Switch Theme:

Share on facebook Share on Twitter Submit to Reddit  [RSS] 

Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/15 04:26:39


Post by: Kid_Kyoto


There's been a lot of complaints lately on their boards about unfilled orders and not much news, their site has not been updated since December. Apparently they had serious email and server issues.

And now this:

http://wargamesfactory.lefora.com/2011/01/13/end-of-wargames-factory/

I received this on Monday from Lonnie:
We are pleased to announce that Wargames Factory is now under new management. A more comprehensive "official" announcement is in the works but we felt it necessary to give you a precursor of coming events. Tony Reidy is no longer with the company in an official capacity; we wish him well in his future endeavors; a press release is being prepared. In the mean time, please direct all questions to Lonnie Mullins.
So, what does that mean to you?
An accelerated release schedule.
Better fill rates
Faster turnaround times on orders
Our goal on out of stocks is that they will be back in stock within 4 to 6-weeks
Payments for orders by check need to be remitted to:
Wargames Factory, LLC
P.O. Box 3111
Newtown, Connecticut 06470
Payments for orders by credit card will be addressed soon
Payments for orders by PayPal will cease until we set up a new PayPal account
Orders will be sent out with invoices
All of our products will be in boxes
Boxes will have a new "Green" packaging; we will lose a bit on graphics but we will be using materials that are better for the environment
We're sure you have many other questions for us; feel free to contact Lonnie at the number listed below or by email during normal business hours and he'll tell you what he can.
If you currently have an order in house with us we will fill it as soon as possible but please contact Lonnie for details.
Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to a rocking 2011 and beyond!
--
Lonnie Mullins
Sales Director, Wargames Factory
wargamesfactory.com
410-638-8346 Office
410-688-1445 Cell
Lonnie@wargamesfactory.com
M-F 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.


The Miniatures Page has more
http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=218471

As a customer all I want to hear is the Samurai renders we saw are coming and that the Greatcoat heavies will come soon. WGF had some great communication with customers and I'd hate to see them go.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/15 04:31:59


Post by: A Black Ram


Hmm, I kinda just discovered them. This is unfortunate.

First ,Reaper.....


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/15 04:41:09


Post by: Kid_Kyoto


Well I just ordered 2 more boxes of greatcoats, enough to finish my 2000pt urban guard army.

A Black Ram wrote:Hmm, I kinda just discovered them. This is unfortunate.

First ,Reaper.....


Um you are joking about reaper right?


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/15 04:43:51


Post by: A Black Ram


The name is all I was talking about Yeah yeah, I know. I stil can't get over that my first miniature's company changed their name.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/15 04:46:26


Post by: The Night Stalker


Their service is total gak, it took a month and numerous complaint emails to bet one box of greatcoats from them.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/15 04:49:00


Post by: Kid_Kyoto


I bought mine form the Warstore.com. One downside of transparency is I knew how understaffed their shipping department was since they kept talking about it.

Rumors are the Lonnie guy who posted is/was a GW employee leading to all sorts of speculation this is a GW plot.

Other storyline is WGF's CHinese supplier somehow gained ownership.

If nothing else it's interesting reading on a cold January night.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Another interesting thread

http://wargamesfactory.lefora.com/2011/01/14/press-release-from-wargames-factory/

But no news.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/15 21:31:16


Post by: Empchild


Interesting, I am a little annoyed as I pre-ordered stuff a while back for my webstore that they said would release last month. If you can't stick to your own release shedule then you shouldn't even post one.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 00:49:08


Post by: brettz123


Wow I just saw that over on TMP here is an open letter from Tony Reid

http://theminiaturespage.com/news/787442/


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 00:57:21


Post by: mikhaila


Well now, that letter certainly gave food for discussion. You can sort of piece together some of deals that were done, and who did what to whom, from one veiwpoint at least.
I guess we will see what happens.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 01:17:59


Post by: Empchild


Seems to me to be completely unprofessional to post something like that let alone on TMP, one of the wargamming communitys largest news source. No matter the issues one may have that was a poor and childish way to go about it.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 02:32:58


Post by: JHall


Kid_Kyoto wrote:

Rumors are the Lonnie guy who posted is/was a GW employee leading to all sorts of speculation this is a GW plot.



That is some of the funniest internet crazy talk I have seen in years. Lonnie was fired from GW ages ago. The concept that they somehow masterminded all this is right up there thinking that the Illuminati had a hand in it as well. I bet the Freemasons conspired with GW to take down WF as well. They were all too close to figuring out the secret to GW's master plan.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 02:44:35


Post by: Kirasu


GW is trying to find and capture the last ancestor of jesus christ, who is hidden amongst small game companies


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 02:51:06


Post by: brettz123


JHall wrote:
Kid_Kyoto wrote:

Rumors are the Lonnie guy who posted is/was a GW employee leading to all sorts of speculation this is a GW plot.



That is some of the funniest internet crazy talk I have seen in years. Lonnie was fired from GW ages ago. The concept that they somehow masterminded all this is right up there thinking that the Illuminati had a hand in it as well. I bet the Freemasons conspired with GW to take down WF as well. They were all too close to figuring out the secret to GW's master plan.


Ohh it wasn't GW it was the inquisitors......


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 03:14:41


Post by: lord marcus


brettz123 wrote:
JHall wrote:
Kid_Kyoto wrote:

Rumors are the Lonnie guy who posted is/was a GW employee leading to all sorts of speculation this is a GW plot.



That is some of the funniest internet crazy talk I have seen in years. Lonnie was fired from GW ages ago. The concept that they somehow masterminded all this is right up there thinking that the Illuminati had a hand in it as well. I bet the Freemasons conspired with GW to take down WF as well. They were all too close to figuring out the secret to GW's master plan.


Ohh it wasn't GW it was the inquisitors......


NO ONE EXPECTS THE INQUISITION!

ahem....check out the first post of the heresy thread, which also has a letter from whitehouse.

http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/showthread.php?p=848246#post848246


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 03:32:26


Post by: chaos0xomega


Well, I guess there goes any chance I have at plastic praetorians... I had finally decided to bite the bullet on that project after 2 years of wrestling with it... and what do I find? WF is probably going to go under, and just about every e-retailer out there is completely out of stock... My local store has 2 boxes of them... I need 24.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 03:34:03


Post by: malfred


Please. GW itself was just a front for the Inquisition to begin with.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 06:56:59


Post by: Valhallan42nd


I'm glad I bought my great coats when I could, and from the War Store.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 07:32:08


Post by: H.B.M.C.


"This will be a month long remembered. It will see the death of Chapterhouse, and will soon see the end of Wargames Factory." - Darth Jervis, Lord of the Sith.

"Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen." - Emperor Kirby, ruler of the GW Empire.





Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 07:40:12


Post by: Valhallan42nd


All I wanted was Heavy Weapons, that's all I wanted.

Couldn't they have waited to implode until after that?


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 07:59:13


Post by: AlexHolker


I might not have liked their sculpting work, but I appreciated what they were trying to achieve. If what Reid and Whitehouse say is true, they are now Wargames Factory In Name Only.

Maybe Ex Illis should be watching their backs, if they use the same manufacturer.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 08:15:46


Post by: Kilkrazy


chaos0xomega wrote:Well, I guess there goes any chance I have at plastic praetorians... I had finally decided to bite the bullet on that project after 2 years of wrestling with it... and what do I find? WF is probably going to go under, and just about every e-retailer out there is completely out of stock... My local store has 2 boxes of them... I need 24.


You and me too. I have one box I was using for experiments and tests. I'm not going to start making the army with an uncertain supply of core infantry figures.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 08:41:25


Post by: Valhallan42nd


At least they make decent shotgun vets, as their basic weapon looks akin to that.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 09:07:58


Post by: Mr. Burning


Theres a lesson here for many a would be business owner.

Trust your gut and hire on merit.

There is also this. With even the best intentions, why give controlling interest in your company to a factory half a world away, if they do not even get your product to you on time?




Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 09:09:42


Post by: Agamemnon2


Looks like another noble experiment draws to an ignominious end. WF never really had the quality to cut it against the big players in fantasy wargames, and even in historicals they were unfavorably matched, especially against Warlord and the Perry brothers.

The moral of the story appears clear. China is poison for wargames. It's what bit Mongoose in the ass, too, when their contract caster cut a mould three times its intended size, resulting in loss of money, time and hastily-sculpted metal replacement figures.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 09:39:03


Post by: Kilkrazy


China has a lot of quality control issues.

Steiff moved their production back to Europe because they couldn't get the quality from China.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 12:05:33


Post by: Kroothawk


H.B.M.C. wrote:"This will be a month long remembered. It will see the death of Chapterhouse, and will soon see the end of Wargames Factory." - Darth Jervis, Lord of the Sith.
"Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen." - Emperor Kirby, ruler of the GW Empire.

"Not underestimating Nick Skywalker you should! The law is strong in him!"


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 16:18:54


Post by: brettz123


Mr. Burning wrote:Theres a lesson here for many a would be business owner.

Trust your gut and hire on merit.

There is also this. With even the best intentions, why give controlling interest in your company to a factory half a world away, if they do not even get your product to you on time?




Another good lesson would be that if your sales aren't allowing you to expand your business you might be in the wrong business. If the original owners of WF had to sell their controlling shares of the company in order to get more product developed it wasn't a company that was in a very good financial position to begin with.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 18:13:11


Post by: AlexHolker


brettz123 wrote:Another good lesson would be that if your sales aren't allowing you to expand your business you might be in the wrong business. If the original owners of WF had to sell their controlling shares of the company in order to get more product developed it wasn't a company that was in a very good financial position to begin with.

Profit lets you expand, but an external source of capital still lets you expand faster. If both parties had control of vital components of the company (the IP on one hand, the moulds on the other), maybe Tony&Co assumed Ghost Studios wouldn't do anything that would jeopardise their asset.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 18:17:01


Post by: malfred


Another lesson from business: It's easy to predict doom and gloom AFTER the fact.

As AlexHolker says, taking on extra capital without cash on hand can also
be the leverage you need to become a player. It just didn't work out that
way for Wargames Factory, it seems.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 18:36:43


Post by: brettz123


Isn't expanding TOO fast a well known small business pit fall?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
malfred wrote:Another lesson from business: It's easy to predict doom and gloom AFTER the fact.

As AlexHolker says, taking on extra capital without cash on hand can also
be the leverage you need to become a player. It just didn't work out that
way for Wargames Factory, it seems.


It can be and is often a good idea the problem isn't that he took on extra capital it is that he sold complete control for the cash. That, to me anyway, just seems like an awfully risky thing to do. It is hard to say though as we have no idea about sales and other details of what the circumstances were surrounding the takeover.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 20:43:32


Post by: Kilkrazy


Reading between the lines, the previous owner, the guy writing on TMP, held 41% of the shares. He sold enough shares to this Chinese guy to reduce his holding to 4% of the issued shares. This would effectively transfer control of the company to the Chinese guy.

The purpose of this would have been to raise capital for expansion, however the Chinese guy's moulding company then failed to make promised deliveries of stock, leading to disappointed customers.

Whether this was a deliberate ploy or merely inefficiency, we cannot tell.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 21:07:20


Post by: whill4


Another lesson to take from this is not to trust Lonnie Mullins. He went to the Chinese partner and essentially stabbed Mr. Riedy in the back.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 21:22:23


Post by: brettz123


whill4 wrote:Another lesson to take from this is not to trust Lonnie Mullins. He went to the Chinese partner and essentially stabbed Mr. Riedy in the back.


Just to play devils advocate is their actually any proof that this is what happened?


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 22:11:20


Post by: whill4


Can you prove it didn't happen this way?

Anyway read the The Miniatures Page discussion. Two employees essentially verify this is what happened.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 22:24:38


Post by: Empchild


whill4 wrote:Can you prove it didn't happen this way?

Anyway read the The Miniatures Page discussion. Two employees essentially verify this is what happened.


Ya but honestly I would take little stock in anything said from any employee of that company after a public letter like that was issued. It is highly unprofessional, and it suclks that their company is going down hill but it sucks even more for us retailers who now have to hunt down our sales reps and get our money refunded for orders that have not been nor will be delivered. For anyone of that company to publicly write that letter shows some very unprofessional and well childish behavior that is unexcusable in my eyes.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 22:41:43


Post by: malfred


whill4 wrote:Can you prove it didn't happen this way?


Can you prove that Wargames Factory isn't a front for terrorists?!

Actually, you probably can. Nevermind!


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 22:54:00


Post by: Da Boss


That sucks!
Will we never see plastic greatcoats come to fruition? Is the concept under some sort of foul curse?


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 22:54:51


Post by: AlexHolker


Empchild wrote:Ya but honestly I would take little stock in anything said from any employee of that company after a public letter like that was issued. It is highly unprofessional, and it suclks that their company is going down hill but it sucks even more for us retailers who now have to hunt down our sales reps and get our money refunded for orders that have not been nor will be delivered. For anyone of that company to publicly write that letter shows some very unprofessional and well childish behavior that is unexcusable in my eyes.

You already said that. So what is your professional approach to this kind of situation, if what they say is true? If Ghost Studios has been failing to fulfill their end of their arrangement and then Lonnie has been blaming it all on Tony, why shouldn't he be permitted to defend himself, and why shouldn't his former customers be permitted to make an informed decision about whether they want to do business with people who clearly cannot be trusted?


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 23:02:30


Post by: Some_Call_Me_Tim?


Guys, just remember, Big Gamer is watching YOU!



Still, reading the open letter and the comments, this is a very strange case. What was Lonnie's impetus to bad-mouth his employers? The whole thing is fishy and convoluted...

_Tim?


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 23:09:36


Post by: ancientsociety


AlexHolker wrote: So what is your professional approach to this kind of situation, if what they say is true? If Ghost Studios has been failing to fulfill their end of their arrangement and then Lonnie has been blaming it all on Tony, why shouldn't he be permitted to defend himself, and why shouldn't his former customers be permitted to make an informed decision about whether they want to do business with people who clearly cannot be trusted?


Precisely!

He's been the face of the company since it's creation. He has every right to defend his reputation to his former customers, especially after his former company practically dragged his name thru the mud in its press release.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 23:13:40


Post by: Empchild


Honestly from someone who has been screwed and milked out of thousands by bad business partners. It sucks I agree but it is in bad taste to post drama the way he did with a direct attack on gamming news sites. Post if on the WGF forums but not on TMP. You are only inviting criticism upon yourself in doing so.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 23:38:32


Post by: SkaerKrow


Looks like I best buy a few more boxes of Greatcoats now just to make sure that I'll have enough bodies for my army. From the sounds of it, there's a good chance that the company will be out of business by June.

(Speculation there on my part, don't take that as a rumor)


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/16 23:40:57


Post by: whill4


Lonnie is now the bossman state side. That was is impetus and motive.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 00:59:11


Post by: brettz123


whill4 wrote:Lonnie is now the bossman state side. That was is impetus and motive.


Actually he isn't. There is some other dude named Savy or some such that is actually named as the head of WF.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 00:59:33


Post by: Valhallan42nd


Having a motive does not prove that it happened in the manner you're suggesting. Often, you'll notice in murder mysteries, several people will have motive to kill someone. Does that mean everyone killed that person?


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 01:05:57


Post by: brettz123


whill4 wrote:Can you prove it didn't happen this way?

Anyway read the The Miniatures Page discussion. Two employees essentially verify this is what happened.


Ahhh so now it comes down to just say whatever you want unless you can be proven wrong I won't even go into why that is logically unsound. Second what I will say is that the other employee is a very good friend of Tony and looks like he got just as screwed (and fired by the way) as Tony did. So no I don't automatically think that they are telling the entire truth.

Obviously something happened but considering Tony himself states that he sold most of his 41% share in the company leaving him with only a 4% share doesn't make me think very highly of his business acumen. What Tony did not do was provide any evidence of underhanded dealing by Lonnie (for instance any emails or memos he sent behind Tonies back). All we know for sure is that Lonnie seems to be the one person who kept his job.

So why automatically assume that Lonnie is even part of this? If he was so bad why did Tony hire him in the first place? There are certainly still a lot of questions that need to be answered before I decide that one side is wrong over the other. Unfortunately it doesn't seem like we are going to ever get these facts.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 01:46:11


Post by: Kroothawk


Yeah, managers from the outside getting rid of the company founder Tony is like, say, former shampoo managers firing Rick Priestley at GW


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 02:02:49


Post by: brettz123


Ohhhhh I'm not saying it is a good thing just that it doesn't necessarily have to be as underhanded as it has been made out to be.

When you only own 4% of something it doesn't take underhanded to get rid of someone.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 03:47:04


Post by: Kid_Kyoto


Da Boss wrote:That sucks!
Will we never see plastic greatcoats come to fruition? Is the concept under some sort of foul curse?



Seeing as I have over 100 of them behind me I think that yes, yes we have

Now will we ever see them expanded... That's another question with a more depressing answer


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 06:54:55


Post by: AlexHolker


brettz123 wrote:Ahhh so now it comes down to just say whatever you want unless you can be proven wrong

No, it comes down to what people who were heavily involved in the company say is true, and you need some kind of justification for your position before you go calling them liars.

So why automatically assume that Lonnie is even part of this? If he was so bad why did Tony hire him in the first place?

Because Tony isn't clairvoyant? Cause must preceed effect, and if there was no cause to think Lonnie was so bad that occurred before he was hired, it's unreasonable to engage in this sort of Monday morning quarterbacking and start assigning blame for not acting on information that wasn't available.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 07:08:48


Post by: chaos0xomega


brettz123 wrote:Ohhhhh I'm not saying it is a good thing just that it doesn't necessarily have to be as underhanded as it has been made out to be.

When you only own 4% of something it doesn't take underhanded to get rid of someone.


I think the underhanded part comes into play in regards to how he came to only have a 4% ownership. My understanding is that he had 41%, I.E. the controlling interest, with the rest of the ownership split between the Chinese company, Lonnie, and the other 1 or 2 big guys that worked at WF. What ended up happening was that he had to keep selling ownership off in order to raise more capital to cover his expenses (I would hope it was his operating expenses, and not him being fiscally irresponsible) because the Chinese company was holding on to his inventory, and by doing that, preventing him from raising capital via sales profits. The implication is that the Chinese company intentionally held the merchandise with the intention of this occuring and conspired with Lonnie to ensure it occured.

Thats mostly from guesswork, a bit of reading in between the lines, and theory, so don't take this as what actually occured.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 07:21:13


Post by: Ouze


malfred wrote:Another lesson from business: It's easy to predict doom and gloom AFTER the fact.


Actually, with one of the companies that ran into trouble this month, quite a few people predicted doom and gloom before the fact...

So far as WGF:

Tony Reidy: Wait, you said when you bought a controlling share, you were saving the company! That was the deal!
Darth Jervis: :hfffffff: I have altered the deal. Pray I do not alter it further. :pfffffft:


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 14:17:20


Post by: Lonecoon


So more importantly, does anyone have a source for the greatcoats? I need about 60 of them.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 14:26:04


Post by: BrassScorpion


Lonecoon wrote:So more importantly, does anyone have a source for the greatcoats? I need about 60 of them.
The War Store sells them. So does FTW Games/Spikey Bitz I believe. I bought a set from FTW Games and another from The War Store last year.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 14:29:58


Post by: mikhaila


I might have a few kicking around the shop. Ordered a bunch when they first came out. My main distributor is out of them, just checked.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 14:33:40


Post by: porkuslime


The Warstore is out..


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 14:41:32


Post by: Kid_Kyoto


Lonecoon wrote:So more importantly, does anyone have a source for the greatcoats? I need about 60 of them.


Just got 2 boxes from the Warstore.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
porkuslime wrote:The Warstore is out..


Ouch, looks like I got my order in just in time.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 15:13:14


Post by: Necros


Back in like September I was emailing WF about the possibility of getting some models done for a game I'm putting together. Price was way to high, but that Tony fella seemed like a nice guy and all. I hope they can figure something out, but it sounds like they are probably better off just moving on, learning from their mistakes, and starting a new company from scratch just making the same kinda stuff.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 15:41:48


Post by: Lonecoon


mikhaila wrote:I might have a few kicking around the shop. Ordered a bunch when they first came out. My main distributor is out of them, just checked.


Send me a PM if you've got a couple. I'll buy 3 boxes, as I found one on Ebay.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 15:50:47


Post by: SkaerKrow


Lonecoon wrote:
Send me a PM if you've got a couple. I'll buy 3 boxes, as I found one on Ebay.
Wow, I snagged two (of the three available) from eBay last night, thinking that I had best get them while I still could. Looks like I was right.

Has anyone checked to see if Maelstrom still has any in stock?


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 15:57:41


Post by: Empchild


Just sold out of my last stock yesterday morning. In fact I had to refund people who were ordering as we were pulling them from our webstore. All of my distributors are out, including the warstore :(. Their are a bunch kicking around on ebay though guys and gals if you search wargames factory.

As per the whole chinies thing.. I guess that's why all of my castings are done here in the states, and if you are having trouble creating funds their are plenty of great banks here in Mass that will loan money. Personally I don't use them but others have if your business plan is solid.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 16:30:44


Post by: SkaerKrow


For those keeping tabs on the situation, Wargames Factory has updated their front page with a brief statement about the situation (and the fallout), as well as a call for all WGF customers with outstanding orders to contact the company so that these orders can be resolved.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 16:41:46


Post by: brettz123


chaos0xomega wrote:
brettz123 wrote:Ohhhhh I'm not saying it is a good thing just that it doesn't necessarily have to be as underhanded as it has been made out to be.

When you only own 4% of something it doesn't take underhanded to get rid of someone.


I think the underhanded part comes into play in regards to how he came to only have a 4% ownership. My understanding is that he had 41%, I.E. the controlling interest, with the rest of the ownership split between the Chinese company, Lonnie, and the other 1 or 2 big guys that worked at WF. What ended up happening was that he had to keep selling ownership off in order to raise more capital to cover his expenses (I would hope it was his operating expenses, and not him being fiscally irresponsible) because the Chinese company was holding on to his inventory, and by doing that, preventing him from raising capital via sales profits. The implication is that the Chinese company intentionally held the merchandise with the intention of this occuring and conspired with Lonnie to ensure it occured.

Thats mostly from guesswork, a bit of reading in between the lines, and theory, so don't take this as what actually occured.


Actually if you read through the TMP thread it appears that he sold 37% of the company to finance debts he incurred. I believe it actually states this in his open letter but I haven't checked again. So nothing underhanded there. He literally made the decision to sell of his part of the company to settle debt issues.

To me that means there was some fiscal irresponsibility going on. It is pretty simple from my point of view. He sold most of his share in the company to cover debts he incurred while running the company.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 16:44:39


Post by: Lonecoon


Empchild wrote:Just sold out of my last stock yesterday morning. In fact I had to refund people who were ordering as we were pulling them from our webstore. All of my distributors are out, including the warstore :(. Their are a bunch kicking around on ebay though guys and gals if you search wargames factory.

As per the whole chinies thing.. I guess that's why all of my castings are done here in the states, and if you are having trouble creating funds their are plenty of great banks here in Mass that will loan money. Personally I don't use them but others have if your business plan is solid.


I'm pretty sure I tried to order from you last night. I gotta say, you've got some great customer service, calling a 7pm on a Sunday to correct an order.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 16:46:03


Post by: brettz123


AlexHolker wrote:
brettz123 wrote:Ahhh so now it comes down to just say whatever you want unless you can be proven wrong

No, it comes down to what people who were heavily involved in the company say is true, and you need some kind of justification for your position before you go calling them liars.

So why automatically assume that Lonnie is even part of this? If he was so bad why did Tony hire him in the first place?

Because Tony isn't clairvoyant? Cause must preceed effect, and if there was no cause to think Lonnie was so bad that occurred before he was hired, it's unreasonable to engage in this sort of Monday morning quarterbacking and start assigning blame for not acting on information that wasn't available.


I didn't call them liars so stop elevating things to that level. And if you bothered reading the open letter Tony specifically states that he didn't trust Lonnie when he hired him. That isn't Monday morning quarterbacking that is reading the words written by Tony.

To me this case looks like a very simple person A incurred debt from person B and then sold most of their share in the company to person B in order to cover that debt. It seems pretty simple to me. Once Ghost studios owned a controlling share of the company why would they slow down shipments at that point?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Empchild wrote:Just sold out of my last stock yesterday morning. In fact I had to refund people who were ordering as we were pulling them from our webstore. All of my distributors are out, including the warstore :(. Their are a bunch kicking around on ebay though guys and gals if you search wargames factory.

As per the whole chinies thing.. I guess that's why all of my castings are done here in the states, and if you are having trouble creating funds their are plenty of great banks here in Mass that will loan money. Personally I don't use them but others have if your business plan is solid.


Just wondering but were the WF stuff big sellers?


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 16:58:08


Post by: SkaerKrow


brettz123 wrote:To me this case looks like a very simple person A incurred debt from person B and then sold most of their share in the company to person B in order to cover that debt. It seems pretty simple to me. Once Ghost studios owned a controlling share of the company why would they slow down shipments at that point?
The underhanded element being tossed about (or one of them, if nothing else) is the insinuation that Person B, the manufacturing company that WGF was using, withheld shipments of stock after acquiring Tony's 37% ownership in the company, so that he was completely unable to pay off that debt. At that point they were able to force him out, take majority ownership of Wargames Factory and install someone of their choosing to replace him.

This is the speculation, mind you. I'm not in a position to comment on whether or not this theory is true.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 17:00:37


Post by: Empchild


@Lonecoon: Thanks Customer service to me is a top priority and always will be.

@brett: Top seller no, but a steady one yes. We sold about 11 boxes last week on my ebay store. I was wondering why my restock wasn't showing up when I saw all of this occur.

They are a fellow Mass company, and a lot of people love their products. That said it does seem that they didn't plan out too well and attempted to expand before having what they needed. Saddly this happens a lot with companies out there.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 17:03:49


Post by: ancientsociety


Empchild wrote:Honestly from someone who has been screwed and milked out of thousands by bad business partners. It sucks I agree but it is in bad taste to post drama the way he did with a direct attack on gamming news sites. Post if on the WGF forums but not on TMP. You are only inviting criticism upon yourself in doing so.


If you read the thread on the WGF forums, that's precisely what Tony attempted to do.

An unknown mod then deleted his post and several others by users that were critical of this move with no explanation of "why".



Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 17:49:12


Post by: Kid_Kyoto


Tony also alleges that the new owners froze funds they needed to pay for shipping. So they had product, they had orders, but no cash to send them out.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 18:01:59


Post by: Empchild


Kid_Kyoto wrote:Tony also alleges that the new owners froze funds they needed to pay for shipping. So they had product, they had orders, but no cash to send them out.


In fairness though would you trust the allegations from an employee who is on the outs of your company? I am not advocating either way just making a point.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 18:10:27


Post by: Kid_Kyoto


Empchild wrote:
Kid_Kyoto wrote:Tony also alleges that the new owners froze funds they needed to pay for shipping. So they had product, they had orders, but no cash to send them out.


In fairness though would you trust the allegations from an employee who is on the outs of your company? I am not advocating either way just making a point.


Nah, at this point no one is exactly covering themselves in glory here.

Tony's letter is a totally unprofessional rant, with typos too, but the poor communication from the new owners/managers has made him look good.

And at the end of the day no one is getting their minis or their money back and that's what really counts if a company will survive.

I hope things turn out OK, for a bit there WGF was really a model for how to communicate with fans and make us feel like we have input and that's what made them my second favorite mini site and led my to buy 100+ great coats.

And it looks like my army of amazons all painted to look like Wonder Woman won't happen either...


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 18:31:34


Post by: brettz123


SkaerKrow wrote:The underhanded element being tossed about (or one of them, if nothing else) is the insinuation that Person B, the manufacturing company that WGF was using, withheld shipments of stock after acquiring Tony's 37% ownership in the company, so that he was completely unable to pay off that debt. At that point they were able to force him out, take majority ownership of Wargames Factory and install someone of their choosing to replace him.

This is the speculation, mind you. I'm not in a position to comment on whether or not this theory is true.


Yes I agree with you and that is my point that Tony has not given any proof that this happened. It very well may have happened. But until there is proof that it did happen I don't see any reason to go around calling this Lonnie person names or anything else.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Empchild wrote:

@brett: Top seller no, but a steady one yes. We sold about 11 boxes last week on my ebay store. I was wondering why my restock wasn't showing up when I saw all of this occur.


Thats interesting. You never know what companies are really making what. I always assumed WF was pretty successful based on the amount of product they have put out in a short amount of time. So I was very surprised when this happened. Thanks for the information!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Kid_Kyoto wrote:

I hope things turn out OK, for a bit there WGF was really a model for how to communicate with fans and make us feel like we have input


I'm interested in your opinion on how you think this affected their business. Some people have been talking on TMP about there liberty and union league being a bad business practice that kept them unfocused. I know you have been sort of the knowledgeable one when it comes to WF on this site and wanted your take on the whole thing?


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 20:02:14


Post by: Kilkrazy


Empchild wrote:
Kid_Kyoto wrote:Tony also alleges that the new owners froze funds they needed to pay for shipping. So they had product, they had orders, but no cash to send them out.


In fairness though would you trust the allegations from an employee who is on the outs of your company? I am not advocating either way just making a point.


It would depend on how well I knew them.

I know from experience that plenty of gak can go down when people are jockeying for control of a small company, so I wouldn't automatically disbelieve this kind of alleged shenanigans.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 20:27:44


Post by: Grundz


I'll try to say this clearly.

I love my greatcoats, they are pretty awesome, original, and fitin with alot of settings.
I pre ordered them, straight from WGF, long before they were released, and defending them when they were late.
When I sent them email, which was calm and short, I always recieved excellent responses, even considering some of the changes I suggested
to future models for easier assembly
When my order was filled (for 10 boxes), my invoice was signed "thank you" by an actual person

I like these guys, it is highly unfortunate that they (if it is true) were forced out of business
I wish them luck in whatever future they pursue, hopefully they come back to us and are more sucessful without all this BS.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 20:41:44


Post by: Kid_Kyoto


brettz123 wrote:
Kid_Kyoto wrote:

I hope things turn out OK, for a bit there WGF was really a model for how to communicate with fans and make us feel like we have input


I'm interested in your opinion on how you think this affected their business. Some people have been talking on TMP about there liberty and union league being a bad business practice that kept them unfocused. I know you have been sort of the knowledgeable one when it comes to WF on this site and wanted your take on the whole thing?


One thing I liked is that they explained when they thought something was a bad idea and why.

Early on they made it clear on the boards that if something wasn't successful in metal there was no way it would succeed in plastic so they rejected some ideas out of hand.

They also made it clear that they were looking for sets that had both breadth and depth. That is models a lot of people would buy and that they would buy a lot of. Which is why they stayed away from moderns (games use too few models), RPGs and the like. Sure a lot of people might buy Dungeon Adventurers but they'd only buy one box each.

So yeah they were unfocused, but that was economic I think. Tons of people will buy Greatcoat infantry in bulk but they knew sales on heavy weapons, or elite troopers or command would be lower. Which is why I think the next set never seemed a priority.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 20:56:10


Post by: Grundz


Kid_Kyoto wrote:
So yeah they were unfocused, but that was economic I think. Tons of people will buy Greatcoat infantry in bulk but they knew sales on heavy weapons, or elite troopers or command would be lower. Which is why I think the next set never seemed a priority.


Thats a logical arguement, since I did pick up a /ton/ of WGF infantry, I would not buy an equal number of command squads, heavy weapon upgrades, or similiar.

However, If they released a box was, say, just 2 sprues of heavy weapons, special weapons, command squad bits, ect. you could easily see a near-equal amount being sold, as they aren't standalone models, and to use them you'd have to buy WGF greatcoats to begin with.

However, this assumed they had foresight to make the WGF greatcoats to be highly customizable and accept these parts in advance, which wasnt done


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/17 22:57:48


Post by: Mr Hyena


I wouldn't trust anyways word who has been fired/lost their job; till the tempers/anger has cooled down anyway. Not that I think they are untrustworthy; but the bias of the situation brings their opinion into question. Unless we get hard evidence we can't say anything as it is all hearsay.

We can play detective all we want; but when someone is fired and another person is kept on; the blame game always starts. We need evidence.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/18 06:55:08


Post by: Kilkrazy


It's a bit difference when one guy owns 41% of the company, then his shareholding drops to 4% and he gets fired.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/18 08:24:08


Post by: Mr Hyena


True. I'd still be pretty damn careful though when there is no factual basis to the accusation.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/18 17:30:01


Post by: adamsouza


I'm not pleased that the link to the forum disappeared from the store homepage.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/18 18:27:29


Post by: warboss


so did WGF make those long coat gas mask type guys that floated around the forums in pic form around summertime? did they make any other scifi figs?


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/18 19:43:14


Post by: SkaerKrow


warboss wrote:so did WGF make those long coat gas mask type guys that floated around the forums in pic form around summertime? did they make any other scifi figs?
Yes, Wargames Factory did release the first/only kit for their Shock Troopers line, the infantry greatcoat models that attracted a fair bit of attention for a while. Sadly, they never released any other sci-fi models (unless you count their modern Zombies kit).


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/18 22:15:11


Post by: brettz123


It will be interesting to see if the new management actually manages to keep the company afloat and release new stuff.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/18 22:17:43


Post by: Kid_Kyoto


warboss wrote:so did WGF make those long coat gas mask type guys that floated around the forums in pic form around summertime? did they make any other scifi figs?


Cheers

http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/images-518-10519_Nypd.html


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/19 12:29:20


Post by: Soulhunter


I have a standing order for some orcs, so emailed the new guy in charge.
The reply was very quick.

<< QUOTE >>
Lonnie Mullins [Lonnie@wargamesfactory.com]
Re: pending order
The orcs are done and we've got a small inventory of them. Our supplier is making more
<< END QUOTE >>


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also send an E-mail to so I do not loose the adavneced order

IF YOU HAVE PLACED AN ORDER,
and you have not received it or for any reason you are dissatisfied, please contact us immediately at the following e-mail address:
customerservice@wargamesfactory.com

Current status:



------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One thing you want to hear is , we < have / expect to > send your <order> <date / now>.




Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/19 14:36:53


Post by: SkaerKrow


As a head's up, TheWarStore has restocked the Greatcoat Shock Troops, for anyone looking to get them while they're still available.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/20 07:33:08


Post by: MadMaverick76


All sold out again. Damn! I should of placed my order after Christmas like I had planned!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Nevermind, found them for $13 per box, and I just bought 8!


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/20 12:49:41


Post by: Kilkrazy


SkaerKrow wrote:
brettz123 wrote:To me this case looks like a very simple person A incurred debt from person B and then sold most of their share in the company to person B in order to cover that debt. It seems pretty simple to me. Once Ghost studios owned a controlling share of the company why would they slow down shipments at that point?
The underhanded element being tossed about (or one of them, if nothing else) is the insinuation that Person B, the manufacturing company that WGF was using, withheld shipments of stock after acquiring Tony's 37% ownership in the company, so that he was completely unable to pay off that debt. At that point they were able to force him out, take majority ownership of Wargames Factory and install someone of their choosing to replace him.

This is the speculation, mind you. I'm not in a position to comment on whether or not this theory is true.


If this is what happened, it is something that could be prosecuted under company law, but would cost a lot of time and money to resolve.



Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/20 21:30:05


Post by: Kroothawk


The new management posted two open letters to the customers/community:

20-Jan-2011
TO THE WARGAMES FACTORY COMMUNITY,

Clearly this company has been experiencing operational difficulties. Our concern is that these issues are affecting the company's ability to follow through on commitments and obligations to both our customers and our vendors.

Please be aware that the new Wargames Factory team has been and will continue doing everything in our power to put the situation right.

IF YOU HAVE PLACED AN ORDER,
and you have not received it or for any reason you are dissatisfied, please contact us immediately at the following e-mail address:

customerservice@wargamesfactory.net

Please assist us
by supplying the following information so that we may resolve your matter quickly,

* Date of order
* Method of payment - if ordered through Paypal, please supply the transaction I.D. #
* Items ordered
* Would you like the original order be filled or would you prefer a refund?
* Shipping address


IF YOU ARE A VENDOR,
and you have unpaid invoices, please contact us immediately at the following e-mail address

vendorservice@wargamesfactory.net

Please assist us
by supplying the following information so that we may resolve your matter quickly,

* Services rendered
* Copy of original invoice


WEB POSTINGS AND FORUM ALLEGATIONS

There is much misinformation as well as some serious allegations being circulated throughout cyberspace regarding the current state of affairs. As the new corporate manager of Wargames Factory, at the appropriate time, I will address all of the false and inaccurate statements and allegations that are being posted on the Wargames Factory website. There are more important and pressing operational matters to deal with right now without getting distracted or involved in a “mudslinging match” with previous management. Defamatory statements made about any individuals will be taken up with legal counsel and dealt with to the fullest extent allowed by law.

MOVING FORWARD

The single most crucial emergency that WGF now faces is the immediate determination of who has placed and paid for orders and has not received them. We have been attempting to obtain that information from the previous management but without success and the records we do have are unreliable or inaccurate. Therefore, we now must rely upon our customers to assist us in restoring this information so that we may make things right.

What we need more than anything else is communication. Specifically, if you are owed an order, please let us know so that we can accommodate you in whatever way that you see fit. If you are a vendor who is owed money by WGF, please send us a copy of your outstanding invoice.

George Sivy
Managing Director, Wargames Factory


20-Jan-2011
The Present and Future of War Games Factory

We apologize for the delay in communicating with you. It has taken some time to reorganize in a way that can fully meet your needs. We value your support. This note is intended to help you understand the operating plans of War Games Factory.

1. Providing product with great quality and value, created through your insight and request will continue to be our number one goal.

o There will be a temporary lapse with the Liberty & Union League. However it will ultimately continue as a key resource in understanding your needs.
o We will work to create a direct relationship with the gaming community through shows, publications, and direct interaction.
o You will receive cutting edge sculpting and production uniquely possible through a dedicated team and factory (see below).

2. Future orders will be filled in a timely and accurate manner through a new location in Utah.

o Current orders will be shipped as fast as possible with a targeted completion date of March 31st.
o While the work with Triangle has been a great collaborative effort the actual amount of work appropriate for the work force has been minimal. The transfer of goods to Utah will be completed in the least disruptive way possible for Triangle. The shift to the new location will be completed by March 31st.
o Paypal and credit card payment will continue to be accepted.
o We will continue to distribute product through the same channels and means as seen to date.


3. The Team behind the company will continue to expand and include those of you who have a passion to be on the leading edge.

o Our goal is to continue to enhance the internet based collaborative community in which we serve as the outlet for your self-expression through our "Open Innovation" format.
o Our US based consumer support team will organize your wishes into a visual road map for product launches and support. We hope to expand this in the long term to include gaming books and other interactive support programs.
o Our US based design & sculpting team will bring the warriors of the past, future & imagination to life with superior detail & the highest quality execution.
o Our China based high tech tool making and production facility will continue to manufacture the product as it has from the earliest beginnings of this company. We will strive to leverage the technology, manpower, facilities and funding of the majority owner which is a privately owned Chinese company founded and built by the owner/ operator.
o Our US based sales, IT, accounting and order processing and tracking will continue to create means to support your innovative ideas and help make your product and gaming dreams a reality.
o We continue to hope there will be a means to create a productive, cooperative and rewarding relationship with Tony, Tim, Howard, John, Lonnie and others whose efforts went toward developing War Games Factory.


We regret the negative stories that have been circulating and rather than participate in an unproductive debate we look forward to proving ourselves with delivery of innovative, high quality product and services you deserve.

As a teaser we will soon be posting examples of the quality of sculpting and production we can leverage in meeting your Liberty and Union League requests.

Please let us know what you think and we look forward to exceeding your expectations in the immediate future.

Thank you again for your patience and for giving us a chance to prove ourselves.

Sincerely,

George Sivy
Corporate Manager
War Games Factory, LLC


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/20 23:12:07


Post by: MadMaverick76


Fantastic news! It seems they are getting their stuff together, I look forward to seeing what they come up with. I am also curious to see how the prices will be effected.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/21 00:05:52


Post by: JohnHwangDD


Agamemnon2 wrote:The moral of the story appears clear. China is poison for wargames.


What a foolish and unfounded statement, totally lacking in any factual basis.

China may be poison for inexperienced, poorly-capitalized wargames companies with little business sense, trying only to cut corners on price while not properly specifying quality and process. Other companies do quite well.

Is Forgeworld China a problem? No. GW had enough lawyers to ensure that their entry into China went OK.

Mongoose, WGF, etc. probably went in looking for price first, and got what they paid for.

I have no pity for them than a scrawny 16-year-old with a couple years wrestling experience going mano-a-mano against a pro ring fighter.
____

fixed.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/21 00:30:09


Post by: chaos0xomega


JohnHwangDD wrote:
Agamemnon2 wrote:The moral of the story appears clear. China is poison for inexperienced, poorly-capitalized wargames companies with little business sense, trying only to cut corners on price while not properly specifying quality and process.


Is Forgeworld China a problem? No. GW had enough lawyers to ensure that their entry into China went OK.


Thats because Forgeworld China doesn't exist. I need to know where this rumor came from, and destroy the source. It is the most persistent and untrue rumor I have ever seen. Worse still, it is easily verifiable as being false. A few months ago I had the same argument with someone else, so I contacted the Forgeworld/GW customer service reps. All FW/GW minis (and most other products) are made in Nottingham, England, with the exception of codecies, paints, product bags/boxes, and certain miscellaneous accessories which are produced in China/the US, but the facilities that these are produced at are the most part owned and operated by GW, rather than outsourced to foreign companies. Forgeworld specifically stated to me that ALL their models were made in England.

In fact, GW did get burned by Chinese production in the recent past. Remember the planetstrike terrain markers that everyone complained about? The ultra flimsy vaccuum-formed plastic that so many people hate? THAT was made in China, GW went so far to acknowledge that the production was not up to par and that they were using a 3rd party chinese company to manufacture them, and offered free replacement/credit to everyone that sent theirs back in.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/21 00:38:47


Post by: BrookM


chaos0xomega wrote:
JohnHwangDD wrote:
Agamemnon2 wrote:The moral of the story appears clear. China is poison for inexperienced, poorly-capitalized wargames companies with little business sense, trying only to cut corners on price while not properly specifying quality and process.


Is Forgeworld China a problem? No. GW had enough lawyers to ensure that their entry into China went OK.


Thats because Forgeworld China doesn't exist. I need to know where this rumor came from, and destroy the source. It is the most persistent and untrue rumor I have ever seen. Worse still, it is easily verifiable as being false. A few months ago I had the same argument with someone else, so I contacted the Forgeworld/GW customer service reps. All FW/GW minis (and most other products) are made in Nottingham, England, with the exception of codecies, paints, product bags/boxes, and certain miscellaneous accessories which are produced in China/the US, but the facilities that these are produced at are the most part owned and operated by GW, rather than outsourced to foreign companies. Forgeworld specifically stated to me that ALL their models were made in England.

In fact, GW did get burned by Chinese production in the recent past. Remember the planetstrike terrain markers that everyone complained about? The ultra flimsy vaccuum-formed plastic that so many people hate? THAT was made in China, GW went so far to acknowledge that the production was not up to par and that they were using a 3rd party chinese company to manufacture them, and offered free replacement/credit to everyone that sent theirs back in.
I have Elysian models that came from China. Said so on the tab, even had a topic about it a year or so ago.

Also, Space Hulk was made in China.

Go ahead, kill me, boy.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/21 00:47:28


Post by: chaos0xomega


BrookM wrote:
chaos0xomega wrote:
JohnHwangDD wrote:
Agamemnon2 wrote:The moral of the story appears clear. China is poison for inexperienced, poorly-capitalized wargames companies with little business sense, trying only to cut corners on price while not properly specifying quality and process.


Is Forgeworld China a problem? No. GW had enough lawyers to ensure that their entry into China went OK.


Thats because Forgeworld China doesn't exist. I need to know where this rumor came from, and destroy the source. It is the most persistent and untrue rumor I have ever seen. Worse still, it is easily verifiable as being false. A few months ago I had the same argument with someone else, so I contacted the Forgeworld/GW customer service reps. All FW/GW minis (and most other products) are made in Nottingham, England, with the exception of codecies, paints, product bags/boxes, and certain miscellaneous accessories which are produced in China/the US, but the facilities that these are produced at are the most part owned and operated by GW, rather than outsourced to foreign companies. Forgeworld specifically stated to me that ALL their models were made in England.

In fact, GW did get burned by Chinese production in the recent past. Remember the planetstrike terrain markers that everyone complained about? The ultra flimsy vaccuum-formed plastic that so many people hate? THAT was made in China, GW went so far to acknowledge that the production was not up to par and that they were using a 3rd party chinese company to manufacture them, and offered free replacement/credit to everyone that sent theirs back in.
I have Elysian models that came from China. Said so on the tab, even had a topic about it a year or so ago.

Also, Space Hulk was made in China.

Go ahead, kill me, boy.


Yeah, Space Hulk would probably be one of the miscellaneous accessories I mentioned. But considering that a FW rep explicitly stated that all FW minis are cast in Nottingham England, I'm taking his word over yours. Granted, I suppose that can't mean that mold production is outsourced overseas... :shrug:. At the very least, I know the minis themselves are made in the UK.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/21 02:45:17


Post by: Alpharius


I...



Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/21 03:56:32


Post by: poipo32


chaos0xomega wrote:
BrookM wrote:
chaos0xomega wrote:
JohnHwangDD wrote:
Agamemnon2 wrote:The moral of the story appears clear. China is poison for inexperienced, poorly-capitalized wargames companies with little business sense, trying only to cut corners on price while not properly specifying quality and process.


Is Forgeworld China a problem? No. GW had enough lawyers to ensure that their entry into China went OK.


Thats because Forgeworld China doesn't exist. I need to know where this rumor came from, and destroy the source. It is the most persistent and untrue rumor I have ever seen. Worse still, it is easily verifiable as being false. A few months ago I had the same argument with someone else, so I contacted the Forgeworld/GW customer service reps. All FW/GW minis (and most other products) are made in Nottingham, England, with the exception of codecies, paints, product bags/boxes, and certain miscellaneous accessories which are produced in China/the US, but the facilities that these are produced at are the most part owned and operated by GW, rather than outsourced to foreign companies. Forgeworld specifically stated to me that ALL their models were made in England.

In fact, GW did get burned by Chinese production in the recent past. Remember the planetstrike terrain markers that everyone complained about? The ultra flimsy vaccuum-formed plastic that so many people hate? THAT was made in China, GW went so far to acknowledge that the production was not up to par and that they were using a 3rd party chinese company to manufacture them, and offered free replacement/credit to everyone that sent theirs back in.
I have Elysian models that came from China. Said so on the tab, even had a topic about it a year or so ago.

Also, Space Hulk was made in China.

Go ahead, kill me, boy.


Yeah, Space Hulk would probably be one of the miscellaneous accessories I mentioned. But considering that a FW rep explicitly stated that all FW minis are cast in Nottingham England, I'm taking his word over yours. Granted, I suppose that can't mean that mold production is outsourced overseas... :shrug:. At the very least, I know the minis themselves are made in the UK.


I'm sorry but most if not all Forge World products I ordered in the last months had "made in china" on their baggies.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/21 04:14:57


Post by: Kid_Kyoto


Perhaps the bag was made in China?


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/21 07:06:37


Post by: Agamemnon2


JohnHwangDD wrote:
Agamemnon2 wrote:The moral of the story appears clear. China is poison for inexperienced, poorly-capitalized wargames companies with little business sense, trying only to cut corners on price while not properly specifying quality and process.


Is Forgeworld China a problem? No. GW had enough lawyers to ensure that their entry into China went OK.


Please quote me accurately or not at all. I do not appreciate words being put in my mouth, for any reason. Anything else is disrespectful or aimed at misdirection.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/21 08:57:38


Post by: Kroothawk


GW had enough problems with production in CHina, remember the announced modular gras covered battleground that was never produced or the other board that had a price increase of 50 pound after announcement, to name just 2.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/21 15:04:30


Post by: BrassScorpion


There have been numerous production issues with GW Shanghai. Here are just a few I know about:

- Traces amounts of lead in the early runs of Iyanden Darksun
- Book binding issues, severe ones. When GW first moved their book binding to China it took more than a year to eliminate the 5-10% of new game books just fall apart problem. It started with the current Dark Elf army book and lasted till just before Codex Imperial Guard before I saw a major improvement in that issue.
- The Tyranid Codex release was delayed last year due to a major printing error apparently having to do with the English language books being printed in an entirely different language, thus having to be reprinted.
- As previously mentioned, the Realm Of Battle board had two price increases before it was even released.

Now Wargames Factory sounds like they are making an earnest effort to stay in business, so before everyone goes snapping up all of their Shock Troops to sell at inflated prices after the company goes out of business, it might be better to think twice about that strategy.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/21 15:10:39


Post by: Kid_Kyoto


I would just add China does not a quality control problem. There are a lot of high end things done in China and, because of years of driving higher-priced compeditors out of business, there are some things that now can only be done in China like pop-up books.

What there is is a serious rule of law and trust issue in China. Contracts are hard to enforce and even if your contractor is on the up and up his suppliers might not be.

Manufacuring in China is where the US and other countries were decades ago, everyone looks to cut costs and if they think they can get away with using inferor componants or cheaper processes they will.

But with due dilligence and TIGHT supervision companies can and do make high quality, safe, items there.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/21 16:13:27


Post by: SkaerKrow


Hopefully Wargames Factory will come out of this intact. That second missive to the community is full of nice sentiments, but we'll see if any of them actually manifest into tangible improvement/survival for the company.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/21 16:17:18


Post by: JohnHwangDD


Agamemnon2 wrote:
JohnHwangDD wrote:
Agamemnon2 wrote:The moral of the story appears clear. China is poison for wargames.

What a foolish and unfounded statement, totally lacking in any factual basis.

China may be poison for inexperienced, poorly-capitalized wargames companies with little business sense, trying only to cut corners on price while not properly specifying quality and process. Other companies do quite well.

Is Forgeworld China a problem? No. GW had enough lawyers to ensure that their entry into China went OK.


Please quote me accurately or not at all. I do not appreciate words being put in my mouth, for any reason. Anything else is disrespectful or aimed at misdirection.


When you make a sweeping and untrue statement that is completely false, it invites ridicule.

That said, I will correct it, and edit my post to restore what you originally said. My edit made you look more erudite than your original post suggests.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
BrassScorpion wrote:- Book binding issues, severe ones. When GW first moved their book binding to China it took more than a year to eliminate the 5-10% of new game books just fall apart problem. It started with the current Dark Elf army book and lasted till just before Codex Imperial Guard before I saw a major improvement in that issue.


So with a 5-10% failure rate, I guess Chinese bookbinders are roughly 5 to 10 times better than GW's bookbinders. Anybody with a 3rd Edition 40k paperback rulebook completely intact? How about one of their 5 lb ~2000 mega catalogs? I think both of those books fell apart without the slightest provocation.
____

edited to correct quote and include proper comments, also Rule 1.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/21 16:26:37


Post by: BrassScorpion


Actually, my 3rd Edition Rule Book is intact. The initial print run had a problem with the cover coming off. GW replaced them without question. The replacement I got is still good to this day. Problems did occasionally arise back then with GW products as with any company, but I never had the kind of continuous problems with every new book I bought for over a year like when they first moved to the new binder a few years ago. The Codex and similar books just before that change were of good quality for the few years before that, then suddenly there was a huge problem with every new book release for more than a year. That's not the same as the singular problem with the initial release of 3rd edition's main rules.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/21 16:36:13


Post by: Watching Paint Dry


BrookM wrote:

Also, Space Hulk was made in China.



To add to that list...
Fortress of Redemption
Witch fate tor
dreadstone blight
Some of the cases (large ones for sure)

My suspicion is the so called "splash" releases are being done in china. Large batches that can sold without having to keep stock makes sense when you have to ship it long distances.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/21 16:47:17


Post by: BrassScorpion


The Figure Cases and Army Cases are made at GW Shanghai as are many of the scenery kits. Some resin items like the Barricades are too.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/21 17:12:55


Post by: Manchu


@all: Please be mindful of Rule Number One and keep this discussion polite. Thanks!


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/21 18:02:10


Post by: JohnHwangDD


BrassScorpion wrote:Actually, my 3rd Edition Rule Book is intact. The initial print run had a problem with the cover coming off. GW replaced them without question.

Problems did occasionally arise back then with GW products as with any company, but I never had the kind of continuous problems with every new book I bought for over a year like when they first moved to the new binder a few years ago. The Codex and similar books just before that change were of good quality for the few years before that, then suddenly there was a huge problem with every new book release for more than a year.


My 3rd Ed book *almost* made it to the end of 3rd, before the cover came off. I thought I had a "good" one for many, many years. Haha.

I haven't had a problem with any of my 4E or newer Codices or books, and I buy at least 1 Codex a year, simply to keep my armies up. Maybe I'm lucky? Or you're getting the level of quality that GW didn't pay for when they pushed for cost over content?

Like any company, there's a cost/quality tradeoff, and in China, they are more than happy to quote you a rock bottom price for a rock bottom product. That isn't the manufacturer's fault, because they're just delivering what was paid for. Otherwise, I'd just pay Aggie $10 for a pound of lead, and expect him to deliver a pound of gold worth $14k. It's almost identical, so he should have no problem with this.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/21 18:44:14


Post by: MadMaverick76


Well back on topic...

WGF seems to still be running. A buddy of mine placed an order two days ago, and it is already being processed! So this is good news, although there is definitely some price gouging going on already. With some searching though (Google.com) you can find some great prices! *cough*$13 Shock Troops!*cough*


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/21 19:07:46


Post by: SkaerKrow


MadMaverick76 wrote:With some searching though (Google.com) you can find some great prices! *cough*$13 Shock Troops!*cough*
If you mean the ones that Google Shopping lists for $13.99, I would warn you that the seller has them listed as being out of stock/backordered.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/21 19:44:23


Post by: MadMaverick76


SkaerKrow wrote:
MadMaverick76 wrote:With some searching though (Google.com) you can find some great prices! *cough*$13 Shock Troops!*cough*
If you mean the ones that Google Shopping lists for $13.99, I would warn you that the seller has them listed as being out of stock/backordered.


Nope, not CCG Armory, I ordered some SW stuff a while ago from them, WORSE EXPERIENCE EVER! Anyway, I found them from another online retailer for $12.71.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/21 19:54:22


Post by: chaos0xomega


MadMaverick76 wrote:
SkaerKrow wrote:
MadMaverick76 wrote:With some searching though (Google.com) you can find some great prices! *cough*$13 Shock Troops!*cough*
If you mean the ones that Google Shopping lists for $13.99, I would warn you that the seller has them listed as being out of stock/backordered.


Nope, not CCG Armory, I ordered some SW stuff a while ago from them, WORSE EXPERIENCE EVER! Anyway, I found them from another online retailer for $12.71.


I'm guessing you're not sharing the source?


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/21 20:20:48


Post by: warboss


Kid_Kyoto wrote:I would just add China does not a quality control problem. There are a lot of high end things done in China and, because of years of driving higher-priced compeditors out of business, there are some things that now can only be done in China like pop-up books.

What there is is a serious rule of law and trust issue in China. Contracts are hard to enforce and even if your contractor is on the up and up his suppliers might not be.

Manufacuring in China is where the US and other countries were decades ago, everyone looks to cut costs and if they think they can get away with using inferor componants or cheaper processes they will.

But with due dilligence and TIGHT supervision companies can and do make high quality, safe, items there.


no quality control problem? in a country where companies are willing to poison their own infants' baby formula with the same chemical used to coat bargain priced wood panels at home depot in order to save some cash vs using real milk... despite this causing death and (more commonly) kidney failure in babies? i'd say that's a quality problem and our complaints about toy soldier props and the books that go with them are WAAAAAAAAAY down the list of things that need to be looked at regarding chinese quality control.

also, when did you become a pop-up book afficionado? have we discovered the secret other hobby of one of our mods?!?!


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/21 20:43:27


Post by: MadMaverick76


chaos0xomega wrote:
MadMaverick76 wrote:
SkaerKrow wrote:
MadMaverick76 wrote:With some searching though (Google.com) you can find some great prices! *cough*$13 Shock Troops!*cough*
If you mean the ones that Google Shopping lists for $13.99, I would warn you that the seller has them listed as being out of stock/backordered.


Nope, not CCG Armory, I ordered some SW stuff a while ago from them, WORSE EXPERIENCE EVER! Anyway, I found them from another online retailer for $12.71.


I'm guessing you're not sharing the source?


No by all means I will, no one asked.

http://www.superherogameland.com


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/22 02:34:52


Post by: Kid_Kyoto


warboss wrote:
Kid_Kyoto wrote:I would just add China does not a quality control problem. There are a lot of high end things done in China and, because of years of driving higher-priced compeditors out of business, there are some things that now can only be done in China like pop-up books.

What there is is a serious rule of law and trust issue in China. Contracts are hard to enforce and even if your contractor is on the up and up his suppliers might not be.

Manufacuring in China is where the US and other countries were decades ago, everyone looks to cut costs and if they think they can get away with using inferor componants or cheaper processes they will.

But with due dilligence and TIGHT supervision companies can and do make high quality, safe, items there.


no quality control problem? in a country where companies are willing to poison their own infants' baby formula with the same chemical used to coat bargain priced wood panels at home depot in order to save some cash vs using real milk... despite this causing death and (more commonly) kidney failure in babies? i'd say that's a quality problem and our complaints about toy soldier props and the books that go with them are WAAAAAAAAAY down the list of things that need to be looked at regarding chinese quality control.

also, when did you become a pop-up book afficionado? have we discovered the secret other hobby of one of our mods?!?!


Oh there are problems, but QC is not the root of it.

The baby formula cut with industrial plastics was not a mistake, not an accident, not an opps, it was a deliberate policy pursued by manufacurers who felt they'd never be caught, or at least never be punished.

And as it happens the Chinese government and media knew about this but kept it out of the press for months because they didn't want any bad news coming out during the Olympics. (And the IOC said nothing before, during or after while kids were drinking poison).

this is what I mean by QC vs rule of law. It's not that Chinese companies cannot do good work, the problem is a corrupt system that offers no recourse when they do not. So it's not sloppy Chinese work, it's something far far worse.

As for the pop up books I worked in children's books for a few years and yes, our only suppliers for a lot of the gimmicy stuff like pop-ups were Chinese.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/22 09:28:57


Post by: Kroothawk


Kid_Kyoto wrote:Oh there are problems, but QC is not the root of it.

Lets agree on this:
Most low end factories indeed have a quality control problem (plus often human rights and ecological problems as well), while most high end companies manage to produce high quality products with high quality control. GW had some problems with Chinese manufacturers, sometimes due to quality control, sometimes due to communication. But sometimes things worked out with no problems.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/22 11:39:44


Post by: sonofruss


All of GW's resin scenery products are made in china as are forge world items as stated on the package I got from forge world but the quality has gone up in most items since they started producing stuff there.

As to war games factory I hope they make it the great coat guys look usable for an army on the cheap and I am considering buying some for a platoon in my army I am waiting for the heavy weapons to be made to jump in the pool.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/22 13:29:50


Post by: brettz123


JohnHwangDD wrote:

So with a 5-10% failure rate, I guess Chinese bookbinders are roughly 5 to 10 times better than GW's bookbinders. Anybody with a 3rd Edition 40k paperback rulebook completely intact? How about one of their 5 lb ~2000 mega catalogs? I think both of those books fell apart without the slightest provocation.


Actually my 3rd edition rule book is perfectly fine.......


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/24 09:43:18


Post by: Soulhunter


For what its worth my 3rd edition book is ok , as is the 1st edition and the second edition as well but besides....

WGF has posted some new previews for samurai ( at least that is keeping some people happy)
The strange thing is that these models look like those very common 3 up's so it seems that ( for this range) the concept of 3d concepts on the computer has been abandonned.

Still no news from my orc preorder though.

But if they manage to bring those say around march then some serious will hit the proverbal fan ( why no smily for a propellor ?)





Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/24 11:17:09


Post by: Kilkrazy


By strange co-incidence I received my Zombie Horde today. I had ordered it months ago from Caliver Books, and it has been out of stock, no doubt thanks to these supply problems.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/24 12:21:55


Post by: Warnolo


so.. it will affect the release of the new miniatures? you know, the orcs and the amazons.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/25 00:57:26


Post by: chaos0xomega


Soulhunter wrote:
WGF has posted some new previews for samurai ( at least that is keeping some people happy)
The strange thing is that these models look like those very common 3 up's so it seems that ( for this range) the concept of 3d concepts on the computer has been abandonned.



Thank God for that. WGF's 3d sculptor was terrible.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/25 08:11:01


Post by: Agamemnon2


JohnHwangDD wrote:That said, I will correct it, and edit my post to restore what you originally said. My edit made you look more erudite than your original post suggests.


Well, it's not like erudition is appreciated in these parts. This forum has always been much more at home with crude jokes and mindlessly adhering to a repeated meme like a bunch of robots.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/25 08:28:21


Post by: Valhallan42nd


Agamemnon2 wrote:
JohnHwangDD wrote:That said, I will correct it, and edit my post to restore what you originally said. My edit made you look more erudite than your original post suggests.


Well, it's not like erudition is appreciated in these parts. This forum has always been much more at home with crude jokes and mindlessly adhering to a repeated meme like a bunch of robots.




Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/25 23:55:06


Post by: BrassScorpion


Well, it's not like erudition is appreciated in these parts. This forum has always been much more at home with crude jokes and mindlessly adhering to a repeated meme like a bunch of robots.
Someone was bound to say it eventually.

Wargames Factory seems to be updating their website with product info so maybe things are starting to operate somewhat normally again. http://www.wargamesfactory.com/


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/26 00:08:25


Post by: brettz123


Samurai do look very nice..... be interesting to see how these look once they are released.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/26 03:15:30


Post by: warboss


can someone post a link or the pic of the new samurai?


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/26 03:47:03


Post by: AlexHolker


warboss wrote:can someone post a link or the pic of the new samurai?

They have a link on their front page: http://wargamesfactory.com/announcements/preview-samurai-figures


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/26 04:00:42


Post by: AgeOfEgos


Valhallan42nd wrote:
Agamemnon2 wrote:
JohnHwangDD wrote:That said, I will correct it, and edit my post to restore what you originally said. My edit made you look more erudite than your original post suggests.


Well, it's not like erudition is appreciated in these parts. This forum has always been much more at home with crude jokes and mindlessly adhering to a repeated meme like a bunch of robots.





So.....that exchange made me choke a bit on my drink. Don't ever change Dakka.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/26 22:06:38


Post by: plastictrees


I have a hard time believing that those samurai sculpts are actually intended to be 28mm plastics based on the poses and level of detail.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/26 22:16:47


Post by: chaos0xomega


They are 3 ups. I.E. ~84mm. They get scaled down as they go about the production process.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/26 22:21:46


Post by: plastictrees


chaos0xomega wrote:They are 3 ups. I.E. ~84mm. They get scaled down as they go about the production process.


I know. Look at the detail on them. The braided ropes, the texture on the armour. There's no way that's surviving to 28mm, especially given the level of detail on previous WGF models.
I also don't see how they're going to effectively slice them up to be multiparts on a sprue.

Plastic Samurai would be great, I'll just be surprised if we see these guys in plastic.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/27 00:08:33


Post by: chaos0xomega


Ah, I do see what you mean. Yeah, its not going to sruvive the transition to plastic very well. They are pretty new at the non-computer aided sculpting thing, so...


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/27 12:38:17


Post by: SkaerKrow


The going belief among some other people that I know is that these figures will be released as 54mm vanity models. Which would be strange, seeing as how that's really not the realm that WGF tends to operate in.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/27 13:37:49


Post by: Kilkrazy


New management = new ideas, perhaps?


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/27 15:37:26


Post by: adamsouza


The going rumor/news on the WGF site is that the samurai are indeed sculpted by the new sculptor, but were never intended for WGF use.

If you notice in the description, Loniie says it's what the new sculptor has recently completed, but not that WGF will be releasing it.

They are just trying to show us shiny stuff to keep us placated during the transition.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/27 15:39:17


Post by: SkaerKrow


Kilkrazy wrote:New management = new ideas, perhaps?
Quite possibly. They could start releasing museum quality My Little Pony reproductions for all I care, just so long as they keep supporting their affordable plastic soldier ranges.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/01/27 15:39:51


Post by: Kanluwen


It's a good idea, actually. It shows the talent of the new sculptor and gets you fired up for what he'll be making


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/02/14 16:58:25


Post by: SkaerKrow


Could be nothing, but currently there are no items for purchase from Wargames Factory. If you try to add anything to your cart, the site tells you that the item is out of print/no longer available.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/02/15 03:21:11


Post by: Kid_Kyoto


SkaerKrow wrote:Could be nothing, but currently there are no items for purchase from Wargames Factory. If you try to add anything to your cart, the site tells you that the item is out of print/no longer available.


From their boards it seems their stock is still in Massachusets and being shipped to the new owner's HQ in Utah.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/02/15 12:59:30


Post by: SkaerKrow


Ah, good catch, KK. Thanks for pointing that out.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/03/29 22:28:26


Post by: Kroothawk


Damn, this thread was easier to find with google than with Dakka's search function. Anyway:

The current owner Wai Kee Hu of Wargames Factory finally made a statement answering to the accusations by Tony Reidy:

Public Statement from Wai Kee Hui regarding Wargames Factory

It has been a little more than 2 months since Tony Reidy posted his “Open Letter to Wai Kee Hui” on The Miniatures Page website. I was aware of this “letter” at the time of posting and although I was annoyed at his unprofessional tone and angered at what amounted to many outright lies, I decided that my best course of action was to stay out of online politics and instead focus on trying to get the company I had recently become majority shareholder of into functional order.

The past 2 months have been extremely busy with trying to figure out what orders had been placed and paid for before I took over, inventorying product that was still in stock at Triangle and setting up a new order platform and shipping facility. These goals have now been accomplished, with all outstanding orders shipped and our web store reopened.

Throughout this process I was cognizant of the defamation of character my associates and I were receiving in Cyberspace at the hands of Tony Reidy and Howard Whitehouse. Even though at many times the temptation was strong for me to jump in and tell my side of the story, I refrained from doing so while we were struggling to put Wargames Factory back on track. Now that we are on the road to recovery, and in lieu of increasingly slanderous postings being made by Tony and Howard, I feel the time has come for me to set the record straight.

I became majority shareholder of Wargames Factory along with all its’ intellectual properties on October 13th, 2010. This acquisition occurred because over the course of the previous 2 years Tony Reidy had run up a bill of more than $250,000 with my manufacturing company in China and had failed to make a single payment on his bill during this time. Despite rumors to the contrary, I am not an immensely wealthy man and this is a huge sum of money to me. When it became evident that Tony was unable and unwilling to pay his debt to me, I had to consider my options. Option 1 was that I cease making product for Tony and call in the debt I was owed, which would effectively put Wargames Factory out of business. Option 2 was that I assume 51% ownership of Wargames Factory in return for the $250,000 I was owed . The intention behind option 2 was that I would gain controlling interest and help manage the company into some sort of financial health, where I might be able to recoup the monies owed me as well as make money for the rest of the shareholders. When both options were presented to Tony Reidy he chose option 2 and signed the paperwork transferring majority ownership to me on October 13th, 2010.

What occurred next is that Tony Reidy felt he should still be able to continue to manage Wargames Factory as he saw fit, with my only input being to proceed to produce product as before. This was not a scenario I was comfortable with, for obvious reasons. As a point of fact, before I signed the paperwork transferring the 51%, we had a forensic accountant look at the company’s financial health and it was discovered that the company had been running in the red for its’ entire existence under the management of Tony. While Tony is passionate about wargaming and the wargaming community, it was clear that he was completely unsuited to running this business. It was evident that for Wargames Factory to have any chance of financial success it would need to have a new business model.

The months following my acquisition of majority stock were rocky and tumultuous as I attempted to form some sort of working relationship with Tony Reidy. Many months were spent trying to get Tony to release access to the web store, company records and company bank accounts so that I could start to get a picture of what we were dealing with. In addition to the constant struggle to simply gain information regarding the company I now owned 51% of, more and more vendors and individuals started coming out of the woodwork claiming that Tony Reidy/Wargames Factory owed them money and they had never been paid.

I need to make something very clear. The agreement that Tony and I signed has a clause that states that he had fully apprised me of all debts the company owed before I became majority stockholder, and that any debts not disclosed were the responsibility of Tony, not Wargames Factory. I will not go into the long list of debts to both vendors and individuals undisclosed by Tony that have come to light over the past five months, but I am going to tell you about one specific debt.

When I took over the company I decided that we would need to move our operations and shipping out of the Boston area. This decision was based on the fact that my associates are based in the western United States and it made the most sense for our new business model to relocate there. When we told Triangle that we would regrettably be moving our shipping operations elsewhere, they informed us that before we could remove the Wargames Factory merchandise from their facility I would need to pay them the $5,000 that was owed to them for back salaries for their disabled shipping employees. This came as a big surprise to me, especially when I asked for a copy of their bill and discovered that Tony Reidy had not made a payment to the employees of Triangle for almost 2 years. In light of Tony and Howard’s recent posts claiming I cheated Triangle out of their money, I find myself most dishonored by this blatant lie.

There is not enough time for me to address all of the accusations and falsehoods about the new Wargames Factory team that have spun out of control over the internet for the past months, but I feel that I needed to shed a little light on what has actually transpired behind the scenes. For everyone’s information, between the $250,000 I was initially owed by Wargames Factory and the amount of money I have put into the company over the past 5 months to keep it afloat and get it back on its’ feet, it will be a long time before I possibly see any return on my investments. I am not a villainous, foreign millionaire doing a shady hostile takeover of a poor American company to make a fast buck. I am simply a business man who is making the best I can out of the difficult situation that is in front of me.

With that out of the way I want to let you know that while I am new to the wargaming world I am dedicated to providing the highest quality and most innovative product in the market and to listening to how you, our valued customers, would like to see Wargames Factory evolve. I thank you all for your patience during what was a very rocky transition and look forward to smoother sailing ahead.

Sincerely, Wai Kee Hui




Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/03/29 22:35:30


Post by: Doctor Optimal


I just want to see them release the Greatcoat Command/HWS sprue. Is that too much to ask?


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/03/29 22:51:10


Post by: kenshin620


Doctor Optimal wrote:I just want to see them release the Greatcoat Command/HWS sprue. Is that too much to ask?


With how the letter above went? It sure is when you cant pay off depts! Pray that mantic wont make "not cadians"

BTW in the general discussions I posted something from TMP about their products, they still have problems with them wit the recent sets


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/03/29 23:33:46


Post by: Neffertech


Kroothawk wrote:Damn, this thread was easier to find with google than with Dakka's search function. Anyway:

The current owner Wai Kee Hu of Wargames Factory finally made a statement answering to the accusations by Tony Reidy:



Tony Reidy strikes back again in a comment later on Table Top Gaming News. This seems like an inexhaustable source of back and forth anger.. like Dynasty.



Out of curiousity has anyone had any experience with the new management since the ownership change? How have they been customer service wise? Have things gotten better, worse or stayed the same.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/03/29 23:38:36


Post by: BrassScorpion


Sounds like one of the worst aspects of this is that what should have been the altruistic attempt to employ the handicapped ended up in their not getting paid. If true it's another "how low can you go" moment in business.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/03/30 00:10:23


Post by: Kalamadea


I'm guessing the thread I started on this got deleted so that everything would be in this older thread (I was worried about threadomancy). Basically, all I posted was the same press release and a comment about how the truth was probably somewhere in the middle, but I deffinately side with the new owners if only becuase they just laid out their side of it and didn't resort to name-calling or personal attacks. I'll side with "look, this is what happened..." over "those jerks are jerks and jerkily swindled my company from me, the jerks!" anyday of the week.

Good to know that Tony Reid is starting a new plastics company, more plastic is good plastic. Hopefully it works out better for everyone involved and both companies thrive and release many, many cool models for me to blow more money on. Becuase I'll do it, oh yes I will, I'm a sucker for good models (or at the very least decent and cheap models) despite any shady backdoor politics that may or may not have occured


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/03/30 09:08:50


Post by: Kroothawk


Neffertech wrote:Tony Reidy strikes back again in a comment later on Table Top Gaming News. This seems like an inexhaustable source of back and forth anger.. like Dynasty.

Okay, here it is:
Tony Reidy wrote:Wow, the amount of misinformation and outright lies in this missive is staggering. I had hoped that after myself and the entire creative team behind Wargames Factory was “canned” as George Sivy (Wai Kee’s business manager) so elegantly put it back on January 7th, they would spend their time focusing on actually operating the company and fixing their mistakes.

Instead, it seems that the focus has been on mis-packing product, making bizarre announcements about union busting, continuing to screw up molds, and printing packaging that hasn’t been finished (from what I glean on Facebook)

I’ll be happy to present a detailed list of monies spent – including payments directly to George Sivy – and explain the nice way in which they have used a technical piece of the agreement (which actually was put in place way back in July and August) to weasel out of invoices that were presented AFTER Wai Kee took control.

I’m sorry to everyone in the wargames community that all this nonsense is so public – and it is my own fault for losing my temper back in January after being blind-sided by Lonnie Mullins’ backstabbing and subsequent ousting from the company I started. It’s clear that since they aren’t competent enough to actually operate a business, they need to divert attention to me personally as somehow the cause of all ongoing problems.

In the meantime, the original creative team has all come together and we are shortly to be launching full ranges of hard plastic miniatures under our new company – Defiance Games.

We’ll let the quality and release schedule speak for us going forward.

Thanks everyone – and I’m sorry again to have all this nonsense “out there”

All the best,

Tony

Tony Reidy
Defiance Games
http://www.defiancegames.com

(...)
Hi LaBambaMan – I just have a hard time sticking to corporate speak when I know the depths to which people are willing to stoop. Whoever wrote this – I imagine it was written by George Sivy and then Wai Kee put his name to it – it’s just so wrong and misleading.

To drag poor Howard Whitehouse into this – especially given that they owe him backpay for December and January – is just ridiculous. If you know Howard – and so many people in the wargames community do – the sillyness in attacking him is just mind-boggling.

I was happy to let this whole thing blow over and move on, and I assume the only reason it’s popping up now (nearly 3 months after all of us were kicked out) is because they need to try to deflect attention from the ongoing failures – mis-printed packaging, mis-sized figures, labeling 28mm figures as 1/48 scale?, mis-packed sets, Lonnie’s bizarre rants on TMP and Facebook, etc. I cringe to see what they’re doing to a company that was actually on its way to major success right before this all took place. It’s just sad for all of us who worked so hard to build Wargames Factory.

Anyway, enough of that. I understand where you’re coming from and apologize for the passion. The whole situation is just sad.

Thanks,
Tony



Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/03/30 09:24:18


Post by: filbert


He doesn't really address any of the points raised by Wai Kee Hui though, just attacks them as 'lies' and 'silly'. Not really much of a rebuttal, is it?


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/03/30 09:28:08


Post by: NAVARRO


"We’ll let the quality and release schedule speak for us going forward."

If its going to have wargammes factory quality then its better not to let quality speak for itself.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/03/30 09:40:05


Post by: Kroothawk


Still, suits firing all creative staff is not ending well for a company.
It's like GW firing Rick Priestley ... oh wait!


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/03/30 09:48:25


Post by: NAVARRO


Depends if they can hire more competent creatives I mean creating half a face in a 3d program and flip it does not make someone creative


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/03/30 11:06:24


Post by: Kilkrazy


To me (a trained businessman) Wai Kee Hu's letter sounds a lot more professional and convincing/realistic than Tony Reidy's.

As filbert said, he doesn't address the core issues.

What happened to the $250,000?



Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/03/30 11:51:27


Post by: spaceelf


It is ironic that many of us gripe about GW's prices and inept business practices, but when another company sells miniatures cheap they run up huge debts and are bought out.

In any case, it is an unfortunate situation. It looks like Tony knows war games and has a good heart as he employed the disabled, but could not handle the business end. (You are not paranoid, the other companies are really out there trying to get you.) Wai Kee Hui seems to be a better businessman, but is confirming the stereotype that businessmen are heartless by firing all of the creative staff and changing shipping centers.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/03/30 12:02:13


Post by: kenshin620


spaceelf wrote:It is ironic that many of us gripe about GW's prices and inept business practices, but when another company sells miniatures cheap they run up huge debts and are bought out.


Ehh not really. It reflects that even with prices, they'll have to back it up with products we actually want (LaUL, what a horrible mess, greek amazons over samurais and germans, really?) and quality of said product. the wargamming community found lacking in both and did not spend cash on it. Niche businesses are tricky


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/03/30 13:26:30


Post by: BrassScorpion


Kilkrazy wrote:To me (a trained businessman) Wai Kee Hu's letter sounds a lot more professional and convincing/realistic than Tony Reidy's.
Yeah, I'm going with that take on the situation as well.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/03/30 16:18:53


Post by: Kroothawk


Is there any creative staff at Wargames Factory or are they just selling off Tony's designs?


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/04/02 07:24:43


Post by: Kroothawk


Small update by precinctomega over at Warseer:
Over at TMP, Lonnie Mullins has now posted for download....

No, wait. What would you expect to see from a wargaming miniatures company? Perhaps army lists to field the new Amazons in a range of popular historical game systems? Or a set of experimental Amazons vs Orcs rules for their own game system? Perhaps some concept art for a new set or race? Maybe an exciting snippet of fiction to hint at forthcoming releases? A Persians painting guide?

No. None of the above. Lonnie has put up for download a bill owed by the former owner to his warehousing company.

I tried really hard to be objective, optimistic and sensible, but this has now descended to a childish farce. I will not spend any money at either WGF or Defiance until they all stop airing their dirty linen in public and get on with being adults.

R.


Wargames Factory under new management/ownership? @ 2011/04/02 09:35:43


Post by: Kilkrazy


I don't know if Wargames Factory have creative staff, however, there are plenty of talented sculptors working freelance or for small companies.

They could commission pieces or perhaps license complete lines.

The main issue would be how to adapt the design or sculpt for polystyrene injection moulding.