Warlord Games is now one whole year old. And what a year it’s been!
Before we don the party hats, raise a glass to the gods of wargaming and stuff our face full of birthday cake John and Paul are going to guide you through the past 12 months and give a wee taster of things to come…
First up we’d like to thank the thousands of customers who have supported Warlord Games both in terms of their patronage but more importantly their good cheer and enthusiasm for our products. Our forums are not only vibrant but a fun place to discuss all matters wargaming – we’re very proud of the splendid community that had flourished on the forums and know that over the next few months we’ll see a new influx of gamers joining our merry band – the more the merrier!
Warlord Games has come a long way in a very short year. Short year? What are they on about some of you must be thing…
Well, although Warlord Games started trading in October 2007 we had several months with no product as we put into place our master plans. It would be 7 months later before the saw the first pennies hit our bank account. So, in reality we’ve only really been going for the last 5 months – ever since we released our first plastic boxed set, Imperial Roman Legionaries to the world.
5 months. In that time we’ve managed to develop and release two full 28mm ranges – the Imperial Romans and the Celts. Both of these had plastic miniatures as well as a large cast of supporting metals. Over the next few weeks we’ll be sending flyers out to those who have ordered with us before and those who have subscribed to our newsletter. These will contains special offers and a good look at our entire range all on one poster-sized sheet! We know you’ll be impressed at what’s been made and released in 5 months – even more so when you consider the quality!
When John and Paul first started talking about setting up a new miniatures company they shared a passion for quality. This was reinforced whenever they discussed miniatures, posing, sculpting, etc – both wanted to see more dynamism and character in historical miniatures. No standard bearers stood looking bored, holding a stick for a mate for us! The analogy of the bored standard bearer is a perfect one with which to explain our design philosophy – standards were symbols of a tribe/Legion’s pride, an incredibly important icon with which to inspire and to rally the troops. So, to have a bloke looking like the Lollipop Lady at a school crossing is criminal!
Dull Miniatures Ltd releases latest Army Standard bearer model!:
Standard Bearers have been given the symbol of their people because they have proved themselves to be great warriors and use the standard to inspire and enthuse their charges during battle. As such a suitably heroic pose is necessary with the standard being brandished high or being protected with sword at the ready.
It isn’t just about the posing though – we aim to be innovative in much of what we do. The use our plastic Celtic Warriors in our Celtic cavalry, the 6-part resin Testudo and the bowl joints on our plastic Celts are but a few of the things that show we’re not just following the crowd but in many respects leading the charge!
We try to put this level of thought into every release we make. Some are more successful then others but on the whole we like the think our miniatures are hitting the spot and judging by the response from the wargaming world we’d be right!
So, that’s the past – what about the future?
The staff at Warlord have a combined total of over 100 years experience working in the wargames industry and we’re never short of new ideas!
We have two new boxed sets coming out in the next few weeks – the Imperial Roman Praetorian Guard and Ancient British Warriors. The Praetorians are the Emperor’s elite bodyguard unit and as such were the best trained and best equipped force in the Roman army. This plastic boxed set is much anticipated by us here at Warlord!
The Ancient British are a ‘hybrid’ set. This means we’re adding metals components to our plastic Celts to give them a flavour of the British tribes – spiky limed hair, Battersea shields and Waterloo helmets abound! We’ll show off some of these miniatures over the next couple of weeks as a taster but in the meantime check out the box fronts…
Future boxed sets are Dacians and Germans. Both will also have supporting metal ranges – the Dacians will also get allies – Sarmatian Kataphrakts anyone? Both of our first two ranges will see continued releases for many months to come.
We’ll soon be making announcements about new periods and new armies. We’re not quite ready to do that just yet but you can rest assured it’s an announcement worth waiting for!
We’re often asked about rules and our first set of rules will be Black Powder. Written by gaming heavyweights Rick Priestley and Jervis Johnson, Black Powder covers the Horse & Musket period – 1700 to 1900. Work on the book is coming along nicely with Paul spending long days (and nights) pulling it into shape. Below is just one of the superb photos which will grace this lavish book – expect much more of this kind of thing in the finished product.
As with any game system there is a constant fine tuning going on but we expect the rulebook to be released early next year. I think we can honestly say this is, as we refer to it, warporn of the highest order!
Our first supplement for Black Powder will extend the timeline of the original book to take in the Pike & Shot period. Bringing Thirty Years War and English Civil Wars into play will cover all periods where the musket was a major force on the field of battle. After that we do have a few more ideas but we’ll keep those up our collective sleeves for now!
So, to sum up we’ve had a cracking few months in the short time we’ve been going – imagine what we’ll do with a full 12 months under our belts!
Both of us want to say a heartfelt thank you to the Warlord staff. We couldn’t have done it without you…
And another huge vote of thanks has to go to all the old friends and colleagues who live in the Silicon Valley of model soldiers. This veritable legion of big-hearted and helpful individuals and companies have been instrumental in our success so far and we appreciate it more than you know. You know who you are and we thank you all…
We started by thanks you all and we’ll do so here at the end – to celebrate the first anniversary of Warlord Games we’re giving away a free plastic boxed set of your choice for every £75 you spend with us. This is open to mail order, webstore and phone customers – all are welcome to join in the festivities!
Now, where’s the sherry trifle…
Cheers,
Paul & John
Dan Hewitson
Tom Mecredy
