Henry Hyde Interview with Michael and Alan Perry

I recently come across this fascinating interview with Michael and Alan Perry from 2009 conducted by Henry Hyde and published in issue 22 of Battlegames Magazine in April 2010 (now Miniature Wargames with Battlegames Magazine). It runs to 29 pages and is quite an in depth discussion on the Perry's sculpting career, how they joined GW, what prompted them to form Perry miniatures and other interesting tidbits.

I actually found it on a strange archive website and when I contacted Henry to request permission to share the interview he knew nothing about it being available through said website. Anyway Henry has kindly allowed me to share the interview with your good-selves and you can find the PDF at the following - https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6xfqBWBhMEnOTl1dUxhcXc4OTg/edit?usp=sharing

Please bear in mind the accompanying copyright notice:

© Copyright Henry Hyde, Michael Perry and Alan Perry 2010. No reproduction without written permission other than short passages for the purposes of literary criticism and quotation.

If you don’t know who Henry Hyde is or what Miniature Wargames with Battlegames Magazine is then visit the following to elucidate yourselves!

Twitter: @MiniatureWG @battlegames

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MiniatureWargames

Web: http://miniaturewargames.co.uk

Blog: http://henrys-wargaming.co.uk/

Podcast: http://www.viewfromtheveranda.co.uk

Combat Stress Appeal: http://www.justgiving.com/battlegames

The House at the End of the World (or why we live in a tin shed at the moment!)

Hi there everyone, how have you all been.? Well my connection to the wonderweb is still intermittent however I thought prudent to explain what's been going on and why I went dark (in 24 speak!).

So I’m  going to tell you all a story. It’s not an especially exciting story, well not as stories go, in fact you may find it a little dull, however seeing as it’s a true story and concerns the adventures of two people (and eventually four people) it’s very close to my heart and I find it very enjoyable.

Once upon a time there lived a young(ish) couple in the Shire of York in the UK who went about their daily lives quite contentedly to begin with, however they both agreed that there was something not quite right with how their lives were turning out. They had a nice home, two cars, careers that were developing nicely and a good circle of friends but there was something missing, some life experience that they had never had. Neither of them had been to university so therefore ever taken part in the debauched lifestyle of excess that students have access to (or so they’ve been told).

So taking a risk they both decided to quit their jobs, sell their home and put everything into storage. Then, with a few clothes stuffed into backpacks they set off on a world tour, travelling round Western Europe, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and North America before finally returning to the UK 13 months later.

Now part of the reasoning behind this little jaunt was to try and find out if there was anywhere else they wanted to live in the world. However whilst walking round Kuranda near Cairns in Australia one evening they both came to the realisation that over and above this thought they were ready to start a family and as everyone who has ever had a child knows your life changes forever when they arrive.

So fast forward four years and there’s this little family, four people who are finding their way in the world, back in the UK not five miles from their original home and wondering if things had changed. And the answer was yes and no. Yes things had changed as the experience of being solely in the company of one other person for 13 months and relying on them and trusting them completely had changed them both. Through thick and thin they had become closer and better human beings and had seen things that both amazed and horrified them.

However the Shire of York had also changed, in fact the UK was getting worse (in their opinion). Prices were rising, consumer culture was becoming the norm with people believing that owning things would make them happy, the population was increasing and consequently the demand on resources. Was this the society that they wanted to raise their children in? They had both picked their careers up again; their children were happy and healthy however they had never addressed the original question - was their anywhere else in the world they wanted to live?

So going back to their experience of traveling the world and which particular culture and country had stuck in their mind they both agreed that the Southern Hemisphere and in particular Australasia was a place that seemed to have everything that they valued and wanted in life.

Fast forward again 6 months and their home was sold, a consultation had been concluded with an emigration consultant, the result being that a contract to compile a visa had been signed for ……… NEW ZEALAND!

My better half and "The Beehive"

Now the difficult task of finding a job began, first the better half of the couple tried, however her industry is very fickle and even more so down under and so after a fruitless five months it was time for him to try. Now bear in mind that obtaining a visa for New Zealand isn’t that hard as long as you can obtain a legitimate job offer from a recognised New Zealand employer. And so that’s what he had to do.

Ten months, ninety (that’s right 90) applications, 20+ phone calls, 4 interviews later I accepted………err I mean he accepted a job offer with an NZ government organisation in Wellington and the next stage of their adventure can begin.

The End………

Well obviously that isn’t the end as we’ve got a lot to sort out now and its going to be all hands on deck when we get there, however it is the end of this little chapter in our lives. We loved New Zealand when we toured there 7 years ago and we’re looking forward to immersing ourselves in the culture and landscape.

Somewhere down there will be our new home!

It’s going to be hard as here in the UK we have a support structure in place (family and friends) however over there it will just be us, we’ll be trying to get used to a new culture and more importantly a new social infrastructure.

"err, doesn't some bloke called Sauron live round here?"

Now that's a Campo!

We’re a tight knit little unit that has seen some tough times but we've managed to pull through all that life has thrown at us! I’ll continue to post on the blog, with my posts alternating between hobby activity and moving my little family to the House at the End of the World!

Thanks for reading, if we've met in the UK at the various conventions/tournaments etc then thanks, its been a blast. If you're a wargamer/hobbyist/nerd in New Zealand then I hope to see you all soon! (once I figure out the dialiect, housing, culture etc etc .....)

Ste

Normal service will resume…….eventually.

Things are changing in the Off t’Club household over the next few months and this will impact my hobby time, which also includes my blog activity. We’re about to lose our regular internet access along with access to my lead/plastic mountain, most of my supplies as well as a large proportion of my painted models.

Who remembers this?

Not to worry, this is all for the better and I’ll reveal more over the next few weeks as our plans become a little firmer.

Stay tuned folks, I’ll catch up with you all soon.

Cheers

Ste

Competition Results!

Its been a while since I held my Blogiversary competition however I finally found time to do the draw and I’m happy to say that the winners, in order of their drawing from the err, scruffy pencil case are ……..(drum roll!)

Ubique Matt - GB Saxons

Francis Lee - Savage Orcs

Simon Quinton - Band of Brothers book

Brendon Watts - Space Marine

If you luck devils can “come on down”….sorry I mean send me your contact details via the contact me option on the Blog I shall send you your lovely prizes!

Caveat Victor - if you do not claim your prize in a timely fashion I shall be forced to hire the services of an undercover operative to track..... err sorry that's for my other Blog. If you don't give me your details within two weeks of this post I'll select another lovely winner and send them your lovely prize.

Laters

Ste

Interesting News!

Well aint this a doozy, I may be a little slow on this one howeever the Perry brothers make an announcement:

We are aware that there are rumours flying around that we have left Games Workshop! Thought we should set the record straight and let you all know that…we have! After 36 years, man and boy, working on Warhammer, 40K and of course, for the last 15 years LotR and the Hobbit we are now able to focus our energy on our historical

ranges.This means more time to dedicate to Perry Miniatures, and of course Mr Jackson who we continue to make 54mm WW1 figures for. We had an excellent evening on Friday at The Trip to Jerusalem with GW, and ex-GW, colleagues and friends who got us very, very drunk – cheers!

Source - https://www.facebook.com/perryminiatures

Oh and if you don't trust Facebook here's the first two lines from their own website!

Perry Miniatures is run by well known 28mm sculptors Alan & Michael Perry. They are former sculptors of Foundry and Games Workshop.

Source - http://www.perry-miniatures.com/

WSS Survey!

As the title suggests Wargames Soldiers and Strategy are currently conducting a wargaming survey and I feel it incumbent on me as a wargamer and subscriber to their lovely magazine to share with you good folks.

So click on the link, fill in the survey and help them understand the community and more importantly their magazine audience. Oh and while you’re at it why not subscribe as it’s cheap (and even cheaper with the 10% discount code you get for filling in the survey), interesting and available as a no-nonsense PDF subscription so you don’t need any silly reading apps and suchlike. 

"The people at WSS magazine are a very curious bunch (yes, probably probably in more senses of the word, but that doesn't matter now). Mostly, we are curious about this hobby and the people in it. There is always much debate about the health of the hobby, the age of the average wargamer, which scale or size of miniature is better and endless other questions. Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy, being a team of intrepid people, decided to solve at least some of these debates by way of the Great Wargaming Survey. And YOU are cordially invited to take part.

Joking aside, this won't take long (5-10 minutes), it's entirely anonymous, it's nothing ever attempted on this scale and best of all, you'll have a chance at winning some great prizes (such as the books from Casemate and Osprey, the SAGA Great Hall from 4Ground, and a 1000 point British Airborne Bolt Action army). What's not to like? Just spend a few happy minutes contemplating your favorite pastime.

We'd really appreciate your input, and we’re accepting responses until July 31st, 2014!"

The Lord of the Rings SBG AAR - Rohan vs Isengard (Grudgematch)

And so here we are again, Andy and I facing each other down in what has become a personal vendetta for the Uruk Hai of Isengard. Following our last battle in the empty plains close to Dunland it became clear to Gandalf that Saruman had chosen to side with the Enemy in the coming war. Therefore rather than risk the ring falling in to his clutches, Gandalf enlists the aid of Eomer and his small force in rescuing Frodo and the ring.

Racing up the North-South road and passing through Tharbad Gandalf learns that Saruman is now taking a personal hand in the recovery of the ring and is leading his marauding band of Uruk Hai personally.

Obviously this bears no relation to the actual story; however we’re working on the assumption that after Gandalf discovered the truth about Bilbo’s ring in his search of the Minas Tirith archives he journey’s back to the shire via Rohan where he encounters Eomer. After he explains how King Théoden’s court has changed and the actions of Grima and his band Gandalf rightly realises that Saruman has betrayed them (he’s quite bright is our Gandalf). So no wizard battle at Orthanc but rather a race against time to prevent the capture of the ring before Frodo has chance to set off on his journey.

Board Layout

The board was laid out to represent the beginnings of civilisation near Bree with a smallholding in the north east, scattered trees and two small woods in the south east and south west and two hills on the south edge and northwest. We were playing a pitched battle so both split our forces equally with Andy deploying his first half 18” in, then alternating deployment 12” in.

Deployment and Forces

I took the same force as last time however Andy decided to counter Gandalf with Saruman, therefore dropped his Shaman, Uruk Captain, Berserkers and Crossbows. As we were playing a pitched battle we set up pretty much as a battle line, however Andy’s troll was forward of his line and Eomer and a couple of Cavalry were to the left of my line as a mobile reserve (with Gandalf supporting).

Opening Turns

Andy won the priority first and advanced his damn troll straight towards my Rohan Warriors. With a low Fight and Strength value my warriors would have a problem doing anything with the beast however I endeavoured to take it down. And therein lay my first mistake as I should have just sidelined the darn thing through clever use of control zones and one on one fights.

So instead I focused a blizzard of bow fire and throwing spears at it causing no damage whatsoever. Meanwhile Andy moved his Uruks up my left flank whilst Saruman supported the main attack in the centre. I dithered a little and placed my warriors and Gamling in poor positions in the middle which Andy took advantage of quite early on, pushing me back with his Troll and following up with Uruks so as to block my movement. 

Ignore the damn thing Ste, don't feed it troops

Mid-game

I managed to get Eomer into combat on the left flank however by this time Andy had outmanoeuvred me and pushed hard up the centre, and in a very clever use of Might points had called a couple of Heroic Combats that saw Lurtz carve a path from the rear to threaten Gamling in my front line. I say from the rear because I did manage to spot an opportunity to trap said Troll after Andy left a gap between it and his supporting Uruks. Hence the rather clever Heroic Combat that allowed Andy to smash down a warrior with Lurtz and then move forward freeing up the Troll to fall back should it not win the fight.

Meanwhile Eomer slew his opponent on the left however his fellow riders could only wave their rubber swords around in a feeble imitation of combat. Andy then won the next priority and plunged as many Uruks as he could into combat across my battle line. I responded by throwing anything I could into my left flank to try and rescue Eomer and had everyone else shielding to try and slow down the Uruk onslaught.

Meanwhile Gandalf and Saruman had a wizard duel, throwing Will points around like confetti as they tried to drag warriors around, sorcerous blast each other and just generally be a pain.

It’s the End!

Bloody Troll

I finally come to the realisation that my centre is crumbling and I can’t use Eomer as the surgical implement I intended as he’s getting sidelined quite nicely by Andy so I redirect him from the left to the rear of Andy’s battle line and use command to get him into combat. Hopefully I’ll be able to call a Heroic Combat, slaughter the Uruk and then charge headlong into Saruman. Unfortunately Andy has already spotted my cunning plan and moves his only unengaged model into Eomers way. And so I have the only bit of dice luck in the game so far and hurl a desperate throwing spear from one of my warriors at the standard bearer and slay him!

Woohoo!

So on to combat and as Andyhas priority he decides the order of combats and promptly butchers nearly everything I have in contact. Even worse we’ve run out of time and can’t resolve the Eomer/Uruk blood feud nor get to the sorcerous duel we were hoping with Saruman and Gandalf.

Stand out moments in the game:

• Casting immobilise on the Troll only to have it win the combat against Gamling and 4 warriors!

• Saruman casting sorcerous blast on Gandalf, he then resisting it with his will and returning the favour, to then have Saruman resist it (proper wizards duel!)

• Lurzt using a Heroic Combat to free up the trapped Troll (damn him!).