Cult Of Games XLBS: No “Miniatures” = MORE Wargaming?
August 2, 2026 by crew
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![New Carolingians & A Pillage Starter Set From Victrix? [Updated]](https://images.beastsofwar.com/2026/07/pillage-introductory-cover-600-338.jpg)
Happy Sunday CoGs OTTers and Backstagers!
Did we leave our gorillas in the mist? Ugh, that explains the damn dirty ape smell (as explained by our benevolent nearly omniscient galactic beer can overlord Skippy the Magnificent)
As a collection of dirty monkeys I agree that the nut shells and shiny pebbles we don’t use are valid as markers for our models ambivalent systems. We just get hung up on what style of tiny fighting men we like to look at and can comprehend as an order of battle for a particular force. The general parlance of GW is easily parsed and is a lazy 1=1 without variable and your brain ceases to engage the “l don’t entirely know what that is over there so I might not want to engage it”.
When we want to have pretty rocks of our own it just takes effort to collect and polish them to a proper shine. Cutting down the effort of making the desirable things is what we end up paying for. As we see, the bespoke whimsy takes payment for mental expression and the time to develop. If time is money I’m happy to pay someone for their attention to detail and support the love their share in hobby. I love my hobby too and experience the small dream of being paid to perform it. The “get paid to play” is contradictory in that regard. Hmm.. @brennon Hobby bumblebee is a better term than butterfly as there’s more noise going on (and you can pretend to be that same striped insect wearing a WWII style flying helmet flying about doing sky patrols with finger guns making the sounds of cannon fire when you meet enemies)
@johnlyons Can we get a 1:8 scale bumblebee like that (inspired by nose art/unit patches from a flying unit)?
@avernos with those two busy with the silly have you meandered through those digital games and realized how much Avalon Hill box art there is which is older than @shayott?
Happy Sunday CoGs OTTers and backstagers…..
@brennon got so close to a full Frankie Howerd impression and monologue today.
Holla Sunday
00:00 Changing the intro? Huh?! oO I’m too old for this
33:00 Hobby time!
45:00 Play games without minis? *hiiiiiiiiiiiiiss*
51:00 Nothing stops me from playing Napoleonic. Or modern warfare. I just don’t want. PPB has nothing for me. *sad faces* Let me have my minis goth darn it!
51:08 “I’m not drunk”
52:55 Do you smell burnt toast?
53:50 “I am not drunk!”
56:00 Hex games? Battletech!
1:16:00 absolutely not drunk!
Congratuwelldone to the GB winners.
Just to let Ben know, there will be Royal Navy which will be later this year. More ships, eventually terrain. I will be putting together a project for them soon.
The minis are from; https://www.oldgloryuk.com/15mm-pirates/50/190/477/494
Thanks for the Golden Button. You always seem to pick me out as a highlight when I am at a low ebb and its always appreciated. Going through some bereavement and doing something creative and Kitbash focused, something imagination and crafting intensive, has been a help.
Fun show this week. The XLBS is clearly better (and cheaper) than therapy. For those looking for wargaming without the miniatures I’ll mention Command and Colors, a range of historical battle board games with units represented by wooden blocks with stickers on. Whilst I’m happy to get any sort of board or wargame in I’d still rather play with all the toys on the table whenever possible.
Well done to the GB winners. Lovely looking projects this week.
Id call the car the general Gordon
very Khartoomy
Hurrrah Happy Sunday all o7
Its a shame don’t get more cons in Birmingham, Expo is huge ofc, but so many happen in Nottingham.
Happy Sunday!
I love, love, love gaming; RPGs, war-games, boardgames, cards… but I do know I am a hobbyist first and foremost. The fact I keep building and painting MCP, Space Weirdos, and Kings of War minis but almost never play any of them proves the point. I also picked up Stuffed Fables simply because I wanted to paint all the minis.
Peter Pig do a range of 15mm Pirates, rules, ships, buildings, if folks want a cheap alternative to Blood & Plunder, there’s a good place to start.
If no one has mentioned it, I’d suggest that Blucher would be a great game to play. It uses cards for each unit; has a great way of showing units degrading through attrition and is at a scale that can play grand Napoleonic battles in a few hours. Only problem is that it costs a lot and is difficult to get. I also always love a bit of hex and counter goodness and Oriskany Jim always has some great battle report videos to watch.
Happy Sunday, watched on Tuesday.
SAS Rogue Regiment is a great miniatures game that uses flat counters instead of 3D models. When I bought it I was sure I would want to replace the counters with minis (no shortage of WWII ranges to choose from), but after a few games with the counters I decided it was fine as-is. And, as mentioned in the show, not having models to paint removes one of the main barriers to getting the game on the table.