Mike Hutchinson Talks Hobgoblin, Chess 28, & the Rule of Carnage

Tabletop Miniature Hobby Podcast

It’s embarrassing to think that the Tabletop Miniature Hobby Podcast has hit 80+ episodes without having Mike Hutchinson on. That said, it was well worth the wait, and the timing was definitely right, with lots of cool new projects in the pipeline.

Mike’s hobby origin story, as well as his thoughts on Gaslands and A Billion Suns, have been well-covered elsewhere. For an excellent fix on that front, I’ll point you to two episodes of the Paint All The Minis podcast (here and here).

And, speaking of podcasts, Mike co-hosts a superb show of his own with game designer pal Glenn Ford. Rule of Carnage is essential listening (or viewing!) for anyone in this hobby. It’s a true masterclass on games design, and has led to the pair writing an academic textbook on the subject, too!

Mike’s rank-and-flank fantasy battle game Hobgoblin is the Box Office topic right now, and I took the opportunity to learn more about it before my inevitable purchase. He’s also been tinkering with Chess under the “Chess 28” banner and has created a new open-source ruleset called Flagstone.

Mike runs a Patreon to help support his income now that he’s gone full-time into game design. It’s brilliant news for our hobby that Mike’s brain can be put to work around the clock now, so be sure to help keep the jar topped up with fluid.