What is spudWorks?
spudWorks Magazine is a hobby-based site built to be deliberately separate from the limits of social media. Sometimes things need to be said that are longer than a tweet. Sometimes we want to show a hundred photos about a collection of miniatures and don’t want to run into Facebook gallery limits or Instagram formats. Sometimes we want to have a conversation that isn’t available for everyone and your aunt and uncle to see because you were tagged in it. And sometimes we just want to own what is ours.
Social media has been great at making other people create content for them. spudWorks creates content for us.
If you’re looking for more, smart content about the miniatures hobby, board games, science-fiction, and new, fresh fiction, spudWorks is posting articles several times a week for you.
We do not track every article our readers follow, thin-slice them into marketable categories, and then try to push products you never asked for onto you. Strange companies didn’t buy your information from us. Your comments aren’t owned by a massive third-party commenting system. Your preferences are not tracked by a social media company. Conversations that happen here are focused on the content posted here, hopefully content our readers enjoy, and it stays here with other like-minded readers.
What is ‘the Hobby?’
People who participate in the hobby end up just calling it “the hobby” as if there are none other. But, in general, “the hobby” refers to the building and painting of miniatures to be used in games. That is by far the most simple definition because the hobby could also include all the stuff that happens around that. People travel to different countries to play one another in tournaments and game days. People spend hundreds of dollars on lots of different kits just to bash them all together to make one 12-figure team. People will definitely fight over who makes the best miniature paints and how best to paint things. But, then, we all bring our miniatures together and enact everything from a tiny gang tussle to an epic battle between armies.
By far, the 800-pound gorilla in the hobby is Games Workshop, best known for its Warhammer line of games. But there are dozens of smaller players and everyone who participates with those games and game pieces are all part of “the hobby”.
Arguably, the people who might not be considered as “one of us” are the more traditional model builders, building tanks and planes and cars that are almost always intended just for display. But we set no firm rules, one way or the other. It’s not our place and we’re honestly not interested in doing so. Everyone who glues plastic together and paints it is a friend of ours.
Use of AI
This site makes extensive usage of AI. We used it to create the theme on which this site runs, we use it to create comic versions of our gangs, and we use it to illustrate our fiction.
There are arguments to be made about the pros and cons of using AI. It is site policy that we find AI to be a net-positive in terms of creativity and efficiency. However, this is not a blanket opinion, there may be contributors who disagree. But the use of AI will be found throughout the site where it is believed to offer something unique that the site does not already have.
No posts will ever be written by AI, though when AI is used to help generate written content (like our privacy policy) it will be noted.
We don’t ask that all of our readers agree with this policy. But it also makes no sense to be dishonest about it. We hope our readers will stay and, in the meantime, prefer articles with illustrations.
Founding Editor
Our founder and editor is Colin Andrew Ferm, a California native who lived and breathed New York for twenty years before finding himself living in Hamburg, Germany, of all places, moderating the local Necromunda Discord. He brings the enthusiasm of a person who once played games, stepped away for a long time, and then found himself back in the middle of things.
Contribute
spudWorks is always looking for people who would like to contribute to the site. Specifically, we are looking for people who have new and interesting things to say about the hobby, tips and tricks for becoming better at it, or reviews of board games and books. If this is something you’re interested in, please drop us a line and we can discuss how you might join the team.
We also publish fiction! And we pay. We’re interested in space opera or twisty techno adventures. Bonus points if it is set in the Unified Republic of Stars storyworld though this is not a requirement. Unfortunately, we will probably only publish 2-4 unsolicited pieces per year. Send us your story as a PDF in standard manuscript format between 2,000-10,000 words long with a cover letter email explaining whether you see it as being serialized or not. We pay $0.10 per published word.
Stay in Contact
We have a small mailing list. Nothing big. Nothing that often. But it’s an easy way to stay in contact with spudWorks and what we’re posting here. Subscribers also get free access to a small section of extra resources. Bonus stuff like custom scenarios, custom campaigns, and character cards. Think of it as bonus content to what you’re already enjoying.
And when we add something new, you’ll be the first to know.
Signing up is easy!
We do not sell or share any email or contact information with third-parties besides MailerLite, our email list provider.