Among the Casters: A Qualitative Study of Work and Play in Nottingham's Lead Belt

This article is a qualitative study of work and play in the miniatures wargames industry. It was conducted over 5 weeks in Nottingham, UK and consists of 26 semi-structured interviews with freelance workers and employees of two studios, Mantic Games and Warlord Games. Interviews concentrate on worker motivation, encounters with history through games, and the role of gender in miniatures wargames. Key findings reveal that sector workers see their work as a more honest form of craft than that found at Games Workshop, publishers of the Warhammer series of games, and that sector workers engage in hybrid forms of work-play through their professions. Lastly, it locates what Paul Gilroy calls postcolonial melancholia in design practices.