I figured the Khthon rank and file might be a tad bit closer to human size (unless the dude he's fighting is totally roided out and inflated to heroic proportions, which I doubt).
The human is actually one of the biggest in the range, along with Penda and Krull, a head taller or so than standard humans.
Looks like the Gorgons will have about the same mass as the Tarvax.
As a relative newcomer to the Darklands, I've some questions...
1) Where do I find all of the background stuff for the various factions in the game?
2) I've spent all of my KS2 money. Locked it in, and even received a confirmation email this time! Eventually, I'm going to spend a fair bit more. When I do this, it will undoubtedly qualify for 'free' shipping - but as these items are from KS2, do I have to then also include shipping anyway? Even if it would otherwise qualify for free shipping? I hope that makes sense...
I'd love to know if anyone can answer Alph's 2nd Question, as I'm curious about the same thing.
Most of the fluff can be found in the character descriptions when you select one of the models in the non KS section of their website. It's a bit clumsy, but what is there is actually pretty darn interesting.
The only fluff I've seen is each entry has a brief description in its entry on the website, with faction fluff in their various sub factions, to take the example of Eric Longaxe already given...
Seven foot tall and near as broad, Eirik Longaxe is almost as legendary as the longship he is steersman of, Hrafnen. A mighty Skei of sixty oars, Hrafnen bears the raven's head on its prow, a powerful symbol of Odin's favour and a reassuring presence to Hrafnen's crew - but a terror to the villages and towns that the mere sight of Hrafnen brings. Eirik himself believes that the wrath of Odin travels with him upon his raids, a belief that holds greater the further he sails and the more treasure he plunders, for he and his crew have always returned home, bruised and battered maybe, but always with gold and silver from the monasteries and halls and villages of the weaker peoples to the west. Indeed, such is his reputation in the shieldwall and on the seas that many other longships and steersmen are drawn to his banner, greedy to take a slice of the pickings from his raids and his battles, for all know that Eirik understands the sailing of all Midgard and where to strike for plunder like no other Norseman.
Automatically Appended Next Post: I'll plus one the shipping Q as well, was wondering the same myself.
If your supplementary orders are large enough you'd qualify for free shipping regardless, but I appreciate that threshold is much higher for our transatlantic cousins.
So Mierce will just 'know' to throw the pile into my existing pledge if I order additional stuff after I've locked my pledge and if it qualifies for 'free shipping'?
The other thing that might come up is additional orders placed after they ship stuff out but the KS2 section is left open for ordering - much like they generously did for the KS1 backers?
That's what I understood.
I'd say stuff would get packed with the next wave to be shipped, and from what I understood anything that becomes available for shipping will be locked, this time.
Wow, so with Eirik's being on the bigger end of things that puts that diorama in a new light for me. Those snakes are going to be pretty hefty. I will most certainly be adding all those noble snakes to my pledge.
Ok, I'm going to ask this in the hope that as well as helping me, the example will help others figure things out too.
I intend to buy the lumbering Mallox, but as a KS1 supporter, I can order him through that section until he is released.
For KS2, I'm going for the Sweet Spot, with the Sronax host.
As I'd like the Rhinomen ASAP, and only Qaano is yet to be released (and will be imminent, because he was a KS1 model) I'll need to add Wave 0 shipping.
I'm content to wait for the remainder, but still need to add Wave 1 shipping to the order, or it doesn't ship.
If I wish to add (and I do) further items (the Mammoth, Gabrax, Gabrox to name a few) at a later date, I can order them with Wave 0 shipping to ship as soon as they're ready, Wave 1, in which case they'll ship with everything else.
Alpharius wrote: As a relative newcomer to the Darklands, I've some questions...
1) Where do I find all of the background stuff for the various factions in the game?
As has been mentioned, most of the existing back story is visible on the Mierce Store and the tantalising back stories for each model.
I will say, Google the names of some of the Kindreds and leaders and they will lead you to some interesting places. As Darklands is building a world from North European legends, stories from legend fit into Darklands somewhat.
judgedoug wrote: I was under the assumption that pre-existing figures that you buy seperately would just ship right away.
Existing (released) figures can be ordered by KS2 backers @ 20% off and will ship right away. There are still a few of the last KS1 models to be finished, those are still available in the KS1 manager at KS1 prices, and will ship when available.
From the latest update... you MUST add shipping to your order and from what I gather, pre existing KS 1 models still need to be cast if they are chosen as part of your KS2 pledge money, and I assume they will possibly not ship until wave 1 in June. Maybe I've misinterpreted this, but it seems entirely understandable.
They still need to cast and deliver the kthones, angry slag werewolves, malacant ,etc for December.
I dunno, but that's how I read it.
Make sure you purchase the Wave 1 Shipping item if nothing else!
It is VERY important that you purchase Shipment Wave items to cover the amount of shipments you require AND ESPECIALLY the Wave 1 Shipping item (even the free one for UK residents). If you do not, your order will sit in limbo for all time!
If you have not purchased any Shipment Wave items, you MUST e-mail me so that we can sort something out.
Choose ONLY Wave 1 Shipping to have everything shipped in one package
You must ONLY choose wave 1 shipping if you want everything sent in one package, regardless of when your items could be sent.
Shipping Waves in Future Orders
Many of you have asked about shipping after you've made your first order. Broadly, you don't need to add any Shipping Waves unless you feel you have to; you may (gasp) change your mind, for example.
When we ship items, we'll search for shipping waves first, select a name and then search for all of the orders against that name. Thus, we'll always combine orders into waves for you where possible. There's no need to keep purchasing waves unless you want something shipped earlier than you've already paid for.
Website Charging you for Shipping
Our website charges you for shipping if your order is under a certain amount (these thresholds being £30 in the UK, £80 anywhere else). I simply haven't had the time to re-code the shipping part of the basket to take into account how shipping works with Kickstarter orders, for which I apologise and beg for your forgiveness. Hopefully I will get the time to do this before the next Kickstarter!
Some of you have already come across this problem, and it applies to you guys in two ways - one, if you've pledged for less than that threshold; or two, you are making an additional order for less than that threshold after your initial Kickstarter order.
You have two options to work around this.
First: choose your items and I'll refund the website's shipping charge if it comes to below the threshold. Obivously, you must e-mail us or message us to make sure we do that ;o)
Second: order more than the threshold each time you make an order!
So that's that in a nutshell really. Again, it's not ideal, but it's the best I can do without re-coding a lot of the website
Ronald Wanders 23 minutes ago
Shipping cost indeed once (per Wave of stuff coming your way) then order whatever you want (across as many orders as you want). It'll be split and clustered as needed.
I know that for KS1 backers, well after KS1 stuff initially shipped, you could go back in and order more stuff at KS1 prices and if it passed the 'free shipping' threshold, it shipped free.
Automatically Appended Next Post: It looks like you MUST purchase wave 1 shipping.
If you want Malacant early , you must also select wave 0 shipping as well, otherwise he will come with wave wave 1 in June.
If you want items from wave 2 then you MUST also select wave 2 shipping.
Same goes for wave 3 items.
Seems quite clear to me.
What you're failing to grasp is we are more concerned with supplementary orders as backers are free to purchase additional items at KS prices until they go on general release. There is some confusion as to if we need that for each order or only once and that Mierce will collate all orders together themselves.
I know that for KS1 backers, well after KS1 stuff initially shipped, you could go back in and order more stuff at KS1 prices and if it passed the 'free shipping' threshold, it shipped free.
I think they're going to be a lot more strict about transitioning KS2 items from the "pledge manager" to the actual store once they have passed their ship date. They did start off that way with KS1, they just unlocked everything a couple of times.
I know that for KS1 backers, well after KS1 stuff initially shipped, you could go back in and order more stuff at KS1 prices and if it passed the 'free shipping' threshold, it shipped free.
that was KS1 and things are a bit different as they were getting hurt a bit by lots of "free shipping" on those.
and with KS1 once an item went to retail it was usually removed from the KS1 purchasable items... so you got to see the in-progress sculpts and decide if you wanted to buy it or not. many figures were undercosted, too (such as angrislaug by half!), but usually once it went into production for retail release it was removed from the KS1 discount category
@ Azrael, I see what you mean. On that 1 I'm not sure myself.I'm assuming that they will look at all your pending orders and then collect them all together and ship them to you in the relevant waves.sorry I'm not very proficient at explaining myself
fluffystuff wrote:@ Azrael, I see what you mean. On that 1 I'm not sure myself.I'm assuming that they will look at all your pending orders and then collect them all together and ship them to you in the relevant waves.sorry I'm not very proficient at explaining myself
It's amazing how quickly things can become confused...
This is how shipping works for KS2.
1) You MUST purchase Wave 1 Shipping regardless of anything else.
2) If you want already available items (and/or Malacant) to be shipped from December onwards, add Wave 0.
3) If you want to wait for everything to be ready before it ships, just choose Wave 1 and ignore everything else.
4) If you want some stuff that will be produced in Wave 2 (or Wave 3), yet want your Wave 1 stuff in June, add Wave 2 (or Wave 3). Otherwise, your stuff will be sent when the Wave 2 stuff is ready.
5) If you make further orders before stuff is shipped, you don't need to add any more shipping, we'll just combine naturally. So if you order Wave 1 stuff now, and order more Wave 1 stuff in April, say, and you've paid for Wave 1 shipping in your first order, you don't need to add any more shipping.
6) On the flipside, if, for example, you have some Wave 0 stuff shipped, and then add more Wave 0 stuff before Wave 1 comes out and you don't want to wait, add another Wave 0.
I think next time, I'll just call Wave 1 shipping "Default Shipping" or somesuch, that might narrow down confusion.
If you have ordered something that is already available, and added Wave 0 shipping to your order it will be sent between December and January. The backlog of KS1 orders is preventing it from being shipped before, even if it is showing in stock on the site.
If you have ordered something that is already available, and NOT added Wave 0 shipping but have added Wave 1 shipping it will ship in June with the rest of the models you ordered that are part of Wave 1.
Obviously if you only have Wave 2 shipping ordered then they will come in August.
Wave 0 is only for things that are already or will be available by December. All the new stuff from KS2 won't be available until next year.
I guess my question wasn't clear enough - my fault, no worries!
The scenario I was asking about:
1) I locked in my pledge, all the money is spent, I included shipping for Wave 1 and Wave 2.
2) It is now August 2014. All my stuff has shipped - hurrah!
3) If I want to buy more stuff from KS2, it is now no longer available at KS2 prices - but if I buy over (x), it ships free. UNLESS we get an extended chance to buy more this time, like during KS1.
4) In September, I decide I want to buy more stuff that is due to ship in October, in wave 3. I spend enough to get free shipping - does it ship free?
#3 is up in the air - but it probably won't be as flexible as KS1, and it looks as if we'll possibly have to pay shipping on the stuff no matter what.
#4 is the bigger question.
I didn't order the Gesith Encounter Host this time around because it wouldn't ship until wave 3.
When it gets closer to then, I'll order it, and a lot more. Will it qualify for free shipping?
Sorry - and this will be the last time, I promise!
You'd have to pay wave 3 shipping for #4, I don't think that's even remotely ambiguous. You could, however, send them an email to hold Wavee 2 stuff until wave 3 before your wave 2 stuff ships (and then you wouldn't have to pay wave 3 shipping either; that's paid through wave 2 shipping in which you didn't get a package yet).
#3: I don't think that extended chance will be around this time. Regardless, you posit that it wouldn't be available at KS pricing, so you'd buy regular. Anything bought regular will have the "regular" shipping rules apply, I would say. Would be strange if it didn't
You might want to combine waves 2 and 3, especially across the pond. It's only a month or two.
Hmm, last 2 pages have been questions regarding the shipping costs.
Here's how it works:
Base shipping is required, and called Wave 1.
If you want items already able to be shipped, to BE shipped, ie EARLIER than Wave 1, you choose Wave 0, that's why it's a zero, see, it's LESS than 1. This effectively pays for an extra shipment of minis already ready, you cannot only select Wave 0.
Wave 2/3 is another seperate shipping option for goods produced after Wave 1 ships, so you get some in Wave 1, and some in Wave 2/3.
Hmm, last 2 pages have been questions regarding the shipping costs.
Here's how it works:
Base shipping is required, and called Wave 1.
If you want items already able to be shipped, to BE shipped, ie EARLIER than Wave 1, you choose Wave 0, that's why it's a zero, see, it's LESS than 1. This effectively pays for an extra shipment of minis already ready, you cannot only select Wave 0.
Wave 2/3 is another seperate shipping option for goods produced after Wave 1 ships, so you get some in Wave 1, and some in Wave 2/3.
And it was already answered. More comprehensively. And without sarcasm.
Hmm, last 2 pages have been questions regarding the shipping costs.
Here's how it works:
Base shipping is required, and called Wave 1.
If you want items already able to be shipped, to BE shipped, ie EARLIER than Wave 1, you choose Wave 0, that's why it's a zero, see, it's LESS than 1. This effectively pays for an extra shipment of minis already ready, you cannot only select Wave 0.
Wave 2/3 is another seperate shipping option for goods produced after Wave 1 ships, so you get some in Wave 1, and some in Wave 2/3.
And it was already answered. More comprehensively. And without sarcasm.
Mallox will follow the Mallax.
And the Mallax will follow Mullux
And Knox will follow Knux
Knox in box. Fox in socks.
Knox on fox in socks in box.
Socks on Knox and Knox in box.
Fox in socks on box on Knox.
Sorry...got lost there....
As a budding Fomoraic, I'm not completely sold on Aalvór just yet.
I suspect it is just because the head isn't hugely refined in those images, and I remain confident it'll be awesome, but I think I'll hold off on pre-ordering the Mallox until I've seen a few more images.
So glad I went in for Jowan. I think I can get double use of the hounds as both miniatures for the Darklands game, as well as for Infinity as Antipode pack wolves. They'll do nicely.
The second Friday update of this Kickstarter project sees artwork for the Legionary Contubernium and a quick note on shipping, for the purchase of.
Con I Modius - Legionary Contubernium
Steve Pierce has been working very hard on getting the Legionaries sorted over the past couple of weeks and the results, we think, are stunning.
Get your laughing gear around this little lot:
Modius, DecanusModius, Decanus
Gellius, LegionaryGellius, Legionary
Tiberius, LegionaryTiberius, Legionary
Livia, LegionaryLivia, Legionary
Severa, LegionarySevera, Legionary
We are yet to assign a sculptor for the Legionary Contubernium, but rest assured - we have someone in mind and we think you'll love them!
Darklands: First Edition Shipping
I think, out of everything else from this Kickstarter project, the way shipping works has generated the most questions. So here's a clear explanation...
◾Wave 1 is mandatory!: You MUST purchase the "Wave 1 Shipping" item regardless of anything else, and even if it's £0.00 for UK residents. I've now renamed them "Mandatory Wave 1 Shipping" on the Kickstarter category, too.
◾I haven't paid for Wave 1...: Then you must do so immediately. If you don't, your item will sit in limbo for all time. Note that this may incur website shipping charges, if you don't order more than the "free shipping" threshold on the website; I will refund you if that is the case.
◾I want to wait for everything: If you want to wait for EVERYTHING you've ordered to be sent to you in one shipment, you ONLY need to purchase the Mandatory Wave 1 Shipping item. Ignore everything else!
◾Wave 0: If you want already available items (and/or Malacant) to be shipped from December onwards, purchase the Wave 0 shipping item.
◾Waves 2 and 3: Purchase the "Wave 2 Shipping" item or "Wave 3 shipping item" if you want your Wave 1 items shipped before them.
◾Further Orders: if you make further orders before stuff is shipped, you don't need to add any more shipping, we'll just combine naturally. So if you order Wave 1 stuff now, and order more Wave 1 stuff in April, say, and you've paid for Wave 1 shipping in your first order, you don't need to add any more shipping.
◾Further Orders after Shipment: On the flipside, if, for example, you have some Wave 0 stuff shipped, and then add more Wave 0 stuff before Wave 1 comes out and you don't want to wait, add another "Wave 0 Shipping" item.
Nov 1, 2013
Jowan, Ssibyros, Aalvór, Pétroyos, Werwulfas, Khthones... and Exclusive Penda!
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The wheel of time turns relentlessly, it says here, and so another Friday rears its beautiful head - and we all know what that means. Yes indeed, here's another Friday Update - you Can't Knock it!
This Friday we have work in progress images of four miniatures, plus the completed Werwulf concept art and news of fulfilment and category locking. It's a jam-packed jamboree of jamminess!
Jowan of Carn Dhu, Hound-Master and Drune-Hounds
Hooray! Stéphane Simon has now finished Jowan of Carn Dhu and his Drune-Hounds, so much so that in fact they are in our grubby mitts right now and should begin to ship at the back end of next week. How exciting!
Until then, here's images of some of Stéphane's finest work...
The interesting thing about the Drune-Hounds is that their horns are separate and thus, if you wanted to use the hounds without them (perhaps in a different game or as part of some kind of diorama) that's achievable with very little work indeed.
Ssibyros, Gorgonarchon
Stéphane NGuyen has finished Ssibyros, which means we can "Hooray!" ourselves silly. He should land here in the UK next week, and whilst we have no new images of him, there will be some of him assembled at some point soon.
What this means, of course, is that we can begin to ship the Khthones Starter Sets with everything in them, rather than splitting them, which is what we feared we may have to do.
Aalvór, Mallax Gultain
Benoît Cosse has begun work on Aalvór, the first of our Mallax or sloth-men for the Fomoraic. Aalvór is a Gultain, a minor commander, and whilst these are early WIPs - there's not much fur, for example - he is already looking very cool indeed.
Watch out for more Aalvór images soon!
Pétroyos, Lískarchon
Not content with creating an awesome dragon and a stunning ice-beast and an amazing hydra over the past couple of months, not to mention Aradae Mawr, Glaun and the rest, we think that Roberto Chaudon has outdone himself with Pétroyos - the first of our Lískar, or basilisk-men.
He's going to be awesome!
Werwulf Unit Concept Art
Danny Cruz, the incredible artist that he is, has completed the concept art for the Werwulfas and we're very proud to show you his work right here.
Wulfric of Tamtun, Great Werwulf
Æsc, Werwulf Maneback
Dudda, Werwulf Howler
Inguc, Werwulf Warrior
Cenric, Werwulf Warrior
The Werwulfas are due to be sculpted by Benoît Cosse, of course; and whilst he still has Aalvór to finish and Maallolvór to start, we are confident these guys will be done in January.
Penda the Bloody-Handed - the Exclusive Version!
Now that the second Kickstarter project has ended and we have a bit of time, we decided to get digging yesterday so that our exclusive Penda the Bloody-Handed on Horse with Wolf Helm miniature can finally wend his merry way to you.
The limited edition Penda the Bloody-Handed with Wolf Helm miniature!
A few months back, you see, we unveiled just why Penda with Wolf Helm was exclusive, and not just because of his availability (he's strictly limited to 250, of which around a hundred are left to purchase); it's also because you'll get a piece of history in the blister pack he comes in, along with a special (no expense spared) silver sticker proclaiming his limitedness, a numbered certificate and a resin scenic base, of course.
That history takes the form of a small bag of soil from the site of the Battle of Hatfield (with which you could decorate his base, for example), the battle in 633 AD in which the real Penda of Mercia - along with the Welsh King Cadwallon - defeated and killed King Edwin of Northumbria.
Obviously, we have to dig up that soil, so here's a few images from our little trip to Cuckney, where the Battle of Heathfield is believed to have taken place, yesterday...
We didn't have far to travel to get to the site of the Battle of Heathfield, in Cuckney!
This map of Cuckney shows the whereabouts of Cuckney Church (under which are buried hundreds of bodies, believed to have been from the Battle of Heathfield), where we dug (X) and the all-important Greendale Oak, where we retired to afterwards!
The Battle of Heathfield could have taken place anywhere upon those fields, of course, but we believe it to be fairly close to Cuckney Church. Why would they take the trouble to move the bodies far?
Cuckney Church
Behind the church lies a very overgrown graveyard or two
Another, better tended graveyard. Bear in mind we did this on All Hallows Eve...
The lovely Norman tower of St Mary's Church at Cuckney
St Mary's Church, viewed from "X" on the map
The boys dig up some soil from the site of the Battle of Heathfield. From left to right, Dave, Tim, Jamie and Niall
Dave and Tim climb up the small ridge to the heath field beyond
Tim walks on the heath field
The heath field itself - a strong candidate for the site of the actual battle
Job done, time for a pint!
The frankly awesome Greendale Oak pub. It's also a bed and breakfast hotel!
Huzzah!
...and then, sadly, it's back to Mierce Towers to do some actual work. We could easily have stayed at the Greendale all day!...and then, sadly, it's back to Mierce Towers to do some actual work. We could easily have stayed at the Greendale all day!
So, all of you that have purchased the limited edition, Darklands: a World of War Penda the Bloody-Handed on Horse with Wolf Helm miniature will enjoy a piece of history as well as a fantastic miniature sculpted by possibly the finest sculptor on the planet, Jacques-Alexandre Gillois!
Customers outside the EU
Now, unfortunately for many of you, it will be impossible for us to send you the small bag of soil simply because the importation of such is illegal and highly restricted. Thus, we are sorry to say that we can only send the limited edition Penda with soil to those of you within the EU.
Shipping limited Penda
It will likely be in a couple of weeks' time, so that we can organise the blister pack, labels, soil and so forth, but we'll keep you posted.
There's still some left!
There's still a few limited Pendas left - but be quick, because (as it states below) we'll be locking him on Monday...
The Battle of Heathfield
Now, with you guys and gals having a keen interest in warfare as well as history, we're sure you'd like to learn more about the Battle of Heathfield (which is generally called the Battle of Hatfield these days).
We're not the only ones that believe that Heathfield took place around Cuckney, either; and it all stems from what happened in Cuckney Church over sixty years ago and the fact that the name of a nearby village, Edwinstowe, means "Edwin's resting place".
The location of Cuckney, where the Battle of Heathfield probably took place, and Edwinstowe
So why do we believe the Battle of Heathfield took place in Cuckney? Well, after the Battle of Heathfield, the body of King Edwin, it is said, was taken to what is now called "Edwinstowe". Edwinstowe is thirty miles south of Doncaster, which is where the battle has been believed to have been held before now, and one question hangs over that location: why on earth would they take Edwin's body south by thirty miles, when Northumbria - North of the River Humber - is north of Doncaster?
We're not the only people that believe this. You see, it's well known around Cuckney that in the 1950s - when work was being done on the foundations of the church - a great number of bodies were found. An interesting article appeared in the local newspaper recently regarding this and the battle, so I scanned it in. It references both Cadwallon and Penda as well as Edwin, and also gives you some information on the bodies buried under Cuckney church. http://www.mierce-miniatures.com/downloads/hatfield.jpg It's a pretty big file (2,000px wide and 1Mb+).
The Battle of Hatfield Society's investigations, of course, continue!
Darklands: a World of War Fulfilment
The shipping of the Angelcynn starter sets is now complete, which means we can move on to the Khthones! We'll be getting Ssibyros next week, so we'll be waiting for him to be moulded and cast before we begin shipments of the Khthones starter sets; this means they should begin to ship towards the back end of next week.
Of other recently completed sculpts, Chaagmuth on foot, Brynhild Gunnblindi and Gamla Bror are now being shipped, but we are prioritising those orders with starter sets so if that's all you've left with us, please be patient!
In terms of other sculpt progress, here's an update:
Allan Carrasco: Qaano will be sculpted later in the year.
Benoît Cosse: Aalvór is a work in progress and then he's doing Maallolvór and the Werwulfas.
Roberto Chaudon: Petróyos is almost finished (we hope he'll be ready next week) and Belech will follow him.
James van Schaik: he should be starting Kernuor on Karnun Beast in November sometime.
Stéphane NGuyen: Ssibyros is finished and he is starting work on Druc right now.
Stéphane Simon: Jowan is done, and he will begin work on Leofwen on Hart (as well as Leofwen on foot from Kickstarter II) very shortly.
More Kickstarter Category Locks
With a few sculpts now complete and the Khthones starter sets beginning to ship next week, it's time to lock more stuff from this project!
You have until midnight (GMT) on Monday, the 4th of November to order the following from the Darklands: a World of War category:
Baragash wrote: That's what I thought, I guess in lieu of a banner they go for a bit of peacock-effect?
Mierce has talked about this in the KS comment section, that they want to add a champion, a standard bearer and a musician to their units, but not neccessarily too obvious ones. I like it.
grefven wrote: Mierce has talked about this in the KS comment section, that they want to add a champion, a standard bearer and a musician to their units, but not neccessarily too obvious ones. I like it.
After reading this, the image of a tanuki with his junk slung over his shoulders pounding away on his balls as a musician would not leave my head. It would totally work in Darklands too!
I figured that maneback was going to be some sort of command style unit. If I end up with some wolves it will be very hard to resist having all that mane in bright glowing yellow. I'll just need to get a smaler, scrawnier werwulf
that can transform into the maneback when his power level goes over 9000.
They'll be on 60mm bases, and presumably similar in size to Cearl (WIP shown below)
I've got him in bits so I'll see if I can blu-tac him together for a scale shot sometime tomorrow (from what I remember he's smaller than the rest of the monstrous infantry but a lot bigger than a 'human')
Cool, thanks guys. I had got it in my head that they were more man-sized, but now that I see their price I understand they must be quite a bit... heftier.
So grab some random 30mm werewolf to use until he goes Super Saiyajin!
Isn't there something one step bigger than the werwulf? The Guthwulves I believe? And then the Maegenwulf is even bigger than both of those?
Do the latter two even have human forms, or are they furried up all the time?
I've got a soft spot for wolves, but I tend to prefer the armed and armored style of wolves like the Wolfen. Given how impressed I've been with Mierce's stuff, I might start dipping in to the Angelcynn's troops (even though I've been trying to concentrate on Khthon and Formorian kindreds... and some Dyndraigs).
Maegenwulf = enormous monster wolf, the biggest we've seen for the Angelcynn so far.
Waelwulfas = The least wild iteration of the werewolves so far, still making use of armour and weapons. Not sure if its been explicitly stated that they would be Angelcynn's next monstrous infantry unit, but it makes sense.
I think Mierce has stated elsewhere that the Miercna state in Angelcynn can generally only shift to werewolves and then further devolve. Penda being an example of an arrested shape shift, that can not be reversed. Other Angelcynn shapeshifters can revert to human form at will.
So the Maegenwulfas would likely be the oldest and most powerful werewulfas iteration.
Man, I didn't know the Dyndraig's were that big. They're massive! Glad I didn't buy them to be substitutes for Ogres, waaay to massive. A really nice miniature though.
I think all the monstrous infantry is on the 60mm base.
My Sronax really fill theirs up. Sthena looks like she has a pretty solid footprint on hers as well.
Might have to pick her up in the future. Wouldn't know how to paint her though- all my snakes so far have been done up in reds, and I suck at blending.
Albeit just before 5am in the UK as I write, so I'll give them a few more minutes to get it in my inbox!
No kidding. Why are you up brother?
I've been unable to work through illness for the last year or so, and let's just say that without the pressures of a daily routine, my natural body clock is...unusual?
A short update today, but no less awesome for all that... Malacant is now winging his way to us and should land early next week. That means he's the first miniature to be produced for this Kickstarter project!
To celebrate Dan Cockersell's latest masterpiece, here's a few images you won't have seen of him...
Malacant will, of course, be shipped in Wave 0 - starting in December - and he'll be locked from the Kickstarter category just before we do that, so if you want him at the Kickstarter price, you'd better get him now...
A short update today, but no less awesome for all that... Malacant is now winging his way to us and should land early next week. That means he's the first miniature to be produced for this Kickstarter project!
To celebrate Dan Cockersell's latest masterpiece, here's a few images you won't have seen of him...
Malacant will, of course, be shipped in Wave 0 - starting in December - and he'll be locked from the Kickstarter category just before we do that, so if you want him at the Kickstarter price, you'd better get him now...
Automatically Appended Next Post: Argh, Ninja'd by 6 seconds!!
After last week's major blow out this is kind of "After the Lord Mayor's Show", but we have a bit of news for you.
Pétroyos, Lískarchon
Roberto Chaudon's almost finished Pétroyos and whilst there's a few bits that need tidying up here and there, he's about ready. So we'll only show a couple here and then when he's completely finished show you the full miniature.
We think he'll be done by the end of next week, so he should ship with the Khthones Starter Sets; what we're going to do is prioritise those starter sets without Pétroyos first, and ship those who have ordered Pétroyos when he's ready.
Kernuor, Seer-Drune on Karnun-Beast
James van Schaik has been working hard on Kernuor's Karnun-Beast, and he's turning out very cool indeed!
He's about finished, and Kernuor himself should take about a week, so we should get him in time for December.
Darklands: a World of War Fulfilment
We've finally received Ssibyros and the first casts should be made early next week, which means the first starter sets will ship in the middle of next week. Apologies for that delay, but Ssibyros had a holiday in Germany for two days, thanks to UPS!
Of other recently completed sculpts, Chaagmuth on foot, Brynhild Gunnblindi and Gamla Bror are now being shipped, but we are prioritising those orders with starter sets so if that's all you've left with us, please be patient!
In terms of other sculpt progress, here's an update:
Allan Carrasco: Qaano will be sculpted later in the year.
Benoît Cosse: Aalvór is a work in progress and then he's doing Maallolvór and the Werwulfas.
Roberto Chaudon: Petróyos is almost finished and Belech will follow him.
James van Schaik: Kernuor on Karnun-Beast should be finished next week.
Stéphane NGuyen: He is starting work on Druc shortly.
Stéphane Simon: He will begin work on Leofwen on Great Hart (as well as Leofwen on foot from Kickstarter II) very shortly.
Darklands QuickStarter Rulebook
The final version of the QuickStarter Rulebook (at least where the printing is concerned) will be done by the end of next week, hopefully, and then it will pass to our artworker who will then get it ready for printing. We hope to have this ready by the end of November and printed during December. Sadly we don't think it will be ready to ship before January, but we'll see and I'll keep you all updated.
Please accept my apologies for the delay in printing - it's simply a combination of the second Kickstarter project and the myriad of stuff I've had to do that has taken up my time. Rest assured, a lovely, 76-page perfect bound QuickStarter rulebook will find its way to your grubby mitts soon!
Darklands Templates! Huzzah!
Myself and Stef Kopinski are working on the designs for these and they should be getting sorted soon; after I've finalised the QuickStarter rulebook I'll get the designs finished and passed to our template manufacturers. These will be made in coloured acrylic, rather like our old Templar's Forge templates (if you remember those), and will look great.
The designs will be for:
4" Flame Template (Dyndraig, Cawrdraig)
6" Flame Template (Chimaera)
8" Flame Template (Draiggoch)
6" Breath of Ice Template (Shaaroc)
4" Gopping Spray Template (Torku)
3" Pig Splatter Template (Cormorágg)
2" Shard Template (Magágg)
These templates will be quite unique and we think you'll absolutely love them!
As per the original £70,000 stretch goal, we will give templates out to anybody who has ordered a starter set that requires them; so only the Dyndraig Monstrous Infantry Starter Set, each of which will get one 4" Flame Template. They'll be shipped with other orders or the Darklands QuickStarter Rulebook of course.
Anybody that requires a template for any of the other monsters will have to purchase them; at the end of the day, these require money to make and we cannot afford to simply give them away.
When it comes to retail, we will not be packaging the templates with those miniatures that require them, they'll be available separately or in sets. We'll put these on the website as soon as we have images of them available.
Darklands Token Sets
I'm also getting some token sets organised for you all to purchase - and these will be for every kindred and realm, not just those from this project...
I forsee the following conversation in December...
Mrs Baragash: honey, your newborn daughter needs changing again
Baragash: have you seen what just arrived, check out this shield, I think I need changing again!
Mrs Baragash: *violence*
edlowe wrote: He does look like a real beast, il have to see if I can pick him up in time.
I used my ks2 pledge money to pre-order Vaak, can anybody confirm his release date is jan? Cheers.
Vaak's done and (I think) either in transit to Mierce or maybe just arrived,
people who picked him up via KS1 can probably expect him from December onwards (lots of Khthones and other bits to mould first)
but since you picked it up as part of KS2 you should expect it some time from January onwards (they've said KS2 wave 0 shipping may well end up running into early February too as they've had rather a lot of orders....)
edlowe wrote: He does look like a real beast, il have to see if I can pick him up in time.
I used my ks2 pledge money to pre-order Vaak, can anybody confirm his release date is jan? Cheers.
Vaak's done and (I think) either in transit to Mierce or maybe just arrived,
people who picked him up via KS1 can probably expect him from December onwards (lots of Khthones and other bits to mould first)
but since you picked it up as part of KS2 you should expect it some time from January onwards (they've said KS2 wave 0 shipping may well end up running into early February too as they've had rather a lot of orders....)
OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote: A short update today, but no less awesome for all that... Malacant is now winging his way to us and should land early next week. That means he's the first miniature to be produced for this Kickstarter project!
To celebrate Dan Cockersell's latest masterpiece, here's a few images you won't have seen of him...
Malacant will, of course, be shipped in Wave 0 - starting in December - and he'll be locked from the Kickstarter category just before we do that, so if you want him at the Kickstarter price, you'd better get him now...
How big is he?
Compared to Krull, is he 1/2 the height...3/4...?
Is that 3.5" tall to the top of the wings? Or am I mis-reading the ruler? If so, that's shorter than I thought, which is actually nice... one of the few problems I have with the Mierce models is that some of them are soooo big . Still not sure what I'll actually be able to use my pair of Blood Maws for when I get them, or what I can fit them on!
RiTides wrote: Is that 3.5" tall to the top of the wings? Or am I mis-reading the ruler? If so, that's shorter than I thought, which is actually nice... one of the few problems I have with the Mierce models is that some of them are soooo big . Still not sure what I'll actually be able to use my pair of Blood Maws for when I get them, or what I can fit them on!
Do ya need a scale comparison shot of an assembled blood maw?
cincydooley wrote: Do ya need a scale comparison shot of an assembled blood maw?
If that is a possibility, it'd be excellent . Failing that my plan was to wait to receive it, fully expecting to be shocked and probably deciding it could fit on nothing other than massive 100x150 base for fantasy, or the oval base for 40k. I'm hoping I'm wrong, but my one prior experience with Mierce (purchasing Shaaroc) resulted in size shock
Worst case scenario you have a pair of conversation starting bookends.
Admittedly the conversations might be quite short and feature more screaming and cries of"Oh god no, I want to live!" than you might be used to.
cincydooley wrote: Do ya need a scale comparison shot of an assembled blood maw?
If that is a possibility, it'd be excellent . Failing that my plan was to wait to receive it, fully expecting to be shocked and probably deciding it could fit on nothing other than massive 100x150 base for fantasy, or the oval base for 40k. I'm hoping I'm wrong, but my one prior experience with Mierce (purchasing Shaaroc) resulted in size shock
...I've been looking for good scale pics of shaaroc - would you have some of your own? Already ordered mine, should probably ship along with Khthones (and hopefully Tarvax!) starter stuff somewhere over the next few weeks but I'm getting sort of anxious now (not that it'll matter; I ordered it for darklands so scale won't be an issue, but still - is my paint collection going to cry that badly? )
RiTides wrote: Is that 3.5" tall to the top of the wings? Or am I mis-reading the ruler? If so, that's shorter than I thought, which is actually nice... one of the few problems I have with the Mierce models is that some of them are soooo big . Still not sure what I'll actually be able to use my pair of Blood Maws for when I get them, or what I can fit them on!
I have a Blood Maw, he sits on a 120mm round base, and its the perfect size for him.
He is really big and heavy, but totally worthwhile, it is one of the nicest Mierce/Banebeasts minis.
Alpharius wrote: Funny thing is when I was inventorying Mjagnir's parts, I thought his hands were miscast because the fingernails looked miscast/missing.
A quick check of the website showed me he's got a few long fingernails - which are add-ons on a separate sprue!
Alpharius wrote: Funny thing is when I was inventorying Mjagnir's parts, I thought his hands were miscast because the fingernails looked miscast/missing.
A quick check of the website showed me he's got a few long fingernails - which are add-ons on a separate sprue!
Ditto
It totally wierded me out... never noticed before I was putting it together either
Look, I like Malacant, he's a really nice mini, but if I get him, it'll look like the "mini me" version of Krull.
He also lacks any scaling accessories (skulls, etc), so he'll end up looking like another Krull in a different scale, sort of like a 1/44 F-14 sitting next to a 1/72 F-14.
Reinforcing this is the axe, which looks exactly the same, but smaller.
I guess I could buy him, and stick some skulls on his belt, to reinforce the fact that he's a smaller demon of the same ilk.
Getting a mini-Krull would be awesome in those cases when you would use Krull in a battle. After he takes 50% damage, you simply switch him out to mini-Krull to symbolise that he is half as nasty.
Hey Mierce...is Druc going to have a sculpted base including skulls, or will he be free standing?
Also, on bases, have you guys considered releasing some themed, detailed bases for your minis?
I'd buy some, and I'm sure some others would too...
yxalitis wrote: Hey Mierce...is Druc going to have a sculpted base including skulls, or will he be free standing?
Also, on bases, have you guys considered releasing some themed, detailed bases for your minis?
I'd buy some, and I'm sure some others would too...
I am buying a lot more bases than I used to, now I cannot see a plain based mini without thinking I need to take it off and put it on a scenic. I would be all for detailed bases (120mm ones in particular).
yxalitis wrote: Hey Mierce...is Druc going to have a sculpted base including skulls, or will he be free standing?
Also, on bases, have you guys considered releasing some themed, detailed bases for your minis?
I'd buy some, and I'm sure some others would too...
I am buying a lot more bases than I used to, now I cannot see a plain based mini without thinking I need to take it off and put it on a scenic. I would be all for detailed bases (120mm ones in particular).
Yes, and the market for 120 and 100mm bases is somewhat limited.
Oh sure, sure, they're out there, but mostly we have variations on a theme.
We have desert, ruins of one type or another, snow, lava, skulls (oh, so many skulls), jungle, and umm, not much else really.
There's also steam punk and modern, but neither is suitable for fantasy minis.
Hey, anyone else get annoyed by really nice bases..that have nowhere for the mini to stand.
Like this one..great base...how do i put a mini on it?
Just noticed that a lot of the KS stuff has artwork attached to the items on the website.
Don't know if this was down to me, but it was definitely something I suggested while the KS was running (either here or in the KS comments) but regardless, kudos to Mierce, makes browsing and ordering a much less confusing (and more tempting) experience.
judgedoug wrote: I use putty or file/cut away where the feet will rest.
Yeah, I try that, but usually cut away too much, and end up with nasty looking gaps where there should be some detail.
And in my example, you end up with it looking like you cut away the details, the foliage and leaves should be crushed underfoot, not hacked off sharply.
Any mini that includes a base made specifically for it always looks better than one I try and modify.
Perfect example: the Hordes Archangel, sitting on a custom base, amazing!
Even simply things like footprints in the ground that match the creature. Can count on one hand how many times I've seen that (zero).
yxalitis wrote: Hey Mierce...is Druc going to have a sculpted base including skulls, or will he be free standing?
Also, on bases, have you guys considered releasing some themed, detailed bases for your minis?
I'd buy some, and I'm sure some others would too...
I am buying a lot more bases than I used to, now I cannot see a plain based mini without thinking I need to take it off and put it on a scenic. I would be all for detailed bases (120mm ones in particular).
Yes, and the market for 120 and 100mm bases is somewhat limited.
Oh sure, sure, they're out there, but mostly we have variations on a theme.
We have desert, ruins of one type or another, snow, lava, skulls (oh, so many skulls), jungle, and umm, not much else really.
There's also steam punk and modern, but neither is suitable for fantasy minis.
Hey, anyone else get annoyed by really nice bases..that have nowhere for the mini to stand.
Like this one..great base...how do i put a mini on it?
I generally don't have that problem... I have enough mini's or bases to fit them on it somehow. That base I would most likely use for a skimmer. Sand down a 16mm diameter circle to put a clear acyrlic rod and then put a magnet at the top. All of the base is still visible and the vehicle is detachable (so you can use it for more than one skimmer).
yxalitis wrote: Hey Mierce...is Druc going to have a sculpted base including skulls, or will he be free standing?
Also, on bases, have you guys considered releasing some themed, detailed bases for your minis?
I'd buy some, and I'm sure some others would too...
Is it OK to quote my own post to increase the chances Mierce will read it?
yxalitis wrote: Hey Mierce...is Druc going to have a sculpted base including skulls, or will he be free standing?
Also, on bases, have you guys considered releasing some themed, detailed bases for your minis?
I'd buy some, and I'm sure some others would too...
Is it OK to quote my own post to increase the chances Mierce will read it?
Bolognesus wrote: I think rob mentioned in the comments he'd prefer to focus on more minis.
He did, but Penda has a special base (was an exception).
But creating bases for the (particularly larger) models as an added option wouldn't be too hard, bases are crazy easy compared to these hige beasts (my totally expert opinion )
Guys,
We won't be doing scenic bases any time in the near future; as Bolognesus said, we're concentrating on miniatures and what's needed for the game before we do anything else really.
I'm not going to say we'll never do scenic bases, however, because that wouldn't be the truth! We'll do them at some point, but you'd be looking at 2015 at the earliest I would think.
Mierce Miniatures wrote: Guys,
We won't be doing scenic bases any time in the near future; as Bolognesus said, we're concentrating on miniatures and what's needed for the game before we do anything else really.
I'm not going to say we'll never do scenic bases, however, because that wouldn't be the truth! We'll do them at some point, but you'd be looking at 2015 at the earliest I would think.
Cheers
Thanks for the feedback.
That's perfect. I'm in this for the long haul, so 2015 isn't a big deal for me. Heck I might have all my KS stuff from you built by then... almost
Mierce Miniatures wrote: Guys,
We won't be doing scenic bases any time in the near future; as Bolognesus said, we're concentrating on miniatures and what's needed for the game before we do anything else really.
I'm not going to say we'll never do scenic bases, however, because that wouldn't be the truth! We'll do them at some point, but you'd be looking at 2015 at the earliest I would think.
Mierce Miniatures wrote: Guys,
We won't be doing scenic bases any time in the near future; as Bolognesus said, we're concentrating on miniatures and what's needed for the game before we do anything else really.
I'm not going to say we'll never do scenic bases, however, because that wouldn't be the truth! We'll do them at some point, but you'd be looking at 2015 at the earliest I would think.
Cheers
Ah, good to know!
I hope that doesn't count as our Weekly Friday Update though!
Mierce Miniatures wrote: Guys,
We won't be doing scenic bases any time in the near future; as Bolognesus said, we're concentrating on miniatures and what's needed for the game before we do anything else really.
I'm not going to say we'll never do scenic bases, however, because that wouldn't be the truth! We'll do them at some point, but you'd be looking at 2015 at the earliest I would think.
Cheers
[HomerSimpson] ...but I want it NOW...[/HomerSimpson]
Now that November's miniatures have been digested, it's time to give you December's new releases - many of which are from our Darklands: A World of War Kickstarter project - as well as news on a few code changes and (the horror) some unavoidable price rises, we're afraid to say. Not to worry, those price rises won't take effect until the 1st of December, so you've time to take advantage of our current prices!
So what's new for December? Well, we have the absolutely superb mounted Penda the Bloody-Handed, the rather lovely Wulfhere the Fane-Bearer and the awesome Beornred the Duguth Fane-Bearer, all for the Angelcynn; the first new Khthones miniature for a while in the croccy-shaped form of Vókkinak, Krokodar Roarer; two new Norse miniatures, Kjartan of Jylland and the very juicy Gamla Bror; and lastly, the last of the Bow-Drunes from the unit of five, Tyack, and all five Sword-Melusines gathered together in a unit!
Just like last time, thanks to us being busier than busy bees over the past few months, 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.
Sculpted by probably the finest sculptor alive today, Jacques-Alexandre Gillois, from concept art by the peerless Stefan Kopinski, the incredibly detailed Penda the Bloody-Handed miniature (painted by the brilliant Sébastien Picque) represents the king of the Miercna, the people of Mierce, and is a double hard so and so thanks to being part-wolf and part human. Penda on his horse Fram is an amazing miniature, another piece of art piled with detail upon detail, and very nasty to face in Darklands to boot!
Wulfhere is a minor lord in his own right, an Ætheling, the son of Penda and heir to the throne of Mierce, and he proudly bears his father's banner into battle to inspire the warriors of his country. Sculpted by James van Schaik from a concept by Des Hanley, Wulfhere is sure to keep your host on the battlefield and ready to fight!
The second miniature of the five-man Duguth spearman unit, Beornred is the unit's Fane-Bearer and an important cog in the wheel of battle, a warrior that has seen it all and come out the other side with fire in his belly still, and the advantage of his experiences. Beornred, like all the Duguth, was sculpted by Juan Navarro Pérez from a concept by Des Hanley, and they are all fantastic miniatures!
Megalávrá has a friend to keep him company - Vókkinak is his champion's characterful banner bearer and a mighty warrior in his own right! Both come from an eventual unit of five, drawn by Christophe Madura and sculpted by Benoît Cosse.
The Norse releases keep going with Kjartan of Jylland, a cracking little miniature sculpted by James van Schaik from a concept by Stefan Kopinski. He really does look like a grumpy old git, which means James has captured his essence perfectly - after all, he has to lug a huge great banner around and he's getting on a bit!
Gamla Bror is Allan Carrasco's first miniature for us in a good long while, but the wait has definitely been worth it because our Troll Gothi is a superb, awesome and fantastic miniature with a ton of detail and character. That's down to Stefan Kopinski too of course, who drew that detail on the concept, but Allan really has pulled him off masterfully!
Tyack is the last of the Bow-Drune unit to be released and, like all his mates, he's bloody awesome - because he was drawn by Danny Cruz and sculpted by James van Schaik, of course! Except for the forthcoming unit release, that's that for the Bow-Drunes, but rejoice in the fact that the Ysians, at least, have a missile unit!
The last of the five Sword-Melusines were released ages ago, of course, so it's about time we got around to releasing a unit of them really. Sculpted by James van Schaik from artwork by Christophe Madura, the Swords of Ys - comprising Kernsa, Tecass, Esyld, Alianne and Ygerna - retails at £34.99. Buying them individually costs £50.95, a discount of over 30%!
All of the eight miniatures above will be officially released on the 7th of December 2013, but you can pre-order them here to your heart's content, of course!
There'll be another news article later on this week detailing December's eight releases as well as a couple of code changes and details of forthcoming price rises, too, so watch this space!
Code Changes
Now on to other pieces of news, and firstly, code changes. For various reasons we've decided to alter the product codes of some of our miniatures. This is a relatively minor issue and won't impact on any private customers, but if you're a retailer please take note!
ABN-FTU-1101 - Drast the Hunched - changed to ABN-FTU-1131
ABN-FTU-3202 - Dungann - changed to ABN-FTU-1231
ANG-BRN-1501 - Beowa (human form) - changed to ANG-SSD-1101
ANG-BRN-1502 - Beowa (bear form) - changed to ANG-SSD-1102
ANG-MRC-0002 - Meloda - changed to ANG-MRC-0011
FMR-BLR-0101 - Kraan on bear - changed to FMR-BLR-0102
FMR-BLR-0102 - Kraan on foot - changed to FMR-BLR-0101
FMR-BLR-0301 - Chaagmuth on boar - changed to FMR-BLR-0302
KTH-GOR-0002 - Sthena - changed to KTH-GOR-0051
These code changes have been put into effect already, so please update your files if necessary.
Price Rises
It's a sad fact of life, but sometimes price rises do have to occur so that we can afford to bring you such high quality miniatures time after time. The cost of materials is always rising, as is the cost of living, and we do hope you understand that we do not increase the cost of our miniatures lightly. We agonise over it, to be honest! Even so, not all of our miniatures are increasing in price - prices are mostly rising on human-sized miniatures and very large monsters - and you'll have until December the 1st, 2013 before the prices actually rise! So you've a little time to get what you want at the old price.
Before we give you a big list of what's increasing, please note that prices are rising in two ways. The first way, of course, is that the recommended retail prices - RRPs - are increasing for certain miniatures. The second price change is that the discount for ordering our miniatures directly from ourselves - 10% off the UK RRP, which we gave because we do not supply the packaging with miniatures ordered on our website - is reducing to 5% off (so whilst it's a reduction, it's also an increase. Maths is great). Both of these changes will be effective from the 1st of December, so again, you've a little time to get what you want at the old discount.
So let's give you a list of the miniatures whose prices are increasing...
ABN-FTU-1131 - Drast the Hunched - £10.99 to £12.99
ANG-SSD-1101 - Beowa (human form) - £10.99 to £12.99
BRY-GWY-1131 - Hywel Hir - £10.99 to £12.99
BRY-GWY-8701 - Gynroch ap Roch - £59.99 to £69.99
FMR-BLR-0101 - Kraan on foot - £10.99 to £12.99
FMR-BLR-0102 - Kraan on bear - £29.99 to £34.99
FMR-BLR-0302 - Chaagmuth on boar - £29.99 to £34.99
FMR-BLR-1131 - Tundaar - £12.99 to £14.99
FMR-BLR-1161 - Maagaan - £10.99 to £12.99
FMR-BLR-1301 - Brunchaath - £10.99 to £12.99
FMR-BLR-1331 - Daachuch - £10.99 to £12.99
FMR-BLR-1361 - Aanchuth - £10.99 to £12.99
FMR-BLR-7351 - Báintaac - £14.99 to £19.99
INF-DIS-0101 - Krull - £109.99 to £129.99
KTH-GOR-0001 - Ophios - £34.99 to £39.99
NOR-SFG-1101 - Eirik Longaxe - £10.99 to £12.99
NOR-SFG-8701 - Mjagnir - £59.99 to £69.99
VRS-TCW-0101 - Blunt-Claw - £10.99 to £12.99
VRS-TCW-8802 - Flint-Fang - £49.99 to £59.99
YSN-KYS-0101 - Carrowek on foot - £12.99 to £14.99
YSN-KYS-1131 - Mawdred - £12.99 to £14.99
YSN-KYS-1562 - Ulric - £10.99 to £12.99
YSN-KYS-3502 - Lugung - £16.99 to £19.99
YSN-KYS-3502 - Uggurd - £16.99 to £19.99
YSN-KYS-3502 - Muldo - £16.99 to £19.99
YSN-KYS-3502 - Nung - £16.99 to £19.99
YSN-KYS-8901 - The Terror of Fortriu - £89.99 to £99.99
Note also that the prices of these miniatures' components will also increase in line with the above.
So much has happened since the last news article, it's difficult to know where to start! We've held another very successful Kickstarter project - Darklands: First Edition - of course, the cracking Darklands Painting Competition (through those lovely chaps at WAMP) has now finished and we shouldn't forget our original Kickstarter project, Darklands: A World of War, either, which is very close to being fulfilled!
Even so, such snippets of news are not the main focus of this snippet of news, because we need to tell you about the eight new releases for November, which are already available for you to buy. These include the incredible Penda the Bloody-Handed on foot by Jacques-Alexandre Gillois, two more Angelcynn releases (Cearl the Werwulf Thegn and Osgar the Duguth champion), the last Norse Troll from his unit (Nisurl) and some fanastic Ysians, including Hedroc of Carn Maen, another Bow-Drune and the Ax-Drune unit!
Again, thanks to us being busier than busy bees over the past couple of months, we've simply 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. The November releases are, of course, available for you to buy right now!
Sculpted by probably the finest sculptor alive today, Jacques-Alexandre Gillois, from concept art by the peerless Stefan Kopinski, the incredibly detailed Penda the Bloody-Handed miniature (painted by the brilliant Sébastien Picque) represents the king of the Miercna, the people of Mierce, and is a double hard so and so thanks to being part-wolf and part human. Penda really is a superb miniature, a piece of art piled with detail upon detail, and very nasty to face in Darklands to boot. Watch out for the mounted version next month...!
Cearl is a cracking miniature and the very first of our Angelcynn Werwulfas (werewolves to you and me) and was sculpted by Benoît Cosse from a drawing by Christophe Madura. Cearl is a Werwulf Thegn, a warchief fully capable of commanding hosts of wulf-kin or, indeed, humans that are too scared to say no to a ten foot tall monstrosity. That'll be most of them, then...
Here's an awesome thing: the first miniature from the awesome Duguth, a unit of spearmen for the Angelcynn! Osgar is the unit's Champion and thus an experienced warrior, especially as the Duguth represent oldbeards, veterans of many shieldwalls. Osgar, like all the Duguth, was sculpted by Juan Navarro Pérez from a concept by Des Hanley, and they are all fantastic miniatures!
Chaagmuth the Jaw-Taker, that awesome Gabrax on a mighty Toracx, is now in foot form - or should we say, hoof...! Sculpted by Benoît Cosse from a concept by Stefan Kopinski, Chaagmuth is a cracking little miniature and, of course, can be a warlord to lead your host of goat-men!
Nisurl is yet another superb sculpt by Allan Carrasco from a concept by Stefan Kopinski and the last Troll Warrior to be released from the unit of five, which will appear in January. These guys look hard and hit hard!
Stéphane Simon, the sculptor of Hedroc, just gets better and better we think: he's really made the Ysians his very own, just like Danny Cruz who has drawn the concepts for most of them. Hedroc is a perfect example of a cracking concept perfectly executed in miniature form - a chain-wielding warrior who looks mean and will paint up superbly.
Like all the Bow-Drunes, Piran was drawn by Danny Cruz and sculpted by James van Schaik. He's the fourth Bow-Drune to be released and he's just as good as the rest, if not better... these guys really are some of James' best work for us.
With the last of the five Ax-Drunes released in August, it's time to release a unit of them! The Axes of Carn Maen release contains all five Ax-Drunes - Arthyen, Branok, Canan, Talan and Mawgan, all sculpted by Juan Navarro Pérez from concepts by Danny Cruz - and brings them together for both ease of purchase and a cracking discount. The unit of five retails at £34.99 whereas buying them individually costs £50.95, a discount of over 30%. Every little helps!
All of the eight miniatures unveiled here were officially released on the 2nd of November 2013.
There'll be another news article later on this week detailing December's eight releases as well as a couple of code changes and details of forthcoming price rises, too, so watch this space!
Automatically Appended Next Post: Minor update on KS2
Malacant and Krull
It's an even smaller update today, but again - it's no less awesome for all that.
Malacant, Servile Champion of Dis landed this week and the first cast was produced in record time, and as he is so fantastic we thought we'd compare his scale to his big brother Krull and a human-sized miniature, Penda.
Enough words, more pictures:
Krull, Malacant and Penda!
(apologies for the blurry nature of this photograph)
As you can see, Malacant's big, but nowhere near as big as Krull!
Malacant also fits on a 50mm square base... demon prince size... which is nice!
Nov 22, 2013
WIPs of Dúngal, Wave 0 and Christmas!
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We have a fairly big update for you here on Darklands: First Edition - the first WIPs of Dúngal from Olivier Nkweti, plus news of Wave 0 fulfilment, Christmas last shipping dates and the code changes and price rises mentioned next week.
First, though, a quick reminder...
The Existing Miniatures' Discount Ends in Eight Days' Time!
The Darklands: First Edition Existing Miniatures category, where you can get 20% off the UK RRP of our existing range (which, when you take into account the forthcoming price rises, is a stunning deal now), will be closed in eight days' time - on Saturday, November the 30th 2013 at midnight GMT!
Without putting too fine a point on it, if you're in need of any of our existing miniatures - BaneLegions or Darklands, including those from the first Kickstarter project - you'll never have a cheaper opportunity than now.
Grab some before this offer expires - 20% off UK RRP is not to be sniffed at!
Dúngal, Mormaer of Dun Durn
From a concept by Sam Lamont, Olivier Nkweti (of Rackham, Arena Rex, Hordes and Warmachine and much else fame) has started his first sculpt for us, Dúngal, our Albainn general, and he is looking great so far!
There should be more WIPs of Dúngal next week hopefully!
Wave 0 Fulfilment
As December is so close, it's time we had a quick word about Wave 0 fulfilment and how things will work.
At the moment we're still shipping Khthones Starter Sets from the first Kickstarter project, and are likely to still be doing so in early December; but as we're already a third of the way through them, we reckon two weeks should be enough time to see them all shipped.
Thus, from at least December the 9th onwards, we should begin shipping the remainder of the Darklands: a World of War items where required (except for QuickStarter rules, which will be produced in January) and we will be combining much of those with the first Darklands: First Edition Wave 0 items as many of you have purchased from both, of course.
We'll still be shipping Wave 0 items too for those who haven't backed both projects, please note!
However, you must understand that the lads will be on holiday from the 18th of December until Monday the 6th of January, so really we only have about a week and a half to get a lot of Wave 0 stuff out of the door.
What this means is that we'll ship some Wave 0 orders, of course, but the majority will be shipped in the new year, as we suggested they would.
So I would ask you all to be patient please - we're going as fast as we can!
Christmas Shipping
As always at this time of year, shipping times become longer until we get into January and the backlog is worked through.
In terms of "last shipping dates", here's Royal Mail's document giving you dates in full:
In short, you're looking at last posting dates, for normal airmail anyway, of:
Australia/New Zealand - 4/5 December
Canada, France, Greece, Poland - 10 December
USA - 13 December
Europe - 14 December
UK - 18 December (second class), 20 December (first and recorded), 23 December (special delivery)
It often happens that packages are delivered after those dates but before Christmas, of course, so there's always hope. I've no idea why France is so early though!
All we ask of you guys, really, is that - again - you remain patient over the festive period, your package will arrive in January if not before!
UPS Shipping
There is a possibility of using UPS to ship your package, which can be 2-3 days, but be warned - this will be expensive and we must ask for that shipping cost before we ship your items.
Simply ask for details (by sending an e-mail to kickstarter@mierce-miniatures.com) if you're really impatient for your stuff or need it for a present or something!
Code Changes and Price Rises
Whilst not strictly related to this Kickstarter project, it's worth giving you a heads up on a few things ahead.
Code Changes
For various reasons we've decided to alter the product codes of some of our miniatures. This is a relatively minor issue and won't impact on any private customers, but if you're a retailer please take note!
ABN-FTU-1101 - Drast the Hunched - changed to ABN-FTU-1131
ABN-FTU-3202 - Dungann - changed to ABN-FTU-1231
ANG-BRN-1501 - Beowa (human form) - changed to ANG-SSD-1101
ANG-BRN-1502 - Beowa (bear form) - changed to ANG-SSD-1102
ANG-MRC-0002 - Meloda - changed to ANG-MRC-0011
FMR-BLR-0101 - Kraan on bear - changed to FMR-BLR-0102
FMR-BLR-0102 - Kraan on foot - changed to FMR-BLR-0101
FMR-BLR-0301 - Chaagmuth on boar - changed to FMR-BLR-0302
KTH-GOR-0002 - Sthena - changed to KTH-GOR-0051
These code changes have been put into effect already, so please update your files if necessary.
Price Rises
It's a sad fact of life, but sometimes price rises do have to occur so that we can afford to bring you such high quality miniatures time after time. The cost of materials is always rising, as is the cost of living, and we do hope you understand that we do not increase the cost of our miniatures lightly. We agonise over it, to be honest! Even so, not all of our miniatures are increasing in price - prices are mostly rising on human-sized miniatures and very large monsters - and you'll have until December the 1st, 2013 before the prices actually rise! So you've a little time to get what you want at the old price.
This does, of course, mean that the discount you're getting from the "Darklands: First Edition Existing Miniatures" category (if you backed our second project) is even better than you all first realised...
Before we give you a big list of what's increasing, please note that prices are rising in two ways. The first way, of course, is that the recommended retail prices - RRPs - are increasing for certain miniatures. The second price change is that the discount for ordering our miniatures directly from ourselves - 10% off the UK RRP, which we gave because we do not supply the packaging with miniatures ordered on our website - is reducing to 5% off (so whilst it's a reduction, it's also an increase. Maths is great). Both of these changes will be effective from the 1st of December, so again, you've a little time to get what you want at the old discount.
So let's give you a list of the miniatures whose prices are increasing...
ABN-FTU-1131 - Drast the Hunched - £10.99 to £12.99
ANG-SSD-1101 - Beowa (human form) - £10.99 to £12.99
BRY-GWY-1131 - Hywel Hir - £10.99 to £12.99
BRY-GWY-8701 - Gynroch ap Roch - £59.99 to £69.99
FMR-BLR-0101 - Kraan on foot - £10.99 to £12.99
FMR-BLR-0102 - Kraan on bear - £29.99 to £34.99
FMR-BLR-0302 - Chaagmuth on boar - £29.99 to £34.99
FMR-BLR-1131 - Tundaar - £12.99 to £14.99
FMR-BLR-1161 - Maagaan - £10.99 to £12.99
FMR-BLR-1301 - Brunchaath - £10.99 to £12.99
FMR-BLR-1331 - Daachuch - £10.99 to £12.99
FMR-BLR-1361 - Aanchuth - £10.99 to £12.99
FMR-BLR-7351 - Báintaac - £14.99 to £19.99
INF-DIS-0101 - Krull - £109.99 to £129.99
KTH-GOR-0001 - Ophios - £34.99 to £39.99
NOR-SFG-1101 - Eirik Longaxe - £10.99 to £12.99
NOR-SFG-8701 - Mjagnir - £59.99 to £69.99
VRS-TCW-0101 - Blunt-Claw - £10.99 to £12.99
VRS-TCW-8802 - Flint-Fang - £49.99 to £59.99
YSN-KYS-0101 - Carrowek on foot - £12.99 to £14.99
YSN-KYS-1131 - Mawdred - £12.99 to £14.99
YSN-KYS-1562 - Ulric - £10.99 to £12.99
YSN-KYS-3502 - Lugung - £16.99 to £19.99
YSN-KYS-3502 - Uggurd - £16.99 to £19.99
YSN-KYS-3502 - Muldo - £16.99 to £19.99
YSN-KYS-3502 - Nung - £16.99 to £19.99
YSN-KYS-8901 - The Terror of Fortriu - £89.99 to £99.99
BLG-BNL-0010 - Nagausith - £10.99 to £12.99
Note also that the prices of these miniatures' components will also increase in line with the above.
We have work in progress images of three miniatures this week, including the first WIPs of a new one - Belech!
Belech, Scion of Baalor
Roberto Chaudon just doesn't stop producing the goods - Belech, the first true Fomoraic to be made and a son of Baalor himself, is underway and he is looking AWESOME already. Thanks must go to Danny Cruz too, of course, for nailing down that Fomoraic look!
As you can see from the steel ruler and the comparison with Galhwch Lladd Llaw, Belech's a big 'un - probably about the size of Malacant, although without wings of course.
Druc, Meat-Hulk
Druc is taking shape now, Stéphane is getting the head horns looking right and it shouldn't be long before we see some full detail on that armature!
We expect Druc to be finished by January.
Aalvór, Mallax Tain
Benoît Cosse's been on holiday for a couple of weeks but now he's back and Aalvór is almost ready. Now furred up, there's a few details to sort and then he should be ready!
We expect Aalvór to be finished by the end of the month.
Darklands: a World of War Fulfilment
The Khthones Starter Sets are now well underway with the first of them going out last Friday - with today's shipment we're about a third of the way through so we expect to have all of them sent by early December.
Of other recently completed sculpts, the Limited Edition Penda with Wolf Helm, Chaagmuth on hoof, Brynhild Gunnblindi and Gamla Bror are now being shipped, and we've just received Angrislaug, Vaak and Pétroyos. Of those, Pétroyos' first casts will be made early next week with Angrislaug and Vaak following, but please understand that we are prioritising orders with Khthones starter sets - so if the above miniatures are all you've left with us, please be patient!
Once those sets are shipped - and we reckon that should be by December the 9th - we'll begin shipping remaining items from your orders, except for the QuickStarter Rulebook which won't be printed until January we think. We'll combine any of your Wave 0 orders for First Edition items with these shipments where possible, of course.
In terms of other sculpt progress, here's an update:
Allan Carrasco: Qaano will be sculpted later in the year.
Benoît Cosse: Aalvór is almost done and then he's doing Maallolvór and the Werwulfas.
Roberto Chaudon: Belech is underway!
James van Schaik: Kernuor on Karnun-Beast isn't yet finished unfortunately, although James is a little busy with his own Kickstarter project. We hope to have him by the end of next week.
Stéphane NGuyen: Druc is under way!
Stéphane Simon: He will begin work on Leofwen on Great Hart (as well as Leofwen on foot from Kickstarter II) very shortly.
Chaagmuth on hoof is almost as tall as a tarvax (okay not quite but still). It's a really, really imposing model, and it's bloody huge. Significantly bigger than some other gabrax characters, but not out of scale or anything; just beefier.
...Khthones starter also looking lovely (yup, just got my goods yesterday few pieces missing - ckaarakk only body included, not the other bits, and two breakages but minor stuff. Over the moon, here )
Belech is sweet! I like that style of head bmuch etter than the "normal" Formaics, although that's just due to personal preference, not sculpting quality.
JWBS wrote: 3 week break for everyone over christmas seems a bit silly.
There's only a few employees isn't there? Makes more sense to stack all the holidays at once rather than to take them one at a time if missing a single employee causes serious issues.
JWBS wrote: 3 week break for everyone over christmas seems a bit silly.
Actually it makes sence to me, the Royal Mail is notorious for being bad over the Christmas period,this also includes missing and opened parcels as well as the delays Mierce has mentioned. Why work all over the Christmas period when the parcels will just sit in a sorting centre anyway.
Plus I don't think the Mierce team have had much of a break over the last year.
JWBS wrote: 3 week break for everyone over christmas seems a bit silly.
It's actually two and a half weeks, and if you narrow it down it's ten working days (with three bank holidays thrown in there) that they're taking off on holiday.
Frankly I'm amazed that you begrudge the lads this time off, they've worked extremely hard this year and usually do overtime each week to get orders fulfilled.
JWBS wrote: 3 week break for everyone over christmas seems a bit silly.
It's actually two and a half weeks, and if you narrow it down it's ten working days (with three bank holidays thrown in there) that they're taking off on holiday.
Frankly I'm amazed that you begrudge the lads this time off, they've worked extremely hard this year and usually do overtime each week to get orders fulfilled.
Don't worry, that quote was most likely from an entitled brat with no regard for others
JWBS wrote: 3 week break for everyone over christmas seems a bit silly.
It's actually two and a half weeks, and if you narrow it down it's ten working days (with three bank holidays thrown in there) that they're taking off on holiday.
Frankly I'm amazed that you begrudge the lads this time off, they've worked extremely hard this year and usually do overtime each week to get orders fulfilled.
Yes. Please don't mind that. Dude is clearly In the selfish over entitled minority.
Wow guys, no need to dogpile on the guy, point's been made!
I'm excited that my Blood Maws from cincy are in the mail although unfortunately I'm getting a little worried since they've been en route for a week, and Ohio to Maryland should usually be signifcantly less than that... Hmmmm :-/
Really, guy probably just doesn't have all that much in the way of experience with smaller businesses - I can understand not realizing those operate a little differently
JWBS wrote: Hah Yeah sorry about that opinion fellas, you guys are awesome and I'm like Hitler or something
MM - Just thought since it's a busy time and all, and this was the usual christmas holiday thing, only longer. I didn't realise it's a 4 man operation as stated somewhere above, so it makes sense to have everyone gone at the same time rather than a hampered operation several times a year.
No more though til 2015 please! And make them work Sundays until April too. It'll keep us selfish entitled brats satisfied (a not insignificant demographic, unwise to ignore us)
It's good. We determined you werent selfish, just ignorant of the facts and quick to comment. It's much better.
JWBS wrote: Not too quick, only got a few dozen all in this thread. I suppose I could have mulled it over, sought some outside opinion, but what the hell, might as well just say what's on my mind eh. What's the worst that could happen? ; )
Automatically Appended Next Post: ok I'm looking a bit peevish now with this avatar, going to stop
It's all good. We all sometimes forget how small a lot of these companies in minis really are. I mean hell, CMoN, who is "big" in this niche, only has like 14 employees.
Man this month went fast and it's so hard to choose what I want, it's all awesome!
Even just picking a faction to start with is hard.
Had the chimera since it was first released. Already ordered Belech, the dragon and hydra. Think I've narrowed down my next lot to Galagaak, Uuthull and Blood maw. Aw but Hrudin is awesome too!
So I guess my factions will be Fomoraic (Tarvax) and Norse (trolls). But then angelcynn for the Werewulf. Plus my actual rule book pledge. Aargh!
Joyboozer wrote: Man this month went fast and it's so hard to choose what I want, it's all awesome!
Even just picking a faction to start with is hard.
Had the chimera since it was first released. Already ordered Belech, the dragon and hydra. Think I've narrowed down my next lot to Galagaak, Uuthull and Blood maw. Aw but Hrudin is awesome too!
So I guess my factions will be Fomoraic (Tarvax) and Norse (trolls). But then angelcynn for the Werewulf. Plus my actual rule book pledge. Aargh!
\
I can confirm that both Galagaak and Uuthull are absolutely top notch. I know there's a lot of love for Blood Maw but he doesn't have the character that Galagaak and Uuthull have.
Joyboozer wrote: Man this month went fast and it's so hard to choose what I want, it's all awesome!
Even just picking a faction to start with is hard.
Had the chimera since it was first released. Already ordered Belech, the dragon and hydra. Think I've narrowed down my next lot to Galagaak, Uuthull and Blood maw. Aw but Hrudin is awesome too!
So I guess my factions will be Fomoraic (Tarvax) and Norse (trolls). But then angelcynn for the Werewulf. Plus my actual rule book pledge. Aargh!
\
I can confirm that both Galagaak and Uuthull are absolutely top notch. I know there's a lot of love for Blood Maw but he doesn't have the character that Galagaak and Uuthull have.
Galagaak abd Uuthull are really the only big monsters (along with the huge croc) that I haven't gotten. Something about them... cannot put my finger on what it is.
Joyboozer wrote: Man this month went fast and it's so hard to choose what I want, it's all awesome!
Even just picking a faction to start with is hard.
Had the chimera since it was first released. Already ordered Belech, the dragon and hydra. Think I've narrowed down my next lot to Galagaak, Uuthull and Blood maw. Aw but Hrudin is awesome too!
So I guess my factions will be Fomoraic (Tarvax) and Norse (trolls). But then angelcynn for the Werewulf. Plus my actual rule book pledge. Aargh!
\
I can confirm that both Galagaak and Uuthull are absolutely top notch. I know there's a lot of love for Blood Maw but he doesn't have the character that Galagaak and Uuthull have.
Galagaak abd Uuthull are really the only big monsters (along with the huge croc) that I haven't gotten. Something about them... cannot put my finger on what it is.
Uuthull was a joy to assemble, and I'm really looking forward to painting Galagaak. They are honestly two of my favorite sculpts from Mierce.
Got my Blood Maws from cincy! Man, they look even better in person and actually don't seem too big at all, although I'm sure they will still be a little unweildy once their full "wingspan" is in place with the wide arms.
RiTides wrote: Got my Blood Maws from cincy! Man, they look even better in person and actually don't seem too big at all, although I'm sure they will still be a little unweildy once their full "wingspan" is in place with the wide arms.
RiTides wrote: Got my Blood Maws from cincy! Man, they look even better in person and actually don't seem too big at all, although I'm sure they will still be a little unweildy once their full "wingspan" is in place with the wide arms.
Very, very pleased with them . Thanks cincy!
Cheers! Enjoy!
I love this thread more and more as time goes on. I wish I wasn't being pedantic on bases and had more of these built! Such nice models... want to start (badly) painting them.
RiTides wrote: Got my Blood Maws from cincy! Man, they look even better in person and actually don't seem too big at all, although I'm sure they will still be a little unweildy once their full "wingspan" is in place with the wide arms.
Time for some more work in progress images, Kickstarter backers! We have more of Belech and some finished Aalvór for you, as well as more news on project fulfilment and price rises (which occur over the weekend).
First, some WIPs...
Belech, Scion of Baalor
Roberto Chaudon's been beavering (or should that be lobstering?) away on our Fíorfomor, Belech, and already we know this miniature is going to be fantastic. So much character and otherworldliness!
Roberto will continue working on Belech and we think he'll be finished in early December. He probably won't make it out before January, however.
Aalvór, Mallax Tain
Benoît has now finished and cut Aalvór, as you can see. He should be winging his hairy way to us shortly!
...and here's his little piggy to hang off his belt:
We like piggies!!
We expect Aalvór to land shortly and we should get some casts out before Christmas.
Darklands: a World of War Fulfilment
With the shipment going out today, almost two-thirds of the Khthones Starter Sets have now been completed and sent off, so we are on course to get them all out by the 9th of December.
Once the Khthones Starter Sets are completed, we'll begin shipping remaining items from your orders, except for the QuickStarter Rulebook (which won't be printed until January we think, now). We'll combine these remaining items with Wave 0 orders for First Edition items from the Darklands: First Edition kickstarter project with these shipments where possible, of course.
Of other recently completed sculpts, the Limited Edition Penda with Wolf Helm, Chaagmuth on hoof, Brynhild Gunnblindi and Gamla Bror are now being shipped, along with the first casts of Angrislaug and Pétroyos. Vaak's going out next week. Please understand that we are prioritising orders with Khthones Starter Sets - so if the above miniatures are all you've left with us, please be patient!
In terms of remaining sculpt progress, here's an update: ◾Allan Carrasco: Qaano will be sculpted later in the year. ◾Benoît Cosse: Aalvór is done and Maallolvór is under way. The Werwulfas are next... ◾Roberto Chaudon: Belech is underway! ◾James van Schaik: Kernuor on Karnun-Beast isn't yet finished unfortunately, although James is a little busy with his own Kickstarter project. We hope to have him by the end of next week. ◾Stéphane NGuyen: Druc is under way! ◾Stéphane Simon: He will begin work on Leofwen on Great Hart (as well as Leofwen on foot from Kickstarter II) in December.
QuickStarter Rules
The QuickStarter Rules will be finished early next week and off to the graphic designer. We've made a few alterations to certain rules that were causing combat to become a little clunky - namely, Damage+ is removed completely and Parry Dice are removed completely, to be replaced by a simple "-1" parry modifier for shields only - as well as a few other bits and pieces.
A downloadable version - in fact, the first "living" version - will be available in next Friday's update, version 10.3.
I'll make sure a list of changes is provided of course!
Muster Rules
Now that the QuickStarter Rules are just about sorted, we can turn our attention to the Muster Rules and address some of the issues that have reared their ugly heads - knowing which miniatures relate to which profiles, for one thing - as well as start to include new profiles for miniatures that will be made for the second Kickstarter project. Adding in profiles for new miniatures from the First Edition kickstarter also ensures we're able to sort out Ubiquity issues for many realms!
The Muster Rules will begin to take shape over Christmas and the New Year. We'll sort out existing problems first, and then add new profiles later.
Templates
We've been hard at work with Stefan Kopinski to get the templates sorted and the results are brilliant, even if we do say so ourselves... here's an example of what you can expect:
...and here it is at roughly actual size:
roughly 3" wideroughly 3" wide
The Pig Splatter Template, of course, is a crush template, and so the pig itself will be a hole, as you can see below...
roughly 3" wideroughly 3" wide
If you're under that hole, woe betide you...
We've also got to add numbers and arrows and logos and so forth, so there's still work to do on them. But you get the general idea... but one thing's for sure: our templates are going to be totally unique!
Just to recap, these are the templates that will be available: ◾4" Flame Template (Dyndraig, Cawrdraig) ◾6" Flame Template (Chimaera) ◾8" Flame Template (Draiggoch) ◾6" Breath of Ice Template (Shaaroc) ◾4" Gopping Spray Template (Torku) ◾3" Pig Splatter Template (Cormorágg) ◾2" Stone Shard Template (Cormorágg, Magágg)
Christmas Shipping
As always at this time of year, shipping times become longer until we get into January and the backlog is worked through.
In short, you're looking at last posting dates, for normal airmail anyway, of: ◾Australia/New Zealand - 4/5 December ◾Canada, France, Greece, Poland - 10 December ◾USA - 13 December Europe - 14 December ◾UK - 18 December (second class), 20 December (first and recorded), 23 December (special delivery)
It often happens that packages are delivered after those dates but before Christmas, of course, so there's always hope. I've no idea why France is so early though!
All we ask of you guys, really, is that - again - you remain patient over the festive period, your package will arrive in January if not before!
UPS Shipping
There is a possibility of using UPS to ship your package, which can be 2-3 days, but be warned - this will be expensive and we must ask for that shipping cost before we ship your items. Simply ask for details (by sending an e-mail to kickstarter@mierce-miniatures.com) if you're really impatient for your stuff or need it for a present or something!
(the update also includes the notice on the upcoming stock code changes and December price rises posted before so I've left them out, scroll back in the thread if you need to know)
Automatically Appended Next Post: and a small update for Darklands : First Edition
Existing Miniatures Discount (20% off) Ends on Monday...
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It's just a small update for you today with no WIPs to show, unfortunately; just a reminder that the Existing Miniatures category will be closed on Monday as well as news of shipping times, code changes and price rises.
The Existing Miniatures' Discount Ends on Monday!
The Darklands: First Edition Existing Miniatures category, where you can get 20% off the UK RRP of our existing range (which, when you take into account the forthcoming price rises, is a stunning deal now), will be closed on Monday, December the 2nd!
(We've basically decided to ignore the fact that December starts on Sunday).
Without putting too fine a point on it, if you're in need of any of our existing miniatures - BaneLegions or Darklands, including those from the first Kickstarter project - you'll never have a cheaper opportunity than now.
Grab some before this offer expires - 20% off UK RRP is not to be sniffed at!
Wave 0 Fulfilment
December's only a few days away, so it's time we told you how Wave 0 fulfilment will work.
At the moment we're still shipping Khthones Starter Sets from the first Kickstarter project, and are likely to still be doing so in early December; but as we're already two-thirds of the way through them, we reckon another week should be enough time to see them all shipped.
Thus, from at least December the 9th onwards, we should begin shipping the remainder of the Darklands: a World of War items where required (except for QuickStarter rules, which will be produced in January) and we will be combining much of those with the first Darklands: First Edition Wave 0 items as many of you have purchased from both, of course.
We'll still be shipping Wave 0 items too for those who haven't backed both projects, please note!
However, you must understand that the lads will be on holiday from the 18th of December until Monday the 6th of January, so really we only have about a week and a half to get a lot of Wave 0 stuff out of the door. What this means is that we'll ship some Wave 0 orders, of course, but the majority will be shipped in the new year, as we suggested they would.
So I would ask you all to be patient please - we're going as fast as we can!
Update #69 Dec 6, 2013
WIPs, QS Rules and Much Else
We have quite a few WIPs for you this week, including the almost-finished Belech, more of Druc and Kernuor on Karnun-Beast and the very first images of Maallolvór and Leofwen's Great Hart!
We also have the final draft version of the QuickStarter Rules - v10.3 - for you all, and news of fulfilment, as always.
Fridays are Miercedays!
Belech, Scion of Baalor
That didn't take long! Belech, the son of Baalor, is almost finished and Roberto Chaudon must, of course, take a bow for creating such a superb beastie. Roberto's done it again!
Belech is just about done, there's a few details to sort but we expect to get him before Christmas; but it's unlikely he'll be sent before January though.
Druc, Meat-Hulk
Stéphane NGuyen's been working away on Druc and whilst progress is a bit slow you can see that he's really taking shape now.
We do expect that Druc will be finished in January.
Kernuor, Seer-Drune on Karnun-Beast
A small update on Kernuor but a good one - Kernuor himself is being sculpted! There's a way to go yet but it's still progress.
We're hoping that James can find the time to finish Kernuor on his Karnun-Beast before Christmas, but we will see.
Maallolvór, Lumbering Mallox
Benoît Cosse's working hard on his next monstrosity: Maallolvór, the giant sloth creature for the Fomoraic!
Maallolvór won't be huge, as you can see: he'll be on a 100mm base. That's plenty big enough though!
As you can see, it's still early days, and so we expect that Maallolvór will be finished for January. Then, happily, it's Werwulf time for Benoît...
Leofwen, Fane-Bearer of Mierce on Great Hart
Stéphane Simon's recovered from coming back from his holiday in November (he certainly deserved one!) and has started work on Leofwen's Great Hart. It's still early days, but it's looking regal already...
Leofwen and Great Hart should be finished in January.
Darklands: a World of War Fulfilment
We're still working through the Khthones Starter Sets; thanks to hitting a few snags with Ygandr and Ssibyros (who is, it has to be said, a pain to cast!), and trying to combine Angrislaug and much else with your sets, it's unlikely we'll get them all out by the 9th of December. We do apologise for this, and whilst it may happen that the last few will be sent in January, we do hope that most of them will be sent before Christmas.
This of course means that shipment of remaining items from Darklands: a World of War orders will be delayed into the new year, most likely. However, this does mean that - as the QuickStarter Rules will be printed in January - we can combine them all.
We'll also combine these remaining items with Wave 0 orders for First Edition items from the Darklands: First Edition kickstarter project with these shipments where possible, of course.
Of other recently completed sculpts, the Limited Edition Penda with Wolf Helm, Chaagmuth on hoof, Brynhild Gunnblindi, Gamla Bror and Jowan and Drune-Hounds are now being shipped, along with the first casts of Angrislaug, Vaak and Pétroyos. Please understand that we are prioritising orders with Khthones Starter Sets - so if the above miniatures are all you've left with us, please be patient!
In terms of remaining sculpt progress, here's an update:
Allan Carrasco: Qaano will be sculpted later in the year, possibly January now.
Benoît Cosse: Maallolvór is under way. The Werwulfas are next...
Roberto Chaudon: Belech is about done, and then it's Darklands: First Edition projects for him!
James van Schaik: Kernuor on Karnun-Beast isn't yet finished. We hope to have him before January, but we will see.
Stéphane NGuyen: Druc is under way!
Stéphane Simon: Work has begun on Leofwen on Great Hart! Leofwen on foot for Darklands: First Edition will follow.
Darklands QuickStarter Rules - v10.3 (final)
We've been beavering away on getting the QuickStarter Rules revised and ready for the designer and it's only fitting that you guys get a downloadable version too.
Thus, it can safely be said that this version of the QuickStarter Rules is the FINAL DRAFT version - i.e., there won't be any more versions before it's printed, and immediately it is printed it will turn into the LIVING rules, which we'll update as and when we find issues; until, ultimately, we get to the full rules.
You can download them here: Darklands QuickStarter Rules v10.3
So what's changed, I hear you all cry? Well, a few important things, so please bear the following in mind when you start to play with these rules. The major changes are listed below:
Parry Dice: parry dice have now been removed entirely from armour and weapons. The reason for this change is simply because using parry dice, in any form, was becoming very clunky and annoying during combat; so we've removed it. Instead of parry dice, shields give their wielders a -1 strike modifier.
Hour's End and End of Battle: the "An Hour Passes" section now includes the check for a host being ravaged and a general dying, called the "Gathering Courage Sequence". Then Victory Conditions are checked.
Woe! Woe!: If a host does not have a general, it can still remain on the field. This ensures the death of a general is not as annoying as it was.
Recover action: Performing a Recover action now gives the Recoverer 2D10 Constitution, and 1D10 if he has performed another action that hour.
Subclass: a warrior's class can now have a subclass. This is mainly used with mounts - for example, a Beast can be a Mount or an Ardent Mount.
Damage+: Damage+ (as a way to increase the effects of attacks) has now been removed. Once again, it was proving too clunky (you had to roll dice for each warrior individually) and was confusing when set next to Wound+, which is still there of course.
There are other minor changes, so I would recommend - especially if you are familiar with the previous versions of the QuickStarter Rules - to have a good read through.
In future, any changes to the downloadable Living QuickStarter rules will be made in red, so you can see at a glance what has changed.
There will be a place on our website where the rules, muster rules and profiles are stored and you are assured of being able to download the latest versions. This will happen, but please be patient!
Please Bear in Mind...
As before, please bear in mind that these QuickStarter Rules are to get you by until they're formatted for printing. As such, whilst they'll look very like these rules in terms of layout and the wording, they'll be a bit more... well, spangly when they're ready for print.
Once the QuickStarter rules are printed (we're looking at some time in January), they will of course be sent out to you along with the remainder of your order.
Muster Rules
The Muster Rules, Musters and Warrior Profiles must, of course, change thanks to the rules changes. This will occur over the coming weeks and we'll keep you all updated, week by week, with what's been done. We'll get the warrior profiles sorted first so you can get gaming.
They should all be done before Christmas, but we'll see!
Again, these are LIVING versions and will change over time depending on what is found, people's experiences during games and much, much more besides. This means they won't be printed - only the QuickStarter rules will be such - at least, for a good long while...
Templates
As we showed you all last week, we've been hard at work with Stefan Kopinski to get the templates sorted and the results are fantastic.
Here's a few examples of what Stef's been up to:
8", 6", 4" Flame Spray Template
Wordy bits and arrows and suchlike are yet to be added, but you get the general idea.
Just to recap, these are the templates that will be available:
4" Flame Spray Template (Dyndraig, Cawrdraig) - one of this template will be sent to everybody that ordered a Dyndraig Starter Set
6" Flame Spray Template (Chimaera)
8" Flame Spray Template (Draiggoch)
6" Breath of Ice Spray Template (Shaaroc)
4" Gopping Spray Template (Torku)
3" Pig Splatter Crush Template (Cormorágg)
3" Ice Shard Crush Template (Vaak)
2" Stone Shard Crush Template (Cormorágg, Magágg)
We did forget to include Vaak's Ice Shard template in last week's update - rest assured, that will be done!
Christmas Shipping
As always at this time of year, shipping times become longer until we get into January and the backlog is worked through.
In short, you're looking at last posting dates, for normal airmail anyway, of:
Australia/New Zealand - 4/5 December
Canada, France, Greece, Poland - 10 December
USA - 13 December
Europe - 14 December
UK - 18 December (second class). Whilst its actually 20 December (first and recorded) and 23 December (special delivery), we're on holiday from the 18th, so treat everything for the UK as the 18th.
It often happens that packages are delivered after those dates but before Christmas, of course, so there's always hope. I've no idea why France is so early though!
All we ask of you guys, really, is that - again - you remain patient over the festive period, your package will arrive in January if not before!
UPS Shipping
There is a possibility of using UPS to ship your package, which can be 2-3 days, but be warned - this will be expensive and we must ask for that shipping cost before we ship your items. Simply ask for details (by sending an e-mail to kickstarter@mierce-miniatures.com) if you're really impatient for your stuff or need it for a present or something!
I might have to see if I can afford another one to do this to
Hehe, well if you do you have to share. As soon as I saw the picture I knew he needed one of those Couldn't help myself so if I get him it would be to do that.
How much is he anyway?
I was going to say that Darklands miniatures are too nice for me to even consider chopping up (and honestly, too expensive to trust to my meager converting skills!) - but if he comes with an officially sculpted "Axe" option...
basement.dweller wrote: Woohooo Thank you guys muchly. Now I have to look through the rest of the figures and see if I can make it a band
How about Gamla Bror, swap out the staff for a mic stand and the hammer for a microphone for a great 'listen to the crowd sing the chorus pose'
Spoiler:
I thought the idea was awesome He doesn't exactly have the "charm" of a lead singer though. I have an alternate idea for him If I get round to sketching it in I'll post...
Obviously the band is going to be called "the basement dwellers"
I'm glad people liked the "axe" concept - thanks guys. Now where is that "rock on" ork?
Thank you guys muchly. Now I have to look through the rest of the figures and see if I can make it a band
How about Gamla Bror, swap out the staff for a mic stand and the hammer for a microphone for a great 'listen to the crowd sing the chorus pose'
I think Druc could make for a great drummer with a little modification. I think Druc has enough charisma to give the band a name: The Meat-Hulks (possibly Belech and the Meat-Hulks?).
This week, the penultimate update before Christmas, we have work in progress images of Leofwen on Great Hart and Kernuor on Karnun Beast as well as the final images of Belech - who, it has to be said, is an absolute masterpiece in our opinion.
Following on from the QuickStarter Rules update last week, we have the first profiles matched to those rules for the Angelcynn and Khthones, too!
Belech, Scion of Baalor
After adding a few more details, the insuperable Roberto Chaudon has completed Belech, and what a fantastic miniature he has become. Whilst Danny Cruz' artwork is superb, of course, Roberto's added his own unique twists to the son of Baalor and the results are fantastic. We're really happy with this guy!
We'll be getting Belech before Christmas, but he won't be cast now until the new year.
Belech... the Axeman Cometh!
A member of the Dakka Dakka forums, basement.dweller (real name Grigorios from Sweden) came up with this last week...
...so we've decided to make him! Grigorios has kindly signed over the rights to his image so, once we've cast Belech in the new year, we'll be sending a couple back to Roberto so that he can turn one into Belech the Axeman - which you'll then be able to buy!
We've no doubt that more band members will pop out of the woodwork at some point... suggestions for them are welcome, as is the name of Belech's band!
Leofwen, Fane-Bearer of Mierce on Great Hart
Stéphane Simon's working very hard on Leofwen and her Great Hart. The mount is just about complete now, which is massive progress from last week's update, and Leofwen herself is taking shape!
Leofwen also gives you a good idea of the Great Hart's scale - he will still fit on a 60mm base, though.
She and her mount should be finished by January.
Kernuor, Seer-Drune on Karnun Beast
James van Schaik has been busy on Kernuor on Karnun Beast, as you can see! He's really taking shape now and we don't think it will be too long before he's finished.
James should finish up Kernuor on his Karnun Beast very soon we think, judging by the progress here, but of course we won't be shipping him until January now.
Darklands: a World of War Fulfilment
We've got all of the Khthones Starter Sets in packing right now, as well as associated miniatures, but it's highly unlikely that all of them will be sent before January - except for UK customers, whose Khthones sets will definitely ship before Christmas.
This of course means that shipment of remaining items from Darklands: a World of War orders will be delayed into the new year, especially as we've had some very large miniatures to cast (Angrislaug not least!), but - as the QuickStarter Rules will be printed in January - we can combine most things in your orders at that time.
We'll also combine these remaining items with Wave 0 orders for First Edition items from the Darklands: First Edition kickstarter project with these shipments where possible, of course.
Of other recently completed sculpts, the Limited Edition Penda with Wolf Helm, Chaagmuth on hoof, Brynhild Gunnblindi, Gamla Bror and Jowan and Drune-Hounds are now being shipped, along with the first casts of Angrislaug, Vaak and Pétroyos. Please understand that we are prioritising orders with Khthones Starter Sets - so if the above miniatures are all you've left with us, please be patient!
Remaining Sculpts
In terms of remaining sculpt progress, here's an update:
Allan Carrasco: Qaano will probably be sculpted in January now.
Benoît Cosse: Maallolvór is under way. The Werwulfas are next...
Roberto Chaudon: Belech is finished then it's Darklands: First Edition projects for him!
James van Schaik: Kernuor on Karnun-Beast isn't yet finished but should be done for January.
Stéphane NGuyen: Druc is under way and should be complete in January.
Stéphane Simon: Leofwen on Great Hart is cracking on - she should be finished before January, although its unlikely we'll get her before then. Leofwen on foot for Darklands: First Edition will follow.
The observant among you will notice, then, that of the remaining ten sculpts to complete, five are in progress and five are yet to be started, the Werwulfas... so we're almost there guys.
What Else is Yet to be Done?
There's a few other bits and pieces yet to be done of course, so here's how progress is looking on those fronts...
QuickStarter Rules: v10.4 (yes, sadly, found a few things to add in / correct from last week's update) will be sorted today, and immediately passed to our artworker who will get it ready for print before January. The rules should then be printed in January at some point.
Muster Rules:these will be worked on next week and into the new year. These are download only of course, so we'll give you links when they're ready.
Warrior Profiles: these are being worked on and playtested for every warrior that is existing and is included in Darklands: a World of War. Some will be downloadable next week. Once those are done, we'll be starting work on the warrior profiles for Darklands: First Edition, of course.
Templates: the first template has been passed to our acrylic manufacturing partner, and over Christmas and into January they should make an apperance "in the flesh" on here, so to speak.
Needless to say, we think that around February time, pretty much everything will be done for Darklands: a World of War!
Christmas Shipping
Now that most of the christmas shipping dates have passed for those outside the UK, this is a little superfluous, but we'll repeat what's been said previously anyway. Note, also, that we'll be shipping many packages today for people outside the UK, so check your My Orders page!
In short, you're looking at last posting dates, for normal airmail anyway, of:
Australia/New Zealand - 4/5 December
Canada, France, Greece, Poland - 10 December
USA - 13 December
Europe - 14 December UK - 18 December (second class). Whilst its actually 20 December (first and recorded) and 23 December (special delivery), we're on holiday from the 18th, so treat everything for the UK as the 18th.
It often happens that packages are delivered after those dates but before Christmas, of course, so there's always hope. I've no idea why France is so early though!
All we ask of you guys, really, is that - again - you remain patient over the festive period, your package will arrive in January if not before!
We've decided to withdraw the offer of UPS shipping now as it's unlikely we'll be able to cast more than we have scheduled before the boys go off on their holidays on the 18th, next week.
Merry Christmas!
Here at Mierce Towers we're not scrooges, but we've been so busy Christmas has largely been forgotten about - until the Casting Trolls came up with this...
Merry Christmas everyone, and here's to a Mierce-tastic new year!
Loving it that Mierce are 1) actually going to make that version of him and 2) they actually asked for permission first. I so need another rock band, this time greater daemon sized, I will be getting these.
If you guys didn't already know by now, Friday is Mierceday... we update you all every Friday, even if there's not much to show you!
This week is only a small update as we have nothing in the way of sculpts, but we do have an updated lands of darkness map and a couple of other bits and pieces...
Lands of Darkness Map
One of the most important features of the Darklands full rules will be a map of the lands of darkness. We tasked Steve Pierce with this job thanks to his past work on mapping, and the results, we think, are spectacular.
The Lands of Darkness
You'll note the extent of Baalor's ice sheet to the north and west of Ireland, we hope, as well as the floes breaking off from it; and of course the lovely forests, swamps and mountains all around! If you're wondering about the dotted area in the North Sea, that's Dogard... Conand's realm under the sea...
There's still lots to do, but most of the physical elements are there now. Steve is currently tidying a few things up and adding imagery to denote the major towns and cities, the whereabouts of which can be seen below...
◾Albainn - Fortriu: Dun Durn
◾Angelcynn - Mierce: Tamtun (Tamworth)
◾Angelcynn - Northumbraland/Beornica: Bebbanburg (Bamburgh)
◾Atalantes - Ilios: Ilios, the City of the Sun
◾ Brythoniaid - Gwynedd: Dingonwy (Deganwy)
◾Byzantii - Legio II Var: Lugdunum (Lyon)
◾Érainn - Uí Néill: Tara (Grianán Ailigh has been overwhelmed by the Fomoraic)
◾Fomoraic - Baalor: Toraigh (Tory Island). Note how close "Tory" is to "Tara"
◾ Frisians: Dorestad
◾ Khthones: Arkhthon
◾ Norse - Skilfings: Stafangr (Stavanger - note that this is just where Knútr's longship, Hrafnen, is from)
◾Seaxans - Wesseax: Dornwaracaester (Dorchester). There are of course many other realms of the Seaxans and Angles, and we may well add their "capitals" onto the map also. We'll see.
◾Ysians - Kernowek: Carn Dhu (Carn Du), of Ys: Ys, in Douarnenez Bay
◾Ysians - Merovingians: Mettis (Metz)
We'll probably add in a few more settlements too, the major ones anyway, but we don't want those to dominate too much.
It's worth nothing that here at Mierce we love maps, so you must note that this is just a general map of the lands of darkness - there'll be more detailed realm maps at some point!
Looky Likey wrote: Loving it that Mierce are 1) actually going to make that version of him and 2) they actually asked for permission first. I so need another rock band, this time greater daemon sized, I will be getting these.
I agree, I think I'll actually buy that!
One thing I'm curious about with this miniature- what does it look like if you leave the "dreadlocks" off? That's the only part of the model that I don't like / seem a bit out of place to me on it. Can't really think of an alternative except maybe smaller dreads, though.
So I'll be curious about seeing the back of the model without that piece / pieces when someone gets this, or if Mierce snaps a pic of the components after casting them, etc.
Looky Likey wrote: Loving it that Mierce are 1) actually going to make that version of him and 2) they actually asked for permission first. I so need another rock band, this time greater daemon sized, I will be getting these.
I agree, I think I'll actually buy that!
One thing I'm curious about with this miniature- what does it look like if you leave the "dreadlocks" off? That's the only part of the model that I don't like / seem a bit out of place to me on it. Can't really think of an alternative except maybe smaller dreads, though.
So I'll be curious about seeing the back of the model without that piece / pieces when someone gets this, or if Mierce snaps a pic of the components after casting them, etc.
Check images at the top of page 77, before they were added, seems like leaving them off will be trivial exercise
yxalitis wrote: Check images at the top of page 77, before they were added, seems like leaving them off will be trivial exercise
Oh, you're right- and that's the top of this page! Does look like he could use something there, but I think I prefer it without the "dreads" than with (and maybe I could think of something else to add in their place).
Edit: Well, not this page anymore . Copying over one of the pics due to page rollover:
Some older news from their Kickstarter they sent a few days ago. I'll just post the pictures here, because they are quite awesome. If you want to see more of the pictures, head over to the update sections for both of their KS.
I had the same thoughts - but now that I've seen him, I already know I'll be caving and ordering him, along with a heap of otehr stuff, sometime early in 2014.
We have some cracking updates for you in this, the very first update of 2014!
We have work in progress images of Leofwen, Qaano and Kernuor as well as painted Angrislaug, news of the project's progress and also the removal of a few miniatures from the Darklands: a World of War category... you've got until Monday to get them!
Leofwen, Fane Bearer of Mierce on Great Hart
Stéphane Simon's been extra busy over the holidays, as you can see: he's sorted out Leofwen's head problem and added in lots more detail, including the banner and her sword...
We do expect Leofwen on Great Hart to be finished very soon, possibly in the next week or so, but we'll see...
Qaano, Srónax Untain
Sculpted by Allan Carrasco, the mighty Srónax lord Qaano (pronounced "KAR-no") needs no words to describe his ultimate awesomeness of war. Just look at him!
Qaano will be finished very shortly indeed... a fact that we here at Mierce rejoice in!
Kernuor, Seer-Drune on Karnun-Beast
James van Schaik has just about finished Kernuor on his Karnun-Beast!
James is just finishing cutting and we should be getting him next week we think, as long as Baalor allows the polar vortex in Canada to subside of course.
Angrislaug, Draiggoch of Eryri - painted!
Sébastien Picque is our monster-painter of choice right now and he's done a superb job on Angrislaug, so we thought we'd show you...
With Angrislaug being a Draiggoch - in English, a red dragon - he's red with a smattering of black and beige.
Darklands: a World of War Fulfilment
All of the Khthones Starter Sets for UK customers were shipped before Christmas, and all of the snake sets for European customers will ship today, with those for the rest of the world following next week.
This of course means that shipment of remaining items from Darklands: a World of War orders will begin shortly, and where this is possible we'll also combine these remaining items with Wave 0 orders for First Edition items from the Darklands: First Edition kickstarter project.
Once the QuickStarter Rules are printed, we'll start shipping those too!
Of other recently completed sculpts, the Limited Edition Penda with Wolf Helm, Chaagmuth on hoof, Brynhild Gunnblindi, Gamla Bror and Jowan and Drune-Hounds are shipping, along with Angrislaug, Vaak and Pétroyos. Belech will begin to ship next week. Aalvór is not yet with us (he'll be sent to us with Maallolvór).
Please understand that we are prioritising orders with Khthones Starter Sets first - so if the above miniatures are all you've left with us, please be patient!
Remaining Sculpts
In terms of remaining sculpt progress, here's an update: Allan Carrasco: Qaano is almost complete, which means that when that happens Allan's work on this project is concluded. Never fear, though, for you can look forward to more of Allan's skills on our other project - Darklands: First Edition - as he'll start work on Jörmungand soon... (although we don't know exactly when). Benoît Cosse: Maallolvór is in progress and should be finished later on in January. The Werwulfas are next... James van Schaik: Kernuor on Karnun-Beast is about finished and should be with us very soon. Stéphane NGuyen: Druc is in progress and should be completed in January. Stéphane Simon: Leofwen on Great Hart is nearly done and should be finished in January. Leofwen on foot for Darklands: First Edition will follow.
The observant among you will notice, then, that of the remaining ten sculpts to complete, five are almost complete or in progress and just five are yet to be started, the Werwulfas... so we're almost there guys!
There's a few other bits and pieces yet to be done of course, so here's how progress is looking on those fronts...
QuickStarter Rules - v10.4
Michael Brown and others are having a look at version 10.4 of the Darklands QuickStarter rules and once any glaring errors are corrected we will get that to the designer and printed.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your viewpoint) Rob is a bit of a perfectionist and is unwilling to ship it off to the printer until it's as tight as possible, which of course has led to major delays and for which we apologise. It should lead to a better rules set, though!
Muster Rules
These will be worked on in January, although there's not much to change. These are download only of course, so we'll give you links when they're ready.
Warrior Profiles
These are urgently required thanks to the changes in the rules, we know, and are being worked on and playtested. They'll comprise every warrior that is existing and is included in Darklands: a World of War and, once ready, we'll put them up for download.
The Fomoraic muster (which also now includes Belech as a unique character and a generic Scion of Baalor) and the Angelcynn muster are about done but we're going to have a few battles with those two before uploading them, so expect at least those two next Friday.
If there's anything you need to know before the profiles are sorted, just ask on the forums please and we'll endeavour to answer your questions.
Once all of the profiles are updated to reflect the current rules, we'll be starting work on the warrior profiles for Darklands: First Edition.
Templates
The first template has been passed to our acrylic manufacturing partner, and at some point this month they should make an apperance "in the flesh" on here, so to speak.
The End of Darklands: a World of War In Sight
We think that - around February 2014 time - pretty much everything will be done for Darklands: a World of War; which will both be a sad day and an awesome day. Either way, we'll find some way to celebrate...!
Also, forgot to mention that a load of the minis are now available from retail:
January's Releases
The releases from our Darklands: A World of War Kickstarter project continue apace with eight more for you all this month, including more Angelcynn, the first Khthones, Norse and Ysians - and we've also releasing the first Darklands Token Sets, so that you can get your games running more smoothly!
In terms of miniature releases, we have the lovely Cynemon and Kenelm for the Angelcynn, Ssibyros and Mneriiss for the Khthones, Brynhild Gunnblindi for the Norse and three units for the Ysians - collecting the Bow-Drunes, Goad-Drunes and Brutes!
Just like last time, thanks to us being busier than busy bees over the past few months, 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.
Cynemon, Wiglere of Mierce
The Angelcynn get some wizardry this month with the release of Cynemon, Wiglere of Mierce! This grumpy old git, with his concept by Des Hanley and sculpted by James van Schaik, is a cracking little miniature with a great deal of character. You can almost see him eating mushrooms...
Kenelm, Duguth Horn Blower
The third miniature of the five-man Duguth spearman unit, Kenelm is the unit's herald and blows his horn to keep his unit in line. Kenelm, like all the Duguth, was sculpted by Juan Navarro Pérez from a concept by Des Hanley, and they are all fantastic miniatures!
Ssibyros, Gorgonarchon
Ssibyros - with concept by Christophe Madura and sculpt by Stéphane NGuyen van Gioi - is a Gorgonarchon, a warlord for the Khthones and more specifically the Gorgones. He's a beautifully detailed miniature with ornate armour and a host of unique features!
Mneriiss, Harbinger of Khthon
Vilthiss and Issithill gain a friend this month with the release of Mneriiss, the Gorgonar unit's herald! Like his mates, Mneriiss' concept was drawn by Christophe Madura and the miniature was sculpted by Stéphane Simon. Expect more Gorgonares over the coming months!
Brynhild Gunnblindi, Gythja of Hrafnen
Brynhild Gunnblindi is a superb miniature for the Norse, sculpted by Juan Navarro Pérez from a concept by Des Hanley. Part of the Hrafnen's crew, She's a Gythja, a priest of Odin, and she is not to be underestimated for her power is formidable.
Bows of Carn Dinas, Bow-Drune Unit
With the last of the Bow-Drunes released last month, we can now give you the unit of five together, comprising Morcum the champion and four other warriors - Kenan, Ennor, Piran and Tyack. Sculpted by James van Schaik from artwork by Danny Cruz, the set of five (retailing at £34.99) gives you a discount of just under 30% from buying them individually, which would cost you £49.95!
Goaders of Ker-Ys, Goad-Drune Unit
Sculpted by James van Schaik from artwork by Danny Cruz, the Goaders of Ys package together all three of the Goad-Drunes - Gwilherm of Ys, Judoc of Carn Lann and Perig of Carn Wrach - for £14.99, thus saving more than 30% from buying them individually!
Brutes of Ys, Brute Unit
The last of the five Brutes were released ages ago, of course, so it's about time we got around to releasing a unit of them. Sculpted by both Aragorn Marks and Grégory Clavilier, from artwork by Danny Cruz, the Brutes of Ys - comprising Gulguta, Lugung, Uggurd, Muldo and Nung - retails at £79.99. Buying them individually costs £99.95, a discount of almost 20%!
Darklands Token Sets
It's taken us a little while but we've finally organised a Token Set for most of the realms of Darklands, thus enabling you to command your units in style. Each set includes five ATTACK Order tokens, five MOVE Order tokens and five HOLD Order tokens, all in lovely burnt-wood flavour!
All of the releases above will be officially released on the 4th of January 2014, but you can pre-order them here to your heart's content, of course!
A most impressive KS2 update - just take a look at the list of talent Mierce has secured:
2014 of War
We have some cracking updates for you in this, the very first update of 2014 for this project!
In terms of miniatures, we have images of a finished Mananaan on foot as well as work in progress images of Itaina, Ciniod and Domnech; in terms of the project as a whole, we have a cracking update for the map of the Lands of Darkness and an updated list of assignations for all of the miniatures that will be produced by this project.
Phew! We'd better start...
Mananaan, Untain of Baalor on Foot
The supremely talented Pedro Fernández Ramos has finished Mananaan on foot for us and, once we cast one and send it back to him, Mananaan on horse will begin!
It is worth stating here (for those of you that are chomping at the bit) that any miniature sculpted before June 2014 will most definitely not be sent before that date. The reasons behind this are very simple - we have Darklands: a World of War to complete and Wave 0 to fulfil before we begin casting for Wave 1 items, quite apart from the extra costs incurred by shipping miniatures early! We ask that you respect our decision here and remain patient, as hard as that may be.
Ciniod, Umaer of Dun Durn
Olivier Nkweti has been getting on with the Albainn, as you can see... these are early WIPs but they're certainly taking shape!
Itaina, Umaer of Dun Durn
Domnech, Sagart of Dun Durn
The Lands of Darkness Map
One of the most important features of the Darklands setting is a map of the lands of darkness. We tasked Steve Pierce with this job thanks to his past work on mapping, and the results, we think, are spectacular...
Steve has now finished his part of the map, but of course the work does not stop there: the names of regions and towns and so forth must be added. These will be done next week, so hopefully next Friday should see the map complete. This means, for the thunkers amongst you, that we can shoe-horn this map into the QuickStarter rulebook, which is nice!
Darklands: First Edition Fulfilment
We are now beginning to ship Wave 0 Orders to backers from this project, but we would ask all of you to remain patient while we do so. We are only a small team and are still fulfilling the remaining orders for Darklands: a World of War, and we do expect to continue fulfilling Wave 0 Orders throughout February and possibly later.
We will keep you all updated of course.
Sculpts and Sculptors
It's about time we unveiled a big list of who's sculpting what and when for Darklands: First Edition, especially because a few miniatures have been re-assigned; so here is that big list. Please bear in mind that this list may change over time, too, so don't take it as set in stone until the first work in progress shots appear!
Olivier Bouchet: Brugg will be started shortly.
Stéphane Cammosetto: a new sculptor to Mierce, the awesomely talented Stéphane has agreed to sculpt the first descendant - John Longshore's Brythoniaid bowman, Ieuan Longshore (not forgetting his mastiff, Taranau)! Stéphane has already started work on him and we should see the first WIPs soon.
Allan Carrasco: Allan is currently finishing Qaano for our first project and should begin work on Jörmungand soon. After that he will be sculpting Knútr on Foot, Knútr on Horse , Víthar , Birna, Rollo Iron Head and Cnebba.
Roberto Chaudon: currently working on a top secret project for us, Roberto will give Belech his guitar and then begin work on this project. First up for him is Angedern, followed by Mag ap Mag, Mälmord, Ágriosávra, Eikovra, Myrkranio and finally Djiuzu.
Daniel Cockersell: the Daddy of all monster sculptors, Dan will begin work on Scecchus in February.
Benoît Cosse: Benoît is still working on Darklands: a World of War miniatures and won't start Hrór, Finnan, Praach and the Gabrax Unit for a good long while yet.
Thomas David: his work on Timoth should begin soon; we're still awaiting confirmation.
Pedro Fernández Ramos: Mananaan on foot is finished of course, and he'll soon begin work on Mananaan on horse.
Yannick Fusier: It's been a while since we worked with Yannick (he who sculpted Shaaroc a couple of years ago), but he's now doing Bagseg for us and will start him in late January.
Jacques-Alexandre Gillois: he should begin work on Daarkan, Naraa and both Equitus Durio on foot and Equitus Durio on horse soon. Although not necessarily in that order, and we're not sure when - we just know they'll be done before May.
Gauthier Giroud: Gauthier is slated to begin work on Idruaada in February.
Stéphane NGuyen: Druc is still on his plate of course, but he should begin work on Seza after him.
Christian Hardy: Christian will begin work on Velchior and Agathae soon.
Tre Manor: it is with great glee that we can reveal a bit of a coup - Tre Manor of Red Box Games will be taking time out for us to sculpt Erebius! He should start soon, too.
Patrick Masson: due to begin work on Uhtred later on this month and after that will be Gaarwäg (pronounced "GAR-wayg", don'tchaknow), although he won't be complete until May.
Hector Moran: Hector is due to start work on the digital Dawn of Khthon, Gorgórar Unit in January, and after that he will be digitally sculpting Con I Modius, Legionary Contubernium.
Olivier Nkweti: Olivier's already finished Dúngal on foot for the Albainn, and has begun work on Ciniod, Itaina and Domnech; Dúngal on horse will follow, and once they're done he will digitally sculpt Hanokh and Thoth.
Juan Navarro Pérez: For Juan we have Urien on foot , Urien on horse , Carys , Caedoc, Ffion Ferddig and Danilo Cruz , and although he should start sculpting in late January we don't know what is going to be done first.
Maxime Penaud: Maxime is slated for Eadric on foot, Eadric on horse and Aldhelm, but we don't know when he will start.
Stéphane Simon: we've loaded Stéphane up with Leofwen on foot (who should be begun shortly) , Crom on foot, Crom on horse, Zethag, Annik, Xontór, Thelliatiss , the Holumenn Unit and the Gesíth Unit. Phew!
Valentin Zak: last seen on Dungann, we've been hassling Valentin to do more sculpts for us for a while now - and he's back! Valentin will sculpt Broga for us and will begin doing so soon.
Unknown: the remaining three descendants, which are Rick Boer's Frisian Warrior (due to be drawn by Stefan Kopinski), Tomas Johansson's Geat Warrior (due to be drawn by Danny Cruz) and Maximilian Schüte's Germanic Berserker.
No worms, but they do have a wormy sea serpent Chsyperis
which I think is one of the not quite released yet Khthones, but should be available for general sale soon as the last of the KS stuff is due out this week or next
That dragon is quite impressive. I know if I tried to paint him up it wouldn't be anywhere near that nice.
Kind of bummed about Ssibyros. He was one besides the Gorgon warrior that I was really looking forward to. The detailing looks nice, but from that angle he seems too top heavy. It seems like he should have a thicker foot/ tail to support that size of torso on. Maybe it's just the angle of the shot. I'll keep an eye out for him once he's in the wild.
Chsyperis looks great though. I would assume that's for the Khthon? I've been a bit on a snake binge lately, so I'm sure he'd fit in nicely with the guys I'm currently painting.
highlord tamburlaine wrote: The detailing looks nice, but from that angle he seems too top heavy. It seems like he should have a thicker foot/ tail to support that size of torso on. Maybe it's just the angle of the shot. I'll keep an eye out for him once he's in the wild.
That's kind of been my impression/problem with the entire Khthon line - the torsos all seem to be too big for the entire miniature.
But I'll grant your point that this may be down to angle of photos and what not - maybe they don't all look so off in terms of proportions 'in real life'?
Tre Manor: it is with great glee that we can reveal a bit of a coup - Tre Manor of Red Box Games will be taking time out for us to sculpt Erebius! He should start soon, too.
This is getting discussed a bit in the RBG thread, but since it's a model for Mierce I just wanted to note how happy this makes me
Tre Manor: it is with great glee that we can reveal a bit of a coup - Tre Manor of Red Box Games will be taking time out for us to sculpt Erebius! He should start soon, too.
This is getting discussed a bit in the RBG thread, but since it's a model for Mierce I just wanted to note how happy this makes me
He's the half-demon looking commander for the Byzantii faction, in case anyone was wondering!
I've got a few of the older pre- Kickstarter Khthon sculpts, and they don't seem as bulked out and top heavy. I thought they were pretty well proportioned for what they were (snakes with torsos and arms that is).
Maybe there aren't enough coils or something for Ssibyros to support himself to my liking. Ophios (4 armed snake dude) is also supposed to be pretty big, but he has a fair amount of tail that seems to compensate for carrying the top bulk. Maybe it's that Ssibyros has heavier chest armor and shoulder pads compared to his snake brethren.
But then again I'm working on a Hirakoth right now (the hydra assassin dude) and he's got chest armor and big 'ol shoulder pads as well, but he doesn't look as out of proportion- plus he's got coils just going all over the place on his base.
I cannot wait until my Angrislaug arrives, but it will probably sit for months unpainted like the rest of my Darklands range as I am to scared to paint them!
Leofwens face/head still does not seem right..it just does not seem to capture the look of the concept art.
Denilsta wrote: I cannot wait until my Angrislaug arrives, but it will probably sit for months unpainted like the rest of my Darklands range as I am to scared to paint them!
Leofwens face/head still does not seem right..it just does not seem to capture the look of the concept art.
Agreed!
I wanted to get her on foot and mounted versions based on the concept art - but the actual mini's face is...off-putting.
Still, I'm hopefully they'll continue to work on it/refine it.
And I'm glad that "Mierce Update Fridays" are back!
Yeah, I have to confess the mini looks a little raw boned in comparison to the concept. Essentially Leofwen the concept has a delicate, slightly oval/heart shaped, feminine face, Leofwen the WIP....doesn't.
I ordered the mini based on the concept, and as she isn't for my faction, I can see myself cancelling the order and repurposing the funds for something more Fomoraic if she doesn't get a little bit more refined and delicate.
EDIT
But to end on a positive, I can't wait to get my hands on Angrislaug, and Qaano? Woot!!
Ssibyros - with concept by Christophe Madura and sculpt by Stéphane NGuyen van Gioi - is a Gorgonarchon, a warlord for the Khthones and more specifically the Gorgones. He's a beautifully detailed miniature with ornate armour and a host of unique features!
Too bad - I don't really love how Ssibyros turned out.
Ssibyros is the heaviest armoured snake guy we've seen, plus he's quite far forward on his base. Top heaviness aside he does look a bit stiff, but we're seeing one angle.
Leofwen's face is certainly disappointing. She's starting to look older with each update. Very 90s GW looking face unfortunately. She'll be coming off my wish list if that's close to the final result.
Qaano looks as good as I'd hoped, very excited to get him.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Oh, and very exciting news that Tre is doing some work for Mierce.
I can't comment on the first KS, as Mierce added me as a backer after the fact and KS doesn't recognise me as a backer, but I did send the following as a question..
Hello!
I'm a KS2 backer, have a few pre-orders in for KS1 but as I didn't back the project originally (I know, I know! Live and learn)
The reason I'm getting in touch is to provide some feedback on the Leofwen miniature, which I pre ordered on the basis of the concept art.
I infer from some references to being "fixed" in the latest update that other people have perhaps offered the same opinion, in that the face isn't quite "right"
I have to say, as it stands, I'm really not a fan of even the fixed face (although there is an improvement) to the point where I might consider cancelling the order. Please don't think I'm ranting and raving and threatening to "take my business elsewhere," this is just an honest attempt to explain my feelings and be constructive.
In both incarnations, in comparison to the concept image, her face seems too square, almost to the point of masculinity, when, aside from the giant stag, a lot of what appealed to me was the delicacy and femininity of the character. I feel she needs a more oval face, with a more delicate chin and sharper, more defined cheekbones, more elfin if you will. Now I appreciate that sculpting in a relatively small scale doesn't allow for super fine facial detail, but I really think the 'bones' of the face are wrong.
Now, I don't expect you to change it completely just on my say so, but if enough people feel the same and take the trouble to get in touch, perhaps something will happen. I post frequently on Dakka, and I've seen a few other users post similar opinions in your thread there, so I don't think I'm a completely isolated case.
I hope this is useful to you, and fingers crossed that the final mini is just as awesome as I sincerely hope it will be.
Regards
azreal13
Will post it here as well to perhaps get a higher chance of a reply.
I've always found their comms very good, regardless of platform, so I'm confident someone will get a response, I just hope there's enough people feel the same and take the trouble to say so that it makes a difference.
I'll see if I can did Ssybiros out of the box and put him together (if only with Blu-tac)
what I saw from the WIPs show a ball & socket (sort of) fixing between the tail and torso and just leaning things back a few degrees should sort out the top heavy look
the stiffness is, I think, a natural consequence of the full armour and full face helm. No real way to make them snakey
comparing the art with the sculpt
shows that Stephane has actually got the shape right, I think it's the hairstyle that's wrong with the headband and parting? rather than the hair been swept back from the face with the high forhead making her look very different.
It's not a face I actually like as is, but it is, I think, accurate to the art except for the hairstyle/headband
so if Mierce wants to change it up to make her more delicate/elfin I won't complain as somebody who's getting her (or is it 2 of her), but if not I think she fits the art ok
I can't disagree with the side by side comparison, and yes, the hair is radically different and does alter the whole look, but then look at this concept for her..
There is, I feel, more of the vibe I was expecting in this sketch which is obviously closer. As, judging from the comments about Mannanin, the same sculpts will be used and modified for foot and mounted versions (which makes a lot of sense on both financial and realism levels) so while the mounted version of Leofwen is landing first, THIS is how I really want her to look.
Des Hanley has changed it significantly shape wise from the art in KS1 hasn't he
As I said I'd be happy to move away from the KS1 interpretation if Mierce wanted to move it more towards that KS2 face shape
I'm not sure how much is significant change, and how much is that the foot model is much more detailed and focused on her, whereas the mounted version is unsurprisingly focused on the ruddy great deer, and therefore pushes her both into the literal and figurative background.
Either way, it looks fairly unanimous that people would like some changes, ITT at least, so fingers crossed that's what we get.
relatively soon I should think (February or March?),
they've got the dragon in hand and should be in a position to begin casting/shipping to KS backers once the last of the khthones are finished up next week
probably depends a bit on how fast they can get and cast the other almost done stuff too as they will probably try and combine them for shipping economy
Leofwen's head isn't going to change now guys, we're very happy with it and Stéphane's done a good job.
Angrislaug the dragon currently has a February release date, but that may change depending upon our workload; we've got a lot of dragons to get through for Kickstarter backers... so it could end up being a March release. We'll see.
judgedoug wrote: Ouch, that head is very Gary Morley 1996 era Wood Elf and Undead :( high cheekbones and huge nose.
Gary Morley I had almost forgotten about his miniatures (shudder), he consistently made some horrendous figures but didn't he also do the Green Knight and Orion who were both very good.....back on track, I am not a fan of Leofwens head, but what I will say is that it is the only one in a very large range I think is a swing and a miss, the standard is so high from them that I will survive this one
Could take a copy of the face of the one on foot via onymaru and then cut the face off the other and replace it if you wanted to go so far The Great Stag, however, is absolutely fantastic!
I like the Kernuor riding creature, even if I do think it's legs aren't proportional
Oyumaru for copying a face unto a model? you like exquisite agony and frustation in your spare time, I understand?
Kind of surprised at the face, it seems a bit bulky - however we had that with the SW tank girl promo and that paints up pretty decently feminine IMO. Meh, never cared much for faces at 28mm so it might be me.
The Khthones are lovely, IMO. Yes, they are somewhat bulky. Yes, that might look illogical. However, I kind of shut any sense of logic down at "primate upper body on a snake". It looks fine to me, honestly. Also, depending at from which angle you view them, it really isn't all that noticeable.
I like the rest of the model enough that I wouldn't be opposed to cutting off the head replacing it with something (from Infinity probably, maybe Statuesque minis depending on scale) and resculpting the hair.
The face is open to some interpretation (Gary Morely-esque is spot on though, hence my oversculpted comment earlier) but the hair change is a weird choice.
Oh well. Everything else is so fething good this sort of criticism probably sounds a lot more grating than it's intended to be.
Leofwen update: we've just realised why she's slightly wrong, and I must admit it confused me this past weekend. She's different from the concept you know because Stéphane was working from our original Leofwen Wood Elf concept, which (when Darklands was created) was changed to being a human, which is the one we went forward with. We did send the human concept to Stéphane initially, but somehow wires have been crossed and he's got hold of the Wood Elf concept and begun work on that rather than the human.
Because of that, we're going to change her of course - it's not what you paid for and so it's only right she's corrected!
the sculptor thinks they're making a great job of moving towards the concept art and is puzzled by the commissioner saying can you make some changes
the commissioner thinks it doesn't quite work, but after some changes thinks it looks good and obviously thinks the (very talented) sculptor has a strong feeling that the model should looks slightly different, and as they like it go with it (and some of the customers agree too)
(some of) the customer thinks that does not look like the (different) art and I don't like this 'new' look
Moving towards the human art will no doubt please those who didn't like the direction Stephane was currently going in
This is another example of Mierce's great customer service, they could have just stuck to the fact they were happy with the sculpt and left it there, but realising the mistake they are going to change her.
Thanks to Mierce for not just dismissing things out of hand as grumbling, and even when they said there wouldn't be any changes, must have clearly gone on and had another look at the situation.
The thing about listening to customers is that it's usually only a minority that voice their disconcern, while those that are generally pleased do not so. By over-listening to those it's actually quite a big risk that one will disappoint more than pleasing by doing changes. A change should never be done (imo) by a handful of voices on some forums, but by sound decision-making by the responsible for the project.
grefven wrote: The thing about listening to customers is that it's usually only a minority that voice their disconcern, while those that are generally pleased do not so. By over-listening to those it's actually quite a big risk that one will disappoint more than pleasing by doing changes. A change should never be done (imo) by a handful of voices on some forums, but by sound decision-making by the responsible for the project.
Grefven, I've got to respectfully disagree in this case. Mierce has done a very good job of translating concept art into a finished model with very little deviation, and in fact a lot of their success has come from this: what you see drawn is what's going to end up being sculpted. If you liked the drawing, you'll like the sculpt. Leofwen has deviated quite a bit from the concept art everyone was expecting for her (check out the difference in armor style and bracers, as well). The armor as sculpted doesn't really fit in with the appearance of the other Angelcynn armor, and I'm not sure it would be consistent when riding into battle next to Meloda, for example.
grefven wrote: The thing about listening to customers is that it's usually only a minority that voice their disconcern, while those that are generally pleased do not so. By over-listening to those it's actually quite a big risk that one will disappoint more than pleasing by doing changes. A change should never be done (imo) by a handful of voices on some forums, but by sound decision-making by the responsible for the project.
What a load of old nonsense! Those that voice their concern are also the most likely to be the most passionate, the most invested and therefore the most likely to be put off purchasing.
If people aren't voicing concern, that's probably because they're not concerned, so why would some minor changes bother them all of a sudden?
Customer feedback is an immensely powerful tool, and while I agree that "design by committee" is an inherently bad idea, to disregard constructive criticism from your customer base, whether it be one or all of your consumers, is a fundamentally flawed approach. Trying to appease everyone is not the same as listening to someone's opinions and making appropriate changes based on them.
Take this example, by listening to our feedback, an error in the design process was uncovered, and subsequently the sculpt will be revised. If those of us who weren't so happy with the WIPs had kept our mouths shut and taken our medicine, we would have ended up with a product we weren't quite as happy with, or simply not bought it.
EDIT
Worth mentioning that I ordered this mini purely because of the love of the concept art, I have no use for it in game, or any other game, I just wanted to own that drawing in 3D form and paint it. The deviation in the rider was so far from what I had imagined/was expecting that, having slept on it, I was about to cancel my order, so for me and anyone who felt like me, this has raised my (already high) regard for Mierce and allowed them to sell at least one more than they would have.
I don't want to drag this topic into the abyss of non-related discussions, but there are lots and lots of examples on when it goes bad when one listens too much to the vocal opinion of a few. Sorry, it isn't nonsense that the few raise the concern over the many. Go back through this topic and read how many people expressed concern about the face before Mierce Miniatures replied to it. About 4 people.
Anyway, this is of topic, if anyone want to discuss it we can do so in some other topic in general as it isn't regarding Mierce Miniatures specific.
grefven wrote: The thing about listening to customers is that it's usually only a minority that voice their disconcern, while those that are generally pleased do not so. By over-listening to those it's actually quite a big risk that one will disappoint more than pleasing by doing changes. A change should never be done (imo) by a handful of voices on some forums, but by sound decision-making by the responsible for the project.
You're right,
but in this case they realised the sculptor was working of old concept art not the art the backers had seen so to change made sense (even though they were fine with the way the sculpt looked)....
Doesn't time fly! It's the second Friday update of the year already, and it's an anniversary too - it's almost exactly one year since this Darklands: a World of War project began. As you all well know, it's been a whirlwind since then!
We have plenty to show you all this week, for not only do we have work in progress updates of Leofwen, Qaano, Druc and Maallolvór, there's also painted versions of Hedroc, Ax-Drunes and Kjartan to unveil as well as the usual news on the project's progress and the latest and final (we hope) version of the QuickStarter rules.
On with the shewe...
Leofwen, Fane-Bearer of Mierce on Great Hart
Now, as some of you may have seen on the comments section, we've had a bit of an issue with Leofwen; she was being sculpted to different concept art to the one you've all seen. You see, Leofwen was originally a Wood Elf concept for BaneLegions back in the day...
Lillasir, Wood Elf on Great Stag
...but when Darklands was created we thought she'd make a cracking addition to the Angelcynn. So we had Stef Kopinski make her human and sent the human concept to Stéphane Simon, but somehow Stéphane got hold of the Wood Elf version - we still don't know how, as Tim sent the human concept and we can't see where he's sent the Wood Elf version to anyone - and was sculpting her to that. It was only when we had a proper look at it that we all realised what had happened!
Thus, thanks to all our biffery, Leofwen was not what you paid for - so Stéphane's amended her, as you can see.
That's better, isn't it!
It shouldn't be too long before Leofwen's finished of course!
Qaano, Srónax Untain
We now have, safe in our possession, everybody's favourite Rhino-Lord - Qaano! Possibly Allan Carrasco's finest work for Mierce Miniatures, he really is awesome in the flesh, and blimmin' huge.
Now, it's not much of an update today, this just shows you the final version and the parts, but you can still see how awesome he is!
Qaano should begin to ship next week in some orders - see below.
Maallolvór, Lumbering Mallox
Benoît Cosse's hard at work shaping Maallolvór up to be a cracking miniature, as you can see! Don't worry though, we'll sort out the orientation of those claws on his left paw...!
It's worth remembering how big he is too:
It shouldn't be too long now until Maallolvór's finished.
Druc, Meat-Hulk
Stéphane NGuyen's finally happy with how the muscles and head look on Druc and has begun work on texturing. We love the bulging veins!
Stéphane's on course for finishing Druc by the end of the month, but we think it'll be February before he actually begins to ship anywhere.
Painted Hedroc of Carn Maen
With the best will in the world, Sébastien Picque can't paint every Mierce miniature - so we've commissioned Martin Grandbarbe, who paints Stéphane Simon's own miniatures, to paint some Ysians! They're mostly Stéphane's work of course, and we started with Hedroc of Carn Maen...
As you can see, Martin's work is stunning - we love what he's done with Hedroc!!
Painted Ax-Drunes of Carn Maen
Once again painted by Martin Grandbarbe, our Ax-Drunes (sculpted by Juan Navarro Pérez) look absolutely fantastic. Sometimes pictures speak louder than words!
He's yet to finish the banner bearer and musician, so watch out for those in a few weeks' time. Martin will be painting all of the rest of our Ysian infantry and warlords, too!
Painted Kjartan of Jylland, Norse Raven Bearer
Again, as Séb only has two hands, we've started to farm painting commissions out to other painters and Simon Bradley of Wales is one of them. We gave him Kjartan first and he's really picked out his character!
Up next from Simon is Brynhild Gunnblindi for the Norse, followed by Geraint Nerthol and Hywel Hir for the Brythoniaid...
Darklands: a World of War Fulfilment
All of the Khthones Starter Sets for UK and Europe customers have now been shipped, and all of the snake sets for rest of the world customers should ship today, although there may be a couple of stragglers sent next week.
This of course means that shipment of remaining items from Darklands: a World of War orders will begin shortly, and where this is possible we'll also combine these remaining items with Wave 0 orders for First Edition items from the Darklands: First Edition kickstarter project. Once the QuickStarter Rules are printed, we'll start shipping those too!
Of other recently completed sculpts, the Limited Edition Penda with Wolf Helm, Chaagmuth on hoof, Brynhild Gunnblindi, Gamla Bror and Jowan and Drune-Hounds are shipping, along with Angrislaug, Vaak and Pétroyos. Now that Qaano's here, he can begin to ship soon - hopefully next week - too!
Aalvór is not yet with us (he'll be sent to us with Maallolvór). Neither is Kernuor, Seer-Drune on Karnun-Beast, although we should get him next week.
Please understand that we have prioritised orders with Khthones Starter Sets first - so if the above miniatures are all you've left with us, please be patient!
Belech and the New Basses
Now, whilst Belech is being sent out, we have decided to give him an 80mm base. You see, we are currently producing 40mm, 50mm and 80mm bases for future use, and as Belech is too big for a 60mm and too small for a 100mm, he has the honour of being the first 80mm based miniature for us. What we'll do is simply send an 80mm base to you in a future shipment, probably the QuickStarter rules.
Gaarwäg from the second project will probably be on an 80mm base, too.
The addition of three new base sizes means, of course, that we have a lot more flexibility for future releases, but there could also be the possibility that some existing miniatures will be issued with new base sizes. Don't panic, however - you won't have to re-base what you've already got... unless you wanted to. For example, as the Werwulfas will probably be on 50mm bases, it makes sense that Cearl would have that base size; but as we've shipped him with 60mm bases, players can use him on either to their taste.
Belech and the New Basses... bass guitar... bases... bass fish... geddit?
Kickstarter Category Update
With Qaano shipping shortly, he will be removed from the Darklands: a World of War Kickstarter category on our website on Monday. It's very likely that Qaano will be at least £29.99 at retail, so if you want him cheap, get him now...
Remaining Sculpts
In terms of remaining sculpt progress, here's an update:
Allan Carrasco: Qaano is finished and with us, which means that Allan's work on this project is concluded. Never fear, though, for you can look forward to more of Allan's skills on our other project - Darklands: First Edition - as he'll start work on Jörmungand in March!
Benoît Cosse: Maallolvór is in progress and should be finished later on in January. The Werwulfas are next...
James van Schaik: Kernuor on Karnun-Beast is finished and will be with us next week. That's it for James on this project!
Stéphane NGuyen: Druc is in progress and should be completed in January. Then it's Darklands: First Edition work...
Stéphane Simon: Leofwen on Great Hart is nearly done and should be finished in January. Leofwen on foot for Darklands: First Edition will follow.
The observant among you will notice, then, that of the remaining ten sculpts to complete, only three are in progress now and just five are yet to be sculpted, the Werwulfas... so we're almost there guys!
There's a few other bits and pieces yet to be done of course, so here's how progress is looking on those fronts...
QuickStarter Rules - v10.5
Thanks to Michael Brown and many others, not least ourselves, the latest version of the QuickStarter Rules - v10.5 - is now here and should be the FINAL version before printing.
The major changes from v10.4 are listed below:
Mounts: the way mounts work for shooting, invoking and combat have now been altered. In a nutshell, mounts add their Constitution and armour+ values to their rider, and ardent mounts simply add a mount+ armour bonus but of course can stick around if their rider dies.
Difficult Moves: thanks to Michael's detective work, I suddenly realised it was written wrongly. When warriors move over rough ground, they only make a difficult move over the rough ground and not for their remaining move. Duh!
Slow Moves: invocation effects and so forth, however, need something like how difficult movement was written - so that's in.
There are many other minor changes too, so I would recommend - especially if you are familiar with the previous versions of the QuickStarter Rules - to have a good read through, and also please check out the Mierce Miniatures forum, in particular the "Darklands Rules Discussion" section and the "Observations from a first read" thread...
As this is (well, hopefully) the FINAL version before it goes to the printer, v10.5 should prove to be the definitive QS rules set. However, it will now swap to a "Living" rulebook, and in future, any changes to the downloadable Living QuickStarter rules will be made in red, so you can see at a glance what has changed.
There will be a place on our website where the rules, muster rules and profiles are stored and you are assured of being able to download the latest versions. This will happen, but please be patient!
As before, please bear in mind that v10.5 of the QuickStarter Rules are to get you by until they're formatted for printing. As such, whilst they'll look very like these rules in terms of layout and the wording, they'll be a bit more... well, spangly when they're ready for print and download. Once the QuickStarter rules are printed (we're looking at some time in January), they will of course be sent out to you along with the remainder of your order.
Muster Rules
These will be worked on in January, although there's not much to change. These are download only of course, so we'll give you links when they're ready.
Warrior Profiles
These are urgently required thanks to the changes in the rules, we know, and are being worked on and playtested. They'll comprise every warrior that is existing and is included in Darklands: a World of War and, once ready, we'll put them up for download.
The Fomoraic muster (which also now includes Belech as a unique character and a generic Scion of Baalor) and the Angelcynn muster still require a little work so they will appear next Friday - we promise!
If there's anything you need to know before the profiles are sorted, just ask on the forums please and we'll endeavour to answer your questions.
Once all of the profiles are updated to reflect the current rules, we'll be starting work on the warrior profiles for Darklands: First Edition.
Templates
The first template has been passed to our acrylic manufacturing partner, and at some point this month they should make an appearance "in the flesh" here, so to speak.
The End of Darklands: a World of War In Sight
We think that - around February 2014 time - pretty much everything will be done for Darklands: a World of War; which will both be a sad day and an awesome day. Either way, we'll find some way to celebrate...!
Of course there's a KS2 update as well - it's Friday!
Update Time...
Today, Mierceday, for this project we have the first shots of Brugg, the Ysian Death-Brute and not much else... but not to worry, there'll be plenty more soon!
Brugg, Death-Brute
Olivier Bouchet is a new sculptor for us and Brugg is his first work for Mierce Miniatures, but of course he's sculpted plenty for others as can be seen on his Facebook page. We're very pleased we've got hold of him!
Here's a couple of scale shots, too, against a ruler and Nung...
We expect Brugg to be finished by the end of February, if not before - but he will ship in June of course.
Darklands: First Edition Fulfilment
We are now beginning to ship Wave 0 Orders to backers from this project, but we would ask all of you to remain patient while we do so. We are only a small team and are still fulfilling the remaining orders for Darklands: a World of War, and we do expect to continue fulfilling Wave 0 Orders throughout February and possibly later.
We will keep you all updated of course.
Sculpts and Sculptors
Here's the big list of who's sculpting what and when for Darklands: First Edition! Please bear in mind that this list may change over time, so don't take it as set in stone until the first work in progress shots appear!
Olivier Bouchet: Olivier has begun work on Brugg.
Stéphane Cammosetto: a new sculptor to Mierce, the awesomely talented Stéphane has agreed to sculpt the first descendant - John Longshore's Brythoniaid bowman, Ieuan Longshore (not forgetting his mastiff, Taranau)! Stéphane has already started work on him and we should see the first WIPs soon.
Allan Carrasco: Allan has finished Qaano for our first project and should begin work on Jörmungand in March. After that he will be sculpting Knútr on Foot, Knútr on Horse, Víthar, Birna, Rollo Iron Head and Cnebba.
Roberto Chaudon: currently working on a top secret project for us, Roberto will give Belech his guitar and then begin work on this project. First up for him is Angedern, followed by Mag ap Mag, Mälmord, Ágriosávra, Eikovra, Myrkranio and finally Djiuzu.
Daniel Cockersell: the Daddy of all monster sculptors, Dan will begin work on Scecchus in February.
Benoît Cosse: Benoît is still working on Darklands: a World of War miniatures and won't start Hrór, Finnan, Praach and the Gabrax Unit for a good long while yet.
Thomas David: his work on Timoth should begin soon - this is now confirmed.
Pedro Fernández Ramos: Mananaan on foot is finished of course, and he'll soon begin work on Mananaan on horse.
Yannick Fusier: It's been a while since we worked with Yannick (he who sculpted Shaaroc a couple of years ago), but he's now doing Bagseg for us and will start him in late January.
Jacques-Alexandre Gillois: he should begin work on Daarkan, Naraa and both Equitus Durio on foot and Equitus Durio on horse soon. Although not necessarily in that order, and we're not sure when - we just know they'll be done before May.
Gauthier Giroud: Gauthier is slated to begin work on Idruaada in February.
Stéphane NGuyen: Druc is still on his plate of course, but he should begin work on Seza after him.
Christian Hardy: Christian will begin work on Velchior and Agathae soon.
Tre Manor: Tre of Red Box Games fame will be taking time out for us to sculpt Erebius! He should start soon, too.
Patrick Masson: due to begin work on Uhtred later on this month and after that will be Gaarwäg (pronounced "GAR-wayg"), although he won't be complete until May.
Hector Moran: Hector is due to start work on the digital Dawn of Khthon, Gorgórar Unit in January, and after that he will be digitally sculpting Con I Modius, Legionary Contubernium.
Olivier Nkweti: Olivier's already finished Dúngal on foot for the Albainn, and has begun work on Ciniod, Itaina and Domnech; Dúngal on horse will follow, and once they're done he will digitally sculpt Hanokh and Thoth.
Juan Navarro Pérez: For Juan we have Urien on foot, Urien on horse, Carys, Caedoc, Ffion Ferddig and Danilo Cruz, and although he should start sculpting in late January we don't know what is going to be done first.
Maxime Penaud: Maxime is slated for Eadric on foot, Eadric on horse and Aldhelm, but we don't know when he will start.
Stéphane Simon: we've loaded Stéphane up with Leofwen on foot (who should be begun shortly), Crom on foot, Crom on horse, Zethag, Annik, Gondard and his Nithing, Xontór, Thelliatiss, the Holumenn Unit and the Gesíth Unit. Phew!
Valentin Zak: last seen on Dungann, we've been hassling Valentin to do more sculpts for us for a while now - and he's back! Valentin will sculpt Broga for us and will begin doing so soon.
Unknown: the remaining three descendants, which are Rick Boer's Frisian Warrior (due to be drawn by Stefan Kopinski), Tomas Johansson's Geat Warrior (due to be drawn by Danny Cruz) and Maximilian Schüte's Germanic Berserker.
And here's the update for the 2nd Mierce KS - First Edition, as it were:
Update #48
Jan 17, 2014
Update Time...
1 comment
2 likes
Today, Mierceday, for this project we have the first shots of Brugg, the Ysian Death-Brute and not much else... but not to worry, there'll be plenty more soon!
Brugg, Death-Brute
Olivier Bouchet is a new sculptor for us and Brugg is his first work for Mierce Miniatures, but of course he's sculpted plenty for others as can be seen on his Facebook page. We're very pleased we've got hold of him!
Here's a couple of scale shots, too, against a ruler and Nung...
We expect Brugg to be finished by the end of February, if not before - but he will ship in June of course.
Darklands: First Edition Fulfilment
We are now beginning to ship Wave 0 Orders to backers from this project, but we would ask all of you to remain patient while we do so. We are only a small team and are still fulfilling the remaining orders for Darklands: a World of War, and we do expect to continue fulfilling Wave 0 Orders throughout February and possibly later.
We will keep you all updated of course.
Sculpts and Sculptors
Here's the big list of who's sculpting what and when for Darklands: First Edition! Please bear in mind that this list may change over time, so don't take it as set in stone until the first work in progress shots appear!
Olivier Bouchet: Olivier has begun work on Brugg.
Stéphane Cammosetto: a new sculptor to Mierce, the awesomely talented Stéphane has agreed to sculpt the first descendant - John Longshore's Brythoniaid bowman, Ieuan Longshore (not forgetting his mastiff, Taranau)! Stéphane has already started work on him and we should see the first WIPs soon.
Allan Carrasco: Allan has finished Qaano for our first project and should begin work on Jörmungand in March. After that he will be sculpting Knútr on Foot, Knútr on Horse, Víthar, Birna, Rollo Iron Head and Cnebba.
Roberto Chaudon: currently working on a top secret project for us, Roberto will give Belech his guitar and then begin work on this project. First up for him is Angedern, followed by Mag ap Mag, Mälmord, Ágriosávra, Eikovra, Myrkranio and finally Djiuzu.
Daniel Cockersell: the Daddy of all monster sculptors, Dan will begin work on Scecchus in February.
Benoît Cosse: Benoît is still working on Darklands: a World of War miniatures and won't start Hrór, Finnan, Praach and the Gabrax Unit for a good long while yet.
Thomas David: his work on Timoth should begin soon - this is now confirmed.
Pedro Fernández Ramos: Mananaan on foot is finished of course, and he'll soon begin work on Mananaan on horse.
Yannick Fusier: It's been a while since we worked with Yannick (he who sculpted Shaaroc a couple of years ago), but he's now doing Bagseg for us and will start him in late January.
Jacques-Alexandre Gillois: he should begin work on Daarkan, Naraa and both Equitus Durio on foot and Equitus Durio on horse soon. Although not necessarily in that order, and we're not sure when - we just know they'll be done before May.
Gauthier Giroud: Gauthier is slated to begin work on Idruaada in February.
Stéphane NGuyen: Druc is still on his plate of course, but he should begin work on Seza after him.
Christian Hardy: Christian will begin work on Velchior and Agathae soon.
Tre Manor: Tre of Red Box Games fame will be taking time out for us to sculpt Erebius! He should start soon, too.
Patrick Masson: due to begin work on Uhtred later on this month and after that will be Gaarwäg (pronounced "GAR-wayg"), although he won't be complete until May.
Hector Moran: Hector is due to start work on the digital Dawn of Khthon, Gorgórar Unit in January, and after that he will be digitally sculpting Con I Modius, Legionary Contubernium.
Olivier Nkweti: Olivier's already finished Dúngal on foot for the Albainn, and has begun work on Ciniod, Itaina and Domnech; Dúngal on horse will follow, and once they're done he will digitally sculpt Hanokh and Thoth.
Juan Navarro Pérez: For Juan we have Urien on foot, Urien on horse, Carys, Caedoc, Ffion Ferddig and Danilo Cruz, and although he should start sculpting in late January we don't know what is going to be done first.
Maxime Penaud: Maxime is slated for Eadric on foot, Eadric on horse and Aldhelm, but we don't know when he will start.
Stéphane Simon: we've loaded Stéphane up with Leofwen on foot (who should be begun shortly), Crom on foot, Crom on horse, Zethag, Annik, Gondard and his Nithing, Xontór, Thelliatiss, the Holumenn Unit and the Gesíth Unit. Phew!
Valentin Zak: last seen on Dungann, we've been hassling Valentin to do more sculpts for us for a while now - and he's back! Valentin will sculpt Broga for us and will begin doing so soon.
Unknown: the remaining three descendants, which are Rick Boer's Frisian Warrior (due to be drawn by Stefan Kopinski), Tomas Johansson's Geat Warrior (due to be drawn by Danny Cruz) and Maximilian Schüte's Germanic Berserker.
With every KS I've backed where the creators seem deathly afraid of publicity and grudgingly puts out one small update every two months, I kind of want to refer them to this one. Along with the white knight fans who constantly claim that they're hard at work on their masterpiece and don't have time to speak to entitled peons like you.
As we see in Kingdom Death and here, talking to the backers and keeping them in the loop about what's going on generates such immense goodwill and enthusiasm for so little effort that it should really be the standard for KS communication after funding. I don't get why so many projects have a communications blackout for months at a time.
I suspect as well as pleasing the backers it's also good for keeping the sculptors as faithful to the art as possible and getting stuff done in a timely manner
You get a company mindset of talking to your sculptors regularly, asking for lots of WIP shots, spotting problems before they waste a lot of the sculptors and your time
Sculptors get plenty of feedback (and to see actual buyers drool as their work goes on which can't be bad)
(not that I think these quality of sculptors need a huge amount of direction)
win, win, win all round
they need lots of wips and conversations with their sculptors, so they see things at all stages and can head off issues before they go to far
It's also interesting to hear a sculptors take on the project. Mierce mentioned that Roberto Chaudon occasionally takes a look at the kickstarter comments and I wouldn't be surprised if some of the others do as well. It also generates quite a lot of inclusion and makes you feel part of the process. You get to see the sculptors work their art. You drool and provide feedback as they progress and eventually see the finished product. You can't help get excited!
Elemental wrote:With every KS I've backed where the creators seem deathly afraid of publicity and grudgingly puts out one small update every two months, I kind of want to refer them to this one. Along with the white knight fans who constantly claim that they're hard at work on their masterpiece and don't have time to speak to entitled peons like you.
As we see in Kingdom Death and here, talking to the backers and keeping them in the loop about what's going on generates such immense goodwill and enthusiasm for so little effort that it should really be the standard for KS communication after funding. I don't get why so many projects have a communications blackout for months at a time.
Probably isn't bad for KS sales either. I wouldn't be shocked if KS1 sales doubled after the actual KS. I certainly know my spending is 4-5 times as much as it was at the time of the kickstarter.
I spent I spent 4 times as much in post KS pledging than my initial pledge with Darklands KS1 due to the amazing levels of communication and feedback, superior customer service, good value for money, and the insanely beautiful sculpts. Within the past year Mierce went from an unknown variable post-Maelstrom to one of my absolute favorite miniatures company in the world. I have yet to be disappointed in Mierce, and the two customer service related issues (a duplicate model and a missing piece) were taken care of very quickly. I actually have another CS related issue which I am about to message Mierce about but I have zero doubts that it will be taken care of promptly.
Heck, I went from "Not touching that with a bargepole." at the start of KS1 (just post-Maelstrom) to "Well, let's just check out the rules." for KS2 and I'm now at the point where I'm seriously thinking of adding an encounter host if the chance comes up.
I'm pretty sure if you email Mierce, a chance will come up. They've been pretty lenient about people jumping in on the Kickstarter after the fact, and since none of the KS2 hosts have started shipping yet, they can probably hook you up with a way to add another to their list.
@Razormage - not sure if Elemental already has access (based on his comments on the KS2 rules)...
If you have access Elemental, feel free to order more (you still have access); if you don't, e-mail us at contact@mierce-miniatures.com and we can sort you out. Oo-er.
Shipment Wave 0: before 2014/early 2014, depending on how many orders there are. This shipment wave will only happen if you pay extra to ship miniatures that are already available from our back catalogue when you manage your pledge. Malacant would also be included with this shipment if you pay extra to have him shipped in December 2014.
Shipment Wave 1: June 2014. This shipment wave will include the rulebook, concept art book, Uhtred, Finnan, Danilo Cruz, all of the Noble miniatures, Malacant, Mag ap Mag, Mälmord, Eikovra, Dawn of Khthon.
Shipment Wave 2: August 2014. Cnebba, Holumenn unit, Djiuzu, Legionary Contubernium, Praach, Broga, Gabrax unit, Seza, Gomagg, Hedroc of Carn Maen so far.
Shipment Wave 3: October 2014. Gesíthas unit, Teulu unit.
This is the start of my new ongoing coverage of some of the artists that use quickposes to improve their drawing skills.
The first artist to be featured is Danny Cruz. He is a character/creature designer from the United States. His clients include IDW, Valiant Entertainment, Kingdom Death, TBC Films, Mierce Miniatures & more.
So Danny, let's begin with providing the people with a small backstory about your life so they get know you a bit. Where are you from and how did you get into art?
I'm from New York and art has always been something that I seemed to have an innate ability for. However, I did not grow up wanting to be an artist...it was just something I did, pretty much drawing whatever my interests were at the time. The urge to want to do that for a living came a little bit later on in my life.
And how long have you been a professional artist for?
At this point, I've been freelancing for a living for almost 5 years.
When did have your big break in art professionally? You know, like maybe an assignment that might have launched your career.
I don't think I've had one breakout assignment yet. It's been more a series of small but steady projects throughout the years. Probably the closest thing remotely considered a big break might be the visibility from the Kingdom Death Kickstarter campaign. That had garnered quite a bit of attention and during that time I was literally getting contacted by people every day wanting me to be involved with their games projects.
When you start becoming a professional in any field some things change or you have unexpected experiences. What was one of the things you underestimated before becoming a professional artist?
Probably the surprisingly quick rate I go through art supplies lol. Creating artwork 6-7 days a week, all day long tends to have me going through traditional art supplies, particularly pencils and sharpeners, quite quickly.
Let's start talking about practicing the art of art ! How did you discover quickposes and have you been acquainted with gesture drawing before ?
I discovered quickposes through a google search. I had been using a couple of gesture sites at the time and was just casually looking to see if there was anything else out there. Since then, quickposes has been the primary place I go to practice my gesture drawings. I had been acquainted with gesture drawing through the numerous drawing and art books I have read throughout the years. I suppose it was all those books that instilled in me how crucial gesture is to the drawing process hierarchy. I always make it a point to start everything, no matter how detailed or complex it may end up being, with a solid gesture that conveys my intent with whatever it is that I am drawing.
Do you have a certain routine for practice using quickposes?
I use quickposes for about an hour each day. It's how I start off my day actually. I do a half hour of 1 minute poses and a half hour or 2 minute poses.
You have accumulated an amazing amount of drawn gesture poses over the last few months using quickposes. Have you started noticing improvement in your gesture poses?
Sure! I'd say it's made me more nimble and less rigid when it comes to roughing out a quick gesture with or without having reference.
Have you seen benefit in other areas of your work from doing gesture poses frequently?
Yes, primarily with being more conscious of how rhythm flows throughout things: a figure, drapery, composition, etc...
Next to gesture drawing. do you have types of exercise that you do regularly to improve your skills.
I'm always working on my figure drawing. Pretty much working out figures from gesture to construction to specific anatomy. With those types of exercises I'm primarily working on accuracy, proportion and just trying to get a strong feeling of form...as well as trying to maintain the integrity of the initial gesture throughout all that. I also work on specific aspects of the figure like hands, heads and drapery.
Any things you would like to see improved on quickposes ?
Probably the only thing that comes to mind at the moment is that I think it'd be great if pics from different sports were included as well.
Ok, thats it for now thanks for taking time to talk and share a bit of info about yourself, your work and how you practice in becoming a better artist.
A nightmarish Brute of horn and bone and muscle, an emphatic answer to the question of whether the Ysian fleshsmiths are as insane as many believe, Nung is a living hulk of meat goaded into battle by his masters. Once human, once sane, the depraved acts performed upon Nung's body has deformed both his form and his nature, to the point where the agony of his transformations and the raging fury within dominates all else; and in brutal combat, the smell of blood and gore drives him to ever greater feats of strength and endurance, his crazed mind ignoring the blows of the feeble blades and claws laid upon him, for the destiny of Nung's foes is obliteration under the crushing force of his mighty stone mattock and the healing brought through digesting their bodies.
Another load of KS miniatures now up for pre-order!
Of Wolves, Snakes and Drune-Hounds
There's eight more Darklands releases from our Darklands: A World of War Kickstarter project for your pleasure this month, including more Angelcynn, some Khthones and a few Ysians!
For the Angelcynn we have the fantastic host herald, Ceonwulf and the splendiferous Duguth warrior, Widmund; for the Khthones we have the amazing Gorgonar Warrior, Ufhiloss and the mighty Hydra of Ýdron, Ygandr; and for the Ysians we have the superb Hound-Master, Jowan and three of his amazing Drune-Hounds, Biter, Snapper and Gouger. Next month should see the release of our incredible dragon, Angrislaug, and the frankly sublime Champion of Dis, Malacant...
Back to now: just like last time, thanks to us being busier than busy bees over the past few months, 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.
More Angelcynn this month! First up we have a miniature sculpted by James van Schaik from a concept by Des Hanley, Ceonwulf - a host herald blowing his very large horn...
The fourth miniature of the five-man Duguth with spears unit, Widmund may only be a warrior but he's a cracking miniature for all that. Widmund, like all the Duguth, was sculpted by Juan Navarro Pérez from a concept by Des Hanley, and they are all fantastic miniatures!
Like the rest of the Gorgonares, with whom he forms a unit of five, Ufhiloss' concept was drawn by Christophe Madura and the miniature was sculpted by Stéphane Simon. With Vilthiss, Issithill, and Mneriiss already released, that leaves just one more Gorgonar to complete the unit...
Now here's something mighty to get your teeth into! Ygandr - with concept drawn by Stefan Kopinski and sculpted by Roberto Chaudon - is a huge and nasty looking Hydra for the Khthones, a slithery five-headed monster who just looks evil. We can't emphasise, either, how big this fella is - that's a 120mm base he's on!
Sculpted by Stéphane Simon from a concept by Danny Cruz, the superb Jowan of Carn Dhu is a Hound-Master and never goes into battle without his whip or his Drune-Hounds... which are also released this month!
The first of the three Drune-Hounds to be released and sculpted by Stéphane Simon from a concept by Danny Cruz, Biter is a nasty looking beast that would rip your throat out and make a real dog's dinner of it...
The second of the three Drune-Hounds to be released and sculpted by Stéphane Simon from a concept by Danny Cruz, Snapper is a bit of a leaper and would go at your legs like a scrapyard dog having his dinner...
The third of the three Drune-Hounds to be released and sculpted by Stéphane Simon from a concept by Danny Cruz, Gouger is not to be messed with... unlike his kennel...
All of the releases above will be officially released on the 1st of February 2014, but you can pre-order them here to your heart's content, of course!
I wish they'd stop showing cool monsters. I had an idea in my head for Darklands that I'd run sexy all human armies as much as possible (Snakemen don't count, they're sexy and half human) but the big gribblies are tempting me.
Eventually, I'm going to spend a fair bit more. When I do this, it will undoubtedly qualify for 'free' shipping - but as these items are from KS2, do I have to then also include shipping anyway? Even if it would otherwise qualify for free shipping? I hope that makes sense...
. Still not sure what I'll actually be able to use my pair of Blood Maws for when I get them, or what I can fit them on!
(not that it'll matter; I ordered it for darklands so scale won't be an issue, but still - is my paint collection going to cry that badly? 
and actually don't seem too big at all, although I'm sure they will still be a little unweildy once their full "wingspan" is in place with the wide arms.
I had almost forgotten about his miniatures (shudder), he consistently made some horrendous figures but didn't he also do the Green Knight and Orion who were both very good.....back on track, I am not a fan of Leofwens head, but what I will say is that it is the only one in a very large range I think is a swing and a miss, the standard is so high from them that I will survive this one 
