank me as it’s all (unfortunately for you) part of the service.
Once the orders are checked and packaged they are bagged up, ready for the postal collection that day.
Right, enough blather from me – I’d better go and get your orders out!
