"Who are the movers and shakers today?" Topic

Following on from another thread which asked who are the most influential people in wargaming today. When we talk about influential people we do tend to look back to the likes of Featherstone, Scrubby and their ilk. The thread I was reading earlier (a review of this month's MWwBG) asked specifically who the key movers and shakers are in the hobby right at this moment. Who would you put of the list, and why? What makes someone qualify as influential in the hobby?

Remember it's a much bigger hobby now…

Rich Clarke – Too Fat Lardies.

I think that he's a very independent thinker and able to see the big picture of what he's trying to achieve, and think outside the box.

He tries to find simple, elegant and effective ways to replicate the decision making process akin to real commanders. Its not just about putting toys on a table. Its far more challenging than that.

Too Fat Lardies are a vibrant trail blazing company as a result largely due to Rich (and Nick Skinner too).

In the old days it had to be personality led. One man band organisations for figures, Hinton, Hinchcliffe, etc. and Featherstone, Grant, Barker etc for rules. Now the big boys have come in and produce the complete package, rules and figures. Warlord, Flames of War, Warhammer etc.
Still a few 'personalities' around but only at the edges.

As above, the market is much more segmented now, a millions markets of dozens rather than a dozen markets of millions and all that.

I am sure we all have our current favourites, but there is much less likely to be any commonality.

Personally I am a big fan of Richard Brooks' stuff, but it is such a niche that I would hesitate to call him a mover or shaker.

Perry brothers for miniatures sculpting.

I think its all the ex GW people:

Rick P. And his work with Warlord (Paul Sawyer & John Stallard)
Alessio with Bolt Action and Mantic

Basically, the "Nottingham shuffle"

All wargamers are big, and when they get up they shake as they move around.

Sorry, couldn't resist, but seriously for a moment, and I mean that most sincerely folks, surely the consumers are the big movers and shakers, because without them there would be no hobby. I know that is probably a bit of an offside viewpoint, but think about it; all those hobbyist's writing for the magazines about what they love doing, surely quantity has a quality all of its own?

YMMV.

Me!

Ed Teixeira – THW.

"Movers and Shakers?" You've got to be kidding.

Oh well why not.

Before you get into this I think you have to create a little more definition. That is, people who have actual accomplishments which are noted and notable (not necessarily notorious). People who are famous for being famous (like he Kardashians) don't count, and we've got buckets of them!. Third in our hobby which is at its core an intellectual and sedentary hobby this means people who have a presence and influence opinion and judgment and have ideas.

Most of the posters who in one way or the other noted the "Balkanizatiion" of the hobby have the right idea and note how difficult that in such an environment it's hard to move or shake anything. However for my money the following are the ones.

Here's mine in no particular order of importance.

Sam Mustafa. Love him or Hate him he's one of the few people actually attempting to turn out a product of rules with a consistency and a general philosophy that has at ALL something unique about it and is not just derivative of some other rule set which crawled out of the "Alphabet Soup Bowl." Love his rules or hate his rules, he's had a sustained effort, AND he has written fairly regularly for several Magazines. AND he's a trained historian working in the trade who does real research in his field, so he brings a level of scholarly respectability to what he does. He has a firm constituency and you don't get that without moving people and sometimes shaking them.

Henry Hyde. Once again, love him or hate him, Henry is the first guy to put out a serious HARDCOVER book on war games in well-- a dogs age. He has written extensively, run a large web site for war games and risen to prominence in the publishing part of the hobby by pretty much rehabilitating one of the last war game magazines internationally known. I owe Henry several articles. Those are all solid achievements, and require a lot of work for which he is obviously underpaid.

Andy Turlington. Andy is a mover and shaker because of his "Sgt. Major Miniatures." I've been going to the HMGS Cons for twenty years and recently, Andy's firm is the only one I see putting on an effort to bring out anything new in a consistant way, and across many epochs. Further they work to a consistant style. He also is an engaging personality and definite hobbyist. The stuff is good, well detailed and always available, and the only problem is he makes nothing in my real period of interest (18th century). Andy has also run several conventions, sponsored several more with time and treasure, and attempts a real effort at customer service, and is one of the more public "enthusiasm infusers." He's a tireless promoter of clubs and local effors.

Howard Whitehouse- If you haven't heard of Howard Whitehosue you must have been raised in a cave. If you haven't played in one of Howard's games you haven't lived. Howard has had a profound effect on the hobby by popularizing a more whimsical less buttoned up type of tame and not just thinking outside the box, but tearing it up into little pieces and using it as kindling to make a great roaring fire of enjoyment and fun. Howard really has one of the more revolutionary ideas in gaming (that it be fun) and has written rules that are a joy and a hoot to read. Howard has also written a series of charming and wonderful children's books which are sort of a "gaeway drug" to gaming, though he does not really mention gaming once.

Walt O'Hara- Walt's a slightly tamer, more Americanized version of Howard Whitehosue, but he's got a huge constituency and I really know only a handful of people who don't like Walt. But beyond that he is a tireless promoter of games, and still has hopes of making inroads into Board Games, but his signal accomplishment is running a "war game Camp" for kids during the summer in which he "inflicts kids with the gaming addiction." Walt is a tireless game designer, and like Howard brings a new dimension of innovation and imagination to the games. There's a good chance if you meet a young gamer he came to us through Walt.

Wally Simon- Yes, I know he's been dead for many years, but Wally left behind him a corpus of writings and ideas from his PW review that in many cases only now are we beginning to see the value of, and some procedures and attitudes that are just catching on because of the editing (largely by Russ Lockwood) and publication by Denis Shorthouse's "On Military Matters." Wally, who I knew, but was NOT in his basement when the whole modern American War gaming hobby was saved) was a wonderfully humorous though ascerbic sort of gamer who both maintained the charm of the "Old School Style" but was open to innovation. Wally's methodology was never picked up in his time, but now people are seeing the benefit to his play testing. Wally was of the belief that you didn't playtest it to get it to work, he believed you playtested the rules till they shattered into a hundred pieces, and you analyzed the fragments and went back to the workshop and put it together again Wally was instrumental in mobilizing the Ameerican Wargame Scene, published his own newsletter for many years and a tremendous popularize of the hobby.

I've never been impressed by 'famous' people so I hardly ever even bother to find/remember the name of a sculptor or even the author of rules. In the list above I have only heard of one of them, but I'm UK based so that possibly explains it.

I don't do anything bigger than 10mm these days and never did 25mm+ so most of the newer stuff that people rave about passes by without me noticing it. If the Perrys did 6mm I might get interested but they don't.

I have NEVER been up to date or fashionable and I think fads and fashions are far more common today than they were back when I started in the mid 60's. That is a good thing though, I might not want any of them but they grow the wargaming community and help a vast range of manufacturers come in and try new ideas and a few even survive and make a living.

Wargame Developments …

Still some way ahead of the commercial market (but many ideas feed out from COW and some become tomorrow's mainstream) …

Generally, most of today's minor celebrities are recyclers more than innovators (but in 20 years time we'll be able to look back and more easily see who was shaping the future …) …

Wargamers have so much choice these days I suspect everyone gets moved and shaken differently …

Phil

I think Baccus. Has been a strong force in developing 6mm as a realistic gaming scale.

Basically this is a thread on what the individual poster buys.

While my own experience (or lack thereof) makes me a questionable contributor to this thread, I'm going to point out Ganesha Games own Andrea Sfiligoi as an agent of change in the industry.

His 8 dollar pdf and print on demand rulesets are a welcome departure from traditional published works. Free updates to new editions, figure mfg. agnostic, and quick playing.

If we're talking about innovation, these moves embrace a more "ruleset as software" line of thinking which changes the way we experience the game.

I think you have to look at originality as well as acceptance.

TFL, have some original ideas and are widely accepted (as far as I can tell) in the UK. Here in the US? Not so much. So maybe they should get a mover OR a shaker but not both!

Someone mentioned (above) the Ex GW guys. While they may produce some good (looking) games, they are hardly original. Even heading back to the GW days, the games were not original. All of these games borrowed ideas and mechanics from Featherstone, Bath and others. They are widely accepted on both sides of the pond.

Sam Mustafa does a good job with his games. The learning curve can be a bit daunting for some, but the games are usually well thought out and the game mechanics are not overly done and don't try to be too clever.

Ed Teixeira has done A LOT for solo wargaming. His games practically play themselves once you get stuck in. VERY original ideas.

Howard Whitehouse simply because he is original in everything he does. If you've never gamed with him at a convention, you should. His games are a hoot!

Andrea Sfiligoi for his game products. He shows us that you don't have to spend a ton of money on a game to have fun. His Song of Blades game system alone is fantastic. It also has a wide acceptance in gaming communities all over the world.

Rich Hasenauer has and continues to be a major influence in the American gaming community. Any dicussion about movers and shakers in the hobby should include Frank Chadwick who has written so many rules and games that it is beyond count.

At my age moving and shaking is all I can do, so include me in.

In addition to some of the above, I would add Khurasan for their steady output of amazing figures.

Forgot one:

Phil Yates. I don't think we would have WWII as popular without the creation of Flames of War.

Sam Mustafa, maybe, but his creations lack market share IMNSHO.

"Movers and Shakers in Wargaming"

Damn, that's a small pond.
-Kle.

Market share isn't worth squat. It's too small a market to have a share in or to mean anything and it changes so fast penetration means nothing. Besides, that's just one element of it. To be classified for notoriety you have to have penetration across several sectors, manufacturing, rules, writing, popularizing, publishing, evangelization of the hobby. The one who did it all was Jack Scruby, and there ain't seen anyone of his stamp for years. You also have to have innovation and new ideas. Most rules are purely derivative and nothing new. Our hobby is very fast moving. As for miniatures. what's hot today shows up with frightening speed in the Flea Market at the HMGS cons. Once it's there it's a sign it's on the way out. Miniatures by any maker have too short a life to be influential or to be a mover or shaker. You spend money on it, but it doesn't change your way of thinking or what you do.

I think Ganesha Games developed a neat system other companies decided was worth using. Both Zombiesmith and Osprey have used the "Songs" system.

The system originally developed for 'In the Name of the Emperor' has ported over into Osprey as well.

I think Osprey in general was pretty smart in getting into the rules market, and partnering with Northstar was genius.

Even though I possibly couldn't care less about WW2 gaming I recognize that Flames of War and Bolt Action have opened new doors for people crossing into historicals.

I've never been a 'name' person, so who exactly is behind all these efforts is largely unknown to me :)

Interesting stuff. I am really interested to know how we define what influential means in the hobby. I would tend to think of rule designers as more influential than sculptors, but the Perry shift to plastic has certainly seemed to influence the way many of us think about figures. So maybe I am wrong. Either way I'd be interested in how people see these influential people actually influencing others. Do they shape the way the hobby is today.

Very interesting to see OSchmidts list being so US-centric in a hobby where so many of the big names are Brits. I wonder if we are influenced more by people closer to home?

Richard Borg for Command & Colors

Paul Sawyer/John Stallard – Warlord Games is a huge hobby influencer/confluencer, witness the many lines they've brought under one umbrella, not to mention the latest coup with Italeri!?

Paul Hicks – to me epitomizes "post-modern" 28mm sculpting. To me he's taken over this mantle somewhat from the Perry twins.

GW's Forge World – right now I think is the biggest mover in non-historical gaming. Everybody seems revved up about the Horus Heresy and I can't tell you how many models and books have been purchased by our group. It's revitalized 40K for us. For everything that GW is doing wrong, FW is doing something right.

Cheers

w.

There are others I didn't even think of.

Rich Hasenauer definitely for Fire n Fury. Paul Koch for the "original" Fire n Fury AKA On to Richmond.

Richard Borg for C and C game series.

I never would have considered the Perrys but yes! Them too for bringing plastics in 28mm.

Depends on your definition of influential. To me, it's those who bring more into the hobby. How you play the hobby (rules, painting, basing, etcetc will never be agreed on). GW is the leader by far. Not only do they bring in new players, but new sculpters, and designers. Many of the new companies learned their trade through GW. Battlefront then brought many fantasy gamers to historical by having their games as an all in one package that was available on the shelves right next to GW product, not some obscure website with bad or no photos of their product. C'mon is also huge. Their KS driven sales have brought masses of players to the scene. Whether they move from boardgames to wargames is down to the companies out there. I know if I made zombie miniatures I'd be approaching c'mon for a partnership mail shot to all those who purchased Zombiecide.

Certainly sculpters such as Antony Barton and Mike Broadbent have and are making a huge impact in miniature wargaming.

What do we actually want to recognize? There's certainly high praise that should go all around for figure designers like the Perry Brothers. Rules writing, too, has quite a few heavy hitters and it would not be objectionable to mention Too Fat Lardies or Rich Hasenhauer. It might be hard to easily identify but those who have struggled to advance the well being of organizations like HMGS or who consistently show energy in getting gaming activities together need to be recognized as well. I would agree with my old friend (we're both "men of a certain age"), Otto Schmidt, who mentioned Wally Simon. Lastly I want to praise the likes of Charles S. Grant for his efforts in gaming authorship and Russ Lockwood and John Curry for getting gaming literature out to the masses.
One guy, though, a genuine gaming whirling dervish, who might be annoyed with me for this, is my friend Otto. He has authored rules sets, run public games at conventions, writes a to, organized the Society of Daisy, and runs The Weekend, which, this year, is in its fifth year and which is attended by quite a few well-respected gamers and even a few from across the Atlantic.I am just one of hundreds of gamers whose had their way of thinking about the hobby shaken up. And isn't that what a mover and shaker does ultimately?

What do we by movers and shakers? Would these not be people that move the industry in a certain direction by causing change in attitudes and available products?

To me, some of the movers and shakers are now some the people of Kickstarter who have raised millions with their games. Many of those mentioned above may have caused some shifting years ago, but then that is like comparing the wall mounted phone that you picked up and asked the operator to get some number with today's smart phones. Yeah, the telephone changed things, but not at the rate smart phones are changing things today and even what could be happening tomorrow.

We all have our favorite rules writers, sculptors and manufacturers but what is happening in today's market? How many gamers playing the popular games today really care about history, but are more into the game for a variety of other reasons. My point is many of newer games are aimed at people playing games, not recreating history, not complexity or historical accuracy. They are for fun and something that you and buddy can sit and accomplish in a couple of hours in an afternoon.

I think Tom Meier deserves a mention. His sculpting style has had an influence on others since his Ral Partha days.

There are different categories with not much cross over -- sculpting, figure development, retailing, game design, figure painting, game presentation.

Paul Hicks certainly in sculpting; Old Glory, especially the Blue Moon series for development with co-honors to Company B, Warlord in there too; high marks to Lon of Brigade for retailing, with mention to Eureka. My favorite for historical miniatures game design is currently Ganesha Games, once DBA III comes out, people will think Phil is still moving and shaking. Honors to Fernando for painting.

Across several categories I must mention the top Mover and Shaker -- Bob Murch of Pulp Figures.

I omit Richard Borg who is a very creative person only because his work is in board games.

+1 for Andrea Sfiligoi and Ganesha Games. I've introduced a great many non-minis-gamers to Song of Blades & Heroes over the years, and hooked many of them into the hobby. His products are fun and accessible, and written without an eye toward selling ever-increasing supplementary material.

yeah, Perry bros definitely. back by Renedra they were the first to really bring out 28mm historicals. they were quickly followed by Wargames Factory and Victrix, and then others. Also, there is a fairly large group of people who often start a new period just because the Perrys now sculpt it. and they ahve been the driving force behind making an obscure conflict mainstream(Carlist wars anyone?) and are poised to do it again with their ACW british intervention line(also useable for fenian raids…)

don't forget 4ground. i've only recently started collection their stuff, but geez it's nice. assemble and done. no painting required. not even worth touching up unless you're like me.

Richard Clarke/TFL. his rules are refreshing(to me at least). and they seem to be widely accepted in the UK and in Canada. can't speak to the US. and despite his recent successes is a really nice guy.

Eureka miniatures for their rather eclectic collection. whenever i think about an odd historical period or miniature, eureka is the first place i look. and again, Nick and rob are also really nice guys.

No original thoughts from me, but I would echo:

Rick Priestly
The Perrys
Tony Barton
Sam Mustafa

All of these individuals whose announcements we listen too with baited breath.

Although I have never personally used his rules, I know Martin Goddards rules are innovative and have a small but dedicated following. I just know him as a thoroughly decent bloke and a towering figure in the South Dorset scene…

I would also mention Scott Bowden as an author and ruleswriter who has influenced me to a appreciation of the achievements of the Grand Armee, although I don't necessarily agree with his take on the ACW.

Likewise, re the Grande Armee, Kevin Kiley, a vet always has more influence on me than most.

I think thats it from me, as has been said I think our hobby is now too huge, and too diverse, for one towering individual of the likes of the late, great, Donald Featherstone…

Market share isn't worth squat

Market Share is critical in determining who has a following. Without people following you, you're not a "mover and shaker" you're only a crackpot.

Dear Mr. Elmo

Hardly!

They may buy your stuff. Doesn't mean they'll play it.

First War games isn't a "market" like toothpaste or jeans. It's half collector, half crafter, half gamer, and half psychopath, and they may buy one of whatever it is you're selling just to have it. Doesn't mean they like it. People will buy rules just to have them, and never play them, never give them more than a cursory reading. Second, there's no "following" for a sculptor or a casting company. It's a straight transaction based on personal aesthetics and romantic involvement of the moment. What floats your boat won't necessarily float the other guys, or yours two weeks from now.

Further, MOST of the hobby isn't driven by purchases, it's driven by attitudes and individual likes and dislikes, but these come from the personalities of the gamers, rules writers, and sometime figures manufacturers, and especially the people who write articles for the magazines. The distance between these people, their personalities and "the market" is too short to develop the impersonal relationships implicit in "the market" in the classical sense where the relationship exists only transiently at the point of purchase. The gamer/writer/designer's character is always going to be intimately associated with their product, and that will often be the determining factor in a sale, not objective market statistics (of which there are zip in our hobby).

As for "crackpots" snicker-snicker-- look around you, the whole damn hobby is made of crackpots and always have, and Jack Scruby, Don Featherstone, Peter Young, Charles Grant, Wally Simon, Pat Condray, and all the greats were crackpots. There's nothing in this hobby BUT crackpots! And the one thing to remember about crackpots is that they are neither logical, predictable, consistent, but they ARE squirelly. fickle, and immutable.

You're going to cook a market out of these guys?? Yah-- sure.

Mutable?

I'm reminded a bit of those music polls where people are asked for their favourite artists.

Regular 'fans' like the big names. Actual musicians usually pick much less publicly known artists, chosen for their inventiveness and technical skills. Jimi Hendrix thought Rory Gallagher was the best guitarist of his time. Eric Clapton wanted to be JJ Cale.

So, maybe the actual 'Movers and Shakers' (and that sounds far too much like those articles about egomaniacs in expensive suits that you see in the business pages) are, actually, both the people who offer broadly commercial products and the innovators who are known mostly to their peers.