The term “Oldhammer” means different things to different people. On this episode of theTabletop Miniature Hobby Podcast, we’re in conversation with Garth James, who’s one of the organisers behind the annual Bring Out Your Lead event.
Bring Out Your Lead
Founded in 2013, the latest Bring Out Your Lead gathering took place in early October 2021 after taking an enforced year out in 2020, just like the rest of the world. One of the many great things about this event is its venue. BOYL is hosted by Foundry Miniatures – a company whose roots can be traced all the way back to the origins of Citadel Miniatures.
Garth is keen to point out that Bring Out Your Lead is not a tournament. Rather, he likens it to a classic car meetup. In these types of meets, people will admire and drive the cars, but they won’t necessarily race them.
“I think one thing that’s fairly constant in anyone’s Oldhammer, is the desire for narrative.”
Going back to the question of “what is Oldhammer?”, Garth feels this is purely down to each individual. Oldhammer may be seen as the nostalgic period where a person found and fell in love with the hobby. The ethos of Bring Out Your Lead seems to encapsulate this and doesn’t try to dictate what “is” and “isn’t” Oldhammer to anyone.
Elsewhere in the episode, we touched on Citadel Combat Cards, the aesthetic of monopose miniatures, modern Oldhammer miniature companies, and using contrast paints on old models. There’s also some serious discussion over which vehicle from the Warhammer Old World would make the best car, and which creature the best pet.
How many beginners are attracted to the hobby because of the miniatures, lore, painting, not to mention the scenery covered tabletops, only to be put off the minute they get a look at a set of rules? Sure, there’s definitely a place for complex and ultra-deep rulesets, but if you’re just starting out then chances are you’re going to be seeking out simple tabletop wargames. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the best miniature games for beginners.
Simple Tabletop Wargames
When we use the term “simple” it comes with a few caveats. A game of coin-toss is simple, but it’ll get boring pretty fast. In miniature wargaming, the phrase “easy to learn, hard to master” gets used a lot. Most beginners are looking for a ruleset they can quickly grasp, and then spend the rest of their brainpower working out things like tactics and strategies to outfox their opponents.
When weighing up the best miniature games for beginners we also need to consider a ruleset’s “replayability”. There’s little point in investing in a tabletop game if you’re only going to play it once, so we’ll bear that in mind here, too.
To kick us off, I’d like to shine a light on a company that does a fantastic job of creating simple tabletop games…
My heroes and villains from Mantic’s Dungeon Saga
This roundup contains a few affiliate links which mean the site may earn a small commission, should you choose to buy through them. This helps support what we do and is never at any extra cost to you!
Mantic Games
Mantic are a company with a great ethos around making their games enjoyable and accessible for beginners. Any game you buy from them is going to be easy to get into and offer a lot of replay value to boot.
I’m a big fan of their mass fantasy rank and flank game Kings of War. KoW was designed by Alessio Cavatore, who’s also well known for his work on Games Workshop titles like Warmaster, Warhammer 40,000 and Mordheim. It’s arguably the best modern alternative to Warhammer Fantasy Battles.
If sci-fi is your jam, then look no further than the futuristic Warpath. On the other hand, if you’re up for a bit of fantasy naval warfare then Armada might well float your boat. Or, enable you to sink some.
Dungeon Saga is another favourite of mines and is as close to a modern and supported version of the legendary dungeon crawler HeroQuest as you’re likely to find.
Finally, Mantic offers some licensed boxed miniature games in the form of The Walking Dead: All Out War and Hellboy. These are perfect “gateway drugs” for pals and partners who might otherwise baulk at the very thought of playing with toy soldiers 😉
One Page Wonders
I want to give a nod to the One Page Rules project which offers some of the best miniature games for beginners. Their name is slightly deceptive as you’ll find few games there that are literally one-page rules, but they are all easy to understand and look like a lot of fun.
There’s no shortage of sandboxes to play in here, from Grimdark Future to Age of Fantasy, as well as some cracking one-offs that will explore every setting and scratch every itch.
As an added bonus, these rulesets are all available for free. That said though, they do run a Patreon, so if you enjoy their games it’s nice to chuck them a wee tip to say thanks!
Building a warband for a skirmish-level game makes miniature wargaming accessible for beginners
Simple Skirmish Games
I’d couldn’t write a simple tabletop games roundup and not mention two of my favourite skirmish games, Song of Blades & Heroes, and Open Combat. I can’t speak highly enough about these two titles, which both cater to medieval and fantasy miniatures.
If you’re a complete beginner or plan to play with one, I’d start with SoBH. With this game, the stat lines and bookkeeping are kept to an absolute minimum, and you don’t even need a tape measure to play. The game has been re-skinned to fit many settings too, from Mutants & Death Ray Guns to Fur & Buttons, and everything in between.
Open Combat will give you slightly more depth when it comes to the stats of your warband, as well as their weapons and armour. That said, a complete beginner will have no problem at all picking the rules up. An added bonus is that the game’s hardback rulebook is beautifully put together.
Simple Tabletop Wargames
Hopefully this roundup of some of the best miniature games for beginners has helped you find something that suits your needs, wants, and tastes.
I personally struggle to learn new rulesets and get intimidated by chunky rule tomes. There’s no game I’ve mentioned here though that I wouldn’t have the confidence to pick up for the first time and have an enjoyable playing experience with.
If you’re aware of any more simple tabletop wargames not mentioned here too, then I’d love to hear about them in the comments section.
Big units of troops marching across a scenery packed 6 by 4 table – there’s no aesthetic quite like it. For most of us growing up, there was only one option when it came to fighting out mass fantasy battles and that was Warhammer. And whilst the Old World is returning at some point in the future, there really is no need to hang around waiting on that day, whenever it might be. There are plenty of good Warhammer alternatives you can pick up and start playing today.
Warhammer Alternatives
Heads up! I’ve included some affiliate links when linking to certain games here. This enables the site to earn a small commission should you choose to buy through them, though at no extra cost to yourself 😀
For starters, there’s absolutely nothing to stop you from playing whatever edition of the game you own or liked the best. There are also projects like The 9th Age and Warhammer Orchard Edition which remain lovingly supported by their own respected communities.
Then there’s Kings of War by Mantic games. This is perhaps the most famous and popular of the Warhammer alternatives out there on the market today. You can use your old and existing miniatures to play this game, or buy from Mantic’s ever-increasing range of original units and figures.
A lesser-known (but still definitely worth checking out) game is Mayhem by award-winning game designer Brent Spivey. Brent is known for a popular sci-fi skirmish game called Rogue Planet. Mayhem is his mass fantasy battles contribution and lends itself particularly well to dropping down to 10mm or even 6mm scale wargaming.
Warpack – A Diceless Mass Fantasy Battle Game
On this episode, we’re adding another option to the ever-growing list of Warhammer alternatives. It’s called Warpack, and we’re going to hear all about it from the game’s creator, Joe Prince of Prince of Darkness Games.
Here, we’ll learn about the game’s mechanics and structure. This includes its use of a deck of playing cards rather than dice to work our way through the tactics and turns. We’ll also find out a bit about the motivations and inspirations that lead Joe to create Warpack, and, naturally, we’ll chat a bit about Games Workshop.
Frostgrave is one of the most recognisable games in the tabletop miniature wargame hobby. It’s also one of the most popular outwith the Games Workshop Empire.
On this episode, we’re joined by the architect of the frozen city himself – Joe McCullough. We’re going to talk about the lay of the land when this miniature agnostic fantasy skirmish game was released back in 2015, and speculate on the key factors behind its success.
Joe’s no one-trick pony though, and his scope extends well beyond Frostgrave. Stargrave may sound similar in name (and certainly shares a few core mechanics), but this sci-fi skirmish game is much more than just “Frostgrave in space”.
More often than not, Joe has appeared to release games in the right place and at the right time. One notable exception, however, is Oathmark. This mass fantasy battle rank and flank game was undoubtedly subdued by its Spring 2020 release date – a point in time where very few people could actually play it. Joe offers his thoughts on that as well as how the game might recover from this setback going forward.
One of the reoccurring themes of this conversation was that of miniature wargame terrain. Frostgrave and Stargrave in particular benefit from their tables being extremely busy. But does this create a barrier for players with no existing terrain collection or no budget? Joe tells us about many players using simple wooden blocks or polystyrene packaging to build their frozen cities and intergalactic outposts, and why it doesn’t need to look “real” to capture the imagination.
You can keep up with Joe on his blog The Renaissance Troll where he posts updates on his games, his hobby, his painting, and his thoughts in general. You’ll find the official range of Frostgrave miniatures over at North Star Military Figures, if you want to go down that route, as well as a raft of other games and supplements on DriveThruRPG.
We’re also looking for future guests or co-hosts for this podcast and if you’re interested in coming on, we’d love to hear from you. Head on over to the podcast section of the website, fill out the short form, and we can get the ball rolling from there!
Is this hobby the one remaining place we can still escape from digital technology and leave the phones, tablets, etc at the door? Or, are there benefits to be had by implementing certain tech to run “hybrid” style gaming experiences? That’s just one of the topics we touch on in this episode of the Tabletop Miniature Hobby Podcast.
We talking about storytelling, and worldbuilding in miniature agnostic games, referencing some of our own favourites like Open Combat, Song of Blades & Heroes, and Rogue Planet. Does providing a universe or setting limit players, or does it help them to build their forces and play out more meaningful encounters?
We couldn’t have a chat with Robey without dipping into game mechanics. What are some of the most innovative ones he’s come across? What are the mechanics he’s most proud of creating himself? Are there only so many different variations of miniature wargame rules out there? And while we’re at it, what makes a hobbyist gamer want to start writing their own rules in the first place anyway?
Robey also offers his thoughts on how he’d go about adapting a popular miniature game into a solo or co-op ruleset, and whether or not you could make a “tiny” game with only 2 minis.
No conversation on this podcast would be complete without touching on Games Workshop either. Does GW have more or less of an influence and hold over this industry than it did, say, 25 years ago?
Do you need to paint every day? Do you need to play every week? Is a “seasonal hobbying” approach the answer to navigating busy or unexpected life events?
In this episode we bring you a conversation with Dan Adam. Dan is the founder of the essential and long-running Paint All The Minis Podcast, where he chats with “a wide-ranging set of individuals from both inside and on the outside of the Tabletop/RPG/Boardgame industry about their experience, insight, & motivations.”
“Paint in the winter… you only paint in the winter!”
We cover a lot of ground in this chat. The starting point is a discussion around new and early parenthood. Babies and young kids demand a lot of your time and attention. Can we really justify painting and playing with toy soldiers during such a period? And if we can, how do we even begin to carve out the time for such things? Is a seasonal hobbying approach the answer here? Or do you just need to get the finger out and find a spare ten minutes each day?
We muse over whether the time you have available should dictate the types of games you’re into. If you’re strapped for time, is there any point in getting into a mass-battle game like Kings of War? Would you be better off playing smaller warband-based skirmish games like Stargrave? Or even trying out solo wargaming?
Finally, we talk about the content tightrope. Listening to podcasts, watching YouTube vids, and following social media groups and pages can be great for inspiration and motivation. On the flip side though, you can easily get bombarded with all the latest “must-have” miniatures and games. How can we navigate this so we can be more mindful about the new things we buy into, whilst still getting all of the benefits of hobby content consumption?
Taking a nostalgic look at the Herohammer era with Wargames Orchard presenter Nathan Stone.
“The Wargames Orchard is podcast dedicated to exploring Warhammer in a whole new way! We dive into the lore, rules, armies, and units from 1st to 8th edition Fantasy and 40k! You’ll also find a bit of news, hobby talk, and silly games inside. The perfect podcast to accompany your hobby!”
On this episode, we’re joined by Wargames Orchard presenter Nathan Stone – someone with an encyclopaedic knowledge of Warhammer lore. We talk about the Herohammer era and why it’s so compelling. Where did regiments of skeletons find nice matching shields and shiny red-handled spears? Why did Space Marines fight Orks and Genestealers on lush green grass under stunning blue skies? Couldn’t they have enjoyed a picnic together instead, basking in the idyllic scenery? And why did the Herohammer era gradually fade to be replaced by a much more grimdark alternative?
The grass was always greener in the Herohammer era
We also talk about what every sane and normal person would do if they had access to a time machine – travel back to shop in a Games Workshop store in the mid-90s. If Nathan had $100 in his wallet, what would be on his shopping list, and why?
Painting and has been a bit slower recently due to the better weather, easing of restrictions, and a few other commitments taking up a bit of my free time. Nevertheless, I’ve still managed to get another wee batch of minis finished up, starting with these Chaos Space Raiders from Diehard.
I recently picked up my own copy of Stargrave, and I’ve barely put it down since (in fact, the one time I did put it down, my pet rabbit seemed to take a liking to it). Stargrave is a much anticipated miniature agnostic sci-fi skirmish game. Brought to us by the creator of the legendary Frostgrave, it’s tempting to refer to it simply as “Frostgrave in space”, though I don’t think that quite does it justice. In any case, I’m not here to dive into the rules, but rather, the Stargrave minis (or miniature options, as it were).
I mentioned that the game – just like Frostgrave – is miniature agnostic. Miniature agnostic games take the approach of “use whatever you own”, which is interpreted by many hobbyists (myself included) as “use whatever you would like to own”.
Knightmare’s Chaos Space Mari… I, er, mean Chaos Space Raiders
There’s actually an official range of Stargrave minis by North Star Military Figures. Here, you’ll find some nice looking soldiers and characters, and you can pick up some dice and tokens for the game whilst you’re at it, too.
Stargrave. A rather tasty ruleset… apparently…
For my own tastes, I was looking for an aesthetic that was slightly more “retro”. Though Rogue Trader was before my time (I came into the hobby in the early 90s) I’ve always loved the look of that game and the 40k universe as it was in those hazy days.
Stargrave Minis With a Rogue Trader (or Early 40k) Feel
I did a roundup of Oldhammer miniature companies with that classic 80s Citadel vibe a while back. A lot of these companies I hadn’t heard of before. After doing the writeup, I felt obliged to buy quite a lot of miniatures from most of them. Strictly for the purposes of research, you must understand.
Leafing through my Stargrave book, my imagination started to conjure up images of how I’d like my crews to look. As usual, these are a far cry from anything you’d buy out of GW in the year of our Emperor that is 2021. So it was time to get the long-suffering wallet out once again.
And now, here we are with a rundown of the Stargrave minis that I’ve either already bought or are on my “next to buy” list.
When it comes to Stargrave minis, Knightmare has a lot of great options, too. Immerse yourself in their Space Raiders range and brace yourself to spend some money. Chaos and Orcs (I don’t think we’re allowed to use a K in Orc, are we?) make up the bulk of the offerings here, and they look fantastic.
Space Orcs by Knightmare Miniatures
My final stop – at least, for now anyway – is onwards to CP Models. CP has a wide and diverse range of miniatures at multiple scales. But it was their 28mm sci-fi range I was interested in for my Stargrave minis project.
These fit with the Stargrave ethos really well, and there are some nice nods to IPs like Mass Effect and Fallout there too.
CP Models undead aliens
CP’s Grey Aliens range are – and I don’t think I’ve ever used this word in my life before – adorable. Those tiny zombie aliens fill my black heart with joy, they really do.
I’m going to wrap this up now because I already feel another spending spree coming on, and that’s before my first batch of Stargrave minis has even dropped through the letterbox. As always, I’ll be posting updates of my fledgling paintwork as and when I get them finished, so be sure to subscribe to the blog to stay tuned.
I’ve been on a bit of a roll with my painting recently, and it’s largely down to Midlam Miniatures. They’re one of my favourite miniature manufacturers, and I talk more about them in my Oldhammer Miniature Companies article.
My projects recently have been fairly straightforward. Collect and paint any fantasy miniatures I like the look of for either skirmish-level or dungeon crawler games.
“Keep your eye on the ball, son. Right, watch this…”
Moving away from robes and slithering tentacles, I’m also a sucker for a Chaos Warrior. Not those joyless modern types though. I mean real Chaos Warriors.
The first one I’ve named Brother Rust. He’d have fitted in with my retro Chaos Warrior warband, but alas, he will never know them.
I’m not sure if the second guy is an actual Chaos Warrior or if he’s just cosplaying as one. Another lovely little miniature nonetheless, though.
So these guys will all go into the mix for future dungeon crawler adventures. They’ll make ideal opponents for my party of heroes.
This Cave Lurker reminds me a bit of the old Ambull from the Citadel Combat Cards.
And speaking of Citadel, let’s temporarily leave the Midlam universe. I found a pile of old metal Blood Bowl beastmen in a box in the attic last year. I very nearly stuck them on Ebay, but I decided to paint them up instead.
I’ve got 9 in total, so this might well be an excuse to complete a full team and hunt out a copy of the game.
Back to Midlam, these two guys are pals of the Cave Lurker. I actually managed to prime, paint, and base them both in one single day.
Same with this guy. I wonder if he’s related to the big sweetcorn salesman?
