Former Okehampton resident, Joseph Piddington, has made history with the first feature-length documentary on the wargaming industry which will be available in the UK from December 2021.

The director, writer and producer who is a former Okehampton College pupil, was approached by a friend who suggested he look into the wargaming community. It was already an area of interest to Joe, who had played wargames in the past, and so he decided to take up his friend’s suggestion.

Joe said: ‘The movie was an organic development of identifying a niche market addressing my hobby and passion. I was interested to learn more and follow the diverse range of subject who were involved in the miniature wargaming industry in a variety of ways.’

What followed was a hugely successful documentary Miniature Wargaming the Movie which has been nominated for and received multiple awards including Best Feature Documentary at the International Filmmaker Festival of World Cinema, Best Documentary Film at the Gencon Film Festival. Best Director of a Documentary at the South Europe IFF and Best Gaming Film at Origins Film Festival.

Now both Amazon Prime and Sky have snapped up the rights to show the film which will be available to view on the platforms in December.

Joe said: ‘It was amazing. They just came up to me and asked.’

The film was originally due to be released in 2020 but was delayed due to covid. However, it is already available to view in the US where it has received many positive reviews.

Alongside interviews with Sir Peter Jackson, director of the Lord of the Rings movies and Rick Priestley, creator of the popular miniature wargame Warhammer, the film includes numerous shots of Okehampton, including Specsavers, where one of the featured gamers worked.

Joe hopes that his documentary will help to break the stereoptype of gamers as ‘geeks.’

He said:’People I knew involved in the industry never matched the stereotype that is commonly attached to it, providing me that impetus and motivation I needed to address it.

‘But the focus of this production was to highlight the battles that the smaller companies face’ since, he said, ‘they make up the majority of the wargaming industry.’

Following the success of this documentary, Joe is now on the hunt for his next film. Though nothing has piqued his interest yet, he hopes it will not be long before he is back in the director’s chair.

Miniatures wargames are strategy based games that mimic real life warfare rather than abstract battles in games such as chess.

Players take the role of general and use miniature models to represent military units. This realism makes this form of gaming particularly popular.

The wargames often simulate historical or fantasy battles and can be played recreationally or for military training in order to prepare officers for war.