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ArbeitsSchu wrote:
They best fix this "falling apart" issue then. People are not going to be happy when they have paid for the book instead of got it for nothing.

Keep in mind that we don't yet know anything about the new starter set except that there will be one. It's possible that they'll provide a different rulebook instead of the V3 mini.

Though if they do, I'm in complete agreement with you. The binding issue definitely needs to be fixed.

Wayland games have just started giving out the mini rules too if anyone can't get hold of a copy. Don't think they have the free shipping deal though.

eorltheyoung wrote:Wayland games have just started giving out the mini rules too if anyone can't get hold of a copy. Don't think they have the free shipping deal though.

The warstore.com http://www.thewarstore.com/ is doing the same thing for us Yanks.

col. krazy kenny wrote:HAs any one ordered or recieved their mini rulebooks yet?I ordered mine last nite and should have mine before the end of the week.So how does this sound, lets put up a review.All i can say is that this makes me glad that i started playing and collecting ww2 models.

Got my this past Sunday from my FLGS. He had gotten 6 in of the 18 people had reserved. I have heard of some folks having their books fall apart, but so far I have to say it is a fantastic product for a free upgrade. I have no complaints. Also liking the less 2 dimensional rule examples in the book that use real minis now. Really nicely done.

Skriker

Got mine tonight, very nice book. Really like the rule explanation diagrams, there is no room to misinterpret. Quite a dense tome as well, definitely going to get it spiral bound.

Here is something messed up, there are aholes on ebay already selling it for 25$WTF! Wow i thought i was bad for getting two copies,one for me and the other as gift for a friend who plays and can not afford to buy models,so i have been collecting two armies.USA para for him,He is a Para veteran of Afganistan and Iraq.i play a German Panzer Company by the way.Soon to upgraded to the 2nd SS Das Reich.



Was going to post a link but it has already been taken down.

yes the books are poorly bound, infact i was looking through one carfully and the artillery section came out.

According to my FLGS you take it to kinkos/office max/staples get it bound, make a copy of the receipt send it to BF with a blister code of your choice and they will send you a blister.

Eumerin wrote:

ArbeitsSchu wrote:
They best fix this "falling apart" issue then. People are not going to be happy when they have paid for the book instead of got it for nothing.

Keep in mind that we don't yet know anything about the new starter set except that there will be one. It's possible that they'll provide a different rulebook instead of the V3 mini.

Though if they do, I'm in complete agreement with you. The binding issue definitely needs to be fixed.

Even if it is a different book, if it comes from the same gakky publishers then the problem will remain.

I got mine today,very nice book indeed.I guess i will find out about the binding issue.To bad Gw does not have the superior customer service that Battlefront does.

lixulana wrote:yes the books are poorly bound, infact i was looking through one carfully and the artillery section came out.

According to my FLGS you take it to kinkos/office max/staples get it bound, make a copy of the receipt send it to BF with a blister code of your choice and they will send you a blister.

Got an address to direct that too? half of artilery came out of mine as well. Was going to spiral bind it anyway, but this will take some of the pain out.

Got my book tonight, and didn't even crack it open. Went right to Staples to get it spiral bound, and I'll get it today.

In a completely amazing moment of coincidence, the guy who I gave the book to was a fellow wargamer. 15mm AWI, of all things.

Got mine (and my dinky 2nd Ed vet sticker ). I'm really impressed with the presentation of the book and it has reinvigorated me in painting more units this afternoon. I'm contemplating ordering some more minis just to cadge a second copy!

I'm also just pondering whether to test the BF statement that you can learn the game from diagrams only!

Got mine today. Now to start writing a new V3 compliant list.

Shotgun wrote:

lixulana wrote:yes the books are poorly bound, infact i was looking through one carfully and the artillery section came out.

According to my FLGS you take it to kinkos/office max/staples get it bound, make a copy of the receipt send it to BF with a blister code of your choice and they will send you a blister.

Got an address to direct that too? half of artilery came out of mine as well. Was going to spiral bind it anyway, but this will take some of the pain out.

I'm also keen to find out about this, if it's true it's another awesome gesture by these guys.

I bought the wrong blister by accident for my DAK, it was early when I wanted mid-war. I asked them if I could by a mortar team and some MG figs and they just sent me enough to make the unit!

It's a week since I ordered from Maelstrom (including the Mini rulebook with purchase) and my order is still saying it is being processed. Not impressed so far. Has anyone else ordered from Maelstrom in the UK? Does it normally take more than a week to despatch an order? My money was processed fairly swiftly....

I ordered a bunch of stuff on the second of Feb. The last of it arrived yesterday (PSC Panthers).

I made my order one day before the book deal kicked in. I am waiting on them to return some miscast Kubelwagens I returned to them though. I think I'll give them a call tomorrow.

That's disgusting about the eBay profiteering. Still havnen't ordered mine yet being a poor student. Really hope they dont run out.

col. krazy kenny wrote:Here is something messed up, there are aholes on ebay already selling it for 25$WTF! Wow i thought i was bad for getting two copies,one for me and the other as gift for a friend who plays and can not afford to buy models,so i have been collecting two armies.USA para for him,He is a Para veteran of Afganistan and Iraq.i play a German Panzer Company by the way.Soon to upgraded to the 2nd SS Das Reich.



Was going to post a link but it has already been taken down.

I hate to say it but that's capitalism? People sell their Games Day miniatures they get with their ticket. If an item is rare (even if free limited edition) people will grab it and sell it. Rarity makes it valuable. It's not great that this has happened but it does. Personally If I am buying the V3 Hardback, I would consider selling the v3 Book on. You only should get it if you invested in the V2 Hardback, what stops you selling the V2 hardback? Nothing. Once you posses something you can do what you like with it. Plus it's a complete set of rules.

So actually it's not free is it? You need to have bought a V2 Hardback, If I then sell it for £5 to someone who wants the little book, I can then get the Hardback V3 for £25 instead of £30 or whatever?

Re Maelstrom, I'm guessing thay have a huge number of orders since they are offering the rules free witha purchase. They are pretty slow when they dont have a rush on. (Also I'm guessing that they have put things up for order without having stock anyway).

I think the Maelstrom issue might be that they only recently took FOW back on, so a lot of it isn't in stick. So in order to get the mini, one has to order things that may not actually be available without a subsequent order to the suppliers. But they also have a terrible tendency to move at the speed of the slowest. Check that your order doesn't contain a "slow" item. (Out of stock and such.)

This could cause problems for FLGS and Suppliers giving this away. It probably is contrary to the terms and conditions as laid out by the Producer (battlefront) and therefore may land a big entity like Maelstrom in hot water.

It was only for those with a V2 Hardback; to give it away with orders over a set amount is wrong. The issue here fundamentally, is that battlefront covered the Cost of producing and distributing the Books. Other Companies (maelstrom et al) are now using this as a vehicle to shift more product off their shelves, boosting their profit margin. BF already has got paid for their product, so yes they may shift more stock in a particular store but effectively the Store Owner is creaming off the top using the V3 book as a big carrot....Which was never intended to be given away in this manner and is also depriving legitimate owners of Hardcopy V2 of copies of the book.

If I was BF I would be furious that a retailer is hijacking my PR scheme for their own ends.

Guys,
Thanks for your replies about Maelstrom. I notice that almost all bar a few FoW items are not in Stock at Maelstrom. Even so, I would expect the item to be ordered in a week from a UK based supplier. The order is still "processing".... I just hope that by the time it gets sent out that the mini rulebook has not run out or that it isn't March and the hardback available. I would still like both as I don't like carrying large rulebooks to game venues.
As for them falling apart, I guess you get what you pay for (!) I intend to get mine bound assuming staples or similar does not want a fortune for the task (anyone paid for theirs biding yet in the UK?). The v2 mini rulebook did the same after opening it for the first game on the table the binder and first set of pages fell away.

Mwnciboo: I have to agree with you about the selling of these books, though not completely I think. Debate is good. The only thing I have heard from BF about the v3 mini-booklet is that it was available to holders of the v2 hardback who could show they had a copy (in person or by supplying the id number). So you are correct, no-one should be giving or selling it away as a business seller. Also, once it is yours, there is nothing to stop you selling your book on to someone else, so I have no issues with people putting it on ebay for example

However, I do think that it is up to Battlefront to enforce any terms of supply of their product with their vendors. Several companies seem to be "giving them away" with purchases all in differing ways (free with purchase, 10 pounds, 40 pounds, etc. Either they are all in the wrong for trying to profit from the free product or BF need to put out a message about the availability of these books (terms and conditions of supply) to make the situation clearer to customers. Given the poor quality of the mini-rulebook binding, I can't see much point in making an issue out of the terms of supply of these little booklets. Also, if so many suppliers are doing this "giveaway" can they all be in the wrong...?

Finally, if there are to be better quality booklets in an Open Fire V3 set then I also think that BF should be publicising this rather than let it hang around forums like this. Is there to be a v3 Open Fire set....? This link for March tells me there will be no Open Fire v3 starter set soon. Will it be the same booklet - If so I can see OFv3 not selling due to these quality issues. see: http://www.flamesofwar.com/Default.aspx?tabid=53&art_id=3155

BF please speak!

When I spoke to Wayland (my FLGs) in the run up to V3 they said they were in pretty much in daily contact.

Now while I don't "know" anything I would suggest this is being done with the full consent of BF (also th fact that all internetz retailers are doing it too). If last years maelstrom debarcle shows us anything then is that the retailers don't want to upset BF over something pretty minor like a few free rule books. Anyway the more stock retailers shift the better off BF are.

ambler wrote:Guys,
Thanks for your replies about Maelstrom. I notice that almost all bar a few FoW items are not in Stock at Maelstrom. Even so, I would expect the item to be ordered in a week from a UK based supplier. The order is still "processing".... I just hope that by the time it gets sent out that the mini rulebook has not run out or that it isn't March and the hardback available. I would still like both as I don't like carrying large rulebooks to game venues.
As for them falling apart, I guess you get what you pay for (!) I intend to get mine bound assuming staples or similar does not want a fortune for the task (anyone paid for theirs biding yet in the UK?). The v2 mini rulebook did the same after opening it for the first game on the table the binder and first set of pages fell away.

Mwnciboo: I have to agree with you about the selling of these books, though not completely I think. Debate is good. The only thing I have heard from BF about the v3 mini-booklet is that it was available to holders of the v2 hardback who could show they had a copy (in person or by supplying the id number). So you are correct, no-one should be giving or selling it away as a business seller. Also, once it is yours, there is nothing to stop you selling your book on to someone else, so I have no issues with people putting it on ebay for example

However, I do think that it is up to Battlefront to enforce any terms of supply of their product with their vendors. Several companies seem to be "giving them away" with purchases all in differing ways (free with purchase, 10 pounds, 40 pounds, etc. Either they are all in the wrong for trying to profit from the free product or BF need to put out a message about the availability of these books (terms and conditions of supply) to make the situation clearer to customers. Given the poor quality of the mini-rulebook binding, I can't see much point in making an issue out of the terms of supply of these little booklets. Also, if so many suppliers are doing this "giveaway" can they all be in the wrong...?

Finally, if there are to be better quality booklets in an Open Fire V3 set then I also think that BF should be publicising this rather than let it hang around forums like this. Is there to be a v3 Open Fire set....? This link for March tells me there will be no Open Fire v3 starter set soon. Will it be the same booklet - If so I can see OFv3 not selling due to these quality issues. see: http://www.flamesofwar.com/Default.aspx?tabid=53&art_id=3155

BF please speak!

Absolutely this...I support everything in here. Once you own it, do what you like. But the retailer / Manufacturer relationship is fractured here. I like BF and they are very Professional, unlike Maelstrom who have published business correspondence on the Internet between them over the last few months. Maelstrom obviously think that Nerd/ Neckbeard gaming rage can become a ground swell that can over turn statute books. Good luck with that, last I checked the Law was beholden to itself.

BF you have my support.

Thanks for the post, mwnciboo. I like to open up debate. I guess BF are "damned if they do or don't"! Anything has to be better than GW's stance over the last few years. BTW: My order with Maelstrom is now at the "packing stage". Whoop.

Just to let you guys know my Malestrom order arrived yesterday, 12 days after order. The mini rulebook is heavier than I thought it would be, some 297 pages. I didn't crank it open too far so the pages are still there. Looks like a lot of annotated pictures to explain the rules. Looking good though. Now to find a binding service....
Hope you guys get your books okay. BTW: I think Maelstrom have a deadline for these "free" mini rulebooks of 24th(tomorrow) so get your FoW orders in quick!

Retailers are always going to have more V3s than V2 owners to give them to. Giving them to other people only increases the readership, which is a good thing. Its just those over-entitled gits who think buying a V2 hard makes them more loyal customers, and superior to those that bought Open Fire kicking up a fuss.

I am curious what people are specifically doing to their books, though. I have had mine for a couple weeks now and keep poring through it and enjoying all the decent example pictures and such and my binding is still fully intact. Not a single page is loose or falling out...hrm...

I've had that in the past too where people complain loudly about the horrible binding, but then my own copy lasts for ages before I see a problem. Do some people read like they are apes instead of humans?

Skriker

Well I got mine from Maelstrom. Even though my order was placed around early Jan! I emailed them to find out if they would give one, they said no, then sent me one anyway! Pretty cool on their part, so they must have loads.

I've had mine spiral bound, I opened it and it split around the artillery section. Now I can lay it flat on the table and read without worrying.

Also they've just put all the missions up for download on the FOW site too.

http://www.flamesofwar.com/Portals/0/Documents/Scenarios/Missions/Third-Edition-Missions.pdf

My binding last 15 minutes.

I just got it bound this morning.

Why they don't spiral bind to beginwith, I will never understand.

If people can mass produce the Bible and you don't have to worry about pages falling out, i would think the technology is out there for some kind of "super" glue to last longer than 15 minutes.