PS: Some of us think GW, PP, Infiniti and all the boutique mini sellers are also pretty ridiculous.
Of course you do otherwise you wouldnt have said it in the first place
We all have our internal Scrooge Mcduck telling us what we'll be willing to pay for toy soldiers.
For me compared to the rest of the sci fi market I dont think they are unreasonable. Especially considering their paying for a licence and what at the moment looks like a potentialy low model count skirmish game.
What do you consider a reasonable price bob?
Well, it depends on the material. For example, if Prodos took the whole board game thing seriously, then the box should have roughly Descent (1st ed.) numbers of pieces considering its comparable price (and that's the Kisckstarter price!). For plastic, Mantic plastic troop prices to Mantic Mars Attacks martian prices on the aliens, and maybe a smidge more for the Colonial Marines. $10 per predator is doable. For restic? It's going to have to be damn cheap.
For 'I can't believe it's not restic' resin, and using the alien design I find least 'alien' ,from the movies I'll never watch again? Reaper Bones prices per mini. I might have been willing to pay more, but not after the way the campaign started and then progressed. Petty? Maybe. Or maybe I'll do quite well buying up aliens when the game hits Sedition Wars' current market price.
However, this assumes that the alien warriors will end up looking exactly how reason and pessimism suggest they will. If they look like, you know, the actual aliens from the movie Aliens, that might change things.
Is the smart gun supposed to connect to the trooper's harness in some way?
Yes.
If you look at the pictures of the squad contents on the Kickstarter page, you can see the piece that joins the torso to the gun.
I suspect that photo is from the open day, and that the model wasn't complete.
The smartgun harness is actually a stedicam mount used by cameramen.
RiTides wrote: No issues with what you posted although those are old pics from during the campaign, not new ones as busby posted. Hopefully we'll get more, particularly of the individual components, as Prodos progresses / Fox approves things.
I took them from the link Busby posted. Were those the wrong ones?
I apparently had trouble clearly saying what I was trying to say, which was, that the pics in the link busby posted were old pics (and that there are no new ones post-campaign yet, other than the painted ones shown last page)
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marv335 wrote: The smartgun harness is actually a stedicam mount used by cameramen.
Nice, movie makers were resourceful back in the day
I guess the detail for each of us is a relative thing CaptJake. Personally, having seen the photo comparison with the GW Necron, I think the Prodos miniatures come across quite well. Knowing what the 28mm scale is like, I think the problem is these days the Hi-Res pictures zoom in so far that in some ways you get a misrepresentation of the actual miniature you receive.
So it might not be up to Infinity/Mierce/Taban standard, but then these represent the top end of the industry. That these guys are probably going to have more detail than a GW Cadian infantryman, or a tyranid trooper (to make a comparison), will probably be OK for most (unless you are from the future and have special implanted magni-zoom eyes )
Is the smart gun supposed to connect to the trooper's harness in some way?
Yes.
If you look at the pictures of the squad contents on the Kickstarter page, you can see the piece that joins the torso to the gun.
I suspect that photo is from the open day, and that the model wasn't complete.
The smartgun harness is actually a stedicam mount used by cameramen.
new update Dutch Schaefer and Linn Kurosawa will be available in the pledge manager.
Update #35
Dec 13, 2013
This is Rumour Control, here are the facts...
So here we are once more, it is Friday afternoon here in Royal Leamington Spa and we all know what that means... Your Friday update!
We have had a lot of interest in the Kickstarter from people who unfortunately couldn't get involved, so just to let you know, we have limited spaces available for folks to take advantage of the Kickstarter Pre-Order prices. This is first come, first served and if you are interested, please email service@prodos.co.uk.
In other news, we have some pretty amazing news. We have been very kindly allowed to create versions of the characters 'Major Dutch Schaefer' and 'Lieutenant Linn Kurosawa' from the Alien vs Predator arcade game. These characters will be a first for the AvP Miniatures Game, as there have been no named characters as of yet. These two characters will fit into our timeline and story, both serving in the USCM.
These characters are available as part of our Kickstarter pre-order and will be included in the Pledge Manager, a little Christmas surprise from us!
Finally, lets close this update with a video of both the Predalien and Alien Queen, which have been finalised by 20th Century Fox.
Welp, they seem to be using designs strictly from the AVP movies. The fleshy, digitigrade queen looks pretty good if you forget what they're asking for her, but the predalien looks like a guy in a rubber suit that doesn't quite cover all his ripped muscles. It looks like something from Sy Fy. "Predalienami?"
Now, I'm not talking about sculpt quality so much as the design aesthetic they've chosen. The poses also don't fill me with excitement, but for some reason resin boutique miniatures seem to come in boring poses as a rule.
So it might not be up to Infinity/Mierce/Taban standard, but then these represent the top end of the industry. That these guys are probably going to have more detail than a GW Cadian infantryman, or a tyranid trooper (to make a comparison), will probably be OK for most (unless you are from the future and have special implanted magni-zoom eyes )
If they charged less than Infinity miniatures for the lesser detail and were not claiming to be boutique type minis perhaps detail that is 'probably' going to be better than the GW Cadians and Tyranids would be okay. How much is the Sergeant figure? How much are the Preds? I think comparing special edition resin minis being sculpted now to injection molded minis sculpted over a decade ago is sad though. If 'probably' having more detail than those older injection molded figures is a high mark for you, we obviously differ.
Not a big deal.
As it stands, I honestly do not think my desire to see good close up pictures of the unpainted figures, both as we will get them and assembled, is unreasonable considering I fronted the company a chunk of money. They seem very committed to the Friday update thing and that is a good sign. Now if they would get some better pictures of the existing minis for an upcoming update I would appreciate it. I really don't think I am being overly critical, I am stating my opinion of the figures given the pictures I have been provided. I've stated my opinion of why very professionally painted and photographed pictures are not the type of pictures I want to see, at least not the ONLY type, and I provided what I consider decent reasons for that.
Yes ok mate, well I completely see where you are coming from. Although I suppose we will ultimately only know for sure when the miniatures finally arrive.
Cool to see the AvP arcade game characters are coming, although wish they would announce Machiko from the comic books :(
I'll agree to disagree Bob- I absolutely love the PredAlien render. The screen cap above is a little fuzzy- the video gives a full 360 of it. Obviously I'm not alone in liking the renders, either, from the comments on the update. Will have to pull out a "haters gonna hate" image in here soon . You'd think their giving solid weekly updates, with finalized renders that are similar to what was previewed, would garner a positive reception... unless you basically are going to dislike anything they're doing, and I think you're pretty much there now.
Jake- That's fair, I hope to see more unpainted pics, too particularly of these once they have them 3D printed and cast (although that will take a bit of time, obviously).
I like the renders so far. I probably won't be getting the queen because I intend to focus on the board game, and she will be a bit big for that in my opinion. The predalien is something I may get. I'll have to see what all is available when it comes time to allocate my pledge credit.
I'm hoping during some of the weekly updates we also start to see game components other than the figures. I know the figures are The Thing, but I can't be the only one who actually intends to play the game, and components nice enough to go with the figures will be really cool.
RiTides wrote: I'll agree to disagree Bob- I absolutely love the PredAlien render. The screen cap above is a little fuzzy- the video gives a full 360 of it. Obviously I'm not alone in liking the renders, either, from the comments on the update. Will have to pull out a "haters gonna hate" image in here soon . You'd think their giving solid weekly updates, with finalized renders that are similar to what was previewed, would garner a positive reception... unless you basically are going to dislike anything they're doing, and I think you're pretty much there now.
I've got to admit, I was really excited about the project until they priced me out of it. Now, I'm like a scorned GW fan, or a Mantickroot I suppose. It's just much easier for me to see all these negatives in the models now that I know I won't get any.
To be fair, though, Prodos totally dropped the ball on the Giger aspect of the aliens, something many fans have worried about since the first renders.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: To be fair, though, Prodos totally dropped the ball on the Giger aspect of the aliens, something many fans have worried about since the first renders.
But all the alien models had to be approved by the studio, methinks someone in the corporate office wants them to look less sexual.
Considering the entire franchise is based on angry vaginas, that's a pretty silly concern.
I thought maybe Prodos had to stick to the recent movies due to the contract or because they were using existing cgi designs from the studio. But since they never told the backers if that was the case, I'm going to have to assume that Prodos is the culpable party.
Seriously, one update that says, "Remember when we said we could use any movie in the franchise besides Prometheus? We lied." would clear everything up.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: To be fair, though, Prodos totally dropped the ball on the Giger aspect of the aliens, something many fans have worried about since the first renders.
But all the alien models had to be approved by the studio, methinks someone in the corporate office wants them to look less sexual.
I'd say it was something that was worried about in this thread "many times" but not by necessarily by many fans... unless you and Imposter count as many. If anything, your complaints about it made me realize that I like the organic AVP style more than the "I impregnated a steampunk vacuum cleaner" first movie xenomorph whose exact details I was oblivious to (like most fans of the series). Despite your complaints, you went in on it anyways apparently. I'd say that is mission accomplish (at least in your case) for Prodos.
With the anouncement of the video game characters (who I'm personally not so interested in as I never played those games, but great for anyone who is) I wonder what other characters we might be able to get eventually.
They seem to have been able to get the licence for Lance Henriksen for the Bishop for the synthetic marker, so I wonder what else might come along.
Personally I'd like the crazy guy from Predators with all of the looted Predator stuff.
Lol. I was that way about red box games for awhile- wanted his goblins but felt that mismanagement, etc was keeping me from getting them. Eventually realized I was acting like a "scorned fan" as you put it, though, and got over it
Ruglud wrote: No Friday update, instead a Comment from Prodos about it...
Creator Prodos Games Ltd about 5 hours ago
Hi guys, no update today as we are awaiting approval for our "Press release info"... but we might have something special tomorrow.
And so the slipping begins.
I really wish they would have sent out SOMETHING as a KS update, seeing as they kind of said we could expect regular Friday updates. Reading a comment here reposted from somewhere else doesn't cut it.
I'll sit tight now and await my chastisement from the 'Shut your pie hole! They're doing great and will update us when they can and you should not expect them to provide weekly updates even when they said they would' crowd.
On another topic, have you guys seen the Relic Knights bases? They look like they may be of use for AvP.
I guess the problem is an update that says 'no update today' is going to get slammed, having said that, a comment on the board could have easily got lost within a few hours and never seen, so maybe a quick email would have been best??
As to the bases, they do look good don't they - my problem with these type of bases though is they are so busy with detail that it becomes difficult to place the models... But they do look good
I'm probably going to invest in a couple of the Wargames Bakery Basius textured basing pads for my figures though, missed the KickStarter but looks like they'll be going retail soon via Zinge Industries
I just don't buy off on the 'no update' part. Surely this week something happened related to the development of the game or figures. If you are going to promise weekly updates provide them, no matter how small.
Heck, take 15 minutes to take better pictures of some of the existing minis. Show drafts of the other components. How are the redesigned tiles coming along? How about the new tiles?
What is the latest on rule development?
How are the Warrior Aliens coming along (even without pictures some news would be good).
I just cannot image there is nothing to put out. A quick 'This week we did X and plan to do Y this coming week.' would work. Next week a 'Not only did we do Y, but we got a jump start on Z'
Small delays are normal for KS projects, especially big ones run by small crews. If the guys at Prodos also have other jobs, that's another factor worth taking note of. As long as they get the update up within the next couple days, I don't see a problem. Not everything can be run with military precision.
Well they got the ridges on the head a lot closer to the nasties from Aliens, although I await to be informed that the tail is proportionately 7% smaller than it should be!
Pacific wrote: Well they got the ridges on the head a lot closer to the nasties from Aliens, although I await to be informed that the tail is proportionately 7% smaller than it should be!
Closer, maybe. "Close", no. Maybe it's because I have been drawing all my life, maybe it's obsessive nerdabetes, but I don't see how that alien warrior could be confused for an actual Aliens alien by anyone who would care enough for the franchise to pledge on a Kickstarter. That's closer to saying that Scarlett Johansson and my grandmother look pretty close because they both have eyes, ears, a nose, hair, and a body, but as with this AVP comparison it misses out that one of the two is lithe and sinuous, and the other is absolutely terrifying.
Having said that, this is my favorite of Prodos' alien sculpts so far in terms of the details and the pose. Depending on the retail price/availability/situation, I would buy them to paint up in flesh colors or genestealer colors. It's just a shame they promised to use the aliens from the movie instead of admitting up front that they are obligated to use the AVP designs so that we could adjust our expectations accordingly.
Maybe you can adjust your expectations now since you are just waiting for retail, right? You've got 6 months to get your expectations in line, at least
I agree that it's looking like the best aliens sculpt so far, although it's WIP. Looking forward to seeing the next (hopefully more upright) pose.
Well, RITides, they claimed that the warriors would be the ones from Aliens, so I had foolishly clung to some shred of hope. As Shawshank Redemption proved, hope is a dangerous thing, one which needs to be crushed, snuffed out as soon as possible. Now that Prodos has finally confirmed that they had no intention of keeping their word, the reappraising process can begin.
6 months to get institutionalized? I won't be able to squeeze a drop (of super glue) without permission.
CptJake wrote: I just don't buy off on the 'no update' part. Surely this week something happened related to the development of the game or figures. If you are going to promise weekly updates provide them, no matter how small.
It always baffles me when people will state 'oh, they were probably so busy!' as an acceptable reason to not bother sending out agreed updates.
If they were super busy... surely it shouldn't be hard to whip something up.
I'm certainly not a professional writer, but then neither are most folks on kickstarter, and man, if my long and illustrious posting history is anything to go on, give me access to the rules and photos and a weekly update would be a snap. Make sure to stamp "WORK IN PROGRESS" on everything and trickle out a teaser tidbit of info once a week.
It's also about managing expectations. Creators really need to stop just saying what they think people want to hear. Make it every two weeks. Hell, on a long term project I'll even take monthly updates with some real meat to them. Just let us know, and stick to it.
Forar wrote: It always baffles me when people will state 'oh, they were probably so busy!' as an acceptable reason to not bother sending out agreed updates.
If they were super busy... surely it shouldn't be hard to whip something up.
I'm certainly not a professional writer, but then neither are most folks on kickstarter, and man, if my long and illustrious posting history is anything to go on, give me access to the rules and photos and a weekly update would be a snap. Make sure to stamp "WORK IN PROGRESS" on everything and trickle out a teaser tidbit of info once a week.
It's also about managing expectations. Creators really need to stop just saying what they think people want to hear. Make it every two weeks. Hell, on a long term project I'll even take monthly updates with some real meat to them. Just let us know, and stick to it.
Hehe, reminds me of another company that did a kickstarter some time ago.
Glad that this got funded, I'll definitely get a few Alien and Predator models when they come out, so much potential in both of those Not too into the human races, never have been, so probably won't be collecting the marines xD
I suppose once they have the basic 3D renders sorted we might see the different miniature poses soon (or is that not how these things work? )
Extremely excellent.
This is the one thing I was wanting from this project, and it's looking great.
And yeah, I'm hoping that when the survey comes out it'll have full pics of multiple poses of all the products. They said "around christmas" for that, didn't they?
New update, including the armatures of the 2 planned upright poses for the alien warriors. I'm glad because at least the crouching ones will be in the minority
Hope they start making more alien variants than just the films like the Kenner line of aliens figures I had as a kid, the snake alien, the rhino alien, queen facehugger and so on
Also how will I be able to buy all these seen as i missed the kickstarter.
AtomicEngineer wrote: Hope they start making more alien variants than just the films like the Kenner line of aliens figures I had as a kid, the snake alien, the rhino alien, queen facehugger and so on
I like that chart. I wish it had more detail about what tasks/deliverables go into the lines and color coding, but it beats what many companies put out by far.
Ktulhut wrote: I definitely hadn't seen them before. These ones especially have sold me on the Infant Warrior, when previously I thought it looked pretty boring.
Some of the other alien poses remind me of strippers, this one makes me think Christopher Walken.
Update #39 Jan 17, 2014
This is Rumour Control, here are the facts...
Hi guys,
We have good news, the survey is ready for testing! We need 20 volunteers to try it out for us! It is a first come, first served basis and to have a go, please comment that your request has been sent below and email service@prodos.co.uk to take part.
Once there are 20 requests below, please don't try to volunteer until we ask again via update!
Anywho, what has been happening in the Prodos Cave I hear you ask? Well, we have been busy with the Warzone Resurrection Kickstarter and also you can see the progress we have made below.
Progress Chart 17/01/14
Otherwise, we have nothing to report this week!
Thanks again for your support folks, see you next week!
In other news, I am actually wondering if someone might like to grab my pledge (at a discount) before the pledge manager goes live?
It may be possible to get added to the campaign, but since I would be offering this at a bit of a deal, it could help us both for you to take my pledge instead.
Basically I have too many models coming, and bought this as a backup in case the Trollforged Aliens didn't come through in time... but as it looks like those will be, I'd like to sell my pledge here if possible.
I've looked all about the place, but I can't find anything giving me a solid idea of how big the Aliens are compared to models from other ranges (want to use them as Hungries in infinity)
Just based on some pics of an event I saw a while ago, where the marines and aliens were together.. the basic aliens were a bit larger than marines standing. Assuming those marines are at about 30mm scale, I would say they are somewhat bigger than Infinity Hungries. Although, they have less dynamic posing so they might work out alright.
Dakkamite wrote: I've looked all about the place, but I can't find anything giving me a solid idea of how big the Aliens are compared to models from other ranges (want to use them as Hungries in infinity)
They have a few backers testing it right now they've fed back some issues with it so they will need to be fixed then it can be released may be this week? might be why they didn't do an update yesterday waiting on more details or the launch.
Dutch and Linn are £9 each according to those who've tried it.
DaveC wrote: They have a few backers testing it right now they've fed back some issues with it so they will need to be fixed then it can be released may be this week? might be why they didn't do an update yesterday waiting on more details or the launch.
Dutch and Linn are £9 each according to those who've tried it.
Friday update is in early today... really early (just past midnight UK time...)
It's a backer only update, so non-backers look away now
Update #40 - For backers only
Jan 30, 2014
This is Rumour Control, here are the facts...
Hi all, quick update on dev status, also pledge manager should be up by Sunday 2nd Feb (multi- pledge option is finally implemented ;] ).
Weyland-Yutani Commandos "In Development" #1
Spoiler:
#2
#3
#4
#5
and Prodos Games quick Low Res test Print, just to check the surface finish, yes, it's almost done, just needs some corrections here and there. As always , this element is "In development" ;] :
Hmmmm, my original plan was to get the starter box, the freebees, a Queen and a ton of Warriors, but those WY PMCs and Youngblood/AvP Preds are all kinds of sexy. Not sure if I'll be able to add more to my pledge so I may have to choose!
Awful pledge manager not working for me in Firefox and Chrome is overlaying pages so it becomes impossible to read after a page or 2 and it keeps trying to translate from Polish! - this has been tested for the last 2 or 3 weeks it looks like they didn't take any of the feedback into account.
Does it come preloaded with your pledge total, but not your pledge level (meaning you can select any level or multiple lower levels instead of the one selected during the campaign) for those who already played around with it?
RiTides wrote: Does it come preloaded with your pledge total, but not your pledge level (meaning you can select any level or multiple lower levels instead of the one selected during the campaign) for those who already played around with it?
Think it comes with your pledge loaded. Dunno if it's locked. I'm guessing it is, as it would be a nightmare for the company to have all backers be able to randomly switch content.
Who's getting the Hardcover rulebook? I wasn't going to originally, but the idea of having a big, glossy artefact to read and admire is very tempting. On the other hand, that's ten less Alien Warriors (and 5 quid change).
Got it working OK the main issues seem to be that you need to use Chrome rather than other browsers and you either need a really large screen or to change your screen resolution to 75% or so as the PM doesn't auto resize so the scrolling parts get compressed and messed up it's particularly bad on phones and tablets.
I've tried chrome but still get nothing but the little Prodos pic. I managed to create my account, but it gave nothing more, I can't see any survey. If I click login it ALS refuses to accept my password.
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Joyboozer wrote: I've tried chrome but still get nothing but the little Prodos pic. I managed to create my account, but it gave nothing more, I can't see any survey. If I click login it ALS refuses to accept my password.
I'm also beginning to suspect my auto correct might have a substance abuse problem. Or I have the problem and auto correct quit!
I had no problems with the pledge manager in Chrome, it offered to translate from Polish but I just ignored it. A bit confusing layout, but after about 30 seconds of trial and error I figured it out. Now to decide whether I want to spend even more to get some of those awesome Youngbloods...
Worked under Chrome, but what a piece of NOT selfexplaining software.
It would fail any usability test in my company... Some advice how to use it would be welcome!
They did a video expalining how to use it in the update but they put awful music blaring over it so I think most people switched it off after a few seconds.
Feb 8 2014
Pledge manager >>>>>This is Rumour Control, here are the facts...<<<< Pledge Manager
4 comments
5 likes
Hello Kickstarters,
This was a really busy few days for us. Thanks to the awesome feedback from you guys, we have managed to update the Pledge Manager. Here is what we did:
1. You can add any other pledge you wish.
2. You can remove any pledges you don't like.
3. You can change the quantity of any chosen pledges.
4. We removed the bug with dissapearing strech goal freebies when choosing multiple pledges.
Remember that your password needs to be at least six characters long.
Because of the changes we have had to make, all backers that have already closed their pledges will have the option to change their pledge. If you are happy and don't want to change anything, just close calculator again. You will all be notified by email when this option becomes available.
Any pledgers that are still having problems with logging in, did not receive the invitation email or are having any other issues, please send an email to michal.pawlaczyk@prodos.co.uk.
Thank you all again for the feedback!
PRODOS Games LTD
They are making a bit of a mess of this I locked in yesterday owed £28 and paid it by Paypal pledge closed done. Today it's saying I owe another £10 . I'll have to wait for this unlock email to issue to see what's going on becuase I'm not paying them any more even if it means dropping something for £10.
DaveC wrote:They are making a bit of a mess of this I locked in yesterday owed £28 and paid it by Paypal pledge closed done. Today it's saying I owe another £10 . I'll have to wait for this unlock email to issue to see what's going on because I'm not paying them any more even if it means dropping something for £10.
There were similar problems with the WZ:R Kickstarter - every time I went back to the pledge manager to change my pledge it would forget what I paid beyond my original pledge level and so I'd always get billed for the full price of the add-ons. Mark always got my refund sorted out pretty quickly so no complaints there but you get the feeling that when it comes to Prodos, pledge managers are more of an art than a science
Hmm, been watching from afar on the pledge manager issues thus far. Think I'll hang on a little longer before attempting to thread my way through that mine field and spend my pledge...
DaveC wrote:They are making a bit of a mess of this I locked in yesterday owed £28 and paid it by Paypal pledge closed done. Today it's saying I owe another £10 . I'll have to wait for this unlock email to issue to see what's going on because I'm not paying them any more even if it means dropping something for £10.
There were similar problems with the WZ:R Kickstarter - every time I went back to the pledge manager to change my pledge it would forget what I paid beyond my original pledge level and so I'd always get billed for the full price of the add-ons. Mark always got my refund sorted out pretty quickly so no complaints there but you get the feeling that when it comes to Prodos, pledge managers are more of an art than a science
Well I checked the numbers looks like I do owe another £10 the PM calculated incorrectly before yesterdays update so it left me with an outstanding balance went to pay it today to get this cleared and forget about it (couldn't find anything for £10 I really wanted to drop and I have part of another persons pledge as well). Payment made receipt received from Paypal but the total won't update on the PM and it still shows I owe £10. I've sent Prodos a message to get it updated.
I've used many Pledge managers from the very basic to the very complex but this is by far the worst I've had to use.
How do we (If able to) add to the total amount we pledge? I can't see the option and I'm stuck with a few quid left over which I'd like to up to get something.
Add whatever you want. If you're over your current pledge amount, the button on the top should read "to close pledge calculator you need to go to paypal". Note that it doesn't actually close the pledge when you pay the extra.
Took a punt at the pledge manager this week - found that I needed to have the page full screen otherwise I got an annoying overlap of some of the text, but once I figured that out it worked perfectly (IE10) - I'm just struggling to work out what I want, while trying to stay as close to my pledge level as possible (£155), if I go over this then it's less money to spend at SALUTE '14 !
EDIT: Just read in the KS comments section that there is going to be an update today...
2. Manufacturing. In order to meet KS deadline Prodos decided to invest in large manufacturing site in Poland. Our current UK site manufacturing capacity equates to approx. 1500 individual models per day. With new site, Prodos manufacturing capacity will increase by an extra 10000+ models a day. With this production output Prodos will complete KS requirements within approx. 4 weeks.
3. Subcomponents:
All subcomponents (packaging, board game components, cards) are ready to be sent to 20th Century Fox for approval. If all goes to plan, we should have subcomponents in print within next 4 weeks (approx. 9th March) Printing company estimated 4-6 weeks to complete our order (beginning of May).
4. Quality of masters:
Below you'll find images of Prodos masters, please notice: It's not a final product, only samples of Prodos 3D prints and they are subject to cosmetic changes.
Project Update #45:
Posted by Prodos Games Ltd Black heart
Hi all, quick update:
1. We've completed Linn and Dutch sculpts, renders to be approved.
2. All models except Crusher and the Queen are now in "samples" stage (3D approved, printed and on its way to 20th Century Fox). (Crusher is in print as we speak, Queen to be reprinted this week).
I should have the Crusher test print in physical form in next 6h!!!! And he is Huge! (some sneaky peeks to follow)
3. We are in the early stages to set-up of a USA office- more info to come.
4. We will attend the show 'Salute 2014', we aim to have two tables set up with AvP!
5. We have moved to a 100% bigger facility in UK, which will allow much faster and higher volume throughput.
6. We are working on a complete overhaul of the website.
More to come next week.
Hopefully will make it to Salute this year and see some of this stuff!
Hi all, the Prodos team is away in Poland until Sunday 9th of March. I am assuming that next AvP update will be around the 9th. Thanks and sorry for the inconvenience.
All queries regarding Pledge Manager please send to michal.pawlaczyk@prodos.co.uk
Update #46 - For backers only Mar 14 2014
This is Rumour Control, here are the facts...
12 comments Like 21 likes
Hi all, another quick update,
1. We are waiting for final approval on the model aesthetics, once we have it,we will share pics in high res.
2. Tiles: print/cut "proofs" are on their way to us, hopefully, for the final internal quality check (we were not happy with "deepness" of the black colour and that needed improvement).
3. Both Prodos' facilities, here in the UK and in Poland, are ready for production! - Exciting times!
4. Rules- sneaky peeks should be available in 4-5 weeks - lots is done, but there is a chunk left to do, namely: balancing and "environmental" cards/effects in the game.
4. And picture of the week, showing scale of individual models, please bear in mind, these are not final product and still subject to final approval ( potentially rescale/change etc.).
I think the angle of the figures and photo might be playing tricks on us. The smartgunner is kind of leaning back, while the other human is in a running/forward leaning stance like most of the aliens.
1. We have "proofs" back from printing company, the corridor sneaky pick, we're now happy with "deepness" of the black colour (sorry the photo taken with phone).
Well, there's sure been a lack of communication from the guys at Prodos, but I think being a small company they are struggling with this.
They posted on the KS comments as there's a bit of heat firing their way and said they are going to try and post more often, plus they are looking at extending the Pledge Manager deadline by a week. That will give them a chance to showcase what's been finalised and hopefully have some sneak peeks at Salute '14.
Ill be attending the show and will make it my mission to get good pictures and post them here...
Some Prodos comments:
Creator Prodos Games Ltd about 11 hours ago
@ Blain, I would like to spend more time on KS, but we are 100%, 13h a day, 7 days a week focused on making this game a real thing. Sunday is my 30 minutes shift for KSPMs, @Steve I've emailed Michal and I'll speak to him tomorrow as well. @ Steve S once we have approved all models. @ Hicks same here, awaiting approval. Thanks.
Creator Prodos Games Ltd about 11 hours ago
@ Duckman, we will have Dutch and Linn in model form before 10th of April. @ Big Fat Fred, we can't show unapproved content. Thanks.
Creator Prodos Games Ltd about 2 hours ago
@ Hicks: yeap, http://www.salute.co.uk/files/salute2014plan-programmeversion-reve.pdf Stand TL2 @Francesco, please contract us @ service@prodos.co.uk @Rod, well we are extremely busy to make this game a real deal, it takes most of our day time and during the night we turning into Werewolves just to keep going on this project! But to be hones we will try to spend more time here. @ Big Fat Fred, right, thanks for feedback, we will allocate some resources to be here on KS daily.
Creator Prodos Games Ltd about 2 hours ago
@Hicks, well, we need to know exact qty of board games to be manufactured (KS exclusive ones), we could pull this date for 1 week @ max. let us work out the plan of attack.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Official update on Pledge Manager extension
Creator Prodos Games Ltd 18 minutes ago
Ok, we've done some maths and we can pull it to 18th of April.
I did wonder if they had bitten off more than they can chew with this game.
At the very least the weekly updates seems to have been a bit optimistic.
Anyway, I'm prepared to be patient, and hopefully will have some good stuff to see at Salute. I'll be taking a proper camera there, and will make sure I can get some good pics.
BooHooHoo. Bring in over half a million bucks is one swing and then whine that there is a lot of work involved and that the folks who shelled out the .5 million like updates.
Are you referring to the two marines (one with smartgun and one next to him)? Yes they do look like different sizes, I wonder if the fact that one is painted has any significance (i.e. one is a production mini that has shrunk?) I can't imagine that they would mess up something as basic as having the humans at different scales.
Taking decent pics of miniatures is actually a bit of an art, and I would not at all be shocked to learn none of the Prodos guys have any photography skill. I'm thinking the inevitable flood of pics from Salute will help, and Prodos has been intimating that they will have actual product pics (presumably taken by someone who knows what they're doing) around that time too.
Then again, I already closed my pledge as we already know what all the Aliens (except Queenie) look like, and they're all I'm really in it for.
While you're correct, they obviously wanted to have a "dramatic" collection of figures standing on some terrain. They just happened to choose an uneven piece of terrain and then arrange the models poorly. Again, I don't think this is them "not giving a gak" as much as it is them not having the foggiest about how to do a scale shot for their models. Hanlon's razor and all that.
Except they've been asked about, and have yet to even reply let alone take the very easy steps to get a better picture.
That indicates not giving a gak. Said more politely, they've prioritized so low that they are not fixing it. Polite way or non-polite, it really boils down to the same thing.
Plus they picked one figure that's leaning forwards giving the effect of foreshortening and one bracing and leaning back, exposing more of themselves for the picture.
Not the best two marine models to have side by side with the camera so high
CptJake wrote: Except they've been asked about, and have yet to even reply let alone take the very easy steps to get a better picture.
That indicates not giving a gak. Said more politely, they've prioritized so low that they are not fixing it. Polite way or non-polite, it really boils down to the same thing.
They've also claimed to be working 13 hour days, seven days a week. Whilst the smart thing to do would be hire some minimum wage guy to manage the KS page a few days a week and take the occasional picture of the figures, that hasn't happened and I really can't get too worked up about the lack of contact from them if they really are working that hard.
Again though, I'm speaking as someone who has closed my pledge and given them my money, for better or worse.
Working hard does not equate to working smart. And I say that as someone waiting to close out their pledge hoping to see pictures of all the products before I decide what to buy.
Just got this in my email. Wall o' text incoming. Cleaned it up so it's easier to read by bolding and underlining certain text.
Edit: woops forgot to put it as a spoiler.
Spoiler:
Kickstarter update #48
Hi guys, as we promised in the last update, we can reveal some of the rules for both the AvP Boardgame and the Wargame. Some of these things are still being finalised and may be removed from the final print of the rules. Prepare yourself for a wall of text, we are still waiting for approval on more of the imagery, which we will show you next week with some information about Salute 2014!
We have experience from designing the Warzone Resurrection game rules and there will be some similarities between the two games which we will discuss today and many of the game’s fans will recognise. These include the ‘circular imbalance’ and also the force organisation charts which are used to aid the creation of a force of miniatures.
The factions for Alien versus Predator in both the wargame and boardgame are limited to 3, they are the Aliens, the Predators and the Colonial Marines (or Humans or Weyland-Yutani). Miniatures from different factions cannot be joined together, for example a squad of Predator Young Bloods cannot team up with a squad of Colonial Marines, but there will be exceptions depending on the scenario. For example, in the ‘At all costs’ mission from the Boardgame, Predators and Colonial Marines have to form an alliance to kill all of the Aliens that they can on the Theseus Freight Ship. There may also be characters released in the future which allow you to change the restrictions of the factions and the Offensive Force Organisation chart, which I will discuss now.
To design your force, the Offensive Force Organisation chart must be used, for the Wargame, it looks like this.
Boxes not marked as ‘Compulsory’ are optional and may be taken as long as the ‘Compulsory’ Squad is taken.
TROOP - Compulsory (Boardgame and Wargame)
TROOP – Compulsory (Wargame only)
TROOP
TROOP
SUPPORT
SUPPORT
SUPPORT
SUPPORT
MONSTER /VEHICLE
MONSTER/VEHICLE
MONSTER/VEHICLE
N/A
Within certain armies, certain needs must be met. For example, the Aliens must be led by a model with the ‘Primary Xenomorph’ Special Skill. This includes Alien Royal Guards and Alien Queens, but may include others in the future too. Another example would be the Colonial Marines, which at the moment must be led by either a Colonial Marines Sergeant (an upgrade to a Troop Choice) or Major Dutch Schaefer and Linn Kurosawa. Predators are slightly different. Due to their tribal nature, they do not need to have leaders, but having one often presents an advantage which will affect the whole army. At the moment, the only example is a Predator Berserker, who can choose to take Predator Dogs as Troops, rather than their usual Support option, but affects the other Predators in its army due to leading them with an iron fist, rather than in the usual, honourable, Yautja manner.
Here is how all of the current forces look:
Aliens:
Troop: -Alien Warriors (5-10 Miniatures per Squad)
-Alien Lurkers (5-10 Miniatures per Squad)
-Infant Aliens (5-10 Miniatures per Squad)
Support: -Royal Guard (1-3 Miniatures per Squad ‘Primary Xenomorph’ Special Skill)
-Facehuggers (5-15 Miniatures per Squad)
-Alien Eggs (3-8 Miniatures per Squad)
-Predalien (1-3 Miniatures per Squad ‘Primary Xenomorph’ Special Skill)
Monster/Vehicle: -Alien Queen (1 Miniature per Squad ‘Primary Xenomorph’ Special Skill)
Predators:
Troop: -Youngbloods (1-3 Miniatures per Squad ‘Independent’ Special Skill)
-Predator Warrior (1-3 Miniature per Squad ‘Independent’ Special Skill)
-Predator Hunter (1-3 Miniature per Squad ‘Independent’ Special Skill)
Support: -Predator Dogs (2-6 Miniatures per Squad)
-Predator Berserker (1 Miniature per Squad ‘Tribal Leader’ Special Skill)
Support: -Sentry Guns (2-4 Miniatures)
-Major Dutch Schaefer and Linn Kurosawa (2 Miniatures ‘Commanding Officer’ Special Skill)
-Colonial Marines Sergeant (1 Miniature upgrade for 1 Colonial Marines Squad, but takes up 1 Support Slot, ‘Commanding Officer’ Special Skill)
Monster/Vehicle: -Power Loader (1 Miniature)
For the Boardgame, things are a little simpler. The Force Organisation remains the same, but you do not need to take leaders under any circumstance. They simply offer you certain advantages and special abilities whilst they are in play. For example, a Queen might be able to lay eggs on the battlefield, whilst she is unwounded and has not moved since being deployed. Once she moves or receives a wound, she gets angered and will go on a rampage, attacking any threat as soon as it comes nearby. There are also missions for the boardgame which require the use of certain model types, which break the Organisation chart.
Inside your copy of ‘Alien vs Predator: The Hunt Begins’, you will receive Standard Missions to use the miniatures within the box, but also some Expanded Missions to use other miniatures in the line. Among those extra missions there is a scenario called ‘Big Game Hunt’ where the Colonial Marines and/or Aliens players must take 1 Monster/Vehicle for every Troop Choice. However, they may also choose to take nothing but Monster/Vehicle Choices, whilst the Predators must continue using the standard Offensive Organisation chart.
Earlier, I mentioned ‘Circular Imbalance’, this is a phrase we used throughout the production of Warzone Resurrection to discuss our approach to games. Quite simply, it means that although most of the squads are balanced, they have special skills and abilities that simply cannot be balanced. Everything in the game has something special that only they, or perhaps a very small ‘pool’ of miniatures, can do. This means that players are constantly looking for the perfect combination, but no skill is too powerful. We have already seen this in Warzone Resurrection, where a player will find what they believe to be a completely devastating combination, only to find players are working out how to beat it within a few days or weeks. It’s an interesting approach to games design, but one which always brings players back to a point where they can look at the game with fresh eyes.
The more we expand the system, the more intricate it will become, with a huge variety of options available to you, the player and our valued fan. This is furthered by a levelling ability which we have taken from the realm of Roleplaying games. A completely optional function, certain models can enter the battlefield trained to a certain level. For example, a squad of completely green level 1 Colonial Marines will be pretty poor at well, everything! But they will not cost you many points. This means you can fill your force with cheap Pulse Rifle fire and overwhelm your foes with gunfire. Conversely, you could take a squad of fully tooled up veteran Marines, led by a sergeant, who have a little more survivability and can be relied on to hit their target every time, but you will need to sink a lot more points into them! The Predators are very focused on this system; every single one has options of level 1 to level 5, with each level offering a variety of special skills. Throughout the game, your Yautja will gain experience for their skills, much like the Predator Youngbloods do in the Alien vs Predator film, trophy hunting and making split second decisions that mean life or death suddenly become a little bit easier on them through experience in the field of battle!
So there you have it! We have been busy little bees, finalising the rules and background for both games and we will be revealing more and more as time goes on. This update should help you make some decisions for your armies and though we haven’t been able to reveal any points costs just yet, filling that Organisation chart should not be too hard for you!
CptJake wrote: Working hard does not equate to working smart. And I say that as someone waiting to close out their pledge hoping to see pictures of all the products before I decide what to buy.
Cpt Jake, it really makes me wonder why have you backed this project? You have been soooo negative, from the very beginning and I've not seen even one good comment regarding this KS or the game. You must have send a lot of time here just to slag it off, why? What's your agenda? It's kinda boring now, you know?
Is this is your 1st KS if I may ask? ALL of KS I've backed, during the Pledge manager close down, they only had have models in RENDER form: examples:
- MANTIC and their KS! check last update on Deadzone!
- CMON KSs - ALL of them, even some models in "drawing"/"concept" stages.
- and the latest one Metal Beards - Tabletop Dwarf Army - only renders.
Looks like you just want to find a reason to complain... I would suggest to ask them for refund and just forget about this product.
I'm hoping the models will be in easy reach. I'm taking a decent camera, if anyone wants specific pics/angles of things, please let me know and I will try and get them.
CptJake wrote: Really a lot of nothing except the rudimentary force design stuff. Still no real details on the board game rules...
I agree. Not much else in the way of rules. But I'm really glad the Berserker pred changes the way the faction works. Not only can you take hounds as troops but the predators change how they work due to the Berserker's lack of honor.
Sean Robinson about 8 hours ago just wondering where the Female Predator fits in their chart?
Chris Baginski about 7 hours ago Is having 4+ players within the scope of the boardgame rules?
I'm envisioning a 5 player game - USCM squad dispatched to investigate a derelict spaceship, where they have to face a Hive of Xenos. A Hunt of 3 Predators also shows up, but is followed by a competing Berserker Predator (possibly with a couple hounds). And to complicate matters, a squad of W-Y commandos shows up... with their own agenda, straight from Corporate Head office.
Is this possible? Or am I limited to 3 players?
Creator Prodos Games Ltd about 7 hours ago Hi Sean! The female predator fits in with the Troop slot! By Lurker, I meant Stalker... Chris, you can increase the amount of players quite easily.
nick_simmerson about 7 hours ago will any of this be on show at Salute... or just WZR stuff??
Schuyler Kreitz about 7 hours ago @Prodos Since I'm running out of possible contact methods without hearing a reply I'll try here. What is the deal with the custom heads from the game over level with adding on in the pledge calculator? When is stuff going to be needed for them?
Creator Prodos Games Ltd about 7 hours ago nick_simmerson: More details regarding this in next week's update. It depends on what, if anything, get's approved by then so it might be a very finely cut thing.
Schuyler Kreitz: If you have selected that pledge level, we will contact you when the time is right to do so.
Big Fat Fred about 5 hours ago @prodos - I am still undecided if I should get the W-Y squad. How will they be used in-game? Are they just a substitute for a USCM squad? Are they in any of the scenarios? Will they have different abilities/weapons to the USCMs? Cheers.
Creator Prodos Games Ltd about 5 hours ago
@Big Fat Fred - they have the same weaponry but different skills set. They can be deployed using "Infiltrator" rules (anywhere on the board but no within LOS (line of sight) and not within 12" of enemy models (Wargaming) + as they can set up bobby traps (enemy ending its activation with 5" (wargaming) or on the nominated Tile must roll a dice on a roll 1-10 (for wargaming model takes a wound effect) for Board game - refer to a Explosive table.
Jason Fowler about 5 hours ago We need points values in order to get an idea of our purchasing needs. Many of us here plan on making more than one viable faction. I would like to have an approximation of the points values so I can have equal forces, in order to run demo games at the local gaming store.
Creator Prodos Games Ltd about 4 hours ago @Jason , we should be in position to share them soon.
General Comments
Creator Prodos Games Ltd about 6 hours ago thanks for feedback, please read our KS updates, once we have the final approval on the models we can take close ups. It's not an excuse, for action like this FOX could take the license away from us and close our business,and we won't take this risk just to make someone happy. We have tons materials to share, Board game corridors, new rooms some surprises, lots of arts and new Box Cover art... but please bear in mind no approval, no materials to show. Thanks
Chaos Shadow about 6 hours ago @prodos are females Troops? and why the equal models with humans & aliens?
Creator Prodos Games Ltd about 6 hours ago @ Chaos Shadow,The female predator fits in with the Troop slot. Well, due to game play (I go you go,... I activate a squad and you activate a squad). It's easer to play with up to 10 man squads.
Chaos Shadow about 6 hours ago @prodos fair enough, i assume they are pointed quite differently. Also one final thing. have you set it out as people can take say a Warrior, a hunter & a female in the same squad? or would that ALWAYS be 3 individual squads?
Creator Prodos Games Ltd about 6 hours ago @chaos Shadow, they can be combined into one squad.
jim_giraffe about 6 hours ago @prodos , in fairness there have been 48 updates including todays
you missed my point totally.
The miniatures that you have approval for... where are the pictures ? hi res - both assembled and on the sprues.
Something in a photogallery , thats easy to navigate... a section of each faction with subfolders for each unit
I uderstand you cannot show pics of the minis that have not been approved but in my opinion you are leaving it very late in the game to show us what we will be getting. I know my opinion is exactly that and means bollox all to you , but , i feel there may be more people like me , in the same boat , waiting for all these pictures you have been promising us from day 1
with the pledge manager close date looming , when should we expect to see all this content you speak of ? will it be the 11th hour / last minute job ?
meh!
Creator Prodos Games Ltd about 6 hours ago Jim, well, once we have more time on hand, we'll make it happen, on a side note, on the Salute we'll have a stand with full range of models. If you around please say hello to us!
Darren Andrews about 3 hours ago @Prodos, can you clarify if you have to use dutch and Linn kurosawa as a pair or can they be used as individuals?
Creator Prodos Games Ltd about 3 hours ago @ Darren, as individuals.
Jorel Levenson about 2 hours ago What are the Hunters? I'm not seeing those anywhere. I see Pred Warriors, Females, Berzerkers, Young Bloods, but I don't recall seeing anything titled Hunter.
Creator Prodos Games Ltd about 2 hours ago @Jorel,Hunter is a Predator with a different skill sets than the Warrior. (Specialised in Traps and Ranged Combat)
I reckon so. Not sure who the characters are but take it that they are from a computer game version? They aren't going on my Pledge, but good to see the progress none the less
Ruglud wrote: I reckon so. Not sure who the characters are but take it that they are from a computer game version? They aren't going on my Pledge, but good to see the progress none the less
Yes I think so, aren't they from the Capcom side-scrolling arcade game from the 90's?
Wish they had made a version of Linn Kurosawa from the AvP comic, am still sad about that :(
I can still see it but it seems to be messing up the thread a bit every time I use first new post it keeps returning to the post with the image and not the new post
Praetorian and Warriors are looking fantastic. The detailing on the Queens head looks nice too, although I really hope there are some "thorns" to glue onto the back of her crown, it just looks wrong as rounded as it is in that pic.
@Pacific:
You're thinking of Machiko Noguchi, Linn Kurosawa is the one from the arcade game, and is pictured above.
Was Machiko also the character from the books? I read a few of them a while back and remember a female character with an oriental name, but it has been a few years.
Ktulhut wrote: Praetorian and Warriors are looking fantastic. The detailing on the Queens head looks nice too, although I really hope there are some "thorns" to glue onto the back of her crown, it just looks wrong as rounded as it is in that pic.
@Pacific:
You're thinking of Machiko Noguchi, Linn Kurosawa is the one from the arcade game, and is pictured above.
Ah yes, that's the one I was thinking of.
Yes in the books also. Think the comic books came out before the book, although not 100% on that?
Just had a look at the Salute line-up. Prodos games have their game display listed as 'Warzone', so perhaps no AvP on show there? :(
Ktulhut wrote: 99% sure it was Dark Horse who came up with the whole thing as a cross-over comic.
Yep, they had rights to both, someone decided it was a good idea. I quite enjoyed the original miniseries, though the setup has kind of gotten out of control now.
This is just a quick update to make sure you know we have not forgotten you. Those of you that followed the Warzone Resurrection Kickstarter will know things have been going on in that field quite publicly, whilst we have been working in the background on AvP.
We are still waiting on approval for the final miniatures, they are with 20th Century Fox right now. Approval may take a few weeks due to the number of models they will have to thoroughly check over to ensure they are what they deem to be perfect representations of the Aliens Vs Predator property.
Next week we will unfortunately be silent on the AvP Kickstarter. We are preparing for Salute 2014 in London, where you can come and shake our hands and discuss more about AvP! Here is a map of where we will be.
Some lines from that:
"they are with 20th Century Fox right now. Approval may take a few weeks due to the number of models they will have to thoroughly check over to ensure they are what they deem to be perfect representations of the Aliens Vs Predator property. "
So how were the Aliens Vs Predator movies released?
"We are preparing for Salute 2014 in London, where you can come and shake our hands and discuss more about AvP! "
No mention of the models.. my hopes are now officially dashed..
@Prodos. Please, pretty please, have boardgamers beta test your rule book!
As one recent miniatures game company found out, 30 or so miniature gamers is not a good group to get a boardgame rule book put together. As guarded as this project has been about it's boardgame rules, I highly suspect you will repeat this error if not addressed.
Creator Prodos Games Ltd 40 minutes ago
@David, agreed, I'll upload AvP rules on our Forum after Gothcon (after 18th - 19th April), as we are waiting for final approval me might be in position to pull the PM final date (after 18th) ... let us discuss it internally. oh and... we've couple surprised prepared for Salute, please take good camera with you.
Not long back - although we did stop for dinner on the way home
Got their at 10am and joined the huge q-buster queue. Only in it for about 10 mins all told as it constantly moved - the Stormtroopers, Boba Fett, a Gamorrean Guard and Judge Dredd (2012 movie) kept the crowd amused with photo opportunities (I didn't get any though...)
As we walked in I get my free bag with programme, Salute mini and dice and surprised that they also gave both my kids a bag each!
First impression was how busy the place was, every stall seemed rammed, especially Hasslefree, Heresy, Black Scorpion, Zinge & Prodos. Forge World - I couldn't even see the stand there were sooo many punters - must have been 3 or 4 deep in places..
Really nice displays and demo games going on, I didn't get any pics though as batteries died after I'd been to Prodos for AvP.
Also resisted from spur of the moment spending, picked up my Basius basing plates from Zinge and a 'not' Dr Who - War Doctor (Doctor Payne) from Heresy. And that was my lot...
Great photos Ruglud. I did try to get pics but it was just too much of a scrum around there early on, about 4-5 deep, just couldn't get the angle to get any decent shots.
They did look very nice however, lots of detail on the minis and my god are those some good paintjobs when you see them in person.
Project Update #50: This is rumour control, Here are the facts...
Backer_white For backers only Posted by Prodos Games Ltd Black heart (cards) Like
Hi Guys, quick update. We are still in "recovery mode" after Salute. Thanks for visiting us, it was a pleasure meeting you in person!
1. As requested, the Pledge Manager will stay open until we are in the position to share high res pic with you / final rules. Current info from PM is sufficient to plan production requirements.
- also, you will receive the final Pledge manager Invoice couple days before we close it, just for double check.
2. Approval : we should have the final answer in two weeks' time - Confirmed.
Yeah, I closed mine last night before the update dropped. I had to drop some items because I don't get paid until next week. Kinda regretting that now.
Bob the Accountant wrote: Yeah, I closed mine last night before the update dropped. I had to drop some items because I don't get paid until next week. Kinda regretting that now.
I met some of the guys today at GothCon in my hometown and got a look at the Warzone stuff. Nice guys! They didn't have any AVP figures, but I bought an Evarassur figure and I really like the quality. There are some nice crisp details and hard fine edges there so I am confident the Alien figures will turn out fine. I'm not sure what to compare the quality too, but it's well above average. If McVey limited resins, GoH resins and KD are around 9-10 I'd say Prodos are around 7.5-8, Scibor 6.5...
I am taking into account my experience of miscast frequency in that score... Seeing I don't have much experience with Prodos I have one worry though as I noticed two blisters with severe mold alignment issues that I personally would have chucked in the bin. Granted I looked through a lot of blisters and generally the quality was top notch. Not sure if those slipped through QC (I should have asked about it) as all companies get some duds. As long as they replace any stuff like that I am greatly looking forward to my AvP stuff and happy to pledge for more.
Hello backers! We have a very exciting update for you today, which we are really pleased to announce. We will get to that in a moment! Firstly, we want to announce that we will be at Titan Games in Lichfield tomorrow (Saturday 3rd of May, 11:00-16:00) to show off some of the production standard AvP miniatures and the team will be on hand to discuss the rules of the game.
It’s a great opportunity to meet some of our team and get a ‘hands on’ look at AvP!
The great news we have is that the miniatures for Alien vs Predator have been approved! The miniatures are now all in full manufacture and we are currently on schedule with everything. All we are waiting for now is approval on the packaging and then we will begin shipping! Our painter, Edwin, has been a busy-bee. Here are some examples of his work!
Oh and for good measure, here are some images of the Crusher and the Queen and more :], which we haven’t officially shown you yet!
and some close ups:
More pictures and info about delivery time with next Update (mid next week).
Thank you all and have a great weekend! PRODOS Games LTD
With search broken and 119 pages of backlog, I'll just put this here: are the minis 40k compatible in scale? I believe they're 32mm truescale, which (maybe?) roughly equates to heroic 28mm?
I missed the KS but I'm all over this when you go retail.
Yes I think they are roughly analogous in scale to 40k, 28/32mm. There have been a few people talking about using the Aliens for Tyranids in 40k and things like that.
Depends on what you have in mind really, the humans aren't heroically scaled so you probably wouldn't get away with mixing them in with GW Cadians for instance.
Pacific wrote: the humans aren't heroically scaled so you probably wouldn't get away with mixing them in with GW Cadians for instance.
That was kinda what I had in mind, though using the USCMs as Elysians. But what I'm really interested in is the APC which would make an awesome counts as Chimera
Ah, now Elysians might be a different matter entirely if you already have some of those.
This is probably the easiest way to show, (from left to right: Mantic Corporation, FW Elysian, Corporation, FWDKoK, GW Cadian)
Looking at the proportions, I would think these will scale much more similarly to the FW Elysian and Mantic Corporation minis. That being said, you can get away with more than you might think if you're putting stuff into different units - I've got some historical stuff that varies between 25mm and big 28mm in the same force, if you don't have miniatures mixed within the same units it's not really noticeable.
Of course, whether you think the concepts/style mix well is down to the individuals opinion!
My opponents will hear "if it bleeds we can kill it" too many time
That's actually pretty much the only reason I'm getting the miniature
Well I guess I'm gonna have to brush up on my Arnie quotes
Spoiler:
Warning: a bit of language and a tad bit of violence
... And my lyrics
Apart from everything else I think I'm deffo gonna try this game with my Dad, and if I get Dutch I'm defiantly gonna re-create some scenarios from the movies
That looks fantastic, thanks for posting DaveC. Do you know if they were actually playing a game, and if so how was it?
Not surprised to see the Deadzone terrain cropping up, that stuff is being used everywhere - it's on the Warlord Games website now, being sold along with their Judge Dredd range.
Sorry Pacific no idea I just saw the pictures and posted the link it was mentioned in update #51
Hello backers! We have a very exciting update for you today, which we are really pleased to announce. We will get to that in a moment! Firstly, we want to announce that we will be at Titan Games in Lichfield tomorrow (Saturday 3rd of May, 11:00-16:00) to show off some of the production standard AvP miniatures and the team will be on hand to discuss the rules of the game.
It’s a great opportunity to meet some of our team and get a ‘hands on’ look at AvP!
Hmm looking at the pics, you really get a sense of the Crusher's size compared to the Queen. I wonder why she was the more expensive of the two?
Edit: Also I have my doubts that we will see the boxed game before September.. but I DO think Prodos might begin shipping the smaller "minis only" pledges during June.
yeah,
The fact pledges are not closed means the are confident they can meet their target.
if they don't meet their delivery deadline I will be asking why they did not close the pledge manager sooner and focus on meeting the deadline.
I think they said something like 'we have a good idea what we to make now due to the results of the surveys so far..'
If they are expecting an over run they should have alerted us to it before May... not during the delivery month.
Incursion is running late,
Grindhouse have kept the backers aware of the problems and given a ballpark expectation on completion.
That's how it needs to be done.
In all fairness, Grindhouse did not do a stellar job of letting the backers know it was going to be late, or how late it was going to be!
It was due to ship in March 2014, and we were told on March 23rd that it wasn't going to ship in March - it was now going to be shipping...sometime this year, maybe.
So, this is something that all Kickstarters seem to struggle with, and many seem to delay giving the 'bad news' until the last minute, which I don't think is a good idea...
Alpharius wrote: Grindhouse did not do a stellar job of letting the backers know it was going to be late, or how late it was going to be! ... ... It was due to ship in March 2014, and we were told on March 23rd that it wasn't going to ship in March - it was now going to be shipping...sometime this year, maybe.
Not Quite...
Grindhouse December 24 wrote:On production: timeline is continuing to slip a bit and March is looking iffy.
Grindhouse January 12 wrote: Production schedule is slipping. Not sure by how much but it's starting to look like more than just a few weeks.
Grindhouse February 25 wrote:The only thing I can say for sure is that it will not be delivered in March. It may be several more months.
but yes I'm annoyed that it's taking so long... but we can't say that they haven't told us about the issues they are having with the manufacturers, and that its delayed by 'months' ...
VS the awesomeness that is:
Prodos wrote:The great news we have is that the miniatures for Alien vs Predator have been approved! The miniatures are now all in full manufacture and we are currently on schedule with everything. All we are waiting for now is approval on the packaging and then we will begin shipping!
Weeee! New toys very soon. Which makes me mega happy.
I find that very hard to believe if they have not even closed out the backer surveys yet.
The Warzone:Resurrection kickstarter went a bit wrong with regards to delivering the kickstarted models, apparently some people were waiting for up to a year. I can't see Prodos making the same mistake twice and will have used the experience to properly plan this kickstarter.
With regards to scale the Warzone stuff is slightly taller than GW stuff but as they are true scale its not noticeable.
I'm glad that you feel reasonably well informed regarding Incursion - but I don't.
I love the Grindhouse guys too, but to go from "We're slipping!" to "Well, you'll get your stuff not in March but...maybe 8 months later!" in an update...in March?
Yeah...no.
As for Prodos?
They don't seem too highly motivated in the communications department either.
Especially if they don't have a Kickstarter currently running or in the about to be launched phase.
I had an issue with a Vulkan I bought at Salute. When I emailed them I got an answer the next day and a complete replacement and an additional component to replace the one I was missing had arrived about 3 days later. I can't fault that level of customer service. I think that they have learned their lesson after the Warzone kickstarter.
Yeah... IMHO I don't think you have to worry about Prodos too much. I'm nobody's cheerleader when it comes to kickstarter but I have (most) of my Warzone pledge in hand and the production quality of both the book and the miniatures has been very good. Not without error, sure, but far better than I expected and I don't regret my investment.
When it comes to organisation and communication, though, I think it is fair to say that things are a little haphazard. Sure, Prodos started shipping their pledges on time but really that was just a technicality (heh, they considered the delivery of the pledges that included only the PDF rules as the start of their pledge fulfillment) and they are STILL shipping stuff now.. but it's neither malice nor incompetence that lead to that IMHO.. it was just inexperience, project complexity and a limited pot of gold that prevented them from fixing problems by throwing money at them. So while I'm not surprised to see that communication hasn't improved that much since the last KS, I am quite certain that between Fox who are looking over their shoulder and the lessons learned from Warzone, the manufacturing and delivery process will be a lot smoother.
That said, I stick to my earlier statement, Smaller pledges, including the "Anytime" rules pledges, will probably start shipping next month but if they had something to show regarding the printed components - beyond the tile proof we have already seen - they would have shown it.. and since they haven't, it's not unreasonable to think that the complete boxed product is still a few months off.
CptJake wrote: Wasn't Prodos supposed to be showing the board game tiles and rules soon?
Here we go..
And, key comment here 'shipping within 60 days'
Project Update #52: This is rumour control, Here are the facts...
Hi guys! Here is this weeks AvP update.
Board Game new tokens and corridors graphics: The 20th Century Fox has given the final approval for the AvP Board game tile graphics. Here your are (pieces are not to scale):
The rules are out with professional Beta testers once we hear back from we will be releasing them.
We are waiting on approval of the AvP Add-on’s packaging, and are estimating that we should be shipping within the next 60 days. As the Board game is just going into design stage the estimated completion of printing is estimated to take 2 months for the KS Exclusive Board Game (it's mainly due to tiles cutting tools and inserts design as well as Board Game confection) , but we may be able to keep it in line with the Add-on’s production; as always we will keep you informed on a weekly basis.
Models: Within the next few weeks we will be showing many more examples of painted miniatures crafted by the Prodos Games painting team. We are also planning to have an AvP event in Lemington Spa in roughly 2 months time
I really need to think about closing my pledge manager... I'm actually not overly interested in the boardgame or wargame, I'm in it for the models...
Anywho, found this on Yahoo
Aliens Stars Reunite After 28 Years
Weaver, Paxton, Biehn, Reiser and even the girl who played Newt got together for reunion.
By Ben Arnold | Yahoo Movies UK – 22 hours ago
Yahoo UK Movies News - Aliens... crew reunite after 28 years (Copyright: Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo)
They mostly come at night... or for an expo in Calgary.
The stars of benchmark space-horror 'Aliens' reunited recently for the Comic and Entertainment Expo in Calgary.
All the top names turned out, including Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Bill Paxton, Paul Reiser, Lance Henriksen, Jenette Goldstein and even Carrie Henn, who played the traumatised six-year-old ferrel survivor Newt.
Said Biehn: “You just kind of fall into the same personalities, the same friendships, the same thing we had 25 years ago.
“I was saying to myself ‘It’s like time hasn’t changed. Everybody looks good, everybody is taking care of themselves.’ And then I looked over and saw Newt, the little girl, who is also 25 years older. It kind of brought me back to ‘Oh yeah, it has been quite a while'.”
But what have they all been up to for the past 28 years?
Carrie Henn Newt... Carrie Henn has not acted since her debut (Copyright: Fox/Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo) Carrie, who played Newt way back then, had never acted before 'Aliens'. And she never acted again afterwards either. She gained a degree in Liberal Studies and child development in 2000, and today works as a school teacher in Atwater, California.
Sigourney Weaver (Credit: 20th Century Fox/Flickr Calgaryexpo) Ripley herself has maintained her Hollywood chops, either as cigarette-smoking exobiologist Grace Augustine in 'Avatar' or in tense indie 'Rampart' with Woody Harrelson. Next up she's going to be in Neill 'District 9' Blomkamp's 'Chappie', with Sharlto Copley, Hugh Jackman and Dev Patel.
Michael Biehn (Credit: 20th Century Fox/Flickr Calgaryexpo) Biehn never quite capitalised on his leading man status, despite 80s and 90s hits like 'Aliens', 'Terminator' and 'The Abyss'. Mostly b-movies littered his CV after those blockbusters, though he now also directs, in recent years helming thrillers 'The Blue Bond' and 'The Victim'.
Bill Paxton (Credit: 20th Century Fox/Flickr Calgaryexpo) As gun-toting blabbermouth Hudson, Paxton's descent into abject terror in 'Aliens' was deeply satisfying. He's continued to turn in decent work, recently in big budget wild west mini-series 'Hatfields & McCoys'. Coming up, you'll spot him in Tom Cruise sci-fi actioner 'Edge of Tomorrow' and 'Million Dollar Arm' with John Hamm.
Paul Reiser (Credit: 20th Century Fox/Flickr Calgaryexpo) The career of musician and former stand-up Paul Reiser (the weasel-ey Carter Burke) can best be described as 'a bit patchy'. On the up side he was in 'Curb Your Enthusiasm'. On the down side, 'The Paul Reiser Show', which aped 'Curb Your Enthusiasm', was hammered by critics and axed after two episodes. He's probably still best known outside 'Aliens' for playing Paul Buchman in long-running series 'Mad About You'.
Lance Henriksen (Credit: 20th Century Fox/Flickr Calgaryexpo) The android filled with milky goo, Lance is something of a cult legend, so all the hundreds of b-movies he's done since 1986 are very much part of the charm. He's pitched up in a few of 'mock-buster' movies, courtesy of studio The Asylum, including 'The Da Vinci Treasure' and 'Pirates of Treasure Island'. Those dulcet tones can be heard on many a video game too, from 'Call of Duty' to 'Mass Effect'.
Jenette Goldstein (Credit: 20th Century Fox/Flickr Calgaryexpo) Playing gung-ho Private Vasquez, Goldstein was still doing the odd bit of film work up to 2008, with small (sometimes very small) roles in 'Titanic' and 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'. Not so small is the basis of her current profession, running Jenette Bras, a store on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles specialising in plus-size brassieres. Its slogan is 'The alphabet starts at D'.
Mark Rolston (Credit: 20th Century Fox/Flickr calgaryexpo) Mark followed up his appearance as the trigger-happy Drake in 'Aliens' with parts in 'Lethal Weapon 2', 'RoboCop 2', and 'Eraser', but he was more recently seen in Martin Scorsese's Oscar-winning 'The Departed'. He's an in-demand voice actor, and has appeared in countless video games and animated shows.
Ricco Ross (Credit: 20th Century Fox/Flickr calgaryexpo) Chicago-born actor Ross rose to fame in TV's 'Hill Street Blues' before playing Private Frost in 'Aliens'. He stayed in the UK for many years after shooting James Cameron's sequel, appearing in a number of television shows including 'Doctor Who', 'Jeeves and Wooster' and 'The Bill'. He now appears in a steady stream on TV shows and commercials.
I think the only people I didn't recognise were Reiser and Henn. On a semi related note it's been great to see Paxton on the screen again in Agents of SHIELD.
Really like Bill Paxton, he's a good actor and has been in some great movies; True Lies, Predator 2, Near Dark, erm.. Titanic. He's also the only person to have been killed on screen by a Terminator, Alien and Predator!
Thanks very much for posting that Ruglud!
Can you imagine how awesome it would be if you found out your school teacher was Newt in Aliens?!
The Swiss artist and designer of Ridley Scott's Alien, H. R. Giger, has died aged 74, a spokesperson at Giger's museum in Gruyere has confirmed.
He died in hospital on Monday after he fell down stairs at his Zurich home.
Born in 1940, Giger was best known for his 'Xenomorph' alien in Scott's sci-fi horror masterpiece for which he won a visual effects Oscar in 1980.
He studied architecture and industrial design in Zurich and was known for creating strange dreamscapes.
Meticulously detailed, Giger's surrealist paintings were usually produced in large formats and then reworked with an airbrush and usually feature scenes of humans and machines fused together.
Giger described his style as "biomechanical".
One of his pieces in particular - Necronom IV - inspired the alien killer in Sir Ridley's hit film.
He also worked on Aliens 3 (1992) and, more recently, appeared in a documentary about director Alejandro Jodorowsky's unmade film of the book Dune.
....
Hi there, quick update today the Prodos team is going to visit printing company tomorrow to work out the board game delivery schedule. Due to some negative comments about delay we would like to highlight process that we have to follow in order to make the boardgame reality.
There are several major steps we have to follow to get this license into production: the Major ones are:
1. Concept approval - once all board game graphics are approved we can then make physical game prototype (this is the step we are at the moment) it takes around 14 days (currently half way through – making temporary cutting tool for board game tiles and tokens), once the prototype is approved we can then place move on to mass production, but before that happens we have to:
A . We must have physical approved board game tiles so we can take pictures for game box and board game rules (missions set up examples) plus incorporating them into document, and then send it off to print. (3 Weeks)
B. Have approved and painted miniatures for photo for game rules. (this is an ongoing process done side by side with prototype approvals)
C. Have all board game components approved (dice ect). (this is an ongoing process done side by side with prototype approvals)
D. Manufacture required models for bard game (In the process and should take 4 weeks to be completed).
E. Design cutting tools for board game tiles (this should take about 2 weeks after the prototypes are approved)
2. Mass production – the next step is to get to line up several companies delivery schedules for the board game subcomponents (currently this is at 4 to 5 weeks, but we are in discussions with printing company to speed up this process down to 3 weeks).
Please bear in mind, this is a licensed product and not our own, we have to follow specific approval process and there is no way to take shortcuts, for us; I can tell you that we are full involved in this process and we want it to be completed as soon as possible. The last thing we wanted is to delay the Kickstarter fulfilment dates, we are sorry that things have been delayed.
We would like to thank you for understanding.
The Pledge manager will be closed on the 29th of May.
Also we are having some questions regarding the 3D terrain, I can tell you that due to changes in the rules it determined that we had to increase 3D terrain in size, therefore, new pieces of 3D terrain are now in approval stage, once approved we will share Pictures of the new terrain.
Just a notice in case it happens; we might have to skip next week update as it is more than likely the team will be away sorting out the board game manufacturing.
One final note is we morn the passing of HR Giger the wonderfully creative genius behind the Aliens that we all love and adore.
Here is Prodos Games tribute to HR Giger: (pics of early WIP of game cards):
As for the lack of rules, I remember during the campaign Prodos said they would have rules and army construction info up before the end of the funding period...
I'm about to finish my pledge and was wondering if anyone has any info on the colonial Marines add on. Are they different body, face and pose sculpts or just extra pieces. I have two copies of the box already so don't want to add them unless they look different. If there are any pics of the add on marines can you please link to them. Thanks in advance
I don't have any pics, but going on the descriptions on the KS (in the add-on section)
5x Multi part Colonial Marines. Models made from urethane plastic.
5x Multi part Colonial Marines from the Boxed Game. Models made from urethane plastic.
Different weapon loadouts, image and they mention that the one set are the same as the box set contents - going on those three things, I would assume they are probably different miniatures for the one add-on set.
Update #54, some of the points values for the rules:
Hi all, just a quick update as the Team is still in busy with board game game's printing schedule (more info in next update)
1. The Points per model:
As requested, here you have the points per model and army construction rules for the Advanced Board Game rules (please note Wargame points per model may vary [roughly +-10%] due to a different balancing system in place).
Wargame: minimum 500 pts (1000 pts recommended for 2-4h play)
USCM Max Squad Level (LVL): 4 (each model in the squad must be at the same LVL except for Squad Upgrades (HQ or Sergeant)
Squad Coherency: (1 Segment (Tile))
Max Squad: Squads between 5-8 models for Troop Type, 1-3 models for Support Type, 0-1 models for HQ.
Battle Group composition: 1 to 2 HQ + 2 to 5 Troop type, 0 to 3 Support, 0-2 Vehicles (not available yet)
Troop Type:
Colonial Marine: 10 pts per model for LVL 1 +10 pts per LVL, max. 1 Squad with LVL 2 and above per Battle Group. (Free Squad composition: up to 1 Heavy Weapon (Smart Gun) up to 2 Special weapons (Flamer, Scanner).
Sergeant upgrade: 35 pts per model LVL 1 + 15 pts per LVL. Max. 1 Sergeant with LVL 2 and above per Battle Group.
Weyland-Yutani Commandos: 35pts per model (always starts game at LVL1) (squad composition, up to 3 Heavy Weapons (Smart Guns) up to 3 Special Weapons).
Example: 7 Marines at LVL 1 = 70pts + Sergeant at 50pts (LVL 2), 5 Weyland-Yutani Commandos at 175pts= 295 pts in total.
Support Type Power Loader: 75 pts for LVL1, + 35 per LVL, (limited to only one squad at LVL 2 and above)
Sentry Guns: 35 per Gun (cannot gain Experience or LVL), may be carried by Power Loader or set up using Infiltrate rules during the Deployment Phase.
HQ Type:
Captain: (“Make your own Hero” rules – between 75 to 100 pts depending on Hero’s type).
Major: (“Make your own Hero” rules – between 110 to 185 pts depending on Hero’s type).
Colonel: (“Make your own Hero” rules – between 195 to 250 pts depending on Hero’s type).
Major Dutch Schaefer : 275 pts
Lieutenant Linn Kurosawa :255 pts
Aliens: Max Squad Level (LVL): 4 (Hive Experience: Aliens always start the game at LVL1. For every 10 experience points gained, the Hive (every model) Level Up).
Squad Coherency: (1 Segment (Tile)) Max Squad: No restrictions (SEE Segment occupation rules)
Hive composition: Troop types – at least 50% of total Hive points, 0 – 50% Support, 1 - 2 HQ.
Troop Type: Facehuggers: 5 pts per model
Infant Warrior: 12 pts per model
Stalker: 15 pts per model
Support Type:
Alien Warriors: 22 pts per model
Alien Crusher: 175 pts
Royal Guard: 100 pts
HQ Type:
Royal Guard (with Hive Guard upgrade): 120 pts
Predalien: 175pts
Queen: 275 pts
Alien Warrior: (“Make your own Hero” rules – between 75 to 100 pts)
Example: A Squad can be constructed with: 3x Facehuggers, 2x Infant Warriors 3x Stalkers (in total 8 occupation points) or [as per Segment occupation rules]: 3x Facehuggers, 1 x Stalker, 2x Alien Warriors (4x models on Small bases + 2 models on Medium bases in total 8 Occupation points). Squads are defined during deployment, not during army construction.
Predators Max Hunt Pack Level (LVL): 4 Hunt Pack Coherency: (1 Segment (Tile)) –each model in a Hunt Pack acts as Individual Squad and is activated separately.
Max Squad: one Model per Hunt Pack (unless stated otherwise), 0-1 For HQ.
Hunt Pack composition: 1 to 2 Elders + 2 to 6 Hunt Packs, 0-2 Vehicles (not available yet)
Young Bloods (can take up to 3 Young Bloods per Hunt Pack) – 30 per model + 20 per LVL
Predator Hellhounds (can take up to 6 Hellhounds per Hunt Pack) – 20 per model – cannot gain LVLs)
Berserker – 125 pts + 60 per LVL
Elders
Berserker (with Elder upgrade) (“Make your own Hero” rules – between 150 to 250 pts depending on Hero’s type, equipment).
Predator Warrior (with Elder Upgrade) (“Make your own Hero” rules – between 100 to 250 pts depending on Hero’s type, equipment).
Female Predator (with Elder Upgrade) (“Make your own Hero” rules – between 100 to 250 pts depending on Hero’s type, equipment).
Segment occupation Rules: depending on the base a model is on, each model takes up space on the game tile (Segment), the maximum occupation per tile is 8 points: -
- Models on Small bases (30mm ) takes 1 Occupation point
- Models on Medium Bases (40mm) takes 2 Occupation points
- Models on Large bases (50mm) takes 4 occupation points
- Models on bases larger 50mm takes 8 occupation points
Size of the Board Game:
During our play-testing of the missions, we made this simple example of the game board (before the graphics were made). It's mocked up with tiles exactly the same as what comes in the Board Game Set.... the total size is 65" x 65" (in game design terms each tile' footprint is 5" x 5" square... (We hope you have large tables to play on!).
and snapshot of all tiles/tokens
Please note that these are not to scale!
Thanks again for reading, we look forward to updating you next week!
I wonder if you have to have a balance between troops/support (like some kind of Force allocation chart) or it just effects what can be used in different scenarios etc.?
Interesting that the points cost gives some idea of general efficacy of different units.
Marines - 10pts
Alien warrior - 22pts
Predator hunter - 65pts
Like the sound of the 'make your own hero' rules as well!
Yeah, I sold my pledge but have been keeping tabs on the updates since they still go to my email, and I got this, as well. If they clarify in the comments why it went out I'd love to know...
@All, you may just ignore the email (or link), it's just a reminder, the PM will be closed by us some point this week and its the last chance to modify it.
DaveC wrote: Ah it's a reminder the Pm closes this week.
Creator Prodos Games Ltd 12 minutes ago
@All, you may just ignore the email (or link), it's just a reminder, the PM will be closed by us some point this week and its the last chance to modify it.
(and that there are no new ones post-campaign yet, other than the painted ones shown last page)
for variety.
.JPG)
