Bryan Ansell

Bryan Charles Ansell (11 October 1955 – 30 December 2023) was a British role-playing and wargame designer. In 1985, he became managing director of Games Workshop, and eventually bought the company from Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. Ansell moved Games Workshop from London to Nottingham and refocused the company from role-playing games to Warhammer wargame and miniature products, which became very popular. In 1976, Ansell, along with Steven Fitzwater and Paul Sulley, founded Asgard Miniatures in Nottingham. Originally the company was managed by Sulley, while Ansell and Nick Bibby created the sculpts, Garry Parsons created the moulds, and Jamie Sims cast the miniatures. During this time, Ansell also published the APA/zine Trollcrusher.

Citadel Miniatures and Games Workshop In late 1978, Ansell left Asgard and partnered with Games Workshop to found the company Citadel Miniatures, which would produce and manufacture 25mm historical and fantasy miniatures for games published by Games Workshop.

Ansell bought out a majority of Ian Livingstone's and Steve Jackson's shares of the company between 1987 and 1989, refocusing Games Workshop on its most lucrative lines – the Warhammer Fantasy Battle (WFB) and Warhammer 40,000 (WH40k) miniature wargames. The company expanded rapidly and in 1991, Ansell sold his shares to Tom Kirby in a management buyout.

Foundry Wargames Foundry (originally Bryan Ansell Miniatures Limited) was founded in 1983 as a retirement job for Bryan Ansell's father, Clifford Ansell, who had careers as a mining engineer specialising in dust suppression, in the Royal Navy and as a maths teacher. Wargames Foundry was "up and running very quickly", originally selling ranges of historical miniatures that had been discontinued by Citadel.

After selling his shares in Games Workshop, Bryan moved to Guernsey and founded Guernsey Foundry in 1991 to produce large ranges of Old West, Seven Years' War and Darkest Africa figures.

Around 2000, Bryan Ansell moved to Newark, merged Wargames Foundry and Guernsey Foundry into Foundry Miniatures Limited, and took over the running of the company to produce the largest range of historical and fantasy miniatures in the world until he retired in 2005.

The "Lead Belt" Ansell's decision to relocate Games Workshop to Nottingham in the 1980s led the area to become the centre of the British wargames industry, known as the Lead Belt.

Death Ansell died on 30 December 2023, at the age of 68.

Contributions Laserburn (1980) Sci-fi tabletop rules Imperial Commander (1981) expanded rules and background material for Laserburn, an influence on Warhammer 40,000 Warhammer Fantasy Battle (1983) Author Forces of Fantasy for Warhammer Fantasy Battle (1983) Statue of the Sorcerer, The (Call of Cthulhu) (1986) Chaosium Vanishing Conjurer, The (Call of Cthulhu) (1986) Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (1986) Games Workshop Additional Material Green and Pleasant Land supplement to Call of Cthulhu for adventuring in Britain (1987) published by Games Workshop Managing Director Titan Legions (1994) Street Violence (2003) Rules With No Name Bryan Ansell, Editor Keith Pinfold, Foundry Books, 2009, Foundry Miniatures Painting & Modeling Guide, Kevin Dallimore, Bryan Ansell, Foundry Books, 2006,