William King's contribution to the Warhammer Mythos is considerable. After all, he created the now iconic character of Gotrek (not to mention Felix) as well as penning the early tales of Ragnar Blackmane. His writings can also be found inside the rulebooks of several classic era games, including The Lost and the Damned and his witty mix of humour and dark horror exemplifies all that was great about early Warhammer and 40K.

I had long been keen to interview Mr. King as part of my wider series of chats about old school Games Workshop. But it wasn't until Graeme Davis, legendary author of WFRP and many associated supplements, contacted me offering to set up such a opportunity that things fell into place. So thank you Graeme for that! And thank you too to William for taking time out from his busy schedule to talk about the old days with us.

I expect that like many of you, Geheimnisnacht was my first real contact with William King's work. I had seen the adverts run in White Dwarf about the forthcoming new range of novels and anthologies sometime in 1989, and was very pleased to see the first run of books for sale in Wonderworld when I visited. Sadly, I only had enough cash for a couple of books and subsequently chose Konrad and Ignorant Armies. I still own, and read, those copies today. In time, I managed to track down all the other anthologies that were published in the first run - Wolf Riders and Red Thirst. I reconnected with the saga of Gotrek while at university thanks to the Black Library's Trollslayer, Skavenslayer and Daemonslayer.

Looking back through this first series of books, William King contributed quite a few short story gems during the 'Golden Age'. If you are unfamiliar with his work during this period, here is a little run down of what there is out there to be inspired by:

Ignorant Armies - two stories, the already mentioned Geheimsnisnacht and the title tale, Ignorant Armies itself.
Wolf Riders - only the single tale in this edition, again the title story, Wolf Riders, the second Gotrek and Felix story.
Red Thirst - again, only a single contribution here, the third Gotrek and Fleix story: The Dark Beneath the World.
Route 666 (anthology version) - the short story, Uptown Girl, set in the Dark Future universe.
Deathwing - two short stories here, the title tale, Deathwing, co-written with Bryan Ansell, and Devil's Marauders

Happy hunting if you haven't read these stories yet in your Oldhammer journey.Right, enough of my waffle and time to talk to Bill about his recollections. Here goes...

RoC80s: Please tell us about your early life? What were your first experiences with sci-fi/fantasy literature?

BK: I was born in Stranraer, Scotland many moons ago. I discovered wargaming in the late '60s/early '70s courtesy of Don Featherstone and Charles Grant books from the local library and Airfix.

I got into RPGs via D&D during my first year at University in 1977.

It changed my life!

The earliest SF/Fantasy I can remember reading was Andre Norton and Ursula Le Guin in the kids section of the aforementioned library. I soon started spending my own pocket money on Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E Howard, Michael Moorcock and Tolkien. I was also fond of Frank Herbert and Roger Zelazny. I was fortunate to grow up during what was probably the first great boom in fantasy and SF. A lot of the old pulp writers were being rediscovered and a whole new generation of very good fantasy writers was emerging. I can still remember picking up the Mayflower Moorcocks, the Panther HP Lovecrafts and Clark Ashton Smiths in John Menzies.

If I close my eyes I can picture the psychedelic covers of the Moorcock books and the brilliant Bruce Pennington paintings on Lost Worlds and the Frank Herbert books.

RoC80s:How did you make the transition from a fan of the genre to writing for publications such as Interzone?

BK: I started submitting short stories. It really was as simple as that. I had no idea how to go about submitting books. I sent stories to Interzone because it was in the UK and had clear guidelines about how to submit right there in the mag.

Before Interzone I wrote a few fanzine articles for Superhero UK and sold some stories to the semi-pro Dream magazine.

RoC80s:At what point in your life did you first discover Warhammer and what was it about the game that caught your attention?

BK: RPGs were my thing in the 80s, mostly the Hero System. I did not really notice Warhammer all that much until the arrival of WFRP in 1986. I remember being blown away by the colour insert in White Dwarf which featured among other things a man being abducted by Skaven. When I got my hands on the huge hardcover it did not disappoint.

What appealed was the combination of wild Moorcockian fantasy with a certain grubby realism. That, and the pretty brutal and distinctly casual attitude towards character death. When I read the books I had the feeling that it was written by people who knew their stuff historically speaking. It felt a lot different from most other fantasy games then available. I also think The Enemy Within campaign was probably the best campaign ever professionally published.

That helped.

RoC80s: How did you end up joining GW in 1989 with a remit to produce fiction?

BK: Just after I had sold my first story to Interzone, I read an article somewhere -- it might have been in a BSFA mag-- saying that David Pringle, then the editor of Interzone, had got a job editing for a new Warhammer book line. I wrote to him saying I play this game. I know this world. I can write this. Give us a job!

He said yes.

The launch of Zenith, an anthology my second published story was in, was held in Nottingham. I saw Bryan Ansell in the dealer's room. I recognised him from his picture in White Dwarf so I walked over, introduced myself and told him I was doing some work for his company. He asked me if I was interested in a full time job working for GW? I stuck around for an interview after the convention and that was it.

I was in.

RoC80s: What were the earliest pieces of writing your produced for GW and were there really such tight restrictions about what you could write about?

BK: It was all a long time and many destroyed brain cells ago! I think the first thing I worked on at GW was Codex Titanicus. Then there was Waaargh, the Orks and Deathwing. Most of the fiction was commissioned to go into these books and I was given pretty tight briefs as to what was wanted.

Understandable under the circumstances.


RoC80s: Did you spend a great deal of time within the GW studio when you were writing early fiction? If so, what can you recall about the atmosphere of the place in the late 80s/early 90s?

BK: I worked in the old Low Pavement Design Studio for a year or so starting in 1989. It was a pretty wild place. People would sleep on an old battered couch in the office and work late into the night. There was a buzz to it. Things were taking off. Warhammer was breaking out. People were excited by what they were doing and there were a lot of smart talented people about.

RoC80s: Please share with us the details behind the creation of Gotrek and Felix. Did they pre-date the development of GW Books or were the created as part of the range of anthologies?

BK: I noticed that among my WFRP players trollslayers were popular and I could see why. I mean what's not to love about demented suicidal dwarves with big axes? When I sat down to write Gehmnisnacht, the first appearance of Gotrek and Felix I used the plot of a scenario I had run for my Warhammer campaign. I actually killed Gotrek at the end of the story, you can see the moment it happened in the story if you look closely. Then I thought wait a minute, what am I doing? These characters could have a whole series in them.

Turns out I was right about that.

I was just winging it for the most part. I always wanted to write a classic sword and sorcery series where the hero wanders around and has adventures-- you know stuff like Conan and Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. This was my chance to do it. I was still finding my way as a writer when I started. I had only sold about 3 short stories at this point. It took me about a decade to work my way up to being able to write novels competently.

That said, Daemonslayer was a book I brooded on for five years. At the time no one knew whether Black Library was going to be around for long (GW Books had been a failure after all) and I wanted it to get in everything I could about the characters. I figured it was my one chance to do things right. That's why it has our heroes facing the biggest toughest monster they are ever likely to. If I had been sensible I would have saved that for later.

(As to Gotrek's fate) My original plan was to have him run over by a bus or possibly a steamroller . To be honest, I have no idea. Part of the problem of writing a series like this is coming up with a suitably epic ending. I always treated the whole glorious death thing as one of the central jokes of the books, kind of like whenever they are hired/forced to protect some place it usually ends up burned to the ground. Here you have this utterly suicidal demented warrior who is just too tough and too stubborn to die.

RoC80s: Did you ever contribute to actual games development (rules) or was your focus always fiction?

BK: I ended up as a developer during my next stint at the Design Studio-- a couple of years in the early 90s. I did a fair amount of writing and testing on Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Man o'War. I contributed to a few of the early army books. I was the first person ever to lose to Jervis Johnson in a published battle report. (Now there's a real claim to fame!)

RoC80s: We have learnt over the years that many GW personalities made it into the artwork and background. Did you include anyone in particular in any of your fiction?

BK: I never knew that! For my sins the only one I can think of is Grey Seer Thanquol and he is based on me, specifically the me that plays wargames. When I win it's because of my tactical genius. When I lose it is because of the Gods are against me or because of the incompetence of my minions.

I suspect there are a lot of gamers like me out there.

Tuomas Pirinen, Brutal Deluxe Game Design
MORDHEIM DESIGN NOTES -15 YEARS LATER

Ask and you shall be given: over the years I've received so much feedback and fan mail for Mordheim that I've been meaning to write my own reflections on the game. The people have been really curious about the birth of the game and what led to creation of a product that was quite unusual for the GW product line-up at that time.

IN THE BEGINNING...
Mordhem was started with a model of a burned-out, ruined city, made of Mighty Empire pieces and custom houses the Perry twins when brainstorming the history of the Old World. Rick Priestley (whose help in getting the game published was vital) and I had just had a good laugh at all the year 2000 religious cults that were prophesying the end of the world and we thought it would be really funny that in the Warhammer world the same thing happened -except all the portents of doom were real and something apocalyptic DID happen.

We looked at the history of the Old World and realized that year 2000 was perfect for a setting of the game: the Empire was fragmented, magic was illegal, and Chaos was ascendant. Thus the setting of Mordheim was born, and the twin-taled comet, the traditional symbol of Sigmar the patron god of the Empire became once again one of the prominent symbols of the Warhammer World, restored to its rightful place in the iconograhy of games industry.

THE PRE-PRODUCTION
The first thing that comes to mind when I think of Mordheim is how it sparked off the creativity at the HQ. The whole Studio was energized, especially the artists who (led by mighty John Blanche) really let it rip with Mordheim Art, blending the old Realms of Chaos spirit with the modern Warhammer look and feel.

People literally worked late hours against the wishes of the management: Gav Thorpe crafted some excellent stories that also became the basis of the Ulli and Marquand comics. Rick Priestley wrote absolutely cracking background to the Witch Hunters which still makes me chuckle when I read it today. Me and Alessio played countless matches and discussed how to blend skirmish wargaming with narrative. I worked with Alan Merret and others designing a way to create affordable and extremely flexible plastic sprues for the Warbands. We poured over dozens of history books detailing the end of the world prophecies and the times when the black plague devastated much of the Europe, to create the atmosphere for the game and its art.

We put enormous effort into the symbolism of the art and the writing -the fish that you see everywhere was not just a unifying visual element, but they also represented the souls of the people of Mordheim where the powers of Chaos and Sigmar vied for them.

THE RULES
I think most Warhammer fans remember me mainly for my efforts to balance the 6th edition of Warhammer and to bring back the importance of troops. This is because normally when I design game rules I start with the mechanics and establish the maximum and minimum values for all game parameters and then try to break them through external playtesting, writing some simple excel calculations and keep tweaking them so that the core rules are as balanced as possible. I also always enrolled the best tournament players I could find to read the rules like the Devil reads the Bible to find any loopholes and exploits.

But I did make a decision early on that Mordheim would be a fiction-driven game where the flavour and creativity would be given priority over strict game balance. I do not mean that I would throw away the game balance for nothing -but for example in the fiction of Mordhem armor was expensive, so I made it expensive in the game as well. This was intentional, and became more of a bragging right to the players rather than a common occurrence. At the Studio campaign a suit of armor became a bragging right and a source of many model conversions.

So instead of making the core rules first, in Mordheim I created the Warbands and their background first, and fleshed out the overarching history of Mordheim. Then we worked on the rules to bring those Warbands and their world alive on the tabletop, and create a rules framework from which the stories of those Warbands could arise.

Mordheim was never meant to be tournament game (though I've had an honor to judge several Mordheim tournaments and I thoroughly enjoyed them). I've gotten some criticism for that over the years, which is fine -players are entitled to decide which aspects of the game they appreciate, and I am a big boy, I can take constructive critcism. People have made their own versions of the game (such as Coreheim) to mould the game to their tastes, and I am fine with that: in fact I've always encouraged players to do so.

Mordheim was in many ways my attempt to blend tabletop RPGs with miniature gaming as seamlessly as I could. I've taken a plenty of flack for this approach over the years, but I do think that a designer has to stay true to his or her vision in order to create something memorable: you cannot serve two masters. Ultimately it is up to the players to decide if I succeeded, but I remain proud of Mordheim to this day: I believe I could write the rules better today, but I do think that by and large we managed to create what we set out to do.

THE ROLE OF RANDOM
In many ways, the large number of random tables throughout the game became my greatest ally. I wanted everything in the game to be risky -that's why so many items, choices and weapons in Mordheim carry a large risk factor with them. I wanted the game to create epic, memorable stories for the players to recall fondly years later. In games where the game is very rigidly controlled by players with very little randomness, you can control the balance and create a very competitive and even game akin to chess. But maximizing randomness creates situations and choices for the player to react to which he never even dreamed of encountering, and the one to marshall all their resources and imagination to deal with the unforeseen situation. An a magician Warband leader suffering from Stupidity is a situation Mordheim can throw your way, or a Vampire who has immense strength but no Toughness to deal with incoming blows. Only a game with high random factor can create these challenges and allow player to rise to the occasion -and perhaps more importantly remember it for years to come.

In many ways Mordheim was meant to be playing the dice with the gods of Chaos: they would bend the rules, make your Warband leader lose both his eyes and legs, and then laugh at your face -or even better with you, as you did your best to salvage the situation the best you can.

IF I COULD TURN BACK TIME...
I think that because the playtesting and campaign I ran at the Design Studio was very story-driven, I missed some of the things such as Skaven being equipped with endless number of slings, and did not write some things like the rules for the Steel Whips as clearly as I could have. This would have never turned Mordheim into a primarily tournament game, but would have lessened some of frustrations of players: game can have a highly narrative drive, but in my opinion rules should always be as clear and easy to use as possible.

If there is one major addition to the game I think would enhance Mordheim it is a separate section and rules for a role of the game master who pushes the campaign forward and creates scenariors and long-term goals for the players. As I did this role myself during the initial Mordheim campaign, I honestly did not see how much a Games Master who creates special scenarios enhances the game. I think I should have taken all my special scenarios, notes on running the campaign and long-term aims and goals, and I would have spent a few months to make them something anyone can use to create their own campaigns for Mordheim.

THE FUTURE
To my delight despite all the challenges more niche games face today Mordheim lives on today on the tabletops of die-hard fans, on the bookshelves of the collectors, on PC thanks to computer games, and I'd like to think in the hearts and minds of the game fanatics like me.

I am very impressed with the work that Rogue Factory are doing with the PC version of Mordheim. I think they are true inheritors of the the spirit of Mordheim, and it is good to see its popularity on Steam. Many of the Old Guard fans or Mordheim are enjoying it which warms my heart.

But most of all, I still see daily how enthusiasts and fans create their own Warbands, terrain, conversions, rules and background. It was this passion I had had for old wrinkled Dragon magazines, Rolemaster RPG critical hit tables and long sessions of Warhammer that led into my own pursuit of games as a career, and I kind of hope that perhaps my efforts in their own small way have sparked an imagination of some young designer somewhere who will continue to carry the torch of the industry far into the future.

Graeme Davis (former Games Workshop and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay writer) recently posted a blog article about "My Complete and Utter Cthulhu Bibliography" which proved sufficiently interesting I thought I'd take the opportunity to talk to Graeme about his work from the early days of Call of Cthulhu, his time at Games Workshop and White Dwarf magazine and his involvement in the production of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.

The following is a 30 minute interview that provides some fascinating insights, not least, what it was like "behind the scenes" at Games Workshop in the '80s.
Graeme still has his hand in Cthulhu games writing with his Lovecraft supplement for Colonial Gothic due out in September.

Pick up the interview via our podcast feed or from the Files section.

A close up detail of a Space Hulk diorama Tim began in the late '80s. It is still not finished!
If you were anything like me, the day that White Dwarf was published in the 1980s was like D-Day. The preparations had been completed, the task force (well, my bike) was prepped and ready and the ammunition loaded (okay, my pocket money was safely in my wallet) and ready to go. I am sure that you had your own route to travel. My journey was to the rather unsavoury newsagents not far from my house. The one that doubled as a video shop, sold penny sweets and cassette tape computer games. My friend Ben said that the infamous doorway (blocked with those plastic dangling strips shops used to boast back then) housed a 'porn alcove' but I was never brave enough to slip through and goggle at the racks of Razzle and Mayfair.

Not that I had any need, as I had White Dwarf.

The magazine felt different back then. It was more adult and grown up, with hyper-violent artwork and gurning photographs of the motorcycling (and spectacularly leatherclad) staff. The shelving in the newsagents also suggested who it was 'for' - in the eyes of the suspicious old lady who ran that place anyway. For White Dwarf inhabited the singular 'middle shelf' alongside such grown up publications as Judge Dredd, the Punisher and Gardener's Weekly.

It felt great buying a copy. Despite the owner's misgivings, no doubt inspired by the diatribe of the Daily Mail, that the magazine wasn't suitable for a young 'un like me - money would change hands and that delightful ride home would ensure. With my copy dangling from my handle bars in its plastic bag, I'd make the journey home all the while wondering what mind-blowing images, miniatures and ideas I would find within.

THAT idea would buzz around your head. What must it be like to work there? What must it be like to be a Games Workshopper?

Well, the subject of this latest interview knows the answer to that question, and a fair more besides, as he was once just like us. A common fan of old school Citadel. Only, he made that awesome transition - and got to ACTUALLY work there. To contribute to that wonderful period in British fantasy gaming.

Tim Prow.



I love the art. It looks modern but has obvious links back to the Golden Age - those icons for each of the factions are brilliant!
And now, Mr Prow is at it again. Only going and getting a group of highly talented miniature professional together to work on a rather interesting project. Diehard Miniatures - an Oldhammer inspired range launching via Kickstarter.

And the Kickstarter is now LIVE!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/diehardminiatures/diehard-miniatures-oldhammer-fantasy-miniatures

In celelbration of this, I tracked Tim down to the fetid gym where he resides and forced him to document the story of his time at GW, his subsequent international career in miniature design and, of course, his plans for Diehard Miniatures.

RoC80s: So how did all begin for you Tim? Fantasy gaming? Games Workshop? If I remember correctly, you were employed as an apprentice painter. How did it all come about?


TP: I think in much the same way as many others back in the day. I must have been around 13 years old, a friend had gotten a couple of figures from the local GW store in town (the old golden dragon, and some fighters, I seem to remember). That is where it all started. I still have the first figure I ever painted, a dwarf fighter with a round shield and raised sword. Good old Humbrol paints! Think I was more into the collecting at first, but I did play Warhammer Fantasy Battle and WFRP. Oh, not forgetting the Fighting Fantasy books! When I was about 15, I went to GW and painted during my Christmas school holidays for a week or so - a great honour and eye opener for sure and I still have the letter from John Blanche asking me to come in! I worked in the same room as Colin Dixon, Dave Andrews, Sid and Tony Ackland (think there was more guys there, but I cannot remember their names). I used to hang out with Phil Lewis upstairs in the photography room. He really nice bloke. I painted an early Eldar command group and some chaos thugs, they were not that good a paint job but it was the early years. Back then, you were allowed to smoke at work and the room was full of cigarette smoke, I can remember coming home smelling like a chimney! After that I kept in touch with GW. I left school at 16, had a couple of jobs, and at the age of 17 managed to get a full time job with GW as a figure painter. I was taken on for the kingly sum of £4000 a year! The figure painting room was the same, but in those two years the people had changed - now GW had Mike McVey, Ivan Bartlet, Dale Hurst and Andy Craig. Phil Lewis and Dave Andrews were in the adjoining room, and Kev Adams off in the alcove room.



A shot of some of the old school Citadel models that reside in Tim's collection.

RoC80s: What were the first few projects that you remember working on?


TP: Well it was a long time back, and I blame eating green stuff on my dodgy memory now. From what I can remember I was too late to work on the first book for Realms of Chaos, but I managed to contribute to the second book. A lot of the Nurgle stuff was from my private collection. We’d play test in our lunch breaks with small warbands, I remember coming across Adrian Smith's forces on one such break (let’s just say Nurgle was not watching over his chosen that day) I can also recall the first lot of Ork books for Rogue Trader/Warhammer 40,000. I loved that stuff, and ended up painting a lot of Orks for those early books.




RoC80s: How was the studio set up and run? Could you just pick models and get on or were you directed?

TP: It depended. Some paint jobs were looser than others but anything new that had to have a strict paint scheme would go through with either Jez (if it was Eldar/marines related) or Alan Merritt. Occasionally, we also had our say on the development of colour schemes so it could be symbiotic too. Once the colour scheme had been set, we were free to do the figure in our own way and use our own imagination. Later on in the 90s, the colour schemes got stricter but then you always had your own time to paint a figure how you liked if you wished. I still have a large collection of my own stuff from the time, many of which have 'unofficial' colour schemes.



A closer shot of that gorgeous Eldar titan.
RoC80s: What was the working atmosphere like among the 'Eavy Metal painters?


TP: I think for the most part it was a happy crew. While we worked at Enfield Chambers we had our own section away from the rest of the company, so we could work how we liked, listen to what we like, and have a laugh without the bosses hearing what we said. A lot of the time you’d have people like John Blanche coming over to work in our room as it was a better atmosphere. As the youngest, I’d get what was given to me but as time went on I’d was more able to choose what I painted. I remember thinking how honoured I was to paint the Eldar Reapers after Mike had done the first figure from each of the (then new) range Jez had done. To be thought good enough to follow the technique of Mike was pretty cool. I went on to do a set of Scorpions and I think some Banshees as well.



RoC80s: How did the team influence and support each other? Was there any other particular painter or painters who inspired you the most?


TP: We all had our separate way of doing things. I think as I was young and ready to soak up ideas and techniques I was best placed to learn and develop. Others were set in their ways or were happy to do what they were told. Ivan was very earthy and natural in his painting, Dale had a similar approach but added more colour in there. Dale was also colour blind (not something he mentioned while applying for the job) and I can remember all his paint lids had the colours written on them. Andy liked his bright colours, but it was Mike that influenced me the most, his use of colour and his natural blending was never equalled.



RoC80s: You attended Games Day as part of the 'Eavy Metal display team, as well as a punter. Any juicy memories of those events?


TP: I remember attending the factory open days before I believe there was a Games day or Golden Demon I just remember them being very happy days. We really worked hard putting up the stands and sorting all the display cases. The countdown to opening the doors, and the sudden rush of people entering. It was a mad day for sure. And nothing amazed me more than the enthusiasm of the crowd, to talk and show them techniques, and to see them appreciate it was the ultimate reward. We’d always have a laugh signing autographs, making our signatures more and more outrageous (and taking the piss out of the fancy signatures of the higher ups). People would rip down sign boards and get them signed!



RoC80s: Life as an 'Eavy Metal painter in the '80s seems very Rock 'n' Roll at times! Any wild stories to share?


TP: I think because I was so young at the time and the fact I joined at the end of the 80’s most of the ‘Roll’ had left, still plenty of ‘Rock’ though. I remember getting back stage passes to see Megadeth from Gary Sharp Young, I also met them at a press only function in London, I was over the moon By the time we moved to Castle Boulevard the company was becoming a lot more strict. Dale, Ivan, and Phil were gone, leaving only myself and Mike. All the painted figures had been given to Bryan as part of the deal when he sold the company, so we had a hell of a job repopulating the shelves with painted stuff.




Dark Angel diorama close up.
RoC80s: You've mention painters like Ivan Bartlett and Dale Hurst several times now. These are people of great interest to us, anything further you can share about them?

TP: They were great characters and we used to game at their apartment - mostly using Rolemaster rules in the Warhammer world They were really fun nights. I once made the mistake of challenging them to a drinking competition…. not the smartest moves as they were, let's say, well built for drinking! I ended up on the last bus home and all I can remember is waking up at the bus station in Alfreton (a town I’d never been to) and my dad was not pleased to have to come pick me up! Did I ever mention I was young and naive?

RoC80s: How did GW change and develop during you time there?


TP: I was lucky in a way, I got to see the changes but didn’t end up seeing the final fall. I started in 1989 and we were still in Enfield Chambers, A very cool rabbit warren of a building. I worked with people I looked up to and thought myself very lucky. Once Byran Ansell had sold the company things began to change. Soon after Dale, Ivan and Phil were ‘let go’, and it all started feeling a lot more restrictive and corporate. The move to Castle Boulevard was another sign. We now worked in an open plan office with Rick Priestley and Alan Merrit sat within controlling distance Don’t get me wrong, it was still a fun time to be there and we were producing so many cool games at the time. I was able to play test many of those great titles during my lunch break too. We took on several new painters, and a new 'Eavy Metal crew formed.


Tim Prow on tour. Love the shorts but what on earth was the toilet roll for?

RoC80s: What can you recall about the 'Eavy Metal tours you used to do?


TP: I think I got to see more of the UK than I had so far in my teens. It was a bit daunting for me at first, but then I really got into it. I regularly did the Nottingham shop, but remember doing Luton, Hammersmith, Plymouth, Manchester, and Glasgow (and I am sure there were more). I remember the Glasgow one vividly as it started off with the train breaking down and being stuck in God knows where before finally arriving late to the station. The ext day, I got to the shop okay, but one of the first guys to ask me a question, well I had no idea what he was saying! I recognise most accents, but this one was beyond even me. I asked him to repeat himself several times with no luck, and in the end I just gave him an answer I thought he’d want.




More from Tim's collection.
RoC80s: Apart from Mike McVey, you seem to be the only original 'Eavy Metal painter still in business. How did you make the transition from painting to sculpting?



TP: I think like most people who dabble, it all started with wanting to convert figures. With our ability to get figures by the weight price we had no end of opportunity to mess around to our heart's content. From converting and filling gaps, it was a short jump to sculpting heads, items or figures. Kev White and I started to sculpt in our lunch breaks and we were helped by the sculptors. With the advice we gleamed sitting by their desks watching how they did stuff, we were able to progress quite quickly. Rick Priestley was very gracious, and let us have castings of these first attempts. We learnt what would cast and got to see what worked and what didn’t on the sculpt once in metal. But I couldn't really go anywhere despite developing these skills. It was made clear that GW didn't have the resources to take either Kev or myself on as sculptors, and I’d hit the very low pay ceiling for a painter, so it seemed if I wanted to take this further as a career I’d have to move on! During a week off, I sculpted my first test piece for Heartbreaker Miniatures. By the time I was back at work I knew I was ready to leave. Rick asked what I’d do once I'd left and I said 'sculpt', I remember him saying somethig like ‘it’s a cottage industry out there, you won’t make as much as you did for us’. Well the first year of self-employed sculpting I made twice as much as I had as a GW painter I think these words were the best spur I ever could have had in starting up and making a go of it! So I'd like to thank Rick Priestley for giving me my determination to prove I could make a success of it. So I moved on to Heartbreaker Miniatures. Phil Lewis had been there for just over a year I think. Bob Watts gave me a trial piece to work on, and by the end of the week he offered me a job working freelance for Heartbreaker. The old team was back, Phil Lewis, Chaz Elliott, me and soon after, Kev Adams joined us. Heartbreaker produced figures for many different companies during the 90s, but the main one was Target Games sculpting Mutant Chronicles. Paul Bonner had left GW and was producing brilliant artwork (as ever) too.

By 2000 I was going through a divorce, I was offered a full time job at Ral Partha by my very good friend, Kevin Bledsoe. He had previously worked with Bob, and when Bob moved to Ral Partha, Kev came with him. It was the obvious choice for someone suddenly free of all attachments, so I took up the offer and America was a great ride, I loved every minute of being there! I started in Cincinnati with Partha, but after just 6 months they were bought out by Wizkids. I was working with Dave Summers, Jeff Grace, Steve Saunders, and Jeff Wilhelm. Really nice crew of guys with great talent. There was a lot of skills and techniques being passed back and forth, it was an amazing melting pot.


Later in 2001 during GenCon, Jordan Weisman asked Jeff Grace and myself to come join them in Seattle, and the adventure continued A new team was formed, one of which was Brian Dugas. I was there till the end of 2003, before returning to the UK. The company had been taken over, and as much as the new parent company says they are a family company and look after their employees… well they didn't! It was, however, a blessing in disguise as I got to spend the last month or so with my father before he died in Nottingham.





Since then, I restarted my freelance career and have been a freelance ever since. I could reel off possibly 40 or 50 companies I’ve worked for (I really need to go back through my books and find out!). Most recently I’ve worked on stuff for Mantic, Mierce, Fenris Games, Reaper Miniatures, Avatars of War. I’ve also worked on many Kickstarters, I’ve worked on Marvel and DC collectable magazines, and even a short stint at Pinewood Studios!



The chaotic faction from Diehard Miniatures - including the Son of Slomn in the centre.

RoC80s: So we are right up to the present day and with your new project. And an Oldhammer inspired one to boot! Why Diehard Miniatures?


TP: Why not?


I think it is an idea that has been bandied around for a while now. We sculptors sometimes chat about getting a company together and working as a collective. Ideas bounce around, nothing gets done, and we go off on our own ways. It wasn’t until around this time last year that something came together and stuck. The idea that we could cut the middleman out as it were, and be that much closer to the customer was very appealing. Together we have control over what we do and where we go, giving us a flexibility and strength not many companies have. The initial idea was to sculpt just a handful of figures and float a KickStarter and just see where it went. From there, the project has grown into 9 factions, 6 pieces each, ending with dragons and giants! We do love a challenge



Eru-Kin miniatures from the Diehard kickstarter. Painted by Mr Prow if I recall correctly.

The team that’s come together fits surprisingly well, and despite being in three different time zones, it works. Apart from myself, we have Chaz Elliott on the Isle of Lewis - renowned from the GW glory days, Drew Williams is based in San Francisco and is a very natural talent and with great knowledge. Finally, our linchpin is Richard Luong in Texas. His art has surprised us all with its ability to merge the 'Oldhammer' style we were after with a new updated look. With our Oldhammer inspired guidance in the art briefs, Rich has given us delightful concepts to work from. We've all picked races that we are passionate about too.



Undead faction Diehard miniatures. I love that skeleton model.


My first choice was the Eru-Kin. As some of my earliest collection were Space Frogs and I loved those figures. No-one has really ever taken took those figures much farther. My goal is to take the Eru-Kin where their ancestors should have gone; I’ve lots of ideas for these guys! Undead and Chaos I also love to sculpt for the project, as if I’m ever given a choice or asked to sculpt them I smile. Hopefully if we do well, I’d like to see the next project as a Sci-Fi one - can you imagine Eru-Kin in full power armour?


Here is a useful comparison shot between a period '80s Citadel miniature orc and a Diehard equivalent.
I have written about Diehard Miniatures before here at Realm of Chaos 80s and if you are interested in reading my thoughts on the subject just click this handy link here for all that I shave shared. If you have enjoyed this interview and appreciate the Diehard models that you have seen then please do support Tim's project.

Just click the link below to pledge a few quid and make this range a possibility.

Diehard Miniatures Kickstarter

Before I go, I would just like to thank Tim from his time on this as it can take a while to extract these memories from warp shattered minds such as his. Always end on a song they say, well I am going to ignore that advice and end with a video inside. Enjoy!

Orlygg

 reds8n wrote:
http://miniaturewargames.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Perry-twins-interview-unabridged.pdf

interview with the Perry twins from 2010.

Deals a bit with the LOTR and so forth.

The Harlequin: An interview with Darren Matthews




Iconic cover art from the original Rogue Trader released harlequins. But what do they have to do with Darren Matthews? Read on.
Oldhammer is a product of two things. Nostalgia and Social Media. Without both of these, we wouldn't have the community that so many of us enjoy today. And it's an international community too, with regular events held in the UK, US and beyond. The ease of communication that modern technology allows has fuelled our considerable growth over the last three years and facilitated the organisation of events, trades and research impossible a decade ago.

We must owe the existence of this latest Old School interview to Social Media as its subject, Darren Matthews, became part of the online Oldhammer Community through the Facebook Group. In case you do not recognise the name, he was one of the original members of the 'Eavy Metal team way back in the later part of the 1980s. But Darren's connection to Citadel and Games Workshop doesn't just begin in the later part of the decade - he was involved from practically the beginning, as we shall see.

Thankfully for us all, Darren was more than willing to exercise his memory and draw deep into the Warp to bring us some recollections of his time with the company - doing the job all of us really wanted to do: paint miniatures for money. So, on behalf of Oldhammerers everywhere, I will thank Darren for giving up his time to talk to us about his time at Games Workshop.

RoC80s: So what first got you into fantasy gaming and miniatures?

DM: I first got into Fantasy via watching movies and my Dad was a massive fan of Jason and the Argonauts so I suppose it went from there. I bought my first Citadel minis in around 1980 at a little shop on Steep in Lincoln. They were the Fantasy Tribe Skeletons. Kobolds were my next purchase and things sort of went from there. A Toy Shop in Lincoln started to sell blister packs and it was an open road from then on. Around 1985, I met Chaz Elliot in Lincoln and he got totally hooked on fantasy miniatures and I was in awe of his painting and practiced to emulate. A shop also opened in Lincoln that just dealt in fantasy miniatures and games so I started painting for the display case in the shop for lead. Also, I read the Colour Of Magic in its first ever release by a certain Mr Pratchett and was totally hooked after. I never got into gaming or could get my head round it but was collector and painter from the start.




Fantasy Tribe Skeletons: Darren Matthew's first Citadel miniatures.
RoC80s: So you were rather experienced with fantasy miniatures and their painting by the time you began working for Games Workshop. How did you get the job of painting professionally?

DM: In early 1987, when I was in my early 20s, I moved back to Nottingham and enjoyed collecting and painting miniatures. The work I had been doing in archaeology had come to an end through a cut in funding and I decided to send a sample of my painting in to the studio but with no real hope that it would lead to anything. A week later, John Blanche turned up at my front door and offered me the chance of working in the studio!

I was stunned to say the least at the time and until then thought my painting was nowhere near good enough for White Dwarf. Sean Masterton, who was the then editor of White Dwarf, turned up with John. It was after work I found out later and they were going for a curry!

My first day was one of nerves beyond belief and a real baptism of fire meeting the established painting team. At that time, The 'Eavy Metal studio was comprised of Mike McVey, Colin Dixon, Dave Andrews and Sid and John Blanche was our boss. Tony Ackland and H also shared the studio and I really felt out of my depth. After a few weeks I understood most of the banter and what was required of a full time painter in the studio.




Some of the other 'Eavy Metal boys from Darren's time. Lee 'I have a magnificent set of '80s curtains' Dudley was helping out during his summer holidays. Lucky bugger!
RoC80s: You mentioned the elusive Sid the Painter. We don't know much about him beyond a few photographs and an article or two. What can you tell us about him?

DM: Sid was called Tim Croxton. I think that is how you spell his surname and he came from Eastwood. He was a very intelligent guy, but a bit of a rebel. He was very good natured deep down when you got to know him.He was big into his motorbikes and cars. I don't know what happened to him after he left and I left not long after as the studio vibe had started to change.

RoC80s: What were the early days like training to be a Studio Painter?

DM: For the first few weeks I finished off old projects that had been on the back burner; such as the Wood Elves, Orcs and Snotlings from the fantasy ranges. Gradually, I was given new releases to paint before they would appear in White Dwarf, normally the following month. I also started on a few things in my spare time and meeting the Perry Twins who worked in a different part of the studio started me off on collecting historical miniatures. Bryan Ansell was the owner of the company and we always got on well when I met him. John Blanche encouraged me to experiment with paint and inks and try new painting techniques that I hadn't thought of using before.

I have always considered John the total master of painting and Mike McVey a very close second. We all had different painting styles at the time and don't think there was a house technique to painting at the time. Gradually we saw the artwork that Tony Ackland was working on for Realms of Chaos and gradually the miniatures arrived in the studio to paint. Some of the sculpts I adored but others I wasn't so certain about and but still enjoyed painting a lot of it.



Darren's iconic colour scheme for this Ork noble. Come on, how many of you have copied this one? Below we have examples of his Chaos Dreadnought and an early Imperial Guard Sentinel.





And here is the same model in digital form. Photograph by Steve Casey. From The Bryan Ansell Collection, Wargames Foundry, Stoke Hall Stables.




The sentinel too, though a little blurry. Photograph by Steve Casey. From The Bryan Ansell Collection, Wargames Foundry, Stoke Hall Stables.
RoC80s: Were you able to work on more personal projects in the Studio? We see a large number of dioramas and things coming out around that time - what did you work on?

DM: I was also working on my own related projects in my spare time (for my own collection) and had the idea one day to convert a plastic Rhino AFV into one that had been overtaken by Nurgle. I liked the idea of melding a tank with living things and ended up sculpting green stuff maggots bursting from the hull. It threw a few people at the time when they first saw it but I just went with it.

I loved painting tanks and completed some of the first few Rhino AFV's and the Predator. Khorne and Nurgle were my two favourite Chaos elements and enjoyed painting miniatures for both. At one stage for inspiration, Kev Adams sent Phil Lewis to come and take photos of us all pulling faces and they were used for his inspiration for some of his Chaos sculpts. Each day was different and I enjoyed the variety of the painting and kit making. The first plastic 40k Imperial Guard were released to mixed reception in the painting studio and part plastic miniatures were becoming a regular thing and they were always a challenge to work on. Titans were also slowly lifting off and epic scale was also being developed while I was there. A real challenge was painting all of Jes Goodwin's first Eldar Harlequin miniature's for the boxed set in one bank holiday weekend. It took every ounce of my painting ability and threw it together, but looking back still think they were a bit rushed.



The back of the RTB6 release. Darren's patterns and ideas here still influence painters to this day, so it is a real pleasure to give credit to him here.
RoC80s: Did you just say you painted the original Harlequin models over a Bank Holiday weekend?

DM: Yes, they were the Harlequins from the very first boxed set release and they were given to me on the Friday afternoon and I delivered them back painted on the Tuesday morning - much to everyone's shock! My girlfriend at the time was away and I just sat and painted for 12 hours solid each day until they were done. I had a very small brief from Jes Goodwin and I was left, more or less, to my own colour schemes and patterns. I got a bit of a telling off for painting nipples showing through on one of the female eldar's torsos, and I was told to paint them out - but i don't think I ever did. I understand that that box set was one of the biggest sellers they had ever had and in some way I am proud that my painting helped sell them. Jes Goodwin's sculpts were stunning and very advanced for the period in regards of the poses he used. Looking back at it now, it was a lot of work - but i enjoyed it!

RoC80s: You mentioned the 'Studio Vibe' - what was it like to work in?

DM: The working environment was great, but it was something I wasn't really used to as I had worked outdoors in archaeology with very mixed teams. At the time I first started, I wasn't that confident in my painting ability and it showed to start with. I have always been very self critical of my painting and don't like to rush things. The banter took some getting used to and I suppose Sid gave me a bit of a testing time teasing for the first few weeks but it came to a head and I stood my ground and we became great friends after. Seeing Sid leave when he did was one of the worst days, if not the worst, I had in studio as we had become a very good friends by then.

Some days we could each have a single miniature to work on, but on others we had a batch to get done for deadline and that could be a lot of pressure to get finished on time for a publication date. After a few months, I settled in and enjoyed the small level of chaos and the minor anarchy which was the painting studio at the time. We were a superb team and worked well together and were mostly the same age group, so we all had a similar sense of humour and outlook.

The Golden Demon days we did in the 80s, I always found a bit scary and overwhelming to be honest. I was fairly nervous of people but used to put a front on, I also dreaded painting in the shop or in public in those days. I think I could handle it now if I could see to paint well these days. Bryan was an excellent boss though and so was John Blanche and both put up with my nerves. I met Fraser Gray and he was great bloke, I loved his work and was totally blown away by what he could achieve. He visited the studio a couple of times while I was there.




Darren's Nurgle Rhino makes an appearance in this diorama from the back of White Dwarf 113.
RoC80s: So how did that vibe change with time?

DM: Things had started to go a bit corporate towards the end of my term to some extent and a studio painting style was emerging which not all of us fully enjoyed or felt totally comfortable with. Before that I think people had been trusted to deliver the goods constantly and they mostly did. If you were not happy with something you ran it by the team and got a honest response and the lads were always superb for that and it was highly valued. I suppose by time I was ready to go I wasn't enjoying it as much as I did.

RoC80s: Were there any other stand out ranges that you worked on that really excited you as a painter?

DM: I enjoyed working on the miniatures for Space Hulk. The first terminator miniatures blew us all away when we first saw the sculpts. Sapce Wolves were my favourite marine Chapter and I as one of the first people to paint the black wolf head on a yellow background. By mid 1989, my life had changed and I was commuting between Lincoln and Nottingham and this was putting a lot of strain and pressure on my work. In a rash moment in 1989, I decided to leave and I suppose at the time I wasn't thinking too clearly but had worked for the company for 18 months and needed a change. Looking back, I have no regrets about working in such a fantastic environment and working with so many good and talented people. I will always remember it fondly and enjoyed my time painting miniatures for one the best miniature companies in the world, at that time.

I also enjoyed working on a slow-burning solo Space Wolf project but I never got around to totally finishing it, what with all the other work I had on the go on top, but it was intended to be a full chapter. Some photos were taken by Phil Lewis and I think one got on to a back cover of White Dwarf. I also enjoyed painting the Marauder Dwarves for Trish and Aly Morrison. This was 'in house painting' but don't think we ever got credit for it as painters. Mike McVey's Empire troops he did for them were mind blowing at the time. Mike was the best painter on the studio floor.



One of my personal favourites of Darren's time at GW. This magnificent ork gargant.




I am almost certain that this model was in Bryan's cabinet display of his genestealer cult last year at BOYL.



Chaos warriors are iconic in Warhammer. And the painting schemes were never really any more chaotic than this. Another favourite of mine.

WARHAMMER 6TH EDITION: IN THE BEGINNING...
As the most astute of you might have noticed, I have not written anything about my GW Magnum Opus, Warhammer 6th edition at all thus far.

The reason is simple: it is such a huge subject I did not know where to start. But I do have a lot of fond memories from the project, and I get more questions about the 6th edition than any other work I’ve done, so in the end I came up with a solution: I will write a series of articles discussing different aspects of how to make a new edition of a such a huge and important game. This first part will discuss the initial concepting process, and outline the biggest decisions we took and why we did things the way we did.

LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS
As the fifth edition of Warhammer grew older, everyone knew that it had become too bloated, too unbalanced and too convoluted for new players to discover it. The model range had become overgrown with units that no-one wanted, putting tremendous strain on the retail shops. The sheer fragmentation of the rules across rulebooks, erratas, Army Books, White Dwarf Articles, and supplement boxes meant that the game was effectively in dead-end. 5th edition wasn’t even a real edition -it really was just a continuation of the 4th edition. Everyone knew Warhammer needed an overhaul. As I was the head of Warhammer design at that point (with the most excellent Andy Chambers overseeing 40K) the responsibility fell on to me and my team of designers. We shook our fists to Rick and others who left us with the mess that it was and rolled up our collective sleeves.

We discussed different ways to approach the new edition. Even very radical changes were discussed, but in the end the feeling was that Warhammer was a classic game system, with flaws, yes, but also immense strengths and the most fiercely loyal fanbase in all of gaming. Instead of throwing away what others had built before, we decided to make the game still clearly and distinctively Warhammer, but really focus on the problem areas in both the rules and the hobby aspects.

From the beginning we wanted to make sure that troops would play a prominent role in the battles, where 4th and 5th edition had made the gameplay wholly dependent on heroes. We radically reduced the power of both characters and magic items, and added several bonuses that favored large troop formations and solid tactics, such as the outnumbering bonus. Rules mistakes that had always infuriated players were fixed wherever we found them, and we relied heavily on the external playtest group I had established (if any of you are reading this, thanks a bunch, you made a huge difference).

MAGIC: FROM CARDS TO DICE
Magic system needed a complete overhaul too. I always loved Warhammer Magic boxed set, but the cost of acquiring it made it harder to get into the hobby, and hauling around all the cards was a constant bother to the players. So with a lot of help from Andy Chambers (who really should have a writing credit in the book too) the dice-based magic system was created and included in the box rather than sold separately. The power of the system was greatly reduced, but the dice-based system still retained the unpredictable nature of Warhammer Magic, though this was fiercely resisted by some playtesters. In the end I think it was the right choice, as a magic system where you can absolutely rely on spells being cast when you want them has a very bad habit of becoming the dominant gameplay element.

ARMIES: FROM HEROES TO HORDES
For the army composition, we changed the army selection completely, and came up with the system of Core, Special and Rare units that had led into armies that broke the game balance and the player immersion in the fiction. This was the evolution of the Warband system I had developed for the Realm of Chaos book, and it treaded a careful line between imposing some character and coherence on the armies, without taking away the freedom of the players to create armies they wanted. In 3rd edition the Army Lists actually forced the player to take certain number of most common warriors for each army, but we decided this was too restrictive and expensive for the players. Instead, we limited access to the most exotic units, and made sure that player had to include a unit or two that were told in the fiction to be the very backbone of the army. We still left leeway to making a, say all-shooting armies if players wanted.
In Part 2 I shall discuss the planning of the plastic ranges and regiment boxes, army books, and more!

WARHAMMER FANTASY BATTLE 6TH EDITON, PART 2: OF MINIATURES AND MEN
Welcome to the thrilling second part of my write-up on the design process of WH 6th edition! Thank you for all the comments and questions I received, please keep them coming, and feel free to share this!
In this instalment, I will focus on miniatures, additional content and support for existing armies.
BIG ARMIES, BIG CHALLENGES
When the basic rules had taken shape, we noticed that we had a new dilemma: we had changed the game to emphasize the units and deep formations, as well as armies with more numerous troops, and yet we did not want to break gamers bank. We needed a way to give players access to lots of troops that were numerous, customizable and affordable. The solution we came up with was a complete revamp of our plastics strategy.
To achieve this, we doubled down on regimental boxes. Rick Priestley was instrumental here -he really did all he could, using his vast experience to make the new kits better than anyhting we had done before. We’ve been disappointed with some of our plastic range in the past -those horrible plastic Dark Elf Swordsmen come to mind, and this time we were determined to do something better. And I think we did: when we saw the first Empire sprues, and saw how the Studio peoople started playing around with them, we knew we had a winner. Mordheim mercenaries plastics had taught us a lot and we put those lessons to good use. I spent days thinking up sprues of good weapon choices from players point of view, and the mighty Perry twins rose up to the challenge and made the models in record time. To this day I am proud of the initial range of the customizeable regiments that accompanied the game, as they were designed with the new focus on regiments in mind.
THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH
About month before the deadline, we gathered around a table, and looked at the pile of manuscript pages, measuring it up We were feeling pretty confident. But then Gordon, who was the Studio Manager at the time said four words: “People should get more.” My brain was hurting at that point, and my eyes were blurry. I was tired and stressed. I nodded slowly. He was right. People should get more for their money. I asked to be excused for my duties of writing for White Dwarf, and then converted the Mordheim rules into 6th edition Warhammer Skirmish rules and adopted the Siege rules into the 6th edition in the last remaining weeks of the project. I was sick but happy.
But I was not alone in fattening the book up even more. Jervis rose to challenge and wrote new Campaign rules for the book, and Nigel made tremendous set of scenarios -though I think the straight-up battle with no frills is and will always be the most popular way of playing a wargame. And of course Alessio was working tirelessly with me. I think what was really telling that everyone just wanted the book to be as good as possible.
RAVENING HORDES
With few weeks remaining before the launch, and with telling black rings around my eyes, I jumped into the last task -getting army lists to support the initial launch for the existing players. We put a lot of effort in communicating that these armies were a stop-gap measure so people could use their collections. We blared the message out in White Dwarf, our shops, through retailers and Outriders, and internet. It was all for nothing. The 6th edition Ravening Hordes had a mixed reception -people thought that their favorite characters and weapons were being taken away, while we just wanted to provide players with rules for their favorite armies.
There simply was no time to balance and design all the army lists to the fullest extent in the time remaining, but we did not want to block the players from using their existing armies. I think there has never been a truly elegant way to handle a change of editions in this regard.
THE FINAL BOX
So in the end the Warhammer box had inside it Orc and Empire armies with chariots and cannons, mounted generals, dice, rulers, Ravening Hordes army lists and even a building (once again thanks to Mordheim). The content was modified many times during the development, as each component had a cost, and many hours were spent arguing with comptrollers on adding more stuff into it.
The rulebook had the new rules including all the magic rules in the book, background section, all-new artwork, skirmish rules, campaign rules, special scenarios, siege rules, painting guide and some of the best jokes I feel I wrote in the short color story snippets. We also added lexicon in the end -one of my own pet peeves in previous editions.
For those who wanted just rules, we did a hardback rulebook after a long, long time. I remember receiving the first boxed set in the company. After 18 months of hard slog it seemed like a dream that it actually was finished. It was magical. I honestly did feel we had done all we could to make a great game.
NEXT TIME...
In the next thrilling installment I will talk about how the art style was radically changed from 5th edition, and how I came to do the layout of some of the pages of the rulebook while John Blanche was waving a sword in the editorial department. Stay tuned!

Mike McVey's painting inspired my own meagre efforts more than anyone else. It was his work that I poured over and failed to emulate through the later part of the 1980s and beyond. We forget now, in this age of communications technology, just how limited our source material was back then. You had White Dwarf and the supplements that came with the games you bought. That was pretty much it!

And there was the waiting...

The waiting for the month to turn, so I could make the mile long trip to the newsagents and pick up the next issue of White Dwarf. I had a ritual. I wouldn't open the magazine until I got home and when I did, my first port of call was 'Eavy Metal and Mike McVey's painted models.

So you can imagine, dear readers, that Mr McVey was a the top of my list of individuals to interview and he was one of the very first personalities that I approached. Way back then, Mike ensured me that he would, one day, get back to me and I am very pleased to say that he finally has.

RoC80s: How did its all start? Eighteen is a very young age to begin anything professionally, so how did you end up working for GW as part of the 'Eavy Metal team?

MMc: I was very young, and still living at home at the time. It was an advert in White Dwarf that started it all - I can't remember what issue (I really should go back and check…) but it was later in 1986. I painted some miniatures especially for it, and sent them off to the Studio. To my complete amazement I got a letter back asking me to come to Nottingham for an interview - that was all the prompting I needed to leave home and move close to Nottingham. My sister was at college in Loughborough at the time, so I moved in with her before the interview. The interview itself was pretty terrifying - I spent all my youth pouring over the pages of WD, and all of a sudden I was surrounded by the people who made it. Sitting there in John Blanche's office, with his paintings on the walls and his miniatures on the shelves. The thing I remember the most clearly was his Chaos Minotaur conversion - the one with Mona Lisa on the banner. I had stared at that for hours in the pages of WD, and here I was in the presence of the real thing… I also remember the sculpting studio - Nick Bibby, Jes Goodwin, Bob Naismith, and Ali and Trish Morrison - all sitting round laughing and joking, I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen. I was pretty wet behind the ears back then!

The interview didn't go great - I was very young and inexperienced, and was more than a little tongue tied talking to John - so I was pretty pleased when the whole thing was over.

I received a letter about a week later, informing me I hadn’t got the job - but that Bryan would like to talk to me about the possibility of doing some freelance work. I duly rang him up and he told me he'd keep me on file in the event of any work being available. So there I was living in Loughborough, and not working for GW…

The next thing I did was apply for a mould making job over at the factory in Eastwood - I figured if I got in there, it might be easier to transfer across to the studio (as my good friend Richard Wright eventually did, though I had no idea at the time). So I got several busses and trains to travel from Loughborough to Eastwood and had an interview with Steve Bruce and John Ellard (I think…) - who told me they couldn't employ me living so far away…

I had been in Loughborough for about two months (so that would be April 1987), when out of the blue I got a call from John Blanche asking if I would be interested in two weeks work in the studio. They had a big project coming up (which turned out to be Rogue Trader), and needed some help with it. I jumped at the chance, and that two weeks turned into 13 years…


RoC80s: You ended up running the painting team. During your time with the company, how did the way miniature painting was organised change?

MMc: Everything about the way the company worked has changed out of all recognition since those early days. John ran the art department when I joined, and that included the figure painting studio. Back then there was Colin Dixon (who was the first full time painter), Sid (who got the job I didn't), and myself. Really it was just Sid and I doing the painting though - Colin was mainly doing artwork, and only painted miniatures when there was a crunch on. Then there was Dave Andrews and Tony Ackland drawing and painting. I remember my first day in the Studio so clearly - walking into that room with Sid, Colin, Dave and Tony - all bearded with long hair, surrounded with cigarette smoke - and there I was a very fresh faced 18 year old. I was scared out out of my wits! I don't think I spoke a single work for about 2 weeks...

I was employed on the understanding that I would be able to paint five miniatures a day - but some days I painted far more. I remember painting the units for the first plastic regiments box set - where you got 20 each of several different Warhammer races. Most of those were painted in a single day for a unit of 20. Learning to paint at that speed, taught me a huge amount about economy of painting, and it really helped when I slowed down and spent more time on individual miniatures.

The miniature painting and art room was a pretty chaotic place - but we did get a lot done. Everyone went to the pub most lunch times (at least it seemed like that looking back), so the afternoons were definitely more 'relaxed'. I can't remember exactly how things were organised - but John would dole out the work and give us briefs for colour schemes. These were pretty open and we had a lot of freedom as to how to paint things - which was great.

The deadline was always - 'soon as you can'.

There was never any teaching of how to do things, but John would critique work and have us make changes when needed. I was keen as mustard though - this was my dream job and I wasn't going to screw it up.

As time went on over the years, the whole company got more organised, and that was certainly true for miniature painting. I was pretty much running it (under Phil Lewis) just before we moved to the new studio on Castle Boulevard - I think there were 5-6 of us at that point. Myself, Tim Prow, Dale Hurst, Ivan Bartlet and Andy Craig - I think that was everyone. Only Tim and I made it to the new studio though - the others were 'let go'. The whole studio move was a brutal experience, and lots of people didn’t make it - as far as I remember, they only found out a day or so before we moved.

When we got into the new place, we started re-building the team and I ran it properly for a couple of years. Or as properly as I knew how - considering I had no training in management what so ever. It was different place by then - much more organised and formal. We worked in an open plan office, so we weren't hidden away like we were in the original studio - that place was like a rabbit warren and you got get away with all sorts of 'high-jinks'!

RoC80s: You were (and indeed still are) rightly famous for your gorgeous blended painting style. How did you develop this? Did you arrive at GW with the skill or did it develop through inspiration or through training?

MMc: When I got to GW, I was pretty competent painter - but I looked at the work of people like JB and Colin, and thought I would never get anywhere close to their level. It's amazing how fast you improve in that environment though - painting eight hours a day, surrounded with like-minded creative people. You absorb information by osmosis. I never remember much in the way of training - you would look at the way someone else did something, and work out how they did it. Everyone was very open with information, but there wasn't the culture of learning and forensic direction there is with miniature painting these days. It was very young hobby in a lot of ways. People had been painting miniatures for years for wargaming, but it was pretty basic stuff - they never focused on quality in the way we did. That was for larger scale painting.

As for blending - it was something that John showed me with enamels, using a second brush to thin the edge of a colour to create the look of a smooth blend. I just transferred that to painting with acrylics. If I remember it right, the fist place I did that was on the original Imperial Guard Sentinel, which I painted blue. I remember Bryan complaining that it wasn't highlighted, as it was bit on the subtle side!

Once I'd mastered that technique, everything else fell onto place though - it was the cornerstone of my painting. It wasn't until I got to spend a bit longer on the miniatures that I felt comfortable with it though - the first time that happened was probably painting the Eldar - that’s when I thought my paining really ‘clicked’, on the aspect warrior miniatures especially, but also on some of the Harlequins. I was in the fortunate position of being my own boss with painting - so I could spend the time I needed to on miniatures - that allows me to really perfect that technique, and in the end I could produce multi-layered, smooth blends very quickly.

RoC80s: According to our research, you were credited in helping designing the very well loved original Citadel Colour Range (Citadel Colour, Creature Paint Set, Monster Paint Set etc...), is this the case? If so, what was the process of development?

MMc: Not quite. The original Citadel Colour paints were released before my time at GW - round about 1985 I think. At that time I was painting with Humbrol Enamels, so switching to acrylics was a revelation. No more smell or long drying times. I worked a lot on the first expansion to the range - the inks, washes and metallics - and re-worked a lot of the colours to be a more comprehensive spectrum. That would be early nineties I think - maybe late eighties. From that point on, I was responsible for the entire paint range design. I spent quite a lot of time in the paint labs of several different companies - developing new formulations and colours. I designed about five ranges while I was there - but only two of them saw the light of day. One was a re-design of the entire original range, and the next was when production switched to a new supplier.

RoC80s: Andy Craig's amusing tales of life in the studio have been very popular, do you have any amusing stories or memorable moments to share?

MMc: God - where do I start! I pretty much grew up working at GW, so a lot of my formative memories are linked to that place. When I think of amusing stories, I mainly think of Sid though - he was a pretty hilarious guy.

I remember there was a youth training office above the painting room and he used to terrorise the trainees. They had to walk past our window pretty regularly - we were on the first (second for any Americans reading) floor and they had to walk out under us to the bins at the back of the building. He used to bombard them with anything he could get his hands on - and had various projectile guns to shoot them with. He also used to chase them round the corridors when he met them - and it culminated with the manager taking him to task outside our door, and ending up in a fist fight with him!

Then there was the occasion he built the 'first 40K tank' - which consisted of a large cardboard box, that had holes for his head, arms and legs - he just happened to be taking that for it’s first test drive round the floor of the figure painting room, when Tom Kirby walked in with some important guests...

Sid was never a great painter, but he was endlessly entertaining to work with!

Then there was the time John Blanche disappeared into the spray room to varnish a new drawing, and used black undercoat by mistake.

There are so many more stories involving different members of the GW studio, but many of them are not really repeatable…

The painting room was a bit separated from the rest of the studio, so in some ways we were a bit of a law unto ourselves, especially for the first year or so and it was Colin, Dave, Sid, Tony and me. It was a great place to work.


RoC80s: Who were your inspirations when it came to miniature painting? Who are they now?

MMc: Without any doubt, the largest influence on me was John Blanche. Back in the early days he was just on a different planet to everyone else (and some think he still is), the work he was creating was streets ahead of what anyone else was doing. Colin Dixon was a close second though, as his was the work that directly proceeded me in White Dwarf and in products. I still distinctly remember looking at his work when I started and thinking I’d never be that good. What you have to remember back then though, is that the only good painting you saw was on the pages of White Dwarf, or in the Journals, there was no internet. I grew up in the Lake District, so there were no game shops with display cabinets either. Getting White Dwarf Magazine and the Journals was huge for a budding painter like me - and I used to devour every scrap of information I could. A few of the designers were good painters too - Aly Morrison and Nick Bibby in particular. But, for sure - John was The Man, without him I don’t think miniature painting would have taken off in the way it did.

These days I don’t keep up with the painting scene like I used too - it’s just too big. The standard is incredible, and the amount of information out there for painters is just never ending - which is such a good thing. As a learning environment for painters, it’s a fantastic time to be in the hobby.

RoC80s: Fraser Grey has become somewhat of a legend among enthusiasts. What was your opinion of his work and what are your memories of him?

MMc: Fraser was such a lovely guy, and great painter too. What amazed me most was how clean he could get the colours with enamels - I painted with them before acrylics and always hated them, but I never had the patience he did. He put a lot of time into those miniatures, and it showed. I always looked forward to his visits to the studio, and seeing what he’d been working on.

RoC80s: You produced many dioramas during the 90s, many of which are still on display. Why did you produce so many of these? Was it direction from management or something you just wanted to do?

MMc: It was my job for over a year - maybe 18 months, and I still count it as the most fun I have had in my entire career. I got pretty burned-out running the painting team, and really wanted to get back to creating, rather than managing. I had total free range to do what I wanted, I just looked at what projects were upcoming (like army books for Lizardmen, Dark Angels, Wood Elves, etc) and do a diorama based on that subject. It was fantastic!

I could make them whatever size I wanted, so really I could let my imagination run riot. The most challenging thing was to produce dioramas that would work well in front of the camera - it’s no good making something that doesn’t reproduce well on the pages of a magazine or book. As a matter of fact - that was pretty much how I lived my painting life, developing a painting style that reproduced well.

The dioramas were a lot of work though - the Warhammer Quest one was several months work, and I remember being completely sick of the sight of it by the end. I made a decision at the start that I was going to use forced perspective to give the illusion of depth - and I regretted it every day after that, it was so much extra work!


RoC80s: Later, you moved into sculpting models. Was this something that you always wanted to do? How did you train?

MMc: I was quite happy as a miniature painter, but I reached the top of what they were prepared to pay me (which was very little!) - so they suggested I move into sculpting instead. It was a really hard decision for me - I spent my whole working life painting, and was very proud of what I’d achieved, so it was tough to give that all up and start from scratch.

There was a trainee sculptor program at GW, but it was a little haphazard - and really I was pushed into making production miniatures before I was ready. I learned a lot from Gary Morely, but it wasn’t until I started sharing an office with Jes and Brian Nelson that I found my feet a bit and started producing models I was proud of. The only ones I actually like are the Eldar miniatures I sculpted just before I left.

RoC80s: After leaving GW, you did a wide range of painting work for other companies (including a relocation to the US), was this a positive experience?

MMc: That’s not quite what happened. I left GW to move to Seattle in the US and work for Wizards of the Coast. They were setting up a miniatures division and wanted people with experience to staff it. I was employed as the lead studio sculptor, but was quickly made the Art Director. The first project we worked on was Chainmail, but it was fairly disastrous - WotC didn’t really understand the miniatures market and we were never properly supported by the upper management of the company. That ended fairly badly with one of the round of redundancies that were sweeping the company at the time - and they decided that pre-painted plastics were more their thing (which was probably the case). I art directed the D&D and Star Wars miniatures lines, but it really wasn’t what I wanted to do.

I’d become very disillusioned with working at WotC, and got involved with Privateer Press very early in their development. The three guys who set it up commissioned me to make a promo miniature of a Steamjack (a steam powered robot) from their D20 adventures. They really loved it and agreed to make me a partner in the company, and we started making Warmachine. That’s far too long a story to write here - but it taught me a valuable lesson of only working with people I liked in future!

RoC80s: Eventually you set up Studio McVey. Was this always an ambition of yours? How did you go about creating the company and designing the products?

MMc: Ali (my wife) and I, set up Studio McVey when we moved back to the UK in 2007. It was really a response to working on defined miniature ranges for the past few years - you just get a little tired of making miniatures for the same world/setting. I wanted to create a range where we could make the miniatures we really wanted to paint - and not have any restrictions on style, setting or genre. It was really fun, and I think that range we created was really solid.

The down-side was that the resin collectors pieces only really appealed to painters - and when it comes down to it, most of the people who are buying miniatures were gamers. That lead me to starting the Sedition Wars sci-fi line - and that was really enjoyable, creating a whole setting from scratch. It was a pretty steep learning curve though - working on a game and miniatures line as a one-man company (Ali was concentrating on her illustration work by that time) is a HUGE amount or work, especially when it becomes very successful in a short amount on time…

RoC80s: Probably the hardest question for any artist. Which painted model do you think best defines your time at GW and why?


MMc: For single miniatures, I guess that would be The Green Knight, though Tyrion and Teclis brought in a whole new type of miniature - so they would run it a close second. The Green Knight was an important piece for me - it was the first production miniature Michael Perry sculpted after he lost his right hand, so it had great significance to all of us in the studio. I can still clearly remember painting it now, and it must be more that 20 years ago. Mark Gibbons produced the original illustration for it, but that was black and white - so I had to capture the feel of that in colour.

Without any doubt though - the work I get asked about more than anything else are the dioramas - and The Emperor and Horus in particular. I guess they are also the thing that I enjoyed working on the most, and put most of myself into. It’s really great they are still on display at the GW museum too - I’m very proud of that.

RoC80s: What's next for Mike McVey?

MMc: Studio McVey is now effectively a miniatures design studio - we are partnered with Guillotine Games making miniatures for board game projects. We launched Blood Rage and The Others on Kickstarter last year, and we’re currently working on an Oriental themed game and HATE - based on Adrian Smith’s graphic novel. I’ve been working with Adrian again for the last couple of years - he’s the sole artist on Blood Rage and did 90% of there art for The Others. It’s really great to be in the same creative team as him again - he’s certainly one of the best artists I have ever worked with. The depth of his imagination is staggering.

I’m not painting or sculpting any more - my eyes just aren’t capable of that level of fine detail any more, but I still get a huge kick out of the creation process - and turning fantastic art into amazing miniatures. I still love it as much now as I did when I started at GW in 1987.

As always, I would like to thank Mike McVey for his contribution to Realm of Chaos 80s and taking us back to the Golden Age of Games Workshop. Years in the making, this interview really does go to show that good things come to those who wait!

Orlygg