HOW IT STARTED
Tabletop Minions started as a tabletop wargaming club. The first meeting of the fledgling club was held at House of Heroes in the middle of Wisconsin on a snowy December night in 2009. The club never really caught on, and didn’t last even through the end of 2010.
Left to right: Atom, Zach, Lee, a guy whose name is lost to time, Jacob, and Tim
Around that same time, Atom (the founder of the club) started travelling to gaming conventions as the U.S. Correspondent for Beasts of War. He covered Gen Con and AdeptiCon for several years, interviewing game companies about new releases and such, and then decided to part ways in 2013 to start his own YouTube channel. Atom decided to use the name, logo, and YouTube account he’d already set up for his failed wargaming club, and Tabletop Minions was born.
HOW IT’S GOING
Heading into its twelfth year, the Tabletop Minions YouTube channel is at nearly a quarter of a million subscribers - and producing a video every Friday and a livestream with the Every Other Sunday show nearly every other Sunday (barring travel to conventions, usually). Check it out at www.youtube.com/tabletopminions
Starting in mid-2020 during the pandemic, Uncle Atom began livestreaming on Twitch twice a week (Monday nights and Friday mornings). He paints miniatures and talks with chat, answering questions and comments. You can follow him at www.twitch.tv/tabletopminions
Uncle Atom is part of The Army Painter Factory Team, a group of wargaming content creators sponsored by The Army Painter company of Denmark. Since they make his favorite paints, it was a no-brainer to join the team, and you can find him in the booth at many wargaming conventions across America.
Left to right: Factory Team members Phil the Glacial Geek, Uncle Atom, and Sam Lenz at TMX
In 2021, Uncle Atom partnered with another wargaming YouTube content creator and friend, Vince Venturella, to start making miniature-agnostic wargaming rulesets under the name Snarling Badger Studios, producing such titles as Reign in Hell, Space Station Zero, MAJESTIC 13, Deth Wizards, and more. You can find out more at www.snarlingbadger.com