About Andy

The Early Years

My involvement in the hobby started, as these things often do, with a book, a dice, and a door into another world. When my dad bought me The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, the first Fighting Fantasy book, he probably had no idea what he had started. More than forty years later, that early spark has become a lifetime spent around games, miniatures, stories, rules, shops, studios, sculptors, painters, players, and the communities that grow around the tabletop.

Games Workshop

My professional life in the hobby began at Games Workshop, where I worked for fifteen years during what many people still think of as the company’s golden period. I started in retail and later moved to head office in Nottingham. That time taught me a huge amount about the hobby from both sides of the counter: how people discover games, how communities form, how ranges are supported, and how important it is that a game gives players a reason to keep coming back.

Beyond Games Workshop

After Games Workshop, I moved into project management, digital marketing, SEO, online sales, and social media. That gave me a different view of the industry. Not just how games are made, but how they are presented, sold, supported, and kept alive. Those skills became central to everything I did later.

Warlord Games

In 2011 I joined Warlord Games, where I led direct sales and IT and became involved in the growth of the company at a key time. During that period I also co-created Test of Honour, a samurai skirmish game that went on to build a strong and passionate following. It was one of the projects that pushed me further into game design and helped shape the kind of games I wanted to make: characterful, tactical, accessible, and built around memorable moments on the table.

Footsore Miniatures & Games

In 2017 I realised a long-held dream by buying the UK side of Footsore Miniatures with my friend Mark Farr. Together we developed it into Footsore Miniatures & Games, producing and supporting a wide range of historical and narrative-led miniatures games. During that time I worked on titles including Gangs of Rome, Mortal Gods, and The Barons’ War.

The Barons' War

The Barons’ War became a major part of my design life. It brought together many of the things I care about most in tabletop gaming: grounded history, strong visual identity, simple but meaningful choices, and battles that feel like stories rather than exercises in list building. It is a game about retinues, rivalries, banners, grudges, and hard decisions. It also became the foundation for later work, including Warhost.

A New Chapter

In 2025, after eight years, I sold my share in Footsore Miniatures & Games to Mark. I remain proud of what we built together, and grateful to the sculptors, painters, writers, players, and customers who helped support those games. Leaving Footsore was not leaving the hobby. It was the start of a new chapter.

What I Do Now

Today my work brings together game design, rules writing, worldbuilding, range development, direct sales, Shopify and website strategy, social media, and community support. I help turn ideas into games, ranges into supported product lines, and products into things players actually want to collect, play, and talk about.

That mix might sound unusual, but to me it all belongs together. A good game is not only a ruleset. It is a world, a range, a community, a way in for new players, and a reason for existing players to stay excited.

Wargames Atlantic

I currently work for Wargames Atlantic, helping develop games, support product strategy, and strengthen the way ranges and rules connect with players. That relationship has also given The Barons’ War a new chapter. After licensing The Barons’ War to Wargames Atlantic, we released The Barons’ War Second Edition, bringing the rules to a wider audience and giving the game the support, visibility, and reach it needed to grow. The response has been fantastic, with new players, new clubs, and new momentum around the game.

My work today sits across creative development, direct sales, web strategy, community support, and the practical realities of getting products in front of the people most likely to enjoy them.

Warhost and Hobday & Hicks

I also continue to develop Warhost with sculptor Paul Hicks through Hobday & Hicks. Warhost is my fantasy skirmish game built from the bones of The Barons’ War, but with its own world, tone, and identity. It is early medieval fantasy with grounded warfare, dangerous magic, fractured kingdoms, disciplined orcs, proud elven houses, dwarven craft, and human politics at its heart.

Collaboration

A great deal of my work has been collaborative, and I have been fortunate to work with outstanding sculptors, artists, painters, writers, publishers, retailers, and players. Paul Hicks’ sculpting has shaped much of the character of my recent ranges, and I have always believed that collaboration is one of the great strengths of this hobby.

What I Care About

I care about games that are easy to start but have enough depth to reward repeated play.

I care about rules that create decisions rather than arguments.

I care about miniatures that make people want to paint them, factions that feel like they belong in their world, and scenarios that give players a reason to fight beyond simply destroying the other side.

For me, the tabletop is at its best when rules, miniatures, story, and community all support each other. The best battles are not always the ones you win, but the ones where something unexpected happens and everyone around the table remembers it.

Where I Am Based

I live in rural Lincolnshire with my family, where I continue to write, design, build worlds, support games, and try to make more time to actually play them.

This site is where I share my games, thoughts, updates, and work in progress. Whether you are here for The Barons’ War, Warhost, Gangs of Rome, Mortal Gods, Test of Honour, or whatever comes next, welcome.

The battlefields await.