Alan and Michael Perry are miniature designers who worked for Games Workshop between 1978 and 2014 and were the longest serving members of the design studio.
As well as this, they are also former miniature sculptors for Wargames Foundry, helped found of Warhammer Historical Wargames and now run their own miniatures company Perry Miniatures.
The Green Knight, just one of many miniatures the Perry’s designed for GW.
They both take part in re-enacting historical battles and have illustrated various books on military history for Osprey Publishing.
During a reenactment in France for the Battle of Crecy in 1996 Michael Perry lost part of his right arm to an accident when reloading a reproduction cannon. However this didn’t hold Michael back and he learned to sculpt and paint with his left hand instead.
The limited edition “Gimli on Dead Uruk-hai” miniature, sculpted by Michael Perry.
The Perry’s own miniature company produces historical figures for ranges such as the Napoleonic Wars, English Civil War, Samurai, The Crusades and much more.
The Perry’s are close friends with Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson and have sculpted him many 54mm miniatures for his first world war collection.
A 75mm figure available through the Perry Miniatures website
The Perry’s are the go to manufacturer for plastic historical wargaming figures and during their heydays at Games Workshop was said to be responsible or involved in 90% of their miniatures.
From left to right, Alessio Cavatore, Brian Nelson, Alan Perry and Michael Perry on set as extras for the Return of the King
The Perry Twins are the most recognisable names in miniature sculpting and have a deserved reputation for the quality of their products.
Using traditional sculpting methods as opposed to the modern 3D sculpting that are used by Games Workshop today these men are true artists in what they do.
The Woeful Brush Painting Competition Sponsored by SCN Hobby World
Closing date for entries 30th November. £1 entry, win your choice of a Start Collecting or Combat Patrol box set!
On our YouTube channel we had a series known as A Tale of Painters. However, since life has got in the way a little recently and my time for filming and editing videos is very limited o thought it would be best to continue the series in the blog.
So I’ve included (most) of the Woehammer team below and what they’ve been working on since our last episode.
40k Ben
Since the last episode, Ben has been busy on a number of projects. But perhaps his most impressive in this time is his Bel’akor. Ben has even done some on source lighting to great effect!
Bel’akor
Ben even had his first few games of Age of Sigmar against AoS Ben and Declan.
40k Ben’s Chaos v AoS Ben’s Seraphon
As well as this Ben set himself the challenge of painting all this:
For September! As you can see he’s already well on target.
Dave
Dave has started a new Ossiarch Bone Repears army, and has given himself a deadline of 3rd October to have them done. His entire army is around 50 models and so far he’s painted one……
AoS Ben
As always Ben has been extremely busy, as well as finishing his Seraphon army and attending a few tournaments he’s now decided to build another Kharadron Overlord army, the Ghostlords 2.0!
Ben’s Seraphon army
All of his models are always painted to a very high standard and his basing is, in my opinion world class.
Ben recently completed Spiderman using just contrast paints:
Friendly neighborhood Spiderman
Ben also painted the Kruleboy half of the Dominion boxed set:
Ben’s Kruleboyz
Declan
Declan has been busy painting some more units for his Goblin Warmaster army:
Warmaster Goblin Wolf Riders
He’s also recently gotten into Kill Team and has painted up some scenery for his games.
Liam
Liam hasn’t had as much time as he would like to paint. But saying that he’s now down to fifteen models in his pile of shame. He did manage to paint Ghazghkull:
Paul
As always Paul has probably painted around 15 armies in the time since our last episode.
Paul has recently painted a lot of stormcast in order to play Path to Glory in his local gaming club.
Some of Paul’s Stormcast
He’s also been cracking on with his historicals backlog…..
Sexy Saxons
Sarah
Our plastic crack dealer from SCN Hobby World has been continuing her amazing work on her Orks. With an amazingly grubby looking dreadnought.
Green is Mean…
Ed
Ed has been cracking on with his Lumineth to make sure that they’re ready for his first tournament.
Ed was so keen on getting these ready he even had a roadmap for their painting schedule..
As you can see his models are coming on nicely…..
Ed’s Kangaroos
Guests
Jack
This time around we have a guest on our episode. Jack has submitted his Trogg via email to thewoehammer@gmail.com.
The skin on this Troggoth is awesome and you can really get a sense of the icy effect that Jack was after. I’d love to see an entire army of these boys.
If you’d like to submit models for us to look at and include then please either email us at thewoehammer@gmail.comor use #woehammer on Twitter or Instagram.
Don’t forget that we’re doing our first painting competition sponsored by SCN Hobby World where you can win your choice of a Start Collecting or Combat Patrol box for painting any single miniature on a 50mm base. For details see our post on the competition here.
To follow any of the guys above on social media simply click the links below.
This weekends releases are all about Age of Sigmar again with the Kruleboyz taking centre stage with some amazing models. As well as the new releases for the Kruleboyz, there’s also and Age of Sigmar scenery kit and some models from Forgeworld for Necromunda.
This week’s GW releases
Warlord Games Have many items up for pre-order right now, with the majority being for their World War 2 air game Blood Red Skies and Warlords of Erehwon: Mythic America’s
Wargames Atlantic pre-orders are pretty slim at the moment but there are many, many kits in the pipeline.
Two releases for the fallout game this week:
Last week we covered just one offering from Mantic Games. But they have a tonne of items on their pre-order list for many of their games such as Kings of War Halflings, Armada Elves and many factions for their new edition of Deadzone which is being released soon.
Last week we covered the first five games in the all-time top 50 Fantasy battle games, if you’ve not read it, why not take a look now before continuing?
The ratings are taken from BoardGameGeek.com and I have only included games which have more than 50 votes against their name. This may mean that some of the more recent rules are missed off the list (Conquest: The Last Argument of Kings, being one).
The listed is sorted by the highest rated to the lowest, with games of equal ratings being split by the number of votes (the more votes, the higher their placing).
45. Warhammer Fantasy Battles (5th Edition) (1996) – Games Workshop
The fifth edition starter set
The fifth edition in became known pejoratively as “Herohammer” because of the imbalance between the very powerful heroes, monsters and wizards in the game and blocks of troops which existed effectively as cannon fodder.Sold as a box set containing not only the rulebooks, templates, dice and rulers, but also two armies of plastic miniatures to be able to play the game “out of the box”, the Bretonnians and Lizardmen. The rules were very similar to that of the fourth edition which itself underwent a re-write compared to the third Edition.
In 1997, the fifth edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battles won the Origins Award for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Miniatures Rules of 1996.
A Box of Crusaders made by Reaper Miniatures for Warlord
Warlord is a complete game system that uses the Reaper Adventure Game Engine (R.A.G.E.) which was designed for faster play. Each model in the game has a set of numbers and abilities that dictate how well it performs in the game. These numbers and abilities are listed on a Data Card, a record sheet about the size of a standard poker card. A key component of the R.A.G.E. system is the Damage Track. Each row of stats on the Data Card represents a Damage Track which is the total points of damage that the model can sustain before being destroyed and removed from play. As a model takes damage (or injuries), its stats usually change to reflect how those injuries change the performance of the model on the field of battle.
Warlord takes place in the war-torn land of Taltos in the world of Adon. The region is a place of dry, blistering summers and mild winters. Various leaders and their forces battle for control of their own destinies. They battle for the power to become Warlords and become legends by their own hands; some are just and fair while others are cruel and capricious. Life in Taltos is brutal but there is a fortune to be made and eternal fame to be won.
Confrontation is a skirmish level tactical fantasy miniature wargaming in which the combatants are represented by metal or plastic figures in 28 mm scale.
The game is set in Aarklash, a world of medieval fantasy where knights, wizards, priests and barbarians fight each other as well as fantastic creatures such as wolfen, elves, orcs, goblins and the undead. The entire world is at war and all are fighting for the supremacy of the continent.
The rules are intended to be versatile, and are able to represent a small fight between a handful of warriors just as well as a large skirmish between several dozen soldiers and their leaders. The last rules were in its fourth edition, a single hardback edition. The first edition was only available in French, German and Italian, while the second was available in French, German, Italian, English and Spanish. Rackham collapsed in 2010.
In the late 1980s, game designer Stephen Baker moved from Games Workshop to Milton Bradley, and convinced Roger Ford, Milton Bradley’s head of development to allow him to develop a fantasy genre game. Kennedy gave him the go-ahead if he kept the game simple. Basker contacted his former employer, Games Workshop, to develop the plastic miniatures that would be needed in the game, but he then decided to draw on their expertise in the fantasy game field to help develop the game. The result was the fantasy board game HeroQuest (1989), an adventure game where the players cooperate against a single adversarial Games Master. The game was released in Britain, Europe and Australia in 1989, and a slightly different version was released in America and Canada in 1990.
The game consists of a board and a number of individual miniatures and items. The protagonists are four heroes (“Barbarian”, “Dwarf”, “Elf” and “Wizard”) who face a selection of monsters: Orcs, Goblins, Fimir, Chaos Warriors, a Chaos Warlock/witch Lord (which represent many of the named characters for the various quests), a Gargoyle and a number of Undead: skeletons, zombies and mummies.
Chronopia: Dark Fantasy Battles was a tabletop miniature game published by Target Games. Players would field an army composed of 25 mm miniatures which were composed of pewter, resin, or a composite of both. The game featured eight different armies for players to choose from. The game is an adaption of “Drakar och Demoner” a Swedish role playing game very similar to Dungeons and Dragons.
Chronopia is a 28mm-Skirmish-Fantasy-System.
In principle there are two kinds of strategy plays: Skirmish and rank & file. First turns around smaller engagements in loose formation, the other tells large mass battles with arranged army rows.
Chronopia alternating activation of the units, different actions, basing on d20´s and the general simplicity and an nice playing speed. All this was formed by Target Games into an extremely flexible and innovative game.
This winter we’re holding our first painting competition “Woeful Brush”. The first online painting competition open to everyone.
To enter you’ll need to paint a single miniature to the best of your abilities and submit its pictures to our email address. The maximum base size for a miniature in the competition is 50mm. For example you can paint a single primaris intercessor and place them on any base that is equal to or under 50mm.
Your miniature can be from any game system you wish, even non Games Workshop systems or games.
The Prize, your choice of Start Collecting or Combat Patrol box for either Age of Sigmar or Warhammer 40k
The grand prize is a Start Collecting box or Combat Patrol box of your choice. The prize is being provided by SCN Hobby World who are our sponsor for this event. By signing up to their newsletter on their website you can benefit from up to 25% off the recommended retail price of Games Workshop products.
SCN Hobby World
All submissions to the competition must be made via email to thewoehammer@gmail.com before midnight on 30th November 2021. The picture of your model should be on a plain background and your email address must be included on a piece of paper included in the photograph. We will only be able to accept one submission per person.
We’re also asking for a small entry fee of £1 per entry which will cover postage costs as well as fund future competition prizes, the fee must be paid via PayPal to thewoehammer@gmail.com.
The wider community will then vote for their favourite submission via a series of polls each lasting 24 hours. These polls will take place on this website and on our Twitter and Facebook accounts.
The overall winner will then be announced on 1st January 2022 and will be contacted for their choice of prize.
How to Enter
1) There is a £1 entry fee which should be paid by PayPal to thewoehammer@gmail.com. Proceeds will be used for postage, future events and competitions only.
2) paint a single miniature from any games system you like (yes, non GW games systems are allowed). The miniature must be able to fit on a 50mm base.
3) Take some photos of your miniature and make sue that the email address that you’re submitting the pictures from is shown on a note inside the photo.
4) email your submission to thewoehammer@gmail.com
Rules
1) the competition is open to everyone (apart from Woehammer members).
2) The winner will be determined by community voting on Twitter, Facebook and here on the Woehammer website.
3) Your entry must be a single miniature on a maximum base size of 50mm.
4) Non-Games Workshop miniatures are allowed, but must be limited to the earlier specified base size.
5) bases can be scenic in nature and does not have to be that models specified base (i.e. 32mm for a Space Marine Intercessors)
6) only one submission per person and to be made via email to thewoehammer@gmail.com
7) submissions must be sent to the above address by midnight on 30th November 2021.
8) voting will commence on 1st December in blocks of four entries. All references to the artist of the submission will be removed for voting and to remove popularity influencing.
9) the winning artist will be named upon the final vote on 1st January 2022.
10) Your entry must be your own work and not that of a commission painter.
Today saw the release of the new Age of Sigmar App.
To those who have used the 40k app the two work in the same way as each other, with a code on your Battletome unlocking the special rules, battalions and subfaction rules of on the app.
There are three main areas on the app itself, those being reference, storm forge and core rules.
REFERENCE
The reference page
Reference are all of the faction and subfaction specific rules, warscrolls traits and everything else you can think of. There is an easy to use search engine included which allows you to quickly navigate to what you’re looking for.
The search engine
STORM FORGE
Under Stormforge you are able to create your army lists quickly with simple choice clicks along the way. I was able to create a Kruleboyz list in under a minute. Granted it’s not a tournament winning list, but it’s great to just play around with and put lists together on.
CORE RULES
The core rules does exactly as it suggests and provides the essentials for game play. You’ll also find the FAQ’s and designers notes under this section as they’re released as well. The only thing you will miss and that I would love to see is the Path to Glory rules included.
CONCLUSION
Yes it’s Beta version, but I found the last app much too cumbersome and battery draining than the newer app. Give this another month and whatever kinks it currently has will be ironed out.
It’s extremely well laid out, easy to read and isn’t a massive drain on your battery.
My only criticism is the missing path to Glory rules. But I understand why GW would only release the free rules inside the app.
As an inclusion as part of the Warhammer+ group of offerings this is fantastic and gives the Age of Sigmar fans something to get their teeth into.
Last week I interviewed Woehammer Ben from the channel, which you can read here. This week we’re moving onto Woehammer Dave, also known as our very own Chaos Dave.
When did you first get into wargaming?
My first year of senior school.
And what game was it that first drew you in?
A friend had been given the Epic Space Marine starter box for their birthday. We played a few games together and I got hooked.
But you hate Space Marines!
I don’t hate space marines, I dislike Primaris. Also, back then it was Space Marines or nothing as that was all that you got in the box.
So your first game was epic? What games do you play now?
Currently AoS, 40K and Kill Team are the ones I’m actively working on. With a bit of interest in a few others but not the time. Historically, I played Epic, Adeptus Titanicus, Necromunda, Battletech, Warhammer Fantasy and 40K.
I’d consider non-GW games but there aren’t active gaming communities I’m aware of.
You’re big chaos player, has that always been the way?
Not really. I started out in Epic with Salamanders, I painted my marines dark green because that’s the paint I had. I flitted around with armies in fantasy for a while, between orcs and goblins and high elves (good starter set) before settling on Undead for a long time. When I started 40k my first army was Orks, then I collected Space Wolves.I had a break from the hobby and when I started again I collected Dark Eldar (from the starter set) and then later Word Bearers. In Fantasy I collected Skaven and Empire and in 8th edition Beastmen and mixed chaos.
I started playing Ultramarines later on after another hobby hiatus.
No! Not the Smurfs!
That was one of the reasons I started them. They’re cool and don’t deserve the hate.
When I started Epic the poster boy armies were Ultramarines and Thousand Sons. I would have done ultramarines then if I a. Had the paint and b. My mate hadn’t got dibs
I prefer the twilight marines….. So what was your last game and against who?
Age of Sigmar against @dreadmund (Ed). Slaves to Darkness versus Lumineth.
How did that go?
My take a bit of everything list did not do too well against Ed’s tournament list.
What are you working on at the minute, and do you have any pictures?
Ossiarch Bonereapers for Age of Sigmar. I got an eBay ‘rescue’ army for cheap. I’m aiming to have them finished for end of 3rd October.
Dave’s first OBR model
Rear of the year?
This is the one I’ve finished. No pressure!
What’s happening on the 3rd?
Nothing. It’s just the deadline I’ve set myself.
Love that paint job.
Thank you. I might add some pigments to the base because it feels a little bit flat.
What’s your most memorable gaming moment?
The first Warhammer Fantasy campaign I took part in ended in a big four way battle, which was another first for me. My High Elves and my friend’s Imperial Dwarves versus a combined Wood Elf and Empire army. It was the first time I’d used Wardancers and I remember charging them into a unit of trash human infantry and just blending them. They just kept blending and blending these infantry units which kind of suited our opponents but I was having a wonderful time. It kind of defined how I tended to like to play the game from then on. Sometimes I’ll charge even if it’s a bad idea, just for the blood and glory!
So what do find you get out of the hobby?
I find the painting to be relaxing and a good stress reducer. Also enjoy the banter. Playing the game is obviously challenging to some extent at the moment but I enjoy the spectacle of the games.
Quiz time! Name five GW games that aren’t AoS or 40k.
Warhammer Fantasy Battles. Horus Heresy. Dark Future. Trolls in the Pantry. Gorkamorka.
Magnus did nothing wrong! Yes or No?
Everybody has ‘done things wrong’, especially in 40k. I think his initial motivations and intentions were largely good but also self-serving and hubristic.
If you were to fall to chaos which power would you devote yourself to?
The Lore Nerd answer is all Gods are Chaos Gods. So my answer would probably be Tyrion for AoS as he doesn’t seem, unusually, to be actively shit to his followers. Cegorach for 40k for similar (though less strong) reasons.
If you’re going to hold me to the ‘big four’ though…. my answer is Tzeentch. Or is it?
Following on from the success of my article on Jervis Johnson. I thought I would continue this into a series with another great games designer, Alessio Cavatore.
Alessio who hails from the City of Turin in Italy moved to the UK in 1995 and joined Games Workshop in the same year as a translator.
A year later and Alessio was made a games developer and was set to work writing several supplements for Warhammer Fantasy Battles before heading up the Lord of the Rings Strategy Game.
2004 was the year that saw Alessio made responsible for all the rules published for Warhammer Fantasy Battles, Warhammer 40k and Lord of the Rings. Two years later and he would write the rules for the 7th edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battles.
As well as writing the rules for Mordheim alongside Rick Priestley and Tuomas Pirinen, Alessio has been involved in games for both Warlord Games and Mantic Games. With Bolt Action (Warlord Games) and Kings of War (Mantic) all receiving input from this talented writer.
Out of the 73 games and add-ons that Alessio has worked on to date, that number includes;
Mordheim (Games Workshop)
Warhammer Fantasy Battles – 7th Edition (Games Workshop)
Kings of War (Mantic)
Bolt Action (Warlord Games)
The Lord of the Rings: Strategy Battle Game (Games Workshop)
Conquest: The Last Argument of Kings (Para-Bellum)
Warhammer 40,000 5th Edition (Games Workshop)
As a side note, Alessio, Brian Nelson and the Perry Twins all had cameo appearances in The Return of the King film as Rohirrim at the Battle of Pelennor Fields. They can be seen near the Mumakil when Pippin goes searching for Merry after the battle.
Behindtherules.com conducted an excellent interview with Alessio back in 2010, if you would like to learn more about Alessio and his rules writing you can find the 1st part of the interview here.
Like Jervis, the wargames community owes a lot to Alessio for his contribution to the industry and for what he continues to contribute.
I’m also hoping that articles like this will show that many of the rules sets you may dismiss out of hand have often been worked on by a writer you know and love that has worked for Games Workshop at one time or another.
Why don’t you let us know in the comments below which of Alessio’s games is your favourite, and why not suggest someone to focus a future article on.
So with August over its time to review the Path to Glory campaign.
Three games took place this month. Two between Ben and Declan which you can read here, and another between Aron and his friend Rick.
Declan managed to take two wins against the forces of Chaos and he advanced further north-east on the map, building a small settlement around a realmgate. To the south-east of his settlement he discovered Wild Lands which are currently under the control of the Undead (Aron).
Meanwhile Aron’s forces led by the Vengorian Lord Shana, the Flame of the Heavens successfully repelled a chaos incursion into their lands, utterly defeating the force leaving no one alive to tell the tale.
After the battle his scouts returned advising him of a Troggoth settlement that had sprang up to the north just beyond the wild lands around what they had assumed to be a ruined realmgate.
Shana had to plan their next steps carefully.
Aron’s Undead Forces
We haven’t yet covered Aron’s forces in the campaign. Aron has 2,000 points of Soul light Gravelords.
Led by Shana, Flame of the Heavens a Vengorian Lord the forces include two heroes Wilhelmina Carmel a vampire lord in the thrall of Shana and Machtrohl the Unbroken, Shana’s iron fist.
Aron’s forces includes the following units;
Deathrattle Skeletons (Bone Legion)
Dire Wolves (Alpha)
Zombie Dragon (Deadarire, Bringer of the Dead)
Vargheist (Primus)
Blood Knights (Lord Vahl’s Riders)
Deathrattle Skeletons (Ossius Legion)
Grave Guard (Order of Merihim)
Black Knights (Knights Noir)
As Aron has a 2,000 point list he was able to claim three territories at the start of the campaign. He chose a Settlement, Arcane Waypoint and some Wild Lands.
No games for Rhys, Dave, Ed or myself yet. But watch this space. I have a feeling Nurgle and Chaos may be rumbling soon…..
This weekend sees the release of two Battletomes (Orruk Warclans & Stormcast Eternals) along with a selection of miniatures for both ranges.
The battletomes will come in both a limited edition format and the usual hardback format. You’ll also be able to pick up the warscroll cards for both factions.
The miniatures being released by Games Workshop are, as always second to none in their quality and looks with very few companies being able to match their standard.
Games Workshop Minis Released this Weekend
The below releases are all listed as September release with no exact dates.
All of the miniatures below are for use in Warlord Games‘ Warlords of Erehwon: Mythic Americas ruleset. After Games Workshop it can be argued that Warlord Games are the second largest company in the wargaming industry with rulesets for Sci-fi, Fantasy and Historical wargames.
Wargames Atlantic provide alternatives for miniatures which can be used in other games systems. This weekend sees the release of three different boxed sets:
The first is French Infantry which can be used for World War 1 enthusiasts, and at £25 for a box of 35 models is a great bargain. If you buy more than one set you also have a bulk purchase discount.
The next is Cannon Fodder, which can be used for a variety of Sci-Fi Games. These would make a great alternative for either Cadians and at £25 for a box of 30, they make a far cheaper alternative giving you three squads of troops!
The final offering from Wargames Atlantic is the Goblin Warband, again with 30 miniatures for £25.
Just the one offering from Mantic Games this week in the form of their Halfling Engineer for Kings of War. £10 direct from their website.
