Once again it has been too long between blog posts.
I thought I would use this post to reflect on the past a little in order to show where I am heading for the future. Sounds ominous 🙂
In some ways Traders Galaxy has come a long way in just a short space of time. From memory I started Traders Galaxy in January 2018, but really it didn’t truly start until a year later. Most people who have followed Traders Galaxy know the story. In that I started with $5 and a New Years resolution. I was going to make a spin casting machine from an old washing machine using instructions from the internet. I bought a leaking second hand washing machine with a good motor for $5. I then stripped it down etc and only focusing on the next challenge just kept hurdling until one day I flicked the switch and the damn thing actually worked :D.
I then commissioned a bloke from Italy to sculpt 5 Space Chimps. Dario from Grimforge is a top bloke and did some of my early traditional sculpt minis such as the space chimps and the space dwarf mercenaries. I still like traditionally sculpted minis. They have a certain quaint style. As is normal with start ups, I invested everything I sold back into the business including more besides. Fast forward to now, Traders Galaxy has over 200 miniature characters currently in production. Has produced over 350 miniature characters. Has 2 published rulebooks (one digital only) and has 12 stockists worldwide (with more coming on board soon).
A big part of this success has been the Bot War miniature game. There are a lot of things unique about Bot War. The giant robots of course, but also the fact its a 10mm scale skirmish game. Usually 10mm games are reserved for epic conflicts using a lot of miniatures. But because Bot War is primarily about giant Bots then in kind of plays more like a 40-50mm skirmish game :D. So bit of an odd one. Now that said, 2021 is definitely the year Bot War will grow massively, both in accessibility but also in models! See 2021 is the year that Bot War really embraces the big Bots. Trashasaur, the large Godzilla like behemoth hits preorder 1 April and brings another 13cm tall combiner into the metagame. Likewise concepts are underway now for the amazing new updated Builders and their combined form Destroyer. Additionally, COILS get in on the act with the cool new COILS Fortress and its alt form Conspiracy! A huge combiner sized Bot. Then the Deceivers get another combiner with Volcano and the devotees of the fire god that form him. Awesome stuff. Even though I absolutely love Bot War and its universe of malevolent AI from Heaven, Mermen, Cold War humanity and Alien sporting enthusiasts, I still have a love for old school style fantasy and gritty dystopian sci fi.
Recently, I have started revisiting the original models I started Traders Galaxy with and would like to increase the range. I have started with the Lamiar and should be releasing some of these in metal soon. There is a real pleasure worshipping feel around the Lamiar and at 35mm tall, but 30mm scale, they fit in quite well with most 28mm games. The way I have made them means that several troops types will be available. There are leaders of various types, basic fireball throwing troops, winged troops, heavy weapons, sea troops and even fantasy versions with spears and shields to use as various elite troops in any wargame, skirmish or dungeon crawler. I hope to follow this up with the new Space Chimps. Some basic troops and sergeants for new Space Chimps are already available. However the space chimps are still missing the plasma weapons, heavy weapons, chimps in exosuits, patriarchs, mimique monkeys and royal guards from the faction. Finally, I hope to see new Technomancer troops including a warband happen this year. I am wanting the Technomancers to be much darker, fitting for agents of evil that can raise both machinery and flesh from the dead to make some horrific abominations of the two.
With the updates of the original Traders Galaxy miniatures, I also hope to delve into a personal project of my own. Sculpting my own undead army. Nothing particularly revolutionary of course. Just your classic gothic medieval undead types. Vampires, Ghouls, Zombies etc. This is a pet project for me as I like the genre. Of course I realise the genre has been done to death. Haha 😉