Ansell was the co-founder of Asgard Miniatures in 1976, which was based in Nottingham. The miniatures they created at Asgard caught the attention of Games Workshop owners Sir Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson, who decided to partner with Ansell to set up Citadel Miniatures in 1978. There, he co-designed Warhammer Fantasy Battle in 1983 and eventually bought out Livingstone and Jackson to become the managing director of Games Workshop in 1985.
Ansell consolidated Games Workshop's operations to Newark and led the transformation that changed Games Workshop from an importer, retailer, and distributor of tabletop games to the most well known miniatures game publisher in the world. He was with Games Workshop till 1991, when he sold out to Tom Kirby, and he then went on to run Wargames Foundry, a company he had founded in 1983.
Games Workshop founder Sir Ian Livingstone (see "Sir Ian Livingstone") offered up the following thoughts about Ansell's passing via X:
"Very sad news Bryan Ansell passed away. Bryan, Steve Jackson and I set up Citadel Miniatures in 1978 as part of Games Workshop. He was a craftsman and dynamic entrepreneur who drove the growth of GW to the next level. Without Bryan, Warhammer would not have launched."
ICv2 CEO Milton Griepp also offered up memories of his meetings with Ansell:
“I met Ansell in the mid-80s, when he was running Games Workshop and trying to expand the company’s sales in the U.S. He came to visit us at Capital City Distribution in Madison, and convinced us to stock a wide range of Games Workshop miniatures going forward," wrote Griepp. "We shared an interest in cars, and I enjoyed showing him my brand new Lincoln Continental with all the latest electronics, and hearing about the other side of automobiles when he gave me a ride in his Aston Martin Lagonda during a visit to their headquarters in Nottingham, England. I was clueless, and asked him why the Lagonda was considered such a great car. ‘Because it’s a Lagonda,’ he explained.”
Ansell was 68 years old when he passed away. ICv2 extends our condolences to his family and friends.