To anyone currently waiting on their order, apologies, a broken pipe at my business location has caused me to have to totally move shop. I am mostly set up and started to pull items for outstanding orders before I realized I am missing 1 key piece...my scale! Once I get that sorted, the orders will begin to flow once again, thankyou everyone for your patience.
I figured it was time to post a new news item, considering it has been 3 years and I have had several people mail me asking if I was still up and running (which I am). There are also some housekeeping things to address concerning shipments to the UK, stock levels, and future plans.
First, due to changes in UK import policy, as of January 1st of this year, all orders under 135 GBP are required to have the VAT tax collected at the point of sale, rather than collected from the recipient at the point of import. This would mean that I would need to register for VAT with the UK and remit the tax every 4 months, which I am not really inclined to do. As such, I have been forced to open an Etsy shop to operate in parallel with my actual online store, as Etsy collects the VAT for me. Now, the good part in this is that while UK customers ordering via my Etsy shop will need to pay tax up front, they will not receive any additional tax surcharges upon receiving their order. So it will likely end up cheaper for UK customers in the long run. As a note, the same changes will be taking effect for the EU as of July 1st I believe.
I do not yet have all of my products listed on the Etsy shop yet, which brings us to our second issue: stock levels. I have been experiencing some instability in my stock levels for certain items and have been forced to remove a handful of things from the store for the time being. This is due to a variety of factors, the most significant of which being the untimely death of my casting machine several weeks ago. Unfortunately, I was not able to repair it myself, and I was forced to ship it back to the manufacturer. I should have it back in my possession by early next week. I hope to have all the stock issues resolved by April’s end, at which time I should also have nearly all of my most popular items up on the Etsy store.
This has been a rough year so far, but there are lots of releases to look forward to, hopefully all issues should be resolved before the onset of summer and we can roll on with all the planned releases and Kickstarters.
Link to the Etsy shop:
It has once again been quite some time since my last update on here, and just like last time, I have been spurred on by someone asking if I am still actually in business. In the extremely likely event that I am not successful in updating the news section of the site more often, you can always find the most up to date news from our Facebook page, or for the non-facebook folks, our dedicated section of the Tactical Command forums.
We recently released our first foray into 15mm fantasy, but we still have a ton of new releases to push out this year, with most everything to come having been previewed at some time or another over the past 18 months (see either of the links above). With a small business such as this, where most of the development work is contracted out, it is sometimes difficult to gauge exact timelines for a given project. Things tend to shift in release order depending on the schedules of the various moldmakers, sculptors and artists. As such, the list below is more of a general indication of what I would like to release this year in the approximate order in which we would like things to appear, unless otherwise noted.
That is probably about as much as we can expect to fit in this year, although we are considering doing a Kickstarter for the next wave of 15mm fantasy troops (barbarians) since they are all sculpted and ready to go.
The other day someone had emailed me asking if I was still in business, thought I thought it might be about time to actually update the news here :P
First things first, the Polyversal kickstarter in which I am involved is down to the last 2 weeks. For any fans of 6mm wargaming, it is definitely worth a look. Not just for the rules, but also for a great set of minis you will get at a discount with the boxed game:
In more general news, the Ogres are finally up in the store, albeit without all of their requisite pictures. I'm afraid that due to my work schedule, there have been a number of delays on the release front. I still have not even widely announced the Ogre release, sue to the missing pictures, but I do hope to rectify that soon.
The next large release is going to be the first wave of Microwasteland 6mm post-apocalyptic miniatures that I am producing in partnership with the Art of Schwager. These should be up in the store over the weekend. My international customers will be happy to hear that the entire line will soon be carried by Vanguard Miniatures in the UK. They may also carry other lines in the future, if all goes well. .
Well, I certainly haven't done a good job of keeping this updated. For more frequent updates and teasers, definitely head over to the Microworld Games sub-forum on the Tactical Command site. That being I should be posting here more often.
Looking at my last update, I'm happy to say most things have come to fruition. The only things left on my list are the additional Dwarf and Wood Elf releases, as well as the Demon Army. The Dwarves are currently being painted and should be up in the store in about a week or so. The Wood Elves will be a bit delayed as the sculpting for them is still underway. The Demon army is about 90% complete, but I couldn't help adding a few extra sculpts to the list, so they also are being slightly delayed.
At this point I have a ton of completed sculpts awaiting release, so many in fact, that I doubt I can release them all next year. I have considered crowdfunding to pay for moldmaking, or preferably some sort of pre-order drive through the store itself. I would definitely be interested in hearing people's opinions on the matter. With regard to scheduled releases for next year, It will likely be some Wood Elves (unless I can push them out this year), followed by some combination of Demons, Ogres, and Wildlands army releases. Any further releases for next year beyond those armies will be dictated by overall sales.
Well, another year has come and gone and things are shaping up nicely for 6mm Fantasy. This was a strong year with the release of the Lizardmen, Firmament, and Dark Alliance armies. I am up to 10 armies now of what I consider a pretty eclectic variety. I have to say that my mission of building up 6mm fantasy is further along than I ever thought it would be.
Besides the Kreen mechs I have pretty much neglected 6mm scifi, and I have had a few people send me emails and ask why. There are a couple of reasons for this, but primarily I have to say it is competition. There is just too much cool stuff out there! Dark Realm, Onslaught Miniatures, Steel Crown, C-in-C, Troublemaker, and now Khurusan…the 6mm scifi scene is spoilt for choice! Besides 6mm, we also now have 10mm competition In 10mm you have Dropzone Commander with some pretty awesome models, and come April 2014 Spartan is dipping their toe in with Firestorm Invasion with I think something like 6(!) full armies on release.
That is not to say I am forsaking 6mm scifi. I have some scifi beastmen nd minotaurs with guns that were commissioned as test pieces with a new sculptor which should be released around February. Sometime around March I will be releasing a new Kreen heavy support quad mech and a gunship, along with some new infantry later. The Foundationists are going to get a couple new infantry packs, and I have been toying with commissioning some light vehicles for them as well. Also, the remaining TEF vehicles will come back into production by next month I believe. Besides all of this, one of my concept artists mentioned that he had some scifi concepts in mind, so more on that as it develops.
Switching gears back to 6mm Fantasy, I have a lot of great stuff planned for 2014. The Beastkin range will be finished off with a March/April release featuring faun foot troops, Dire Boars, and a giant Mammothtaur. Following that, a full goblin army is being worked on, the release of which will also include an Orc lord on a Wyvern and an Orc Boar chariot.
After that, I am committed to rounding out the Wood Elf, Undead, and Dwarf ranges. I can’t really specify exactly when all of them should be released, but I imagine it will be by the end of the year. I can also say that the year will close with a full Demon army as well.
Wow, it has been quite a while since I have updated this blog! In the future I will try to give more frequent updates. For anyone interested, I usually post up all kinds of information and previews and such over at the tactical command forums. I have my own sub-forum there now, so definitely check it out:
Now, onto some housekeeping issues. I will be traveling from April 19th - April 28th, so any orders placed between those dates will be shipped out on the 29th. You will notice that I am low on a great many Dark Realm items, I am currently waiting on a big restock, so stock levels will be updated upon its arrival. One more thing of note, the Komodo and Infernus tanks from the TEF line are currently out of production. They have suffered some mold failure and I am not comfortable selling them at their current quality. I am going to be working with the sculptor to try to redesign them in a way more conducive to spin-casting, but I don't really know how long they are going to be gone for.
Some unhappy news, several weeks ago, the USPS increased their shipping rates for international orders, and my shipping costs have increased by about 40%. Now, I have tried to keep my shipping very low, probably the lowest you will find specifically because I have a great deal of international customers, and I know many of them get hit with punitive taxes and customs fees when they order. I'm afraid I am going to have to increase my International shipping charges to an $8 flat rate (up from $5). I tried to put it off, but the charges are just killing me. Domestic shipping will remain at the $5 flat rate.
Now, onto more pleasant topics, new and upcoming releases! The next army due for release sometime in July is called The Firmament. Basically, it is an army of molemen warriors and geomancers who command stone constructs and earth elementals. Units include molemen with pick axes, claw weapons, drill-spears, and magic crystal tipped pikes. They are supported by Stonemen warriors and spearmen, large earth elemental warriors and a 28mm tall Earth Titan, among other special units.
What will the rest of the year look like? For late Fall/Early Winter I plan on releasing some long-awaited special and heavy weapon packs for the Foundationist infantry, just to finish off the range. I also have a huge "evil human" type army coming out around then, with something like 13 different codes to purchase. I have some concept art for them up on the forum I discussed above, the army name will be "The Dark Alliance", mostly because it contains a mix of knights, barbarians and monsters.
Been super busy at the day job lately so I haven't had much time for anything. Dwarf production molds are complete and my initial casting order is underway. I expect to get them in possibly by the end of the week. Kreen production molds are done, I get test casts some time this week for approval. Afte rthat they are good to go. I will also be putting the TEF Superheavy and support vehicles up on the site 1st March. I am not going to really announce the release though, as I want to wait till they are painted, but I figured I'd make them available for people that don't want to wait.
As for future releases, I'm getting some test prototypes of the Kreen mechs now. The Dread Elves are finished sculpting also. 2nd wave of Lizard Riders will be heading to the moldmakers in early April. This leaves me thinking about where to go next. On the 6mm scifi front, I'm really not sure. Part of me wants to just concentrate on the 6mm fantasy, release a slew of new armies, maybe even some terrain.
I have also been kicking around the idea of making a couple of starter armies for 3mm scifi, been kicking around in my head for a couple years now. Why? Games like Strike Legion: Planetary Ops and Future War Commander make more sense to me if they have element basing for the vehicles. Plus I like the idea of a really epic battle, with hundreds of vehicles and such involved. CAD sculpted or not? That is the question. The former is much more expensive, and 3mm may not be a big seller. Who knows, I should probably just stick to 6mm fantasy!
Well, it has taken a couple of months, but I’m pretty sure just about everything is now on the site. There have been some changes in the release schedule. First, there were some mold failures for the TEF Superheavy and support vehicle. Whether or not they will need retooling is still unknown, but we are definitely looking at a delay on those.
The next release was supposed to be some anthropomorphic elephants, gorillas and rhinos and such. These have had some prototyping problems, I haven’t really decided on the future of these yet. But, we must forge ahead and so I have moved the release schedule about.
The dwarves are finally in moldmaking, and should hopefully be released some time in February. After that, most likely in March, will be 3 packs of 6mm insectoid scifi infantry which will make up the first part of our 4th 6mm scifi army, the Kreen.
June will see the release of the 2nd wave of Lizardriders. These are a long time coming so I am pretty excited about it. The release will feature a rather large Brachiosaur, a couple of variants of Anklyosaurus (light assault and support), an Allosaurus assault unit, and a triceratops IFV and assault variant.
The timing of everything after that kind of depends on how sales turn out. Definitely in the schedule are a 6mm fantasy “Evil” Elf army (Dread Elves), as well as a bunch of walkers/mechs for the Kreen. Whether or not I fit a fifth big release also depends on sales, but it would likely be either additional Foundationist infantry and battlesuit packs, or an Elven Kingdom army (good elves).
After a bit of a delay, the new store is finally up and running. Obviously not all the products have been added yet, but I am getting there. I thought for the first post I would talk about my release plans for 2011 and early 2012. Keep in mind, all dates are subject to change based on how bad (or good) things go with the various stages of production and sales in general.
In about a month I should have the 2nd wave of Terran Expeditionary Forces up for sale, including an awesome superheavy tank, a gunship, a support vehicle in three flavors (SAM, AA, MLRS), as well as 2 packs of infantry (standard troopers and special and heavy weapons). This will likely be my final release for 2011.
Now onto 2012! Around February I am looking to release a full 6mm fantasy Dwarven army. The packs include standard dwarf warriors, dwarf musketeers, heavy armored dwarves, dwarf berserkers, an artillery piece, a command pack, ram dragoons, and bear heavy cavalry. March will see the release of a new 6mm scifi race, the Kreen. They are an insectoid army, but not the usual insect alien fare, more technological and what not. The initial release will be solely infantry, with drone, assault, and larger soldier packs available. Their vehicles will all be mech/walker types and have already been sculpted.
Other releases in the pipe for 2012 include a second wave of lizard riders and an African were-animal 6mm fantasy army. Anyway, that is all for now, let me know of any problems with the store or questions about current/future products.