Crooked Dice specialise in wargames rules and miniatures inspired by the many and varied iconic worlds of 60s-70s Cult TV.

Crooked Dice is me, Karl Perrotton – the lovechild of David Baddiel and an excitable control freak. A graphic designer by trade and a geek by birth, an unhealthy interest in old sci-fi TV and miniature gaming seemed a frankly ludicrous combination for setting up Crooked Dice.

Crooked Dice is small but perfectly formed. It’s a one man operation – so I write, design and produce all the rules, spec the miniatures, run the webstore, answer the emails and forum posts and do all the packing and shipping. Our output is small and perfectly formed – running the creative end from our secret underground bunker.

Our pewter casting is thanks to the miracle workers at Griffin Moulds (Jane, Rob and Lisa), Andy at Ainsty Castings and Martyn at MDP for production of our lovely toys.

Special thanks must go to the amazing sculptors who have brought the 7TV world to life: Jo Brumby, Martin Buck, Mark Evans, George Fairlamb, Shane Hoyle, Andrew Maclachlan, Andrew May, Steve McGuire, Neil Mckenzie, Ian Mountain, Andrew Rae, Greg Storey, Bill Thornhill, Ernst Veingart and Kev White.

For dazzling brushwork, we need to thank: Jon Atter, Simon Bradley, Martin Buck, Kev Dallimore, Mark Dixon, Matt Slade and Andrew Taylor.

Harlequin Miniatures Ltd, the place for miniatures gamers and collectors on the Net! Inside you'll find full and up-to-date catalogues and photographs of our massive range of superbly sculpted 28mm metal miniatures, news of our latest developments and much more.

Babylon 5
The Science-Fiction doesn't end there! Our Babylon 5 miniatures range captures the personalities of the hit television series that captivated Sci-Fi fans all over the world, including Londo Mollari, Captain Sinclair and G'Kar. These boxed sets are produced on a Limited Edition basis, so you'd better grab them quick before they disappear!

Doctor Who
Astounding Time Lords everywhere in our stunning Doctor Who collection, which features the incarnations of the Doctor, his various companions and the host of nasties he's encountered throughout his travels including the merciless Daleks, the terrifying Cybermen and the awesome Ice Warriors. There's even our own Dr Who : Invasion Earth tabletop game, which allows you to recreate the frantic battles and dangerous encounters of the Doctor Who universe yourself!

Fantasy Armies
Check out the massive Fantasy Armies range, which contains all you'll ever want for your fantasy tabletop battles . Featuring Dwarves, Orcs, Goblins, insidious Undead and the noble Men of Averaign to name but a few, this collection is constantly expanding , so check back here regularly for additions to the current hordes!

Lord Of The Rings
J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, the greatest fantasy epic of all time, is brought to life with our incredible licensed range of miniatures. This ever-expanding range not only includes all the heroic characters like Gandalf, Gimli and Boromir but for the first time brings the soldiers of the War of the Ring to the tabletop! this collection of miniatures allows you to fight out the epic struggles of Middle Earth, so whether you march with the dark hordes of Mordor or resist the tide of evil with the noble men of Gondor and the gallant horse-lords of Rohan, there's something here for you!

See Black Tree Design

Magnificent Egos will produce figures of unique character and appearance to stimulate customers’ imaginations and provide alternative choices to the more generic lines produced for RPGs and Wargames. We will accomplish this by combining highly-experienced miniature hobbyist with artists at the top of their field and some of the industry’s most respected sculptors. We will also cultivate new artists and sculptors who show promise in order to ensure the continual generation of fresh ideas.

Magnificent Egos does not produce a war game with huge groupings of similar units. Nor do we produce generic figures for use as archetypes, placeholders or basic troops. Each of our figures will be unique with a character all its own. The concept drawings are created based on personality sketches. The sculptor then uses the art and description to ensure that each individual is brought to life in a unique fashion.

Magnificent Egos will work with a primary artist/art director to ensure product continuity in basic style, scale and mythos. However, each artist and sculptor is hired based on their own merits and is encouraged to make each project their own.

Magnificent Ego’s ManifestoWe may not be the best miniatures company in the world, but we are. We really are that magnificent. Sometimes we’re just too much. Pirate or ninja? Even our Bows are bigger! Our paladin can beat up your blackguard! Ugly is good. Uncommonly good miniatures. Stand out from the crowd. Uncommon character; uncommon miniatures.

Read the first paragraph again. That’s us in a nutshell. We are the bad-ass, balls of steel, cool cat, all singing, all dancing, undisputed king of fantasy miniatures. At least we are in our own minds. But that is where it counts. (Best ethnic preacher voice) If we do not believe it, we will not achieve it.

The truth is we are small, tiny in fact. We have an inconsequential market share and not enough steady sales to even give us a good measure of our progress. However, and this is a big however, people have noticed us. While we haven’t yet achieved the market share, we are steadily grabbing mind share and that is where it starts. Our customer base is growing at a frantic pace. The industry is taking note. Retailers are reaching out to us. Our shelf space is growing. Our competitors are getting nervous. I’d say “not bad” for a little company that started with no product and an inflated sense of self-importance.

Yes, we’re obnoxious. Yes, we stepped on a few toes. Yes, we stuck our necks out. Yes, we made some outrageous claims. Then, by god, we achieved everything we said we were going to and then some. We survived tragedy, derision, hostility, poverty and “business ethics”. We are still here. Not only that, but we have earned valuable friendships as well as the respect of our adversaries and critics. Most importantly, we have fans.

How have we accomplished this? Well, besides being the hard-headed assholes that we are, we have focused on something that works for us and stuck to it. We know we can’t be like other companies and churn out thousands of minis a month. We know we don’t have standing orders and thousands of fans who will; readily buy even our crappiest junk. We know we don’t have the budget to compete with the marketing and sales of our larger competitors. We know we can’t build Rome in a day. We also are keenly aware that we don’t have our own game or anything else to drive sales beyond our products in and of themselves. We don’t have a paint line; modeling glue; tinting powder; novel; fast food restaurant or movie license. What we do have is really cool shit.

We know all the things we don’t have, or can’t do. None of that matters. What is important is what we do have and what we can do. What we have is intelligence, knowledge, drive, creativity, originality and talent, not to mention support from key people in the gaming industry and a willingness to take calculated, personal risks for our company. What we can do is outwit our competitors by playing are cards correctly, shifting our paradigm and waging a gorilla campaign to get our name out and our product in the right hands. What we can do is out-design our competitors by continuing to create beautiful (or hideous) and original pieces that push the envelope of conventional, industry wisdom.

We start by recognizing new frontiers or forgotten gaps in the market to exploit. We plan our products to both fill these niches and exceed the expectations of our customers, while still meeting the stringent requirements of their hobby. It’s our job to conceive of things that inspire us, our contractors and our customers. This means that we will stretch and indeed break the boundaries of convention, conformity and even taste. This is risk and sometimes we will fail; but our successes will be greater and sweeter for it.

Then we carefully, hand-pick who we work with and cultivate their skills and talents. We use the oldest pros and the newest, most promising amateurs. We challenge ourselves and our contractors to go further and work beyond the limitations of the medium. We provide new solutions in raw materials, equipment and technology to enable them and then we give them the best ideas, designs and artwork we can conceive. We reject the mundane, or middle-of-the-road.

We disdain the “industry standard” and set our own parameters. We chose the right scale and be honest about the scale we use. We aren’t 25mm, 28mm, or “heroic 28mm”. We are 35mm because that is the best scale to capture detail and allow for maximum design, yet still be compatible with the majority of figures on the market. We also stay away from the big head and big hands and overall “bad comic book” look of much of what is out there. We choose to use the classic, Greek scale of eight heads high so our figures go from squat to statuesque and make striking figures when displayed. We declare that 1ft=5.83mm giving us an exact scale to design to and giving our products a cohesive realism in their perspective. Then, we hold ourselves to this, measuring every piece against our previous best. If our standards are not kept, we reject it and start over. Each figure we produce is a new level of design, unique to itself and bursting with character, or we simply do not produce it.

We support this with excellent web design, and a premeditated and fastidious approach to communication, planting the seeds within our customer base. We make strategic alliances with key players across related industries and we support them wholeheartedly, earning their support and friendship in return. We present ourselves honestly and conduct ourselves in a forthright manner. Yes, we are obnoxious and we are deadly serious about what we do, but we are also open, friendly, accepting and our own worst critic. We are tongue-in-cheek, cheeky, silly and, at time, outrageous, but we are not fickle, flighty or compromising. We love and support our customers and our industry, but we do not play politics or gossip games. We stand by our products and our people.

We are Magnificent Egos. We really are that magnificent!

See Valiant Enterprises

Privateer Press Inc, In December of 2000, a newly founded company combined an unprecedented level of professional talent with the goal to embrace creativity in the pursuit of designing quality gaming products. Pulling from a variety of disciplines within the hobby games industry, Privateer Press was born.

In January of 2001, Privateer Press introduced a new world and brand - The Iron Kingdoms - that continues to gain critical acclaim and industry awards. The total commitment to the Iron Kingdoms drives Privateer's dedication to create the highest quality gaming products possible.

After the release of several award-winning RPG releases, 2003 saw the release of WARMACHINE - a tabletop miniatures combat game which gained phenomenal popularity overnight. In the Spring of 2006 Privateer Press unleashed HORDES - the game of monstrous miniatures combat. The feral twin of WARMACHINE, this miniatures game provides players a taste of the wild side of the Iron Kingdoms while also being completely compatible with Privateer Press' original steam-powered miniatures combat game. Today, Privateer Press continues to provide a total immersion experience in the Iron Kingdoms through monthly new releases of WARMACHINE and HORDES miniatures, issues of No Quarter MagazineTM, new role-playing releases like Five Fingers:Port of Deceit, and both WARMACHINE and HORDES rules expansions. It's an exciting time to be in the Iron Kingdoms and to be a player of Privateer Press games.

The Figure Trader Industries have teamed up with Urban Mammoth to bring you urban war terrain, a beautifully crafted selection of models, kits and terrain pieces for the Urban war and VOID1.1 games. This terrain range is completely compatible with our existing ranges. see more about it here

Sabotage

This is our new simultaneous turn, sci-fi game. released 15th Jan 2005. a hybrid game that brings infiltration and special ops to life. You will find more information about sabotage at this dedicated page.

Fantasy Figures

DK Miniatures is our exciting range of 28-30mm fantasy figures. this set of white metal figures are cast to very high standards. The sculpts and poses are dynamic and full of life created by the very talented Mr Daniel Kelly. the range encompasses some well known creations from elves, halflings goblins and wizards... add to those the new designs like the dragon kin and what you have is a superb selection of beautiful miniatures, for the gamer, collector or painter, there is sure to be something to please everyone.

Resin terrain

Our resin terrain features are made from one of the best quality resins on the market. Our dedicated team of mould makers, sculptors and model makers are coming up with increasingly complex designs, models all cast to our exacting standards.

Sabotage defence grid is a system of defence walls, floor sections, weapons platforms etc. which, based on floor areas divisible by 5cm, are modular. They are designed to be placed next to each other in almost any combination, creating all manner of defence positions and industrial centres. There is also a selection of bunkers, static guns and other field positions, these are edged with gravel/mud effect texture so as to help them fit well with the more usual terrain. Though we call these field pieces they still form part of the defence grid range as we use them as the first line of defence in front of the larger complexes. though designed to be used with the sabotage game system they are widely used for many 28mm sci-fi games.

Level 2 Takes you to the next level of gaming experience! It is essentially a system of gantries and walk ways supported on pillars, which allows players to play from two levels, giving a high ground area to the defender. currently under development there will be a whole host of new models for this area in 2005