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".Then there's Rangers of Shadow Deep - a solo and cooperative game that became a firm favourite during the year of global lockdowns that was 2020.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.
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What Would You Put in a Hobby 'Time Capsule'?
If the world were about to end, but we could pack a big indestructible box full of the stuff that said "this was our hobby", what would you put in there?
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Warhammer-Inspired Audio Fiction
Domien De Groot is one half of Audio Epics, a company specialising in fantasy audio storytelling. They've published a number of richly designed and immersive tales that will be of interest to listeners of this podcast, not least of all, the Witch Hunter series. Each story is available on YouTube or the audio podcast feed. I would also highly recommend sticking on a pair of headphones and listening to this introduction to The Fairy Tree, a 3D audio production written by Domien and produced by Owl Field.
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Planning, Prepping, & Playing Huge Games
The Bedroom Battlefields Discord community has spawned several "marquee" games in the past few years. The latest big game was somewhere in between a 28mm game of Man O'War and a giant Warhammer skirmish with moving terrain. Mark and Jason join me for a chat about the planning, prepping, and playing.
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What Are Your All-Time Favourite Miniatures Games?
May's question of the month was a call to tell us about the games and rulesets you always find yourself coming back to, time and time again. And as for next month's question - here it is.
Did you grow up collecting and painting Citadel miniatures, and playing games like Warhammer, Warhammer 40k, HeroQuest, Battlemasters, and Space Hulk? Did you gradually grow out of the hobby only to find yourself plunging back in many years later, discovering great new games like Frostgrave, Rogue Planet, and Kings of War?The Bedroom Battlefields Tabletop Miniature Hobby Podcast brings you conversations about collecting, gaming, painting, terrain, and much more - often with a nostalgic twist.We also dive into topics such as productivity, balancing hobby time with other aspects of life, and the overall psychology behind playing with toy soldiers.
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