Today we lost Aly Morrison, co-founder of Marauder Miniatures and a forty-plus year veteran of Games Workshop.
Aly Morrison, a titan of the miniature gaming community, one of the earliest sculptors responsible for the artistic style and direction of Games Workshop, has passed away. This morning Aly’s ex-wife and fellow GW sculpting alum, Trish Carden, confirmed that Aly passed “unexpectedly but peacefully.” Instantly condolences and remembrances poured in from hundreds of facebook users, surpassing 1,500 in around 3 hours, and including many prominent industry personalities, such as Darren Latham, Duncan Rhodes, Paul Bonner, Tuomas Pirinen, and many more. Friends, colleagues, acquaintances and scores of adoring fans remembered him as a wonderfully funny and chatty person, friendly, kind and also a loving father.
Morrison began sculpting in the late 70’s. His then-girlfriend, Trish, had been studying jewelry making but he inspired her to try her hand at sculpting miniatures. The two became freelance sculptors for Citadel Miniatures in 1983 and married in ’84. In 1988 Aly and Trish founded a sort of subsidiary to Citadel with the blessing of Managing Director Bryan Ansell, who was in the process of buying out Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson for control of the company. Aly and Trish’s Marauder Miniatures would be absorbed by Citadel in 1993, but in those five years the Morrisons and their small team would make some of the most iconic miniatures in all of Games Workshop’s history, some of which are still in production today.
In January of 2016, as Games Workshop celebrated its 40th birthday, a hobby blogger found Aly Morrison manning a booth at the company’s birthday bash, showing off his more than 70 page notebook of sketches from his days at Marauder Miniatures. Dark Elves, Dwarfs and Orcs, in some very recognizable poses can be seen, as well as some of Aly’s trademark humor. Games Workshop grew and so did their miniature ranges, and Aly continued to sculpt genre defining miniatures, such as some of the earliest Blood Bowl teams, 4th Edition Dark Elves, and 3rd Edition Chaos Space Marines. He also sculpted what may be the rarest and most sought after miniature in all of Games Workshop history, showcasing his trademark humor: the Wizard with a Sub-Machine Gun. Aly stayed with the GW design studio until health issues convinced him to retire in May of this year; a truly legendary run.
Aly Morrison was an avid miniature wargaming enthusiast to the very end. The final blog post on his personal blog Aly’s Toy Soldiers, is dated October 21st. It mentions his ongoing struggle with fibromyalgia before describing his attendance at the Partizan gaming convention. Aly was a regular fixture at the enormous games hosted by the Perry twins that feature several other legends of the industry. In the picture below from January of this year, Aly is front and center, along with Alan and Michael Perry, Rick Priestley, Jervis Johnson, John Stallard, Steve May, Aly Morrison, Dave Andrews, and Nick Eyre.
The wargaming community has lost one of its foundational members. He will be truly missed.
