So the big news this week was undoubtedly the cancellation of Bring Out Your Lead, the world’s original, biggest, and best Oldhammer event, which was scheduled for the second weekend in August.

“We are very sorry to announce that, because the existing premises at East Stoke are no longer suitable, we have decided to postpone this year’s Oldhammer BOYL event.” wrote organiser Garth on the official BOYL website.

“Foundry are actively seeking new, better and bigger premises to relocate to, which is likely to take some time. We are in regular contact with Foundry, and we will update everyone with moving news as it arises.”

Garth added that they would not postpone the event until later in the year and that “the next Bring Out Your Lead will be in 2027”, going on to say “We imagine that some local ‘bootleg’ BOYLs will appear, and other similar types of events, but these will be organised separately, and any relation to our August date and location is coincidental.”

And a Bootleg BOYL we have for you now, in the form of BOYL GITS! Organised by some of the chaps from the Bedroom Battlefields Community.

This will take place in the Navigation Inn in Nottingham on Friday, 7th and Saturday, 8th August, and will play host to a massive open-to-all game of Warhammer Fantasy – the culmination of a global narrative participation campaign.

There are plans to play some other games on the day, too, though, including Blood Bowl and Battlefleet Gothic. And, this is unlikely to be the only Bootleg BOYL on the go in August – Brother Meredith has put together a list of proposed events on the Oldhammer Forum, too.

Phew, so now that you’ve still got a good excuse to make your August pilgrimage to The Lead Belt, let’s get to our weekly roundup of new stuff that caught my eye.

• We’ve had Chaos Toilets before, but how about a Chaos Kitchen? “In a kitchen where chaos reigns supreme and order is merely a distant rumour, the most unlikely characters have gathered to cook, serve, and survive. Welcome to the minds of Robson & Darpa, where, in this carnival of culinary catastrophe, hierarchy collapses under the weight of incompetence.” A gloriously surreal set from Eureka Miniatures. I’ve eaten food in establishments where I’ve pictured this exact scene behind their mysterious ever-swinging doors.
• Duncan Rhodes doesn’t just paint miniatures now, he makes them. This Lords & Legends Preview Pack offers a glimpse of the exceptionally high quality we can expect from the range. I hear that next month’s release will be a couple of half-starved beastmen, known simply as Two Thin Goats.
• Check out this lovely Venetian Carriage from TTCombat. It’s perfect as-is, but just think of the sci-fi conversion potential, too.
• Some “opening a blister pack” nostalgia from Old School Miniatures – Grubskit’s Choppas are a goblin command group, sculpted by… who else, but Kev Adams?
• This characterful wee Beastie is new on Ramshackle Games, sculpted by Vexing Workshop, and he makes me nostalgic for Boglins.
• I don’t think these Knightmare Miniatures Evil Dwarfs are brand new, but I hadn’t come across them before. I love everything Knightmare makes, and Lothar’s Regiment is no exception.
• Here’s a big box of miniatures from Wargames Atlantic: The Damned Army Box contains 52 multi-part hard plastic 28mm figures for Death Fields Arena.
• And dropping to 15mm, the new MILLENIUM range from Khurasan Miniatures focuses on the 1000AD to 1150AD period.
• The idea of Lovecraftian Rome is right up my street, and it’s brought to life on the tabletop courtesy of Cohors Cthulhu Tactics by Modiphius. These new Servitor Legionnaires of Mormolook like they’re suffering a fate almost as bad as being stationed in Scotland.
• I’ve just finished reading Treasure Island, and I’m receptive to the idea of collecting some gentlemen of fortune. This Golden Age Pirates Starter Bundle from Firelock Games looks, as Silver himself would say, “as smart as paint”.
• If you want to make a fiscally prudent pirate warband, don’t let them bury their loot on a remote and deadly tropical island; have them invest it in a bank, instead. I hear Branwell Bank in Fallowmere has excellent interest rates and a “no questions asked” policy. More superb colour-printed 28mm MDF fantasy buildings from Warbases, all with removable roofs and accessible interiors!

On the Podcast: Andy Chambers Q&A: Re-Roll From 2023

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Back in 2023, the legendary Andy Chambers was kind enough to dedicate some of his time to working his way through my list of questions. So, what’s he not very good at? Why does he think this hobby still exists? And what myths and misconceptions would he like to dispel?

Find it wherever you get your podcasts.

On the Hobby Desk

I mentioned Knightmare Miniatures earlier on, and I’ve actually just finished up one of their excellent Space Raiders. He looks like he could do with a hand, doesn’t he?

In last week’s email, I described the Spring as “slightly reluctant”. Well, this week, I’m cheerfully nuking myself under a large, enthusiastic ball of plasma. I’ve heard from people in warmer climates that sunny weather is a great excuse to hide away in a cool dark room and get some hobbying done. This is, frankly, the opposite of what happens in Scotland, where we’ll be outside at every waking hour, positively demanding to be cooked.

So no hobbying of my own these past few days.

However, as my eyes readjust to the indoors (and the laptop screen), it appears all continues apace out there. Here are my weekly picks…

• This is an absolute beauty of a medieval warband from Vitrix. And you don’t need me to tell you it would look equally at home in any fantasy setting.
• Mantic have been knocking it out of the park recently. Loads of lovely new Forces of Nature miniatures and bundles are available for pre-order.
• Pendraken has three new fantasy monsters for your 10mm-12mm scale games. There are trolls, vicious weeds, and tree giants. The tree giant on the left could form the basis of an excellent diorama where he’s basically just very cross with someone.
• As someone who recently realised that painting gets easier when using good brushes, I’m tempted by this Masterclass Set from Army Painter. It has a 0, a 1, and a 2, which are… now that I think of it, the only sizes I ever actually use.
• Crusader Miniatures has some new Armed Civilians & Volunteers at 28mm scale. Left-middle is a volunteer for the local Britpop-themed fete at the village hall this Sunday.
• North Star are adding a superb new line of swashbucklers and sword fighters to their 1672 range. Scroll down the picture to create your very own “how it started – how it’s going” meme.
• Looking to recreate Stranger Things on the tabletop, but set it in Germany in 1939? Here you go. In all seriousness, though, it’s brilliant to finally get some miniatures for Mike Hutchinson’s On Your Bike in Lancashire.
• I used to watch Gladiators in the 90s and, I’ll be honest, I don’t recognise any of these guys. Maybe the show had some sort of predecessor 2000 years prior?
• Have you ever seen The Little Soldier Company’s exquisite Alice in Geründerland Range? They’ve added some new Chess Rabbits, which are great, but I’d absolutely love to have a warband of Card Soldiers.

On the Podcast: Terrain Tutorials, Battle Reports, & Five Parsecs From Home

Anthony from the Gergen Gaming YouTube channel joins me for a chat about making terrain and playing games in front of the camera. 

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Find it wherever you get your podcasts.

It may be a slightly reluctant Spring so far, but I’ve already dragged the family out for a day at the beach. Not because the weather was particularly nice, but because I needed to collect sand for the hills Doc Spork very kindly gifted me. More on those later, though (and I did treat the wee one to an ice cream for her efforts!)

• There is no shortage of atmospheric terrain kits these days. Here’s the new Assail Borderlands Scenery Pack, and Black Site Studio’s The Sundered Depths Bundle. These sets are designed for (but in no way limited to) Warcrow and Relicblade, respectively.
• Looking to make some sweet music on your kitchen table? Well, Galladoria has the horn. They also have a range of other instruments, including an abbey pipe organ, a bell, a gong, and a drum.
• If the above instruments inspire you to create your own music festival diorama, then Pendraken can provide the tents. Now we just need half a dozen burger vans and a row of overflowing portaloos. (Chaos Toilets, anyone?)
• The chances of anything coming from Mars are 4/6 at Ladbrokes (with a £5 free bet for new customers). Imperial Skies players can take their games to the Red Planet with these flavourful fliers.
• The limited edition Soldier of Fortune Lady Death is available from Warlord Games until the 31st May, 2026. Excellent on the battlefield, but not much fun at parties.
• Mantic has a lovely Basilean Bundle up for pre-order. The dragon looks pretty immense, and the lion is tickled as top-left sets his chip pan on fire. Throw a wet towel over it, mate!
• Doctor Spork’s latest offering is this retro fantasy modular rampart. All it needs is a wee “No Junk Mail” sticker painted onto the letterbox. Now, back to those hills he designed and printed, and you’ll see my progress below. The final shot is modelled with another Spork piece, his fantasy watchtower printed in 15mm scale.

And yes, I know it’s spelt “knolls”.

On the Podcast: Adeptus Titanicus, Blister Pack Walls, & The Chalice of Doom

Back in March, I was delighted to welcome Orlygg of the legendary Realm of Chaos 80s blog onto the show. The episode was very popular and gathered a ton of great feedback. If you missed it first time around, here it is.

Due to popular demand, I invited Orlygg back on for part two, and this time, solicited questions for him from the Bedroom Battlefields community.

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Find it wherever you get your podcasts.

On the Hobby Desk

My painting has been a little slow, recently, but not nonexistent. I painted another 40k Second Edition Space Marine in completely made-up 90s football kit colours, and then turned my attention to She-Ra, Princess of Power.

A few weeks ago, I talked about adding a chariot troop type to my games of Hobgoblin. I was also lacking a flying monster option, and why get one when you can get three?

This clutch of dragons from Ral Partha works well at 15mm, though I think they’re actually designed to represent adolescent dragons in 28mm games. The smaller the scale, the bigger they get, eh? I did a very quick contrast and drybrush job on my trio, and I’m happy enough with the outcome.

I’m also really enjoying this Epic Forge hardcover battlemaps book.

There are 30 unique maps of various fantasy flavours and settings, and you can even draw on them with erasable markers, if you’re so inclined. It could easily form the basis of a portable miniature game setup for the travelling enthusiast.

But enough about me and my stuff, what else is going on out there?

• Bombardiers, Hussar cavalry, and Grenadiers in Swedish cuffs. Here are some Seven Year War Prussians from Claymore Castings.
• Wasteland DJ RedEye comes to life in miniature as part of the Modiphius Fallout range.
• You can almost feel the squishy crunch of these Alien Infestation Basing Bits underfoot. Anyone who lives with a four-year-old and has laminate flooring will relate.
• Stonemason Spork has designed this brilliant Retro Fantasy Watchtower for the dwarves. Hopefully they don’t find out he’s also been working for the elves.
• Pendraken has a bunch of new 10mm Gauls, infantry, cavalry, chariots, and potentially, a guy with no trousers.
• Even if you don’t play Dropfleet Commander, I bet painting an entire city would be a satisfying project and hobby palette cleanser.

On the Podcast: Your Hobby Updates: April 2026

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The monthly hobby update of the Bedroom Battlefields community. Find it wherever you get your podcasts.

The ottoman was a piece of furniture in my grandparents’ home. I could best describe it as a sort of upholstered bench with storage inside. My brother and I regularly used it to “play at coffins”. It’s a tenuous link to Warlord’s new Ottoman range, but at least I’ve got us in the door, eh?

And before we leave the realm of grandparents’ furniture in the 1990s and move on to more relevant hobby matters, I also want to give a quick shout-out to the pouffe. The pouffe was a small cushioned stool, and I spent many a happy afternoon upon it, reading my latest copy of White Dwarf.

I hope this week’s newsletter finds you in such a happy place, even if only for a few minutes…

• “Here, how about that fiver you owe me?” Teynne the Usurper is a cracking new model from Mantic. I love the paint job, too.
• Mtd Captain John Stiffman is ready for your Dead Man’s Hand (and other such gunslinger) games. And that’s a topper of a name, to boot!
• The Duncan Rhodes Painting Academy announced a price increase for their Two Thin Coats range. “Unfortunately and completely out of our control, the paint supplier and manufacturer, after five years, is having to increase the price of the paint bottles by a small amount.”
• Sarissa Precision do some fantastic full-colour MDF kits. I like the look of these new ruined buildings, and they’d be perfect for adding some layers and levels to your skirmish battlefields.
• Though if you’re gaming pre-apocalypse, how about creating a Victorian terraced street with this Pendraken range?
• I’d never usually put a Kickstarter in the newsletter, but this is John Blanche we’re talking about. En Garde – Vanguard is his upcoming 54mm duelling game, and it seems to be doing pretty well on there!
• Is this the best miniature we ever could have wished for?
• For the bearded amongst you, some lovely new Dwarf Warriors on Ral Partha via Wombat Wargames/Shadows of Centralis.
• Have you seen the price of a pint in Dublin? These lads have.
• The Perrys have added some new 8mm metals to their Travelbattle range. “They are fairly generic and designed to cover, roughly, the 1730’s-1770’s, although some are more specific.” Travelbattle is marketed as “The Complete Tabletop Wargame in a Box” and was released back in 2017. Not anywhere on the same level, but I once had a go at making a rudimentary ‘wargame in a tin’ – Space Saverz.

On the Podcast: Building the Army of Your Childhood Dreams

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Sean of the Timeless Tabletop Gaming YouTube channel talks dream projects, creating on YouTube, and playing against opponents who cheat. Also contains the funny and relatable line “A girl can’t see this!”

Find it wherever you get your podcasts.

On the Hobby Desk

A massive thanks to podcast listener Mark, who offered to send me his copies of Hero Kids and rpgKids after hearing me talk about Amazing Tales on a recent episode. These adventure packs are designed for kids aged 4-7, and I’m really looking forward to trying them out with my daughter. Thanks again, Mark!

The more I write The MiniGamer, the more this hobby opens my eyes. I was going to liken myself to Alex in A Clockwork Orange, but I don’t think he particularly enjoyed that eye-opening experience, did he?

Anyway, real horror show… grab your glass of milk and let’s take a tour around the dystopian Milton Keynes that is our hobby…

• What a collection these 1605-1615 Jacobeans are, eh? Lovely stuff from Bloody Miniatures, a company named after my wife’s favourite saying.
• Proving that it’s never too late to launch your music career, John Blanche has released some singles. In all seriousness, the great master’s Army Painter range looks amazing.
• If you’re a fan of kitbashing, Mad Robot Miniatures is a treasure trove. The possibilities are endless with these new Tricorne Reaver Hybrid Torsos.
• Doctor Spork has an erection. Check out this absolute stonker of a retro fortified tower.
• And if you want to build a classic Old World-inspired village around said erection, here are some brilliant German Renaissance Buildings from Steve Barber Models. I’m also delighted that this range includes two 18th-century drunks. Cheers, lads!
• Peter Pig has added a bunch of new Persian ancients. Their commitment to the ancients even extends to their charmingly retro website.
• Thanks to the Wee Blokes blog for introducing me to Interloper Miniatures by way of these Chicken Robot Hunters. If you’ve ever wanted to field Foghorn Leghorn in a sci-fi warband, then you’re all sorted!
• From the Wargames Atlantic blog, a nice short, sharp piece on why tabletop gaming beats doomscrolling every time. To be honest, standing on a plug beats doomscrolling every time, too. But I heartily agree with Steven, and he even brought some science along for the ride.
• Ramshackle has a new Gumpas Set. I’ve no idea what a Gumpa is, but I’m here for them.
• Stop Press! Thanks to Mark in the Bedroom Battlefields community for the heads up, here. “On Owen’s Time Between Times podcast, he tells traditional tales, and two characters from one of these stories – The Robbers of Penwyllt, Iago and Gronwy – have been brought to life as 28mm metal miniatures”. Sculpted by Richard Dickens of Cold War Miniatures, these guys ooze character, and this is a very exciting and heartwarming collaboration!

On the Podcast: Geoff of Oakbound Talks Aesthetics, Folklore, & Hand Sculpting

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I first met Geoff at Bring Out Your Lead 2024, where he wandered up to me with a box full of random old miniatures and invited me to help myself. I later found out he ran Oakbound Studio and was an unbelievably talented sculptor, too. Having followed his amazing work since then, I figured he was long overdue for an invite onto the show. I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation. Find it wherever you get your podcasts.

On the Gaming Table

I played a 5500-point game of Hobgoblin with The Good Doctor last week, using the ‘Burn Them Out’ scenario. His undead horde had to capture two of my three buildings, which, in our narrative, represented the pub, the brewery, and the landlord’s house. By the end of turn three, poor old Lord Marshall Longfellow was dead (again), and his forces were defeated (again). As ever with our games of Hobgoblin, it was an action-packed affair full of fun cinematic moments, and certainly never a dull one.

Hullo, folks!

We had a nice family holiday in Northumbria last week, managing to visit a handful of historical sites in between beer gardens. We did Corbridge Roman Town, Roman Vindolanda Fort, then Jarrow Hall & Bede Museum. When we finally arrived at Beamish, it seemed almost futuristic.

Here’s a quick photo of Corbridge for you. Talk about the death of the Great British High Street, eh?

Anyway, I’m no Bill Bryson, so I won’t dwell on my travel adventures any longer. Let’s get to the toy soldiers stuff. Here’s what caught my eye recently…

• A pair of King Johns sounds like a slang term for your Y-fronts, doesn’t it? But after releasing the King John sourcebook for The Baron’s War, Footsore Miniatures now offers a mounted and an on-foot version of this mercurial medieval monarch. I’m fascinated with this historical period after reading Sharon Penman’s Plantagenets series. It’s a minor miracle I’ve been able to resist buying any Baron’s War stuff yet, though it’s unlikely I’ll hold out for much longer.
• Staying with Footsore, the inimitable Trish Carden’s new HarrowHyrst beastmen will be available for dispatch before the weekend arrives. One common criticism of beastmen interpretations is that they’re all just goats. Well, not in Trish’s world. My personal favourite is Snail Guy, who actually reminds me a bit of trying to get changed underneath my towel at the beach.
• Elsewhere, if you’re looking to take your miniature habit to a more literal level, check out The Monks of Midlam Abbey.
• I’m late to the Meridian Miniatures party, but what an utterly stunning range. I don’t have the words for these chaps, which is unfortunate, given that I’m writing a newsletter. I also love the Moonblins, am devastated the Synth Wizard is sold out, and if you’re a Doctor named Spork, how about some orcs for your non-Citadel Genestealer cult?
• If there’s a single hobbyist out there who doesn’t own a squad of Space Rangers, is 80p a figure cheap enough for you?
• Here’s a couple of Celtic Cavalry lads from North Star. Or is it a photo of me and my imaginary friend running round those Roman sites I visited last week?
• Finally, The Little Soldier Company has announced they’ll be bringing back Hinchliffe’s fantasy range from the 1970s, sculpted by the late Peter Gilder. Some incredible stuff in there, including the Marauder Giant’s great-grandad.

On the Podcast: DBA Tournaments, Painting Armies, & Hobbying in Retirement

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Martin from the Bedroom Battlefields community is a regular contributor to our monthly hobby update episodes. I’ve been keen to get him on for a more in-depth chat about his hobby life, and fortunately, he was happy to oblige!

Find the Tabletop Miniature Hobby Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.

The Hobby Desk

Having never tried the Chariot troop type in Hobgoblin, I was keen to rectify that, and I’m now pleased to present ‘The One King Chariot’. I don’t know if it counts as “kitbashing”, but I swapped out the chariot’s intended barbarian riders for a dwarf hero (all from Ral Partha). The result is a usurped dwarven King turned mercenary whose aim is to raise the funds he needs to take back his golden throne. For now, though, he’ll need to make do with a very bumpy wooden one (not to mention, a spectacular view up a boar’s rear eye!)