Dark Lands and Bane Beasts

We're scaling back the releases from our Darklands: A World of War Kickstarter project this month - with just the four miniatures unveiled, for the Angelcynn, Fomoraic and Khthones - but to compensate for that, we've got the first BaneBeast for a long while to tickle your fancies!

The Angelcynn gain the remaining Duguth warrior, Cuthwulf; for the Fomoraic we have the mighty Vaak, the Moraine Beast; and the Khthones releases continue with the last Gorgonar from the unit of five, Iimiithi, as well as the awesome Pétroyos, Lískarchon. Lastly, but not leastly, we have the mighty Proteanc, Fickle Lord of Uroboros - a Phoenix Lord based on the equally fantastic Hrudinn!

Back to now: just like the last few months, thanks to us being busier than busy bees we've just not had the time to get the release art and descriptions done; but you can still see some good images of each miniature on the website of course.

Cuthwulf, Duguth Warrior



The fifth (and thus last) miniature of the five-man Duguth with spears unit, Cuthwulf may only be a warrior but he's a cracking miniature for all that. Cuthwulf, like all the Duguth, was sculpted by Juan Navarro Pérez from a concept by Des Hanley, and they are all fantastic miniatures!

Vaak, Moraine Beast



It's been a while since the last Fomoraic miniature was released, but happily Vaak heralds the first of a few miniatures for the Eye in the Ice over the next few months for we have Belech, Qaano, Aalvór and Maallolvór to come. Vaak is a Moraine Beast, a creature of ice and rock moulded by Baalor's warlocks, the better to destroy his enemies whilst throwing great chunks of ice at them. With a concept drawn by Stefan Kopinski and a sculpt by Roberto Chaudon, Vaak may look a bit odd but that's because he's totally unnatural. Watch out for a superb icy paint job by Sébastien Picque very soon!

Pétroyos, Lískarchon



Sculpted by Roberto Chaudon from a concept by Christophe Madura, Pétroyos is a Lískarchon, a leader of the Lískes and thus related to the Vasílísk, Mazikílías. Pétroyos can turn enemies to stone with one gaze, too, just like his mighty cousin... so don't mess with him!

Iimithi, Warrior of Khthon



Iimithi's concept was drawn by Christophe Madura and the miniature itself was sculpted by Stéphane Simon. With Vilthiss, Issithill, Mneriiss and Ufhilloss already released, that's the Gorgonar Unit of five now complete!

Proteanc, Fickle Lord of Uroboros



Speaking of long whiles, it's been almost a year since the last BaneBeast, N'nhohbr'hoth (pronounced 'nob-rot'), so we thought we'd better release something for the BaneLegions range. The addition of Hrudinn to Darklands gave us a bit of an idea, so we gave Roberto Chaudon (the sculptor of Hrudinn of course) to turn a raven-giant into a Phoenix Lord. The results, we think, are simply spectacular...

All of the releases above will be officially released on the 1st of March 2014, but you can pre-order them now from this very website to your heart's content!

Next month will definitely see the release of our incredible dragon, Angrislaug, and the frankly sublime Champion of Dis, Malacant, as well as three other miniatures... watch this space!

A Triumvirate of Wælwulfas, Profiles and Templates

This Mierceday we have an excellent update for you! We have the first work in progress images of the Wælwulfas, pictures of Belech and guitar, the usual news about project fulfilment, more new warrior profiles available to download, the new Muster Rules and images of the 4" Fire Spray Template in use. How awesome is that?

Wælwulf Unit

Benoît Cosse is sculpting the Wælwulfas of course and he's cracking on with the champion, Æsc (pronounced "Ash").











You'll note, as always, that Benoît's images are not the best, so please take these with a pinch of salt - the resulting miniatures are always far better in the flesh than they look from his images. The observant among you will also note that Benoît has a somewhat scattergun approach to the colour of fimo he uses, in that he generally uses what's to hand, and this can throw the eye sometimes. Most sculptors prefer only one colour of fimo - Benoît is very unusual!

Belech the Axeman

Ahhh here we go. Roberto Chaudon's completed Belech the Axeman, and he's rocking out







Belech, Axeman of Omens will be a BaneLords release next month.

Darklands: a World of War Fulfilment

Shipment of remaining items from Darklands: a World of War orders is cracking on and where this is possible we'll also combine these remaining items with Wave 0 orders for First Edition items from the Darklands: First Edition kickstarter project. Once the QuickStarter Rules are printed, we'll start shipping those too!

Of the remaining miniatures to be sent, the Limited Edition Penda with Wolf Helm, Chaagmuth on hoof, Brynhild Gunnblindi, Gamla Bror and Jowan and Drune-Hounds are shipping, along with Angrislaug, Vaak, Pétroyos and Qaano. We now have the 80mm bases so can ship Belech with them (and we're shipping 80mm bases to those people that have a Belech without one). Leofwen on Great Hart, Aalvór, Maallolvór, Kernuor on Karnun-Beast and Druc are now shipping also, and we have the 4" Fire Spray Templates (for the Dyndraig Starter Set - see below) in our possession too, and that will begin shipping next week.

So, as we have everything in our possession bar the Wælwulfas and the QuickStarter rulebook, we're now going to ensure that all of the other remaining miniatures from your orders will ship together. Whilst this may mean a delay for you, it makes sense for us to save money on postage in this way.

We humbly ask that you remain patient - we're casting as fast as we can!

Remaining Sculpts

In terms of remaining sculpt progress, here's an update:
Benoît Cosse: It's the Wælwulfas for him next and he's already started the champion. We expect these to be done by the end of March, but this could easily slip. We'll keep you informed, as always.

There's a few other bits and pieces yet to be done of course, so here's how progress is looking on those fronts...

QuickStarter Rules - v10.5

The latest version of the QuickStarter Rules - v10.5 - is the FINAL version before printing.

You can download them here: Darklands QuickStarter Rules v10.5

There are many minor changes from previous versions, so I would recommend - especially if you are familiar with those previous versions of the QuickStarter Rules - to have a good read through, and also please check out the Mierce Miniatures forum, in particular the "Darklands Rules Discussion" section and the "Observations from a first read" thread...

As before, please bear in mind that v10.5 of the QuickStarter Rules are to get you by until they're formatted for printing. As such, whilst they'll look very like these rules in terms of layout and the wording, they'll be a bit more... well, spangly when they're ready for print and download. Once the QuickStarter rules are printed (we're looking at some time in March now), they will of course be sent out to you along with the remainder of your order.

Muster Rules

The new, updated Muster Rules are now available for download.

You can download them here: Darklands Muster Rules v2.3

They include the most recent, updated rules regarding hosts, units and warriors as listed in the QuickStarter Rulebook, but there are two major changes you must all take note of:
Battle Sizes: there is one new battle size, Encounter, from 0 to 499; and Skirmish, Battle and War battle sizes have changed slightly so there's no overlap.
Ubiquity Limits: these have changed to include Encounter battle sizes, but generals can now include more Uncommon warriors in their hosts than before.

The Muster Rules will not be printed, please remember; they will always be available for download and will always be living rules.

Warrior Profiles

We now have warrior profiles for the Albainn, Angelcynn, Brythoniaid, Fomoraic, Khthones, Norse, Vras, Ysian and Sell-Sword musters in the new format ready for download.

The Fomoraic and Angelcynn - and now the Brythoniaid - include new profiles for the miniatures from Darklands: First Edition (and bear in mind that these new profiles are only partially playtested - expect changes and feel free to give us feedback on the Mierce forums), so check them out for some awesome new warriors!

Albainn Muster v1.2
ANGELCYNN MUSTER v1.7 (minor updates from last week)
BRYTHONIAID MUSTER v1.3 (includes new warrior profiles)
FOMORAIC MUSTER v1.5 (minor updates from last week)
Khthones Muster v1.1
Norse Muster v1.2
Vras Muster v1.2
Ysian Muster v1.4
Sell-Sword Muster v1.2

No doubt there'll be a few errors or typos - feel free to tell us about them!

It's worth noting again one major change from previous versions - gold costs. These have changed quite a lot, thanks to the introduction of new coefficients, so if you're used to the old gold costs - well, you'll have to get used to the new ones!

There's also a handy pronunciation guide (based on the Wikipedia Pronunciation Respelling Key) under the warrior's title and, at the bottom of each profile, a suggestion on which miniature from our range to use as that warrior on the battlefield.

With some musters already including new warrior profiles, it won't be long before we can give you musters for every kindred that include all of the miniatures that exist, found in this project or found in Darklands: First Edition!

If there's anything you need to know before the other warrior profiles are sorted, or about how the new format of warrior profile works, just ask on the forums please and we'll endeavour to answer your questions.

Templates

We have good news - the 4" Fire Spray Template is now available and will be sent with remaining items (to anybody who ordered a Dyndraig Starter Set) next week. Here's an image of one in action:


The 4" Fire spray template in action

There are other templates being produced, a list of which is below, but it must be noted that none of these will be sent to anybody for free, and none of them will be included with a miniature when it is bought. If you wish to use these templates in Darklands, you must purchase them!
4" Fire Spray Template (Dyndraig, Cawrdraig)
6" Fire Spray Template (Chimaera)
8" Fire Spray Template (Angrislaug)
4" Frost Spray Template (Idruaada invocation)
6" Frost Spray Template (Shaaroc)
8" Frost Spray Template
4" Filth Spray Template (Torku)
2" Stone Shard Crush Template (Magágg, Cormorágg)
3" Pig Carcass Crush Template (Cormorágg)
3" Ice Shard Crush Template (Vaak)

We're on course to have them done by the end of February if not before, so expect them to be a March release, although we're unsure of their prices yet.

Remember, if you've ordered a Dyndraig Starter Set from this project, you'll get a 4" Fire Spray Template sent to you for free!

The End of Darklands: a World of War In Sight

We think that - around the end of March 2014 time (although those Wælwulfas will probably push things back) - pretty much everything will be done for Darklands: a World of War; which will both be a sad day and an awesome day. Either way, we'll find some way to celebrate...!

There'll be another update next week though of course, hopefully with more images of the Wælwulfas!

More WIPs, Wave 0 news, New Musters, Disappearing Hosts and KS2.5

It's Mierceday once more! It seems to come around more quickly every week...

This Friday we have the usual work in progress images of miniatures for you, news of project fulfilment and of the next project; but we also have warrior profiles for miniatures produced by this project and news of the encounter hosts and skirmish hosts and battle hosts... because they're going to disappear on Monday ahead of the next project!

Dúngal, Mormaer of Dun Durn on Horse

Fresh from completing Ciniod, Itaina and Domnech, Olivier Nkweti has turned his attention to Dúngal on his horse - and the results are superb, as you can see!









Dúngal on horse should be completed by the end of March, we think.

Idruaada, Warlock Lord of Baalor

Gauthier Giroud is a totally new sculptor to the Mierce Miniatures range but it's almost as if he's always been with us. Just look at how Idruaada (drawn originally by Steve Pierce) is shaping up!





We reckon Idruaada will be complete by the end of March.

Myrinna, Avenger of Khthon

Now this is really exciting. Myrinna is a unique step for Mierce Miniatures, for she will be our first digitally sculpted miniature! Created by Hector Moran from Christophe Madura's artwork, Myrinna is really shaping up!







Hector has pretty much completed his work on Myrinna, barring a few cosmetic changes and lengthening her polekhine, and we reckon he'll be onto the next Gorgórar very shortly.

Danilo Cruz, Beast-Slayer of Cantabria

Danny Cruz' alter ego is really shaping up now! Juan Navarro Pérez is outdoing himself with this miniature; it looks superb!









It's worth noting here that Danilo will be shipped with a scenic base and a normal base, so you can decide if you want to have him as a collector's piece or a gaming piece. Or maybe you could even use both with judicious use of pins or magnets!

Annik of Carn Wrach, Battle-Drune

With Crom of Carn Wrach (at least on foot) complete, Stéphane Simon has turned his attention to the next Danny Cruz drawn Ysian noble - Annik!







We think you'll agree that Stéphane's work is stunning and we can't wait to get our hands on her. Superb!

Trytheorn, Geat Warrior Descendant

Trytheorn, Tomas Johansson's Geat Warrior descendant, is currently being drawn up by Danny Cruz and we should have the concept art for you soon. Unfortunately Tomas wasn't happy with Danny's first work so he's being re-drawn; if he's done by next Friday, we can both unveil him to you all and allow him to be purchased from the webstore!

Disappearing Hosts

Speaking of the webstore, we must inform you all that EVERY encounter host and skirmish host - which includes the "The Sweet Spot" reward - will be removed from the Darklands: First Edition category on Monday the 24th of February at midnight (GMT). That gives you three days to purchase what you want!

The reason for this is twofold. Firstly, we have decided to release encounter hosts for each kindred soon, and thus keeping the old ones will cause confusion for you guys. Secondly, the structure of the next project (KS2.5 if you will) will make the hosts from this project redundant in many ways, so they must be removed beforehand.

There are some good news, though, because certain encounter hosts can now be dispatched to you as part of your Wave 0 order. These are:
Fomoraic Tarvax Encounter Host
Fomoraic Srónax Encounter Host
Khthones Gorgonar Encounter Host
Ysian Brute Encounter Host
Ysian Drune Encounter Host (now that Annik is almost complete)
Ysian Drune Skirmish Host

This also means that the "The Sweet Spot" reward will also be removed, as that includes encounter hosts of course.

So, if you really do want any of those hosts, or indeed The Sweet Spot reward, you'd better get them quickly!

Darklands: First Edition Fulfilment

We are now shipping Wave 0 orders to backers from this project, but we would ask all of you to remain patient while we do so. We are only a small team and are still fulfilling the remaining orders for Darklands: a World of War, and we do expect to continue fulfilling Wave 0 orders throughout February into March and no doubt later. We will keep you all updated of course.

Sculpts and Sculptors

Here's the big list of who's sculpting what and when for Darklands: First Edition! Please bear in mind that this list may change over time, so don't take it as set in stone until the first work in progress shots appear.
Stéphane Cammosetto: the awesomely talented Stéphane is sculpting the first descendant - John Longshore's Brythoniaid bowman, Ieuan Longshore (not forgetting his mastiff, Taranau) - and has also agreed to sculpt Eadric on foot and on horse for us.
Allan Carrasco: Allan should begin work on Jörmungand in March. After that he will be sculpting Knútr on Foot, Knútr on Horse, Víthar, Birna, Rollo Iron Head and Cnebba.
Roberto Chaudon: Work onAngedern will be started shortly, followed by Mag ap Mag, Mälmord, Ágriosávra, Eikovra, Myrkranio and finally Djiuzu.
Daniel Cockersell: the Daddy of all monster sculptors, Dan has begun work on Scecchus, but it will be a while before he is done.
Benoît Cosse: Benoît is still working on Darklands: a World of War miniatures and won't start Hrór, Finnan, Praach and the Baagath's Herd for a good long while yet.
Thomas David: work on Timoth has begun, but we only have an armature so there's not a great deal to see.
Pedro Fernández Ramos: Mananaan on foot is finished of course, and he'll soon begin work on Mananaan on horse.
Yannick Fusier: the first images of Bagseg in progress have arrived but there's not a lot to see as yet; we should have something in the next couple of weeks.
Jacques-Alexandre Gillois: he should begin work on Daarkan, Naraa and both Equitus Durio on foot and Equitus Durio on horse soon. Although not necessarily in that order, and we're not sure when - we just know they'll be done before May.
Gauthier Giroud: work on Idruaada has begun and it shouldn't be too long before it's complete.
Stéphane NGuyen: Stéphane should begin work on Seza soon, but we're not sure when right now.
Christian Hardy: Christian will begin work on Aldhelm (taken from Maxime Penaud), Velchior and Agathae soon.
Tre Manor: Tre of Red Box Games fame will be taking time out for us to sculpt Erebius, which is now underway.
Patrick Masson: It's Gaarwäg for Patrick next, although he won't be complete until May.
Hector Moran: Work on the Dawn of Khthon, Gorgórar Unit has begun, and after that he will be digitally sculpting Con I Modius, Legionary Contubernium.
Olivier Nkweti: Dúngal on horse is being sculpted, and once he's done he will digitally sculpt Hanokh and Thoth.
Juan Navarro Pérez: Danilo Cruz and Urien on foot are in progress, and Urien on horse, Carys, Caedoc and Ffion Ferddig will follow.
Stéphane Simon: we've loaded Stéphane up with Leofwen on foot (who should be started shortly), Crom on horse, Zethag, Annik, Gondard and his Nithing, Xontór, Thelliatiss, the Holumenn Unit and the Gesíth Unit. Phew!
Valentin Zak: Valentin will sculpt Broga for us and will begin doing so soon.
Unknown: the remaining three descendants, which are Rick Boer's Frisian Warrior (due to be drawn by Stefan Kopinski), Trytheorn, Tomas Johansson's Geat Warrior (due to be drawn by Danny Cruz) and Maximilian Schüte's Germanic Berserker.

Now that is a lot of sculpts...

Darklands: First Edition II

Let's have a little more on our next project, "Darklands: First Edition II". The definite (barring a zombie apocalypse) start date of this project will be Monday the 24th of March, and it should end thirty days later on Wednesday the 23rd of April. This neatly avoids Salute 2014 the weekend before (12th of April), at which we will have a stall, and is just after the easter holidays. We'll be running it for the full thirty days this time, too!

Whilst the dates for the next project lie before Darklands: First Edition begins to be fulfilled, there'll be no conflict between the two because the next project simply adds to this project, and adds units mostly. Many of the early goals will be able to be shipped with earlier Waves, too!

We'll allow people to purchase both the Darklands rulebook (with Uhtred and Finnan), the Concept Art book and possibly a couple of other rewards from the First Edition project, but the whole thing will be a lot easier to grasp this time - there'll be no "hosts" or "starter sets" or anything like that, because they become incredibly complicated over time (and are a nightmare post-Kickstarter). Don't recoil in horror, however - we've hit upon a system that will replicate the discounts you get but also enables you to choose what freebies you'd like with what you purchase. We've not decided on everything - so please don't ask for specifics yet! That will come in time, there's five more updates to go before the project begins.

To whet your appetite (since there's only four weeks to go), here's a concept of a miniature that we hope we'll get to during the course of the next project...



Eoric, Werwulf Champion

We'll have more on Darklands: First Edition II next week. Until then, keep it Darklands!

Bumper Update Fun

To make up for the dearth of news on our other Kickstarter project, today is going to be an awesome day here at Darklands: First Edition - for not only do we have some fantastic work in progress images of some previously unseen miniatures (as well as some previously seen), we have news of project fulfilment and a bit more information on how our next project will be structured. Huzzah!

Dúngal, Mormaer of Dun Durn on Horse

The Albainn general, Dúngal, is now sitting gracefully on a horse! Well, perhaps not gracefully, but you get the idea. Olivier Nkweti is really nailing the Albainn!









Dúngal on horse will be complete soon, even though there's still a few bits to do, but he won't be sent until Wave 1 of course, in June.

Bagseg, Oghurithne Umaer

Anybody who knows Confrontation will know that Yannick Fusier sculpted many amazing miniatures for Rackham in his time, but we think Bagseg is bloody brilliant and easily a match for anything he did for that wonderful miniature range. We defy you to state otherwise! Sculpted from a concept by Sam Lamont, you can bet that we'll be chaining Yannick down to do more sculpts for us in the future...











...and here's a shot of the sheep and Oghu stone:





No doubt we'll become known for farmyard animals on hips as well as feet on rocks and knuckle-walking monsters, but hey ho. Can anybody list all of our hip animals? There's a biscuit for the winner!

Again, Bagseg should be finished fairly soon and will be sent in Wave 1.

Angedern, Prifdyndraig of Gwaelod

Roberto Chaudon doesn't half shift! Angedern's taking shape very quickly and it won't be long before he moves on to some of our other sculpts!







Angedern will be a Wave 1 monkey just like the above.

Ieuan Longshore and Taranau

The frankly revelatory Stéphane Camosseto (which is the definitive spelling) has now completed our first descendant, John Longshore's Ieuan Longshore and mastiff, Taranau, and what a couple of miniatures they are. They're superb, and Ieuan himself bears a striking resemblance to John, we think!









Ieuan will be sent out with other Wave 1 products in June... although we reserve the right to send some to John before then ;o)

Jörmungand, Troll Jarl

Allan Carrasco, fresh from producing a masterpiece in Qaano, has blasted away at Jörmungand (from artwork by Stefan Kopinski) rather quickly, as you can see!













We don't think it will be too long before he's in our mitts, but again, he's a Wave 1 monkey. So be patient - and we're looking at you, Andrew Speirs!

Danilo Cruz, Beast-Slayer of Cantabria

Juan Navarro Pérez. What can one say about a sculptor such as he, that hasn't been said before a bazillion times? Danilo Cruz (drawn by Danny Cruz, heh) is, frankly, awesome.











Regarding the scenic base, that will be separate, and we will give you both a 30mm base (so you can use him in games) and an appropriate size base for scenic purposes.

The stupendous Danilo Cruz will be finished shortly and will ship with Wave 1 orders.

Darklands: First Edition Fulfilment

We are now shipping Wave 0 orders to backers from this project, but we would ask all of you to remain patient while we do so. We are only a small team and are still fulfilling the remaining orders for Darklands: a World of War, and we do expect to continue fulfilling Wave 0 orders throughout March and no doubt later. We will keep you all updated of course.

Sculpts and Sculptors

Here's the big list of who's sculpting what and when for Darklands: First Edition! Please bear in mind that this list may change over time, so don't take it as set in stone until the first work in progress shots appear.
Stéphane Cammosetto: with Ieuan Longshore and Taranau now complete, Stéphane will start work on Eadric on foot and on horse in April.
Allan Carrasco: Jörmungand, amazingly, is almost complete and after that (probably April) he will be sculpting Knútr on Foot, Knútr on Horse, Víthar, Birna, Rollo Iron Head and Cnebba.
Roberto Chaudon: Angedern is in progress, and he will be followed by Mag ap Mag, Mälmord, Ágriosávra, Eikovra, Myrkranio and finally Djiuzu.
Daniel Cockersell: the Daddy of all monster sculptors, Dan has begun work on Scecchus, but it will be a while before he is done.
Benoît Cosse: Benoît is still working on Darklands: a World of War miniatures and won't start Hrór, Finnan, Praach and Baagath's Herd for a good long while yet.
Thomas David: work on Timoth has begun, but we only have an armature so there's not a great deal to see.
Pedro Fernández Ramos: Mananaan on foot is finished of course, and he'll soon begin work on Mananaan on horse.
Yannick Fusier: the awesome Bagseg is nearly done, and hopefully Yannick will continue his work with us in the future... on the Oghurithne warriors!
Jacques-Alexandre Gillois: he should begin work on Daarkan, Naraa and both Equitus Durio on foot and Equitus Durio on horse soon. Although not necessarily in that order, and we're not sure when - we just know they'll be done before May.
Gauthier Giroud: work on Idruaada has begun and it shouldn't be too long before it's complete.
Stéphane NGuyen: Stéphane should begin work on Seza soon, but we're not sure when right now.
Christian Hardy: Christian will begin work on Aldhelm (taken from Maxime Penaud), Velchior and Agathae soon.
Tre Manor: Tre of Red Box Games fame will be taking time out for us to sculpt Erebius, which is now underway.
Patrick Masson: It's Gaarwäg for Patrick next, although he won't be complete until May.
Hector Moran: Work on the Dawn of Khthon, Gorgórar Unit has begun (Myrinna, the champion, is complete, and we should see Syntyss next week), and after that he will be digitally sculpting Con I Modius, Legionary Contubernium.
Olivier Nkweti: Dúngal on horse is almost complete, and once he's done he will digitally sculpt Hanokh and Thoth. We have also decided to get Olivier to digitally sculpt Thelliatiss, thus relieving Stéphane Simon's heavy workload a little!
Juan Navarro Pérez: Danilo Cruz and Urien on foot are in progress, and Urien on horse, Carys, Caedoc and Ffion Ferddig will follow.
Stéphane Simon: we've loaded Stéphane up with Leofwen on foot (we should see images next week), Crom on horse, Zethag, Gondard and his Nithing, Xontór, the Holumenn Unit and the Gesíth Unit. Phew!
Valentin Zak: Valentin will sculpt Broga for us and will begin doing so soon.
Unknown: the remaining three descendants, which are Rick Boer's Frisian Warrior (due to be drawn by Stefan Kopinski), Trytheorn, Tomas Johansson's Geat Warrior (drawn by Danny Cruz, and hopefully sculpted by Juan Navarro Pérez) and Maximilian Schüte's Germanic Berserker.

Now that is a lot of sculpts...

Darklands: First Edition II

Okay, the time has come to reveal a little more on our next project, "Darklands: First Edition II".

The definite (barring a zombie apocalypse) start date of this project will be Monday the 24th of March, and it should end thirty days later on Wednesday the 23rd of April. This neatly avoids Salute 2014 the weekend before (12th of April), at which we will have a stall, and is just after the easter holidays. We'll be running it for the full thirty days this time, too!

Whilst the dates for the next project lie before Darklands: First Edition begins to be fulfilled, there'll be no conflict between the two because the next project simply adds to this project, and adds units mostly. Many of the early goals will be able to be shipped with earlier Waves, too!

What's the Focus?

The focus of Darklands: First Edition II is, put very simply, the creation of units for eight kindreds in Darklands - Albainn, Angelcynn, Brythoniaid, Byzantii/Infernii, Fomoraic, Khthones, Norse and Ysians/Vras. The Érainn and Atalantes miss out again, but do not worry - KS3 will drain your wallets, if you're interested in those kindreds!

Now, when the project begins, you'll be able to purchase one unit from each of the eight kindreds immediately, and the "ALL THE UNITS" reward will include all of them for one price at a further discount, but (as was the case in this project for generals and commanders) if the stretch goal total for a unit is not met, that unit will not be produced. We do expect to reach all of the unit goals, however!

That's not to say there won't be other, single miniatures for you all - there certainly will be, and some awesome things too. There'll be commanders, beasts, more units, monstrous beasts, all sorts, really - although they will depend upon stretch goals!

We'll also allow people to purchase both the Darklands rulebook (with Uhtred and Finnan), the Concept Art book and possibly a couple of other rewards from the First Edition project, but the whole thing will be a lot easier to grasp this time - there'll be no "hosts" or "starter sets" or anything like that, because they become incredibly complicated over time (and are a nightmare post-Kickstarter). Don't recoil in horror, however - we've hit upon a system that will replicate the discounts you got with those but also enables you to choose what freebies you'd like with what you purchase!

Gold and Bronze

That system is very simple. Each item on the project has a gold cost and a bronze cost in pounds sterling. If you purchase the "THE GOLD SPOT", the "ALL THE UNITS" or the "YOU'RE THEIR DESCENDANT" rewards, any purchase you make above what you get from those rewards will be at the gold cost, which is roughly 20% off the projected UK RRP of the item in question. If you haven't purchased those rewards, you must purchase those items at bronze cost, roughly 10% off the projected UK RRP of the item in question.

What's the Rewards?

There'll be four in total - "I JUST WANT SOME COOL MINIATURES", "DARKLANDS & UHTRED", "THE GOLD SPOT", "ALL THE UNITS" and "YOU'RE THEIR DESCENDANT".

The "I JUST WANT SOME COOL MINIATURES" reward is just for those who want a few single miniatures from the project, and you'll be purchasing them at bronze cost.

The "DARKLANDS & UHTRED" reward is for those who just want the rulebook and the freebie miniatures (Uhtred and Finnan) from this project. Any further purchases will be at bronze cost.

The "THE GOLD SPOT" reward is the one to go for; it gives you a freebie and also allows you to purchase items at gold cost. Additionally, if you go for this reward, you'll get some other extras... which we'll reveal on the day ;o)

The "ALL THE UNITS" reward enables you to purchase all of the units shown at the beginning, at a discount from buying them individually, and any future purchases will be at gold cost.

The "YOU'RE THEIR DESCENDANT" reward mirrors the one from this project, and enables you to purchase stuff at gold cost.

There's plenty more to it than that, but that's a simple overview of what you can expect.

Note, too, there'll be no "early bird" discounts - that won't make sense with the system we've come up with.

Shipping

There will be "Shipment Waves" in a similar manner to this project in the next one, but shipping will work very differently in terms of how you pay for it. This time, you will not be asked to add shipping when you make your pledge; you will simply pay for shipping in the post-project pledge management phase, on our website. This avoids many issues surrounding postage, not the least of which is increasing the pledge total artificially. To illustrate, around £5,000 of this project's total was in shipping - and that should not contribute towards stretch goals, because that money is destined to pay for shipping alone.

Now, we are aiming to have the website coded so that you will pay for shipping in a streamlined manner next time, as pretty much all of the questions asked of this project after it finished was about postage - but if the website isn't updated, please don't hurt us... time is a limited commodity!

Any more?

There's more, of course, but we've not decided on everything - and all of the above could change before the project begins (although this is unlikely now) - so please don't ask for more specifics yet!

There's only two more updates to go before the project begins... eeek!

To whet your appetite, here's a concept of a miniature that we hope we'll get to during the course of the next project...


Tykho, Byzantii Lesser Skorpion

We'll have more on Darklands: First Edition II next week!

Of Dragons, Demons, Rhinos, Snakes and Men

Amazingly, it's March already, which means we must unveil the releases for the next month, April, and allow you to pre-order them; and what releases they are, gentlemen and ladies... for we have the long-awaited appearance of the amazing Angrislaug (well, outside of our Darklands: A World of War Kickstarter project, anyway) as well as the equally fantastic Malacant, Qaano, Duguth Unit and Gorgonar Unit!

Angrislaug is, of course our Brythoniaid dragon and (along with the Infernii, Malacant) you'll be able to see just how big he is compared to a human warrior from our range, below. The Fomoraic gain the Srónax warlord they've always wanted in Qaano, and we have two units for the Angelcynn and Khthones - the Duguth unit and the Gorgonar Unit respectively.

In short, it's a great month of releases from Mierce Miniatures!

Just like the last few months, thanks to us being busier than busy bees we've just not had the time to get the release art and descriptions done; but you can still see some good images of each miniature on the website of course.

Veterans of Mierce, Duguth Unit



With all the Duguth warriors now released - Osgar the champion, Beornred the banner bearer, Kenelm the herald, Cuthwulf and Widmund the warriors, all sculpted by Juan Navarro Pérez from concept art by Des Hanley - we can chuck them all together into a blister pack and release them as a unit. Not only does this save the planet slightly, it also saves you money - because the pack of five is £34.99 as opposed to buying them all individually for £50.95, a whopping saving. ASDA price!

Angrislaug, Draiggoch of Eryri



Our quite fantastic dragon, Angrislaug (pronounced 'angry-sly-g'), has been "coming soon" for a while now and, double entendres aside, such a wait has proved quite frustrating for all of us, not least you, the customer. The wait, however, is now over, for our Red Dragon of Snowdon (Draiggoch of Eryri) is available to you all for pre-order and should be in your mitts in early March.

Sculpted by Roberto Chaudon from concept art by Stefan Kopinski, and painted beautifully by Sébastien Picque, Angrislaug is - quite simply - one amazing dragon, perhaps the most powerful-looking we've ever seen. He's absolutely huge - he sits on a 120mm base and is about 200mm to the top of wings - as Meloda can testify to...



Qaano, Srónax Untain



Angrislaug and Malacant aren't the only amazing miniatures to be released in April, though, for we also have Qaano, the mighty Srónax warlord for the Fomoraic! Sculpted by the incredibly talented Allan Carrasco from a concept by Des Hanley, Qaano is huge, nasty and getting on a bit - hence the slightly greyer hair than the rest, as painted by Sébastien Picque!

Malacant, Servile Champion of Dis



...and so we come to Malacant, the Servile Champion of Dis, another masterwork by Dan Cockersell from a concept by Stefan Kopinski. Malacant, of course, complements that other master Infernii sculpt by Dan - Krull - but he's not just a "smaller Krull"; with long axe and giant scutum, you can see the influence of both the Byzantii (who count the Infernii as allies) and the shieldwalls of the barbarians to the north.

Malacant - 90mm tall to the tip of his wings - is roughly half the size of Krull but no less impressive for all that, for his detailing is, quite simply, incredible.

Warriors of Khthon, Gorgonar Unit



With the last of the Gorgonar warriors from their unit released last month, it's time to release their unit as a whole. Sculpted by Stéphane Simon from concepts by Christophe Madura, the unit of five Gorgonares includes a champion (Vilthiss), banner bearer (Issithill), musician (Mneriiss) and two warriors (Ufhilloss and Iimithi), all of which costs just £79.99, saving you almost 20% from their individual prices!

All of the releases above will be officially released on the 5th of April 2014, but you can pre-order them now from this very website to your heart's content!

Darklands Templates



The observant amongst you will have noticed that many of our miniatures require templates in order to use them to their full effect in Darklands, and we've been quietly beavering away in the background to get those templates produced. Happily, we can now provide you with all of the templates you need for every miniature currently released, and they look fantastic too!

Each template is laser-cut from semi-opaque acrylic and come in a variety of appropriate colours, shapes and sizes! Each template lists the miniatures it is used with, but please note that none of these templates will be included with those miniatures - you must purchase them separately.

We have also created our first measuring gauge - the Attack Range Distance Gauge, which (as the name implies) gives you a handy measure to see if your miniatures are within attack range of an enemy.

Aren't templates brilliant!

There'll be more releases next month!

 RiTides wrote:
That giant, and also the "Jörmungand, Troll Jarl", are both epic!

 RiTides wrote:
Any idea how tall that "ogre equivalent" is? I wish they'd put something for scale in their shots, as I'm always surprised by how tall the models are... although in this case, it was so detailed I did indeed think it was a giant, not an ogre

yxalitis wrote:
Oh crap!
All my items are now marked as Posted...
WHAT AM I GONNA DO??

A Wælwulf, some Painted Miniatures and a Muster

Today is an extra special Mierceday, for we have some work in progress images, some photos of superbly-painted miniatures, a totally new muster, great news about project fulfilment and - most awesomely of all - news of another Mierce Kickstarter project, which will start today!

Inguc, Wælwulf Warrior

We start with WIPs of another of Benoît Cosse's superb Wælwulf sculpts, Inguc! As always with Benoît's images, it's worth understanding that - well, he's not the best taker of photographs in the world. To prove that, we've also included a video!







Inguc, along with the rest of his unit, will be with us in May, we think, ready for shipping in that month.

Roaring Srónax, Srónax Unit

Painted by Sébastien Picque, the Srónax Unit in all their hairy rhino-man glory look absolutely terrifying!



Next up for Sébastien are the Dyndreigiau of Gwaelod!

Bows of Carn Dinas, Bow-Drune Unit

The awesomely talented Martin Grandbarbe has continued his work on the Ysians, turning to the Bow-Drunes this time. We think they look stunning!



Martin will be working on Jowan and hounds, and the Goad-Drunes, next.

Darklands: a World of War Fulfilment

We have awesome news for you all: barring a few stragglers (ordered during and after October) - and of course the Wælwulfas and the QuickStarter rules - shipment of remaining items from Darklands: a World of War orders will be complete next week!

Said stragglers will be shipped as soon as possible of course - we're talking around thirty miniatures, or thereabouts - so the end of March / early April is the date when we think we'll be done with those.

Remaining Sculpts

In terms of remaining sculpt progress, here's an update:
Benoît Cosse: he's sculpting the Wælwulfas and has just about finished the second miniature. We expect these to be done by the end of April, now, but again this could easily slip. We'll keep you informed, as always. We do apologise for this delay, but you must understand that Benoît Cosse is a busy man and sculpts for many other companies.

There's a few other bits and pieces yet to be done of course, so here's how progress is looking on those fronts...


Kindred Musters

We now have warrior profiles for each kindred's muster, each of which includes new profiles for the miniatures from Darklands: First Edition and some others besides (barring the Infernii and Sell-Swords), in the new format and ready for download. We've also updated them all to reflect all of your excellent feedback - keep it up guys and gals.

Bear in mind that any new profiles are only partially playtested - expect changes and feel free to give us feedback on the Mierce forums. Check them out for some awesome new warriors, however!
BYZANTII MUSTER v1.0 (new profiles)

No doubt there'll be a few errors or typos - feel free to tell us about them!

It's worth noting again one major change from previous versions - gold costs. These have changed quite a lot, thanks to the introduction of new coefficients, so if you're used to the old gold costs - well, you'll have to get used to the new ones!

There's also a handy pronunciation guide (based on the Wikipedia Pronunciation Respelling Key) under the warrior's title and, at the bottom of each profile, a suggestion on which miniature from our range to use as that warrior on the battlefield.

With some musters already including new warrior profiles, it won't be long before we can give you musters for every kindred that include all of the miniatures that exist, found in this project or found in Darklands: First Edition!

If there's anything you need to know before the other warrior profiles are sorted, or about how the new format of warrior profile works, just ask on the forums please and we'll endeavour to answer your questions.

Darklands: First Edition II

Okay, the time has come to reveal a little more on our next project, "Darklands: First Edition II", as it starts...

TODAY, at 6pm (GMT)!

The definite end date of this project will be Wednesday the 23rd of April (St George's Day, of course). This neatly avoids Salute 2014 the weekend before (12th of April), at which we will have a stall, and is just after the easter holidays. That means we'll be running it for thirty-three days!

What's the Focus?

The focus of Darklands: First Edition II is, put very simply, the creation of units for eight kindreds in Darklands - Albainn, Angelcynn, Brythoniaid, Byzantii/Infernii, Fomoraic, Khthones, Norse and Ysians/Vras. The Érainn and Atalantes miss out again, but do not worry - KS3 will drain your wallets, if you're interested in those kindreds!

Now, when the project begins, you'll be able to purchase one unit from each of the eight kindreds immediately, and the "ALL THE UNITS" reward will include all of them for one price at a further discount, but (as was the case in this project for generals and commanders) if the stretch goal total for a unit is not met, that unit will not be produced. We do expect to reach all of the unit goals, however!

That's not to say there won't be other, single miniatures for you all - there certainly will be, and some awesome things too. There'll be commanders, beasts, more units, monstrous beasts, all sorts, really - although they will depend upon stretch goals!

We'll also allow people to purchase both the Darklands: First Edition rulebook (on its own, without Uhtred and Finnan) and the Concept Art book and possibly a couple of other rewards from the First Edition project, but the whole thing will be a lot easier to grasp this time - there'll be no "hosts" or "starter sets" or anything like that, because they become incredibly complicated over time (and are a nightmare post-Kickstarter). Don't recoil in horror, however - we've hit upon a system that will replicate the discounts you got with those but also enables you to choose what freebies you'd like with what you purchase!

Gold and Bronze

That system is very simple. Each item on the project has a gold cost and a bronze cost in pounds sterling. If you purchase the "THE GOLD SPOT", the "ALL THE UNITS" or the "YOU'RE THEIR DESCENDANT" rewards, any purchase you make above what you get from those rewards will be at the gold cost, which is roughly 20% off the projected UK RRP of the item in question. If you haven't purchased those rewards, you must purchase those items at bronze cost, roughly 10% off the projected UK RRP of the item in question.

What's the Rewards?

There'll be four in total - "I JUST WANT SOME COOL MINIATURES", "THE GOLD SPOT", "ALL THE UNITS" and "YOU'RE THEIR DESCENDANT". We've got rid of the "Darklands & Uhtred" reward - instead, you can purchase the Darklands book and Concept Art book, and you don't get Uhtred on foot or Finnan (although you can get those separately if you want them).
"I JUST WANT SOME COOL MINIATURES" bronze reward - for those who want a few single miniatures or other bits from the project, which will be purchased them at bronze cost.
"THE GOLD SPOT" gold reward - this is the one to go for; it allows you to purchase items at gold cost. Additionally, if you go for this reward, you'll get some other extras... which we'll reveal when they're ready ;o)
"ALL THE UNITS" gold reward - this enables you to purchase all of the units shown at the beginning, at an almost 40% discount from buying them individually, and any future purchases will be at gold cost. This is a fantastic deal!
The "YOU'RE THEIR DESCENDANT" reward mirrors the one from this project, and enables you to purchase stuff at gold cost.

There's plenty more to it than that, but that's a simple overview of what you can expect.

Note, too, there'll be no "early bird" discounts - that won't make sense with the system we've come up with.

Shipping

There will be "Shipment Waves" in a similar manner to this project in the next one, but shipping will work very differently in terms of how you pay for it. This time, you will not be asked to add shipping when you make your pledge; you will simply pay for shipping in the post-project pledge management phase, on our website. This avoids many issues surrounding postage, not the least of which is increasing the pledge total artificially. To illustrate, around £5,000 of this project's total was in shipping - and that should not contribute towards stretch goals, because that money is destined to pay for shipping alone.

Now, we are aiming to have the website coded so that you will pay for shipping in a streamlined manner next time, as pretty much all of the questions asked of this project after it finished was about postage - but if the website isn't updated, please don't hurt us... time is a limited commodity!

Any more?

There's more, of course, but we've not decided on everything - and all of the above could change before the project begins (although this is unlikely now, except for minor things) - so please don't ask for more specifics yet!

Spread the word!

There's only a few hours to go before the project begins... eeek! Tell your friends, acquaintances and relatives - we need their support as much as yours! To whet your appetite, here's a concept of a miniature that we hope we'll get to during the course of the next project...


Fomoraic: a Cúgacx

The End of Darklands: a World of War In Sight

We think that - around the end of May 2014 time (although those Wælwulfas and possibly the QS rules' printing will probably push things back) - pretty much everything will be done for Darklands: a World of War; which will both be a sad day and an awesome day. Either way, we'll find some way to celebrate...!

There'll be another update soon, hopefully with more images of the Wælwulfas!

WIPs, Wave 0... and Darklands: First Edition II Starts Today!

We have an incredibly exciting day for you today... not only do we have plenty of work in progress images, we also have news that Darklands: First Edition II - our next Kickstarter project - will begin today!

Leofwen, Thegn of Déra

First up for WIPs today is Leofwen, our lovely Thegn of Déra on foot. She's now finished, thanks to Stéphane Simon's incredible speed, and looks blimmin' amazing!











As always, she'll be with us soon, but sent in Wave 1...

Urien, Teyrn of Môn

The amazing sculpts keep on coming. Juan Navarro Pérez is pulling out all the stops for us and Urien, our Brythoniaid warlord, is looking superb - especially as he's almost finished!









Again, he'll be with us soon, but only sent during Wave 1.

Angedern, Prifdyndraig of Gwaelod

Roberto's been hard at work on Angedern over the last week and the results are nothing short of spectacular...









Angedern is about done, but of course he won't be sent until Wave 1...

Thoth, Anax of Ýdron

Fresh from finishing the Albainn, Olivier Nkweti has been creating the Hydrar commanders from Beth Hughes' artwork! It's early days yet, but Thoth, the Hydrar warlord, is certainly taking shape...







At Olivier's pace, it shouldn't be too long before these are finished...!

Hanokh, Kentarch of Ýdron

Following on from Thoth, he's working on Hanokh too, the warchief...







We think we'll keep using Olivier!

Danilo Cruz, Beast Slayer of Cantabria

This working-on-two-sculpts-at-the-same-time lark is producing some stunning results, as you can see by Juan Navarro Pérez' progress on Danilo Cruz!







Danilo's now finished and cut, but he won't be sent until Wave 1 of course.

Zethag of Carn Dhu, Harvest-Drune

Incredibly, Stéphane Simon (who, admittedly, has a lot to do for this project) has started Zethag of Carn Dhu and, after just a week, she's half-way there.







Admire her disgustingness...

Darklands: First Edition Fulfilment

We have some good news! The remaining items from our previous project - Darklands: a World of War - are just about all sent (barring the Wælwulfas), and so we can bring our full attention to bear on Wave 0 orders. Even so, we would ask all of you to remain patient while we do so! We are only a small team and we will keep you all updated of course.

Sculpts and Sculptors

Here's the big list of who's sculpting what and when for Darklands: First Edition! Please bear in mind that this list may change over time, so don't take it as set in stone until the first work in progress shots appear.
Olivier Bouchet: we erroneously reported that Thelliatiss was being sculpted by Olivier Nkweti last time - apologies for that! Olivier Bouchet has taken her on, and she will be sculpted traditionally.
Stéphane Cammosetto: Stéphane will start work on Eadric on foot and on horse in April.
Allan Carrasco: starting in April, Allan will be sculpting Knútr on Foot, Knútr on Horse, Víthar, Birna, Rollo Iron Head and Cnebba.
Roberto Chaudon: Angedern is now done and he will be followed by Ágriosávra, Eikovra, Myrkranio, Mag ap Mag, Mälmord and finally Djiuzu, in that order.
Daniel Cockersell: the Daddy of all monster sculptors, Dan has begun work on Scecchus, but it will be a while before he is done.
Benoît Cosse: Benoît is still working on Darklands: a World of War miniatures and won't start Hrór, Finnan, Praach and Baagath's Herd for a good long while yet.
Thomas David: work on Timoth has begun, but we only have an armature so there's not a great deal to see.
Pedro Fernández Ramos: He'll soon begin work on Mananaan on horse.
Yannick Fusier: the awesome Bagseg is nearly done, and hopefully Yannick will continue his work with us in the future... on the Oghurithne warriors!
Jacques-Alexandre Gillois: work has begun on Daarkan and Naraa (although they're only armatures as of yet) and will sculpt both Equitus Durio on foot and Equitus Durio on horse afterward.
Gauthier Giroud: work on Idruaada has begun and it shouldn't be too long before it's complete.
Christian Hardy: Christian will begin work on Aldhelm (taken from Maxime Penaud), Velchior and Agathae soon.
Tre Manor: Tre of Red Box Games fame will be taking time out for us to sculpt Erebius, which is now underway.
Patrick Masson: It's Gaarwäg for Patrick next, although he won't be complete until May.
Hector Moran: Work on the Dawn of Khthon, Gorgórar Unit is ongoing and after that he will be digitally sculpting Con I Modius, Legionary Contubernium.
Stéphane NGuyen: Stéphane should begin work on Seza soon, but we're not sure when right now.
Olivier Nkweti: He has started work on digitally sculpting Hanokh and Thoth.
Juan Navarro Pérez: Urien on foot is in progress, and Urien on horse, Carys, Caedoc and Ffion Ferddig will follow. He has also agreed to sculpt Tomas Johansson's Geat Warrior, Trytheorn, although he's not sure when that will occur.
Stéphane Simon: thanks to his incredible speed, Zethag is underway; and after her, he'll have Crom on horse, Gondard and Ekk, Xontór, the Holumenn Unit and the Gesíth Unit to do. Phew!
Valentin Zak: Valentin will sculpt Broga for us and will begin doing so soon.
Unknown: the remaining two descendants, which are Rick Boer's Frisian Warrior (due to be drawn by Stefan Kopinski) and Maximilian Schüte's Germanic Berserker.

Now that is a lot of sculpts...

The Darklands First Edition Rules

Now, before we get onto the next project, a word on the Darklands: First Edition hardback rulebook.

We've decided to put back the printing of the rulebook to November.

There's a number of good reasons for doing this, but the main reason is simply so that we can include extra stuff - and so increase the value of what you're getting!

This extra stuff will include whatever we need for the miniatures produced by the next Kickstarter project (such as muster summaries, or perhaps new rules to cover the abilities of new creatures where required), more background material, more colour artwork... whatever we can fit in really.

Please note, the printing delay will NOT affect the delivery of:
miniatures slated for delivery in Wave 1
miniatures tied to the book itself (such as Uhtred or Finnan)
the rules themselves - we'll still give you the full rules in June as a PDF download, although perhaps not with as pretty pictures

We'll also ship the rulebook to you when it's available without tying it to a Wave - it's only fair to do so!

Now, we're aware a lot of you guys and gals out there were very keen to get your hands on the book when - let's face it - we said we'd deliver it; but we hope you understand that we simply want to make that book better for you.

The Darklands Concept Art Book

Similarly, we're going to delay the printing of the Darklands Concept Art book.

The main reason for this is very simple - we want to add as much art as we can to it, so we're going to include all the art seen in the next project. Again, we understand that you guys would want the book in June; but we just want to give you more for the same amount of money!



Okay, the time has come to reveal a little more on our next project, "Darklands: First Edition II", as it starts...

TODAY, at 6pm (GMT)!

The definite end date of this project will be Wednesday the 23rd of April (St George's Day, of course). This neatly avoids Salute 2014 the weekend before (12th of April), at which we will have a stall, and is just after the easter holidays. That means we'll be running it for thirty-three days!

What's the Focus?

The focus of Darklands: First Edition II is, put very simply, the creation of units for eight kindreds in Darklands - Albainn, Angelcynn, Brythoniaid, Byzantii/Infernii, Fomoraic, Khthones, Norse and Ysians/Vras. The Érainn and Atalantes miss out again, but do not worry - KS3 will drain your wallets, if you're interested in those kindreds!

Now, when the project begins, you'll be able to purchase one unit from each of the eight kindreds immediately, and the "ALL THE UNITS" reward will include all of them for one price at a further discount, but (as was the case in this project for generals and commanders) if the stretch goal total for a unit is not met, that unit will not be produced. We do expect to reach all of the unit goals, however!

That's not to say there won't be other, single miniatures for you all - there certainly will be, and some awesome things too. There'll be commanders, beasts, more units, monstrous beasts, all sorts, really - although they will depend upon stretch goals!

We'll also allow people to purchase both the Darklands: First Edition rulebook (on its own, without Uhtred and Finnan) and the Concept Art book and possibly a couple of other rewards from the First Edition project, but the whole thing will be a lot easier to grasp this time - there'll be no "hosts" or "starter sets" or anything like that, because they become incredibly complicated over time (and are a nightmare post-Kickstarter). Don't recoil in horror, however - we've hit upon a system that will replicate the discounts you got with those but also enables you to choose what freebies you'd like with what you purchase!

Gold and Bronze

That system is very simple. Each item on the project has a gold cost and a bronze cost in pounds sterling. If you purchase the "THE GOLD SPOT", the "ALL THE UNITS" or the "YOU'RE THEIR DESCENDANT" rewards, any purchase you make above what you get from those rewards will be at the gold cost, which is roughly 20% off the projected UK RRP of the item in question. If you haven't purchased those rewards, you must purchase those items at bronze cost, roughly 10% off the projected UK RRP of the item in question.

What's the Rewards?

There'll be four in total - "I JUST WANT SOME COOL MINIATURES", "THE GOLD SPOT", "ALL THE UNITS" and "YOU'RE THEIR DESCENDANT". We've got rid of the "Darklands & Uhtred" reward - instead, you can purchase the Darklands book and Concept Art book, and you don't get Uhtred on foot or Finnan (although you can get those separately if you want them).
"I JUST WANT SOME COOL MINIATURES" bronze reward - for those who want a few single miniatures or other bits from the project, which will be purchased them at bronze cost.
"THE GOLD SPOT" gold reward - this is the one to go for; it allows you to purchase items at gold cost. Additionally, if you go for this reward, you'll get some other extras... which we'll reveal when they're ready ;o)
"ALL THE UNITS" gold reward - this enables you to purchase all of the units shown at the beginning, at an almost 40% discount from buying them individually, and any future purchases will be at gold cost. This is a fantastic deal!
The "YOU'RE THEIR DESCENDANT" reward mirrors the one from this project, and enables you to purchase stuff at gold cost.

There's plenty more to it than that, but that's a simple overview of what you can expect. Note, too, there'll be no "early bird" discounts - that won't make sense with the system we've come up with.

Shipping

There will be "Shipment Waves" in a similar manner to this project in the next one, but shipping will work very differently in terms of how you pay for it. This time, you will not be asked to add shipping when you make your pledge; you will simply pay for shipping in the post-project pledge management phase, on our website. This avoids many issues surrounding postage, not the least of which is increasing the pledge total artificially. To illustrate, around £5,000 of this project's total was in shipping - and that should not contribute towards stretch goals, because that money is destined to pay for shipping alone.

Now, we are aiming to have the website coded so that you will pay for shipping in a streamlined manner next time, as pretty much all of the questions asked of this project after it finished was about postage - but if the website isn't updated, please don't hurt us... time is a limited commodity!

Any more?

There's more, of course, but we've not decided on everything - and all of the above could change before the project begins (although this is unlikely now, except for minor things) - so please don't ask for more specifics yet!

Spread the word!

There's only a few hours to go before the project begins... eeek! Tell your friends, acquaintances and relatives - we need their support as much as yours!

To whet your appetite, here's a concept of a miniature that we hope we'll get to during the course of the next project...



Torleik, Troll Warrior

 Baragash wrote:
I'm keen to see the Atlantes, but the rumoured Umayyad Caliphate could end my wallet if it appears in KS3 or further down the line,

 RiTides wrote:

That's awesome! As is the above concept art. Is there going to be a unit of those, and what size are they?

 Alpharius wrote:
I think Zed's hit on something here!

 zedmeister wrote:
I think it's more like giving an idea on how a typical force looks for each given Kindred? For example;

1 General
2 Commanders (including Sorcerer)
2 Infantry units of 10-20 individuals each
2 Monstrous Infantry
1 Monstrous Beast

So, maybe we find out what Kindred is most attractive to (X), then build an army based on that, and then show how much to pledge now, and what to select?

 Alpharius wrote:

PEARSCW wrote:
Looky, Angrislaug is 621 gold.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
If you check the musters you can see all the gold costs. They also tell you at the very bottom of each unit entry what models are for that entry

I looked but didn't see him!

Which one is he in?

 highlord tamburlaine wrote:
Two of my sronax don't have anything left between their legs.

First one that got snipped, I thought it was a piece of flash hanging on the back of the loincloth, and it got clipped off.

Second one, his willy got snapped off when I was trying to get the loincloth in place between his legs, and there was a bit of flash jammed up in his crotch. I wrestled with the clippers to get as much off in one snip as I could. Snap.

My rhinos are very angry these days.

Warning: Explosions May Occur

It's a cracker of an update today, this Mierceday.

We have awesome work in progress images, including two of sculpts never before seen; fantastic news about project fulfilment; and, of course, news of our current Kickstarter project,Darklands: First Edition II...

Angedern, Prifdyndraig of Gwaelod

Roberto Chaudon has now completed the awesome Angedern, as you can see... He's brilliant!



Angedern will be with us soon, and sent out during Wave 1.

Ágriosávra, Sun Warrior

Fresh from completing Angedern, Roberto Chaudon has started work on our lovely lizard Ágriosávra, from the concept by Christophe Madura. It's early days yet but he's certainly taking shape!







Once again, Ágriosávra is a Wave 1 dude, so he'll be sent in June.

Knútr of Víkin, Skipari of Hrafnen

This is what you've all been waiting for: Allan Carrasco's utter masterpiece that is our Norse general, Knútr. Believe me when I say that this is perhaps the finest human, let alone viking, miniature ever made at this scale. We defy you to find a better one. It's just astonishing. Don't believe us? Here...

















Knútr is a Wave 1 merchant so will be sent out in that shipment...

Rollo Iron Head, Filungi of Hrafnen

We had high hopes for Allan's other Norse miniatures, too; and as you can see, those hopes have been realised...











Like Knútr, Rollo's a Wave 1er, so you'll have to wait until June.

Allan has already begun sculpting Víthar and Birna, we are led to believe; so expect images of those soon...

Zethag of Carn Dhu, Harvest-Drune

The ultra-fast and ultra-amazing Stéphane Simon has finished everybody's favourite boiler, Zethag of Carn Dhu... she's beautifully disgusting!









Zethag will, of course, be sent in June as part of Wave 1.

Gondard of Karaez, Flesh-Drune

Stéphane Simon is sculpting faster than a fast thing eating fast berries: not only is Zethag done, Gondard of Karaez is getting there too!







Gondard (along with his Nithing, Ekk) will be a Wave 1 shipment.

Sáthach now only free until the 14th of April!

We're introducing a slight change to our current backer stretch goal, Sáthach; she'll still only be produced when we reach 400 backers, but we're introducing a time limit for gold reward backers to get her for free.

So you'd better get your skates on, if you're lurking, as you'll only be able to get Sáthach for free until midnight (GMT) on the 14th of April!



Sáthach (pronounced "SAW-hakh") hails from Eriu and is thus an Érainn, but she will work as a sell-sword for any kindred (yes, including the Fomoraic). She is a Ríonfénnid (pronounced "REE-on-fay-nid") or "queen-fénnid" and once led a warrior band of Fianna. Now, for reasons known only to herself, she plies her trade around the lands of darkness to the highest bidder.

Highly skilled, highly intelligent and hugely beneficial to any general, Sáthach is a must-have for your host for she trains and thus changes the acuity of one of your units.

Free until the 14th of April

Sáthach is free for any gold reward backer that pledges before midnight (GMT) on the 14th of April 2014.

If you pledge for a gold reward after that date, you must purchase Sáthach if you want her.

You can, of course, purchase additional Sáthach miniatures regardless of the above.

Remember that Sáthach will only be produced when we reach the 400 backer total.

Managing your pledge (i.e., changing your backer ID or increasing/decreasing your pledge) has no effect on your original "Pledged At" date.

A word of warning: if you cancel your pledge and then pledge again, your pledge date will change - so don't cancel after the 14th of April!

400 Backers

Instead of being a monetary stretch goal, Sáthach is a backer stretch goal; we have to get to 400 backers before she will be produced.

Once we get to 400 backers, one Sáthach becomes a freebie for all gold reward backers (anybody with the rewards "THE GOLD SPOT", "ALL THE UNITS" and "YOU'RE THEIR DESCENDANT") until midnight (GMT) on the 14th of April - and she can also be purchased additionally.

Note that all backers contribute towards the backer total, not just gold reward backers; so even if you are a bronze reward backer, you can still ensure she is produced and thus purchase her.

If we get a lot of pledgers pledging £1, we reserve the right not to include those in the 400 backer total!

Please note, the free Sáthach is limited to one per backer, but you can purchase additional ones of course.

Stígr, Felljötunn
80mm base, around 70-80mm to the eye...

Releases for May

It's time to unveil May's Mierce Miniatures releases, five of them, all of which hail from our Darklands: A World of War Kickstarter project, which is now almost complete. Don't despair, however, for we're currently running another fantastic project, Darklands: First Edition II - head on over and pledge your heart out!

Back to the releases. This month we bring you a warlord to command your host (Belech), two mounted warchiefs to help that host be commanded (Leofwen on Great Hart, Kernuor on Karnun-Beast) and two mighty monstrous beasts (Maallolvór and Chysperis) to wreak havoc upon the enemy. It's another great month of releases from us!

Just like the last few months, thanks to us being busier than busy bees we've just not had the time to get the release art and descriptions done; but you can still see some good images of each miniature on the website of course.

Leofwen, Fane-Bearer of Déra on Great Hart



Leofwen is the first representation of the Déora, those deer-warriors from the north, Déra, and now exiled thanks to the Christian lash of Northumbraland. Some scratch a living in pagan Angle-land and some seek retribution against their persecutors, and Leofwen is more than happy to take the fight back to the Christians. But never mind all that: Leofwen is a beautiful miniature, sculpted by Stéphane Simon from a concept by Stefan Kopinski, and she brings an added dimension to your Angelcynn host for she is, of course, a host banner bearer.

Belech, Scion of Baalor



A superb sculpt by Roberto Chaudon (from art by Danny Cruz) that captures all the character of the sea devil within, Belech is a fantastic warlord for the Fomoraic and one of the Fíorfomor or True Fomorians, a descendant of Baalor himself. Equally adept at the magic arts as he is throwing a great big ice sword around, Belech is greatly useful to the Fomoraic player for he can ensure all of the myriad monstrosities of Baalor works together for the greater good of the Eye in the Ice.

Maallolvór, Lumbering Mallox



The hairy beasts of Baalor are joined this month by another hairy beast, the mighty Maallolvór, a mutated giant sloth-creature (a Mallox) with razor-sharp claws and a bad attitude. Sculpted by Benoît Cosse from a concept by Stefan Kopinski, Maallolvór really does come keen on the battlefield!

Maallolvór stands on a 100mm base and is around 90mm to the top of his right paw.

Chysperis, Fídron of Khthon



The Gorgones get themselves a huge monstrous beast this month in the somewhat scaly shape of Chysperis (pronounced 'KISS-per-iss'), and we really do mean hugely monstrous - he totally fills that 120mm base and, to the tip of his tail, he's 162mm tail. That is a big snake!

Chysperis has been masterfully sculpted by Roberto Chaudon from a concept by Danny Cruz.

Kernuor, Seer-Drune on Karnun-Beast



Sculpted by James van Schaik from a concept by Danny Cruz, Kernuor the Seer-Drune now has a mount to ride, a Karnun-Beast to be exact, a mutated creature of Ker-Ys and a useful servant for any sorcerer who risks getting too close to the enemy. Mutated he may be, but the Karnun-Beast is not slow!

All of the releases above will be officially released on the 3rd of May 2014, but you can pre-order them now from this very website to your heart's content!

Darklands Bases

We have three new sizes of base for you all this month, 40mm, 50mm and 80mm. This means we have a wide range of bases sizes to ensure our miniatures work better on the battlefield!

Remember, too, that certain miniatures' base sizes have now been altered thanks to the new bases' availability. If you have miniatures with these bases and want the new sizes, firstly bear in mind you can still use those miniatures on the old bases in Darklands, and secondly, there's no need to purchase them - just drop us a line and we'll send you what you need.

These miniatures' base sizes have been changed:

Ckaarakk, Tarvax Untain - 50mm
Tarvax Warrior - 50mm
Beowa (bear form) - 50mm
Urbad - 50mm
Creoda, Guthwulf - 80mm

There'll be more releases next month!