About

About The Shell Case

Important update

That quote from Jean-Luc Picard is once again ringing in my ears. What was intended as a fresh perspective on wargaming and an honest voice amongst content creators sucking up to companies to get free stuff, hasn’t garnered the interest or the support that I hoped it would.

The wargaming landscape, and the community therein, are very different to the one I had to walk away from in 2016. This has been compounded by circumstance preventing me from producing videos for a year. So, any momentum I had, which was minimal at best, has been lost.

I tried something, it didn’t work and that’s okay. It was fun making them and I learned a lot. Not least the videos I thought would spark discussion didn’t, and videos I thought would be fun provoked bilious backlash from people taking the hobby far too seriously. That tells me that I fundamentally don’t understand my audience and when that happens, it’s best to bow out.

The end result is this: I’ve had a rethink about what I want to add to the wargaming community and content creation isn’t it. I don’t have the relationships required to be relevant and I can’t run a YouTube channel on musings. Especially as I’m dead against rumour peddling, which is bread and butter for a lot of channels.

Moreover, work and family commitments mean I don’t have the capacity to produce the level of content required for platforms like YouTube to notice me. Something that won’t change for quite a while. So, if you read on, note that the fourth word in the first sentence below once said is, it now firmly says was and I close that chapter of my wargaming journey for good.

I’m working on some new ideas. It’s all too early to talk about it and it’s going to take a while to get to that point but it’s exciting to be working on something new and entirely mine, rather than commenting on the work of others. This will likely mean The Shell Case will cease to exist but that’s okay. At its peak it was a wild ride with some unforgettable moments and I’ve made some incredible friends along the way. While this iteration was a lot less successful, glamorous and trailblazing, it was a wonderful opportunity to learn. And I even managed to meet some cool new people along the way too.

Thanks to everyone for all their support over this iteration and the last, it’s meant a lot.

Phil

About The Shell Case

The Shell Case was an independent Wargaming site dedicated to sharing news, reviews and other hobby insights with the community.

The Shell Case originally began in July 2011 and ran until late 2016. Life happened, stuff got a little too real and something had to give. Unfortunately, that something was The Shell Case.

It was heartbreaking but as Jean Luc Picard will one day say:

“It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness, that is life.”

Despite it’s demise, during that time I wrote well over a thousand posts include over 330 product reviews. It was an immensely fun and exciting time.

Now The Shell Case is back, on a new domain and platform. All the old content is gone as none of it was relevant any more. A fresh start means a fresh start.

This website will be focused on news, hobby insights, reviews and musings. There will not be rumour posts. They’re not helpful and only serve in polarising the community and, when reality sets in someone gets disappointed.

A bit about the Author

I’m Phil. I’ve been in the wargaming hobby for well over 30 years and I’ve played more or less every game system Games Workshop have produced, apart from some of their more recent boxed games.

I am an outrageous hobby butterfly so rarely finish an army before starting a new one. I’ve only ever completed three armies in all my years. My 5th company Ultramarines, my House Terryn Imperial Knights and my Aeldari Yme Loc Wraith army. Whereas I have Thousand Sons, Adeptus Custodes, Deathwatch Space Marines and Silver Templars Space Marines on the go for 40k. Although I’m probably going to turn the Silver Templars into Iron Snakes. It’s a long story.

I’ve also got Stormcast Eternals and the new Seraphon on the go for Age of Sigmar, along with a smattering of other stuff like Blood Bowl and Warhammer Quest Cursed City.

My all-time favourite game is Battlefleet Gothic. I have a massive (and unfinished) Imperial fleet but alas, no one to play against.

During my time running The Shell Case, I had the pleasure of playing dozens of other game systems ranging from obscure indy games to mainstream titles like Heavy Gear, Bolt Action, Firestorm Armada and Dystopian Wars.

I’ve also been fortunate enough to interview some of Black Library’s leading authors including Dan Abnett, Gav Thorpe and James Swallow.

I’ve been in the hobby long enough that complex kits don’t phase me but learning new painting techniques make my head hurt. But I love it and a day without some form of hobby in it is no good at all.

#warmongers

The #warmongers is a growing wargaming community found on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram. Not many know this but I started that hashtag…by complete accident. I was new to Twitter and I saw people using various hashtags but whether I misread a hashtag or autocorrect (or fate) intervened, I don’t know. But lI started using the hashtag on all my tweets.

At the time I was prolific on Twitter and actively engaged with hundreds of awesome wargamers from all around the world, helping them with hobby or lore questions or just sharing our hobby stories. Regardless, the hashtag caught on. 10+ years later and it’s a hashtag used by thousands of people all over the world.

It’s awesome to think so many people are able to engage with each other because of a hashtag. Cooler still that Games Workshop uses it in their comms now. There was a time when you could buy #warmongers t-shirts. Fun times…

What do you mean by Independent?

Simply put, this website isn’t in anyone’s pocket. There are no affiliations to any manufacturer or any agreement restricting what can and can’t be said. Although the content will be predominantly focused on Games Workshop’s Warhammer game systems, the site is wargaming agnostic. I’m happy to discuss anything and all things to do with this incredible hobby.

Moreover, any reviews posted will be honest. I will not produce a glowing review of a model or game either to curry favour or because it was supplied to me. That is a promise.

But I can also promise my reviews will be balanced and fair. I firmly believe that nothing is without merit and it’s my job to find the good in every game and model handed to me and share that insight with you.

If you’re interested in contributing to The Shell Case, please get in touch.