Thank you very much again for tuning into the Chronicle in podcast and wishing you all a very happy 2024. And today we have a very special guest which is Paul Hicks and he's a miniature designer, a very good one. In fact. I've just purchased some of the models from Futsal Miniatures to get them in my in my hands to paint them. I've been dreaming and and just just being so obsessed with these miniatures since I've seen them from the Barons War range that I had to have them.
So that's my Christmas gift to myself is I don't often buy miniatures myself to be honest. So it'd been really, really nice to find this particular range of historical miniatures that Paul's going to talk to me about that and plus his his foray into Games Workshop at a very young age. So hope you enjoyed this interview guys, and let's go on with it. OK, mate.
So well, yeah, thank you again for taking the time to come to speak with me and the audience here at the Chronic command And but now I've, I've, I've got to know about you through your work and of course you're a traditional sculptor, sculptor and a miniature designer, which is fantastic. And I got to listen to an interview with you I think was with Boris from. That's right.
Yeah. We are Mouth Studios and they're a new upcoming YouTube channel talking about the Barons war and the system that you work with Andy Hobday in creating the miniature for, which is proudly displayed behind me because I absolutely love the the out out Rimmer. I'm probably not pronouncing that it's a French word, I'm I'm, I'm butchering it completely. But it sounds beautiful when a French person says it.
But you know or three Emma, maybe with three Emma, with three Emma. There you go. And I love the, I love the miniatures you designed for that. So I thought I'd and I heard that you work for games workshops. I thought man we can tie those in together and talk about your history with Games Workshop. You know your current work now as a as a miniature designer and how that all worked in together and and all that as well. So for people who don't know who you are, could you please let us know?
Give us an introduction. Well, my name's Paul Hicks. I've been a miniature traditional miniature sculptor. Now think you need to define that this day and age for professionally. For just over 20 years I've always pretty much worked in in the gaming industry, from being a part timer when I was 16 all the way through to now really with a short interlude working for a wood floor, wood floor company as a salesman. Right.
So you you started, so you started like basically at 16 works in a part timer as Games Workshop, is that right? Yeah, back in well at first. My first time was when I was 14. I was worked at the GW at the Games Workshop in Darling Rd. Hammersmith when I was 14 as a work experience, and then when I was 16 that was 92 I went. I became a part timer and then I worked at GW in Plaza for a long time and then had a bit of time
out to go do my college work. And in 95, When I was 19, I started full time at Games Workshop Harrow and then from there till 2000 I worked for a Games Workshop in the retail department. OK, all happy days working for GW then. Well, I think, well, you're a veteran aren't you? Yeah. Well, The thing is I was, I was always about making figures and and stuff like that. I was never really into the suppose I I prefer to sit down and and paint as opposed to play
intro games. Yeah. So I'm I mean I, you know I did it but it wasn't you know my excite you know wasn't the thing I I really wanted to do. I really want to sit down paint toy soldiers and and convert miniatures. Really. Me too. That's why. I think that's why they got rid of me out of the Plaza. They sent me to send me to Luton.
Oh, well, there you go. That's yeah, Well I wondered, was looting like the some of the stores I worked at which was Hammers, Richmond and Kensington, that you've got no one injured in the day so just spent the time making my own, my own figures. And that's pretty much why I sort of learnt sculpt really just converting miniatures and and while no one ever came into the shop and instead of making stuff for the store, I just kind of sneakily made stuff for
myself instead. Yeah, I'm sure I wasn't alone at at sort of taking that liberty of working at Games Workshop. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. I think, Luton, you could get away with that. I would. I would just sit there all day and paint because no one would come in. Especially weak, you know. Yeah, I mean they're big days where you only make like 16 lbs for the whole day. And if you, you know, if you weren't making stuff for yourself, I mean it was pretty much, you know, you would go
completely crazy. And it was like that weird thing. You weren't allowed to make stuff for yourself. But if you did, you kind of started selling it because you were more infused about it than or I was more infused about it than the the next release that Games Workshop were, you know, going to put out. So OK, yeah, in a way it helped helped me sell stuff, but I'm not sure if it helped sell the things that Games Workshop
wanted to sell at the time. And Mike, how was how were you introduced to the like hobby, either through miniatures or tabletop war gaming? Was it like a friend or family member that got you into it, or was it just like just a random walk into a GW one day? Well, I was always into making models. I mean my mom and dad from a very early age. I mean one of my earliest memories was was being told to sort of stay away from the loft hatch while my dad built some model railway.
I must have been about two and it was it was something my mum and dad did. My mum's quite a good artist and so they always sort of got me into drawing. I think it's more drawing with something so my mum could watch the Aussie soap Sullivans during the day. So I was being able to be pretty occupied while she, you know, could watch telly basically. And then making models with my dad's and then just making stuff.
And then I was, I think it's when I went to high school for the and then there was a kid there with a magazine called White Dwarf and I'd never seen it before and it just, well, I heard of Games Workshop figures because there was a model shop that had the little blister packs and you could like it was just before, just after they started to move from the solid base to slaughter and you got about 5 figures in a blister pack for about pounds then. And they always intrigued me.
They looked fun, but it was the paints never seem to adhere. I'd never didn't have any idea of you know, how to paint them but they they looked cool. So and then when I went to high school then I sort of got introduced to white dwarf. I think the first white dwarf I ever saw is when they released the new. Well, what was new then, But the first line of Terminators, that that big flat sort of pizza box of Terminators. And then, yeah, I was kind of
hooked. And it was the Hammersmith store was only one stop away from my on the tube from my school. So after school I would go get on the tube, bunk on the tube because there was no one at the the ticket office. So I would sort of sneak, yeah, bunk. And then I had a return ticket, so it was no problem at the other end. And then to spend the time at Games Workshop instead of doing homework based today. Excellent. And yeah, from there, sort of.
But I've never, I've never really been a big gamer. It's always the miniatures that sort of got to me and the idea of collecting and sort of painting them that was more that I was into as opposed to the actual gaming itself. Wonderful. So so you you built models with your father at home and then you you you got your your first gig and work experience at Games Workshop. Did you have any sort of like modeling mentors that people used to look up to, or people guided you with your sculpting?
Well there was the first, the first sort of person I was really inspired by was a there's an American figure sculpt. Well, he converts mostly and it's all historical stuff. This guy called Bill Horan and he it's all 54 millimetre and he did a siege of Gander Mark Diorama that was in military modelling about the same time I got my first white dwarf. And that's what sort of got me from wanting to make or just have standard like the Itamia figures and maybe convert them.
So that was the first guy was just like this is amazing, you know, it's sort of I've always with my modelling, I've never been. When I've seen a kit I've, I've never wanted that. I've just wanted to make it slightly different and especially with figures. So I've always been sort of cutting stuff up. And then when I did my work experience there was a guy, what I still see now is Jim Coburn and he sat me down and he showed me how to paint properly and also he was massively into
conversions and stuff. So he was sort of just showing me that I could cut bits up and then and make like more interesting figures. But, but basically trying to keep them, you know, the silhouette and stuff like, you know, to make them look coherent as opposed to just the massive figures all thrown together. So I would actually say that sort of Jim was the guy that sort of started me off on my my GW collects you know collecting days.
So he, yeah, I owe him a massive debt which I do tell him most of the time when I see him once a year. Oh, that's. Good. That's nice you still you kept you kept in contact with him. That's great. Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's a lovely guy. What what particular races were you particularly interested in when you worked against worship? What? What kind of things really
fascinated you at that time? I think the first things I got was undead, because they did that amazing army box, which was the Undead army, which was 10 lbs. And I can remember going to the Games Workshop in Harrow. I must have been about 1415 and buying that set because it came with, is it like a chariot, some horsemen and stacks and stacks
of skeletons. So First off it was the undead, and then the 1st Army I properly collected was think an Auckland goblin army when I started to sort of be a part timer and started to work for Games Workshop.
But I've always tended to to float towards the more human races because at that time you had the Britannians that were pretty much the old sort of citadel historical stuff, and then the Empire, which was the the army I actually pretty much collected and painted religiously just because they were more sort of historically. I've always gone for the more
historically accurate stuff. The some of the weirdest stuff didn't really do it for me because in in essence I'm more of a historical gamer than or have interests. If if fantasy elements don't ring true for me, it doesn't really work. So yeah, The Empire was definitely, and especially anything that Perry's created, I was kind of into because I thought they had the the most, most realistic style. But I also really, really loved
anything that Jess Goodwin did. But I think that was more his concept work, because I've always been interested. I mean, my my original job that I wanted to do was to make to work in the film industry and like model making and stuff like that. And then I ended up doing the wrong course. At college, I was told that media studies would be where I needed to go as opposed to doing something in art. So I'd lost interest and then was making models as opposed to doing homework and stuff like
that. We're doing coursework. So anything when you look at any sort of making of book or any art book, it's just full of concepts and those are the ones, It's always the ones that never made it to film that I'm more interested in and the ones that actually made it onto film. So those early Jess Goodwin concepts as like Space Marines where you see the exploded view and all the alternatives and nine times out of 10 none of those made them.
I think one that really one of those those concepts were in when they were thinking of doing Battlefield Gothic for the first time and they had all the Jess Goodwin's concepts for the the Imperial Navy. The never ever saw the light of day until Kill Team. I think those are the ones that really sparked my imagination. Interesting. OK. And you just put in context your the timeline when you started working Games Workshop. We're talking at like early 90s. Yeah, yeah, early 90s.
So yeah, I was working part time at the The Plaza store when the first box Warhammer came out. So you're the plastic orcs and goblins and also the was I working there? I think I was part time when the bot the first Box 40K came out as well. OK, so this is 4th edition fantasy and 2nd edition 40K, yeah? That's right. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then I was, yeah, I was managing Richmond, I think when third edition 40K came out with the Black Templars. Yeah, I think so.
Those, those were kind of game changers, but they were very much a the court, you know, selling the core games, you know, it was absolutely, yeah. I think the Monopost kind of could never get with the Monopost look or was more interested in sort of those those fantastic pictures in these sorts, the 3rd edition book, those massed armies that people would put together near the back, the massive games, those are the ones that really interested me.
Yes I I can understand. I think it was a big transition from 3rd to 4th and it left some people back in the back in 3rd and not wanting to progress to the to the 4th edition and it it it then it you know GW exploded then and it just went global. And you know, many people, many young people got involved with tabletop war gaming and found miniatures and miniature painting and it went on from there to be a great success, of course. Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well it needed to happen for it to grow. But yeah, I'm I'm somebody who fears change. So anything like that I always like, you know if you look at old pictures, I kind of want to see see that you know what an Old Town would look like as opposed to what it looks like now. So any I'm I'm one for nostalgia that I should have known nostalgia for for a time that I didn't even live in, you know, I have a yearning to see what that's like as opposed to to what what things look like now.
Sure, that's fair enough. And we talked before before we came to the interview we you said you worked at the Plaza store, which I actually worked at as well and I think we may have a mutual friend in. Greg, is it Greg Stevenson? Greg Stevens, Yes. Yeah. Greg Stevens, Yeah. And yeah, he yeah, I'm well when I was, yeah, because I first worked out. I think I turned up the GW Plaza on my last day of school, so I just finished GCSEs and we could go.
So I just went up there and it was on a Friday and then because of Greg and his sidekick at the time. Sheep. Sheep. Yeah, yeah, I know him too. Yeah. Yeah. I ended up in the Astoria rock night and, yeah, at 16 and didn't really know what what the hell was going on. Yeah. Yeah. And Marcus Blackman as well was there. Oh. Great. Yeah, my long friend. Yeah, that's wonderful. Yeah, yeah, He was there at the time. Yeah, a guy called Lawrence
Widdecombe that I was. Yeah, he was being a long term friend. Not a long time friend that I still see every now and again. Yeah, I made some very good friends while I worked there. Lawrence, I think that's a name that now I remember, I met him a couple of times. He sounds like you sound like quite a character. And I remember him being on a diet of Guinness beer. Yeah, like weeks and weeks on end. He wanted to lose weight or something like that.
And I I think from memory that he was just on this diet of Guinness beer and nothing else. No solids, just Guinness did the job, I think. Sounds like Lawrence, yeah. Yeah, a great bunch. Of guards. Working there at that time, yeah. He ended up the like most well, like you said, working at Luton.
I think he lived in Hammersmith but had to manage the Games Workshop in the Watford, you know, So it was all, yeah, so my first manager job was in Sutton, but I lived in West London, so that was like a two hour track there and a two hour track back. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, they never really took into consideration where you lived as whether your nearest store was. So you just did it for the love of the hobby, You know what I mean? You're just. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
It was your. Eating of reading, living off the hobby kind of thing, you know? Yeah. So they certainly, yeah, took advantage of you there. But yeah, it was quite a good experience and I'm sure you had a wonderful time and, you know, shared experience of working at Games Workshop, meeting the people. And I suppose the people for me
was the biggest thing. Like I took away from working at Games Workshop, met so many great characters, so many people that I really, you know, I felt I've made many friends in England, in London at that time, because it's just, they're just genuinely nice people, you know? Did you go, what was the pub? It's the one bite of his store that the Astoria, was it the jaw? No. I'll. Tell you I'll tell you the story because you know sheep, he was his last day.
He was he was leaving this leaving gangs workshop and I don't. I think he went on to doing something with agriculture or. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's. Right, whatever. And I'll never forget this day. We went to the pub across the road there from the Plaza. The Holy Rood. Maybe I can't remember the name of the name of it now, mate, but we all sat there on a big table outside. It might have been in the summer because it probably obviously
wasn't that cold then. But we'll sit there having a beer and I think I think sheep had some miniatures on the table top on the on the table there looking at them and this guy came out and he's holding a he was holding a pint glass and I could tell he's pretty he was pretty pissed by this time and he just came up to our table and he just he started looking at sheep and saying I'm going to kill you. I'm going to kill you. And like he just he just stood there and started screaming at him.
I don't he'd never met him before I think and his his mate came out and tried to pull him back say hey mate come on let's go let's go. And then he. And then he, he smashed the pint glass right next to me and just broke it in his hand. Like his hand was bleeding and that kind of thing. Like he was going to stab him and kill him. And then the manager came out and the bouncers came out and grabbed him and threw him down the street. I never forget that day because
it was so intense. I've never been in a situation like that before in my life. This guy just came out of nowhere. Just what, kill sheep, I don't know why. And we're just standing there just totally, you know, amazed and astonished at what was happening. And then, yeah, he got thrown down the street and that was the end of that. So it was a very it was that was my last time meeting sheep,
basically. Yeah, I I think the last time I met him was when he was the manager at Harrow Well, but that was about last time I met him. But yeah, he was a character. And then, yeah, though he and Greg were pretty inseparable, weren't they? And also Greg was, well, probably still, well, I'm sure he is. And you don't normally shrink, but he was huge as well, weren't he? He was quite an imposing character. He's very tall, lanky, long
blonde hair. Yeah, you know, he had, he had a very good impression with the ladies every everywhere we went. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Bills would love him, you know, he's just, he just had that character. He had this very, yeah, kind of very charismatic personality about him, I think, and people just really took to him really well. Yeah, well, especially it was sort of the height of guns and roses. So he was. He was leaning on the Axel Rose. Yeah, exactly. Well, Axel Rose, mate.
Yeah, exactly. He just needed a bandana. He'd be right, you know, So, and we're talking about the age where everyone had long hair. You know, all the guys had long hair in the store. And you know, I started growing up as well because it was just a thing to do back then. You know, this is like early 90s when Metallica and all that kind of stuff was, you know, going around all the heavy metal bands
and stuff like that, but. We didn't have to wear, we didn't have to wear GW stuff working in the stores. And it was when I think we had a manager, Ed Specki who was good friends with Greg and Sheep and he was the manager and it we all decided we were going to wear combats and Games Workshop, right, like the T-shirts they would sell. So to give the sort of the store a bit more of a a look. So I think we would like the only store that would do that and then then the red shirts came in.
But I think that was, yeah, that was, yeah, I think it was. I'm sure that was his initiative to do that. Yeah. I think we kind of had the the feeling we were better than other stores, but things we never really mixed with other stores in the in and around the area. Yeah, we weren't there. Wasn't like I think later on when I worked for GW there was a bit more of a a sort of a social social side to working between
the the areas. But not then if you ever saw an area manager that was, you know, out of the blue type thing, yeah, it was very, yeah. Talking about it now, it was great fun, yeah, but it was like had to be that £2.00 an hour. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah, it didn't. I think it just about covered my travel to get up there. I. Was going to say, yeah, you wouldn't. You wouldn't be living, living it up on a GW salary anytime soon, that's for sure.
I think by the time you say like, paid your rent, you paid your travel costs, you paid for the food you ate every day and that kind of thing, There wasn't much left and changed, just enough to get your 50% discount on your GW figures if you wanted them. Kind of thing, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was. Yeah, we definitely did it for the love of it as opposed to the work. I mean, I've burnt, burnt through money that was given to me to sort of go up there as opposed to actually working.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. There you go. I hardly ever had to buy my own pints. That was nice. Yeah, that was a funny thing actually, because every time at the pub is like, OK, you know, there's five of us. And I wasn't a big beer drink. I wasn't. I didn't really drink alcohol at
all. But those guys really, you know, you know, and they would drink, They drank pints, one of the most of the worst Australian beer you could ever think of, which was called Fosters, which no one in Australia ever drank. But apparently it was just really popular in the UK. It was like the cheapest beer you could get, probably. But every time we rocked up there, it'd be like five guys and the first guy I'd have to buy the whole entire round.
So by the time you left, you'd drink 5 pints, They were complete, skin full, and you'd have to get back home. And I think some of those, some of those times I was, you know, I just didn't know how I got back home, basically. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that sounds one of the funniest memories. What was that pub called? It was rounds. So we went up to Tottenham Court Road and turned right at the station on the other side of the road of the Plaza.
Turn right. And then it was right again where the old Astoria used to be. It's all been knocked down now, no? It's always snow. Is it OK? It's boy knocked down. It's been knocked. Down. Yeah, they they. I completely knocked it all down to the bigger station and I sat there just thinking normally I had to sort of go, and it was probably probably talking to a girl or something.
And there's Punk came out of the pub because it was a metal pub, and then just walked along, turned his head and the stream of vomit had come all the way out and it was like a perfect rainbow arc of just beer and awfulness. And then just turns didn't even wipe his mouth or anything and just carried on walking. It was like the most elegant, disgusting thing you've ever seen in your life. It wasn't Kev Adams, was it? No, no, this, no.
But it was an archetype. We had like a massive Mohawk, so everything works. Yeah. It was like the most punk thing ever, yeah. Wonderful. Yeah. We're going to go for a quick break and when we come back, we can start talking about your career in miniature designing and how you got to become established as a sculptor for great companies like Footsaw in particular. So we'll be back in just a minute, Paul.
OK, no problem. But yeah, let's talk about your work with Futsal, because that's how I discovered you with your Barons War range, which was highlighted on Tabletop, which is a YouTube channel that Jerry and the other guys run. And they sort of showcase lots of wonderful projects coming out from game developers out there. And I thought, looked at these and I thought, wow, because I'm, you know, for me personally, I'm not a historical buff. I'm not into historical gaming.
I found it very boring early on in my younger years and it it wasn't much an attractive to me. But when I saw the Baron's War stuff and other things relate like you know test of honor and that kind of thing, you know, the presentation was very good. The miniature range was very nicely done. The the miniature painting was very high standard. It's sort of it's come up in levels. I think to we're a point where, you know, that's competing with the other fantasy game Rangers out there.
I think you know what I mean. Yeah, my my interest in war gaming has always been mass battles. I've always liked those big direct diorama displays, that sort of museums and stuff. So I'm I'm very much of the the big, big scale stuff, but I not have the patience to paint hundreds of figures. But I like those are the things I like seeing. But also I love skirmish gaming with more time than was one of my favorite games. I think everyone's favorite game, but coming back to sort of
how I got into into sculpting. So when I worked at GW there, like I said before, you know, when people weren't coming into the store, I sort of would be making my own stuff.
And then I collected an Empire Army and I had a gaming friend, a guy called Andy Sherwell. I started with this Empire army, which was in White Dwarf. I'll send you some pictures and I was starting to make things like a Knights Panther musician or musician for other units or a standard bearer for my flatulence and things like that and converted my own elect count
in general. I you know you couldn't get so but it will be basically cut one figure in half and then put another you know onto another figure. And me and Andy Cher, while we used to, we'd game a lot. We had our own gaming club and then he he bought a company called Grip and Beast which is a miniatures company. And he knew that me and another guy who worked for Game Switch at the time, Andy Dormer, were were into sort of converting figures. So he asked us to do some small
bits for him. And for about a couple of years I've been making the odd little figure for them, mostly converting figures, miniatures they haven't got in their range that they needed. And then I back in 2002, so I'd left Games Workshop at that time and I was working as in a wood flooring company as a sales assistant, which was like high ends at the bottom of the I was at the bottom of the ladder. I was a shopper boy, basically, but I was earning top GW manager wage. You're right, right.
Yeah. Yeah, While I was doing that, I was sort of doing more historical stuff. We were really into Warhammer Ancient Battles. Oh, right. So that was a real, you know, we could get our historical fix and also our Warhammer fix at the same time. So we were big into that. So I started doing a few conversions and then a company called, what was it? Backloners.
Yeah, backloners in Evesham. They used to import stuff from America and they asked if I would make they were looking for sculptors to do a range of early First World War figures and that that's a period that really interested me. And so they they asked me and and the Dormer if we would do a test figure for them and they were happy with them and that was my first range. But it meant I could sort of leave my job and then and do sculpt full time.
And the I went to my dad's, I can remember quite vividly because me and my fiance, now my wife, went to my dad. We went round to see my dad before we were going out for the night. And I said, look, this opportunity's come up and he just sort of turned around and said, well, he might as well take it, you know, is is it
something you want to do? And I was like, yeah, it's something I would like to do. And he said, well, there's not, you're not really ever going to get a chance to do something that you ever want to do. So why not? And I was like, yeah, that's great. So I went on to do that and then sort of by it was the day after I went, went out for a night out with friends and then funny
enough, met. It was a great night because we, I found out I was going to be a sculpt for the first time professionally, went to a nightclub, met our best friends at this nightclub that night. Yeah. So it was sort of a perfect evening. Next day was salute, went to salute and then the next day, you know, that Monday I was, I was a figure sculptor.
Then the world sort of came to realise that actually you need to sort of knuckle down and this might be a lot more harder work than you expected it to be. Yeah, and I did that for a couple of years. Started to make be interested in we, our gaming club. We used to play a version of Warhammer 40,000 called Warhammer 44. It would be Second World War armies as opposed to 40K. And there was the odd figure that wasn't available.
So I would. I think I made like a German medic and other figures and a friend of the gripping beast, a guy called Simon Bargery went, oh you know, have you thought about making these for yourself? And I was like, well, no, not well, I would like to, it'd be quite nice, but I haven't really given it much thought. And he said, well look, I'll put in 500 lbs of my own money and you give £500 worth of sculpts and we'll start, you know, see how it goes.
And then from there we started a company called Bolt Action Miniatures, which has kind of gone on to two Warlord games, some quite good business. And then from there I had some distribution with a company called Brigade Games that I still work for in the States and it's word of mouth through companies. A company, one of the biggest, my J Games, is one of my biggest customers and Empress miniatures over here in Oxford. They got sort of know and then built up relationships with companies.
And then Andy Hobday of Futsal Miniatures I knew as one of my shop managers when I went back to the Plaza in 97, got in contact. It's about doing some work and the rest is history when it comes to Futsal. It's incredible how many connections you can draw back to Games Workshop from the people in the industry now, isn't it? Oh, massive, Absolutely massive. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's got all that, you know, all over the world.
You can you find someone that's you've probably not 6°, more like 2° of separation from and it worked or has been at the the Plaza store at some point. Yeah, it's incredible. Yeah. It's wonderful. Yeah, that's great because you know, like Test of Honor, they're great for now games. Graham Davey, he's XGW. He's actually GW staff, like the studio staff, White or vanity team, you know. So yeah, you can always go back, you know, Warlord Games, XGW, you know, John Stallard and crew
and that kind of thing. Oh yeah, I work. Yeah. Well, one of my I did. Some of their first figures were mine, sort of the the metal figures to go with their romance. And then so we built up over a period of time, about five years. We built up old action miniatures, me and Simon, and then it got too big for us because we were taking it to shows.
It was just in Simon's garage. He was in Portsmouth, I was in London and then Warlord Games offered us some money that we we couldn't you know say no to and that's that's how Bolt Action miniature started with Warlord Games. Yeah. Yeah, it's always been, yeah. It's always come through for me, sculpting, which has been good, yeah. That's good to hear, Paul.
That's nice man. It's it's great that you can make your you know, your love of you know doing something something very creative and now it's become your full time you know career for the last 20 years and it looks like in genuine for you know as long as possible which is great. Well, hopefully. Yeah.
Very high in demand mate. Every, every, you know, you seem to be very very highly in demand and I think futsal miniatures are under a really good thing here with Baron's War and you know the different ranges they'll produce in the future and different historical periods and and what have you now. You did talk about a World War 2 theme Kickstarter that will be coming out in the future and I saw some miniatures of that, which, you know, I'm not a World War Two guy, but wow, I saw
those miniatures. I was really amazed how good they were. Like the character of those, I think no paratroopers, paratroopers and. Yeah. So it's it's with one of my long standing companies, Empress companies that I've worked for which is Empress Miniatures right? And I did, I did British paratroopers. I think they weren't like the best figures I'd done for when I owned Bolt Action Miniatures. Some of them are still available through Warlord games. I was so pleased with those.
But looking now I'd you know the I'm a bit better, bit better at sculpting and Empress asked me to do some what the Second World
War figures for them. So I've done some Volks Grenadier which are for the Germans which are like not the best level of troops at very end end of the war for for the Germans, some Americans for the battle of the Bulge and some British again the same sort of period so winter and we wanted to do a Kickstarter and we our first thoughts were Soviets for as a Kickstarter. But then Putin had just made that sort of not flavour of the months so we we thought about
what what could we do and British paratroopers have been sort of really they're a very popular force to play in games like chain of Command by the the two Fat Ladis and Bolt action. So they're they're quite well catered for, but we wanted something that people that would already have British paratroopers would want and it was doing the Market Garden, which is a bridge too far if you've seen the film and we wanted. We didn't want to depict them as they just landed, which most Rangers do.
We wanted to depict them 2-3 days in where they've dropped all their kit, their kits worn, some of them are wounded, there's lots of famous characters to to portray as well and I think that that sparked quite a lot of a lot of imagination and it it's done really well. So we're really pleased with how that's going and in fact I'm busily sculpting the next next phase for that at the moment, along with a project for Andy and myself which is is going to
be some fantasy figures. Yes, that's a great segue because I I saw on Facebook there is a Hobday and Hicks page which is dedicated to this fantasy rage that you are producing for for for Andy and. Oh no, it's for me and Andy. Oh. Just for you and Andy, right? It's just. Yeah, yeah, this is. I'm dipping my toe back into the miniature's realm again. So this is, this is for myself and Andy, Yeah, it's really
exciting. So I mean, I might have said earlier I'm more of a historical gamer as opposed to a fantasy. But we found that a lot of people were using our Barrens war figures, especially the lightly armoureds like the Pilgrims or the the Peasants figures that we've done in fantasy settings. And we thought, well, it would be great to sort of do a line of figures inspired by, you know, fantasy, but very much inspired by sort of the Dark Age feel. So we're that's what we're embarking on.
That's what Hobday and Hicks is all about. Yeah, that's really nice looking minutes is on there and I want to give you a shout out to HVM Workbench because the person responsible for painting and and especially the photography, the atmosphere, this person to capture in these pictures. I mean for Baron's Ward, the that's, that's all beyond it because you know, you have beautiful looking miniatures.
But unless they're painted perfect or beautiful beautifully and they're presented in a way that captures the atmosphere of what you're selling, it's a it's a big contributor to, you know, getting people to cross that line and say, yeah, I really want to get those miniatures just to paint or want them for
the game or whatever. It he's I mean we've worked from him with him I think from the the first, the first we've done 4 Barrens War kick starters now and they've I think he worked with us on the first one I think but definitely from the 2nd onwards is his work is is is being invaluable to the to the actual kick start of progress so we're we're very fortunate to be able to work with them. Yeah, I know it's been fantastic. I I've, I actually ordered my
miniatures yesterday. I can't wait to get them and because you know, they're all your sculpts of course. But you know just just going by the promo stuff on Futsal's website, I was completely sold. I I've been dreaming about these miniatures. Like I'm just saying I need to get these because they're so beautiful. I just, I've never been attracted to any historical stuff before in my life, but this whole package has just sold me on it completely about the Crusades and and all that kind
of stuff. Even the the, the Islamic forces, they're painted so well. I mean, they're designed so well, but they're painted so beautifully that I'm just like, yeah, this is what I really want to do. I really want to get the same sort of style and the way he's painting them and the detail and the Shields and all the the fabric, you know, detail work he's doing on those. Yeah, it really sold me completely on that. Oh, that's that's fantastic to hear.
Well, hopefully the miniatures live up to your expectations. No mate, they look really cool. I really, really love them, honestly. So yeah, I really hope to. When I when I get them, I'll do a video like an unboxing kind of thing and showing the models, how they, how they develop delivered to me and how they how they look out of the blister or packaging and that kind of thing. So I can see the the casting, you know and the level of detail
in the models. Because yeah, I think you guys do a fantastic range of miniatures and it's just getting that more exposure. So hopefully through the Crown of Command we can help do that for you guys and get more people either picking up the miniatures for various different systems they're playing. If it's not Baron's Wall, you can use it for various other different game systems.
Yeah I mean there's there's no. I mean because of it when we did our first Kickstarter we didn't actually have a rule set. I mean that came with the 2nd Kickstarter Barrens War the you know, it's it's snowballing. That's been the beauty with it is that we've been able to build a a community along with it. And I always I'm not. That's why I get my enthusiasm for because I don't literally have about six or seven painted miniatures in my house. Enjoyment has always been
building or sculpting figures. So when I go and see people or when I see people's work that they've they've spent their time painting or collecting stuff that I've made. That's where I get my enthusiasm from. And to see, you know the the Barrens wore like the Facebook page and people's work. It's the thing that really, you know, that gets me fired up. I mean I've I've got more painted Spitfires in my in my workshop for making model kits
and I have painted figures. That's not that I don't, you know, I have. I love going to shows and seeing and massive displays and games on people's work. But yeah, it's always been this part of the hobby is the bit that's always interested me, as opposed to sort of the painting. But I could never use. Well, it's part apart from the time when I used to be able to nick an hour's worth of sculpting when no one came into the store.
You know, that was something that was pretty frowned on when I worked at GW. So now I'm getting to live my my dream basically, which is great. Yeah mate, Yeah, I'm really happy for you, Paul. That's great, mate. That's awesome. And long may that continue. You know hope. So otherwise we'll be out on our air. But you always seem to be in demand and that's that's the good thing about it.
And I think you know, with your partnership with these various different companies that Rangers grow and then, you know, different periods get talked about and that kind of thing. And I just want to express too that like I said and I think many people know who know me, I'm not, I'm not a historical gamer. I've never, never been one. I've tried Warhammer Ancients and I dabbled with that with my naked Germans and it was interesting, but you know, it
wasn't really my thing. But but with this, with the Barons war stuff, it actually got me interested in learning about the history. So I started tracking down some PDFs on the Templars and the Templars, I should say, and the Crusades, and learning about the various different sects and factions and all that kind of stuff. And that's never happened before.
And Testafana did the same thing to me as well, because I live in Japan. I'm, you know, I'm interested in Samurai, the Sengoku period and that kind of thing, so. Just so that I know I can kind of get in the atmosphere. So I've been some of these elves have been not so much watching anything fancy but sort of dipping my toe into YouTube and people's sort of fantasy collections or you know, sort of anything to do with special effects for fantasy films or
anything like that. But I'll need to, I'll need to sort of immerse myself in the period or definitely documentaries on YouTube on the period. And I'll obviously that'll be feeding itself in and getting the creative juices going. But it's if you've got a range of miniatures, if it's a fantasy range, you know you'll be attracted by the range and then you'll read about the law. So you're just in effect reading the law about the the Barons
War, aren't you? At the moment that's you're just immersing yourself in in the period. I think. I think it attracts me because there's there's a certain level of mystique behind it. And World War 2 is just too close to home because my my grandparents lived through the Second World War in the Netherlands under the occupation of the of the Germans.
And certain flashbacks they had, you know, even when I was you know 20 odd or something like that, they had there were certain incidences where, you know, they wouldn't talk about
the war. And you know, I remember my grandmother sitting with me in in in the room one day and the the one of the military, like the RAF flew over a house really quite low and she just bolted up, you know, like just out of shock and you know, terrified, thinking the Germans because it just brought back all these memories of, you know. Yeah, I can understand that. So yeah.
I mean coming from the uki mean like my grandfather in Italy and we have a completely different experience because we weren't occupied. So I think it sits in a different mindset with us, to the point where I think my grandfather went to war to escape his home life as opposed. I think there's a good reason my dad was an only child. But I think, yeah, it's a different experience for us as opposed to, you know, people that lived under the occupation.
And things like war films have captured my imagination. And some of the stories that my grandfather told me when I was a boy, I mean, a lot of them now, if you sort of did read between the lines, must have been absolutely horrific. Yeah, well, must have been. They were absolutely horrific. But it was all exciting at the time. Yeah, of course. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. Yeah. And capture the imagination. Yeah, that's wonderful, man. That's great. Well, look, but honestly, thank
you very much again for today. I, I, I wish you for 2024, mate in your Kickstarter or sculpting endeavours with various companies you're working with. We will stay tuned to see what they're all about. I'll leave some links in the show notes for this video and the podcast so that people can go to those Facebook groups so they can keep in touch with all the updates of things coming out.
Yeah, so. So the fancy stuff, it's Hobday and Hicks. And obviously the Baron's War is Baron's War on Facebook and Empress. Miniatures have their own, and so do Brigade games. They will have their own Facebook pages, so keep up. Or if you want to I do post every now and again sculpting work on my own page on social media. But it's mostly models of Spitfires that I'm making or playing rugby, so. Yeah, I saw those.
They're fun. But I know that a lot of our listeners are into, you know, historical gaming. So they should, they should tune into what you guys are doing because yeah, like I said, it's, I think it's exciting. I think it's bridging. It's getting closer and closer to, you know, to bridging that gap between, you know, dull, boring photographs of very old miniatures in historical gaming, but now becoming more exciting, you know, visually exciting.
And it's and the rules themselves, the game rules they're making now are becoming much more in line with a lot of other fantasy type systems out there too, which which makes it just easier for people to get into so. Boris, Boris and Mark of Is it Weymouth? Weymouth. I think so. You can't pronounce it either. That's good. Yeah, they have their mouth. But I don't know, yeah. They're doing a great job of of doing a rundown of the rules for Baron Swore. So yeah, give it.
Give it a look. Absolutely. I've been watching those videos and they've done a fantastic job. Watched the bad report too. Yes, yeah. Yeah. They've got a great way of presenting the game and they've got a couple of good guys there, you know, running through the demo of of the game as well and talking about the rules and
stuff like that. So I'll leave links in the show notes for them as well because they're just starting out and I want to give Boris a good, good helping hand with some more subscribers and more eyes on what he's making there. And who knows, the Crown Command might have their own Barons War game at some point. If I can find anybody or con them into playing a game with me, we'll see how we go. But yeah, I'm sure you'll be able to find someone.
We can do a solo otherwise, or they do a remote play or whatever. I don't know. I'm really excited. I'm really excited to get these miniatures painted and you know, making a nice table top and with terrain and everything and then start playing. It would be really fun. Fantastic. Brilliant. Thank you. OK. Well, thanks very much again, Paul, for all your time and for sharing your story.
I really appreciate it, mate. And maybe we'll have you back talking about your very first White Dwarf magazine that you ever saw. Can you remember what, what issue that was? White dwarf issue one side. Well, let me get them. So the first one I was in was 210. Right. But that was a bit on the Plaza store itself. Right. OK. Yep. My with my first ever sculpted miniature which was a full sculpt which was a the Giant. Then it was 228 which was a Christmas edition.
There you go. Don't know if you can see. Oh yeah. Wow. All right. My Empire army. Awesome. OK, now this. This army, of course, has sadly been sold off between. Yeah, it's owned by the John Stallard, who's the owner of Warlord Games. Right, well I reckon you should get in touch with John and say if you've still got it, you can sculpt them some miniatures and trade for getting it back. I think I'd need to be sculpting a lot. Yeah, we'll see how you go, man. I know you want it back.
That's a beautiful looking army. The Perry stuff was just amazing. You know? It's. Yeah, anything. I'm a big I I like the pomp and the the ceremony of Napoleonics, right, The colour and and what they do for their miniatures, you know, their, their Napoleonic stuff, yeah. So I probably like all the boring sort of dusty historical stuff that you're not sort of that into. But what they do with their their, Napoleonics is just it's
just amazing. Now whatever whatever the Perry's touch they they've turned to gold. I've got. I've got all their samurai miniatures here, which are now, what, 20 years old at least? Yeah, yeah, it's. Beautiful miniatures, still gorgeous to paint. You know they're they're wonderful old school miniatures. So yeah, whatever the Perry's do, they really do it well, so. They just had an age of realism,
even with their fancy stuff. It's just just has a a feel that I don't think any other sculpts have managed to get. No, they had something magic in their fingers when they're just making those little toy men, I think they just had something about them that gave the, you know, they they made their own, you know, impression with every miniature they made.
Because you when you pick something up, you just know, OK, that's a Perry because it just had a distinguishing features about it or the white, the style of how they did things. But I suppose Jess Goodwin's the same, you know, you you look at something, you just know it's a Jess Goodwin. And I think for you yourself, I think, you know, you just know that's a Paul Hicks miniature. It's got a very distinguishing style to it, so. Which is which?
Which, well, which? Which 3D sculptors don't have, you know what I mean? Like, that's why I like traditional sculpt sculptors. I like the the feel of the heft of lead. I like all that because it's got, you know, part of yourself in the miniature. And I think a lot of the modern style stuff just doesn't have that. It's a very disconnected kind of thing. Well, it's not immediate. I I like to. I've always liked to make things with my hands. Yeah, and be connected with, you
know, just instant. It's more of an instant gratification. And the last thing I want to do is work at a computer all day. Yeah, that's it, mate. I know. That's right. Yeah. No, I can tell you how it's. Not have not have anything to show except for a picture on the screen. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I know it's it's a modern thing but you know, I'm, I'm really happy that to see that the the traditional, you know, crafts, crafts are still around and people still appreciate it.
That's the main thing. So but anyhow Paul, look, I'll let you get back to work mate. I know you're very busy and thank you very much for your time again today, but we'll have. No problems. Thank you. We'll keep in touch with one of your white dwarves, probably featuring your Empire army. That'll be really nice to showcase at some point. OK, I'll try and get it scanned for you. Good on your buddy. Thanks very much again. Hey. It is, Yeah. Bye. Bye.