Mierce Miniatures Darklands Ongoing News and Rumors Thread! Darklands Rulebook ships on April 18!

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**Azreal13**

Yep, two of them.

Though I suspect they're not really an improvement of you don't like the original!

**Looky Likey**

Yeah they still look a bit goofy to me. Good thing really as I have a big list of other stuff I want!

**yxalitis**

Well, all my KS 1 and 2 minis have arrived now.
Firstly, WOW, so much awesome goodness!
As always, the resin is clean, crisp, highly detailed, and beautifully cast.
The value for money can't be beat, the Dragon cost me 40£, it's currently over twice that on the Mierce website!

The precision of the fit between parts has always impressed me, gone are the dark old days of filing away for a week to get two lumps of metal to meet together without leaving a 2mm gap.

However...
I've twenty years experience assembling minis, with and without instructions, but, you know, sometimes a little guide would help.
Particurly when there are optional parts...like:

,
Who has two alternates for the head spike, one central or as in the picture above, two.

DAMN!

I like them BOTH!

I hate it when that happens!

Grrr, it's as bad as the three different tongues I had to choose from for my Heresy dragon...

Hmm, is this an example of 1st-world problems?

**Zond**

I think Gromi love Chunk. Makes my Albainn sad.

**RiTides**

Gromi is a weak sculpt compared to their usual, I think... that sea spent, on the other hand, is sweet!

**greywulf**

yxalitis wrote:

Who has two alternates for the head spike, one central or as in the picture above, two.

DAMN!

I like them BOTH!

I hate it when that happens!

Ever tried neodymium magnets? I'm positive they can solve all your trouble. They're not really first-world problems, more general artistic and creative problems, they kinds I'm sure great artists have struggled with since the beginning of time.

**OrlandotheTechnicoloured**

£92.5K stretch

Skyclad Itaina is free to anybody who has purchased the Oghu Keepers unit (whichever way you've bought it). Otherwise, she's £15 regardless of the reward!

Additionally, she's a project exclusive; she will never, ever be released to the general public, although we do reserve the right to produce her for sale at shows and events.

Please note, the free Skyclad Itaina is limited to one per backer, but of course you can purchase additional Skyclad Itaina miniatures within this project.

No Exchanges!

Note that we will not exchange Skyclad Itaina for any other miniature, so please don't ask! She is tied to her unit.

The reason for doing this is simple - logistically it's a nightmare to exchange miniatures and will lead to errors when we get to packing your orders. Of course, we are very sure that other backers will help out with exchanges, and our forums are the perfect place to do so!

**decker_cky**

Darn - I was hoping for Domnech (albainn wizard) as the alternate model for the Oghu keepers.

**OrlandotheTechnicoloured**

We've now reached £85,000, and that means Tykho is now unlocked - hurrah! It also means we have another stretch goal for you...

**highlord tamburlaine**

I call dibs on the croc.

**grefven**

I hope that Benoit Cosse can translate the pose of concept art into a miniature. I really like that pose of that croc.

**decker_cky**

Mierce certainly seems to have made some fans at Salute. Making lots of stretches, and still a few days from the late campaign boost.

**zedmeister**

More concept art teasers:

Stígr, Felljötunn
80mm base, around 70-80mm to the eye...

**Alpharius**

Another NORSE MASTERPIECE - DAMN!

This is getting pricey.

Again!

**yxalitis**

OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:
£92.5K stretch

Skyclad Itaina is free to anybody who has purchased the Oghu Keepers unit (whichever way you've bought it). Otherwise, she's £15 regardless of the reward!

Additionally, she's a project exclusive; she will never, ever be released to the general public, although we do reserve the right to produce her for sale at shows and events.

Please note, the free Skyclad Itaina is limited to one per backer, but of course you can purchase additional Skyclad Itaina miniatures within this project.

No Exchanges!

Note that we will not exchange Skyclad Itaina for any other miniature, so please don't ask! She is tied to her unit.

The reason for doing this is simple - logistically it's a nightmare to exchange miniatures and will lead to errors when we get to packing your orders. Of course, we are very sure that other backers will help out with exchanges, and our forums are the perfect place to do so!

Wow, the artists are getting really slack, just two rectangles for armour?

Pfft, pathetic. My dog could design better armour

Automatically Appended Next Post:

zedmeister wrote:
More concept art teasers:

Stígr, Felljötunn
80mm base, around 70-80mm to the eye...

"Mutton yesterday, mutton today, and blimey, if it don't look like mutton again tomorrow,"

**highlord tamburlaine**

I still am impressed with how impeccably groomed that Stigr is.

What a dapper looking Jötunn

**Zond**

It is a proper gent. Might have to drop this kickstarter due to unforeseen circumstances. I'm also concerned I'll never find anyone willing to grab an army at retail prices.

**razormage**

Project Update #33: £100,000 - Warriors of Dyngonwy, Rhyfelwyr Unit
Posted by Mierce Miniatures ♥ Like
It's been an incredible few days of pledging and thanks to that we've now passed £90,000 - which is brilliant, because the Oghu Keepers, the Oghurithne Unit, will definitely be produced!
This does of course mean that we must unveil the next unit to pledge for, and that's the Rhyfelwyr for the Brythoniaid...

The Warriors of Dyngonwy are a unit of five Rhyfelwyr with champion, banner bearer and herald, and you can field them in units of 5-20. Rhyfelwyr - pronounced "ru-VEL-wər" - are the most common infantry warriors in the Brythoniaid hosts, able to fulfil a number of different roles for their lord (from shieldwall infantry to ambushers to archers), and so are Mainstay ubiquity. Their acuity will be trained, but this can be increased to drilled and veteran depending on the gold spent. They wield swords, shields and bows, and wear chainmail. They stand on 30mm bases and will be around 30mm to the eye.
They are NOT in "ALL THE UNITS"

Please note, the Warriors of Dyngonwy are NOT part of the "ALL THE UNITS" pledge; you must increase your pledge further if you wish to purchase them.

**zedmeister**

Unrelated to the KS, a load of new releases have appeared in the Mierce shop:

Releases for May

It's time to unveil May's Mierce Miniatures releases, five of them, all of which hail from our Darklands: A World of War Kickstarter project, which is now almost complete. Don't despair, however, for we're currently running another fantastic project, Darklands: First Edition II - head on over and pledge your heart out!

Back to the releases. This month we bring you a warlord to command your host (Belech), two mounted warchiefs to help that host be commanded (Leofwen on Great Hart, Kernuor on Karnun-Beast) and two mighty monstrous beasts (Maallolvór and Chysperis) to wreak havoc upon the enemy. It's another great month of releases from us!

Just like the last few months, thanks to us being busier than busy bees we've just not had the time to get the release art and descriptions done; but you can still see some good images of each miniature on the website of course.

Leofwen, Fane-Bearer of Déra on Great Hart

Leofwen is the first representation of the Déora, those deer-warriors from the north, Déra, and now exiled thanks to the Christian lash of Northumbraland. Some scratch a living in pagan Angle-land and some seek retribution against their persecutors, and Leofwen is more than happy to take the fight back to the Christians. But never mind all that: Leofwen is a beautiful miniature, sculpted by Stéphane Simon from a concept by Stefan Kopinski, and she brings an added dimension to your Angelcynn host for she is, of course, a host banner bearer.

Belech, Scion of Baalor

A superb sculpt by Roberto Chaudon (from art by Danny Cruz) that captures all the character of the sea devil within, Belech is a fantastic warlord for the Fomoraic and one of the Fíorfomor or True Fomorians, a descendant of Baalor himself. Equally adept at the magic arts as he is throwing a great big ice sword around, Belech is greatly useful to the Fomoraic player for he can ensure all of the myriad monstrosities of Baalor works together for the greater good of the Eye in the Ice.

Maallolvór, Lumbering Mallox

The hairy beasts of Baalor are joined this month by another hairy beast, the mighty Maallolvór, a mutated giant sloth-creature (a Mallox) with razor-sharp claws and a bad attitude. Sculpted by Benoît Cosse from a concept by Stefan Kopinski, Maallolvór really does come keen on the battlefield!

Maallolvór stands on a 100mm base and is around 90mm to the top of his right paw.

Chysperis, Fídron of Khthon

The Gorgones get themselves a huge monstrous beast this month in the somewhat scaly shape of Chysperis (pronounced 'KISS-per-iss'), and we really do mean hugely monstrous - he totally fills that 120mm base and, to the tip of his tail, he's 162mm tail. That is a big snake!

Chysperis has been masterfully sculpted by Roberto Chaudon from a concept by Danny Cruz.

Kernuor, Seer-Drune on Karnun-Beast

Sculpted by James van Schaik from a concept by Danny Cruz, Kernuor the Seer-Drune now has a mount to ride, a Karnun-Beast to be exact, a mutated creature of Ker-Ys and a useful servant for any sorcerer who risks getting too close to the enemy. Mutated he may be, but the Karnun-Beast is not slow!

All of the releases above will be officially released on the 3rd of May 2014, but you can pre-order them now from this very website to your heart's content!

Darklands Bases

We have three new sizes of base for you all this month, 40mm, 50mm and 80mm. This means we have a wide range of bases sizes to ensure our miniatures work better on the battlefield!

Remember, too, that certain miniatures' base sizes have now been altered thanks to the new bases' availability. If you have miniatures with these bases and want the new sizes, firstly bear in mind you can still use those miniatures on the old bases in Darklands, and secondly, there's no need to purchase them - just drop us a line and we'll send you what you need.

These miniatures' base sizes have been changed:

Ckaarakk, Tarvax Untain - 50mm
Tarvax Warrior - 50mm
Beowa (bear form) - 50mm
Urbad - 50mm
Creoda, Guthwulf - 80mm

There'll be more releases next month!

**Alpharius**

Title updated!

SALUTE seems to have helped here quite a bit - the campaign is now up to 374 backers!

Only 26 more to go for a free Sáthach miniature for everyone at the "GOLD SPOT" level.

BUT...you have to be a "GOLD SPOT" pledger no latter than midnight tonight, GMT!

**RiTides**

I don't think there's any way they can verify what your pledge level was on this date. I would assume you have to back the project by this date, but "end up" at Gold Spot or above by the end to get the free figure.

Belech looks good above, but where's the axeman version?

**razormage**

I think they do get told that so-and-so pledged for the <whatever> level on <date>.

**RiTides**

I guess that could be, but would they really check if someone upped to Gold Spot later, anyway? (I.e. would they bother to check preliminary pledge level, rather than just pledge date... seems like a nightmare)

These kinds of incentives have never worked with me... unfortunately it kind of seals the deal for me not to pledge, since I'd still be making up my mind and don't like being forced into a false deadline to pledge by.

**Alpharius**

I'm not sure what's 'false' about the deadline?

**RiTides**

The normal "pledge by" date is a deadline set by Kickstarter- so a somewhat real deadline, as they begin processing credit cards, and a few weeks later release the funds to the creator to make their project a reality.

A mid-project deadline is simply to try to get folks to pledge early... but it works as a disincentive for folks pledging late! It's not a deadline required by the campaign platform, it's purely to get people to pledge earlier than is required.

I'm not saying it's evil or anything- I'm just saying it works as a disincentive as well as an incentive in many cases, and I haven't seen that tactic be too successful (Mantic's using it comes to mind, by their closing off a sweetspot pledge level partway through the campaign, but getting less of a final push possibly at least partly as a result)

**razormage**

I'm sorry you feel that way, RiTides. Would it help you if you looked at is as an Early Bird type of incentive, except not capped at a number of backers but by a cut-off date? Nothing would be stopping you from dropping your pledge at a later date; it's not like your card would get charged immediately.
I assume the reason for the deadline is similar to the reason for the Kickstarter - get sculptors booked as early as they can to ensure on-time delivery. Knowing they've hit (arbitrarily [code]£100k) by the 14th allows them to get sculptors contacted a week or two early, and helps them get to the front of the line on sculptors who may have had their image or publicity helped by Salute, and who are about to get a number of commission offers.
It's very frustrating when people complain about free stuff.

**Azreal13**

Another new concept..

**RiTides**

razor, that is definitely another way of looking at it- however, I don't think my comment could be fairly classified as "complaining about free stuff". For anyone who backs after today, it won't be free, after all!

It's not a deal-breaker but it forces me to decide whether I want in now, and I'm not ready to decide now, so it ends up being an unnecessary (imo) disincentive to later backers.

I certainly can't see any argument that it could Help the final push... again, not a huge deal, just not a tactic that I think has been shown to be all that effective on Kickstarter (unlike, in the right circumstances, early bird pledge levels, for example).

**plastictrees**

The decision was based on comments section feedback. I'm not sure that I think it's the best thing for the campaign, but it tied in well with Salute.

I don't quite get the 'deciding to pledge' thing, this isn't IGG, you can lower and cancel your pledge at any time. I have no qualms about pledging for something and then dropping it later if I decide its not for me. I see my pledge as a commitment to give a project a fair shot at keeping or raising that pledge, not a commitment of the money itself until the campaign ends.

**RiTides**

I personally try not to drop a pledge once I've made it, as I feel that "yanks the chain" of the creators a bit... I have dropped pledges but it's always been because of a development in the campaign (Kingdom Death not being able to commit to a material during the campaign, Spaceship-X not communicating even while the campaign was running, etc).

Also, it's much easier to get sucked into a campaign once you have pledged, even a small amount

. That just happened to me with Dwarven Forge, and while I don't regret it, it's not something I can afford to do too often!