Brook and Anvil, I was actually thinking more this which I am pretty sure pre-dates the nearly identical FW concept. [citation needed of course]
Metro Of course, by all means if you do this do your awesome exo-lord take on it.
I've been doing my own concept doodles though. Coach style top, dual section revolver segment (having two cylinders instead of one with each revolution, if that makes sense,) and sternguard type ammo. With a fold stock. So that is what I'll end up making with your parts regardless, should you do anything involving revolvers.
Am I the only one thinking it would be cool if some bitz company did stuff on a Deadzone or Infinity (realistic) scale? Like weapons and heads/arms for conversions?
JMMelo wrote: Am I the only one thinking it would be cool if some bitz company did stuff on a Deadzone or Infinity (realistic) scale? Like weapons and heads/arms for conversions?
I'd like that too.. BUT.. AI already basically said if it's not 40k proxies then they won't waste their time.
Seconding/thirding/fourthing more styles of shield, the riot shields are plain and don't really look great on exo-lord sized models
More bionics are always great, I have a ton of different AI bionics sets and they're something you do amazingly well (who else produces multi-part, poseable bionics?)
Not sure if you have any clear resin facilities, but something like this from syypher and this from atropos907 would be incredible in various sizes, especially if the hex pattern could be embossed into the surface (Id love to use one for a Knight, but if that's too large they'd make great additions to characters sporting force fields at various scales)
On a more reasonable note, powered scythe weapons would be great for a certain subset of us that require them, something nice and big and ornate
Oh yeah, I've asked this twice on the forum now but have gotten no reply so excuse the bold but sell plastic bases separately! There is seriously nowhere I can find that sells ones with a bevelled edge that is not GW's overpriced ones... Not really a conversion piece but we need something to put our creations on right?
Commander Cain wrote: Oh yeah, I've asked this twice on the forum now but have gotten no reply so excuse the bold but sell plastic bases separately! There is seriously nowhere I can find that sells ones with a bevelled edge that is not GW's overpriced ones... Not really a conversion piece but we need something to put our creations on right?
GW doesn't do beveled bases, only flat ones.
Bases are usually available on Ebay in all kind of sizes and styles.
If this isn't solely for not-gw bits, I'd like to see some alternate weapons for Gates of Antares. I know it's smaller scaled and doesn't have the huge market that GW stuff does, but it's what I would like to see you produce. :-)
Can we please get some zweihanders without any hands on the hilt? It's impossible to find 28mm greatswords without going to a place like Shapeways where they're ridiculously expensive.
Thanks for all the feedback and suggestions, very helpful!
I will try to answer everyone's comments in order they were posted:
Robot horses are on the list!
@Lockark - I'm sorry if I misunderstood. When I say scaled down, I don't mean the exact same components, but rather reworked versions. I will likely do a sprue of "regiments officer melee weapons" including a rapier style sword.
More Regiments guns are a possible, but its unlikely they will include laser flintlocks or similar sorry.
@Sockwithaticket - Yep new Exo Lord shields (and probably updated shield arms) are on the list, the existing shields are all at least 3-4 years old.
@Barzam - No plans for Afterlife Melee Units yet, its just not realistic for the setting. There is one particular faction which will have an emphasis on melee combat/weaponry, but its likily several years away if I'm honest.
@Desubot - as Haigus points out, there is already quite a bit of stuff like that out there. I'm not really interested in doing components which arnt for the miniatures. What is possible is another basing sprue like our "Rubble bits" we released recently, but with a more hi tech theme.
@Malika2- Void warfare, civilians and quilted stuff is all a bit specialist.. those themes will likely make an appearance in Afterlife at some point but no timescale.
@Kendoka - I'm afraid I'm not really looking to make any more complete kits at the moment, I already have a long list of Afterlife units I want to make.
@MrGrigson - No plans for separate crew legs, but we are going to shortly make the crew sprue from our instigator available for separate purchase soon, which includes a few bits you might find useful!
@Tactical spam - I think between all their various 40k and fantasy plastic kits and the plastic bits sites, theres no shortage of necromunda conversion options.
@Legion4500 - More shields are on the list, see our existing riot shiled here -
banners are on the list, If I can make something good looking and original enough.
@Jehan - No plans for large kits like that any time soon I'm afraid!
@Stormwall - feel free to email me sketches!
@Dr Ransom - prone figures will make an appearance at some point, the main issue is finding a suitable base for them! Do you mean held over the shoulder like old SM devestators? No plans to recast existing weapons but Ill bear it in mind for future varients.
JMMelo wrote: Am I the only one thinking it would be cool if some bitz company did stuff on a Deadzone or Infinity (realistic) scale? Like weapons and heads/arms for conversions?
Very happy to consider stuff like this, but personally I don't find infinity's scale to be particularly realistic - they have a very stretched, cartoony style. with thin limbs/waists. I've not seen enough of their models to compare weapon scale.
We will be releasing more bits from the Afterlife range, which are finer in scale and thus may be more suitable for Infinity and similar, though I don't plan on sculpting anything in the infinity "style" any time soon.
I'd like that too.. BUT.. AI already basically said if it's not 40k proxies then they won't waste their time.
The customer is certainly always right, but I must point out I didn't say that.. Our Exo-Lord range is certainly sculpted in the same bulky/heroic style as 40k miniatures, but with the conversion bits range, the aim is very much to make things suitable for use in a range of sci-fi settings.
I am generally inclined toward making stuff either in the Afterlife scale, or in the bulky "28mm heroic" scale used by GW and many other games/figures ranges, simply because its the most popular size.
I don't mind wasting my time if it means making something cool, but if we make something cool that hardly anyone buys, its not financially viable, which is a shame but a harsh reality!
I'm very happy to consider suggestions for stuff which is more sci-fi and less grim darky, generally the more game systems and scales a component is suitable for, the easier it is to justify making it.
@Charax- Sythes are a good suggestion! Ill try and make some for our upcoming two handed melee weapons set.
Those energy shields are really awesome, but unfortunately not something we could produce feasibly at a cost anyone would pay.
@Zywus - I had a look on ebay and you will probably find our prices in the link above very reasonable compared to most other sellers - this is because we have bags of bases sitting around for our Afterlife figures range!
@Bobby Hostile - GoA is definitely too small for us to make dedicated bits, consider asking Warlord games directly? I understood most of their figures were metal and had guns integrated, making conversions rather a challenge!
Some of the bits from our Afterlife range will most likely be suitable for GoA.
@MacMuckles - I've added that to the possibles list for Regiments scale bits, or did you mean Exo-Lord scale ones?
Phew.. I think that's everyone.. apologies if I missed anyones post.
I've just been having a gander at the melee weapons section on your website and noticed there was also a glaring lack of maces- you've got swords and axes, but no maces/mauls. I think they could be a good addition if you think they would sell well enough (would combo well with a new/updated riot shield...).
@Zywus - I had a look on ebay and you will probably find our prices in the link above very reasonable compared to most other sellers - this is because we have bags of bases sitting around for our Afterlife figures range!
Yep, prices seems fair. When I purchase something from you next time I'l probably throw some in.
Also, It seems I confused the terminology. What I though was named beveled bases is infact called "lipped", (the bases used by PrivateerPress for exemple).
You are a beautiful human being Anvil, very reasonable pricing and all the sizes I could possibly need! Ordered 30 of them as well as those muzzle flashes and that awesome mechanical arm set.
@Barzam - No plans for Afterlife Melee Units yet, its just not realistic for the setting. There is one particular faction which will have an emphasis on melee combat/weaponry, but its likily several years away if I'm honest.
Well, I'm not surprised. I had a feeling that a melee focused unit wouldn't work all that well in the setting. They would probably need some funky rules to make them viable. Still, I wouldn't mind seeing some more high tech looking cyborgs in the future. Something with some sleek, high tech limbs like you might find in Metal Gear would be nice as opposed to the blocky, ugly grimdark cybernetics you see in 40k. If you've ever seen the comic Project ARMS, it has some very cool examples of combat cyborgs and augmentations that would be neat to see in on the tabletop.
Going back to what others have suggested relating to ODST-style helmets, I'd love to see more of that. Not a copy, but of a similar style; the kind of helmet with a triangular, almost full-face visor. It's not at all exclusive to ODSTs (or Halo), but they are a great example of good use of the style.
Frozen Ocean wrote: Going back to what others have suggested relating to ODST-style helmets, I'd love to see more of that. Not a copy, but of a similar style; the kind of helmet with a triangular, almost full-face visor. It's not at all exclusive to ODSTs (or Halo), but they are a great example of good use of the style.
Spoiler:
I don't know why, but they are extremely cool.
Ooh, I agree! Might as well make some sweet arm cannons too
The Afterlife setting is fine for melee but it needs to have something to serve as a platform. Active camo units would be fantastic. Cybernetic legs/mobility enhancements to propel a unit into range Personal flight/jump/teleportation device (not really a full sized jump pack because.. come on who could really fist fight with that on).
I watch enough anime and have played enough Shadowrun that I see where melee should come from.. it definitely does not win out in a full on battle but lighter units that are focused on taking objectives would likely have SMGs or pistols that wouldn't be prohibitive to a CCW. A cybernetic fist, a knife, or a charged knuckle spike of some sort would all be good secondaries. I've admittedly not played your game system yet but I picture scenarios where you have to retrieve something needing units like this.
Anyway.. just food for thought. I probably will be giving Afterlife a try sometime in the coming year but I've got a lot on my plate in the meantime.
What I would love to see is some female necron torso and legs for lords/over lords/phareks(sp?). Ones without robot tits.
A smaller tappered rib cage with a thinner concave spinal column and some legs with thinner armor wider hips. I got some sketches I will try to upload them by tomorrow.
MLaw wrote: The Afterlife setting is fine for melee but it needs to have something to serve as a platform.
Active camo units would be fantastic.
Cybernetic legs/mobility enhancements to propel a unit into range
Personal flight/jump/teleportation device (not really a full sized jump pack because.. come on who could really fist fight with that on).
I watch enough anime and have played enough Shadowrun that I see where melee should come from.. it definitely does not win out in a full on battle but lighter units that are focused on taking objectives would likely have SMGs or pistols that wouldn't be prohibitive to a CCW. A cybernetic fist, a knife, or a charged knuckle spike of some sort would all be good secondaries.
I've admittedly not played your game system yet but I picture scenarios where you have to retrieve something needing units like this.
Anyway.. just food for thought. I probably will be giving Afterlife a try sometime in the coming year but I've got a lot on my plate in the meantime.
Just got my delivery of bases and heads from Anvil - next day, brilliant - and was pleased to find some of the new shell casings thrown in. Outstanding. Five stars.
Taking a break from my first painting session in ages!
Thanks for further feedback and suggestions -
@Haigus - Mauls/maces added to the list.
@Zywus - yeah its confusing, I call them "bevelled" and "round lip"
@Commander Cain - Thanks very much!
@Llamahead - I'm afraid I'll be leaving 6mm and other scales to other companies!
@Malika2 - Bikes, Yes, but not sure when.
@Frozen Ocean - Ill consider a full face helmet like that as and when I do a more complete regiments miniatures set.
@Mlaw - CCW's sure, the Unity Guard for example all have little power maces. The "Melee" aspect of the game in incorporated in building Breach and Clear rules, which are brutal, and representative of all kinds of close up combat/shooting.
@Lance845 - Appreciate the suggestion, but I'm not going to be making anything specific like that. All new bits need to be applicable to more than one army/game system, as well as not obviously a copy of another companies product.. Personally, I think all Necrons are entirely genderless, I'm not sure there are male and female versions?
@General Hobbs - Bare heads is a good suggestion, we don't do any in regular human scale at the moment. Ive added it to the list. More female minaitures will be available for Afterlife in due course.
@Apologist - Yep, Dogs is such a good suggestion we made them already
@Stormwall - Yes email is good. info at anvilindustry.co.uk
@Bull0 - Happy to be of service! The extra shell casings I threw in because I slightly reduced the price of 30mm bases after you had purchased some, but before anyone else.. seemed fair to include some bonus stuff!
Nah looks good. As always ordered a gak load of Spartan stuff from you guys, so anything Greek inspired is a win win and will sway me to purchase. I would love to see a few arms with various wrist mounted weaponry, as well as some more complex torso variations similar to the black ops kits. Love the new mechanical arm set, best tech marine pieces I've ever seen. Will be buying some when I paint up my current batch of models. Wouldn't mind a new psychic hood kinda thing for some librarian conversions. Would also love some kinda shoulder mounted weapons, or a cannon coming from the back pack. Would also on top of that like some power fist type weapons with bolters or flamers attached to them, whether on top, under slug or within the gauntlet similar to Huron Blackheart.
You guys got any plans to release some terminator compatible pieces?
And also if you would upscale your instigator trucks for afterlife by 1/3 to fit marines in.... Lord know I would be buying them as would most of the Internet.
Ta I would be happy with either a more medieval style mace, or a more modern 'space police' type maul. I suspect producing both is unlikely, so whichever sells best/has most interest. I was thinking Exo-lords when I posted it, but it would be a good thing to add to a melee Regiments pack too.
@Victor Von Domm - I wont be working on any new Exo-Lord Helmets now until I've decided what to do with the range - an option I'm seriously considering is a reboot, a full replacement with a more heroic scale, though the heads would remain the same size.
Ill have more information on the options soon.
@Malika2 - Did you see the Punchy fists (link below) ? I suspect you had something larger in mind, but they come with claw and gun attachment options.
I will be releasing a new "large claws" product at some point, and Ill look at including a back of the hand gun attachment.
@Plessiez - I remember reading that, apologies for missing you out and thanks for repeating! torsos and arms to go with the regiments legs, guns and heads are certainly on the list, and are quite high priority. I will likely do two different torsos and two different sets of rifle arms.
@PandaMango141 - updated roman/spartan style parts will follow along with a possible updated Exo-Lords range - see above.
Did you see our new Punchy Fists product? They come with pistol and claw attachments, but could also have a bolter or other 3rd party weapon attached if desired.
We will be releasing some Bionic legs scaled for terminator sized models, but otherwise no immediate plans.
Upscaled instigator is an interesting idea. It wont happen any time soon, but its an option for the future.
@Haigus - I'm currently working on double handed Melee Weapons for Exo-Lords, and the set will include a very mean looking Mace!
@Jehan-Reznor - The Afterlife settings doesn't really allow for heavy armour (slow and heavy, difficult to air lift and rather prone to death railgun snipers and advanced missile systems). There will however be larger wheeled and light tracked vehicles, and some with heavier firepower. I'm also looking forward to doing some gunships and similar aircraft.
-----------------
Another New Product! Medieval Wax Seals and Parchments.
36 highly detailed components, each one unique. the resin becomes flexible when heated, so you can bend the Parchments without breaking them.
Those are really nice, excellent variety and I'm not sure there's anyone out there doing anything similar!
Reasonably priced for how many you get too, one or two packs at the most would do most armies (apart from Black Templars, where you'll require 1 pack per model... )
The mines on the left are actually the breaching charges used by their Republic commando assault specialists. I suspect they take their inspiration from modern water-tamped breaching charges, like the Alford Technologies ones.
@Haigus - Yep you got me, shameless stole those from the Assault Specialist kit. How could I not include them! :p
@Commander Dante - I'm sorry I'm a bit confused.. the SNiper Recon figures already have the M88's.. or do you mean including an extra rifle with the unit? They are already available to purchase singly..
@Haigus - Yep you got me, shameless stole those from the Assault Specialist kit. How could I not include them! :p
@Commander Dante - I'm sorry I'm a bit confused.. the SNiper Recon figures already have the M88's.. or do you mean including an extra rifle with the unit? They are already available to purchase singly..
Awesome dogs – my apologies; must check your store more often!
I like these new sprues of seals and grenades/mines. Can I suggest similar sprues of things like technical deelies (like scanners, ghost traps, mobile phones etc), and hands? Getting some gesturing hands, or hands doing things like pressing buttons, reaching to an ear piece or throat mic, or simply open hands, would be really useful.
If you're open to not-quite-so-futuristic things, then I'm sure the Inq28 crowd (like myself) would be very interested in sprues of dripping candles, mysterious books, burning [see forum posting rules], scrolls and the like.
Perhaps an office/communication kit of laptop, transmitter, aerial, power source and coffee mug(!) might be good for hacker/tech specialist models, and double up for the Infinity crowd?
+++Edit+++
Hmm, the forum autocorrect seems to have blocked one suggestion? Not sure why; but do you know what I mean by 'torches', in the mediaeval sense? Like the Mordheim witchhunters and Sisters of Sigmar wave around?
+++Edit II+++
Ah... *Light dawns*
The 'f' word means something different in the US, doesn't it? Apologies for any offence caused.
Hmm think you can do single type sprues for those grenades instead of the variety packs?
as much as i love having lots of grenades (who doesn't) i need a whole lot of one type on that sprue. (though i do want a few variety packs anyway since they are awesome)
I would like to see something like the robo horses, but based on other animal types. I think some rough rider squads on robotic raptors or bears would be pretty cool too.
Riding lizards?
@Javin and Desubot : We will look at producing a sprue of the most popular grenades.. I assume you are both referring to the middle canister bombs which have a superficial and entirely coincidental similarity to GW melta bombs?
@Commander Dante - do post a photo of the conversions in this thread when you are done! Id like to see them
@Ohman - Commando heads no, BUT we are releasing the Pulse Mech heads as a separate part, which are more suited to heroic scale miniature and in my view slightly cooler looking than the commando version, they will be available next week!
@Vitki - thanks for the suggestions, It will be a while before I get to robot horses and if they sell really well, I might look at variants, but I wouldn't want to raise your hopes to much!
NEW PRODUCT -
Our Mechanical Arm Conversion Set proved to be very popular, so I have created a smaller version, scaled for 28mm heroic human infantry such as GW imperial guard kits and similar.
The new set also includes an extra, smaller power plant, and two new attachement, so there are loads of possible variations.
Hmm. How would that servo harness look on a Wardrone? Would it be at all possible to swap the Wardrone's arms with the servo arms?
Oh, something I thought of that I'd like to see, how about a cargo loader robot? Something like the Crane Wardrones, but geared towards a more industrial application? Maybe even a conversion set to make the Wardrone into a civilian model?
Joel, I'm kind of curious what sort of new items you are interested in adding to the Exo Lords and Afterlife ranges.
I like the power caliper suggestion.. its a measure tool with the power to make whatever its measuring considerably thinner!
@Barzam - Yeah the new smaller pack could be fitted onto a Wardrones back.
The smaller arms are too small, but I just checked and the larger Exo-Lord Mechanical Arms are almost perfect for the wardrone ball joints! Ill get a photo up on fb next week, its a great conversion!
Cargo loader drone variant would be pretty cool, though I'm afraid non-military stuff is quite low down the priorities list.
I have a list of stuff I want to create which is essentially endless.
For Exo Lords, I'm strongly considering a complete reboot at a slight larger and more realistic scale, same arms, guns, heads etc but larger and longer legs, so they would stand around 40mm tall, the equivalent of 8'
For Afterlife, my personal wishlist - Taipan, Flying Ajaxes, Spectre Transport/gunship, republic gunship, more robots for CRANE corporation, and of course the next faction, which I've got planned out in my head but is quite a while away.
I also have a secret project I'm working on which I'm very excited about but unfortunately cant share any info at the moment!
@Kronk - Yep it would be perfectly scaled for use with skitarrii miniatures.
@MerkBerk - no current samurai sword plans, but I have added it to the list of possibilities.
I already sculpted a katana for one of my afterlife minis, so printing it as a separate component wouldn't be that difficult when we get time.
Exolord reboot is much needed. IMO it would be what would separate them from others and even make them more desirable to some than actual GW Space marines.. which.. are about the same height as their IG guys.
Power loaders have combat functionality. They could be ran as Powerload Sentinels all day. I think there's an old IA scenario that I wanted to run but never did for lack of power loaders.
I know why you want to keep your focus where you do but your Afterlife stuff offers some great scenario gaming material and I think it's hard for some of us to see that and not ask for more of the same. I need pieces like that for scenario games and RPGs.
Admittedly I was a bit frustrated when you released the explosives pack. One of the things I asked for was an arm posed to be holding explosives or other gear. I don't understand why the explosives themselves get made but we're stuck trying to figure out how to actually get models that are made to hold rifles to actually use them. I think I asked for grenade throwing arms too but I'm not sure.
The secret project sounds exciting. I like a lot of your products and any time you expand your range it's good news. I know it sounds like I only have complaints but that's just extra enthusiasm working it's way out.
Joel, I'd be careful about doing anything too drastic to the Exo-Lords, you see a lot of people on B&C slotting the models/legs/other bits straight into their Space Marine armies. If you changed the scale significantly then they'd not be able to do so. Obviously I don't have your sales data, so you do what you gotta do, but it seems to me like quite a lot of people like them the way they are.
As an aside, maybe someone's mentioned this, but, given recent changes a leading manufacturer have made to one of their main product lines regarding the removal of hands from arms, it might be an idea to create a little sprue of just hands clenched around a gun handle with a a trigger guard. It would help keep your weapons compatible with the minimum of fuss.
Joel, whilst you know how much I love the Afterlife range, I am not a huge fan of the Exo-Lords stuff, except the Black Ops models. The Exo-Lord weapons are great, but it is mainly the non-Black Ops legs I dislike. I wouldn't want to see drastic changes made to the Exo-Lords but there'd be a decent chance I'd buy quite a few if I liked the changes - and I like almost all of your most recent stuff.
@Mlaw - Yes exactly, the plan would be to make them more unique and interesting., rather than ensuring all the parts are compatible with other companies kits, the idea would be to create kits designed to be used by themselves (though use of other companies arms, heads, shoulder pads etc would still be possible).
I love the concept of power armoured super human soldiers, but find the market leading plastic products to be oddly proportioned, not particularly realistic mechanically and lacking in interesting and dynamic poses.. and don't get me started on the detail lost when you design for plastic injection rather than beautiful resin!
Now that I've learned so much and improved my skills working on the Afterlife, a return to the Exo-lords would allow me to produce some really quite special miniatures.
I do hope when I have more time to work on Afterlife stuff to release a wider range of civilian type and scenario based miniatures, as there is a lot of scope in the background.
Regarding the Explosives Pack - I understand your frustration and you deserve further explanation. The kit we released, being separate parts, is easier to sculpt and mould than a kit with arms and similar, and is useful for almost any 28mm game system or miniatures range, so there is a lot more scope for sales. A kit with arms etc has to be designed to fit a particular scale and style of miniature, and that instantly reduces the appeal to a smaller subset of gamers.
I have heard the many requests for spare "doing things hands" and I have added it to the list. What's most likely is a sprue of 10-20 hands in a variety of different poses, printed in both regiments and exo-lords scale, I can design them to be useable for both.
@Sockwithaticket - Any new Exo-Lord parts would be in addition to the existing range. We wouldn't be withdrawing from sale any product which continues to sell in any reasonable quantity. The new stuff would offer an alternative style of miniature, while the existing range will exist for people who want to mix and match with 3rd party figures.
thanks very much for the heads up regarding the situation with the hand changes in the other manufacturers miniatures - how inconvenient! I'll get working on a 'handy' solution for that right away!
@Fifty - Thanks for the feedback. I've recently worked on a few new 3D designed/printed Black Ops parts, and the difference in quality compared to the older stuff is really quite noticeable, so a redesigned Exo-Lords range would be a significant improvement over current stuff.
The plan is to create armour designs with various styles (black ops, medieval, roman, robed) but with very functional, correctly proportioned armour plate and joints as the basic frame.
I'll hopefully get a chance to work some of my ideas out in sketches soon.
By the way, have you thought of putting a release thread up on Bolter & Chainsword? I suspect that particular release would garner a lot of attention and, like I said previously, you certainly see anvil bits quite frequently on all the various project logs.
@BrookM - I'm afraid I'm not sure. the mould for the torso parts needs replacing, as we have a lot of molds on the list to replace, and the ARC are not particularly high priority, I cant say when they will be back. Sorry!
@Sockwithaticket - Thanks. I considered it a few years ago but with B&C, for some reason they don't have a forum section for business/promotional posts, there is no obvious place for an Anvil New releases thread, otherwise Id set one up.
Probably better if an established user starts a thread about the hands, once the product is available!
Anvil, would it be possible to do open (left) hands for grips please?
It was an issue when i assembled my Black Ops squad with shotguns, as there wasnt enough of those hands (as most of them are already modelled onto the carbines) and i had to chop up some space marine hands so i could assemble the Black Ops squad with shotguns
Cool to here the Exo lords will get some love ! Personally I'd love to see some longer legged options.
Also I think the afterlife legs printed suitably up scaled would look great with the Black ops stuff !
How about some hands holding the vertical forward grips offered on you weapons ?
I just had a thought for another Wardrone variant. How about a chemical weapons variant? Rather than have the guns slung under the arms, give it a pair of chem sprayers attached to tanks on its back. Throw in a variant head and optional flamethrower nozzles and you're good to go. The best part is that depending on how it's painted, it could also do duty as a civilian firefighter variant.
@Commander Dante - The rifle grip hands will be out soon. I'm afraid I don't have a digital version of the open grip hand, so its a possibility but not a priority. We will see how the closed grip fists sell.
Regarding the riot shields - One is 50p, which is already so cheap for a part of that size that a set of 5 would not be any saving. Its only the fact that its a really old product (which has already covered the development costs) that means we can keep them at that price.
The new updated shields when they come out will likely be around £3.5 for 5 and £1 for a single shield.
@Big H - I wont be upscaling any Afterlife parts directly, but upcoming "Infantry" scale releases and the new Exo-Lords when they emerge will certainly take design cues and elements from my experiences sculpting the Afterlife range.
@Barzam - I love the idea of a Wardrone running around the combat zone putting out fires and warning soldiers on both sides of possible trip hazards! :p
Well everybody, we can all forget about Afterlife: after that little update just now nobody's ever going to stock this and any chance this might have had of developing a player base is dead as a doornail. Blegh. And here I was thinking this one might actually have a chance.
We are 100% committed to continuing development of Afterlife, but in the shorter term, it's not financially viable to focus all our resources on it (as we have been doing for around two years now).
This means that in the nearer future, we will be working on some other projects, including lots of new bits, and a total overhaul/revamp of our Exo-Lords range.
We apologise to backers who are disappointed to read this. We share your excitement and enthusiasm, but we are making difficult decisions today which will ensure the company (and the awesome game we have created with your support!) stands the test of time. We intend to finish what we started.
More specifically what he's dancing around: it'll get finished. some time. maybe. indefinite timescale, really. Any retailer who looks at that update will decide to never, ever stock any product from that range knowing it's liable to be left in limbo just the same all over again at any moment.
Bolognesus wrote: Well everybody, we can all forget about Afterlife: after that little update just now nobody's ever going to stock this and any chance this might have had of developing a player base is dead as a doornail. Blegh. And here I was thinking this one might actually have a chance.
They're leaving things half-cooked since, apparently, a range that hasn't quite been finalized with printed rulebook, 2p starter, and retail packaging isn't quite selling as well as they'd hoped. Go figure. So for that reason, afterlife has been delegated to second tier status, basically.
... Go read the update and see if this isn't what you'll make out between the lines
I think you may be reading a little too much into the update there. Sure, the game was't an instant hit with every wargamer ever but it's still carrying itself rather well I would say.
All the update really gets at is the fact that exo-lords and their bitz remain the best seller so it makes sense to give them more focus to better fund any other pursuits Joel and Team want to get up to.
Personally I think it is a great idea! I'm honestly only here for the exo-lords and conversion bits but if the money they produce can go into putting more work into the Afterlife range it seems like a win-win to me.
I also meant to thank Anvil for being such good listeners as of late and releasing so many cool little bits for us conversion nerds, I'll be ordering a bunch of the enforcer heads pretty soon methinks..
It's a shame, but if it's not selling well enough, it's not selling well enough and if Anvil is going to stay around they'll have to chase the cash
(or I guess run another KS for afterlife and hope the current players like it enough to stump up more cash on a regular basis)
But that's the thing: it *wouldn't* sell well without those few finishing touches they need to make it a properly complete range. Packaging, printed rulebook, 2P starter (existing models all fine, so no need for extra sculpts). That would at least make it viable. Now they're just showing absolute horrible business sense in refusing to do precisely those things required to turn it into a retail-worthy package - and precisely that idiotic refusal is going to have every possible retailer in the known universe thinking twice before stocking as much as a single SKU from Anvil.
Which, boys and girls, is how this system has just been effectively killed off.
If anything it's the sheer stupidity I'm pissed about.
perhaps it's foolish not to do them,
perhaps doing them would kill the business before any potential (but not guaranteed) uptick in business kicked in,
we can't say without a look at the books (and guess work) but I suspect it's closer to the latter than the former considering the time and effort Anvil have put into the range and game so far, putting it on hold is clearly not something they wanted to do
Except all of that is in 'meh, someday' mode, obviously.
Thing is, if you focus on a large (for your company's size anyway!) commercial project for close to two years and then all the way at the end decide to backburner it like this, let alone actually *communicate* doing so, outwardly, then yes, that makes you an absolute idiot.
See it through to the point where it actually would start making money. That's not now, that's after you've put it out there in a complete form, not the WiP it clearly is now.
If you're trying to deploy a new product line you need to actually deploy it, in full, and back it with some fething confidence. Failing either will guarantee abysmal sales. ...From which, of course, they will then draw the conclusion they did the right thing. Instead of noticing they totally gakked the bed themselves. I've seen clients do this just the same (luckily that's not really my problem, but still). It's incredibly bass-ackwards and frankly, if not only you can't actually see it through to a point of completion but you put out something so incredibly stupid *this* close to the finishing line then yes, that constitutes "horrible business sense" in every possible way.
@Orlando from the update: "Just the Important facts: Anvil Industry is in a good position financially..." Are you assuming they're lying, or would, apparently, I not be the one here who needs to actually read the bloody update? And add to that they could easily have kickstarted such a starter and done a print run on those things right along with it. That is, before they clearly broadcast their lack of confidence in their own product for the whole world to see.
For the record, every single model in my pledge (including two vehicles) were purchased for use in Infinity and Pulp City, among other games. The fact that there was a game with some rules to go with that was completely inconsequential.
I wanted Elanor Renard and the two war drones, and the other models, on their own merits.
Okay, having had the chance to actually read the update (stupid work getting in the way of things. Bah!), it doesn't sound quite so doom and gloom. The line isn't dead. It sounds like Joel is just shifting his focus away from it for a bit to flesh out and rework the Exo-Lords and the bits. It isn't a bad idea, really and some of the bits could stand a reworking. What I take away from the update is that while Afterlife isn't the focus for the foreseeable future, he may still be releasing the odd product for it here and there. I'm fine with that. Hell, I still haven't even assembled most of my stuff from the previous Kickstarter, so I'm cool with him taking a break for a little while. He says he intends to make more stuff for it and even mentions a super secret mass market Afterlife product beyond a retail boxed set for Shards of Liberty. So again, I'm cool with that. I have faith that the line isn't dead.
Speaking of working on the Shards of Liberty stuff, I actually got off my duff and painted a couple of the Specters.
I posted an update on Kickstarter, containing thoughts which I wished to share only with KS backers.
Bolognesus has taken it upon himself, very unfairly in my view, to publicise this outside the KS page, and make several statements and assertions which are simply NOT true.
The update contains nothing which is top secret or game ending, I just wanted to be frank and open with KS backers only.
Thing is, if you focus on a large (for your company's size anyway!) commercial project for close to two years and then all the way at the end decide to backburner it like this, let alone actually *communicate* doing so, outwardly, then yes, that makes you an absolute idiot.
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That is, before they clearly broadcast their lack of confidence in their own product for the whole world to see.
We DIDNT communicate anything outwardly, I posted privately, in a backer only post, letting backers (the only people to whom we made promises on a timescale) know that there would be a delay in completing the game.. that's pretty much all I said..
You choose to air it in public, if you want the game to succeed (you've said you do) and you think my making this information public will harm it, I don't see how your actions make sense.
Luckily, I am very confident in our product, in the game I have worked extremely hard develop (and will continue to work hard on) and I don't think a delay will cause a failure of confidence or harm the games long term chances.
-----------
As Bolognesus has chosen to make public and in my view, inaccurate statements about the game, I feel its necessary to make the entire recent update public to avoid any confusion.
Its here for anyone who wants to read it. Nothing to hide.. just nothing that interesting for Non-Kickstarter backers.
Spoiler:
Hello Backers,
Firstly let me apologise (again) for the length of time since the last update. We have been busy!
You all have your figures now, and hopefully are enjoying painting and gaming (either with the Afterlife rules or in other game systems).
Some key updates:
Rules development continues, and we hope to release a new, updated version toward the end of this month.
We have found an Artist who is going to be doing some Artwork for box sets, the rule book etc, and we hope to preview some of his work soon.
We are working with local painters Siege Studios to create some full Afterlife forces for us to use in demo games and for rule book photography - we hope to show off the official colour schemes and produce some painting guides in the next few months.
Some more general thoughts on the future of Afterlife and where we are at with the project:
There have been a couple of sad announcements recently from other smallish wargames companies to the effect that they have been forced to shut down for financial reasons, and they are far from the first small wargaming companies to fail.
Don't worry - Anvil and Afterlife are fine and we are not going anywhere, but as honest communication with backers is very important, I want to share our plans with you all.
Just the Important facts:
Anvil Industry is in a good position financially, however starting up a brand new game system from scratch and miniatures range has proved to be MUCH more work than we ever anticipated.
In the past 18 months existing "bits" and Exo-Lord ranges, have continued to generate significantly more revenue than the Afterlife range even though they are older products.
We are 100% committed to continuing development of Afterlife, but in the shorter term, it's not financially viable to focus all our resources on it (as we have been doing for around two years now).
This means that in the nearer future, we will be working on some other projects, including lots of new bits, and a total overhaul/revamp of our Exo-Lords range.
We apologise to backers who are disappointed to read this. We share your excitement and enthusiasm, but we are making difficult decisions today which will ensure the company (and the awesome game we have created with your support!) stands the test of time. We intend to finish what we started.
The longer version, with further information about the situation and our plans, for those of you who are interested.
The Kickstarter to launch Afterlife funded and then some, and we are very grateful for the support of our backers, but it didn't bring in huge sums of money beyond what we needed for the first waves of miniatures. We have successfully created a miniatures range which we are extremely proud of, and have shipped thousands of extremely high quality miniatures to backers.
Beyond the miniatures, the development of the game itself (background, rules, art, playtesting etc) has been far more work than we expected and is still not complete. Work continues, but it has been at a rather slow pace, delayed first by the sculpting/shipping of all the physical miniatures, and since then by the general day to day trials of running a small business.
The Kickstarter funds ran out some time ago, but luckily we had an established range of "bits" and Exo-Lord products to sustain us. I know many KS backers are also fans of our conversion bits and other miniatures, so thanks if you have also purchased from those ranges in the past year!
We are actually soon celebrating our 5th birthday, which is an important milestone for a small business!
Over the past month we have taken a hard realistic look at the company's financial position and revenue, and have concluded that as much as I love Afterlife and am passionate about it, the game is not yet making enough money to fund its own continued development, and continuing to focus all our resources on it means we run a very real risk of running Anvil Industry into the ground, destroying all the work we've done so far.
Any of you who follow our Facebook page or email newsletter will notice we have released several new and updated "bits" components in the past month, this is part of a new, deliberate strategy to move some focus away from Afterlife, and spend some time developing other product ranges.
This does mean that while we will continue to develop Afterlife as much as we can in the background, delivery of the final definitive rules, full missions and miniatures for existing and new factions etc will be delayed. This is not what we intended, and I know some of you may be disappointed.
I am 100% committed to developing Afterlife, finishing Volume 1 and releasing new volumes in the future.
In my best judgment, taking a break now to focus on other products/ranges (which have broader market appeal) is the best way to ensure we will have the resources and time in the future to continue development of Afterlife and properly support it, rather than rushing out a half finished product and then being forced to abandon it (as is the fate of many smaller wargames/Kickstarters).
So what are our plans going into the summer.
Release an updated version of the Afterlife rules, with all the main sections added and completed (vehicle rules are an obvious missing component), and some example missions from the Shards of Liberty campaign.
Continue the release of new and updated 'bitz' components for both Exo-Lord and regular human scale miniatures, including torsos and arms for our Infantry kits range.
A full overhaul of our Exo-Lords range, with brand new core miniatures, replacing kits and components which are now around 3-4 years old with newer ones which make full use of our greatly improved design and manufacturing methods. At the moment we are provisionally planning to re-launch the Exo-Lords with a small Kickstarter project in April, as this is the best way to judge demand and get feedback on the new kits before they go into manufacturing.
A Board Game, with our high quality figures and set in the Afterlife Universe, but aimed at the mass market rather than table top wargamers specifically. I can't give any more details at the moment, but backers of this project will be the first to know when I can.
Looking further ahead..
We eventually want to produce a full printed Rulebook for Afterlife, with the completed rules, loads of background and artwork, full campaign missions, painting guides, model showcases and hopefully rules and miniatures for new factions! As and when the printed rulebook is available, we will work out some kind of discount or extra bonus, exclusively for backers of this project.
If you have any questions, suggestions or other feedback, I will reply to any comments below, or you can email me - info@anvilindustry.co.uk
Thanks once more for you continued support!
Moving on.
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@Barzam - Thanks for posting the painting figures - they look great! For some reason I personally steer away from greens in colour schemes, but it works well for these two!
Upcoming new product - There have been some delays (necessary to ensure the best possible quality), but our new Exo-Lord Double handed Melee Weapons are almost ready for release, attached is a preview of some poses/weapon varients, using some rejected 3D prints...
Sorry to disappoint, but the final product wont be available in bright orange
I don't have any opinion on the post itself, but honestly, if you post something to "backers only" you have to treat it like a public statement. If there's something in there of interest to outsiders, someone will post it.
hell Every. Single. One of the kickstarter posts for Dropfleet Commander's KS ended up front-page on Faeit, which was a little annoying to me at the time.
If you post an update, you're giving people information. what they choose to do with that information is up to them, they've signed no agreement stopping them from sharing it.
Anyway! Kind of glad the exo-lord stuff is doing so well, as I have little interest in afterlife beyond using the models elsewhere, glad you're doing double-handed weapons in various poses as there aren't nearly enough of them on the market (love the scythe head you posted on FB!). How are they going to be sold? (mixed weapon packs? same weapon/different poses? same weapon/same pose?)
Charax wrote: hell Every. Single. One of the kickstarter posts for Dropfleet Commander's KS ended up front-page on Faeit, which was a little annoying to me at the time.
If you post an update, you're giving people information. what they choose to do with that information is up to them, they've signed no agreement stopping them from sharing it.
Anyway! Kind of glad the exo-lord stuff is doing so well, as I have little interest in afterlife beyond using the models elsewhere, glad you're doing double-handed weapons in various poses as there aren't nearly enough of them on the market (love the scythe head you posted on FB!). How are they going to be sold? (mixed weapon packs? same weapon/different poses? same weapon/same pose?)
Very true.. I didn't think all that much about making it Backer-only, it just seemed appropriate as it was information only really relevant to backers (in my view). Lesson learned for next time.
The Double handed weapons will have a set of arms which are used for all weapon heads - five held in two hands, one left and one right single handed, and one plain haft with no hands.
The weapon heads will then be sold as a pack with one of each, and also as packs of 7 of the same head, so basically as much variety as players will ever need.
I posted an update on Kickstarter, containing thoughts which I wished to share only with KS backers.
Bolognesus has taken it upon himself, very unfairly in my view, to publicise this outside the KS page, and make several statements and assertions which are simply NOT true.
The update contains nothing which is top secret or game ending, I just wanted to be frank and open with KS backers only.
Hi guys. I'm not a KS backer, but I'm an avid user of your bits ranges and saw Afterlife when you came to demo at the HATE Club (obviously the best club in London ).
I wasn't aware of the KS debates until now, but I'd love to just understand the situation, as it's a little confusing to an observer.
It seems both Kickstarters basically promised various models and a digital rules/missions/background book. Is part of this not delivered yet? Or are these all done and delivered, and your message is just to inform people that Afterlife is slowing down for a little while while you get some funds in?
We will back at HATECON1 at the end of the month demoing Afterlife again, so hopefully see you there!
With the Kickstarters, all the physical rewards are delivered, and were a long time ago.
There have been various iterations of digital rules, and the currently available download is fully playable, but not yet 100% complete (it lacks vehicle rules for example).
So we've not yet delivered 100% of what was promised in terms of digital rewards.
We are still working on the digital rules and will be releasing a substantially complete updated version quite soon.
I had hoped to have a final printed rule book available by now, but that's going to take a little while longer, as while I want to get it done as soon as possible, I also want it to be a really amazing book which properly shows off the game and universe. Rushing it and then having to release a "2nd edition" a year later isn't something I want.
So yes.. essentially, work on Afterlife will continue, but at a slower pace, and I will be spending some time on other projects which appeal to a wider customer base and can shore up the revenue side of things.
I'll be moving to a two track delivery process, where I spend some time working on Afterlife, and some time working on other products, which will appeal to many thousands of our customers who are not primarily interested in the Afterlife game.
I'm very happy to answer any further questions anyone has - I've nothing to hide, just trying to run a small business as well as I can, and I'm very appreciative of everyone's support.
We DIDNT communicate anything outwardly, I posted privately, in a backer only post, letting backers (the only people to whom we made promises on a timescale) know that there would be a delay in completing the game.. that's pretty much all I said..
As pointed out above, considering a communication to an entire class of customers to be 'privately' sharing information is beyond naive.
No NDA's? Assume it gets out. If not through me, through someone else.
And I particularly reject your silent premise that there should be some cultish brand loyalty preventing backers from airing such grievances publicly. Feth that.
if you want the game to succeed (you've said you do)
Past perfect tense there, mate. "Would have liked". When that seemed like something that had at least some chance of happening this side of 2020.
At this point I'm just pointing at yet another company (not necessarily in this industry) effectively killing whatever future a product line of theirs might have had in such a manner.
Why be so vocal about this? Well, quite frankly I'd hate to see people make the same mistake I did and assume wrongly that this seems to be turning a well-supported system, which is clearly not the case. I'd hate to see retailers, some of which I really like, who actually do follow through, who do create actual communities and solid player bases, be burnt by your inability to make the (fairly small, but desperately needed) number of finishing touches needed to create a 'complete package' - or an IMO inevitable future, similarly inane, decision.
(Again, I consider it a shame - but I know damn well what death spiral a mere statement like yours will inevitably create, so why would I put more time or effort into a system that's dead anyway. hence the past tense and everything)
By the way, if you paid a bit more attention you might have noticed I only posted those specific bits I have a specific issue with. Unless KS started mandating an NDA for every backer that's actually more restrained than I had any duty to be.
You might do well to take notice I called on you to publish the entire update instead of taking that upon myself.
Bolognesus wrote: I'd hate to see retailers, some of which I really like, who actually do follow through, who do create actual communities and solid player bases, be burnt by your inability...
I'm just curious but what retailers are carrying Afterlife: The Shards of Liberty miniatures? Other than a few online retailers which don't have stores or build communities, I am just curious "who" is creating a community with a solid player base but is disasstified with Anvil Industry?
I purchased miniatures and back this Kickstarter for the miniatures. It having rules wasn't even a consideration since I knew that rules would take a lot longer to flesh out properly compared to miniatures. Rules are great and do help propel a product line but that does not translate into failed business because of a lack of said rules. There so many miniatures companies out there without rules to even count. I just feel like there is a slight gross exaggeration, on the border of hyperbole, on the future state... but that is just my opinion.
Bolognesus wrote: I know damn well what death spiral a mere statement like yours will inevitably create
None. And that's precisely what's wrong; he was very, very close to having a product out there that could easily draw a few retailers. I know at least one around here who would likely have been interested. After this? not so much. You know why it wasn't making money yet? He stopped one step short of what's necessary for his existing customers to start drawing retailers in. One. Tiny. Fething. Step. And now that'll never happen; it's clear the followthrough isn't there with this system. Noone will stock that other than on something like 180 day terms with a buyback guarantee (which is of course impossible to offer for a company this size). Same for distributors of course; no chance any of those will touch this with a barge pole any more this side of at least 2020.
Your second question: that's the hilarity of it; when something like this happens, the system affected will just wimper out. Retailers will choose not to carry it without being vocal about that. Have you ever worked in or with purchasing? Or failing that, even just had a good chat with an FLGS owner or two about the state of the market and what to carry and what not? This is precisely what will seal the deal: "hell no, that'll be dead stock next time he can't be arsed to follow through."
but dream on if you want to. Your money you're wasting here.
Bolognesus wrote: when something like this happens, the system affected will just wimper out. Retailers will choose not to carry it without being vocal about that.
That is why I am asking, when has something like this happened? How often and what systems has faced this? This is a legitimate question because I have nothing to base this from. I have not seen something that hasn't been 'finalized' which this hasn't nor was it near the final steps even ready for retail yet... vanish because retailers wouldn't carry it for lack of backing from the manufacturer. What I mean is this shouldn't even be on a retailers radar at this time until the time they pushed it to that stage, which they haven't yet.
Bolognesus wrote: Or failing that, even just had a good chat with an FLGS owner or two about the state of the market and what to carry and what not?
I talked with my the owner of my local game store quite frequently, mainly because I organize and demo quite a few games for them as well as work conventions locally. We often do talk about the state of the market and what to carry. However at the stage that "Afterlife" was at, this wouldn't even be on the discussion board. Even after they had rules it still wouldn't be on the discussion board at this time. It took waiting a year after N3 to finally get Infinity, an established game with rules and great looking miniatures on the table despite having gamers playing. It just didn't have the market behind it yet and still doesn't to carry a portion of the line.
Unfortunately we aren't talking about a board game. Nor are we talking about a miniatures game with a backing from a large company. All of those reasons keep this off the radar of basic networking until it is ready, proven and established.
Would I love to see it there? Absolutely. Do I think even having rules gets them to that step? Nope not yet. It would honestly need to be seen the convention circuit first. Even then something like this is only going to be picked up by EU without a heavy US backing. It brings me to my next example, even with great rules, it still falls in line with where Batman Miniatures game from Knight Models falls.
Jesus, Bolognesus, people can get things wrong from time to time. Joel was perfectly clear that the plan is to put some time and effort into Exo-Lords and conversion bits to build up the coffers so that Afterlife could be done right at a later stage, and that staying hell-for-leather focused on Afterlife threatened to sink the business. Makes perfect sense to me. Do you really need to be so aggressive about this? It sucks.
Wow! Glad I'm just a painter! Excuse my ignorance (just being 'a painter' and not a gamer) but aren't the 'Afterlife' minis suitable for other rule sets? I'm sorry, and surprised, to hear that the product isn't selling too well as they are very well designed and cast figures that I enjoy painting. I'm certainly not bothered by the lack of new miniatures in the range - I've got enough to keep me busy for a couple of years. Looking forward to what Joel has in store for us when he feels the time is right financially.
Evidently some people are very bitter. Joel worked very hard, creating some amazing looking mini's. Mini's that can be used in a number of games. No idea why some are crying to the board but some people would complain about being given gold because it is too heavy.
Yeah, even if the Afterlife ruleset doesn't pan out completely, these are fething awesome models that could be used with God knows how many other indie rulesets.
I am already wondering if either of Ganesha Game's scifi/modern rulesets (either Flying Lead, or Mutants and Death Ray Guns), or even Rogue Planet, could turn the Afterlife models into a sweet gritty near-future 40K clone. Especially after seeing that Exo-suit with the new servo harness.
There's a big difference, to me at least, between sharing 'backer only' updates, and sharing them with the venomous spin and aggression that Bolognesus has chosen.
We are a very small community and it doesn't take much poisonous nonsense to distort people's perception.
You can already see one question about delivery above, when I've never seen any negatives related to Anvil KSs before.
I hope that Anvil continues to make the smart business decisions that allowed them to create Afterlife in the first place after what was a really a very short time in existence as a bitz manufacturer.
I would personally back a 'we just want to print a rulebook/ produce a boxed set KS, even if it was independently run in the vein of Frostgrave etc.
Well, if Afterlife is not proving profitable, I can offer insight on my own personal views towards that.
1. Maturity. There's no system as Anvil said. The game can't be prosperous as it does not exist. Models do though.
2. Those models I just mentioned are mostly nice. There are some that fall into the midground category of generic-ness. There are some that are amazing. There are some that I personally am not fond of. That's pretty normal for any range of models. I didn't back the KS though because the pricing didn't make sense to me at the time. I still can't really go there to be honest, outside of a few interesting figures for scenarios. I "would" buy a bunch of stuff but a lot of overlap on things I'm expecting from HINT or options from Infinity, MERCS, and other ranges that are along the same lines but often available cheaper.. it just doesn't make sense for me.
3. Uncertainty. Before any of this nonsense about KS posts came up I had already fostered reservations. Not because I doubt Anvil in particular but as someone who liked Confrontation, AT-43, Void, etc etc.. I value my disposable income and buying a line of miniatures without a clear path forward (or even a ruleset) is not something I can afford to do anymore.
Again.. I've bought from Anvil before and they're nice quality and fast and accurate service thus far. I plan on doing business with them and wish them nothing but great things.. but there's nothing endearing about them or their products any more than Maxmini, Mad Robot, Kromlech, etc. All of these small businesses have great product and I am happy to read about their successes but I'm past the point of feeling obligated to save any of them from their failures. If Anvil or any of these small guys want to stay in business, they have to do a)whatever keeps the lights on b)what keeps their business moving forward, and c)what grows their customer base.
Anyway.. rant over..
I hope we see more Afterlife. I don't currently have plans of buying Space Marine knock offs outside of maybe converting a few to completely non-40k type projects. If not, like I said, it's cool there's a LOT of fish in the sea :/
@DS:
At least two FLGSs around here do take leaps of faith with less than established systems - as long as they look promising, are ready to put on shelves, and seem to be backed by a company that will go the distance.
MLaw's point 1 is germane here: as soon as that 'system' is there - even just two factions and a rulebook, with decent retail-suitable packaging - they are perfectly willing to consider taking the leap.
Hell, I've had one proprietor explain to me he didn't bother with frostgrave since other stores had beaten him to it - he figures to be profitable he should get in early and get in hard. Funny enough, his store seems to be doing great. lots of folks in at all times, selling loads of stuff, you name it. Then again, he's the sort of fellow who knows how to run a business; get in quick, and get in hard. That's one store I was fairly sure would have been a likely early adopter, probably building a fair bit of community - until this happened. Moment he sees this I'm fairly sure what the response will be - no Afterlife there, not ever.
Rule 1 isn't optional, motyak
@Dwartist
Thing is, us gaming types would like a player base and community to go with those models. Generic rulesets are all fine and dandy but their utility for competitive play pales in comparison with a balanced, tailored system specifically for a particular subset of all available models.
You're entirely right all of that is irrelevant to someone who just paints pretty things - then again that was never a point of contention here
I personally backed a small company wanting to expand a miniatures line. I backed for the miniatures, not the game, end of story. I have made multiple purchases from Anvil mainly for bits and conversions. The fact is they were built and originally a bits/proxy miniatures type company like many others.
MLaw wrote: I've bought from Anvil before and they're nice quality and fast and accurate service thus far. I plan on doing business with them and wish them nothing but great things.. but there's nothing endearing about them or their products any more than Maxmini, Mad Robot, Kromlech, etc. All of these small businesses have great product and I am happy to read about their successes but I'm past the point of feeling obligated to save any of them from their failures. If Anvil or any of these small guys want to stay in business, they have to do a)whatever keeps the lights on b)what keeps their business moving forward, and c)what grows their customer base..
That is sort of what the main point I was trying to make earlier. None of those companies have a miniatures line with rules and they haven't gone out of business. Very few of those, if any are stocked in any retailer store, at least in the US.
If we were to go off the assumptions of Bolognesus, then Anvil has just spelled their doom. Their whole 'Afterlife' product line is going to fail, lead them to ruin all because they didn't create polished rules (the rules are already there) with pretty pictures, make a book and a 2 player box set for retailers to carry. It has failed and already failed because of that and it is their fault for not going one step further. Any chance of this ever becoming more will never happen because local game stores who wouldn't even be looking at this game currently, will look back at his statement and decide "Nope".
I'm fairly intelligent. I've worked for Blizzard, Upper Deck, Cryptozoic Games, Renegade Game Studio and continually do the convention circuit in the US... but I just don't follow the perception that 2 LGS "might" have carried a line translates into "failed business and the spiral to death" because rules (which are already out) will take longer to polish up. I don't understand or get where the extremes are coming from Nor do I see historical evidence of other games where this has even mattered or somehow led "death spiral a mere statement like yours will inevitably create" has happened. We're jumping to this conclusion because of a possible 2 LGS that "might have" carried the line... you know provided they had a polished rulebook and 2 player box.
It would be completely different if we were having this discussion one year from now and nothing else has changed. But no time has passed to even create an factual idea of the direction and what the statement really means.
This must be a overseas thing or regional because no one has bought into that, other than for miniatures. I haven't seen anyone play it at conventions or in stores in the Northwest. I don't even know anyone who is playing, WH40K, Malifaux, Infinity, XWing, WarmaHorde are pretty much the main things. However I do realize that it doesn't translate into "failed game" because my sample size, even if I factor in the NW is still too small. I've heard great things about. 'm sure it is a great game, and I might get to it eventually but currently it just isn't a thing.
Bolognesus wrote: apparently it's perfectly okay to share news, as long as I'm not negative about such inane decisions?
There is nothing actually wrong with being negative. There is nothing wrong with sharing news positive or negative. Unfortunately most of the statements that have been made hasn't been news, it has been subjective conjecture. It is a lot of "the sky is falling" mixed with a bit of "they shot themselves in the foot" but without any actual evidence of that. We're literally having a discussion about 2 LGS who might have carried a game but won't because of an owner being upfront and open on the state of things. I didn't even know Anvil Industries was targeting, marketing or trying to get into local game stores at the time.
Bolognesus wrote: us gaming types would like a player base and community to go with those models.
This is pretty accurate, almost every gamer wants to have a player base and community to go with whatever miniatures or game they are buying. Unfortunately that doesn't happen for many games. Here is the thing, everything else aside, the only thing that builds a community is the player-base and community. Local game stores don't build it, even carrying product doesn't create it. The manufacturers and game designers don't create it. It is the players that make it. It takes someone to go "This is a fun game, I like X and Y, come play". Then they demo and their friends like it and play. It is that simple.
To build my World of Warcraft Trading card group from 2 players to 40 and then running State and Regional Championships with 100-150 players took months of work. It wasn't the game company, the game or the LGS that did it but me with the help of some great judges. To get XWing and Infinity to take off took a bit longer, I didn't work at it and sort of pushed people to the store around times. I didn't have time to actually play with them or run sessions in the store. They got there about 1 1/2 years later but it sure wasn't because I helped.
Whenever you start off the introduction with "the game is dead". He had rules, but he didn't make a 2Player set (which many games don't even have) nor is there a rulebook to print out (because who cares about PDFs that are available) so there is no point carrying or playing this game (that wasn't even being marketed to retailers at the time). The chances are it will build a community, it will always be a community of 0.
Bolognesus wrote: Screw that. I'll call this sort of ruinous idiocy as I see it
Since you don't know me and I don't know you personally. We are all blank faces on the internet. I'm looking for some examples of similar situations this has happened. I'm looking for some factual trackable things we can look at, that would lead us to the "doom and gloom" philosophy that you are dead set on. The reason I ask is because regionally I know places vary with what is hot, what isn't, how big a game store is and what they focus on and carry. I have no idea if there have been 50 games that where carried overseas but never made it big so never were heard of in the US, which are you using to come to your conclusion on things. I'm just looking for a few examples so that others can draw similar conclusions... because right now it has been hyperbole.
The closest I can come to a somewhat similar situation is Dream-Forge games with their need to refocus and change gears. They don't have a ruleset. They make some great miniatures, although it is plastic which I put them in a different category than Anvil technically speaking. However they have had to shift gears because of increased costs and other things. Retailers don't carry their products. However I wouldn't say they are quite yet at the "doom and gloom" stage. However other than that... I don't know of others.
When the rules are finished maybe make a starter kit, and i hate to say it GW has it player base (although it is diminishing), X-wing can ride on the Star wars coattails but other emerging systems need to advertise, create a buzz, otherwise it will fade into obscurity.
So, Bolognesus. Is your theory that if Anvil puts out a starterset sometime in the future, with a printed ruebook, no retailers will carry it since it was delayed. But they would be into carrying it if it was released now?
Bolognesus wrote: when something like this happens, the system affected will just wimper out. Retailers will choose not to carry it without being vocal about that.
Maybe. Or maybe the initial starter, and a tour of gaming groups/conventions and a push of funds from a new bits range will help that in a few years. In the UK, Afterlife is stocked by Dark Sphere and Wayland Games - two of the five or six big hobby online retailers. Hell, I can walk into Dark Sphere and see a whole range of properly packaged, professionally marketed miniatures hanging on the shelves to buy over the counter. I think that's better than what a lot of games manage such a short time in.
I don't foresee doom and gloom here, though I think it might take a bit longer now to get the game to a 'standard' level of saturation. Fine. That's what all the other games systems had to do, too.
I don't have a huge amount to add to the discussion beyond what was in my original KS post, but I have read everyone's comments and I appreciate that almost everyone is supportive and understanding.
Bolognesus - You clearly think that the way I'm my business is wrong and you have every right to state that publically. But, respectfully, you are wrong, and you don't have anything like enough knowledge about me or my business to second guess my decisions.
As I am the one with detailed knowledge of my business, my short and long term plans, our companies strengths and weaknesses, market position and prospects for the game, I respectfully state that I have made what I believe, after very careful consideration, is the right choice for Anvil Industry and Afterlife, now and in the future.
If you think Afterlife is dead and you want to get out of the system, you are welcome to post any of our miniatures you don't want back to us, and I will give you a full refund of what you paid. Please email me if you would like to take me up on this offer.
I started Anvil Industry to make awesome toys and create happy customers, if you are unhappy, I'd rather return your money.
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To everyone else who has been more supportive of our business plan, some more details -
Other than Darksphere who stock our products with reasonable success, we don't currently supply any other retailers (Wayland Games have our stuff listed, but we've not resupplied them in a while now and they don't physically stock any great quantity).
We have not actually made any serious attempt at pushing our game out to retailers yet - this is because as some have stated - there is no point trying to persuade retailers to stock an incomplete product.
Over the past few months we have been designing and completing our packaging, including starter box sets which will soon have very nice looking artwork.
Once we have a more complete rules set, we will print a "quick start" edition in A5 format (full rules, but no art or other content) and include it free of charge with the starter boxes.
The big push to get the game stocked in retail stores will come when we have 3-4 different starter boxes, and a full printed rulebook later this year. All the development work for this will continue along side the various other projects I'm planning.
We will be releasing new bits, conversion parts and some new Exo-Lord figures in the next few months in the run up to Salute in April. Afterlife development will continue in the background.
If you would like to see the Afterlife game and figures in person and perhaps get a demo game in, here are some dates for your diary-
7th Feb (THIS SUNDAY) Vapnartak show in York - display table and sales but no demo games.
27th Feb - HATECON1 in Bethnal green, east London - sales and full demo games all day.
28th Feb - Display/demo games at Paradice Boardgame cafe in Bromley, South London.
26th March - Anvil Industry 5th Birthday Open Day at our studios in East London, with a tour and gaming, snacks, drinks etc all day.
16th April - SALUTE - Entire range for sale and Demo games running all day.
7th May - Carronade games show at Falkirk - We will be there, hopefully running demo games.
3-5th of June - Our first appearance at UK Games Expo in Birmingham, which we are excited about!
DarkSphere in central London - We still need to organise with them, but I will announce a date for a day of Demo games there some time soon.
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Later this evening, we should hopefully be releasing the new double handed melee weapons for Exo-Lords I have been previewing recently, the first casts came out of the master mould this morning and they are looking really nice!
Bolognesus, I just don't get where the depth of your venom comes from. You are massively over-reacting, suggesting the game is dead just as Joel announces that he is paying a professional artist to produce art for the rules, organising packaging for the starter sets, planning to release a fuller rulebook later in the year, paying for a fully painted studio army and the like.
I was at the studio again on Monday at the start of this week doing more playtesting of Afterlife, Joel has invited me back again later in the month for more. He showed me some of the artwork referred to above, he showed me the packaging starter sets, he is demoing it at the places mentioned above. The game is moving forwards, and it is going to succeed. Your own negativity towards the game is not only wrong, it strikes me as oddly bitter. Why do you feel the need to be not just negative, but outright spiteful?
Afterlife is continuing, and will continue, and the Exo-lords range will be improved too, allowing the company to prosper and Afterlife to be guaranteed a long-term future as well as being the success it already is.
...
If you think Afterlife is dead and you want to get out of the system, you are welcome to post any of our miniatures you don't want back to us, and I will give you a full refund of what you paid.
...
I started Anvil Industry to make awesome toys and create happy customers, if you are unhappy, I'd rather return your money.
= First class customer service.
As a knee-jerk reaction to this post I went directly to your site and placed an order
Heads up: the 2 or more for £8 on the 7-packs (tested with scythes and chainglaives, possibly other weapons too) doesn't seem to be working, they show in the basket as the £8.50 preorder price
Charax wrote: Heads up: the 2 or more for £8 on the 7-packs (tested with scythes and chainglaives, possibly other weapons too) doesn't seem to be working, they show in the basket as the £8.50 preorder price
Thanks for catching that! I should have checked but it was late. Manually fixed now, and actually cheaper at £7.50 per set when buying two or more of the same one.
Cheers
Yes indeed - Double handed Melee weapons are NOW AVAILABLE
Glad to see this thread return to some normality, I understand concerns over the delay but the negativity in which it has come across was uncalled for.
Hats off you to you Joel for offering to refund him for the return of the unwanted miniatures , customer service top class.
I have to say I backed the KS as a miniature collector not a gamer, but how impressed was I when they turned up
Some great miniatures and fantastic vehicles, I hope the demand picks up so you can expand the afterlife format more.
However I completely understand the need to cater to demand of the market, after all being a small business is tough enough to survive so if you can make a profit then you need to divert.
I am sure you will continue with afterlife all be it a little slower than first thought, plus I think it could benefit from a slower creation allowing time to get things right rather than rushing it to market and failing that way.
I know you said you will be expanding the Exo range but will you be working on any regiment range ?
Fifty wrote: Bolognesus, I just don't get where the depth of your venom comes from. You are massively over-reacting, suggesting the game is dead just as Joel announces that he is paying a professional artist to produce art for the rules, organising packaging for the starter sets, planning to release a fuller rulebook later in the year, paying for a fully painted studio army and the like.
What faction are you collecting? I really don't have time for more games but this argument has inspired me to buy a starter set and join in!
I've picked up a few Afterlife pieces just for painting, they're great models.
Joel, just a heads up, there's a couple of spelling mistakes in the two handed weapons product description. 3rd bullet point it says half instead of haft and idea instead of ideal. Not the biggest deal in the world, but just thought you might want to correct it,
Alpharius wrote: REALLY love the look of all the AFTERLIFE stuff and I hope to get a large force (or two) real soon - keep up the good work!
For me, 40K is dead, and 30K a...slight future possibility.
ANVIL INDUSTRY is AFTERLIFE!
I agree with this. Knowing how the numbers side works though and how long it takes for something like Afterlife to grow to the point of being sustainable as the flagship product.. I don't feel like we'll see this side of Anvil soon.
I would like to suggest a possible middleground. Expand or support the Afterlife range in such a way that it is capable of filling a proxy role (for IG or SMs even with scouts and some clever cross-selection type units (could be used as power armor or dreadnoughts or grey knights or centurions..hey you've got a lot of that already). This is pretty much what Mantic did up until the Warpath reboot where they gave Orks the middle finger and stepped away from "counts as" territory in a more significant way. Enforcers don't really look anything like Space Marines but they are armored and cheap so people were snapping them up and using them like that until Mantic's game(s) were almost self sufficient.
There's some negativity surrounding this but I don't think the opportunity available to you should be overlooked Anvil. Someone was asking for power loaders and I supported that earlier in the thread.. if you did them right they could easily be CCW dreadnoughts. Just as an example of how it could work. Like I said, I wish Anvil Industries all the best and that's where that suggestion is coming form. The setting, idea, and notion of Afterlife are appealing to me you just need to get it to a point where it's marketable
I love the two-handed axe, you've managed to give the arms 'clearance' from the bulky torso of your average powered-armour suit without making them overlong.
I was interested in the 'regiment bionic legs' but i noticed they are out of stock. Will they be returning? I was plenty interested in a couple of the other items in your, very reasonably priced , store but i have my heart set on the legs in particular.
I really like the more upright, natural, poses they have.
@LDD - Yeah now we've hit the brake a bit I'm feeling a lot more relaxed, its easier to plan and if anything I get more stuff done when I'm working on a few things at once - I can jump between them when I get bored.
Good news- new Infantry kits and bits are coming soon - torsos and arms to match the legs, heads, weapons and bionics which are currently available. Expect to see something before the end of the month!
@Sockwithaticket - thanks for the heads up, I thought I had corrected all the "half/haft" errors, Ill fix it now.
@Dwartist - amazing work as usual! Seriously love your stuff! I'll be painting one up in the 'official' scheme and if I get it to look half as good as that I will be delighted!
@MLaw - thanks for the feedback - I know that making Units with wider appeal in other game systems is where the smart money is. The scale of Afterlife is a little more realistic than 40k, so not everything will look right, but certainly any non-human units, battle robots for example, are useful in a lot of games, and I suspect that's what 90% of the kits out there are used for at the moment.
I will certainly be prioritising units with wider appeal over more specialist 'Afterlife Only' stuff.
@Perkustin -
Thanks! Yeah the arms are pretty much the same length as the regular ones. keeping the arms nice and wide apart makes it a lot easier to get the clearance. It is still a pretty tight fit with a lot of helmets though, so I cant necessarily recommend the "over the head" pose, but its an option for people who want it.
Yes, regiments Bionic Legs will return as a part of our soon to be revamped "Infantry" range with some new parts, hopefully later this month.
Anvil - That makes sense. Remember though that there are people out here that don't care if it's out of scale with GW. If I'm buying your infantry for example.. I'm not really going to be mixing and matching. If you have humans I want to use, I'll make the whole army out of them. I'm sure you already know that but there it is anyway
The robot thing is definitely a good call. Also.. a dropship. I love them and tend to buy them from various places. Mantic showed theirs and I'm not a fan and Antenociti is dragging feet on dropships so if you've got one in you, I'd love to see it
I know not likely to happen but I really would love to see some kind of bike to fit in with your Afterlife range, do you think this could be a possibility ?
Dwartist - Wow, amazing work as usual on those recon vehicles!!
The pic from this post isn't showing up for me, though, just FYI:
dwartist wrote: Second Instigator almost finished (just the vehicle weapon mount to do)
I'd also like to say that the models I've gotten from Anvil (wardrones, gun tractors, and various weapons and bits) have all been perfect casts and fit into my projects brilliantly. Keep up the great work!!
On that note, there might be some things from the Afterlife range that have broad appeal in multiple systems - obviously I'm a huge cheerleader for your various drones / bots / tractors but Puppets War also does this - making things that are not directly analogous, but very usable in other systems. Just something to think about especially as you show off stuff. The recon vehicles I instantly thought of how I could use them for 40K, but I think they're just in-between a few things in size... if you make a bike it would work for many things, as suggested last page! Anyway, this is taking the place of my monthly pitch for more weapon options on your robots
Also, those double-handed weapons you posted the print of look awesome! Do you think you'll have casts to show soon?
An alternative to bikes could be just doing a rider that fits the GW bikes. If we ever do see an Afterlife biker kit though, I'd hope for something significantly more high tech looking than the GW bikes though. Maybe something visually more in line with the Mospeada bikes from Mospeada/Robotech.
AW and a few other places have bikes but either there are no riders or the riders are just not going to fit with most armies.
The aesthetic for Afterlife would yield an awesome bike and even if it were just the rider it would at least look like it belongs on the same battlefield as exosuits, robots, drones, etc.
@MLaw - definitely planning drop ships and helicopter gun ships of various kinds! The awesome resin ones might take a little while to get round to, but I'm planning to do a printed card version so people can get them for the game quicker (and MUCH cheaper).
@Madmuzza - I'm sorry, I thought we had put up photos of the sprue, we intended to and we will sort that out today. The arms are included as part of the weapon hafts.
They are only available in sets of 7 (because there are that many different poses), but you can get a conversion kit with one each of the various weapon heads -
@LDD and Alpharius - Bikes are 100% happening at some point! It may take a while, but I will be doing at least a couple of designs with various legs and riders from the different factions.
@Barzam - do GW have bikes other than the Space Marine ones? Those would fit an Ajax mech.. but nothing else in the Afterlife range!
Anvils Hammer wrote: @LDD and Alpharius - Bikes are 100% happening at some point! It may take a while, but I will be doing at least a couple of designs with various legs and riders from the different factions.
My suggestion when designing bikes would be to have the riders more angled forward than the very upright poses of both GW and FW marine bike and jetbike riders as well as the equivalents made by 3rd party manufacturers such as Puppetswar and Kromlech. Helps to give them a sense of speed.
The only human bkies GW makes are the Space Marine ones. I figured if the Scouts could ride them, you could probably put a regular himan rider on one. There's also the Eldar Jetbikes.
It reminds me of the old GW box artwork before they made it all modern and dull. I approve! Liking the colour scheme on the armour, might paint my guys up that way..
@Manus- To be honest, I'm not totally convinced about the gun attachment, its always going to look a bit "stuck on".
We will try and sort more photos out next week.
@Zywus - don't worry my bikes will have proper riding positions!!
@Barzam - The space marine bikes are as long as the instigator! and have wheels half as high as a man.. or more, in Afterlife scale.. Ajaxs could ride one..
@Azazelx - There was discussion of a backer only Kickstarter update I posted. the Text of the update in in spoiler tags in one of my posts in this thread.
@Commander Dante - They are Exo-Lord sized arms, but if you leave the pads off, it might work. The arms are designed for a 12mm wide torso however, so a bit of converting and creativity with the poses might be needed.
@Jehan - nope, there are many options! 49 different combinations of weapon and arm pose to be precise!
@Paradigm and others - I'm glad you like the new Artwork!
Here is the un cropped, higher res version for you to enjoy!
This will be used for the box art for our Republic faction starter, in the rulebook, and I'm hoping to eventually make some prints/posters available in small numbers.
The Unity Council Art is being worked on as we speak!
And finally before I sign off for the weekend, here is a WIP new product you can expect next week!
Large Bionic Legs, as requested by many many people over the past few years.
Awesome, when I get around to converting some Iron Hands Terminators they'll be high on the list of bits to get!
On that note, and now you're back to doing conversion sets and stuff, have you considered doing Large versions of some of your melee weapons? With Horus Heresy becoming more popular now (Terminators come with Power Weapons, not Fists, as standard) that might be worth looking into, even if it's just the same weapon designs with larger hands on. The plastic HH Termies have plenty of Power/Chainfist and Lightning Claw options, but there's something of a lack of Power Weapons apart from the really expensive Forge World ones.
Paradigm wrote: Awesome, when I get around to converting some Iron Hands Terminators they'll be high on the list of bits to get!
On that note, and now you're back to doing conversion sets and stuff, have you considered doing Large versions of some of your melee weapons? With Horus Heresy becoming more popular now (Terminators come with Power Weapons, not Fists, as standard) that might be worth looking into, even if it's just the same weapon designs with larger hands on. The plastic HH Termies have plenty of Power/Chainfist and Lightning Claw options, but there's something of a lack of Power Weapons apart from the really expensive Forge World ones.
I already asked him to do that last time I was at the studio doing playtesting. It seems like a possibility.
While I've got Skitarii on the mind, how about doing some conversion parts for the Kastellan Battle Robot? The head it comes with is butt ugly. That Wargames Exclusive out of Ukraine or wherever makes a decent alternative head, but it doesn't fit the aesthetic too much. Maybe do a conversion set that brings it more in line with looking like the old Imperial Robot?
@Paradigm - We don't have specific plans just yet, but as Fifty said - we did discuss it and its an option on the table.
@Dwartist - Yep dropship ahoy - the final version wont look very much like that one. It was just a quick "rough sketch" for the art background, but a proper resin version will appear at some point.
One option I'm considering in the meanwhile is a printed/folded card version, which wouldn't look anything like as nice as a proper model, but would allow people to start using dropships in their games a lot quicker than would otherwise be possible.
@Barzam - Yep we've sold multi-pose large bionic arms for a while now.
No current plans for bionic weapon arms/deliberate skitari stand in stuff, but future robot stuff for the Afterlife range may be useable in other systmes.
No plans for specific conversion parts for existing GW models, only stuff that would be useful on a range of different figures.
@MrFlutterPie - Yeah I noticed that, Personally Id have preferred sets of 8 Chain Glaives.. I was a devout servant of the Blood God in my GW gaming days!
Hot damn that's some awesome painting.
I love the kit too - so versatile.
Exceptional work!
ps - @ Anvil - I'd be all over a printed card dropship - as well as any other large vehicles you wanted to print. Helo's, fighter jets, tanks, ships, etc. I've been watching your black-ops line for a while now, and seeing you firing on all cylinders is awesome. Can't wait to see what your revamped ExoLords will look like.
1) Plan on any powered armored ladies?
2) Do you have any US distributors?
Mmmmm....Big legs to match my current legs I've used on some basic Iron Warriors. Will buy! Also the new tech marine backpack and double handed weapons bring me joy.
I previously previewed the Multi-Part, fully pose able all bionic legs set.
Here is the result of 10 hours more work today - the Large Bionic Leg conversion kit*
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Two heavy power armoured legs and two separate bionic legs - so you can use the complete legs supplied OR use pieces from the Multi-Pose kit to create your own poses.
The calf armour on the bionic legs is an optional component - they can be left off if the iconography doesn't suit your intended use.
These should hopefully be available to order tomorrow, and ship from the middle of next week.
*I briefly considered designing the thigh armour with just enough room inside to hold a child's bicep, but thought better of it.
Just putting together my order of double handed weapons (which are amazing and should totally be on everyone's wishlist) and had a couple of thoughts:
- You don't have any pics on the site showing which pose is which, so people cant really order them knowing which pose is A, B etc (I'd take some pics showing them off, but I'm using them on GW minis and you tend to like showing promo pics of exo-lord parts)
- Any plans for larger versions? these are absolutely great for exo-lords or similarly sized models, but a set for larger models (like Ajax mechs or maybe, if someone's feeling crazy, GW terminators) would be fantastic.
These are suitable for "larger" miniatures, so too big for regular Exo-Lords.
The confusion (and you are not the only one) stems I think from the thigh armour, which I've sculpted in proper thickness and proportion relative to the lower leg, making it look more like a regular Exo-Lord leg.
Ill post a scale shot up in a bit.
You are partly correct though - designing this kit was a bit of a "warm up" for an Exo-Lords reboot KS I am currently planning, Ill have more details on that soon.
A LOT of the Exo-Lords range is quite a few years old now and its all a bit piece meal and lacks a coherent theme. I'm very much looking forward to unleashing my improved design skills and our superior quality manufacturing methods on our original figures!
@Charax - All the sets of DH Melee weapons contain one each of each arm pose, so I don't see any advantage in labelled poses? You are right though we should put up more example images, I'll try and get around to that.
Making Larger arms is a possibility, but it.s a bit of a slippery slope.. people then want torsos, heads, cloaks, legs etc etc.. At which point I may as well just do a full kit.. Which is an option, but not one I'm likely to have time for any time soon.
@Kodos - Hopefully next week, we just need to remake the mould.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Evening again all,
The Large Bionic Legs are available to Order now, shipping from this coming Thursday most likely.
The two separate kits can be used by themselves, or combine parts from both kits for more conversion options.
A larger company has recently started supplying their kits with the pistol grip hand attached to the rifle, so if you want to convert with 3rd party guns, you'll find these come in 'handy'... (Sorry!)
Seeing the old exo-lord legs next to the new sculpt, I can see why you want to go back and re-do the older stuff with the superior technology and sculpting skills you have at your disposal now. The large legs look great
Just placed an order. I guess I'll have to get some Large Bionic arms and legs next time.
I almost bought the Unity Council Ajax Exo-Mechs (3) set based on your conversion corner from this week, but I just couldn't justify the costs since all I was after was the legs/torsos. Is there any chance of offering them separately at some stage, as you've done with the Black Ops figures?
I received Nurgle's blessing this week in my mail box
Only took 1 week to get my order at my door stop all the way here to Canada. The Scythes look even better in person. The detail is a bit sharper (these puns are going to be the death of me...)
Nice clean casts as well. Love the skull heads too.
@Haigus - Thanks very much, and yep, I am proud of the old stuff, but I've developed, and a new Exo-Lords range will massively amp up the quality level!
The current plan is to run a small Kickstarter in April, with the number of new armour styles, poses and weapons determined by how much support we get, as this means we can get production done during the summer when we are typically a bit quieter, sales wise.
I'll have further proper announcements in a few weeks time.
@MrFlutterPie - Glad the parts turned up, and in one week - that's pretty good! International mail can be a bit hit and miss sometimes.
I'm happy you are pleased with the parts! Skulls+Scythes = Grim reapers??
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The new Large Bionic Multi-Pose and Conversion Kit legs are now shipping on normal schedule!
Here are some example assembled Bionic Conversion Legs - The eagle on the leg is about 5mm tall, the detail level we can get with 3D printer still impresses me sometimes!
@Commander Dante - Just rough sketches at the moment.. and my design sketchs tend to be completely indecipherable to anyone except me!
CAD render previews will be up as soon as the sculpting is a bit more developed.
Basically, I'm doing some new heroic scale heads, torsos and arms to go with the existing Infantry scale guns we've had on sale for ages. They are long over due.
@Manus - probably not next week, but soonish. you will be very pleased when we finally get round to them I hope
Zywus wrote: I see that the chain axes has been redone.
Will the old design return to be sold alongside the new or are they a permanent replacement?
Permanent replacement, its virtually the same product.
IF however you (or anyone) want some old style ones to match existing ones, we have very limited remaining stock and could potentially produce a few more, so they will remain available as a special order by email.
Will the new infantry bits be compatible with the Afterlife infantry bits you currently have? You still need to release the parts to finish those off. What sort of theme are you going to go with for the infantry you're putting out?
@Slipstream - any one can pitch anything.. whats the idea though.. You've not given me a lot to work with.
@Barzam - Yes the plan initially is to make new torsos, arms and heads which are compatible with the Grenadier and Marine Corp Legs and the Regiments scale weapons we already sell.
At some point, I'll add great coat legs/torsos and some additional arms and heads option.
Initially planning a fairly generic light and heavy sci fi / near future infantry vibe. More specialist/themed stuff will be forthcoming if the range sells reasonably well.
@Azazelx - Sorry! Always an issue with temporary discounts. Its only for subscribers of our newsletter though - more of a marketing experiment really.
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I'm Demoing AFTERLIFE today at HATECON1 in Bethnal Green Working Mens Club (In East London) £10 on a door, lots going on.
Tommorow I'm Demoing at Warboar Wargaming and Paradice Games café in Bromley, South London (Free event)
@Anvils Hammer - Would it be possible to suggest an idea? I've recently been looking around for bits to convert some SM Scouts into prone positions, but there are a real deficit (i.e none) of prone legs and arms out there - seems nobody makes them. As you've mentioned doing something along the lines of the Guard and you seem amenable to suggestions (and looking at the excellent quality of your stuff), might I suggest that a set of prone legs and arms may fit well into your already planned sculpts? (and would fill a niche on the market I gather)? I know I'd certainly be first in line to get a set if they worked well with the Scout Torsos.
Something new is coming to Anvil Industry - Fully modular, multi part heroic scale infantry kits, compatible with popular plastic miniatures and with the highest possible production quality!
These are WIP's of the heavy and light armour Torso variants. More information and renders soon.
Interesting.. so my Carapace IG Vet KillTeam may get completed yet! Right now they are on Rep Com legs with plastic Cadian torsos but finding arms has been a real sod (all the ones I have tried so far have either been ape-like in length, cursed with small, child-like hands or all in exactly the same pose). It sounds like I might be able to do away with the bits entirely and just pick up this infantry kit..
Yep, you will really like the new Kit(s), stay tuned for a slightly more developed preview render soon!
All the new arms will be compatible with cadian plastic torsos, and with our existing regiments guns, plus some new guns I'm planning.
@Malika2 - Yes, they will fit in quite nicely
@Mlaw - thanks for posting!
@MrFlutterPie - That looks awesome! Thanks for sharing, I look forward to seeing the final painted model!
@Warpig1815 - Thanks for the suggestion, I wouldn't do conversion parts for SM scouts, sorry, but I will consider heroic scale prone legs/arms for the new Infantry range.
Exo-Lord prone figures would most likely only appear if I re-did the existing Black Ops Recon snipers, which is a possibility at some point.
Anvil, the prone legs sounds fantastic! Please make sure there's a torso for it though! It's such a pain to get a head to socket into a regular torso that's laying down.
As for the posting.. I was honestly surprised it hadn't been posted!
Put in an order for a probably inadvisable number of the Large bionics, been waiting for these ever since you brought out the arms
Can I ask, will all these new heroic-scale infantry kits have that "sci-fi near-to-mid-future" vibe going, or is there a chance we might see something a touch more baroque and anachronistic at some stage?
Yodhrin wrote: Put in an order for a probably inadvisable number of the Large bionics, been waiting for these ever since you brought out the arms
Can I ask, will all these new heroic-scale infantry kits have that "sci-fi near-to-mid-future" vibe going, or is there a chance we might see something a touch more baroque and anachronistic at some stage?
Personally, I like that they're not doing grimdark. With so many other small companies doing it, it almost feels like a dead horse to me.. Is there something specific you're hoping to see that isn't a re-tread?
I agree there are plenty of other "not guard" types already. Assuming the head is modular a headswap could probably go a long way to giving them your own character too.
If the arms and torso were one piece and the gun replaceable I'd be totally ok with that. Maybe some others with posable arms for more open poses like pointing, firing pistols etc,
From what was said on Facebook, these will be more modular than the Afterlife range. The parts breakdown will be head, torso, arms, weapon, and legs. There was also mention of the arms having a small guide peg to make assembly easier.
I personally would prefer Joel stick to the sleek sci-fi look rather than Grimdark as well. There's already a lot of very nice grimdark not-IG kits out there. No need to throw in another. But, very few companies are doing this type of sci-fi trooper. Besides, 40k need not just be grimdark. The Elysians prove quite clearly that there is room for hard sci-fi among the IG.
My biggest hope is that they won't look out of place among my Afterlife figures.
These new infantry look nice. If they're heroically scaled I might use them as Recon-styled troops for an existing force in a popular sci-fantasy game. Will there be different head options, Joel?
SInce you have a "Kevlar" type helmet there already, any chance of something like this appearing? (Perhaps even with or without the respirator that's on the two existing renders, or earpieces.)
That would make for some kick-arse scouting troops.
(Tons more examples by googling "ops core helmet" and "spec ops helmet".)
Yodhrin wrote: Put in an order for a probably inadvisable number of the Large bionics, been waiting for these ever since you brought out the arms
Can I ask, will all these new heroic-scale infantry kits have that "sci-fi near-to-mid-future" vibe going, or is there a chance we might see something a touch more baroque and anachronistic at some stage?
Personally, I like that they're not doing grimdark. With so many other small companies doing it, it almost feels like a dead horse to me.. Is there something specific you're hoping to see that isn't a re-tread?
Ancient Persian-style soldiers would be interesting, as would sci-fi Mesoamericans, maybe something with a flavour of African retrofuturism, or of pre-colonial India. Just because there are companies out there producing new versions of the tropes GW used to make doesn't mean the only real-world inspiration left is the modern "tacticool" look(which, I will point out for the benefit of others, I neither dislike nor wish Anvil to stop making). Doing non-"grimdark"(nobody asked for grimdark, by the way, "baroque and anachronistic" doesn't have to mean armour that looks like a filigree factory collapsed into the ancient burial ground beneath it) doesn't preclude a company from also doing other things, if they wish, hence why I asked if we might see something with different aesthetic at some future point.
So basically the same kind of thing that other companies do with Roman/Greek/Egyptian/Norse/Celtic designs?
I don't know what you even mean by African. It's a huge continent, after all. Kufi-style hats or Zulu hats or Fez (Not actually African, but with strong ties to colonial Africa.)
It'd certainly be an interesting experiment, but like the Frostgrave gnolls, it'd also be easy for people who like the concept in theory to not like a specific execution. I think an additional couple of difficulties are that things like Persian and Zulu and Samoan visuals don't resonate as much to the main audience as the ones that GW have built up over the last 20-30 years, not in general to the main western culture as much as Roman/Greek/Egyptian/Norse/Celtic/"Tacticool" imagery. That and a lack of distinctive metal armour styles as well. (I hate those persian "smurf" hats, but that's just me). I'd love to see some sci-fi armour with Māori-style "carving" in it, but I'm not holding my breath for that to happen.
Yodhrin - Sorry if my post came across as an attack.. what you asked for is what I think most people see as code for grimdark.. so.. I wasn't meaning that as an insult so much as I seem to have just misunderstood the question.
I do sense that you got peeved at the use of grimdark in reference to what you were asking for (and presumably like). I also notice that you seemed to be taking a jab back with "tacti-cool" .. but let's stop right there. Near future sci-fi or anything based on modern tactical gear (which many of my marine friends just call "work clothes") isn't the same thing as perpetual WW2 in space. I asked what you were looking for to try and understand what you were asking for. The reason I did that was to understand your request not to be a dick. The ideas you started your post with were cool.. and very specific. I don't think either of those are what anyone would have guessed based solely on your initial request.
MLaw wrote: Yodhrin - Sorry if my post came across as an attack.. what you asked for is what I think most people see as code for grimdark.. so.. I wasn't meaning that as an insult so much as I seem to have just misunderstood the question.
I do sense that you got peeved at the use of grimdark in reference to what you were asking for (and presumably like). I also notice that you seemed to be taking a jab back with "tacti-cool" .. but let's stop right there. Near future sci-fi or anything based on modern tactical gear (which many of my marine friends just call "work clothes") isn't the same thing as perpetual WW2 in space. I asked what you were looking for to try and understand what you were asking for. The reason I did that was to understand your request not to be a dick. The ideas you started your post with were cool.. and very specific. I don't think either of those are what anyone would have guessed based solely on your initial request.
Which was rather why I used a more general description rather than just listing cool but specific ideas
I hadn't realised "tacticool" was derogatory in a general sense, I just thought it referred to tactical gear in a slightly OTT/action-movie style and was meant as an insult when used to refer to actual official forces that are supposed to be tactical in a more reserved, professional way, no slight was intended.
Azazelx wrote: So basically the same kind of thing that other companies do with Roman/Greek/Egyptian/Norse/Celtic designs?
If by "basically the same" you mean "blend sci-fi with historical cultures or elements of them", sure. But one historical cultural reference is not the same as another, and it would be nice to see something other than yet more WW2/modern-but-with-lasers/Roman/Greek/Egyptian/Norse/Celtic designs. Again, Anvil does the tactical/modern-but-with-lasers style very well, I'm not suggesting they stop or even delay such things, just asking if they intend to branch out a bit at any point in the future.
I don't know what you even mean by African. It's a huge continent, after all. Kufi-style hats or Zulu hats or Fez (Not actually African, but with strong ties to colonial Africa.)
African retrofuturism, a subset of the sci-fi genre Afrofuturism. So in answer to your implied question; all of those, and more. And maybe even more than just hats
It'd certainly be an interesting experiment, but like the Frostgrave gnolls, it'd also be easy for people who like the concept in theory to not like a specific execution. I think an additional couple of difficulties are that things like Persian and Zulu and Samoan visuals don't resonate as much to the main audience as the ones that GW have built up over the last 20-30 years, not in general to the main western culture as much as Roman/Greek/Egyptian/Norse/Celtic/"Tacticool" imagery. That and a lack of distinctive metal armour styles as well. (I hate those persian "smurf" hats, but that's just me). I'd love to see some sci-fi armour with Māori-style "carving" in it, but I'm not holding my breath for that to happen.
That's a non-argument though isn't it, because it can apply to any specific execution of any aesthetic in any context. As for resonance, I think you'd be surprised, "history nerd" and "wargamer" overlap pretty heavily on the Venn diagram of geeky pursuits. It's also a little difficult to tell either way if any specific aesthetic would be popular, given none of the ones I listed as examples are catered to currently, but there's evidently at least some demand for such things because, well, this conversation is happening.
With multipart kits (like they're showing) that's still a possibility. I don't want to name drop other companies.. but there are a few others out there blending sci-fi and say.. Roman Centurion helmets (and not in a Space Marine type of way really). There are others with tribal helmets or Egyptians as well.. and I do mean with sci-fi elements not just historical copy/paste.
So, I think there.. yeah.. you've got options to just find those parts and use them with the modular bits as needed. Having torsos or arms or legs that match would definitely be cool.. don't get me wrong, but there are a few places where some historical copy/paste can help out (all those plastic multipart historicals).
I know that's not optimal. My freakin Killzone army is sitting in bins because of how expensive it is to order all your stuff from 10 different companies.. but man.. compared to the 90s and Y2k.. it's a candy land! You can currently build most if not all of all those crazy IG armies from the old BRB or IG codex or whatever it was (going to look for the picture).
EDIT: Also.. I don't actually play 40k anymore really.. so my interest in the multipart kits is probably automatically different from yours
I know there's a bigger version of that image out there. I've never noticed the guy on the far left end of the second row from the top. Dude looks like a Cobra Snow Serpent. Okay, I don't know of any companies that make cold weather troops that don't look like WWII Russians. Joel, it would be beyond awesome if you made a regiment that looks like high tech Snow Serpents.
African retrofuturism, a subset of the sci-fi genre Afrofuturism. So in answer to your implied question; all of those, and more. And maybe even more than just hats
The idea of seeking out more 'non-Western' influences in scifi might be a very cool approach, but I do hope it will be a bit more subtle than mere 'Africa in space' or 'Astro Asians' or whatever...
How about a poll on possible concepts and influences, this way Joel could understand what the demand is and "maybe" integrate this into his range.
Realistically you have to look at this from a business point of view though it is what sales at the end of the day, there are many things I would love to see created in the miniature market however what I like maybe not be to the greater interest.
The other thing to remember is a lot of sales are based on models being used as proxies, hence the similarities of releases in the market are based on this format.
You have to be careful to produce something different but not so much so that it will alienate your custom base, personally I would like to see more diversity in the Game world.
There is whole world of influences out there to draw from, races and cultures could be integrated into the design.
One thing I would love to see released is rebel type miniatures, low armoured wearing basic fatigues however I can't see this being a great seller and would be complicated to produce in kit form due to the need of variation.
So realistically I can't ever see this happening, so I understand the feeling of wanting something but likely it ain't going to happen.
Got my order last week. Everything cast wonderfully. I'm hoping to get a review of them of some sort done in the next couple of weeks. Probably around Easter.
Hey Joel, really looking forward to these new regiments bits! Love these concept pics, especially the stock on the laser weapon in the bottom pic - so cool!
Can i make a suggestion? As much as i love beret wearing troopers would you consider making a patrol cap type head at all? Something like the one Poncho wears in Predator? I think that could look pretty good on the armoured torsos.
Sorry for the lack of updates everyone,
Father Nurgle blessed me with a great migraine/virus combo which totally wrecked me for the past 10 days. Today is the first time I've even been able to look at a screen for more than 2 minutes, but at least I can say I am on the mend.
As I can now look at a screen, I'm back to (fairly light) work, SALUTE in just a few weeks time wont prepare for itself, and I now have even less time to get everything done.
Thanks for all feedback and I will try to reply to all in order of posting-
@Mlaw - Any prone legs will have matching prone torsos, heads and arms, I dont think it would work any other way!
@Desubot - I dont like fiddly assembly either - the entire new Regiments range will have "keyed" joints which slot in to place (but can still be rotated) to make fixing parts on a doddle, similarly, rifles will have a slot key so they attached onto the hand/stock nice and straight.
The aim is maximum choise with the modular parts, but intelligent design, so that clean up, preparation and assembly is a easy as possible.
@Yodhrin and others on the design style of the range modern/Grimdark etc
- I plan to do a few different styles, I'll start with the modern/near future/sci-fi blend, but plan some more interesting kits as well. WW1/2 style trench infantry are definitely a high priority.
-I agree there are lots of different alternate sci-miniatures kits out there already, but I am confident ours will be cheaper and better than many, so its worth competing for a slice of the market even where we are making something similar to an existing style.
regarding taking inspiration from different cultures - its certainly something I'll be drawing from, roman legionaire style armour, with a laser rifle, I think would look amazing for example, but wouldnt necessarily have to be used to represent "space romans" as the roman style helmet could be swapped for something more generic.
I would also love to do sci-fi styled Samurai at some point, but as some of you have pointed out, there are already quite a few options out there which could be integrated with our stuff as the base kit.
As all the kits will be modular, it will be possible to blend elements together to make all sorts of combinations, and the number of possible combos will only expand as the range gets larger over time.
We have really hit our stride at Anvil with the digital design and printing process, and its now much faster to create new sprues of bits components.
Regarding SCALE - these will be more heroic than our afterlife figures, so slightly bulkier legs and arms, slight larger heads and guns, this doesn't necessarily preclude them being used in AFTERLIFE however - it depends on an individuals tolerance for scale variations.
@Azazelx - You are not the first to ask for an Ops Core variant, and dont worry, it will be part of the first wave of parts
@VikingChild - I'll certainly look at patrol caps, thanks for the suggestion.
@LDD - Yes there will be officer conversion sprues to go with the base kits.
I'm hoping to get some new renders up within a week or so, and I was hoping to launch the new range by the end of this month, but I think with my illness, I'll be aiming to release the first kits at SALUTE (April 16th)
-----------
The new Conversion corner - I'm glad you guys like it, we've decided to branch out a bit and
A. incorporation parts from other companies, so long as the majority is Anvil.
B. encourage contributions from you guys - so if you've got a great quality conversion made mostly with our parts, get in touch, if we feature it, you'll nab a £15 voucher!
First mini painted from my Afterlife collection. I'm sort of biased but these really are the most detailed and best cast miniatures I've come across in a long time. For me they fill a niche I hadn't realised existed, somewhere between Infinity miniatures for detail and Hasslefree for cool design factor.
I have about 40 Afterlife miniatures to work through this year but look forward to seeing it progress as the year(s) go on. Great range in place to build upon.
@LDD - Yes dont worry, we will be making all the new Kits available on the online store on the same weekend as the show!
Depending on how well they sell at the show, there may be a delay shipping website orders, but we will do our best as always!
@Manus - Thanks very much! Yeah we decided to broaden it to show off some of the many very interesting conversions out there, and allow our customers to participate more directly as well.
@MOTN - Damn he looks great! Very nice paintwork, I especially like the stubble! No mistaking him for anything other than a hardened Veteran!
I've been using Lance Carbines with the Ion Rifle attachment to represent bolters with Marker lights attached recently in lieu of a signum on a Devastator sergeant and for a Rapier Crewman designated as a spotter:
I've used the additional ammo clips you get with the carbines to help spruce up other Deathwatch weapons. It breaks my heart a little bit that you can't get the circular one separately, I freaking love it. The recent box mags (as modelled in the first picture) are also fantastic and I've started adding them to everything!
I've also found that spare War Drone heads make interesting targetting devices...
MOTN wrote: First mini painted from my Afterlife collection. I'm sort of biased but these really are the most detailed and best cast miniatures I've come across in a long time. For me they fill a niche I hadn't realised existed, somewhere between Infinity miniatures for detail and Hasslefree for cool design factor.
I have about 40 Afterlife miniatures to work through this year but look forward to seeing it progress as the year(s) go on. Great range in place to build upon.
Hi Neil, good to meet you today. That is a really great looking Isaiah Cortez. I really need to get started on doing some painting...
Other people, I was at the Anvil Studios again today where I was doing a bit of playtesting on the vehicle rules, which are great. I think I explained it before, but they are so much more realistic than, for example, 40k, and without being any more complicated, in my opinion. Basically, you move up or down one gear each turn, and that determines your base speed in a straight line. Then you get a certain number of manouvreability inches, also based on your gear, which can be anywhere in a forward 180 degree arc to determine final location, and then a final turn, the maximum angle of which is also based on your speed. It is a very simple system to use once you do it a few times. The gear you are in even determines your ballistic skill and how hard the vehicle is to hit. It is all presented in a table for each vehicle. It means you can have vehicles really getting across the tables quickly, but also potentially crashing. Having it all easily presented makes it so much better than 40k though.
One funny thing about playing Joel at his own game is that he is really bad at it. Not because his tactics are bad, but because he can't roll dice to save his life. In over half a dozen games, he consistently rolls exactly low enough to mess up whatever he was trying to do. I almost feel guilty. And he only very rarely says "For the sake of playtesting, let's assume I succeeded in that roll." I think I'd be a bit more bitter about it than he is
It was also a little celebration, but I'm sure there'll be more from Joel about that, so I won't steal his thunder. He's also got a lovely lovely model to show off. I already got one I won't post photos, as it is Joel's to show off, not mine. It is awesome though.
- I plan to do a few different styles, I'll start with the modern/near future/sci-fi blend, but plan some more interesting kits as well. WW1/2 style trench infantry are definitely a high priority.
-I agree there are lots of different alternate sci-miniatures kits out there already, but I am confident ours will be cheaper and better than many, so its worth competing for a slice of the market even where we are making something similar to an existing style.
This is fantastic news. I love your afterlife stuff, but it's just not feasible to build significant chunks of armies (as opposed to skirmish forces) out of them. Vic's stuff is even worse in that sense. I'm very happy to see a quality range coming out where competitive price is an aim.
@Azazelx - You are not the first to ask for an Ops Core variant, and dont worry, it will be part of the first wave of parts
The new Conversion corner - I'm glad you guys like it, we've decided to branch out a bit and
A. incorporation parts from other companies, so long as the majority is Anvil.
B. encourage contributions from you guys - so if you've got a great quality conversion made mostly with our parts, get in touch, if we feature it, you'll nab a £15 voucher!
The conversion corner is a great idea. It's a great little spot for you to share ideas and has certainly inspired me (ok, I haven't assembled anything yet, but...)
"... He's also got a lovely lovely model to show off. I already got one I won't post photos, as it is Joel's to show off, not mine. It is awesome though." ???
@Mr Flutterpie - Wow That looks amazing! Love the gritty paintwork and rust on the scythe!
@Sockwithaticket - great idea and execution - those whites are gorgeous.. so smooth!
I love seeing our figures and bits painted up, so please everyone do feel free to post images in this thread!
@Fifty - Good to see you last night, and thanks for not stealing my thunder.
@Dwartist - I can satisfy your burning curiosity! see below.
ALL-
CELEBRATING AN AMAZING FIVE YEARS OF ANVIL INDUSTRY!
Yes, as Fifty alluded to - last night we had a little party to celebrate an amazing FIVE YEARS in business. Way back in March 2011 I sold my first product, a set of roman style shoulder pads, on ebay (a while before anvilindustry.co.uk existed)
The company has come a LONG way since then, and we couldn't have done it without the support, encouragement, and lets be honest.. cold hard cash, which you guys have supplied us with over the years!!
so to all our fans on DakkaDakka:
THANK YOU VERY MUCH and we look forward to another 5 years of supplying great quality conversion bits and miniatures.
To celebrate our 5th Anniversary, I've spent a few days working on a special miniature, something completely different from our usual sci-fi stuff. It was great fun to sculpt.
I present our company logo brought to life in resin as a mighty craftsman and battle champion : The Blacksmith
As a special thank Anniversary offer, the first 100 Blacksmith miniatures are available for a special price of, appropriately, £5! After that they are £9, which for a 37mm tall resin character figure with lots of option parts, is still pretty excellent value.
Trying to order, along with a couple of other bits, through PayPal, get some kind of pho error after completing on paypal's site.
No confirmation mail or notification from PayPal so it probably failed completely but I kinda want to know one way or the other...
What's the best way to check/confirm?
Happy Anniversary. What a great model to celebrate with! He might not to be a sci fi sculpt, but I can't help but see a Salamander marine out of armour, hard at work in the forges. He could accompany these, a quick photo, of my favourite of the Exo Lords range:
Send us an email - info@anvilindustry.co.uk with details of your order, but if there is no record of the transaction in your paypal account, it probably didn't go through.
Place the order again, and in the unlikely event you pay twice, we will of course refund you promptly!
@Ruralguard - thanks very much! Its my first ever fantasy miniature and I actually really enjoyed sculpting something different.
Yes - at 37mm he is actually a head taller than most space marines, and has the build and muscle to be used as a space marine/ age of sigmar hero with the right conversion work, I look forward to seeing how people use the figure!
@MOTN - haha! Nice photo, thanks for sharing.. Hope you are getting through the cake you took away! I've got a fair amount left to keep me going for a few days!
@Ezra Tyrius - Yep good indeed, carefully consider your purchases from us
The new regiments stuff will be closer to the more common "heroic scale" used in GW plastics and many popular ranges, so the figures will be bulkier than the Afterlife range, which is more realistically proportioned.
you could potentially use the figures next to afterlife models, it depends on your personal tolerance for scale differences, which varies from person to person.
Ill be posting up plenty of comparison photos when we have the first units ready in a few weeks time.
I find afterlife miniatures fit in between FW and GW so blend quite well with both ranges, witch if you think about it is strange considering FW and GW are all the same company and you think they should be compatabIe.
Just ordered the anniversary mini, he's a fantastic sculpt and fits right in to an army I've just finished... Throw on a shoulder pad and a couple of techy bits and my HH Salamanders have a badass Forge Master!
Congratulations on 5 years of awesome products, Anvil, here's to the next 5!
The Blacksmith just arrived, and WOW, that is one exceptional model! Beautifully crisp resin, stunning textures, awesome design and perfect casting. 10/10 stuff, Anvil! I was impressed with some Exo-Lords I bought a couple of years ago, but this is a whole other ball game!
Automatically Appended Next Post: And if anyone's wondering how he looks after a little painting and conversion...
Congrats mate - and a great model. I've just seen the thread now and I see the first hundred must have flown out the door. Hope he stays available for awhile and I'll grab one with my next order.
@Paradigm - Nice! that's a fantastic conversion and paint job, thanks for sharing!
We've improved a lot since the early Exo-Lord parts, which is why I'm really looking forward to the planned Exo-Lord revamp in a few months time.
Yes Azazelx - The first 100 sold much quicker than I expected, we actually left the special pricing on a little longer as lots of people bought 2!
@MOTN - Thanks for the photo! They look amazing!
@MrFlutterPie - I'm afraid the heads are not separate, it wouldn't have worked well with the high collars like that. you could potentially cut them out with clippers, as the resin is fairly easy to work with, but trimming and attaching new heads would be a pain.
We will be releasing multi-part greatcoat infantry as part of our new Regiments range, with separate heads and lots of options, so best wait for those!
@BrookM - regarding SALUTE 2016 - Yes, we are hoping (dependant on how fast I can sculpt/print/mould things) to have the first of the new Regiments range available to purchase on the day.
We will also be running an excellent show offer
Buy any four items, get the cheapest item free!
Mix and match across the entire range, so potential savings of up to 25%
I'm going to be working 12 hour days for the next 11 days in the run up to the show, so hoping to have some exciting new renders up soon!
I *think* we will have a couple of sets of the current style Warden Mech Kit available at SALUTE, want us to reserve some for you?
Sometime in the next few months, probably to coincide with the release of new CRANE Corporation Units and starter set, we are going to create a slightly updated version of the Warden kit.
The legs and bodies are unlikely to change much/at all, but the arms will move to having separate weapons, that way we can provide more weapon options a lot easier.
The new versions will be fully interchangeable with the current model.
Anvils Hammer wrote: I *think* we will have a couple of sets of the current style Warden Mech Kit available at SALUTE, want us to reserve some for you?
Ooh, if possible, I'd like one set please!
I was planning on picking up some of the smaller gubbins, but one can never have too many robots for a pre-Heresy Ad-Mech army.
@Barzam - If you like the Warden Mechs, you'll love the CRANE starter, probably 5 humans and then lots of new robotic war machines!
I am hoping to make the first Regiments kits available at SALUTE, so if I succeed in that aim, I'll have both renders and photos of the actual resin models within the next 10 days! Wish me luck!
@BrookM - Send us an email with your details and we will put one aside for collection - info@anvilindustry.co.uk
@Charax - Yes, fill a cart and when you checkout select "Collect at next show" and "Pay at next Show" If you pay on the day we will be able to apply the Show discount deal (not quite sure how it will work with lots of smaller bits items which are not standard show stock, we will figure somthing decent out).
Not sure if this has been asked before and I missed it. Will the new regiments components be compatible with the existing afterlife marine and grenadier legs that you already sell?
I will leave this here as Joel has mentioned it several times about the regiment range and its scale, also the regiment range is not marines ( if you mean SM that is ) but human sized infantry IG sized hope that helps .
The new regiments stuff will be closer to the more common "heroic scale" used in GW plastics and many popular ranges, so the figures will be bulkier than the Afterlife range, which is more realistically proportioned.
you could potentially use the figures next to afterlife models, it depends on your personal tolerance for scale differences, which varies from person to person.
Ill be posting up plenty of comparison photos when we have the first units ready in a few weeks time.
Did you intend the armour to look like Crome/NMM? It looks fantastic.
I started painting a test scheme for these guys with white armour and dark brown fatiques, but your lighter brown leathers work better to contrast the armour, I'll have to do some more tests!
I think I should release the CRANE head in heroic scale as part of the new Regiments range, it would work pretty well.
The Negotiator Anti-materiel rifle is back in stock now, a new version with significantly improved detail and more options added to the sprue.
Is there any time-table for when the C-48 Wardens will be back in stock for those of us that missed the KS, or were they just for that run? I got back from my hobby-break and found myself with a sudden need for those awesome sculpts.
Doh, on the wrong page when I was posting. Didn't see all the discussion. Ignore me.
Did you intend the armour to look like Crome/NMM? It looks fantastic.
I started painting a test scheme for these guys with white armour and dark brown fatiques, but your lighter brown leathers work better to contrast the armour, I'll have to do some more tests!
I think I should release the CRANE head in heroic scale as part of the new Regiments range, it would work pretty well.
Now that you've said NMM Chrome I can't unsee it. It's actually just white, washed with black then some extreme edge highlights with white. I wanted a very mass produced plastic looking armour for them. The leather is just bone, washed and then highlighted, it's quite a sickly looking colour. Kind of inspired by the Weyland Yutani marines from the end of Alien3.
If I were so inclined these would make amazing Mechani-Forge soldiers. Look forward to more releases for this faction.
Oh excellent, I have far too many of the Fallen Dwarfs and it's good to see the line warrants more releases! I have the wizard in metal (the sculptor was kind enough to sell me some not-in-production figures), and he's a lovely sculpt. There are several more character sculpts that haven't been released yet...
Spearman looks great too. A new one to me, any plans for a unit pack...?
I need to talk to MOTN about a unit pack with different poses, we have an idea to add spears to the bodies from the axe set, but hopefully he might sculpt a "stabbing" spear dwarf.. He posts here so might chime in..
I know we are expecting 8 new dwarf sculpts to add to the range soon.
@MacMuckles - a couple of sets of Regiments will be available to purchase at SALUTE next weekend hopefully, the main release on the website, with a new new bits not available at SALUTE, will realistically be the end of April or possibly early May - as soon as I can, but we are super busy at the moment with all sorts.
@TreadHeadz - Ill try and have some of both kinds of OpsCore available for you at SALUTE don't worry.
Spearman looks great too. A new one to me, any plans for a unit pack...?
There's a few more sculpts packed up ready for shipping to Anvil for this range, including two front rank spear dwarves. These were WIP shots a few weeks back.
The Ops core heads look fantastic (and so do the new Dwarves as well). Is there an ETA on when the new infantry and their heads will become available? I also have to echo how good the EOD guy looks as well.
@MOTN - hurrah! Lots of people have been asking about more spears and will be pleased!
@Barzam - everything is possible. CAD+3D printing an entire sprue makes It very easy to make new head styles, the only issue is my time.
Ill certainly try and get something like that out at some point.
@Azazelx - I was hoping to release the new infantry around next weekend, but now, in order to initially offer a few more parts, I'm holding back the online launch until either the end of April or early May.
It will be as soon as possible! I cant wait.
Of course, by all means if you do this do your awesome exo-lord take on it. 
although that's not really a "conversion bit" 
The extra shell casings I threw in because I slightly reduced the price of 30mm bases after you had purchased some, but before anyone else.. seemed fair to include some bonus stuff!
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is there any way to order the new kits at the same time of Salute ?
