Review Reaper Bones Fantasy Models

Reaper Bones are 28mm Reaper miniatures manufactured in China from a soft resin. The resin is not at all like polyethylene 'soft' plastic in that it is not oily. After a wash to remove any remaining 'release' layer, it paints up really well and the paint stays on.

Best of all, they cost about £2-4 and are sold from UK suppliers.

The range is enormous and growing in both fantasy and SF.

Reaper stuff has always been imaginative and well sculpted but it became impossibly expensive to import metal models through the international mail.

Highly recommended.

If It's Autumn, It Must Be SELWG

A view over the main floor at Crystal Palace.


There were more displays and trade stands up on the mezzanine floor, but my overall subjective impression was that there were fewer stands and customers this year. Admittedly, two of the clubs had to cry off at the last moment due to illness and a van expiring on the magic roundabout but even so...

Very British Civil War continues to be popular.


If you look carefully, you can just see Mosley's Blackshirts charging across the town square to liberate the Town Hall on this superb battleboard.

John Treadaway, the new editor of Miniature Wargames.

John was running a  very nice large scale 'Tomb of the Cybermen' participation game.

Morpheus Games in a prime spot under the concrete.

Morpheus were showing their Thunderbirds game. I managed to blag a Captain Kirk model from their upcoming project!

Infinity Engines stand.

This is a new company - to me - with wonderful steam punk/ Cthulhu models. The thing on six red legs is a Zero-Point Power Generator so beloved of Nazi conspiracy theorists.

Close Up.

I couldn't resist buying the steampunk UXB.

May the Force be with you.

Fantasy Flight Star Wars games continue to be popular.

Hysterical Games trade stand.

A great display of British Commandos attacking a German controlled port.

Secret Weapon.

A battleboard is improved considerably by a nice central piece like this V2. Isn't that so much better as an objective than a coin?

Dr Who.


And finally, the Warlord Games site were advertising their upcoming Dr Who game. The first miniatures were on sale and had sold out by lunchtime. This will be big chaps.

[Blatant advert warning: I wrote the rules.]

And that wraps up the stuff that caught my eye - well everything but my spoils.

Da Loot


This year I was strictly disciplined and left after my cash ran out. The rumour that my wife confiscated my credit cards is quite untrue: I gave them up voluntarily.


See y'all at Salute.

Poseidon's Warriors - Errata

I have just had the  figures for the first month's sales of Poseidon's Warriors and I am delighted to say it has sold pretty well, especially in the United States.

Thanks to everyone who has put their hand in their pocket.

An ambiguity has cropped up which needs elucidating:

Where on the ship data summary a vessel has a save of '0' it does not mean 0+, it means 'no save'.

It's pretty obvious from the context but ....

Entirely my fault, not Osprey's. I had one of those senior moments.

Happy ramming,

John Lambshead

March of the Spider Clan

Emboldened by the acquisition of a whole new hatch of giant spiders and the capture of a mega-spid, His Imperial Arachnidiss King Mighty the First, the goblin formerly known as Soddit the Sneaky, decided to bring civilisation to the stunty lands.

His victorious march down the Great Grey Road, lberating stunty mills and breweries as he went, was somewhat delayed - mainly by the liberation of the breweries - so that the Stunties had time to form a battle line on the plain below their mountain fastness.

Embolded by Stunty ale, Soddit ordered an immediate charge by the crack cavalry formations on the right and centre of his army.

Unfortunately, his wolf rider skirmish line held up the stunty badger riders for about the time it takes a gobbo to scream 'run away' and his crack orange-legs regiment, upon seeing this, somehow confused an order of 'charge ladz' for  'do nowt'.

[I rolled a bleedin' 1 on my first die roll: unfortunately a foretaste of things to come.]

Amazingly the forest gobbo allies on the left flank held their ground against a charge by a giant rock-elemental thingy and a stunty tank. Rumour has it they were too frozen in fear to run away.

Corse it couldn't last.

Soddit discovered that the problem wiv giving gobbos rides so they can get stuck in quicka also means that they can run away fasta.

A couple of rounds of combat and he found himself defending the right flank all on his ownsome.

After careful deliberation, our hero decided to make a tactical withdrawal back to the mega-spid to straighten his line.



Now, no one expects to win wiv a gobbo army but come on! This was embarrassing.

First Review of Tabletop Wargames

The first review of Tabletop Wargames is out on YouTube here, by Ringo Simpkins.

Thank you Mr Simpkins for your prompt comments. You are a Jolly Good Chap fully fitting to join the above line up.

Author Copies Arrived - Tabletop Wargames, A Designers' And Writers' Handbook

Yay the author copies have arrived!

The book goes on sale at the end of the month for the princely sum of £11.99p.

I must say Pen & Sword have done us proud with colour-coded chapters and full colour throughout.

We owe a number of people thanks for the photos. They are credited in the book. This particular one is by Andy Singleton, the professional painter who works under the brand name of Volley Fire.


Review Quotes
"I say, this is a jolly good read. Who wrote it?" Rick Priestley
"Is it time for my medication again, nurse?" John Lambshead

Bolt Action Fight them On The Beaches - Sea Lion

Operation Sea Lion, as 'any phule kno', was the German code name for the invasion of Britain, September 1940.

This will be my next book for Warlord Games/Osprey and it is being pre-advertised on Amazon.

The book is finished except for the scenarios, and new models are in the pipeline.

There will be new scenarios, new army lists of various types, and lots of new units and vehicles, which may be of interest to those who play Very British Civil War using Bolt Action Rules as there are rules for improvised equipment.

This has been great fun to do.