Louise Sugden left Games Workshop and started Rogue Hobbies just four months ago, after many of her friends and colleagues had done the same. The exodus may have been in part due to the ‘OnlyHands’ system that Games Workshop forced on its video team. Maybe it was simply buoyed by the success of Duncan Rhodes, once the face of Warhammer’s YouTube presence and now successful independent videographer with his own range of paints to rival his employers’. There’s no denying that, over the past 18 months especially, Games Workshop has been leaking talent.
Sugden’s Patreon-backed channel was an immediate and resounding success. She currently has over 75,000 YouTube subscribers and 571 paying Patreon members, allowing her absolute freedom to make the videos that she wants to. Whether it’s painting guides, deep dives into the history of iconic Warhammer creatures, or just finding the weirdest miniatures she can (her love of Ostrichmen is contagious), Sugden’s subscribers lap it up.
Another key part of Sugden’s history is that she has taken on a variety of roles during her time at Games Workshop. From laying out books, to painting miniatures, to designing maps of the Old World and Caliban, to photography, she’s done it all. And that’s before you get to the videos that helped make her name. Now she’s using all that consummate experience to create her own range of miniatures, in the form of a trio of large-scale goblins.
Sugden announced Rogue Hobbies’ expansion into miniatures design with a fantastic video detailing every step of the journey. It starts with a sketch of a lovely lil’ guy, a goblin returning from a successful fishing trip, catch in hand. She sends this to a 3D sculptor, the only step of the process she doesn’t do herself, who uses his tech wizardry to turn the sketch into a 3D model.
From here, Sugden 3D prints her goblin, paints it up, and takes incredibly professional photos of it. She designs a box, writes some flavour text about the big fella and its world of Rascaltown, and sends a couple of beautiful models to her friends. If you wanted to get your hands on the lovely gobbo, tough luck. Hang on a minute…
Subscribers to the Lord tier of the Rogue Hobbies Patreon, which costs £30 a month, get access to STL files for all three goblins that Sugden created for her first miniatures run. This is a very reasonable price for the models, which would be far more expensive if bought pre-printed, although obviously comes with the caveats of needing a 3D printer and the time and expense of the printing itself. I’ve long said that Games Workshop should embrace 3D printing, but independent creators doing so is even better as you can support hard-working people to live their dreams.
Double however: the Fishing Goblin was briefly made available yesterday on the Rogue Hobbies store, as a limited run of 50. The stock ran out within an hour, despite the relatively high price point of £40, and Sugden has since promised another wave. The models ooze character, and are perfect as little desk ornaments that will be a pleasure to paint due to their oversized features.
Sugden has nailed her first run of miniatures, with the Knight Goblin being a personal favourite and Gnome Wizard filling out the roster of perfectly goofy dudes. Equal parts wholesome and gruesome, I’m excited to see more denizens of Rascaltown hit the Rogue Hobbies Patreon, and they’ll be first in the queue once I get my printer set up.