Yarkshire Gamers Reet Big Wargames Podcast

Episode 59 - Pete Brown - TAG

Welcome to Episode 59 and today I am chatting with Pete Brown who is the main man at The Assault Group who are probably better known as TAG.

Pete has had a interesting journey in the hobby prior to setting up TAG, he's worked at Table Top Games, Games Workshop and Wargames Foundry so it was great to chat about his career in mould making and casting and especially chatting about Bob Connor the owner of TTG who is sadly no longer with us.

TAG are probably best known for their extensive range of 28mm Renaissance Figures, covering most nations and conflicts in the period, as Pete is a self confessed list ticker he is always keen to finish off his ranges and not leave customers hanging on for that final pack in a range.

Its another wide ranging chat about the hobby which I'm sure you will enjoy.

TAG figures can be purchased via their website, link below,

https://theassaultgroup.co.uk/

The next episode with be the Summer Edition of Brews in the Bin Yard which will include the draw for the World Cup of Historical Wargames Miniature Manufacturers.

Until Next Time, Sithee

Regards Ken

The Yarkshire Gamer 

Episode 58 - Joe Bilton - Wargames Terrain

After our double header history fest on Jutland with Nick Jellicoe its time to get back to basics with a special episode on Wargames Terrain.

My guest is Joe Bilton aka @Joe_Wargamer on Twitter (sorry Elon, its Twitter mate) who during the 5 years or so he has been in the hobby has produced some superb quality tables with an emphasis on more realistic terrain.

His day job is creating maps for Wargames, mostly Role Play and Fantasy style stuff but with an increasing amount of historical stuff chucked in, here's a link to the company

http://www.heroicmaps.com/

All the usual sections are there and we have a cracking entry into Room 101, I can feel the Twitters lighting up already !

The final section of the show is a deep dive into terrain making with some top tips and ideas for improving the look of our wargames tables.

My next guest will be Pete from TAG, I'm a big fan of The Assault Groups Italian Wars figures so I'm really looking forward to that one.

Sit back and relax with a nice brew and a Garibaldi and enjoy the episode.

Until next time, Sithee

Regards Ken

The Yarkshire Gamer

Episode 57 - Nick Jellicoe - Jutland, The Battle and its Aftermath

Hi everyone.

No surprises with the content of this episode as I present the second part of my interview with Nick Jellicoe. In the first part we covered a lot of the background to the battle and the characters involved.

In this part of the interview we look in detail at the battle itself, going through each of the major phases of the action at Jutland. We then finish the show off with a quick look at John Jellicoe after the Battle.

The two episodes weigh in at just over 4 hours and I have to say I enjoyed every minute of each one. I would like to thank Nick for being so generous with his time and hopefully you enjoyed our chat as well.

Next episode will feature Joe Bilton, Joe is one of the leading terrain makers out there and his recent Stalingrad table at Salute was a joy to see. As some one who often shies away from that side of the hobby from both an enthusiasm and talent perspective it will be great to hear from Joe on how he gets excited over some grass tufts and a bit of scatter !

So until next time, Sithee

Regards Ken

The Yarkshire Gamer 

Episode 56 - Nick Jellicoe - Jutland - Prelude to Battle

Hello again, welcome to Episode 56, the first of a double header on the Battle of Jutland, by far the largest sea borne action of the First World War and what a great guest we have to discuss it with you, Nick Jellicoe, grandson of John Jellicoe Commander of the British Fleet at the battle.

We recorded for about 4 and a half hours and it was a great discussion cover many aspects of Nicks life as well as the battle itself. 

I haven't split a guest episode for a while but I had recorded this episode along with the ones with Nigel Atter and the Rapid Fire in a period of two weeks so splitting this episode will make it easier on your time and also give me a bit of a break until I record the next episode.

In this show I talk to Nick about his life as well as a most interesting chat around his fathers WW2 career. We then go on to discuss the prelude to the battle and some of the characters involved.

Back in two weeks to talk about the battle itself and its aftermath.

Until then, Sithee

Regards Ken

The Yarkshire Gamer

Episode55 - Richard Marsh & Colin Rumford - Rapid Fire

Welcome to the latest episode of the Podcast with my two guests Richard Marsh and Colin Rumford who are responsible for one of the most popular sets of WW2 rules available - Rapid Fire.

First released in 1994 and supported by many subsequent Supplements, Campaign and Scenario Books the rules have gone through a recent update with Rapid Fire Reloaded, a chartless version of the orginal rules.

It's a long episode but with two guests that's always the way as we go through the regular features with each guest, eventually after a couple of hours we get round to actually talking about the rules ! But this isn't a short form Podcast after all it's just as much about getting to know the guests as it is the main topic.

The Rapid Fire website where you can obtain all the various books is

https://www.rapid-fire-uk.com/

Hope you enjoy the episode, next up I hope will be another Historian style show with Nick Jellicoe where we will be discussing the Battle of Jutland.

Until then Sithee

Regards Ken 

 

Episode 54 - Nigel Atter - WW1 in Mesopotamia

Hello everyone and welcome once again to the Yarkshire Gamers Reet Big Wargames Podcast as I reach the 54th episode. In a bit of an extended introduction I go through and explain a recent change in my guest booking process. Before moving onto the main course.

Today my guest is Nigel Atter who is a WW1 historian with a couple of books to his name who has studied one of my favourite campaigns of history to recreate, The Great War in Mesopotamia.

Its a fascinating area to look at and very different to the more commonly studied war on the Western Front.

My guest is no stranger to the wargaming table as well so we look at his own personal wargaming and history story before doing the features session, skipping over the usual Big Game chat to give us more time to concentrate on the main topic.

Nigels books can be obtained via Helion on the link below,  

Nigel Atter - Biography | Helion & Company | Military History Books

Hope you enjoy the episode and maybe get a taste for the Campaign yourself.

My next episode will see me talking with the authors of the WW2 rule set Rapid Fire, Richard Marsh and Colin Rumford.

Until then, Sithee

Regards Ken

The Yarkshire Gamer

Episode 53 - Phil Andrews and Martin Gane - Salute

Welcome to Episode 53, for the first time on the Podcast we are going to have a detailed look at a Wargames Show in the UK and we have started with the biggest.

Salute is a London based show which has been around since the 1970s, it has grown and grown through a series of venues to its current location in the Excel centre and it sees around 6,000 devotees of the Wargaming Hobby descending on it each year.

My guests are Phil Andrews who is the current lead organiser of the show and Martin Gane who is the President of the South London Warlords, the club that runs the show.

As usual we get to know our guests through the Introduction, Big Game Chat and Features section before getting into the Big Topic which of course is the Salute Show.

Full details, including tickets etc on Salute can be found at the following location,

https://southlondonwarlords.co.uk/salute-1

Hope you enjoy the episode and I will be back next month with another guest and another show.

Until then, Sithee

Regards Ken

The Yarkshire Gamer

Episode 52 - Giles Shapley(Eric the Shed) - Shed Wars

Welcome to the first Podcast of 2024, it always seems to take me a while to get started again in the New Year, but at least I managed to get an episode out i January this time around.

Today my guest is the author of the blog Shed Wars, Giles Shapley who is also known by his nom de plume "Eric the Shed".

Shed Wars was and remains one of the staple Wargaming Blogs and it continues to be regularly updated (unlike some, yes I mean you Yarkshire Gamer !) with the gaming adventures of Giles and his friends.

In recent months the Shed has relocated to a more rural location outside the M25 and Giles has converted on of the buildings on the land he bought into a new improved version of the Shed. Plans are afoot to get on site accommodation so you can stay and play.

All the usual features are here, so sit back and enjoy nearly three hours of Wargames Chat.

The Shed Wars Blog is here

Shed Wars

And details of The Shed Wars Experience

The Shed Wars Experience

I'm in the process of organising recording of the next episode so I'm not able to announce my next guest but expect 2 episodes in February.

Until next time, Sithee

Regards Ken

The Yarkshire Gamer

Episode 51 - Xmas Brews in the Binyard 2023

Its back, the Podcast within a Podcast, our traditional (well 3rd episode) of the Brews in the Binyard Xmas Special.

After being serious this year with special episodes on Paintbrushes and Papal Zouaves its time to let our hair down with a festive blow out. Sadly our usual hombre Sean Clark wasn't available this year so the wonderful Iain McDonald of Flags of War has stepped in, so Sean's Mexican corner is now Iains Jacobite Corner.

As usual the episode has a Parental Guidance Sticker as Alex can't stop swearing (as usual), I am of course as clean as a church mouse !

Sadly the recording of the track for Alex in part 1 didn't record so I have edited it together as best as I can, I couldn't leave out the Mistletoe and Wine bit.

Then Part 2 sees us review the recent entries into Wargames room 101 before moving onto a hot topic chat about how History is represented on the big screen. I then have my own Perry Miniatures related rant !

Finally its your questions and me and Alex actual get serious on our Complexity vs Playablity Session for a least 5 minutes.

Hope you all have a great Xmas and New Year. Its been a great 2023 for the Yarkshire Gamer Podcast and I want to thank everyone who has listened in. I hope to be back in the New Year with many more.

Until then, Sithee

Regards Ken

The Yarkshire Gamer

Episode 50 - Toofatlardies - World Cup Winners

For my Golden Jubilee Episode I thought I'd celebrate with a couple of the hobbies luminaries, who just happen to have recently won the World Cup of Historical Wargames Rules with their Chain of Command WW2 set, not only that the runners up were another one of their rule sets, Sharp Practice.

Nick and Rich have done many Podcasts in the past so I tried to approach familiar topics from a different angle or ask new questions, in Part 2 I turned the tables on Rich and got him to interview me on Sidney Roundwoods 7 golden rules of Podcasting.

It was a great way to celebrate 50 Episodes, here's to another 50 more !

The next episode will be the Xmas Brews in the Binyard, I did have another 3 episodes planned for this year, but I don't want to make the same mistake as last year and end up burning out trying to catch up, so those will appear early in 2024.

Finally thanks to all the listeners over the last 50 episodes, great to have you all on board.

Until next time, Sithee

Regards Ken

The Yarkshire Gamer