The Notables newspaper is a free, 24-page, loose sheaf newsletter - in a mock Georgian style, complete with eccentric spelling - from Scottish figure manufacturer Alternative Armies for fans of its expanding range of figures.The newspaper mainly concentrates on the company's two fantasy Napoleonic games: Flintloque, for skirmish-level combat, and Slaughterloo, for mass battles.
Alternative Armies' figures have long divided the gaming community - you either love 'em or... you don't. I do, and have boxes of them in my gamesroom's back cupboard to prove it.
While taking their historical inspiration from Bernard Cornwell's wonderful series of Sharpe novels, the Alternative Armies Slaughterloo/Flintloque range features no human characters.
Their large, stylised sculpts are all fantasy creatures (e.g. orcs for the British, elves for the French, dwarves for the central Europeans) or anthropomorphised animals (e.g. dogs, toads and, most recently, rabbits).
These are unique figures, unlike anything else on the market, and the Slaughterloo/Flintloque ranges seem to have been going strong for years, with no sign of letting up.
As the years go on, the game world - Valon - becomes more detailed and The Notables newspaper helps fluff this out with fiction and background information, as well as news of the latest releases, information on "members' only figures", scenarios etc.
Membership of The Notables Club is easy - and free - and just entails sending an email to: product@alternative-armies.com with your name, full postal address and email address (I don't know if they send free stuff outside the United Kingdom, so it might pay to check first to avoid disappointment).
Then to get your free newspaper, you just need to register your interest each time a new issue is due to be published - so the company don't waste time and money printing copies that people aren't going to read.
One of the many things I love about Alternative Armies, besides their general, overall friendliness, is the fact that they offer a painting service (just their own figures, naturally) for a very reasonable cost.
On the other hand, the only thing I can't always get my head around is that the whole Flintloque/Slaughterloo world is the groaning under an abundance of awful, cheesy puns, from the character and unit names to towns and countries. Some 'work' and some, in my opinion, don't!
But once you grasp the tone of the humour (or ignore it completely) the figures, while an acquired taste, will speak for themselves and always draw comment and interest from all who see them on your table.
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