We make a return to playing Song of Blades & Heroes, one of the most simple and accessible skirmish games on the market. And, in this battle, we’re focusing on storytelling over points, fairness, and balance. The defenders can’t possibly win. But how well can they hold out against a huge Chaos force?

View the pictures from our game.

Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team isn't a game that gets much (any!) airtime on this humble podcast. But listeners might be interested to hear about a cool homebrew solo ruleset heavily influenced by Rangers of Shadow Deep and Rogue Trader. On this episode, I'm joined by Rob who pulled it all together in the form of Acolyte.

Episode Resources

• Acolyte - Solo Play Kill Team Ruleset
• Acolyte Reddit thread
• Wargamer: Warhammer 40k Kill Team gets fanmade solo mode in ACOLYTE
• Five Games for Doomsday: Podcast with Rick Priestley
• The Worst Patreon Ever

Friend of the show Mark Smith returns to discuss what's new in his own hobby life. One big topic of discussion here is that of 're-skinning' established scenarios in games, so that the mechanical framework is already tried and tested.

Talented writer Conrad Kinch joins me on this episode of the Tabletop Miniature Podcast to talk about his Rangers of Shadow Deep scenario To Heal the Sick. It’s available in the Star of Alladore supplement.

On top of that, we chat about a great piece he wrote for Miniature Wargames Magazine (issue 475) on his adventures in gaming with six-year-old twins.

Conrad is also the author of the novel, The Fox Wife’s Tail.

It's time to right the wrongs of our Rangers of Shadow Deep: Blood Moon (mis)adventure. And also, to chat about the potential benefits of AI in our hobby.

Take it away, OpenAI...

The potential benefits of AI in the tabletop miniature hobby are numerous. AI can be used to generate a more immersive and dynamic experience for players. It can also provide an extra layer of complexity and challenge to the game.

AI can be used to generate unique scenarios and objectives for players to complete. This could include customizing the battlefield, terrain, objectives, and enemies. AI can also be used to generate units for players to command. This could include customizing the units’ stats, equipment, and abilities.

AI-controlled enemies can be used to make the game more unpredictable and challenging. AI can also be used to generate strategies for players to follow. This could include customizing the tactics, objectives, and resources available. Finally, AI can be used to control various events on the battlefield, such as weather, terrain, and random events.

Ryan from the Adventure Build Gaming YouTube channel joins us to talk about his hobby life. A big part of that is building terrain, in particular, for skirmish games like Mordheim, Frostgrave, Rangers of Shadow Deep, and Stargrave.

Ryan's YouTube channel has some absolute masterclass videos on scratch-building terrain and is well worth checking out.

Blood Moon is the first micro-supplement for Rangers of Shadow Deep. Having enjoyed The Deserted Village, The Infected Trees, and The Bridge Guards scenarios, we were excited to get to grips with this one.

Unfortunately, after a positive start, we misinterpreted a vital rule and botched the entire thing. We were keeping investigation scores for each auxiliary companion as opposed to one single collective score. Now that we know what we did wrong, it makes perfect sense. It isn’t the clearest when you read it in the book, though, and we aren’t the brightest of chaps, so it was the perfect storm.

Here is the full range of pictures and miniatures from our Blood Moon game, too.

And be sure to subscribe to or follow the Tabletop Miniature Hobby Podcast on your listening app of choice.

I've been subscribed to Miniature Wargames Magazine for a few months now, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. On this episode, I'm joined by editor John Treadaway to talk about print publication in the hobby, as well as his own projects and interests.

Also mentioned

• Dice Men: The Origin Story of Games Workshop
• Grimdark: A Very British Hell
• October 2022 Paint Challenge - the finished miniatures
• Hungry Like the Wolf - miniatures completed for RoSD Blood Moon
• Our Community on Discord

I knew very little about Warhammer World beforehand, so wasn't sure what to expect. The building is split into different areas, you have the exhibition, the shop, the gaming area, and Bugman's Bar for your refreshment needs.

See my full gallery of pics from Warhammer World.

My main aims here were to see the exhibition and to get a couple of pints. I still had a wee look around the gaming area though, and it had some pretty impressive tables.

Tickets to the exhibition were a very reasonable £7.50, and you could go round it as many times as you wanted.

It's a place packed with vast, world-class dioramas. Seriously impressive stuff on that front. There was the odd classic on show, too. Mike McVey's Emperor Vs Horus from 1994, and John Blanche's 1982 masterpiece March of the Undead.

My one small gripe (if you could call it that) was that I was hoping for more of a museum or "through the ages" experience. There were some great wee 80s and 90s bits and pieces here and there, but they can get lost amongst the epic sprawling warzones of the modern era. It's almost as if the company want to pull you back to the present day as quickly and as regularly as possible. I suppose that is how they make their money, after all.

In any case, this didn't spoil my experience, and I had a great time. We finished up with a few beers, a walk around the shop, and then back off to Nottingham town centre via the excellent Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem (England's oldest Inn, apparently!).

Also on this episode of the Tabletop Miniature Hobby Podcast:

• Miniature hobbyist magazines - I had a lot of feedback and recommendations from my previous episode, and have since subscribed to Miniature Wargames
• The Minimum Effective Painting Method
• mtgcardsmith.com - see them in action in my Dungeons & Badgers post
• The October painting challenge in our Discord channel
• Monster in my Pocket

What are my favourite miniature companies? What do I think of 3D printing? And what's my opinion on historical wargaming? Those are just three topics on a jam-packed episode of the Tabletop Miniature Hobby Podcast.

Resources Mentioned

• Rum & Resin Fungi Terrain
• Best Miniature Companies
• 3D Printing Episodes - PATM, Precinct Omega 1, & Precinct Omega 2
• Em4 Miniatures
• Discord
• Poetry Podcast