The new Tau codex and release has excited many gamers, including my brother. He went down to his local game store to buy new models and prepare for an escalation league. Only to discover that they will not be getting the models that were ordered.
I took to the web and discovered that this is worse than average.
http://natfka.blogspot.co.at/2013/04/tau-release-due-to-extreme-demand-out.html
In other game stores we find them out of stock.
http://pinsofwar.com/tau-delayed/
Or Delayed.
However at the Local Game store we frequent we find that the order is flat out diverted. The store owner was given his delivery date and information, however he then received what could have only been a bad April Fool's joke except it was really happening.
The Tau models that were on their way to his store that he had paid for were being diverted. Games Workshop had called the driver and had them reroute from his store to the nearest Games Workshop as they needed more and were sold out.
This isn't a case of "we just didn't have enough for you" it's a full on case of "You don't matter".
Games Workshop by all appearances has been trying to factor out Independent Retailers and force all business to their own stores.
Added to this is their new business model of making certain items available only through their own online outlet and forbidding retailer sales online, what you wind up with is a company that clearly cares little about their own fanbase.
I still own several GW armies that I purchased down the years in 40K and Fantasy, as well as several Battle Fleet Gothic fleets. I continued purchasing models up until the well known Spots the Space Marine lawsuit.
For those who don't know, Spots the Space Marine was a novel written by M.C.A. Hogarth. The novel contained the words Space Marine, a term in use for almost a century now. As a result GW claimed that it owned the copyright to Space Marine on everything including E-books, when it in fact did not, and got Amazon to take it down. Games Workshop got shut down hard and showed they have no knowledge of the community or the Streisand effect.
There is also the Chapter House lawsuit underway at this time. This is probably a factor in why the release has been rushed ahead. GW has now realized that they can't keep their audience waiting for over three years for models such as the Doom of Malan'tai and Terigon. The lawsuit revealed that if GW isn't going to make a model for a unit then other companies will go ahead and provide what the customers want.
Friday, April 19, 2013
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Kickstarters week 4/13/2013
There are several terrain related kickstarters going on right now.
Venture: Starship Deckplans: Ends in 14 days, at 311% of $1,000 goal.
Setting: Sci-Fi, Spaceships
Scale:1" grid
Stretch Goals: Yes
Construction: None
Material: Poster/paper
Visual Detail: 2D printed Image
What you get: Digital images and story, a flat map to use for gaming inside a starship, a model of the starship, and access to their website/webzine.
Dungeons of The Mountain King: Ends in 15 days, at 2947% of $500 goal.
Setting: Fantasy, Dwarves
Scale: 28mm
Stretch Goals: Yes
Construction: Holes and Pegs, glue
Material: paper or card stock
Visual Detail: Image quality but flat
What you get: A downloadable pdf file that you then print out and make your terrain with. You can print as many copies as you want and just pay for each new file. You then card stock together based on plans and can make rooms with it.
Dwarven Forge's Game Tiles: Revolutionary Miniature Terrain: Ends in 17 days, at 1297% of $50,000 goal.
Setting: Generic Fantasy, Dungeon
Scale: 25mm
Stretch Goals: Yes
Construction: Lay side by side
Material: "Dwarvenite" A high impact high detail resin.
Visual Detail: unpainted/painted, 3D, high detail
What you get: Modular construction sets to allow one to build rooms/dungeons in great detail. The pieces are 1" x 1" and very detailed. For a more detailed review please see this review of Dwarven Forge.
I am choosing to support this at the $380 five painted set level
Underground Lasers 28mm modular terrain: Ends in 19 days, at 58% of $8,000 goal.
Setting: Sci-fi but possible to use with fantasy
Scale: 28mm
Stretch Goals: Yes
Construction: Hole and peg/tab interlocking.
Material: Wood
Visual Detail: 3D, engraving
What you get: The pieces are textured wood that have been put through a laser engraver. A base board with holes in it provides the base and then wood walls and floors are added to make a multi-level structure.
East Asian Village for Gamers: Ends in 19 days, at 427% of $8,000 goal.
Setting: Fantasy, Generic Asian
Scale: 28mm
Stretch Goals:Yes
Construction: Hole and peg/tab interlocking
Material:Painted Wood
Visual Detail:Colour, 3D
What you get: Anywhere from a small cart all the way to an 18" tall seven story pagoda to an entire village. This array of buildings can be constructed and taken apart and provides a perfect setting for any Asian adventures such as LOTFR. The pieces are made of wood and come hand painted and ready to assemble and use.
I am choosing to support this at the $150 village level and eagerly await their success.
Tablescapes- by Secret Weapon Miniatures: Ends in 29 days, at 86% of $80,000
Setting: Generic Sci-fi
Scale: 28mm
Stretch Goals: Yes
Construction: Clips
Material:Injection Molded Plastic
Visual Detail:unpainted, 3D, high detail
What you get: A large gaming area. Each tile is 12"x12" and detailed to provide a battle surface for miniatures to fight on. It allows gamers to have a ready to go battle surface that provides detail and scenery.
Venture: Starship Deckplans: Ends in 14 days, at 311% of $1,000 goal.
Setting: Sci-Fi, Spaceships
Scale:1" grid
Stretch Goals: Yes
Construction: None
Material: Poster/paper
Visual Detail: 2D printed Image
What you get: Digital images and story, a flat map to use for gaming inside a starship, a model of the starship, and access to their website/webzine.
Dungeons of The Mountain King: Ends in 15 days, at 2947% of $500 goal.
Setting: Fantasy, Dwarves
Scale: 28mm
Stretch Goals: Yes
Construction: Holes and Pegs, glue
Material: paper or card stock
Visual Detail: Image quality but flat
What you get: A downloadable pdf file that you then print out and make your terrain with. You can print as many copies as you want and just pay for each new file. You then card stock together based on plans and can make rooms with it.
Dwarven Forge's Game Tiles: Revolutionary Miniature Terrain: Ends in 17 days, at 1297% of $50,000 goal.
Setting: Generic Fantasy, Dungeon
Scale: 25mm
Stretch Goals: Yes
Construction: Lay side by side
Material: "Dwarvenite" A high impact high detail resin.
Visual Detail: unpainted/painted, 3D, high detail
What you get: Modular construction sets to allow one to build rooms/dungeons in great detail. The pieces are 1" x 1" and very detailed. For a more detailed review please see this review of Dwarven Forge.
I am choosing to support this at the $380 five painted set level
Underground Lasers 28mm modular terrain: Ends in 19 days, at 58% of $8,000 goal.
Setting: Sci-fi but possible to use with fantasy
Scale: 28mm
Stretch Goals: Yes
Construction: Hole and peg/tab interlocking.
Material: Wood
Visual Detail: 3D, engraving
What you get: The pieces are textured wood that have been put through a laser engraver. A base board with holes in it provides the base and then wood walls and floors are added to make a multi-level structure.
East Asian Village for Gamers: Ends in 19 days, at 427% of $8,000 goal.
Setting: Fantasy, Generic Asian
Scale: 28mm
Stretch Goals:Yes
Construction: Hole and peg/tab interlocking
Material:Painted Wood
Visual Detail:Colour, 3D
What you get: Anywhere from a small cart all the way to an 18" tall seven story pagoda to an entire village. This array of buildings can be constructed and taken apart and provides a perfect setting for any Asian adventures such as LOTFR. The pieces are made of wood and come hand painted and ready to assemble and use.
I am choosing to support this at the $150 village level and eagerly await their success.
Tablescapes- by Secret Weapon Miniatures: Ends in 29 days, at 86% of $80,000
Setting: Generic Sci-fi
Scale: 28mm
Stretch Goals: Yes
Construction: Clips
Material:Injection Molded Plastic
Visual Detail:unpainted, 3D, high detail
What you get: A large gaming area. Each tile is 12"x12" and detailed to provide a battle surface for miniatures to fight on. It allows gamers to have a ready to go battle surface that provides detail and scenery.
Friday, April 12, 2013
Kickstarter Review Policy
Right now there are a dozen kickstarter campaigns going on that are related to scenery and many more that were around from before we started. Our inaugural post was for the Dwarven Forge Kickstart that is already massively successful.
I want to help everyone who is looking to kickstart or crowd fund their terrain. If you are going to launch or have already launched a kickstarter, indiegogo, or other form of funding for your gaming terrain please send me an email at modularfortress@gmail.com
I will maintain a list and section dedicated to these projects so that both the creator and those who do not wish to slug through the rather primitive kickstarter browse tool.
If I like your kickstart a lot I will even write a blog post about what you are doing and any other information that seems relevant.
I want to help everyone who is looking to kickstart or crowd fund their terrain. If you are going to launch or have already launched a kickstarter, indiegogo, or other form of funding for your gaming terrain please send me an email at modularfortress@gmail.com
I will maintain a list and section dedicated to these projects so that both the creator and those who do not wish to slug through the rather primitive kickstarter browse tool.
If I like your kickstart a lot I will even write a blog post about what you are doing and any other information that seems relevant.
Kickstarter: Dwarven Forge
Many gamers are very familiar with Dwarven Forge, it is a terrain company started by Stefan Pokorny seventeen years ago, originally known as Master Maze back when I bought my first set. Stefan is an artist/sculptor who is also a gamer(or the reverse).
This makes for the perfect initial substance post as DF is a massive name in the terrain area, right up there with Hirst arts.
The resin(called polystone) tiles they produce are all interchangeable(for a given value of interchangeable) and come in great variety.
The first sets produced were their dungeon sets.
Originally limited to square rooms and straight corridors they have expanded to include angles, curved corridors, narrow passageways, traps, and a great variety followed.
Their second line is the Caverns set.
This set added not just rooms but wide and narrow natural passages and vistas for people to have their models in remote unexplored areas. A river set was added to it that allowed water flows through the dungeon.
Their third line is a quartet of future sets.
The Starter set lets you set up rooms.
The Passage set adds corridors.
The Alpha Expansion adds detailed flooring with removable components
The Gamma Expansion adds chairs and items.
The Final Set they produce is a medieval building set that allows for construction of inns and other interiors for buildings.
This is the set that I want to acquire next for my collection. Unfortunately it is out of stock right now, but when it becomes available I will be adding a couple to my collection.
In this regards I encourage our readers to support the Dwarven Forge Kickstarter for their Dungeon Tiles.
While any of the regular sets will cost upwards of $100 per set the Dungeon tiles are made from Dwarvenite which is much more resilient than Polystone and has lowered the cost of the set. They also come in painted and unpainted so those collectors can expand their dungeons with their own paint scheme.
They are starting out with just the original master maze dungeon sets, but the Kickstarter has already grown to over $600,000 of their initial $500 goal.
It now includes curved walls, angles, and other stretch goals that are unlocked as more money pours in.
This makes for the perfect initial substance post as DF is a massive name in the terrain area, right up there with Hirst arts.
The resin(called polystone) tiles they produce are all interchangeable(for a given value of interchangeable) and come in great variety.
The first sets produced were their dungeon sets.
Originally limited to square rooms and straight corridors they have expanded to include angles, curved corridors, narrow passageways, traps, and a great variety followed.
Their second line is the Caverns set.
Their third line is a quartet of future sets.
The Starter set lets you set up rooms.
The Passage set adds corridors.
The Alpha Expansion adds detailed flooring with removable components
The Gamma Expansion adds chairs and items.
The Final Set they produce is a medieval building set that allows for construction of inns and other interiors for buildings.
This is the set that I want to acquire next for my collection. Unfortunately it is out of stock right now, but when it becomes available I will be adding a couple to my collection.
In this regards I encourage our readers to support the Dwarven Forge Kickstarter for their Dungeon Tiles.
While any of the regular sets will cost upwards of $100 per set the Dungeon tiles are made from Dwarvenite which is much more resilient than Polystone and has lowered the cost of the set. They also come in painted and unpainted so those collectors can expand their dungeons with their own paint scheme.
They are starting out with just the original master maze dungeon sets, but the Kickstarter has already grown to over $600,000 of their initial $500 goal.
It now includes curved walls, angles, and other stretch goals that are unlocked as more money pours in.
Innagural Post
Modular Fortress is a blog about terrain for miniature games. We will be looking into not just buildings and castles, but also all of the available terrain and models that can be used to set up a table for gaming.
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