You go from what's been happening.
So we've got over 400 members now.
Holy hell yeah. More than 420 which is crazy.
That's amazing and consistently with lot about like 50 online at
any one time. So people hop in and out
checking stuff, which is good, absolute scads of content, being
uploaded, lots and lots of remote games being played, And
people having fun in paint and chat just shooting the shit just
been good. Yeah.
Few battle reports as well. For example, morgue, l'm posted
up some Peaks playing like a dwarf versus elf game, really
good, terrain, fantastic Miniatures.
Very cool to see that in blood Bowl, David.
A seems to be working on some Undead.
Now after he finished off. And wizards.
So I can't wait for some updates on that, go to see some like
goals and vampire in progress shots, which is cool and Clem
and his family have been playing Hero's Quest.
That's what we all like to see. I mean, kids seem to get a kick
out of these games. Still just like we did and still
do. Yeah.
It's always good to see them.
And he had this cool like little village and farm and stuff like
an outside area of the Dungeon. That was cute.
Yeah, people have been doing suffrage, epic lately.
So John paints, he's been churning out some really sort of
like, stunning them, painted Orcs stuff, like Stompers weird
boy Tower. He gargan big metal gargan, that
that's really cool. I like the old organ bottles.
Nothing's really sort of come closer.
Those you also did like an entire Imperial Guard, Tactical?
Me which as per the card and it it's a big square of Miniatures
on the table and it looks really cool.
He's been doing like blood angels death company, all that
sort of stuff as well. Very very cool.
One of our new members the grimdark geek or check Balaam.
He's been doing a video about epic scale.
Titan Legions. So I recommend checking that
out. The link is in the YouTubers
Community Channel. He's Got some really cool
videos. So check it out and Alex or the
hobby Grotto. He did a how to paint retro war
hammer, squeaks video to excellent.
I've been bit obsessed with recent peaks of skwiggs and
skwiggs. We beasts but I'll talk about
that a bit later Manowar so just God's being a bit.
Sort of on fire and mad with Manowar lately.
Yourself, got young, I think muscle even Clem, I've been
playing games of manual recently, and there's been a lot
of remote games being played as well.
And I was on holiday, so I got to watch some live games, which
is very good and I believe Marcel has recently collected.
Every Fleet of Man O'War, but I hear he still needs some
monsters. So if you have any spare
monsters, please message me. But yeah, it's been, it's been
man of all men and I have been enjoying it immensely.
So even though I was headed to me twice by GJ now in the last
two years, in any case, I've been really fun to play out.
So it's been good to just get matter warm that on the table
and play it. It's pretty cool game.
It's funny. Sir cam of Warwick posted up
some pics and he bravely played a game versus his very own
hobgoblin, and he lost his Ironclad was crushed by the
mighty claws of Promethean, which sat on a beach.
I was very cool to see. I think young kids would get a
kick out of Man O'War once they reach a sort of a certain age
where they can understand the rules a bit more.
It's pretty cool. It's so yeah it's a good looking
game to hmm, very funny indeed in the mordheim section of the
Discord, weird stoned has uploaded a poster for a mod home
event in America. AA into the city of the Damned
in that's in March in 2023. So check that out.
If you're American, it might be near you.
It might not North. America is a very place but
that's very cool to see an event like that myself.
I hope to painting up a warband for more time soon, so maybe you
can see me. That's amazing.
Hmm. Maybe I'll play with Brandi,
dog. One day in more time.
Probably get my ass kicked. Oh good.
So recently a space was made on the Discord for war zone and
Chrono Pia and quite a few members posted up painted models
and art from the game. When I was a teen and I was
playing 40K, it was a direct competitor to Games Workshop.
And many of the older players could not stand 40K anymore,
because it would become so here. How much bloated with rule
system and Little teenagers. Like me were absolutely giving
them bloody noses when they played against us.
So they migrated over to war zone and Conoco and Warzone had,
you know, its own crazy law and fantastic art.
It was its own universe and the rules at that time were really,
really slick, strategic and competitive.
Unfortunately, the models weren't grade only like two
handful of them, but the handful, I did like a really
classic models. They Change the rules that I
think, and maybe the model stagnated a bit, something
happened. And it all fell apart, and it
had a few sort of stop-start. Revivals that didn't really go
anywhere, but it's really cool because a lot of the people on
the Discord have thrown up pictures of these classic models
that they're painted and they look really good.
I recommend you check that out, even if you didn't like that
game system, you can appreciate the art and the skill of like
some of the models that were You know, it and we've also seen a
few people, you know, doing things like repairing, damage
models, and filling in missing bits, by using blue stuff, molds
and things like that. It's a cool to see people giving
advice about that as well. And other people will also
mention like, you know, if you're missing like a wheel off
Chariot or something like that, and you've got access to someone
with the 3D printer. You might also be able to just
3D print that wheel as well. So there's a lot of options
there. Lots of content.
Lots of new people. It's good to see and it's really
good to see a lot of new people to the Discord posting up stuff.
They're painted or stuff. They are working on, keep doing
it, love to see it. Everyone enjoys it don't be shy.
It's it good words and wise words, there and effects.
Thanks mate for our Discord round up.
So, today, our main interviewee will be Dave Taylor.
Now, Dave Taylor Is probably a name that most people would do
from back in the day. I think the, in the 90s and I'm
really sorry if I've got the history wrong, but I think in
the sort of late 90s, Dave, Taylor was given the role and
position as the main editor for white dwarf, Australia.
Now, I don't know exactly when that was only do to actually ask
Dave that because I've got a feeling it's it's probably mid
90s but I could be wrong. I think well I think you're
right. Plumbing mid 90s here.
Okay, so Dave got the position there and it's really
interesting to see how he's sort of come across or Come Through
the Ages, you know, for being an editor for a white dwarf or that
now, you know, launching kickstarter's.
And I think he works for another company laughter.
Block to touch on to that later on anyway, but I sort of found
out about him again through the trainee acts terrain book that
Mel Released on Kickstarter. And then I realized while Dave,
Taylor was the person who's publishing it for him so and
then that sort of, you know, that it sort of sparked my
interest is like, wow, okay, he's still actively involved in
the community in the hobby community.
So it's a name that I think it might be quite synonymous with
Australians in the game special Hobby.
And so yeah, I hope you really enjoyed this interview and I'm
really looking forward to seeing and hearing from Dave and
talking about what the things. Thanks for Google for sending in
their questions, on our Discord. I'll convey those to Dave.
So hopefully, you'll have the answer that you wanted.
But anyhow, carnufex thanks again, mate, for your time
today. I really appreciate it buddy,
and we'll catch you again. Catch up again for our 100th
episode next time. Awesome.
See you then. Okay.
Might take care. Alright, see you see, I
Welcome back everybody to the quantum and I sound I've said it
a lot better but luckily we have a guest on it was Dave Taylor
you may have remembered from your white dwarves in Australia.
As you open up the front cover, the editorial will be written
by. That would have been written by
Dave and Dave been kind of Tough to come onto the crane
Commander, talk about. Yeah, how we sort of got started
in the Hobby and how little sort of transpired into becoming part
of the white dwarf team in Australia.
So Dave or text and extend, my thanks again, maybe coming on
today. Oh no worries, no no problem at
all. I always like talking about Toy
Soldiers and and sort of back in the day and of stuff.
So now it's all good. Thanks for inviting me on
awesome 8. So the first question, I always
ask people when they come on for the first time is like How do
they actually initially come in contact with the hobby?
So was it through white dwarf, was it through a friend or
something? No it was.
I who was my first year at Uni? Well going further back probably
year six I started playing D&D with my next-door neighbor and
would kind of hang out would go to book stores that sold like
Dragon magazine and occasionally.
We'd by many Use and paint them terribly with like the humbrol,
enamel paints and that kind of thing.
Like, a lot of folks did in the, in the 80s, played D&D all
through high school. And then, my first year at Uni,
I was walking down the street in my home town with a friend.
And we popped into a hobby store and saw some really cool
Miniatures. And I was like, oh, wow, these
look great. I wonder what these are all
about wonder what you use these for.
And then we kept Walking and went into another sort of game
store and there were these awesome chess sets with like
really elaborate lie carved pieces.
And I was like, oh maybe I could get some of those other models
that we saw paint them up and turn them into a chess set.
So, I just started started doing that and bought these models
individually and paying them all up.
And after a like, three or four months, I had a chess set ready
to go and But I'm at also build up a bit of a relationship with
the staff at the hobby store and I bought some Space Marine some
of the rtb, 01, plastic, Space Marines that like 30 in a box
and pinned up another chess set, using them.
And what about my second box, the guy at the store was like,
oh you must have enough for an army and I said, an army of what
do you mean by that? It's like well these are for a
game called a Warhammer 40,000 as I What?
And the a told me all about it and it kind of went from there.
So I started playing Warhammer, I started playing 40K.
And yeah, so I was at Uni, just working a couple of jobs to be
able to afford toy soldiers. Greatly.
What year was that? Exactly what year did you sort
of 91? And it was Third Edition
Warhammer. That's right, of the same
vintage than that, I'd say. Yeah, yeah, your advertisements
on TV. All those glorious.
Makeup and costume riding with oxen that kind of stuff.
Here's the weirdest thing I have like the biggest like, it's not
fomo but it's the thing I somehow I never got to see that.
I never saw the request ads and ever, who sort of came into it
through heroquest, although some of the models that I painted for
that, that first chess set were like from that that are I think
they were from like the space Crusade.
Box set. But yeah.
So whenever I hear people like getting into the hobby through
that, it's like, ah, I feel like I'm missing out but yeah it
would have been about the same time that it would have been.
That would all would have been going on.
Yeah. Okay.
Interesting please. So what was your sort of First
Love? Then?
Was it for 40 half a century or more fantasy?
Probably fantasy. I think I've got up at dwarf,
Army and an Empire Army overtime, 93.
I went for a We're like backpacking trip around Europe
and stopped off in Nottingham and they caught the bus out to
Eastwood, which is where the main sort of g.w. action was and
went in and got to sort of stand outside.
Mail order and look through the catalog and pick out all my
dwarf bits and place an order carry that with me around the
rest of Europe. But yeah.
So I think yeah playing war hammer at the time was pretty
cold 92 was 4th edition Warhammer.
I think so elves and goblins in the box set and yeah we played,
I played a lot of Warhammer out of that, I'm sure.
Great and do you still sort of hark back to those days?
Like we do at the crown of command?
We sort of go back and play fourth edition and fifth edition
just for this all-time good feels you get them in the
steljis when playing as things is it being something that you
do on a regular basis? Or are you more of a sort of a
modern game system guy generally a modern game system?
Kind of guy. I will admit I don't get to
play. I mean a gaming group that plays
every other week, but we usually will pick a pick a game system
and we'll play that for three months and then we'll move on to
another game system that kind of thing.
So I don't really get the chance to go back and play like a third
edition game or a fourth edition game that kind of thing.
I still got it. I still have all my Empire from
back in the day, made a mine in. Sydney's, got all my dwarves.
Yeah, but yeah, it's a general. Yeah, keep moving forward.
I think I will say that when there was a switch from one of
my fantasy battles to agent Sigma.
It was a pretty salty for a while.
It took me probably took me about five years before my sort
of came around to having a game of age of Sigma.
So And what's your sort of? What do you feel about the game?
Like is it? I think I feel it's like such a
big difference in style and gameplay than what am I thought?
Even will have its own identity Now, isn't it?
It is. Yeah, it's it is completely
different though. The more skirmishing aspect, the
it still does feel a bit more simplified.
There are there are layers of complexity on of course, but
it's, it's quite a simple straightforward game.
I was a big fan of one fantasy about all's I think even though
really like 40K as well, it always my game results are
always a little bit better in with warmer.
So Yeah, it's definitely a new one.
It took me awhile, the big thing.
It really was. I'm always in all of my gaming.
Really, I'm a big fan of the like Humanity against the
fantastic. The idea is that like humans are
the sort of the base level troops and individually.
They're pretty terrible, but put them together and have them work
together and fight together, they can defeat.
Incredible sort of big win against incredible odds.
So for me, the Empire sort of represented that the Empire and
return air and that kind of thing, but in the age of Sigma,
there isn't really anything like that.
And those are the cities of Sigma.
Sure. But that's you got humans and
dwarves and elves and other things all sort of mash together
to make that. So it took me a while to sort of
come around to the idea. Of just how high fantasy age
Sigma are actually is but now that I'm sort of in there I can
look at something and go. Oh wow.
That's amazing. That's crazy.
That's completely. It's completely High fantasy but
it's very different to that low fantasy that the Empire not
imply that Warhammer generally was fantasy battles was so I'm
kind of excited to see how that's RI.
Worked, I guess for what I'm of the old world.
And there's a bit of my thinking on that is that games workshop's
going to have like 40 K in age of Sigma.
And then I have it's to historical games Horus heresy,
and the old world. So I think it's gonna be pretty
interesting to see how that sort of pans out.
Yeah, yeah. Be interesting to see how they
go with it and to see whether it will be a success.
But yeah, I'm not worried about because I still got my games
with 1995. 15 of 1994. So I'm okay.
But no be interesting to see if they do with it.
I'm, I think it's sad that they didn't make it the smaller
scale. I reckon if they made it a
totally unique scale that they did with epic where they
relaunched our templates and they made it into like a 10 mil
game. I think they would have if they
did that. I reckon all been really cool.
I would be quite interested in it, and with new mechanics and
all that kind of stuff. Something totally different.
Yeah. Yeah, it's gonna be up to them.
See what they do with it with, they're going to just, you know,
be brave and reinvent the wheel. Or they're going to just go back
to something very similar that it was, you know, in its last
Incarnation. But yeah, we'll see what that
delivers. Maybe they will bring out a good
game. We'll see, fingers crossed,
fingers crossed, I'll be able to drag those Empire out again but
yeah. Yeah, you have to show us some
pics of that may cause I'll be interested to see what your
Empire army. Look like now is it like
something you painted sort of back in the day?
Day on a painted for kind of always been painted Empire
stuff. So I've got I think originally
it was I was pretty enamored with like midnight.
I'm and then just as a great end up doing like done a whole Army,
which is sort of nights Panther on on crusade in In Camry, I've
got a whole sort of Sigma, right?
Sort of cultists flagellant kind of army.
I've got an army of more. I've got like a artillery train
of known, kind of set up. So I've got a whole bunch of
stuff across. I got like over 1,000 Empire
models. So, okay, that's amazing.
He's had a lot of fun, a lot of fun painting those but But as I
said it's that Humanity against the Fantastic.
When you can get a block of like 40 spearmint or 40 Hobart is is
pretty pretty sweet to see on the table top.
Yeah it's about my not humans but not a night goblins 15.
I got was in a unit that's all I'm taking tomorrow in a game or
fifth edition. How many how many Fanatics I
think I've taken three phonetics Okay, yeah, anyway, yeah, but
nice, yeah. But I know that you've written
books. Not only are you a are you a
former editor of white dwarf? But now, I will touch on that as
well, a little bit more bit, looking at your website, you've
actually written and published your own books about painting
armies and that kind of thing. Yep.
So that's quite an achievement to, because not many people can
say that. No, it's, it's been.
It's been a long, long, and short of crazy ride.
But yeah, it's pretty, pretty excited.
It's We mentioned like back in 91 and being able to tell you
that story of like, when I was walking along, looking down the
street, that's really how hard that like the hobby bug bit me.
And it kind of after that was like, okay, yeah, this is, this
is really what I'm going to do for the rest of my life.
Is his toy soldiers. I'm going to work in Toy
Soldiers. I'm going to do.
Everything that that allows me to play with mortally soldiers
really. So it's good.
It's been been definitely good. But yeah.
Did you want me to jump in and talk about the books?
Or did you want me to go back a bit further and talk about GW or
let's go back to g.w. because I really would be interested to
see how that sort of happened. You know, how that became
initially your hobby and then became your career.
So how did that step? Finally cross over what happened
there. Sure thing.
Well basically, in late and he was late 93 Games, Workshop came
to Australia and set up a business standard.
Sydney friend of mine to me, steal, it was known as Tim
squeak at the time. He had a going to work for them
at initially at Chatswood in Sydney.
Before he end up, moving to the head office and was doing all
sorts of stuff. He did.
Oh when he called did some a lot of stuff, he did some other bits
and pieces and he sort of set up the studio the promotion studio
in the US as right, the Australian business but about
that time. So I was still at Uni and I was
working at Sizzler and if you remember Sizzler at all steak
salad Seafood. Yeah, this trip the fried
shrimp, man. Yep.
See I worked there all through Uni and there's one day were
sitting sitting around before shift and that's one of the guys
had this sort of laid out his Five-Year Plan is what I'm going
to do is what I do and I to graduate from uni and here's
what we're going to go and work for and boom, boom, boom.
And I was like wow, that's it, that guy's got his life but
really organized, maybe I should have a five-year plan and like a
week later, my Five-Year Plan was essentially work for Games
Workshop. And that was it but yeah mid 94.
They opened up a store in Newcastle which is my hometown
and I used to hang out there a lot and eventually the managers
said hey would you like a job? Would you like to sort of help
out on Thursday game night and Saturday mornings?
I was like yeah that sounds great and he goes well we'll be
able to pay you in blister packs and I was like, okay, that
sounds great too. So, yeah, for the first, I think
the first two months I was paid in blister packs and then, the
HR department said, hey, that's that's kind of illegal.
So we should start paying this guy in money and at the end of
uni, right before the sort of, so I did graphic design at
Newcastle uni and the couple of days before the final party to
end all of my schooling. The area manager said, hey Dave,
we're going to had a position open up.
Would you like to start on Monday and I was like Monday.
I got this, there's this part big party to end.
All of my schooling is like 13 years of schooling and what
actually know what have been more, what would be something is
a schooling. So I'd really like to go to that
and he goes how about Tuesday, then said sure I'll start
Tuesday. So yeah, after this huge party
the next day I went in completely hung over and opened
up the store and started working full time for Games Workshop.
Well what a Rock and Roll Lifestyle but yeah it was pretty
crazy. I felt pretty right all the time
but yes, I worked in retail for two years.
Yep. Just just over two years I moved
to Sydney. I did a little stint in
mail-order that I went and worked in the Sydney, saw manage
the Sydney store that I got to sort of area supervisor
position. Did that for a little while that
I became like a store opening manager?
So I go to, I went to Adelaide opened up the first Adelaide
store went to Melbourne, open up the first store in Melbourne,
and at that point, Jimmy Steele that I mentioned, he left the
Australian sort of promotional Studio to go work for the studio
in the UK in Nottingham. So, because Of my graphic design
background to general manager. Said, hey, would you like to
come and work in the studio? And I was like, yeah, sure
sounds great. So I moved up to Sydney and that
was the beginning of 97, I think.
And initially, it was just rude would change about eight pages
in white dwarf for the all the ads, like the ads for the grand
openings, though, pages of store listings, that kind of thing.
So I'd put those pages together, send them off to the UK and
they'd print the Australian Edition, white off over there.
I do flyers for the stores at do pliers.
Posters and stuff like that for mail-order, but eventually that
can sort of continued to grow a little bit.
And then when was it 1980? Eight.
I think it was 98, I can't run. When we did our first first
game, stay. Pretty sure it's 98.
So, but that point, I had a couple of other staff members on
the team. So Ed Taro can Co and Justin
keys and I can't ruin Matt. We were joined us but Yeah.
So by 99 we're doing games days we're doing grant ornaments.
We had we were printing the Australian white dwarf in
Australia That's that point and that's where we started putting
a lot more Australian content in.
Which was a lot of, a lot of fun to put that together.
And yeah, so we were doing a lot, doing a lot of lot of fun
things. I was basically we'd have a look
at read information about what releases were coming up.
Would work out if we're going to do they create events to send
out to stores or going to give them some information and they
would create their own events. We were doing battle reports.
We were doing tailored for gamers sky.
Of stuff as well. But yeah, lots and lots and lots
of things that we're doing at that point.
There's definitely definitely a lot of fun.
Yeah. Sounds like a great time.
Mate. That's excellent.
So Diesel have a lot of contact with the people that you worked
with back then those days. Not a lot of them, I'm if I
wanted to, I could definitely sort of reach out and and get in
touch with them pretty quickly. Facebook's a great thing for
keeping keeping people sort of in touch and see what people are
up to. But yeah.
So occasionally I have met up with with Matt and Tara when
I've been back in Australia, just never sort of got back to
the same spot as is Justin, he's up in up in Queensland, but
yeah, and a few of the other guys that used to hang out with
Definitely each time I go back to see.
No, usually catch up with the with like two or three of them
will go out to dinner and do some, do some stuff.
Last seven. Yeah, excellent.
So yeah. So then obviously, at some point
you departed in said, goodbye to Games Workshop and and make you
land yourself in the state so that all happen.
Well, actually it was when I was still working Games Workshop and
I think I was kind of, I felt at the time that I was at sort of
my might peak in Australia, would run a whole bunch of
successful games days and Grant ornaments.
And And we're doing a lot of community outreach and contact
that sort of thing and the US team offered me a u.s. like
Studio promotion Studio team offered me a position in the US
and was like well it sounds like a pretty cool adventure.
Go over to the US. I think at the time was sort of
pigs being like a three-year three-year tour of the u.s.
games workshop's. Yeah.
And yeah, I thought this is a cool adventure.
This is the perfect time in my life to go and do this.
So I moved to the US, moved to Baltimore where the, the office
was and worked on the worked with the studio team for six
years. Six and a half years, nearly
seven years. Yeah, doing all sorts of stuff.
I came over, is like a special projects, manager.
So, there are a few things that we did, one of the things.
I was creating some. Pretty amazing displays for
games day. So obviously it was 2002 that I
moved over here. Lord of the Rings was a big
thing so I think for the game stays in 2002 we did it.
We pulled over like a massive Mount Doom, And then go all the
stores to paint up minis to have the big battle from the first
movie sort of the battle for where that the ring was cut from
the hand of Sauron by his order. So we play we basically created
that big seen as part of a special project.
Did a few other things we relaunched battlefleet Gothic.
We did a thing called that we called Warhammer Skirmish, where
the scenery team, where to Scenery team in the promotion
studio just three guys, and then they built.
I think at the time, we probably had about 40 stores across the
u.s. they all built, like two-foot by two-foot tables.
And we were introducing people to war hammer via this
Warhammer, Skirmish sort of setup.
So, rather than his like, 150 models in an army that you have
to collect, it was you can get into war hammer and you can pick
up these 20 guys and so playing using essentially using the
Warhammer rules. But it was all sort of a little
bit of an easier step into into the hobby for people.
And yeah. So I worked work.
Therefore, as I said, six and a half seven years, I think my
final year there, I was the community development manager.
There was a time where Games Workshop was kind of pulling
back on the amount, I was spending on different things.
So we were reducing the number of games days that we'd had
their one point we did expand and we have four different games
days in each year and Australian the US.
And by this point now, like 2007-2008 we're pulling that
back. So, My role and couple of folks
on the team. We're doing it with me.
We would basically reaching out to other people who are running
big tournament events and helping them expand their events
and their activities. So there's still something going
on. It wasn't run by GW but at the
same time, I wasn't paid for by g w.
So we took it that activity going sir.
Yeah. There was a sort of all that
sort of stuff going on. And so by the end of 2008 to end
of 2008. When I left like she W and I
went on to join the war games Illustrated team, So I'm not
sure if I if you've heard of War Games Illustrated or not.
Yeah, of course. It's a very famous historic.
Like historical Gaming magazine, mainly, although do some science
fiction and that kind of stuff as well, little bit of little
bit of sci-fi, little bit of fantasy.
Not not a huge amount but he had a very definitely historically
focused. Yeah, I'd worked basically
around that time audience Illustrated was bought by
Battlefront. And one of the guys that was
working Battlefront was Was Michael John Matthews, who I'd
worked with a Games Workshop and yeah, one point.
He sort of gave me a call and said, hey Dave, how's your how's
your history? And I was like I've got a pretty
sort of good broad knowledge of History.
I wouldn't say I'm got a lot of depth in any of it but you pick
a picker year I could possibly tell you what battle that was
going on then and yeah then sort of you got back to me and said,
yeah, we're just bought WarGames Illustrated so I'm going to do
this magazine would like you to be the the u.s. correspondent I
guess. The time because it was the
still being the magazine was still being put together out of
the UK. So I was like, sure, sounds like
an exciting change and something a little bit different.
So but still familiar enough to not have me too worried.
So, yeah, for five years, I worked on WarGames Illustrated
with with Dan Falconbridge, who sometimes the UK editor.
Now, he's the the owner editor. He bought it back from from
Battlefront couple of years ago But yeah that was a lot of fun.
Definitely got to meet a lot of people.
I got to go to a lot of historical conventions over here
in the US. I got to cover shows like the
depth of con for for the magazine.
Mainly on the historical gaming that went on there.
But was able to also put in some of the the fantasy and the
Sci-Fi gaming. But it's definitely it is
definitely something that allow me to meet a lot more people and
suffering, really strong sort of networks across the gaming
industry. Which is a definitely a cool
thing to be able to do, yeah for sure man.
So that sort of leads us into how you became like a
self-publisher and only self, but for other people kind of
that sort of Transport. So so when I start, so some
2009, I started with four games Illustrated and then towards the
end of my time there, I had some friends who were doing, who
using their Actively new platform at the time Kickstarter
across that we all know and love now to crowdfunded some of their
exploits and some of them are asking me to do their graphics
for them for their Kickstarter campaigns.
And so I started to look at that a lot more and also going to
some of the historical conventions he'd walk around and
you could pick up a set of rules for you, pick up like dozens of
sets of rules for different games and different time
periods. That are all that all look like
they've been put together by somebody with a passing.
Sort of familiarity with wood with Microsoft Word.
So they weren't very flash. Have a didn't hold a lot of
interest in the, in the way that the books were laid out.
So I was like, okay, well here's another thing that I can do, I
know how to do layout. Now to make layout look good and
I can do it for print, so maybe I can offer myself up as a
layout guy and working on white dwarf magazine and War Games
Illustrated, I was able also able to write and I could add it
allowed a lot of Photography work for organs Illustrated.
So, kind of kind of realized, I had this set of skills that
small businesses in the toy soldier realm didn't have.
And while I, so I wasn't really looking to be to go and work for
any one company as an opportunity to work for dozens
of companies and help them. Sort of fill the gaps in their
skill sets. So that was the initial plan
when I started, Dave, Taylor Miniatures at the beginning of
2014, so, yeah, I had a bunch of contacts by that point and You
have been all sorts of stuff I've done packaging design, I've
done commissioned painting, I've done commission scenery building
and painting. I've done content creation
Community Management, all sorts of things.
So depending on what what people needed if I had those those
skills, I was able to do that. So I that was kind of the main
thing that I was doing and then at one point was like, if I
wanted to keep, Sort of if he building the amount of money
that I was earning each year, to be honest, it was okay, I can
either keep charging people more.
Which in the toy soldier business, is very difficult to
do. A lot of small companies, don't
have a lot of money, or I could work more hours and there's only
so far, you can push that, right.
There's only so many hours in the day, so I thought, if I
created something myself and then I could sell that on
afterwards, I'd That would help some of that shortfall be a bit
of an extra Revenue stream. So, It is the same time, I was
putting together a World War to rule book disposable Heroes that
I'd taken the photos for I was editing the text for.
I was responsible for the look of the book and I was doing all
of the layout and I was really enjoying.
It was like here all these sort of different elements that I'm
bringing together into this book.
That people are going to read and learn have might be able to
play a game of disposable heroes from this.
I'd like to do that for myself. But at the same time, I couldn't
write a set of rules to to save my life.
It's not what. I it's not where my strengths
lie so I read that but old adage like right write about what you
know. and so I wrote a book called armies Legions and hordes
which was about completing Army projects, are we painting
projects and I sort of went through all of the The
roadblocks that sort of people put sort of face as they're
going through the big army project and I try to find
another like a whole bunch of different ways to help people
overcome those roadblocks. So in the end, the book that I
wrote a lot of, some of my friends have been like, hey do
you know you wrote a project management book about Toy
Soldiers? I did not realize that I've
never raped, never read it. Project management book in my
life. But yeah it's it felt pretty
cool to have done that accidentally.
But yeah, so that was the book that I wrote, and I did that
first and I took it to Kickstarter.
Is my the first Kickstarter that I did for Dave Taylor
Miniatures? Who's that one?
I'd worked on a couple of other kickstarter's before but yeah,
so I wanted to do it for a book that I had written first so that
I would be able to see. Okay, what are all the steps
along the way if I sort of fell down at any of those steps?
It wasn't causing problems for somebody else.
It was just all on me. So that was a great learning,
sort of learning curve, and then going on to work with other
people. Yeah, yeah.
Surely because, you know, I'm saying that on my faith,
Facebook feed, or through, I think, beasts of War on tabletop
that you've done a series of volumes now, One, two, three of
the art of and that's the new series that you're releasing for
other various miniature, painting artists, or that kind
of thing that Tony Soul coming to Kickstarter soon actually.
Yeah, that one's going too fast. You might have might have been
earlier earlier post but I all right.
Yeah, yeah, no, sorry, the kickstarter for that is done.
The book is still on the way. So yeah.
Yeah, the second book that I did was with em elbows, the Geraint
shooter that's right. The book called The called
terrain Essentials some big Hefty time.
It's nearly 200 Pages, full of instructional staff.
And it's basically like Central like 30 or 40 Years of Mel's
terrain building knowledge distilled into words and
pictures. Mellow obviously has a well,
maybe not obviously. But Mel has a church YouTube
channel that has a lot of lot of videos on it.
And some people learn really well from from watching videos,
other folks, learn from reading or from looking at pictures and
listening. It's a sort of been a crazy
thing that to go through and learn myself how different
people learn. But some people have said like
the sky's our YouTube channel already.
Why do I need to get a book? And it's like okay well when you
want to learn about what sort of ratio you need to have fear like
water to to glue, which video was that in?
I think it was in this one. Okay, what's the time stamp on
it? How many of these were?
How many hours of videos are going to watch to get, go back
and find that when you can just click to that section of the
book. So it's a great tool that works
with the with his videos. So you can see them, see it in
action and then you can go back and remind yourself as you're
working through it with that book.
But yeah, that was, that was cool to work with Mel on that.
We would do to fulfill that beginning of 2020 and I'm sure
everybody remembers what happened at the beginning of
2020. But at the same time L was going
through some health problems and some family issues.
So everything became a bit delayed.
So 2020 was a bit of an odd year.
Where we were still working through the book, but just at a
slower pace. And then I get to discover all
the wonderful things about supply chain issues and shipping
costs and so on, in the middle of a global pandemic, but we
fulfilled that in 2021, got that out there everybody and then
into retail and then I think October 20 21.
We had to place a reorder with our printers so and our initial
print run was 10,000 copies and we are second print.
Run was 2,000 copies. So we printed 12,000 copies of
drain Essentials which is pretty exciting.
Yeah, then 2021 Yep. Did the kickstarter for the
first three, three volumes of the art of Series.
So the miniature monthly team Christophe Kyle who goes like
kornel on Instagram and gonna plunge chunk for the first 3
Arte. First three books that we did
and for that that series I wanted that to be a One of the
things I regularly doing is thinking about what's available
on the market right now. And what isn't there?
What would I like to see? That isn't available.
And at the moment, there aren't many books that are about, not
the how to paint but the why Why do these people paint the way
they do? Why do they choose their
subjects or their genres? Or what were their, what's their
origin story? What are the things that
influence them in their hobby? So I picked people whose hobby
that who's, miniature, painting that I really enjoy.
So I could find out more about it and then put it into a book
form. So glad there's a lot of stuff
in there about. What their influences were, how
they approach their painting. What they're passionate about
really, what they're trying, what hasn't worked for them in
the past or what new things they're doing, has all that sort
of stuff. So we release those, they were
filled beginning of this year and then went to retail about
April this year and then may I ran another Kickstarter for
volumes four five and six Six there's said Tommy was in there
is Volume 5, Chris SRI from the US I was willing for and say
need EA is the volume 6. He's from France.
And again, these are, these are all people.
I've really admired the their work for different reasons.
They're different things about their work that that I love But
Tommy stuff, I've been sort of watching Tommy stuff for ages
and there's one point where I was like, I felt like Tommy was
the first first painter to do a weekend Workshop.
Kind of thing where people would come along to a store and they'd
sit down for like 16 hours to eight hour days and pay 200
bucks to do it. It was just a kind of an amazing
concept to me. It was something that hadn't
really been done before in the lobby.
That now there are a lot of painters who do that kind of
kind of thing. There are conventions that
invite people along to invite artists along to run those kind
of classes. So it's really cool to be able
to. It has been awesome to be able
to work with Tommy over the last year, basically.
You just missing the art of here a hammer.
Now that's all you need. So many, so many amazing things
that so many amazing people and groups and collectives that
could work with that today I'm really, really looking forward
to to all of it going forward. One of the things that I'm
trying to do with each of the Like three books is a thing as a
good amount and three books. A year means they can build this
build a library up steadily, at one point.
I was like, I kind of like this to be like the the Osprey Osprey
publishing of Miniatures aren't kind of thing.
Where, in the future somebody could go.
I'm really interested in checking out more like objects
or sliding and it's like okay call me when you want to go and
check like volume 12 with. Victoria lamb and when she got
volume 32 with this artist and get excited about those kind of
things. I think that'd be a pretty sweet
way to go. But I am sort of keen to, as I
do it to have, like, somebody from the US, somebody from
Europe and then somebody either from the, like the UK, or
Australia, or somewhere else in the world and it a good mix of
people around the world, so everybody can go.
Okay. Well, it's not he's not just
focusing on the Spanish painters or the Italian painter's or that
kind of thing. So you're nice sort of mix of
the people. But yeah, having that doing that
sort of networking and talking to people in and I think it's
The best part is when you're talking to somebody about what
they're excited about and I'm it and if it's only, I'm excited as
well, it's very easy to ask more questions about.
Okay? What, what how did you do this?
Well how did you do that? I found there are things that
some of the artists do that they just assume everybody else does.
Or they assume it's like not a particularly important thing.
But when I was talking with the one stage with Elizabeth
Berkley, who's in the miniature monthly book, she was talking
about her work in progress shelf.
Now said, oh what's your work in?
Progress shelf all about and cheers.
Well, I put the shelf of like bus and managers and that sort
of thing that are primed and then ever, it's not planned Of
them to go anywhere and not like she doesn't feel the need to
finish any of these particular models.
But if she wants to practice something, she can pick up one
of these models and practice on a certain area.
So painting something like fishnet stockings for examples
can be fairly tough. But so if you practice that you
need to get better at it, right before you apply it to the
miniature, you went out finished on so she can just pick up a
model practice, some fishnet stockings on a model or if she's
had a rough day. She really enjoys painting faces
at helps her relax. So she can pick up a model and
just start painting faces and I was like nobody else that I know
has anything like that. There's always that thing.
If that you go and start painting a model, you got that
compulsion. That's like what I've got to get
back and finish that. I have to finish that model.
I'm going to finish that model. That's interesting.
No you don't like we're going to tell people about it so that
it's a big chunk of that bow section is all about.
Like you don't have to finish this model if you don't want to,
that's okay. So Yes, we now to find those
little things that the artists. It's become second nature for
the artist but other people seeing it would be excited by
it. Yeah, for sure, that's good.
Yeah, that's great. So it's a very interesting
project that, you know, you sound very passionate about and
it's it looks like the people you are contributing with
they're having a great time in show and showcasing their work.
So it's really really good initiative when it's a It will
grow and expand for many years to come.
We've got some questions from our Discord group as well.
So if you don't mind, we'll just, we'll just ask a few of
those. Yeah, go for it.
We've got carnufex my good buddy.
Ozzy meant card effects. He asked you, if you remember
Brian Cook. Oh yeah, yeah for sure,
definitely. Yeah Brian's right arm so Brian.
Yeah, back when I was working in, in Australia.
Ryan was, I think Brian was working at the Miranda store.
In Sydney. But so I wasn't until after I
left that Brian joined the, the promotion studio in Australia,
where was doing a lot of stuff. White dwarf.
But yeah. Now big fan of Bryan.
Great guy. You probably know can't Fury to
then because Kent was working at the same time.
I think you worked in Sydney as well.
Yep. Yep.
Very, you probably do. I do, I guess a couple times on
the, the crown of command, and he's a wild man, but he loves
his Empire like a Self actually is a big Empire minute.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. It's great.
Yeah. I'd caught up with him for a cup
of coffee. Last night.
I was in Australia, are actually good.
That's great man. Awesome.
Yeah covering fire. This is kid.
He asks you, whether you can tell us more about the Battle
report you play with Paul Sawyer.
Okay. A fat bloke, going to be spin
vers Empire battle report for, what?
Right? Yeah.
That's kind of funny. So the setup story.
When we first started that all reports were going to be there
sort of the easiest way for us to be able to bulk out some
issues, the magazine. And when we were switching from
the magazine, we were getting from the UK to the magazine,
we're going to be publishing Australia.
We needed to sort of gain an extra issue.
So when we started publishing in Australia, we publish one of our
first issues, we published a battle report called was myself
against oh, Chris Feldman called crazy.
Joe wears yellow. And it was praetorians against
Imperial fists. And there was this kind of a
goofy report things, we're just had fun with it and we published
that we didn't send it off to the UK to be approved or
anything. And basically later go sort of
probably a month or two later Paul was coming out for games
day and I got a call from him and her.
I sort of told in no uncertain terms that what we've done there
with that particular battle report, the crazy Joe was yellow
was it's not the way battle reports were to be done.
So a little bit of a telling off, but as I said yeah yeah it
was. I mean, when you go back and
look at it it's like, yeah, this is it was not very much not in
the, the voice of Games Workshop.
It was the voice of a couple of guys having a lot of fun.
But I said, well, I have never really gone through and played
about a report. So I'm not sure how it should be
done. So when Paul came out, he said
okay well we'll line up some We will do something in the store.
I think we played in the Chatswood store, we played that
battle and had a recorded vote. Somebody was there.
I think just in case was taking notes and taking photos, and
then we went away and put together a proper white dwarf,
battle report for that game. So the yeah, that was using my
marienburg as I think. So I had like green and white.
Empire troops against his also is Taylor for gamers.
Excellent excellent. Yeah.
So that was, that was really cool.
I mean it's a great to be able to do that but well yeah but
that's why we did that battle report.
So I could learn about reports for the future races in it.
Yeah that one I couldn't, I couldn't tell you.
Everybody. He was the guest in Australia
but when I get on really well yeah we're done some stuff
together with detail Miniatures and warlord games and that kind
of thing but yeah he's a graphic designer himself isn't he?
It pulls on a done a bunch of design but no poles, part-owner
of It's a Paul and John Stallard own warlord games and it's a
Paul is kind of the head of the development Studio as well.
So that's all of the warlord Products that come out have gone
through Paul at some point. Well, right, we did wolfram's
kind of fix. Also asked, do Dave's it.
True that tear it can go is chained up in your basement.
Still sorting out packages. No he's not, Taro Taro is
awesome, it's fantastic, fantastic guy.
But yeah now is it arrows. Awesome.
Awesome person to work with possum.
Got to hang out with. He's never actually visited me
here in the US. Right?
You might be afraid of being chained up in the basement, but
it works. In working mail-order as it
Justin at some point before they started working for like in the
studio. Yeah, yeah.
And I definitely cool. Cool.
And John paints asked day, what was your favorite white or
feature to your work done? That's good question.
I really have no idea to be honest.
So it's a good question. Terrible answer.
I think they not so much, not so much a feature.
Both I was very, very proud that we were able to Should go from.
Being able to put like 8 to 12 Australian pages in a UK
magazine or replacing, the sales Pages, essentially, to being
able to publish the print magazine in Australia, because
it was a fairly small print run at the time and meant that it
was always printed overnight. So anybody who was, who got the
drew, the Short Straw to go and do the Press check.
So basically you're the person who gets to go and when they
start printing the next sixteen Pages, you get to wander out
check the proof while they've got the Press has shut down,
check the proof against your digital proof.
Make sure all the colors are right.
Everything looks like it's supposed to be good, nothing's
out of alignment. And then sign off on it and then
they'll print that 16 Pages. However many times.
And then like an hour and a half later they'll come and wake you
up and get your check, the next sixteen Pages.
It was going through all that and learning, all those, sort of
things before that, I'd never never done a price.
Check on a magazine at all, we have to do things like, like,
paper buying. So I did talk to a paper buyer
and make sure that we can have these big.
Rules of paper delivered. So I think it was the probably
my favorite thing. The proudest moment was really
that when that first magazine rolled off the off, the Printing
Gujrat off the printing presses. Yeah but it would have went out
so that was in 99. I think I might have been the
like battlefleet Gothic cover. But it was right around then.
Anyway, but now is it is probably that it was at that
point we were We did hit the hit the world stage I guess.
Yeah. For sure, man.
That's for sure and know that there would be a good memories
and yeah, really good feeling to see that first white dwarf come
off the print running and, you know, that, you know, that
you've been a part of that which can pretty amazing.
Yeah. And then kind of X or a third
question. My goodness kind of flexible,
giving you a lot of lot of good. Good.
Good will hear. But it's D-Day tell us about the
time. The Gap thought visited a Sydney
and there was a wild party. Did anyone lose their hands?
Oh jeez. I don't asking questioning he's
obviously obsessing over gas thought without pants on or
something. Maybe.
Yeah I don't I don't know. I don't know that I was ever in
that I was in Sydney when Gap, Thorpe came Yeah, don't remember
Gap coming. I removed of coming to Baltimore
and then one of our outriders sort of, threatening to cut off
his hair is hair because he wasn't happy with with what
gathered unto the Elder race Lords, but what dead serious.
I think it certainly felt like he was seriously hurt who is
drunk though so I'm not 100% sure that Andy changes came out
to Australia so whether some kind of fix means Andy instead,
I'm not sure and I we had Jazz as well.
All right cool. Yeah I do know it's funny but he
drink. Gagging partying stories.
The first games they do, we had I was really worried.
I never been to a games day before so I know had no idea how
they were going to run. We'd never run one and I just
knew that we had like, no, I think we had nine hundred
attendees who are already to come in and have a great time.
We flew in a lot of, they're basically all of our staff from
around the country because we didn't have a big pool of Staff
inside. At the time and was like, we
really can't go out and have a good night before hand.
So I'm going to put them all up in a motel out near the airport
and then just shuttle everybody to the venue and we did that and
everybody had a great day. Everything went really well
really smoothly and I was really excited and happy that that had
happened and then some of the managers Store managers said
yeah, they went really well, don't you think that even I
said, yeah, it did work great. They're like, okay, well, you
know, that it's also brought a whole bunch of cases of beer
around to the motel and we all got drunk.
Not like really disappointed in that happened, but it went
really well. Anyway, so the next year we
moved everybody into a like a hotel, near the venue, and went
out and got drunk the night before as you do it too.
The name of the place, the hoarding Pavilion like Sydney
park or something like that. Yeah.
They're not that cool. That it was the biggest night at
the Henry, the eighth Pub that they'd ever had, all right?
Even if it was a like ostensibly and not hearing the eighth here
in the night, so I think it goes.
But we used to go there all the time.
And this particular night was bigger than any, any other night
that they had ever? Had yes.
But yeah, I was I was very rough.
The next day I bet you are many Muslim.
This is my buddy. Yeah, but fortunately, by that
point, everybody who is who is working?
Can you say, they knew what they were doing?
They knew what needed to happen and everything just happened.
Really really smoothly. The everybody did a fantastic
job. So great.
That's awesome. Dave, thank you very much again
for your time today that you know Time difference is quite
quite varied as I'm in Japan and with the states now.
So, yeah, thank you and your family for giving us the time to
come and talk on the cracker man today.
Oh, no worries. I think it was definitely great.
Thanks very much anytime. Thanks again and all the best
for Dave, Dave Taylor benches and I'll leave links in the
show. Notes will be able to go and
check out you your main website. And if they want to contact you
about purchasing any of the books that we've talked about
today, it'll be there for them to be read.
Directed to the places where they need to go to pick one of
those up. So yeah.
Do you hope to see the art of here a hammer at one stage
making the future? Sure thing.
I'll get started on the planning for that.
Yeah thanks man. Okay bye bye.
Have a good one. Bye.