The Designer’s Studio With Andy Chambers
October 22, 2015 by warzan
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Not sure if Andy is looking at this but is the photographer you mentioned called Phil?
The welcome return of one of my favourite shows. Lots of interesting design discussion, all of which is still relevant today, and lots of interesting industry discussion. Three thumbs up!
Erm, not sure how to say this, but one of them might not be a thumb ;D
Really interesting discussion. The thing that always gets me is how many people “back in the day” almost wandered into the industry. Now, people are fighting left right and centre to get their foot in the door.
If I try to imagine an office, where Jervis Johnson and Rick Priestley are in offices next to each other while Andy is making them tea, just brings up a feeling of ultimate pioneerism. I followed the works of these and some other really great guys (hi Alessio :D) since my childhood and they have always been so inspiring for me, nerd-wise.
When I try to imagine a company managing to get all these guys together to create a game and then have some minis designed by the Perrys, wow what a game/fluff/experience that would be. But wait… GW had all of these?… and let them go (mostof em)?… WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? (No that wasn’t news for me, but thinking about it quite hit me).
It’s no secret I’m no fan of 40k anymore. But I just recently played my first game of 40k second edition in over 15 years. And it was a blast. So yeah, they definitely did something right then and 2nd Ed is far from being the torture as it is displayed sometimes or some even remember it. We are just planning a huge battle in 40k 2nd Ed around christmas. So it really is nice to hear all of this stuff.
Great interview, thanks for that!
I loved second edition 40K. Games could run on, but the depth and character of the system was amazing (and is the primary reason Necromunda is still occasionally played today). Then they released the blandness that was 3rd Edition and my love affair with the IP was over.
An old housemate (and GW employee) once told me how GW wanted a dumbed down system for 3rd Edition that could be demoed quickly in shops but Andy Chambers had written a more detailed ruleset. GW weren’t happy, Andy went on holiday and GW pushed ahead with 3rd Edition in his absence. Andy left GW and the rules he wrote got published as the Starship Troopers Miniatures Game by Mongoose Publishing.
Obviously this tale is second-hand and I can’t confirm any details myself, but it definitely has the ring of truth about it given what we know of present-day GW!
I will have to watch the video properly when I finish work!
I have been told by ‘sources who were there at the time’ that there was a last minunte re-write of third, but I don’t know the context (or had it confirmed by another source).
Yeah I’ve heard similar rumors. But acctually I didn’t hate 3rd edition. It was a step in a new direction and was aimed at fast play for larger armies, but still had some hickups. Imho 40k was at its peak with 4th edition. It was a very finished system and with all the codices from 3rd and 4th quite balanced. After that it got really ugly really fast :C
If I remember correctly from A Rick Priestly interview, 6 months before printing the accounting demanded the game to need twice as many figures out of time Rick used his home-brew 15mm WW2 rules to make 3rd edition.
Wow, this was an interesting watch! Thanks BoW guys for giving us access to the wisdom and experience of these industry veterans. 🙂
A brilliant programme, I couldnt agree with him more about the merge with digital.
Totally. I think some exec found a copy of Atmosfear at a car boot sale and went “Holy smokes, this is the future!”
Great bloke, met him at the first Warlords open day and previous to that before we opened the shop. Exceptionally all round good bloke no edge and very free to give his time.
I remember Andy’s first white dwarf article with fondness, at the time my friends and I made some 28mm scale knights out of cereal packets, straws and anything else we could find and then wrote rules for use in 40k. Sounds like I should have sent them to GW 🙂 .
I have listened to a few interviews with Andy and he always has interesting tales to tell and observations on where things are going. Excellent stuff.
Great to hear from Andy Chambers himself. I’ve been a fan of his work since the early 90’s and am pleased to hear he’s working with Hawk on Dropfleet.
I think he did a fantastic job with Starship Troopers, which continues to be my favourite Sci-Fi Battle game to date!
Great interview
That was Fan Freaking Tastic, Loved this one guys. Great job. Learned a lot. Very enlightening. Can’t wait for the next one. 🙂 I have to admit though that while Andy was talking I kept envisioning mutton chops and long hair.
I’m always a big fan of any opportunity to hear about what goes on behind the scenes in the gaming industry, but this was far-and-away my favourite interview.
While the current edition of 40k (and GW) tends to divide opinion, I think most of us look back at 2nd edition and the GW specialist games very fondly. Either as our entry points into the hobby or simply the editions of those games we enjoyed most. So it’s a genuine pleasure to hear from someone intrinsically involved in everything that was going on in that era.
The idea that a year’s worth of playtesting went into games that weren’t even flagship titles is incredible and goes a long way in explaining why those game systems played so smoothly and enjoyably.
Only last month I ordered myself the three books that came in the 2nd edition 40k box set (My own copies having been lost while moving house). I grabbed them for pure nostalgic reasons but now I have a real buzz to dig them out and try play a few games. I’m pretty sure I still have the old Necromunda rules floating around somewhere too.
I really enjoy these designer interviews. I’ve gone back and re-watched quite a few of them more than once.
Really wonderful interview… some of my favorite videos on the site (although I do tend to like all of them 🙂 )
Best interview ever. Well prepared.
Like wow… nothing to add.
Excellent interview, lots of interesting things to ponder. I live the feeling I’ve got from this one and the show with Rick Priestley that early days at GW they were very much throwing things together, and we’re a group of guys who mostly fell into their roles accidentally but loved what they were doing.
I’m with him on the tabletop & digital crossover. You can see from the reaction that FFG got when they said they X-COM game would have a companion app that he’s not the inky one that doesn’t really want that crossover 🙂
well that was brilliant nothing better than getting to see behind the wizards curtain to glimpse at how the magic comes to life thanks for the video guys. good luck & good games designing Andy with your future projects.
So interesting to hear what was going through their minds back in the days. For sure, their decisions and writings have been huge parts of our lives.
That was a really interesting Interview Andy Chambers is a designer I have relay polarizing opinion especially when I just see his work, having listened to him for the first time its shocking (in a good way) how many ideas and concepts we have in common.
I for once grew some respect for the man and reviewed some design decisions of the past era under a new perspective.
I really like the pragmatism and reality he expresses for the current state and the near future, really refreshing to hear somebody with his feet firmly on the ground and his eyes set to the future.
amazing show – great come back of designers studio, hope top see it more often.
Videos like this are why BoW is the best tabletop wargaming site IMO.
I just signed up for backstage just to see this interview. Been holding off doing it for a long time despite being a big fan of BoW. Though I was hoping for some Dropfleet news this interview was awesome and totally worth signing up for backstage. Thanks BoW guys!
Very interesting. My go to is still 2nd edition with aspects of Necromunda to add some rpg factors. Love his work.
I could listen to Andy talk for another couple of hours!
Great interview, really reminded me of some of the good old days – how much fun was Bloodbowl?!
I’ve never been as big a fan of Bloodbowl as others. Mainly due to the turnover rules. As someone cursed by the Dice Gods, constantly having to pass play to your opponent was not as much fun as people make out!
One of several reasons why I am not a fan of the game.
That was gold. Thankyou Beasts of War and @warzan. Things like this is what makes it worth being a backstager when you live on the other side of the planet … keep up the great work !!!
Great interview, thanks for that! Also I noticed how you taunted us with those dropfleet commander models, but failed to mention them. Very tricksy!
Andy and Dave will have filmed some Dropfleet-specific content while they were over. The Designer’s Studio videos aren’t about games, but about the designer.
It was Andy’s GW era when I first began this grand adventure (2nd Ed 40k). Great the hear about those heydays from his perspective – wish GW would go back the them, but they’re long gone unfortunately
Same for me. It’s pretty much Andy Chambers’ fault I got into minature wargaming to begin with. I don’t play GW games any more but the truth is that once you’ve tasted the sweet nectar of mini wargaming you never leave that hobby.
First up, thank you. This was a great interview with Andy Chambers. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Andy’s thoughts on his time in the gaming industry: past, present, and what the future may hold. Warren, you were the perfect interviewer and prompted Andy only when required while letting him speak uninterrupted, a skill many interviewers lack. It was evident the respect you had for one of the great figures (ha-ha!) in tabletop game design.
One of the most enjoyable backstage clips I have watched and brought back many fond recollections of my introduction to the wargaming world. The first picture I saw of Andy – his wild hair, ‘mutton chops’, and crazed visage – will always be one of my most endearing memories of Games Workshop and that once incredibly fun game Warhammer 40,000. I miss those days dearly. Great to see a ‘hero’ of my younger years still just as amazing and inspirational as ever.
Very interesting interview.
Fantastic video. Really interesting to hear tales from the early days in the industry from him. Agree that it was a well planned interview Warzan, spot on. Liked it so much I am gona go find the other videos in this series. Keep these coming, fascinating stuff. 🙂
Excellent – really enjoyed that.
Andy Chamber has been one of my favourite designers ever since I started playing Starship Troopers – and was old enough to start paying attention to who had written the rules. I then realised that, as a ‘youth’ I’d been playing GW games he’d designed in years gone by.
Then, lo-and-behold, he contributed to Dust Warfare – another game that I was really into for a few years.
I doff my cap to you, sir. An esteemed career so far, with more to come I am sure. I look forward to pledging on DropFleet Commander.
Very good interview, very inspiring in a game designers perspective ^^ It also nails my thoughts about GW.
This was amazing..Thank you.
BoW, you continue to deliver awesome backstage content. This was a brilliant interview, real top-drawer stuff. Thank you.
I loved hearing him blame the army list for players who take “cheese lists”. Players will take what works, if the game is broken and lets them spam rock-lobbers, that’s the fault of the design team. It’s amazing how rare this is said, and how many people on the competitive scene blame “beardy” gamers, when it’s not really their fault.
I also loved him poo-poo the crossover of gaming and digital (phone apps, etc). I’m 100% with him on this.
Cracking bit of video, really engaging. One of the many reasons I subscribe. Cheers.
It is their fault though. If they don’t look at their list and think “Oh, this is horrible and other players won’t enjoy playing against it” then its the cheesy players flaw, not the designers. The designer shouldn’t have allowed those combinations to exist, but the player shouldn’t feel its acceptable to use them, either.
Such an interesting interview. But @warzan, you didn’t ask the most important question of all: where did Andy’s mohawk and amazing moustache go? Where I asks ye! 😀
Great interview. Could listen to Andy talks games for hours.
Regarding GW and how it shifted, as I understood it from the interview, from being a sort of dynamic place where people could fill several different functions and where focus was totally on the games into a place where administrative demands replaced the fun and, possibly, creativity. Isn’t that the curse of all enterprises when they start small but grow large? When you expand you get new concerns and communication just won’t be the same when the amount of employees greatly increases. What I’d really like to know is could GW have kept that initial creativity and dynamism as it kept growing?
Great to see the great Horned rat still going strong, even without the beard these days. This guy (and Rick Priestly) were such an influence on me back in the day. 40k 2nd ed, still the best version ever, necromunda, joined best specialist game with Mordhiem and Bloodbowl. Would loved to have heard his take on the current GW situation (AOS, Death of WHFB). Great show guys, keep em coming
Great watch! One of the most influential people in my hobby life, which IS my life…
His modelling style was very liberating to me and I still remember the hand drawn two-page spread in WD of all the conversion possibilities for Chaos Marines. Toothpicks and tinfoil! Excellent.
Awesome interview into the mind of a designer.
Nice interview with Andy.
As a video game designer (well, at least 3D graphic designer xD) and wargamer, I find this interview exquisite, pretty great indeed learning about the inside work of the industry with a giant of the industry as Mr Chambers.
A shame the Dropfleet minis were just for teasing ;P
Thanks for that interview gentlemen. Makes me want to just get stuck in myself and become a well known bloke.