Snrub wrote: Only a 20k goal? That seems... low. I realise all the sprues and what nots have been paid for and such but I was expecting a 50k goal or something at least.
We're almost half way there already!
Hopefully they just blow this out of the water then.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: I'm glad there was such a large uptick at the end. Not what I'd expected before the project went live, but a darn sight better than I feared a week ago. Hopefully this positive end note will carry on to the retail release..
I quite firmly believe that it will do much better at retail, just because of the nature of this sort of game and its potential audience. Being able to hold models in hand and actually play demo games will convert far more people than just seeing stuff on the computer.
It's going to be a long few months...
I hope you're right. My expectation 41 days ago was that HIPS + tournament/campaign support + fiction and art + Dakka * Kickstarter would skyrocket this up into the stratosphere. Now I'm ...cautiously optimistic.
The few months shouldn't feel long with all the fiction, play testing and game organizing SAS is sure to fill them with.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: I'm glad there was such a large uptick at the end. Not what I'd expected before the project went live, but a darn sight better than I feared a week ago. Hopefully this positive end note will carry on to the retail release..
I quite firmly believe that it will do much better at retail, just because of the nature of this sort of game and its potential audience. Being able to hold models in hand and actually play demo games will convert far more people than just seeing stuff on the computer.
It's going to be a long few months...
Any information on international retailers, for example Japan?
Snrub wrote: Only a 20k goal? That seems... low. I realise all the sprues and what nots have been paid for and such but I was expecting a 50k goal or something at least.
We're almost half way there already!
Hopefully they just blow this out of the water then.
Come on, $1 million!
Well, you were close?
Ah, cinci, always a beacon of positivity. Searched all the way through this thread so you could snark at my positive comment from the beginning eh? That's kind of sad.
I'll be honest, I was hoping for a million too but in the end 800 backers and $70K says to me the project was a success by all reasonable measures.
More than that, though, I think it will be a huge hit at retail - everything has been geared towards that, and while I'm very happy a Kickstarter was done so that I could get a sense for what is coming, this game is destined for success or failure at retail. This is distinct from a lot of campaigns that are heavy on exclusives and not really focused on a retail presence.
That's not to say those games can't or won't do well at retail (Zombicide I think does well everywhere all the time!) but just that this game is set up well for selling at retail, and I am very hopeful it will be an even bigger success there! I want some opponents for my drone army
When the Medge forum unlocks, I want to start a thread about unit box packaging. Want to find out about pricing, quantity, design, flavor text, all of that stuff.
Snrub wrote: Only a 20k goal? That seems... low. I realise all the sprues and what nots have been paid for and such but I was expecting a 50k goal or something at least.
We're almost half way there already!
Hopefully they just blow this out of the water then.
Come on, $1 million!
Well, you were close?
Ah, cinci, always a beacon of positivity. Searched all the way through this thread so you could snark at my positive comment from the beginning eh? That's kind of sad.
Didn't have to search. I had it saved.
It could have done much, much better than it did. It didn't for a multitude of reasons (which Buzzsaw will explain far more completely than I will here).
Your $1MM projection was funny to me, so you're absolutely right I wanted to it, because it's indicative of a lot of the blind, frenzied faith that hindered the project more than it helped.
I think any "faith" at this stage is misplaced until the product actually ships.
That said, I don't think people were "blind" considering all the models shown off have been production samples rather than shiny artist's impressions or 3D renders. There are also two printed novels and a sampler rulebook, plus examples of the possible things modellers can do with the figures and terrain sprues.
Not many Kickstarters offer that amount of visible product straight off.
The main component that needs to be finished is the rules that were always intended to be widely beta play tested by project backers once the project funded.
I don't really worry or think it will be an issue of failing to deliver. Delays? Maaaybe. So I disagree, I do have faith in SAS.
However to counter the delay worries, as you said most of the work is done. Also, if a forum like Dakkadakka snubbed the backers or pulled a kickstarter scam it'd be a disaster.
I think this is the moat solid ks I've backed in terms of stuff being completed. I'm still really sore about the Sentinel games ks which showed buckets of finished goods but seems to have died a death, with the owner going off to run for mayor of his town. I'm pretty certain we'll see medge before the end of the year.
Snrub wrote: Only a 20k goal? That seems... low. I realise all the sprues and what nots have been paid for and such but I was expecting a 50k goal or something at least.
We're almost half way there already!
Hopefully they just blow this out of the water then.
Come on, $1 million!
Well, you were close?
Ah, cinci, always a beacon of positivity. Searched all the way through this thread so you could snark at my positive comment from the beginning eh? That's kind of sad.
Didn't have to search. I had it saved.
It could have done much, much better than it did. It didn't for a multitude of reasons (which Buzzsaw will explain far more completely than I will here).
Your $1MM projection was funny to me, so you're absolutely right I wanted to it, because it's indicative of a lot of the blind, frenzied faith that hindered the project more than it helped.
Projection?? You took my offhand comment of "I hope this KS makes all the money!" as a projection? Hoo-boy, I think you are getting way, way more out of that than I honestly ever intended. As other posters said about their own feelings, I would sure have liked this project to have been a raging success that captured the attention of masses of wargamers. Did I think that was going to be the case? Maybe, maybe not, but I certainly *wanted* them to do well. Did they do as well as I expected? Maybe a little less so, but then maybe my hopes were a little exaggerated. I don't know a lot about success rates of mid-skirmish size games like this on KS, so I'm not sure. What I'm still fairly confident in (because we saw it during this campaign) is that SAS will be taking in all of the information provided during this run and putting it to good use. I don't think there is much you can show me that wound prove otherwise.
Since you have been apparently saving comments so you could strike back at the zealots, I would be interested to see what sorts of comments I made that derailed this project, as you so see it. I guess I'll make sure to not make comments about hoping other KS are wildly successful, less I induce the ire of more hardened KS veterans.
The Maelstrom's Edge Kickstarter has finally finished, and we're delighted to have had 813 backers, and to have raised $70,105 towards the project. Although we put a lot of initial investment in to get the project to this point, the money from the Kickstarter is huge as it allows us to begin making purchase orders for the content of the box set, knowing that we'll have amazing backers waiting for what we've created. The campaign has also let us add lots of additional content to the box, and we're really pleased with what everyone will receive.
The last few days of funding were really exciting for us, and we're absolutely thrilled to have unlocked several key stretch goals and rewards towards the end of the Kickstarter. These include:
For reaching $45,000, every $90 pledge includes a free terrain sprue, which contains a number of different building components that you can combine with plasticard, card, foamcore or found objects to create unique buildings that share a distinctive Maelstrom's Edge style. We're delighted with the positive feedback we've had for the terrain sprue, and are really excited to see what people build with it!
As well as the main game, we've devised a space-based card game set in the Maelstrom's Edge universe, where players use their fleets to compete for resources and planets under threat from the Maelstrom. This is a complete standalone card game, and every deck included with the $90 pledge is enough for 2 players to play a game, perfect for between battles of the miniatures game!
We announced the names of some of the amazing writers who have agreed to write short stories set in the Maelstrom's Edge universe in the future, including Alastair Reynolds, Aliette de Bodard, Karin Lowachee, Jaine Fenn, Liz Williams, Rob Ziegler and Jeff Carlson, as well as more stories by our lead writers Stephen Gaskell and Tomas L. Martin. We have lots of plans for more fiction in our setting, and will be releasing new stories regularly through our website over the coming months.
For reaching $55,000, we are going to be recording 4 more audiobooks set in the Maelstrom's Edge universe, on top of 'Transit' by Stephen Gaskell, which was made available during the Kickstarter. The audiobooks will be free to all backers, and we will be sending you a link that lets you download them from the Maelstrom's Edge website as and when they are ready. Writing and recording an audiobook takes a little time so we won't be sending these immediately but you'll be the first to know when they are available!
As a reward for all of our faithful Kickstarter backers, we had a poll to see which additional model you'd like in the box set. You voted for a second Large Angel for the Karists, which we have added to what you get in the box! This additional Angel model is exclusive to our Kickstarter backers and won't be included in the retail version of the box set.
For reaching $60,000, we are able to manufacture custom bases for the larger models in the set, which have the distinctive notches on either side, to indicate where the front and rear arcs of the models are which is important to the game. In addition, it allows more posing and conversion opportunities for models mounted on bases. These new bases will be added for the 4 Spider drones, the 2 Hunter Mechs and the 2 Large Angels, in whichever pledge they were purchased. This was a really big goal for us, so we're really pleased it got unlocked!
Literally in the final moments of the Kickstarter, we reached $70,000! This amazing achievement unlocked a free digital copy of the first novel in the Maelstrom's Edge universe, Maelstrom's Edge: Faith, cowritten by the team's lead writers, Tomas L. Martin and Stephen Gaskell. This book is already finished and we will be sending a link to all our backers as soon as we get the digital distribution logistics pinned down to give you a code to download it in the format of your choosing (mobi/epub/pdf), or gift the code to a friend if you've already bought it on Amazon Kindle. Maelstrom's Edge: Faith is part one of the Battle for Zycanthus, and the second book, Maelstrom's Edge: Sacrifice, which concludes the story, is also available on Amazon Kindle for those who enjoy reading the first book! We are keen that everyone who wants to read the books can do so, so please let us know if there are other ebook formats or stores that you would like us to make the books available on.
We are giving away some free copies of the paperback versions of the novels and right now we're collecting the names and will be in contact next week to announce the people who'll be getting copies sent in the post!
If you are a backer and your credit card company has blocked the transaction to Kickstarter (or Stripe), then don't worry, your pledge will still be held and you'll get a chance to pay again before packing and shipping begins. We'll also have the capacity to add extra terrain sprues or big boxes to your pledge at that time as well!
Making the universe, game and models for Maelstrom's Edge has been a massive undertaking by our small team and we are incredibly grateful for the support we've received from all our Kickstarter backers, and friends in the wargames community. We'd like to send a special thank you to many awesome people and companies including but not limited to Kingdom Death, Dreamforge Games, Frontline Gaming, Mantic Games, Tabletop Fix, Cool Mini Or Not, Bell of Lost Souls, Beasts of War, the D6 Generation podcast, 3++, Tabletop Gaming News, theminiaturespage, Lead Adventure, Wee Gamers, 3rd Dimension Gear, and especially all the commentors on Kickstarter and Dakka for your support, questions and feedback. We've strived really hard to make Maelstrom's Edge as good as we possibly could, and are proud of what we've made.
We've had some great input from the wargames community over the last few months, and we are listening carefully to all the requests and feedback we've had so far. When we came to launch the Kickstarter, we wanted to try and get as much of the design work completed as possible, so that our backers wouldn't have to wait too long to receive the boxed game. HIPS plastic production is a incredibly time-consuming process, and if we were to start making changes to the sprue design at this point, it would delay the launch by months or even years! We've tried to address every piece of feedback we've had as much as we can, but rest assured that even when it's not possible for us to change something locked in for this initial release, we are listening for the future, and every step of the way from here we will continue to improve on the beginnings that you have helped launch.
We are now going to turn our attention to delivering on what we've promised and getting the box sets into the hands of our backers by our delivery date of December this year, and then to launch in retail in early 2016. Keeping our backers and supporters up to date is really important to us, and we will be putting a tracker on the Maelstrom's Edge website ( http://www.maelstromsedge.com ) to keep people informed of the status of the project and the completion of key milestones. The money we've raised in the Kickstarter also lets us start planning for the future, and we have already started designing additional models for both the Epirian Foundation and Karist Enclave to add to what comes in the box set, as well as three new factions, the advanced technology of the Artarian Remnant Fleet, the rebels and revolutionaries of the Broken and the strange posthuman Kaigus Pact. Whilst these new additions will take time to develop and design, the Kickstarter funds allow us to start working on the future releases earlier than we would have been able to otherwise. In the near future we are focusing on ensuring that our backers get the content they have pledged for as quickly as possible, but we have lots of plans to expand the game of Maelstrom's Edge in the future!
Thank you all once again for your support and feedback and we look forward to getting the box set of Maelstrom's Edge in your hands very soon.
Paperbacks are queued up and logistics and legals are sorted, but wont be going out for order and shipping until mid-late Aug unless we can free up some time in the next 3 weeks, as they are naturally lowest priority on the pecking order right now but being stored offsite means it takes quite a chunk out of our time to go to the offsite location, add appropriate labels, repackage and send off to shipping agents and every 6 hour chunk is very valuable to stay on track.
It's weird, but I was so keen to get the paperbacks, but now I got a free copy thought the Kickstarter and I've got the short stories as PDFs on my iPad, I'm leaning towards just buying the second book as a digital copy for completeness - that'll be the obsessionalism again! I'll just cope with the the dyslexia stuff I suppose.
Now if they were signed paperbacks that would be a different story
legoburner wrote: Paperbacks are queued up and logistics and legals are sorted, but wont be going out for order and shipping until mid-late Aug unless we can free up some time in the next 3 weeks, as they are naturally lowest priority on the pecking order right now but being stored offsite means it takes quite a chunk out of our time to go to the offsite location, add appropriate labels, repackage and send off to shipping agents and every 6 hour chunk is very valuable to stay on track.
Cool. Just curious. It's probably better if I read them closer to when the rewards are delivered anyway, to keep me motivated. (And probably spending. Is there a lot of robot or angel action in the duology?)
It's weird, but I was so keen to get the paperbacks, but now I got a free copy thought the Kickstarter and I've got the short stories as PDFs on my iPad, I'm leaning towards just buying the second book as a digital copy for completeness - that'll be the obsessionalism again! I'll just cope with the the dyslexia stuff I suppose.
Now if they were signed paperbacks that would be a different story
I think I stored the free novel. But I did that with Bloodstone of Cyrillion, too, and only got around to reading that when I had the physical copy. I can make it through a short story in eform, but not a novel.
I'd request for mine to be signed, but I can imagine the form the doodle might take...
So, there's been a fairly informative update, which I will share. However, I thought the Medge subforum was supposed to be unlocked after the campaign so we could start new threads. Why hasn't it? And why have Legoburner and Yakface not shared this update with Dakka?
Update #51
Aug 31 2015
A summary of progress to date with a few nice images...
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Hello once again to all of you! We've been working extremely hard on Maelstrom's Edge, and we are pleased to report that we have been free from illnesses, vacations and any other unplanned diversions, allowing us to give our complete focus to Maelstrom's Edge over the past few months. As such, we are pleased to report that we still remain on target as per our existing project delivery plan which can be found here: http://www.maelstromsedge.com/status
We've had a number of small delays over the past couple of months, but fortunately nothing has pushed us back too far just yet and as such we will have no issue in getting everything out in December as planned. Those of you backing for digital rules only might see a couple of weeks of slippage which might push delivery of the rules PDF to Nov from Oct, but that is simply a measure of how much effort and work is going in to making the rulebook as good as it can be.
The biggest potential hold up is getting the final 3 models completed. The sculpts and parts are done, tested and signed off, and the final tooling (cutting the designs of the digital models into metal moulds to facilitate injection moulding) is underway, but due to the extreme number of variables involved, we cant count on it being done until the production is complete and the models are on the boat and on the way to us. There are many things out of our control, with one of the major consistent issues being large industrial plastic orders coming in from third parties, and due to them having 8-figure budgets, they immediately get priority over our small scale, high detail, high effort models. Thankfully we are at the very end of the model development process for these three, and as such the chance of those variables affecting us drops every single day.
Beyond that, getting the box printed is the next biggest issue. We desperately want to have pictures of all models on the box for obvious reasons, but printing is a very slow process and booking in print time alone can require as much as two months notice. We've committed to the extra expense of getting printing done in Europe so that we can get it into our warehouse without it needing to spend 5 weeks on the ocean, but it is still a very tight timescale with little buffer room for the unexpected.
The rulebook and all cards should not be a problem at all. Progress has been great on them and we will have them in the warehouse well in advance of the final packing and shipping dates.
The card tokens, suppression markers, victory point trackers, card objectives, blast templates and spray templates are all done and best of all are sitting in our warehouse ready for packing. We had some interesting adventures in international shipping to get to this stage, but they look great and the colour is vivid and sharp. We'll aim to get a suppression token assembly tutorial together before you get them so that you can plan on how to make them look as good as can be, though assembly is very straightforward and simply comes down to how perfect you want them to look by using things like black pens to mask the edges of the card. Here's a picture of a 1 metre cubed pile of our cardboard - a lot of suppression tokens!
A lot of cardboard!
A lot of cardboard!
and here's some pictures of the finished, final product - all three sheets (please excuse the camera shadow in the bottom centre!):
The production grade die-cut card sheets (A4 in size), front and rear of sheet 3
The production grade die-cut card sheets (A4 in size), front and rear of sheet 3
The existing plastic models are already starting to flow into our warehouse. We've had multiple injection moulding machines running around the world for weeks, churning out the best versions of our models that have ever been made. Our production teams have blown us away with their talents and we are very proud and pleased to state that the models we've shown you pictures of are not as crisp and sharp as the ones you will be getting. The production run surpasses our prototypes quite notably. Here's some of the recent palettes of plastic that have arrived in our warehouse:
A big pile of plastic (in generic boxes)
A big pile of plastic (in generic boxes)
If you are in at the $1 pledge level, then you'll be pleased to know that the next audiobook - "Crisis Point" by Stephen Gaskell just has a few minor bits of polishing left and will be going out to you all as planned this October. If you've not yet been claiming your audiobooks and other digital rewards, then be sure to check out this update: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/medge/maelstroms-edge-a-next-gen-sci-fi-miniatures-warga/posts/1299968
If you are just backing for terrain, then you'll also be pleased to know that your plastic is done and almost ready to ship and is in fact in one of the palettes photographed above. We have the logistics and packing plans in place now and just need to get the pledge manager out to you for your addresses and then the sprues will be on the way. Here's a nice test one of our friends did which shows just how many pieces of terrain can be built from a single terrain sprue:
Squeezing as much terrain out of one sprue as possible!
Squeezing as much terrain out of one sprue as possible!
The next update we send out will have the pledge manager details in it. We appreciate it has taken us a while to get it out to you, but we are not using an off-the-shelf solution and have developed our own which integrates nicely with our website at maelstromsedge.com. We also wanted to pin down a few details first, the most significant being if we are able to offer standalone models. I'm pleased to report that we will now be able to offer add-ons for individual model sprues though they will just be loose sprues with bases, not in final retail boxes, but as a result they'll be discounted too as a thanks for your early support in getting us to this point. For those of you who wanted to build a whole drone army, or just wanted a force of alien angels to proxy in another game, it will now be possible to get the models on their own! You'll be able to add them to your pledge very soon when the pledge manager goes live.
We spend a lot of time ensuring everything is going to plan, and as such we can see in our projections that there is a chance of around 40% that external or internal variables might affect our rate of production and prevent us getting everything together and shipped before Christmas. While that is still less than a 50/50 chance, we want to keep ourselves motivated and dedicated, so we'll publicly promise now that if we slip past December shipping and into Q1 2016, we will add the second most requested bonus unit - the huge Epirian Hunter Robot - to every single box set at the $90+ pledge level. We'd prefer not to give away one of our most complex and valuable models, so we'll be working extra hard to make sure we ship on time, but if we fail then you'll get a free Christmas present off the back of it!
Once again, please excuse our relative lack of community outreach at this time. We are a small team and we are working flat out to get Maelstrom's Edge to the highest quality while sticking to our timescale goals. We'll be ramping up communication as shipping approaches and are always open to questions and chats about the game, models and rules, so feel free to ask here on Kickstarter in the comments section anytime you want to!
As one more teaser from the Maelstrom's Edge universe, here's an image showing a number of Cybel Gates (the mechanism for travel over large distances at effectively faster-than-light speeds) in close proximity to a large star:
Ships queue before a Cybel Gate
Ships queue before a Cybel Gate
and an example page from our in-development rulebook:
A simple rules preview page
A simple rules preview page
We'll be in touch soon with the pledge manager link! Thank you for your patience and as always we cant wait to start getting the game, the rules and the models into your hands!
There were other pictures, but I my copy function is lazy.
It sounds like everything is on track, but if there is a delay then we each get another Hunter mini.
I'm very happy that the pledge manager will allow us to buy individual sprues! Send in the drones.
Thanks for reposting Bob, all time and effort has been focused on medge development of late so there's been no time for community building and wont be until it is ready to go out the door. I can confirm the printed versions of the novels are also in the warehouse and will be part of the pledge manager as well though
We spend a lot of time ensuring everything is going to plan, and as such we can see in our projections that there is a chance of around 40% that external or internal variables might affect our rate of production and prevent us getting everything together and shipped before Christmas. While that is still less than a 50/50 chance, we want to keep ourselves motivated and dedicated, so we'll publicly promise now that if we slip past December shipping and into Q1 2016, we will add the second most requested bonus unit - the huge Epirian Hunter Robot - to every single box set at the $90+ pledge level. We'd prefer not to give away one of our most complex and valuable models, so we'll be working extra hard to make sure we ship on time, but if we fail then you'll get a free Christmas present off the back of it!
Ah, I totally missed that! Was wondering why everyone was cheering for this to be ever-so-slightly delayed now
I have to admit that it is really refreshing to see an update that says their projections indicate this may possibly, but not definitely, be late, rather than an update 2 months after the estimation throwing blame and sob stories.
Update #52 from Maelstrom's Edge: A Next-Gen Sci-Fi Miniatures Wargame
Oct 18 2015
The Maelstrom's Edge Pledge Manager is LIVE!
Hello everyone! We are very pleased to announce that the Maelstrom's Edge pledge manager is live at last! While we apologise for the delay getting it all set up, the pledge manager had been bumped down the priority list again and again as we've had various other issues to deal with to stay on schedule such as chasing manufacturers, handling shipping issues, finalising models and designs, and a million and one other time sensitive things!
The pledge manager is live at https://www.maelstromsedge.com To use it, visit the maelstrom's edge website, and if you are not already registered there, sign up using the same email address that you use here on kickstarter. On your profile page at maelstromsedge.com, you'll then have access to the pledge manager, which you can also access directly with this link.
The pledge manager allows you to give us your shipping address for delivery, and pay shipping fees where applicable. It allows you to upgrade your pledge, and most importantly allows you to build your forces and terrain with as many extra sprues as you need. All backers must complete the pledge manager to be able to receive their rewards (or we wont know where to send them!)
If you are not a kickstarter backer, you can now order terrain sprues, box sets and anything else at the same link too, so if you have friends who want to get their hands on some Maelstrom's Edge models, then please do let them know!
As promised recently, the pledge manager allows you to add on pretty much anything we are making, in any form that appeals. If you want 50 drones, you can add them. If you want 10 more box sets, you can add them. If you want a pile of terrain sprues and nothing else, it is easy now. Simply assemble your shopping cart in the pledge manager, then pay for any extras on top of your kickstarter pledge and shipping fee. You can only finalise your kickstarter pledge once, and you can also upgrade to a higher pledge tier once. After you finalise your kickstarter pledge, you can re-order to get as many add-ons as you want, as many times as you want to order, between now and shortly before we ship the final box sets.
Terrain sprues and printed novels will be shipped out either in the last week of this month or the first week of November and then every couple of weeks thereafter. Everything else should be going out in December still (likely mid-late Dec), provided our boatload of remaining models does not get held up in customs for too long. If it gets held up, we'll certainly have all the orders sent out in January save for circumstances of force majeure, and as promised previously, all backers who have a box set in their pledge will get a completely free Epirian Hunter Robot added to each box if we do get delayed (to keep us very motivated to get it to you to enjoy over the Christmas break!)
Thank you very much for your continued support. We've had constant words of encouragement from you all over the past few months as we've been slogging through the work to get the Maelstrom's Edge box set completed. Your kind words have been a massive help, especially when we've had to travel for days to factories and warehouses around the world to keep things moving forwards. Little by little, delays have been solved and product has been building in our warehouse. We are still just about on track for an on schedule delivery, with the terrain going out very soon, and the second stretch goal audiobook coming to you all before the end of the month. The next audiobook is called Crisis Point, and is a story featuring space-based conflict between The Broken and a remote Epirian Foundation outpost.
Shipping Prices
As promised, we were able to keep shipping prices at or below $20 globally for kickstarter rewards and unique box set purchases.
We have 4 shipping regions:
UK - $14.50 (GBP 9.39)
European Union - $18.10 (EUR 15.95)
USA and Canada - $19.20
Rest of World - $20
All prices are in US dollars for ease of accounting on our end. We'll be pricing in GBP and USD when we go to retail next year, but now is the time to order if you want the best possible price and the fastest possible delivery. Your credit card provider will handle the currency conversion automatically if you order anything extra, just like when you pledge here on kickstarter.
Final Model Previews
The pledge manager contains small images of the very early test models for the Kaddar Nova, Epirian Handler and Karist Shadow Walker. We wont put up bigger pictures of these models just yet as the models in those images are made from the very first test sprues we had, so suffer from misaligned tools, shrinkage and other issues which will not be in the final retail models that you'll be getting. We should have final pictures of these models in the next 2 weeks or so, and we'll share them in big, fully painted glory then. The sprue photos for these models, are again pre-final versions and are lacking labels and other bits of final polishing which will be on the final sprues. We put the model images up in the pledge manager just so that you are not buying something unknown, and you can rest assured that the end models and sprues will be even better
Here are the sprue images - you can view them in even larger size in the pledge manager:
Kaddar Nova Sprue
Karist Shadow Walker Sprue
Epirian Handler Sprue
Thank you once again. We cannot wait to start seeing what you all build with the terrain sprues in 2-3 weeks time! The first person to create a biodome battlefield, full of transparent acrylic boxes filled with plastic aquarium plants using our doors, panels, etc cut in and glued on will be fulfilling our personal battlefield goals for the sprues
Pledge Manager FAQs
There are a few quirks remaining in the pledge manager, we are polishing them out, but just to mitigate any confusion we'll outline them here:
On iOS devices and some android browsers, when you 'click to pay', you'll need to click twice - the button will change to inform you of this. This is because we lock the order in place, then start the payment process, but starting the payment process is blocked by iOS' popup blocker due to that slight delay between functions. On all other devices, you only need to click once to get through the process.
If you have pledged for $1, we've set the value of that pledge to be worth $0 on our system, so you wont lose out on that dollar, and can spend it on add-ons at your will.
Next week, we'll send out images of the unit profile cards so you can start building lists and getting any extra models you might want based on those lists.
The VIP status reward is priced in to everything except the printed novels and digital products (as backers get them anyway), and is active for anyone who pre-orders as a thank you for early support. If for some reason we drop prices in the future, we'll recredit any difference to you at that time.
We use the same payment provider as kickstarter, so if your card works here, it will work on our site.
We have a minimum of $1 for transactions through our credit card provider - please make sure anything extra on your order comes to either $0 (or less), or is over $1.
In the event of any unforeseen errors, the 'processing payment' text will stay visible after you've been given the reason for the error (invalid card details, etc). Simply go back to your user profile page at that time and you can re-pay there if you have card issues.
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There are three leg options for the Kaddar Nova, two of which are leaning and a touch more dynamic, but it does need a bit of extra hobby work to look fully dynamic and for our photos we are just doing stock assemblies so went with a standing and leading pose on that first model. It was the hardest model after the Angel to get sculpted, with the backpack being a really complex beast in plastic and while we could have made a few more dynamic parts, it would have meant a 5 month delay to the whole project for changes to that one model for a whole bunch of annoying production related reasons.
Has the shadow walker sprue onoy one head? It looks like there are enough parts to build 2 figures minus a head.
Had a quick look at the pm, looks like I'll be adding on a second box game, since I kind of wanted to double up on a lot of stuff anyway and $60 is dirt cheap.
Thanks edlowe, yes the shadow walker sprue only has one head, but effectively builds two models save for that. It was a complication of production, and we are covering it in each box set, so instead of just throwing in one sprue with no spare parts, we can put in two sprues with two full extra bodies at no extra cost to you basically. We are quite happy for people to try and cast their own spare heads if needed as well and encourage more adventurous conversions on top of that.
legoburner wrote: Thanks edlowe, yes the shadow walker sprue only has one head, but effectively builds two models save for that. It was a complication of production, and we are covering it in each box set, so instead of just throwing in one sprue with no spare parts, we can put in two sprues with two full extra bodies at no extra cost to you basically. We are quite happy for people to try and cast their own spare heads if needed as well and encourage more adventurous conversions on top of that.
Cheers for the reply legoburner, shame you couldn't get two heads on there but I'm hoping the spare head on the kaddar nova and kharist troopers won't look out of place.
I can get around the shadow walker only having one head pretty easily, as I plan to modify the figures anyway. It's not a big deal for me personally, but I think being just short of making two full figures will definitely hurt the Shadow Walker kit in retail sales. I'm not sure what made including only one head on the sprue necessary, but anyone who buys or contemplates buying that figure will have the same complaint: why can't I make two? Where's the other head? In the future, for the sake of the game, I'd recommend not repeating this approach. On the positive side, the one head that is featured - so far as I can make it out - looks quite good. And since the missing one probably would have been some barefaced alternate lacking the cool helmet, I figure I'm not really missing out on anything. (I'm into cool helmets. Boring human faces, not so much.)
While it's hard to judge with the assembled photos being so small right now, I'm liking the look of all three of the new figures. That's something of a relief, since those three were the bulk of the "gamble" I took during the kickstarter that the final figures would turn out well based only on concept art. Of the first round of ME figures, I think only the Epirian soldiers haven't impressed me so far. That may sound like a put down, but honestly, that sort of hit ratio on a new release is very rare for me. It bodes very well for future releases, which I fully intend to support.
I would like to see less of the flip / reverse method used to vary limb poses in the future, though. The Shadow Walker leg poses, for example, are just mirror images of each other. This isn't a Maelstrom's Edge specific thing - GW did a lot of mirror-imaging on their Genestealer poses in the latest Space Hulk release, to name one example. But while it's hardly unheard of in the industry now that models are often computer generated, it's still not nearly as good or as visually convincing as providing multiple completely original limb poses in my book. I'm happy to slam GW for doing it, but if it isn't cost prohibitive, I'd rather you guys did away with it as well.
I also confess that i had hoped to see some sort of option on the shadow walker sprue to build the vortex that they dive through to teleport. That would be going above and beyond, I know, so it's not a big deal. If anyone finds a suitable model to stand in for that, though - particularly a colored, translucent one - let me know. Just a little vanity project.
Finally, you MEdge-designing-making guys had mentioned that the terrain sprues are particularly well-suited to modifying Deadzone scenery. I know from your KS updates that you have loads of free time, so is there any chance you could get some pictures up of Deadzone / MEdge terrain hybrids? It might help drive some additional sales.
Overall, I continue to be impressed by the results of your work, and remain glad that I pledged.
I can get around the shadow walker only having one head pretty easily, as I plan to modify the figures anyway. It's not a big deal for me personally, but I think being just short of making two full figures will definitely hurt the Shadow Walker kit in retail sales. I'm not sure what made including only one head on the sprue necessary, but anyone who buys or contemplates buying that figure will have the same complaint: why can't I make two?
The same reason you can't make two models from pretty much any other single model kit?
It's a single model kit with two body options, not a dual model kit missing a head. The second body is a bonus.
Thanks everyone, the additional box(es) are part of the 'upgrade your pledge' tie-in, which allows existing backers to spend the difference between their pledge and the next pledge level to get another box for as little as possible
I can get around the shadow walker only having one head pretty easily, as I plan to modify the figures anyway. It's not a big deal for me personally, but I think being just short of making two full figures will definitely hurt the Shadow Walker kit in retail sales.
We'll still be selling the same number of models as we otherwise would, they will just come with a large pile of parts.
I'm not sure what made including only one head on the sprue necessary, but anyone who buys or contemplates buying that figure will have the same complaint: why can't I make two? Where's the other head? In the future, for the sake of the game, I'd recommend not repeating this approach. On the positive side, the one head that is featured - so far as I can make it out - looks quite good. And since the missing one probably would have been some barefaced alternate lacking the cool helmet, I figure I'm not really missing out on anything. (I'm into cool helmets. Boring human faces, not so much.)
The head is definitely my favourite head in the entire range, by far. Having one on the sprue was the culmination of a bunch of different factors but once all the parts are clipped out of a box set and are in a pile, it should be no big annoyance, just a little grumble at what could have been. We are doubling up the sprues so that people get loads of extra bits at least.
While it's hard to judge with the assembled photos being so small right now, I'm liking the look of all three of the new figures. That's something of a relief, since those three were the bulk of the "gamble" I took during the kickstarter that the final figures would turn out well based only on concept art. Of the first round of ME figures, I think only the Epirian soldiers haven't impressed me so far. That may sound like a put down, but honestly, that sort of hit ratio on a new release is very rare for me. It bodes very well for future releases, which I fully intend to support.
I would like to see less of the flip / reverse method used to vary limb poses in the future, though. The Shadow Walker leg poses, for example, are just mirror images of each other. This isn't a Maelstrom's Edge specific thing - GW did a lot of mirror-imaging on their Genestealer poses in the latest Space Hulk release, to name one example. But while it's hardly unheard of in the industry now that models are often computer generated, it's still not nearly as good or as visually convincing as providing multiple completely original limb poses in my book. I'm happy to slam GW for doing it, but if it isn't cost prohibitive, I'd rather you guys did away with it as well.
It is not something we especially like - it basically comes down to a matter of time. You'll note a 5 month window between us having the models 'almost done' and to the stage now where they can be shown (on sprue at least). There were some pretty significant complications with these models and as such, we had quite a lot of trouble trying to get any changes completed without sinking an extra 6-12 months in to the process. The mirrored legs, while not ideal, still give a good variance of posing and as you say are used in a very large number of GW's releases these days. Often they cheat a little bit and will mirror, then change one tiny part to make it mirrored+ too. We definitely want full, original sculpts each time. The arms are not mirrored at all though, so there is a nice combination of poses that can come about from having two directions of flow, coupled with two poses of the arms.
I also confess that i had hoped to see some sort of option on the shadow walker sprue to build the vortex that they dive through to teleport. That would be going above and beyond, I know, so it's not a big deal. If anyone finds a suitable model to stand in for that, though - particularly a colored, translucent one - let me know. Just a little vanity project.
We played around with options like that but could not get anything that looked even close to good enough yet.
Finally, you MEdge-designing-making guys had mentioned that the terrain sprues are particularly well-suited to modifying Deadzone scenery. I know from your KS updates that you have loads of free time, so is there any chance you could get some pictures up of Deadzone / MEdge terrain hybrids? It might help drive some additional sales.
It is physically painful having so many models and things to play with, but being forced to stare at them (and the sprues) and do the boring business side instead! I cannot wait until we get to early next year and I can finally get a bit of time to start painting and playing in depth. Most of the range loves being airbrushed, and it is great fun honing the airbrushing skills as a result.
I can get around the shadow walker only having one head pretty easily, as I plan to modify the figures anyway. It's not a big deal for me personally, but I think being just short of making two full figures will definitely hurt the Shadow Walker kit in retail sales. I'm not sure what made including only one head on the sprue necessary, but anyone who buys or contemplates buying that figure will have the same complaint: why can't I make two?
The same reason you can't make two models from pretty much any other single model kit?
It's a single model kit with two body options, not a dual model kit missing a head. The second body is a bonus.
The Scarecrow comes with a spare heads. Am I the only one getting some seriously Spock's Brain caliber ideas related to that?
Sorry for coming back again so quickly with another question, but it does impact my spending, so if it's not a problem . . .
I fully intend to mess around with modifying and mixing ME parts with other ranges to make hybrid figures. While "heroic" vs. "truescale" proportions impact compatibility a lot, one area where that isn't always true is heads.
Looking at comparison shots with other ranges that legoburner has supplied, it looks like MEdge heads are on the small side relative to GW and Dreamforge, much like Mantic's enforcer heads are.
If it's not possible to get a photo, could you perhaps comment on whether you think head swapping in either direction between MEdge troopers (I'm particularly interested in Karists) and Dreamforge stormtroopers, Mantic Enforcers, or even GW troopers / marines would work well?
I gather that MEdge is following "heroic" scale in principle, but the trooper head size really seems more on the truescale end of things to me, hence my question. Thanks!
Those MEdge heads don't look true scale to me. They look more in line with certain Reaper figures. I want to see how WGF WW2 heads, which are slightly bigger than true scale, but smaller than DFG heads, look on them, as well as the Proxie trooper visor heads, which I have tons of spares for.
It varies from model to model somewhat. Our heads are a little bit larger than mantic enforcer heads - I've put an enforcer head on an Epirian body and they are close enough to work though. Roughly DKoK scale is what we regard as the best heroic scale and is roughly in line with Maelstrom's Edge models, so that is a decent guideline. Dreamforge heads are quite big in comparison to Medge, but I dont have any unhelmeted heads of theirs to compare. I'm afraid I dont have any GW models to hand over the next few days to compare to the big ranges there either.
legoburner wrote: It varies from model to model somewhat. Our heads are a little bit larger than mantic enforcer heads - I've put an enforcer head on an Epirian body and they are close enough to work though. Roughly DKoK scale is what we regard as the best heroic scale and is roughly in line with Maelstrom's Edge models, so that is a decent guideline. Dreamforge heads are quite big in comparison to Medge, but I dont have any unhelmeted heads of theirs to compare. I'm afraid I dont have any GW models to hand over the next few days to compare to the big ranges there either.
That's actually very helpful, as I have plenty of enforcer heads and can use them as a rough estimate. If the MEdge heads are a little larger than those, but smaller than dreamforge / GW (which in the photo I posted, at least, look to be pretty much the same size), that's good news for my purposes. Thanks!
Just wanna say to the Spiral Arm team- your Pledge Manager is excellent. Just filled it out- no muss no fuss. The delay was worth it IMO. Look forward to seeing my plastic crack soon
The New minis look great! I especially look forward to the Kaddar Nova, something just seems... right.
Just one question, with the pledge manager, will add-ons be shipped earlier than the kickstarter pledges? It seems implied, but it also seems a little illogical. Also, if so, is there an extra shipping fee?
The add-on Maelstrom's Edge box clearly states that it does not include the extra kickstarter-only bonus sprue.
"As an add-on, this set does not include the kickstarter bonus sprue, but does include:"
The list below the same add-on clearly states that it does contain the extra kickstarter-only bonus Angel sprue.
"2x Karist Angels (2 Sprues, including the free kickstarter backer-only one)"
This doesn't impact me at all, but is bound to cause confusion and hard feelings for people who didn't back the KS and pick up a box expecting 2 Karist Angels. I'd change the list entry immediately to 1x Karist Angel to save yourselves a headache.
"It clearly states that the kickstarter bonus sprue isn't included."
"yeah, but I never read the top part. And the list part says that it is included."
I just finished my pledge manager last night. Glad to see the printed books in there. Should I have received some kind of confirmation email though after I finished paying?
Oops, thanks Vermonter, I'll double check if it slipped through in that one location. It is shown in the pledge upgrade add-on list, but should not be in the standalone add-on box contents list.
Barzam, there are no confirmation emails at this time - our mail provider is not great and drops a fair few at the moment, so we opted to leave out the mail confirmations altogether for the time being and rely on your profile page on maelstroms edge. There will be emails as and when we start despatching stuff.
Pledge manager is brilliant. Thank you all, as a consumer that's great.
You managed to get more money out of me again! To add to my 2 starter sets, I bought 4 more minnows, 3 karist troopers, 3 engineesr and 4 fireflies with a bit of cash and to use up the credit that was initially meant for terrain sprues, but I had a change of heart.
I ended up with 2 karist detachments that are relatively identical except for the amount of minnows and troopers within each. But most interesting was that I ended up with a pure robot detachment (except for the bot handlers) and a mix for the Epirians:
1 command scarecrow, 2 spider drone units, 1 standard scarecrow, 1 firefly unit and 1Hunter in one.
The other has 2 journeyman bot handlers, 3 engineers units, 1 scarecrow choice of two and 2 hunters.
Leaving a firefly unit a hunter spare for other load-outs. Bought the extra fireflies before I realised that the command scarecrow detachment can't have more than 1 of the vanguard unit type. Ah well, they look cool anyway.
Amazing how different the forces will look because of the setup (largely designed for my economics rather than content). Suggests it will make games with these forces interesting tactically due to such a difference in the way the Epirians can be fielded.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Ooh, I have a quick query about heads too. I am really not good at painting faces (or anything really) and was playing with the idea of using helmeted heads for the engineers (bare minimum).
I was wondering about these from Pig Iron:
But with black visors and yellow stripes to indicate they are more safety helmets from work yards.
We've not got any pig iron heads to hand to test. If anyone in London wants to meet up some time in the next few weeks in an evening, we'd be very happy to show off some models and try some dry fits.
yeah,
I have 20 pig iron heads ready and waiting for my contractors.
Mine are going to be painted green like the Doom guy.
The shoulder pads and fabric body armour will look great in Green, tan and olive.
Panic wrote: yeah,
I have 20 pig iron heads ready and waiting for my contractors.
Mine are going to be painted green like the Doom guy.
The shoulder pads and fabric body armour will look great in Green, tan and olive.
Spoiler:
Panic...
Nice scheme! I've already got too many green models on my shelf and was actually tempted to go with a black/grey combo for mine with a highlight colour of yellow or red (undecided) for things like helmet etc. Thought it would help further tie them to their robotic compatriots.
yeah,
Black grey will give a ultra realistic hard scheme
ArbitorIan is going to paint the other half of our box bright pink. Which I can't wait to see!
He also paints armies amazing fast with his airbrush so his Karists will be battle ready in no time.
So as soon as my guys get here I've gotta get started!
I hope you don't mind panic, but would love to see what your contractors look like all "Doomed" up. I think I'll hold off buying the heads until I see if what you come up with fits my vision. Which blog of your's should I sub so I can see how you get on?
It has been a long time coming (and thanks for your patience!) but we are finally in a position to share some images of the models which fill out the Maelstrom's Edge box set which anyone who pledged at $90+ is getting.
The Kaddar Nova
While the Kaddar Nova is a member of the Karist Enclave priesthood, they are often granted operational control on the battlefield due to their experience and their revered status amongst members of the Enclave. Kaddar Novae have been exposing themselves to na-cybel energy for significant periods of time, and their bodies are ravaged by it. Towards the end of their careers, they become able to tolerate much larger doses of all kinds of cybel energy, resistant after so much time seeking apotheosis and communion with the Maelstrom.
Kaddar Novae are seen as courageous seers by the Enclave, their intense na-cybel exposure sometimes granting visions, and they are fervent believers in becoming one with the Maelstrom. There is an odd juxtaposition of character for these priests. On the one hand, they believe in destroying themselves slowly for great reward later, yet most treat their fellow cultists with love and respect. They do not seek suffering for its own sake but believe in the sacrifice of their bodies for a better existence after ascension.
A Kaddar Nova carries a large and unwieldy back- mounted cybel reactor, a device their unusual tolerance level to cybel energy uniquely enables them to bear. This reactor pack allows a Kaddar Nova to function on the battlefield in a number of different roles dependent upon the needs of that particular battle. They can use their kinetic shield to protect nearby allies, suddenly leap forward with a kinetic boost and catch the enemy by surprise, or they can overcharge their Kinetic Gauntlet to destroy a powerful enemy unit or knock down whole swathes of enemy troops.
In the most desperate of times, a Kaddar Nova will even detonate their cybel reactor, immolating themselves in a conflagration of cybel energy and real matter to swing the course of a battle and inspire their forces. In the view of most Karists, complete destruction of one’s body all but guarantees that person cannot ascend. Yet a Kaddar Nova that chooses to obliterate themselves shows not only their utter dedication to the Karist way, but also a supreme belief that they are so prepared for ascension that not even the total loss of their body will prevent them from doing so.
Karist Shadow Walkers
Shadow Walkers are a mysterious sub-sect, even inside the Karist Enclave itself. Seeming to be neither military nor priesthood, the Shadow Walkers answer only to the Heirarchs, and are a deadly mix of assassin and battlefield intelligence agent. Gifted with unique and terrifying abilities via their lightweight and highly advanced Veil-suits, a Shadow Walker has peerless mobility and infiltration capabilities. The rift technology in their suits is able to tear small tunnels into cybel space, allowing a form of teleportation colloquially referred to as ‘rifting’. Shorter jumps can be made with relative ease and rapidity, but attempting to rift over greater distances takes a toll on the Shadow Walker’s body, requiring them to spend precious moments to recover after re-emerging.
Shadow Walkers are deployed to target worlds by the Heirarchs decades in advance of the main Karist vanguard. Trained to blend into society, Shadow Walkers ascend to roles of responsibility within the enemy planet’s military and political structure, using their influence to hide the arrival of the Enclave’s missionaries and soldiers. During the infiltration phase of Karist operations, Shadow Walkers provide intelligence and resources to the hidden Karist forces, and even perform assassinations to eliminate suspicious or obstructive officials.
On the battlefield, Shadow Walkers use their unparallelled mobility to capture important objectives, but also to identify and attack vulnerable enemy units with close quarters fighting.
It is here the Shadow Walkers put their cybel-edged blades and deadly Nox Pistols to devastating use, ripping apart the enemy battle plan with careful executions of enemy leadership, before disappearing once more. Sometimes just the rumour of Shadow Walkers present on a planet can be enough to sow fear amongst the enemy lines.
Epirian Handlers
Epirian Handlers are highly valued employees of the Foundation and the image of a Handler controlling a group of robots is one of the most iconic representations of the Epirian Foundation’s technological prowess. Whether it be piloting starships or making minute adjustments to a terraforming auto-processor by feel alone, Bot Handlers enhance the productivity of any technology they link to. A series of probes and sensors in their helmet directly tracks the Handler’s brainwaves and processes them through a cognitive buffer before sending code packets to the recipient robots. The level of control of the linked robot is largely related to the cognitive capacity and multi-tasking threshold of the individual Handler.
The title of Journeyman represents the second major rank of the Handler trade, signifying that the individual has moved beyond the rudimentary tactile interface of an Apprentice and onto the neural interface that Epirian Handlers are synonymous for. This neural interface allows them to control several bot units at once, potentially turning even a diminutive Epirian Force into a very real threat. Journeyman Handlers are therefore deployed either leading a force of their own, or given charge over a detachment of robotic units while under the command of a more senior Foundation associate, such as a Prospector or Master Handler.
Journeyman Handlers prefer to fulfil their role from the back of the battlefield, directing their robotic minions while also communicating with orbital and remote assets to call down targeted airstrikes at critical moments. Although not known for their combat prowess, Handlers are armed with a modified Maglock pistol, which utilises rudimentary micro drone ammunition, allowing the bullet to make minor course corrections during flight. This specialised ammunition vastly improves the pistol’s range and lethality over the standard Maglock Guardian pistol upon which it was originally based.
As a Handler’s skill improves, they invariably reinvest their earnings back into upgrading their technology suite, often in the form of expensive, personalised micro drones. These insect-sized robots come in a wide variety of dedicated forms: drones that aid the Handler’s visual assessment of the battlefield, those that improve the Handler’s aim, or even a swarm of personal attack drones capable of overwhelming a foe at close range with thousands of cuts from their bullet-like bodies.
The Completed Karist Forces
Here's what comes in the Battle for Zycanthus box set. Our awesome backers get an entire extra mature Angel on top of this:
and a top view to show the size of the minnows a bit more effectively:
The Completed Epirian Forces
Everything you see in each image below comes in one battle for zycanthus box set as well!
Thanks everyone! It has been very hard work getting to this point
Automatically Appended Next Post: Here's a big picture of what comes in one standard Maelstrom's Edge $90 / £60 box set:
The pics of the painted boxed set forces look brilliant. For some reason, I thought the Scarecrows were much taller! The bot handlers are my favorite sculpts of the bunch.
I'm really liking the photos of all the painted minis. I was sceptical of the Kaddar Nova based on the original KS artwork but the mini looks fantastic so well done to who ever sculpted that one.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: The Kaddar Nova is my favorite of the bunch. He looks like quite the badass leader. Is that the sprue that comes with 2 of everything except heads?
The shadow walker sprue comes with 2 of everything except heads. The Kaddar Nova sprue comes with 3 sets of legs, 5 arm options, 2 head options and 1 torso/backpack configuration. You can see the pointing arm kaddar has straight facing legs, whereas the other kaddar has is leaning towards its left leg.
I'm really liking the photos of all the painted minis. I was sceptical of the Kaddar Nova based on the original KS artwork but the mini looks fantastic so well done to who ever sculpted that one.
The Kaddar was a very challenging model to sculpt. The artwork was used as the main basis of course, but the bend of the legs in the artwork, when converted to the model, resulted in it looking like it was defecating. This lead to the internal sculpter reference for the model being 'poopy pants guy', to the point where a number of filenames got that note in them! Understandably, with that being the initial reaction to the first sculpt, we notably reduced the bend in the legs to give it strength and poise, but not look like a pooping child! Just a simple thing like changing the leg bend had a massive knock on effect for the sculpting as it changed the height of the model to a moderate degree, which meant we had to do a bunch more proportion tests and checks to know what we could scale and what had to be resculpted to get the final height at the level fitting the command model for the force.
Here are the sprue images for those who missed them before. The sprue images below are not the final sprues - the end sprues are higher quality, better sharpness and have part labels to make it easy to figure out which leg pairs with which robe, etc.
It'll be easy enough to make a second Shadow Walker from that sprue using some of tbe helmetless Karist heads. Does the Bot Handler sprue make two guys? And is one of those Handler heads wearing a fully enclosed helmet?
Barzam wrote: It'll be easy enough to make a second Shadow Walker from that sprue using some of tbe helmetless Karist heads. Does the Bot Handler sprue make two guys? And is one of those Handler heads wearing a fully enclosed helmet?
Yes, the bot handler sprue makes two guys, leaving a load of spare arms and legs. There are three helmets for the handler - open, visor and fully enclosed. The Kaddar Nova has a cool crown/mask head which is an extremely detailed bit of plastic and is next in the painting queue
I keep on forgetting to fill out my pledge manager. I see the reminder everytime I go to work, but the site is blocked here and I forget about it when I get home.
I got my books this week. Haven't had a chance to read them, but they will probably be reading fodder on my upcoming trip to Japan. Here's hoping that the game itself is shipping soon.
Nicorex wrote: Notification in my inbox told me that my copy of ME is on its way. Awesome!
Just to clarify, if you check your order at maelstromsedge.com, you'll see it is just the terrain sprues that shipped so far - the rest is coming in December at best estimate
Really looking forward to getting my hands on the rules soon. The pages shown in the latest e-mail update are very reminiscent of GW's older style of demonstrating game mechanics and I like the look.
With the release of the rules PDF and unit cards on the website, is there a chance of release of a weapons table? Not asking for 100% of them, but the weapons the unit cards on the website list would be good so that people cold demo the game out and see if they want to buy into it or not. I know our groups interested but would like weapons so we could try ito ut
Hi str00dles1, we are indeed working on summary sheets at the moment as they are certainly helpful for everybody.
The full details of the weapons can be found in pretty condensed form in the rulebook right now as well - certainly printable over a couple of pages. Check the back of the Epirian and Karist unit sections to see them.
Love rules summery pages so looking forward to it. A friend got the digital rulebook so I ended up making 2 reference weapon pages in excel for each faction.
From the latest kickstarter update - anyone can pre-order maelstrom's edge products right now and still make it in to the first wave of shipping!
Everything is on track for Maelstrom's Edge to begin shipping in the middle of this month, and we are getting to the point where we have to finalise our shipping numbers and book in our packing teams. This means that the deadline for completing the pledge manager, if you want to be in the first wave of shipping, is NOON GMT on December 8th! Not long at all! If you have not completed the pledge manager by this time, your order will not be sent until the next batch go out in the new year.
If you are not a kickstarter backer, you can also get in on the first wave of shipping if you are fast and use the pledge manager on maelstromsedge.com by the same deadline. If you've got friends who have been on the fence about picking up a box set, then give them a poke as they wont ever get a better deal on Maelstrom's Edge than this one!
If you have already used the pledge manager, then please take a moment to view your address on the Maelstrom's Edge website to make sure it is correct and up to date so that your order arrives without any issues! Now is the time to add any last minute extras with additional orders as well - good timing if friends and family are struggling with Christmas present ideas for you!
When completing the pledge manager, a few users have reported errors or declined credit cards. All outstanding issues on our end have now been fixed as far as we know, so if you have been rejected before, please try again. The vast majority of declined cards are due to your bank randomly blocking the transaction, so if you see a decline, please call your bank and get them to allow the transaction, then try once more. We are tracking all failed transactions, so if you've tried to complete the pledge manager, and have re-tried your card between now and the 8th but have another declined transaction, we'll get in touch with you directly on the 8th to help resolve any issues and ensure that you dont miss out.
We are extremely excited to be so close to getting Maelstrom's Edge shipped out and into your hands. Thank you once again for your wonderful support!
Hold on a minute, SAS. You're going to deliver this Kickstarter on time? I'm so disappointed in you. I really thought you understood the way these things work.
"By gamers for gamers," "we love our wonderful backers," and so on are supposed to be treacly, insincere sales pitches, with no reflection on actual service or customer satisfaction. Do you even know what insincere means? It means, "NOT sincere." As in, lying to customers to sell a product. Duh.
You'd better really let us down on the quality of your sprues, or switch your casting material to bendy PVC at the last minute, or forget to put drones in all the boxed sets. At the very least, make the game available in stores before we get our pledge rewards, and make sure it's selling at a lower price than we paid for it.
Something.
We wargame Kickstarter backers expect a certain standard to be upheld, after all.
Vermontermales some good points: this is unlike other kick starters... Maybe there will be secret scale issues between models later? Or they will just run off with the money? There must be something!
Thanks everyone, still early days though - a lot can happen between now and shipping, so it wont be done until it is out the door!
I should add to Spiral Arm Studios' post to note that the rulebook is now completed, so if you have a spare $10, you can grab a nice digital copy of it in the pledge manager too!
The rulebook is naturally full of rules, background fiction, pretty pictures, artwork, etc. Here are a few preview pictures:
I had a good read through the fluff section the other day and I loved it
Not really been through the rules yet, but the fluff is good and got me really excited to see more of the other factions, particularly the Broken.
I know it's a bit early to ask, but have you got plans for models for these new factions? How long am I going to have to wait to properly put a group of rag-tag rebels on the table?
Thanks Tibbsy, a lot of work went in to the fluff so we are glad you loved it!
Future models and factions are in active development at the moment, but it is a very slow process and we suspect 18 months is a realistic timescale for the broken in high detail plastic. We'd love to get them out right now, but had to put all our focus into the two launch factions or we'd simply not have been able to afford to create the game!
Yeah, this is total BS. This is the first KS I've ever backed, and it's just not living up to my expectations. Other KSs have had threads that lasted for years, allowing backers to vent frustrations about delays. Then there's the complete lack of midstream design changes, leading to badly sculpted restic or PVC models. Lastly, the guys running SAS come on here constantly yammering about their successful post-KS execution plan and how they want to "keep us in the loop." Honestly, it's all very disappointing. I wanted the full KS experience, and I'm being let down by people I thought I could trust.
In other news, I plan on reading through my copy of the rules this weekend
legoburner wrote: it's ok, we've been delayed a touch so you probably have another 3 hours left to go.
Ha! I knew you would run into delays!
(That extra few hours let me squeak right in.)
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Vermonter wrote: Hold on a minute, SAS. You're going to deliver this Kickstarter on time? I'm so disappointed in you. I really thought you understood the way these things work.
"By gamers for gamers," "we love our wonderful backers," and so on are supposed to be treacly, insincere sales pitches, with no reflection on actual service or customer satisfaction. Do you even know what insincere means? It means, "NOT sincere." As in, lying to customers to sell a product. Duh.
You'd better really let us down on the quality of your sprues, or switch your casting material to bendy PVC at the last minute, or forget to put drones in all the boxed sets. At the very least, make the game available in stores before we get our pledge rewards, and make sure it's selling at a lower price than we paid for it.
Something.
We wargame Kickstarter backers expect a certain standard to be upheld, after all.
They just delayed the shipping by 3 whole hours...and not an update in sight. What else are you hiding, Medge?
Azazelx wrote: This is shipping on time? Kudos, guys. Well done.
Thanks! We worked really hard for a long time before going public to make sure this happened. It will be great to finally see the game in our hands - and those of our backers!
The second wave of shipping will be around the 20th January. We are just finalising logistics on wave 1 right now, then should have a more precise shipping estimate out for everyone who made it in time.
Hello achasz
Your recent Maelstrom's Edge order (487447) has been upgraded to picking/packing. This may only reflect part of your order, so please visit http://www.maelstromsedge.com then sign in and view your outstanding orders to see which specific items are in picking/packing. You will get a further email notifying you when they have been shipped.
Thank you very much for your support and continued interest in Maelstrom's Edge!
Yey - now this is how you run a KS (Prodos take note).
Remember folks, these are picking/packing notices, not shipping. The last components get to the warehouse shortly, and you'll get separate shipping notice emails once they are packed and sent out. Thanks for your support
As most of you probably noticed, our picking and packing emails have gone out for all orders finalised in time. If you've not completed the pledge manager yet, the next wave of shipping should go out around Jan 20th, so you'll need to complete the pledge manager by Jan 17th or so,
It has been an extremely hectic week for us here, so our apologies for the lack of updates! The biggest news is that we suffered a delay with book production. We got samples back of our printed rulebook and it was just not what we'd hoped for in terms of quality. This meant adjusting the print options, and reprinting them all. As such, we incurred an extra 2 week delay on the print and they will not be in our warehouse until next week. A 2 week difference, while a total pain at this time of the year, was small enough to justify the big increase in print quality compared to the early proofs and still lets us get everything shipped out in December.
We also suffered a delay of a few days in customs, but all should be good now, and the last of the plastic should be in our warehouse tomorrow
The Maelstrom's Edge box set boxes are all done, are in our warehouse and are looking great! Everyone who has seen them so far has been very impressed with the vibrancy and we cant wait until you get your copies!
We'll be packing over the next two weeks most likely, and then shipping between Christmas and New Year. Terrible timing for assembling models during the holidays, but they will still be with the vast majority of backers before the holidays are over, and will be with everyone while the weather is bad outside so painting, modelling and gaming can keep you cozy!
For the 16 backers who have not been able to finalise their payment yet - we have space allocated in the packing queue for your stuff. We will sort it out this week with you. Your orders might go out a few days after the rest as a result, but will still be in the wave 1 shipping. If you failed to complete your transaction before, please try now as we've fixed a bunch of the things that were hampering people. If it still fails, we will email you within approximately 48 hours to follow up.
For the 2 backers who have non-standard boxes (cardboard contents only), these will be sent slightly after wave 1 to avoid risk of errors. We will have to manually process your orders rather than going through our shipping system like the rest of the orders, so are a bit more tied down around the holiday season.
For New Zealanders - anyone with multiple box sets in an order has had their order split into two distinct orders in our packaging/postal system to keep you below the NZ customs threshold.
Thank you all very much for your support and patience - nearing delivery is extremely exciting for us all! To be able to do it on time is especially rewarding and we cant wait to see what you do with your models!
warboss wrote: DId they post pics of the troublesome rulebooks that they're replacing? Is this before any went out?
The rulebooks were not finished, it was the mid-production proof which had too poor print quality, so there is no finished book to look at for the aborted version, just stacks and stacks of paper. The cover was nice but the interior was not good enough and the revised version will be a big jump up.
Akaelus wrote: Damn, this is shipping already? I backed the kickstarter when it first started and forgot about it. Guess I'll have to wait until January
Same here! For some reason I never went in and finalized my order on the Pledge Manager. I just went and did that but I guess I missed out on the early shipping. Oh, well, something to look forward to in January!
We have not yet posted on Kickstarter about it as we are waiting until things are physically in the postal service's hands, but yes, all is on track!
The books (the final component) arrived in the warehouse today and final packing has begun in earnest.
Check out our project status page for a very satisfying list of 'done' and 'in our warehouse' which means we now have no high risk variables associated with getting things delivered on time
The rule book is a "gamer size" (i.e. a bit larger than a standard paperback), printed in extremely high quality and rather chunky at 144 pages.
The box is more akin to Games Workshop ones back when they were doing things like Warhammer Quest - not the rigidity of a modern boardgames box, but substantial enough to actually hold all the game components in. And the models actually fit inside when assembled, even the big ones!
Everything goes together very nicely, and looks rather sharp when finished. Human-sized detail might be a bit shallow compared to some kits (possibly because much of it is very fine), so you might want to watch out when painting.
My only real criticism of the models so far is that each sprue comes with so many options, it's sometimes frustrating that they can only make 1 or 2 models each. The Shadow Walker is probably the worst for this, making 2 full models but only having one head! The Nova (big bossman) has 3 full leg-tabard-cloak configurations, 5 different arms, 2 different heads, but only a single torso. Still, this means extra value for people willing to do a little conversion!
You'll want to watch out for the bases - they have two notches cut into them, so you'll need to make sure that each model faces into the middle of the space between the notches, as this is the "forward arc". I've also had difficulties getting the minnows to fit into the flying bases, might require a little chopping.
Freytag93 wrote: Can't wait to see these in person! This is my first Kickstarter I've ever backed, and I am so glad that things have gone smoothly so far.
I am so sorry for you. This KS has likely ruined your KS experience for any future projects you would like to back. You missed out on so many.... entertaining things.
The waiting 2+ years past projected delivery date.
The 200+ page DakkaDakka thread full of memes, excuses, itoldyaso's, complaints, and apologists.
The surprise Material swaps!
The monthly updates... every 2-3 months... maybe...
The obligatory "I'm having a baby! look at all this baby stuff my KS funds..... errr... other job paid for!" update! (not you RiTides, ModCubes 4 life! )
Anyway SAS has set the bar high with this one. Now I just wish my stuff would get there
I remember a study that said companies who made little screw ups and then "made them right" with excellent service and/or compensation ended up with more customer loyalty than companies that did everything right.
Not that I'm angling for a free extra Hunter. Nuh uh.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: I remember a study that said companies who made little screw ups and then "made them right" with excellent service and/or compensation ended up with more customer loyalty than companies that did everything right.
Not that I'm angling for a free extra Hunter. Nuh uh.
Leave it to mediocrity to appeal to mediocrity. I doubt this game will get proper support by SAS in the long run. Course, that just means more people all want it?
pax macharia wrote: I doubt this game will get proper support by SAS in the long run.
If you were not aware, SAS is run by the same people who run Dakka (me and yakface). We've run and operated Dakka simply for fun for close to a decade, and Maelstrom's Edge will be a very long term project as well. You dont have to worry about long term support being an issue given our track record here!
BobtheInquisitor wrote: I remember a study that said companies who made little screw ups and then "made them right" with excellent service and/or compensation ended up with more customer loyalty than companies that did everything right.
Not that I'm angling for a free extra Hunter. Nuh uh.
Leave it to mediocrity to appeal to mediocrity. I doubt this game will get proper support by SAS in the long run. Course, that just means more people all want it?
Hey, I am happy mediocrity. Ok, not really.
Not sure why you think SAS won't be supporting this game. It is attached to Dakka, after all, so it's not like it can go quietly.
pax macharia wrote: Leave it to mediocrity to appeal to mediocrity. I doubt this game will get proper support by SAS in the long run. Course, that just means more people all want it?
There's another two main factions described in the rulebook and developing their rules and models will obviously now be SAS's focus now that the Epirian and Karist factions are on their feet. I highly doubt they'd outline another two factions then just never develop them, not the mention the three minor factions also briefly described. (The minor factions may just be for setting purposes but I'd be excited to see them get a few units that can be taken as allies.)
Can I ask a stupid question? Are the pledges being shipped through Wayland Games in the UK? I only ask because I've not had mine yet and I had a weird email yesterday saying my order (which I didn't actually make) with Wayland Games would be delivered on Monday. Seemed really odd, only thing I could think it might be was MEdge or a scam
Oh, and I'm sure this has been posted before, but it bears repeating now that boxes are starting to arrive - complete assembly instructions can be found here:
All orders made up to Dec 24 have been shipped now, including yours. The order status will be updated in the next day or two (potentially after you get your stuff in the post!)
Bioptic wrote: Oh, and I'm sure this has been posted before, but it bears repeating now that boxes are starting to arrive - complete assembly instructions can be found here:
Bioptic wrote: Oh, and I'm sure this has been posted before, but it bears repeating now that boxes are starting to arrive - complete assembly instructions can be found here:
Eat that, Kingdom Death! (Not really, although some of those models were really quite stressful).
Seems to me like a few units are missing.
The Scarecrow and Karist Troopers still need to be added, the angels are pretty trivial to build (the troopers have nothing special or complex about them either, and the weapon types are all highlighted clearly in the rulebook as well). Probably be a week or two until those last ones are added as we are off to China tomorrow to negotiate our next waves of production!
legoburner wrote: All orders made up to Dec 24 have been shipped now, including yours. The order status will be updated in the next day or two (potentially after you get your stuff in the post!)
Ahh ok, I was wondering why it still said "In Packing".
legoburner wrote: All orders made up to Dec 24 have been shipped now, including yours. The order status will be updated in the next day or two (potentially after you get your stuff in the post!)
kb_lock wrote: So how should i be loading these dudes out? Or do i just bite the bullet and magnetize the hell out of them?
That's really a tricky question to answer, isn't it?
If you're up for trying to magnetize your models, that's always a nice way to go. Otherwise, the best bet would be to try to learn the rules playing some test game with some proxy models to help inform your decision-making before you finalize making your models. Because otherwise, any advice I give you will be from my own personal opinions on how I like to play, and might not match up with yours.
The main piece of advice I would give is this:
The stuff that is short-ranged (12" range or less, including template weapons, and those weapons with the 'short ranged' ability) can be tricky to use at first, because they require your unit to get close to the enemy. This is dangerous because you'll want to try to keep your units in cover whenever possible and any shooting at a target within 6" triggers defensive fire first.
So when people first get playing and start to understand the rules, they tend to want to go for weapons that allows their units to fire better at longer ranges. And while this is definitely a good first instinct, you'll also find that you need some units which are designed to do extra damage at close range to be your 'finishers'...to wait until an enemy unit is properly suppressed and then move up and take them out with their short ranged weapons when the defensive fire will not be an issue.
What that means is that if you only have one of a particular type of unit you're planning to field (like 1 Karist Trooper unit), then you probably want to go with optional weapons that are better at longer range (like the Ripper Energy Launcher, in the case of the Karist Troopers). If you're fielding a second unit of that same type, then you might consider going with the short ranged option to make that squad into the 'finisher' role (so the Radwave Emitter, in the case of the Karist Trooper unit).
That's a good general rule of thumb, but especially in the case of the Scarecrows & Hunter Warmechs, there are quite a few configurations you can go with depending on the role you want that unit have in your army.
Obviously if you have any specific questions based on how particular rules work, feel free to post a thread in the Maelstrom's Edge General Discussion forum and I'll do my best to help you out.
Thanks yakface, I realise it was like asking how long a piece of string is, just figured there might be an accepted "optimal" load out for some of them.
Given few have actually played the game that was probably optimistic of me
If anyone is looking to read the ebooks of the Maelstrom's Edge novels, they are now on Kindle Unlimited, which means if you're a subscriber to that service you can read them for free. I believe that Kindle Prime subscribers can also borrow one book for free each month.
If you've enjoyed the books, we'd love it if you could leave a review on Amazon - it helps bring in readers and players from outside the community.
Mine arrived today too. I have to say the sprues look absolutely fantastic in your hand and I can't wait to build some models. I was sceptical about all the talk of hard plastic and sliding core manufacturing being that much better than anything else but I am very happy to have been proved wrong. Well played!
despite a valiant attempt by the delivery company to loose it by hiding it in my recycling bin on bin collection day (fortunately they'd already been) my box has arrived
I have recieved mine Quite happy! The box was beaten up a tad bit but eh, who cares. I got what I wanted (It was smooshed on a corner but eh, came from the UK apparently!)
Glad more and more are arriving! They were shipped out of the UK so that nobody in the EU had to pay VAT (we pay it all, then can get the worst of it refunded to us from HMRC - yay).
Well, I have to say that this was a thoroughly professional and perfectly-executed Kickstarter.
I received everything today, and couldn't be more pleased. The sprues look better than I was expecting (to be honest, I wasn't a big fan of the non-robot models during the KS, but figured I could do something to convert the figures how I'd like them once I got them. I'm now rethinking that because they're pretty nice!).
The counters, the box, the rulebook are all professionally laid-out and the artwork is excellent. The rules themselves are looking like they'll allow the kind of intelligent gaming I've been craving for years without needing to memorize an encyclopedia.
Communications during and after the Kickstarter were top notch. The pricing was more than fair. And you've secured some great writers to bring the background thoroughly to life.
Thank you, to all the crew at Spiral Arm Studios, for creating and fulfilling the kind of project that I think Kickstarter was intended for. I am really looking forward to seeing your company take off.
Yeah mine arrived in Sydney today, and can I just say that I am so thoroughly impressed with the quality of the product.
I realise it may seem a bit condescending, but that isn't my intent, I am just really surprised by the amount of detail in the book, and the quality of the whole thing - it feels like something I would expect from GW or other major studio.
Bravo gents, I am looking forward to painting them up
I guess one small thing I'd hope for in the future: a changelog of changes made to the stuff we need to print out ourselves (rules summaries and card game rules for the time being). This'll make it easier to decide if we need to print things out again or just mark up the printouts we've already got (and since I've printed them on nice cardstock and laminated them, might I express the hope that the current rule summaries are actually complete and accurate and that rather than being superseded when new additions are made rules summaries for future releases could be entirely separate documents).
I still haven't received my stuff, but I have a few questions.
1) When will we be seeing content by Alistair Reynolds and the other writers? (Also, did you send them complimentary copies of the game or make them pledge for it?)
2) You said you've started the process for the next wave of plastics. Can you tell us more about them?
3) Are you using a company called Geiger for your digital product distribution? Please tell me not. I've known professional subs who were less butthurt.
4) When should we start to worry about our orders not arriving?
Bob, I'm in the UK and mine only turned up yesterday... so I wouldn't start worrying just yet.
Big thanks to the SAS guys, it is a beautiful thing to behold and a brilliantly run campaign. You guys can teach most of the more established players a thing or three about production values, writing and selecting sculpts!
The UK postal service is always a little slow after Christmas - my own copy only arrived today. So amazing for me to see our game in the flesh after working on it for over four years - I hope people enjoy it!
Bob - the short fiction content from the other writers will come out in anthologies later in the year. We aren't a power house like GW so if we release everything at once we would have a big gap before our next thing came out - we have to parcel it out a bit at a time! There are some great stories there though. Similarly, it will be a while I expect before we can reveal too much about the next wave of models - making plastics is a slow process. Lego would know better about the digital distribution but I'm fairly certain it's all done in-house by us - I did all the ebook stuff for the novels, for instance.
Thanks for all the kind words - if you've backed us, thank you! If you like what we've made, please tell people - the more people that buy the first box set, the quicker and bigger we can make the next wave. As you'll see from the fluff section of the book, we have a whole bunch more ideas to explore in the universe of Maelstrom's Edge!
TP^DC Deputy Manager wrote: I hope you don't mind panic, but would love to see what your contractors look like all "Doomed" up. I think I'll hold off buying the heads until I see if what you come up with fits my vision. Which blog of your's should I sub so I can see how you get on?
Well, I can report that mine has arrived today. So, it's on the US West Coast, at least. Models all look very nice, though I noticed that some of the really thin bits on the drones look like they want to get bent out of shape. Also, where are the rules for the card game listed? Were they in the rule book and I just didn't notice them?
Barzam wrote: Well, I can report that mine has arrived today. So, it's on the US West Coast, at least. Models all look very nice, though I noticed that some of the really thin bits on the drones look like they want to get bent out of shape. Also, where are the rules for the card game listed? Were they in the rule book and I just didn't notice them?
If you are referring to part 'X' on the drone sprue, yes those were put in because we had more space on the sprue than expected. They were originally design as test weapons but we put them on so that people can use them as antennas, or make nice dioramas, but those parts are not game safe and dont have associated rules. See the drone assembly instructions here for more details:
https://www.maelstromsedge.com/56/mofphzgfkprszdka/ the rest of the drone components (the ones which all have uses in game) are all pretty solid, so should not have any risk of damage.
They are there so that we can adapt them on the fly. Being such a shot series of rules makes it preferable to have in one place online for ease of updates as and when we add new cards and new features to the game so that people dont end up with 30 pieces of paper with expansion rules on them like some other games.
Ok I've actually made a start on the mini's now. All I can say is well done SAS. First model I built was the Kaddar Nova, what a fantastic mini that is. 5 pieces for the legs and 4 for the torso is a lot but it was actually very easy to build and looks great so it was worth spending the extra time needed to build. Consider me properly impressed.
Also got a Shadow Walker built, again very nice, I don't quite understand why you didn't just stick another head on that sprue but whatever it just means that once everything is built I'll have a half decent bits box for future conversions.
Barzam wrote: Well, I can report that mine has arrived today. So, it's on the US West Coast, at least. Models all look very nice, though I noticed that some of the really thin bits on the drones look like they want to get bent out of shape. Also, where are the rules for the card game listed? Were they in the rule book and I just didn't notice them?
If you are referring to part 'X' on the drone sprue, yes those were put in because we had more space on the sprue than expected. They were originally design as test weapons but we put them on so that people can use them as antennas, or make nice dioramas, but those parts are not game safe and dont have associated rules. See the drone assembly instructions here for more details:
https://www.maelstromsedge.com/56/mofphzgfkprszdka/ the rest of the drone components (the ones which all have uses in game) are all pretty solid, so should not have any risk of damage.
They are there so that we can adapt them on the fly. Being such a shot series of rules makes it preferable to have in one place online for ease of updates as and when we add new cards and new features to the game so that people dont end up with 30 pieces of paper with expansion rules on them like some other games.
Cool. Thanks for the response. I'll have to print out those card game rules.
Got mine today and I've made a start on some Epirians and their drones.
Absolutely lovely models, I'm very impressed with the quality of the box set.
I know it's early, but I have a question about new stuff already What's your plan for new releases? Will you be adding new factions first or are you going to focus on expanding the two current ones and adding new units to them?
Either way, I'm in for the long haul; with quality this good on the very first release, delivered exactly on time I'm definitely going to follow SAS and watch MEdge grow.
Tibbsy wrote: Got mine today and I've made a start on some Epirians and their drones.
Absolutely lovely models, I'm very impressed with the quality of the box set.
I know it's early, but I have a question about new stuff already What's your plan for new releases? Will you be adding new factions first or are you going to focus on expanding the two current ones and adding new units to them?
Either way, I'm in for the long haul; with quality this good on the very first release, delivered exactly on time I'm definitely going to follow SAS and watch MEdge grow.
Same here.
I built all my Epirian guys very quickly and it was a pleasure.
The only thing I'll say is read the online instructions first.
I figured they are so easy I don't need instructions! and made the mistake of mixing up a big pile of arms... not realising the arms come in pairs!
So I wasted 20 minutes sorting out the pairs.
I posted this on the Kickstarter comments, not sure if here will get a quicker response.
Still nothing for me in the UK post. I picked up my missing post from Royal Mail this morning. Still nothing from Medge. Only thing I've missed is a card from a delivery firm called Ukmail. Can you let me know if you used this firm for double box sets on the UK? MEdge is the only post I'm currently expecting and this is the only delivery card I've had.
filbert wrote: Mine came from UkMail I believe and I pledged for two sets so that may be the same case for you.
Well... bye bye Medge boxes. :-(
I entered their delivery card reference onto the website for a redelivery when I received the card (5-1-16).
No such card reference and postcode exist according to their database.
So I opened a ticket to complain. They got back to me. The package with that card was marked as successfully delivered on 24-11-15. Hmmmm. Before it was sent even. :-(
I just wish I'd not upped to 2 boxes in the PM. If I'd ordered just the one I originally pledged, I'd have received it by now via royal mail.
The worst of it is Ukmail will only deliver at times I'm at work. The depot is a 100 mile trip and is also only open while I'm at work. So even if they hadn't lost my package, I doubt I'd get it from them anyway.
At least the royal mail normal post office depot is only a 20 mile round trip and opens late enough one night a week for me to go collect all the post I've ordered.
How do I get in touch with SAS to sort this mess out? I have ticket reference numbers and emails as evidence from ukmail.
I was going to congratulate SAS on surprising us with the amazingly freaky Epirian cyborg/T-1,000 head, but I couldn't find it on the other Epirian sprue.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: I was going to congratulate SAS on surprising us with the amazingly freaky Epirian cyborg/T-1,000 head, but I couldn't find it on the other Epirian sprue.
I received mine yesterday. I was surprised at the thickness of the terrain sprues, very nice! Definitely one of the best pieces SAS put out, as they are so universal and make for awesome cheap terrain for any sci-fi game.
My rulebook was a bit frayed in the top right corner, probably from being loose in the box and bumping against sprues. Not really a big deal, I just smoothed it out, plus the online rules that were included will be what I use for the most part anyway. I just thought I would mention it as an idea for putting them in little bags to keep this from happening to others.
Otherwise I'm very satisfied, the plastic looks great and I'm excited to put these guys together! I'm thinking of trying to work these into a Command & Conquer theme- we've already got Panic's excellent DOOM team going, so some more crossovers are definitely warranted
BobtheInquisitor wrote: I was going to congratulate SAS on surprising us with the amazingly freaky Epirian cyborg/T-1,000 head, but I couldn't find it on the other Epirian sprue.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: I was going to congratulate SAS on surprising us with the amazingly freaky Epirian cyborg/T-1,000 head, but I couldn't find it on the other Epirian sprue.
Heh lol. Thats a pretty cool miscast
I'm definitely going to use it for something. I just don't know what yet.
The robots and the Angels look sharp and well-engineered to go together well. The detail is much more crisp than on Mantic's enforcer sprues, although design is obviously open to personal taste. The only detail issues I can see are the faces on the Karist sprues, where the eyes and lines are very shallow, and the Mr Clean head's philtrum is better defined than his mouth.
Hi Bob, that's a bad miscast and the first we've seen in any of our retail/production level plastics! It is completely warranted if you want a full replacement - just email support@maelstromsedge.com if you do and we'll get one in the post to you.
Is there any set deadline to order additional things through the web?
I'm waiting for my set to arrive and depending of how easy I find to magnetise some weapons/options, I may end up ordering a few more sprues.
If you order before Jan 17 you'll get stuff in the next wave of shipping. After that we'll be moving to a standard web store where you can order stuff like with any other website.
legoburner wrote: If you order before Jan 17 you'll get stuff in the next wave of shipping. After that we'll be moving to a standard web store where you can order stuff like with any other website.
Will the prices and postage go up when that happens?
And will the new webstore allow payment with Paypal?
Yup, working on it at the moment! As always, it will be done when it is done, but depending on distributor negotiations, it should not be too far in the future, with our web store going live first.
I hadn't actually noticed that, but I imagine it falls under "knowing the market"! You get to have your nice ornate logo for branding purposes, and the box set title get the job of grabbing your eyeballs.
The alternative is doing an Infinity-style thing, where you integrate everything prettily in one place (and it probably looks better on your shelf) but might not catch the attention of a randomer browsing the shelves.
By comparison, I find Gates of Antares' box a bit harder to read, possibly because it does neither fully.
Bioptic wrote: I hadn't actually noticed that, but I imagine it falls under "knowing the market"! You get to have your nice ornate logo for branding purposes, and the box set title get the job of grabbing your eyeballs.
Was actually referring to the vehicle sets, etc, but yeah, the big bold white text that GW has been using for about the last fifteen years. But the big bold text is probably best as the image and logo are both so muddy.
judgedoug wrote: Just saw a pic of the main box - I'm guessing the font used for Battle for Zycanthus was an intentional "homage" to Warhammer 40,000 box sets?
I would suspect that it's more a 'homage' to 'wanting to make sure that the box description is clear and legible'...
Bold white text is the best option when it's going over a colour picture that's not predominantly pale colours.
I don't think the RT cover was directly based off of anything as most last stands would be depicted similarly. However, it does put me in mind of the painting "Last Stand at Isandlwana" by Charles Edwin Fripp:
The Zulu War was a major historical event, and obviously of special significance to the British, and the piece is reportedly exhibited in the National Army Museum in London where it would have been reasonably easy to serve as inspiration for a commissioned piece. I dimly recall reading something to that effect once, but since I can't find it again that may have been pure hallucination. Still, as I said there's any number of art pieces that are similar, as "heroic final battle" really does have a limited number of presentations.
That said, I also think there's a limited number of good, readable fonts that can be employed to draw the eye on the retail shelf. Fancy graphics that blur as you look at them from 20 feet away don't help move product, and for unknowns like SAS it's probably better to have the high-contrast, easily-read title to draw people in. I imagine GW does it so when the 12 year-olds that they feel are their core demographic ask for one of the sets for their birthday/Christmas, the non-gamer parents/aunts/uncles can find it easily on the shelf. Same fonts, different reasons for use.
Didn't we have this argument in the chapterhouse thread i.e that the copyright for GW's artwork actually belongings to the individual artists, rather then GW? And only they, and not GW, could sue?
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Kid_Kyoto wrote: What is it based off of? Is there a famous painting or something?
If you can't see the references to Picasso's blue period within that box artwork, then you sir, are a Philistine!
You can see that the rockets can be retracted. Can be but won't be. Shooty McKillfeth is always ready to unload.
The next conversion is a loving homage to the last good Terminator film.
Spoiler:
The mini drone is too small for me to photograph properly. It is mostly made from Medge parts, except for the steering vanes, which are from a Gunpla kit.
It is almost perfectly in scale with the Aerial HK.
Here is part of my Foundation force from the Cyberdyne Consumer Products franchise.
Yes, apologies there was a post in the Medge forum here about it (and facebook and kickstarter) - it is the additional base being packed. We didnt actually mean to send an email to everyone about it, but ah well!
Those who have not ordered/got box sets in the past but have just got terrain, etc will have got the email but wont be getting anything in the post to add to the confusion!
Additionally, anyone waiting for wave 2 shipping - that was the wave 2 shipping mailout as well.
So I've built some Scarecrows! And they are truly fantastic kits!
Spoiler:
And I've finally uploaded an unboxing video to my channel, check out my thoughts and an in-depth look at the contents of Battle for Zycanthus here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDnxjlWT1ag (And of course, mods delete if not allowed).
A kind kickstarter backer along with the good folks at GMG have been made a fully painted playthrough of Maelstrom's Edge. If you've been interested but waiting for more information, here's a great place to start:
The game and terrain sprue is also now available for direct purchase (no more pre-orders or kickstarter) from maelstromsedge.com
legoburner wrote: There will be some print and cut designs that work with the terrain sprue in the not so distant future.
Would it be possible to have the designs released as vector files?
That way, folks could have thicker stock cut on a laser cutting service, of which there are a whole lot in the wargaming industry (and they could had it done locally since shipping lasercut panels is likely prohibitively expensive).
legoburner wrote: There will be some print and cut designs that work with the terrain sprue in the not so distant future.
Would it be possible to have the designs released as vector files?
That way, folks could have thicker stock cut on a laser cutting service, of which there are a whole lot in the wargaming industry (and they could had it done locally since shipping lasercut panels is likely prohibitively expensive).
The initial release, probably not, but subsequent releases for sure, doubly so if we can work with you to convert!
There's no hard date in place as we are talking to publishers at the moment. I'd imagine worst case it wont be until 2017 for Salute and Adepticon purchases, but could well be before then and we'll be sure to highlight the releases as and when they happen!
I'd be happy to take a look at the template file, lego, when it's ready . It'd likely be easy enough to convert it straight to vector (even just by tracing it!) but if material thickness affects the dimensions, that might be trickier (can't currently think of an easy fix for that one). Will think about it
Many people have asked us for a walkthrough of the game so that they can learn more about how it plays. We've finally gotten around to making one. You can read it online on the Maelstrom's Edge website at long last.
For those of you who have been curious about the game but did not want to take the plunge until you understood how it plays in more detail, the walkthrough should answer a lot of questions, and we are always happy to answer any more that you might have, here or elsewhere.
No pure battle report videos yet - we have instructional game videos on the way though. You can see a people-learning-the-game-while-playing battle report here:
https://www.maelstromsedge.com/70/Gameplay%20Videos/
which is a little inaccurate but still gives a good overview.
As many of you may have noticed, we've been a little bit quiet in terms of public content since we attended Salute 2016. A good chunk of the core team at Spiral Arm Studios was commissioned to work on some very interesting things in a business to business deal with a third party. While we would normally have refused so that we could keep strong focus on building Maelstrom's Edge, the bribery was simply too convincing, with the compensation enough to fully fund Maelstrom's Edge development at a greater pace through to the end of 2020, so we've suddenly got even more stuff in the pipeline! Gearing up for that extra production took a bit of time, but things are well under way now, and we'll be sharing a bit more of our in development work as time goes on so that everyone can see what they have to look forward to.
In addition to the above, JP, the guy who was working hard to build our community channels, got poached by another games company, and since this happened while our focus was elsewhere on the b2b stuff we did not have the capacity to immediately drop someone else into his place. He was doing a great job and had a lot of smart initiatives in place, and from his work we've now got a wider communication infrastructure in place (centred around this blog) ensuring that we can keep feeding out news and content on a regular basis, bringing in a wide range of content writers to keep things fresh and interesting. As always, we are very happy to share community generated content as well, and we'll be releasing some tools and information to help people dip their toes even further into the Maelstrom's Edge universe over the coming months.
We are celebrating the launch of this blog with the release of our next set of models. This coming week sees the release of the Maelstrom's Edge expansion sprue, as detailed a couple of months ago. This sprue is packed with parts to allow you to build Epirian Contractor Suppression Teams, Karist Praetorians equipped with Cybel Glaives, Cybel Mine equipped Shadow Walkers, Karist Trooper Assault Squads, and loads of new detailing elements like new arm poses, grenades, and more.
Over this week and next, we'll be releasing loads of new content to support the expansion sprue. Including but not limited to, new unit cards (in digital form), new faction summary sheets, free army books for the Karists and Epirians detailing the new units and weaponry available to each, and plenty of new model photos.
The expansion sprue will go sale tomorrow - Aug 15th in an unspecified timezone, on the Maelstrom's Edge web store. For one week, we'll be offering it at a discounted price as a thank you to all of our loyal supporters, so make sure you grab your discounted sprue before the 22nd Aug! We'll then be bringing out bundles of sprues to allow individual units to be purchased with all necessary parts (The Epirian Contractor Suppression Team for instance needs an Epirian Contractor Sprue, 2-3 expansion sprues and 1-2 Scarecrow sprues!)
Exciting times for sure, and we thank you for being a part of it
With SAS having released the upgrade sprue I can now post these pics - this is a cracking little upgrade sprue, lots of options and those cybel glaive thingummies are every bit as fun to paint as they look.
We'll I'm in. I like Dakka, and I like Dakka's game's minis, mostly. The glaives would look at home on many a GW mini, and the extra big guns are always welcome. Loin cloths and swords dress up any mini, The helmeted heads are almost too good to use on my remaining contractors.
In fact, those helmets and extra arms give me an idea for what to do with my many unused WGF Romans...
These guys look like they were designed for Masters of the Universe, perhaps the Royal Infantry of Eternia, incorporating everything that makes Masters of the Universe great - from laser guns and swords, to randomly non-strategically placed armor, right down to the bowlegged stance and the mass of their arms. I love them. I'm now wondering if anyone makes any 28-32mm Skeletor & his henchmen to battle them.
We are looking forward to seeing everyone at Salute again on Saturday! Just 5 days to go - we have a bunch of new models (including new plastics) to show off, new printed books and more.
I was looking in the Salute thread and the booth number made me think you guys were going to be right next to Prodos and AVP , your actually directly across the hall from them, but it would have been fun to see a game that was developed for the fans AND released right next to them .
This is great news. I have just moved and as I was unboxing my MEdge stuff last night I asked myself what might be next for the game. I hope that new plastics will give the game a popularity boost!
(Also, anyone in the greater Vancouver area who plays drop me a line please!)
Here's a quick look at a pre-production plastic weapon which happens to be the main armament of infantry in The Broken
We have 4 sprues of Broken to show off on Saturday. All are pre-production so we'll not be putting out much in the way of high res promo photos of all models online until we get the painted, production models done so that they can be seen in nice high quality. All will be visible on Saturday in person though!
Um. I hate to be that guy, but those Contractors' heads look worse to me than the originals. And I didn't like those. This game is still not for me. :-(
JohnnyHell wrote: Um. I hate to be that guy, but those Contractors' heads look worse to me than the originals. And I didn't like those. This game is still not for me. :-(
I replaced my contractor heads with Elysian drop troop heads from Forge World and I think they look a lot better.
To be honest, the contractors aren't the greatest sculpts, but the robots are excellent and the rules are solid and fun.
Today's preview for our Salute product range is the next two Maelstrom's Edge books:
As teased in the kickstarter, we have some absolute top tier sci-fi authors in this collection, with Alastair Reynolds and Aliette de Bodard being two of the best known. These books will be available in print at Salute before anywhere else in the world.
The gun for the Broken looks like an angry snake in a still suit with a cannon and a knife tied to his head. Not quite sure how I feel about that yet.
Keep in mind that all of the Broken weaponry is somewhat cobbled-together, so won't be as slick and crafted looking as normal weaponry. Also, this is only one of the many weapon options they have available...
CREEEEEEEEED wrote: I'm excited for all 4 factions, but I'm most excited for the Remnant. Are they coming soonish?
Remnant are the next Faction in the queue. The original hope had been to get them out with the Broken, but at this stage they'll be coming a little after. I'm not 100% on what the current timeline looks like for their development, though.
It sure would be nice to be able to make an all-angel army! Check out the new angel models at the Spiral Arm Studios booth at Salute on Saturday if you live close enough or are in town!
These are our first resin models. They will not be available for purchase this weekend, we have them for previews only, but they are sitting alongside a bunch of other models nearing release
Here's a preview of our new unit boxes - we'll have the full range of sets at Salute tomorrow and will be rolling these out to the webstore in a couple of months time.
Yeah,
Almost forgot I took a few quick snaps yesterday
Looks like they will paint up nicely as soon Doom fallen soilders
Could be a fun project to rival my Doom team Especially as they are getting some big guys, who could maybe converted to cyberdaemons.
, the pm says I can add another boxset on for $66, it seems to be counting the $24 in credit towards this?
Sad times.
What's your plan for new releases? Will you be adding new factions first or are you going to focus on expanding the two current ones and adding new units to them?
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