Pure nostalgia, although I suspect that if you aren't "of a certain age" where the names and games and atmosphere of this book are directly relevant to your life then you will find this less than exciting, and probably actually boring.

This third song is the same as the first, but the reward for Bryan is even more dramatic; he first becomes part of a joint operating board, then group managing director. O livro é maravilhoso, qualidade ótima e item obrigatória pra quem gosta de saber mais sobre a história do hooby.

Definitely worth getting in the full hardback glory just for the quality of the pictures and illustrations! This story is full of fascinating facts about lesser known games from the early days of the company, as well as the origins of the ones everyone knows, and Livingstone has a gift for making the story flow engagingly and engrossingly throughout. Something that rarely happens to me even with the best fiction, let alone a history of a gaming company! I discovered GW and Warhammer when I found and bought three decks of Citadel Combat Cards at a boot sale.

In the backwards view of history this newsletter is adorable in its naivete; it’s suggestive of a group of enthusiasts getting in miles over their heads playing at running a company which will be lucky to survive its first year, never mind eventually grow into a multinational.

Chapter 9 is where Dice Men really picks up for me: the development of Citadel Miniatures and then on to Warhammer Fantasy Battle and 40K. Less of a history book and more of a coffee table tome, Dice Men manages to do something quite remarkable in under 300 pages: tell a surprisingly deep story, rich with captivating imagery, without ever seeming verbose or vain.

Miniatures” there means other people’s; they have been selling miniatures, but they haven’t been making them. A point I want to mention in Livingstone’s favour here is that this could easily be a hardscrabble story about two captains of industry making it big with nothing but a dream and gruelling work. My dad was in the Navy, and I was fortunate enough to have lived in Scotland for six years in the 80s. Dealing with the negatives first, Dice Men is surprisingly flatly written given Ian Livingstone's strong credentials as a fantasy author.

It’s a nice touch, and it highlights just how many people’s contributions served to make something special out of humble beginnings. You have a significant subsidiary helmed by a bloke who has already resigned twice in the last four years to force your hand in giving him more power, after telling you the reason he quit the last company he founded was because his co-owners lacked his vision and ambition. It’s a bit art-book in feel, too; in theory it’s nearly 300 pages long, but a substantial portion of that is taken up with pictures. For those with either a nostalgic memory of, or an interest in the seminal era of the 70s and early 80s for role-playing games (TTRPG under current nomenclature) this is a great read. A treasure trove of nostalgia… Ian Livingstone's background with print media (White Dwarf) also shows in abundance.