Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

http://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=4354

GW should take a few lessons from Battlefront.

Yeah they should because Flames of War took off big around here, and is still going extremely strong.

I had been hesitant about the Vietnam game but my buddy has a bunch of air cav. This just gave me an excuse to get a bunch of guys in black pajama's.

BF is heading slowly more towards GW way of doing things, but it doesn't have a "Bricks & mortar" retail arm dragging it down so it will always have an advantage. The other thing is that FOW cannot claim IP on 15mm / 1:100 scale Tanks and vehicles.

Nice. I don't think I can justify getting more 15mm toys atm, even at this bargain price. But At the very least I'll be picking up the book. Even with the P&P £11 is a damn good price for it.

I may pick up a 155 battery, to cheap to pass up.even though i dint play Vietnam at that price i will get me some ww2 crew for it.i will just see if i can sell or trade the crew off.

Or is it getting the Specialist Games treatment.

 Ghaz wrote:

GW should take a few lessons from Battlefront.

Maybe. Maybe not. Note the third question on the page: "Will there be stock?"
That's listed for a reason: http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=337429

Battlefront have been listing complete 2 month release schedules for years but the December/January one wasn't taken down til the end of February when it was replaced with.. nothing. They've just put a schedule up for March but not April, kinda suggests the apparent supply problems are so bad its affecting their new releases.. And now they are having a MAJOR sale? I do hope Battlefront survives but it does put me in mind of Maelstrom's death-throws.

Not a lesson GW needs.

From Steven at Battlefront (via their forums)

Hi guys, if you remember a few weeks back, we made the commitment that we would not post any dates we weren’t 99% sure of. Obviously, we’re still playing catchup from the events described in my previous posts on the frontpage, but you can rest assured that things are looking up. This is not symptomatic of anything more serious, and Battlefront is not in any trouble (certainly not as some people have speculated here and elsewhere, in danger of going bankrupt!). Our factory has been focusing on meeting existing orders, and so some new releases have been pushed back. It’s a frustrating process for everyone - the customers AND us. We look forward to getting all caught up - and staying caught up - but please bear with us as we get everything sorted. In a spot of good news, the new Plastic Panzer IV H, and the Italy comps are right on time, and just about ready to hit your tabletop!

I’m sorry I haven’t been on the forum much, but we’ve been keeping busy with our various projects; it’s an exciting and challenging time in the Battlefront studio!

GW would just ignore any product shortages in favor of 'The Next Big Thing'. At least Battlefront is taking the time to address the problem and communicate with the customers, something GW should take note of.

Since I won't be getting the book until the sale, anyone with the book have any advice on what units I should try to pick up for an American Airborne unit?

its hard to say what you need for Airborne because the lists can add just about anything.

http://www.easyarmy.com/ you can use this to build any of the lists from ToD to get an idea of what you need.

most lists you will be looking at infantry, slicks, a few loaches (2 come per box) and some hog or cobra support.

i am doing the 11th Blackhorse Air Cavalry Troop (Mechanised Company) which can run troops on the ground, in the air or in transports.
It also has access to tanks, artillery and more helicopters.

if you want to go all helo like i did i would get 3 boxes of infantry (1 airborne, 2 rifle) at least 5 or 6 slicks (max you can use is 13) and 2 hogs and cobras each.

Are there any US Marine lists for FOW Vietnam, official or otherwise?

None official, no. I wouldn't be surprised to see them at some point (the Ontos is just too cool not add to the game at some point).

This is a smart move. A lot of people I know have been on the fence about Vietnam. Already having Flames of War it's hard to dive into another army when nobody else has it.

Now my buddy is going to get a cav army. I'm planning to pick up a PAVN army, and several others know they want some but haven't decided yet.

Which means more people have armies, more tournaments. Which gets more people interested, and the line *might* explode like Flames of War initially did.

More books, more models, etc.

Which is always great for us gamers. I plan on getting at least 1850pts of PAVN. Maybe more depending on how well my wallet holds up. lol

 Hordini wrote:
Are there any US Marine lists for FOW Vietnam, official or otherwise?

Not yet - at least not officially. The Marines have been promised, though, and I'd thought that they were going to get a release this year. But April is Battlefront's Vietnam month. And if the USMC were going to get a book next month, I'd have expected to see some hints by now.

The sale is now live. The website has also been updated with the projected April releases.

I got mine! Went with some Airborne infantry units, a few helicopters and the book. Figured that would be a good start. I can't wait for it to arrive.

 Gashrog wrote:

 Ghaz wrote:

GW should take a few lessons from Battlefront.

Maybe. Maybe not. Note the third question on the page: "Will there be stock?"
That's listed for a reason: http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=337429

Battlefront have been listing complete 2 month release schedules for years but the December/January one wasn't taken down til the end of February when it was replaced with.. nothing. They've just put a schedule up for March but not April, kinda suggests the apparent supply problems are so bad its affecting their new releases.. And now they are having a MAJOR sale? I do hope Battlefront survives but it does put me in mind of Maelstrom's death-throws.

Not a lesson GW needs.

I don't see it myself. What there doing is trying to move slower lines faster. There still supporting it.

There stock levels aren't always great, but personally I think it's logistic. They can't make enough of them. Christ the new tigers are selling insanely well.

Battlefront aren't going anywhere soon. And no I'm not blind to what can happen.

Magnamaniac wrote:
I don't see it myself. What there doing is trying to move slower lines faster. There still supporting it.

There stock levels aren't always great, but personally I think it's logistic. They can't make enough of them. Christ the new tigers are selling insanely well.

Battlefront aren't going anywhere soon. And no I'm not blind to what can happen.

Have to agree. What we appear to be seeing is what happens when demand for a company's product expands unexpectedly. Admittedly I'm looking at this from the outside, but it appears that Battlefront's problem right now is that their old manufacturing process wasn't able to keep up with the demand, and they're scrambling to find the competent manufacturing support needed to keep up with expanding demand.

Magnamaniac wrote:

 Gashrog wrote:

 Ghaz wrote:

GW should take a few lessons from Battlefront.

Maybe. Maybe not. Note the third question on the page: "Will there be stock?"
That's listed for a reason: http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=337429

Battlefront have been listing complete 2 month release schedules for years but the December/January one wasn't taken down til the end of February when it was replaced with.. nothing. They've just put a schedule up for March but not April, kinda suggests the apparent supply problems are so bad its affecting their new releases.. And now they are having a MAJOR sale? I do hope Battlefront survives but it does put me in mind of Maelstrom's death-throws.

Not a lesson GW needs.

I don't see it myself. What there doing is trying to move slower lines faster. There still supporting it.

There stock levels aren't always great, but personally I think it's logistic. They can't make enough of them. Christ the new tigers are selling insanely well.

Battlefront aren't going anywhere soon. And no I'm not blind to what can happen.

I think that's it right here.

well now that the Vietnam sale done and the back orders are dying down, i hope Battlefront has learned an important lesson.

Get some damn software to track your stock for you. Really that is the only lesson they could have possibly learned. Once again they over estimated demand because both the Vietnam and Fate of a Nation stuff sold out so fast because the underestimated interest in those lines.

Then we have the whole inability to track their own stock in each warehouse. The back orders were a disaster. When i received my first shipping notice and billing it clearly told me what was yet to come. My FIRST back order billed me for the rest and only sent a small portion of what was remaining with zero indication of lead times (in the case of terrain this can be months or years if ever). A few weeks later i receive my SECOND back order, all items that were still outstanding were shipped. As i went through my original invoice to make sure i received everything and shipment #3 (BO2) was lacking any packing slip i notice that while my order is done i still got stuff in my latest BO box that's not on my list. Yeay free stuff? The next day i get yet ANOTHER tracking notice from BF about my Vietnam order BO#3, my order is already complete so i have no idea what to expect. Upon opening it i see that they filled my outstanding items a second time.

I really cannot see how this company stays in business. They QA on their models is terrible, replacements are commonplace; even MULTIPLE replacements of the same item are not rare.
Shipping extra product really sucks and can be a mistake but i was shipped $92 worth of "extra" stuff because they fail to get with the times and computerize their inventory. it would be so much easier for them to see what they need to be producing on a normal monthly schedule for current items and then they could forecast increased demand for items related to a release.

They over estimated demand? Seems like they underestimated given the massive backorder thing they had to do.

Also having toured their NA office, they do have a fully computerized stock tracking system, and from what the guy showing me around told me it is down to each individual warehouse, it just doesn't reflect on their website for whatever reason. Probably just a bitch to make those two things talk to each other constantly in real time.

As far as lead times, the company president John Paul had a big letter at the start of the backorder phase of the sale explaining all orders would be filled by the end of April or so as I recall.

Also not sure why you're complaining about free kit. Lucky you someone messed up?

Still have not received my BO items or shipping information. My friend ordered some of the same things I did about two to three days after I ordered mine and he got them last week. Started working on the first batch of models I got to clear my mind of it and found that they are all missing peices. Emailed them about the missing peices and they told me it would be 2-3 weeks before they could get them to me.

Maybe they sent Deathklaat my stuff

 Ruberu wrote:
Emailed them about the missing peices and they told me it would be 2-3 weeks before they could get them to me.

Unfortunately, this isn't surprising. Given that the sale cleaned out their stock, they'll need to restock (again) before they can start sending out replacement parts.

It's a bit troubling that you had so many missing pieces, though.

i am sort of glad i got atleast some extra stuff, the quality on the helicopters is very lacking. i have yet to find a single metal engine piece on my slicks that fits correctly, they all are varying sizes and are flat and do not follow the curve of the roof.

the slicks and hogs all have markings on the roof where they are removed from the extra resin from them prying the molds off.

for all 13 of my slicks i had to take all of the fusilage sections and play "which one of these goes with the other" because i had a hodgepodge of roof and hull sizes, gaps 2mm wide to being barely able to fit together.

its a bit confusing to say what i recieved, if it was from initial stock, initial restock or final restock. I have boxes with no box art with item labels stuck on them which are worse quality than the models i recieved at the end with the correct box.

You are having the same problems with your choppers as I do. They needed lots of fitting to look somewhat proper.