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J0kerr2017 wrote:
Bad news for the future of this game: Our core team received the latest manufacturing quotes here at the Origins game convention and decided that Conan: Rise of Monsters won't be offered through traditional distribution. The nature of our project and the tight margins means it's really a direct-only product. We will work with individual stores sometime after the Kickstarter backers get their orders and offer the Conqueror and Warlord expansion at a "net price" with a suggested retail of $199 each. Individual figure sets will only be offered directly through our website.

That's not bad news. That's KS.

CROM has had so many issues (do we really need another Conan game, do we need prepainted miniatures, do we need another miniature skirmish game, the prices are expensive, etc.), that direct-only is just another nail in the coffin.

OTOH, Cthulhu Wars and Monolith's Conan are going direct sales. Dwarven Forge hasn't been sold retail (?) for decades and they're on their fifth KS. Riot Games also sells their non-KS Mechs and Minions direct only. Essentially, partially thanks to KS, we have a high-end ("overproduced") market where the discounts required by distributors (40% and up) make the MSRP of the game beyond what manufacturers think gamers will pay. So it's less expensive for them to sell direct. In the past, selling direct was only used by manufacturers (eg. Steve Jackson Games) as a last-resort if a customer couldn't find the product at his FLGS. Now, it's preferable to the traditional retailer-distributor model. FFP (and Soda Pop Miniatures) also sell game expansions direct, primarily mini-expansions that a FLGS might not be able to stock all the SKU's for.

Myself, I wouldn't mind seeing these miniatures in Bones plastic, with a Savage Worlds RPG (although the Mophidius Conan RPG isn't bad, either : http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/174829/Robert-E-Howards-CONAN-Roleplaying-Game-Quickstart

The direct sale lines tend to be higher quality niche products and not relying on a mini game for sales. For CROM, this seems to indicate a game that will not survive. No one is going to stay with an expensive mini game that relies on low quality prepaints and has no retailer support. It's a terrible business model. And why are their costs so high? If they didn't get that figured out beforehand, it indicates a complete lack of planning.

 jmurph wrote:
The direct sale lines tend to be higher quality niche products and not relying on a mini game for sales. For CROM, this seems to indicate a game that will not survive. No one is going to stay with an expensive mini game that relies on low quality prepaints and has no retailer support. It's a terrible business model. And why are their costs so high? If they didn't get that figured out beforehand, it indicates a complete lack of planning.

It's the catch 22 with plastic production... you need numbers to get cheap plastics, but you can't get numbers without cheap plastics. These things look roughly on par with Wizkids offerings, but seem much more expensive. They're doing a mass market, easy entry product, but with niche distribution. This seems a vanity project more than anything.

It also has Jack Emmert from City of Heroes going against it. When your lead dev is essentially banned from the forum due to angering the fanbase every time he opens his mouth...

I like how several of the people involved in making the game own game/hobby stores.... which wouldn't be able to sell their own game.

Though funded, and with a growing pledge amount, the creator decided to pull the plug.

And permanently, it seems.

Definitely for the best.

I would have liked to see the terrain come out in Bones, and unpainted - but what they had on the Kickstarter was just plain not worth the money, even at Kickstarter prices - at full Retail prices?

Probably just as well that they shut this down.

The Auld Grump

The terrain is actually a pretty good price considering it's resin. The greek temple alone could easy sell for $80+ due to it's size.

I'm pretty sure you'll see this stuff in Bones 4 at the end of summer. I worry that the one I want the most (the giant snake statue) will get scaled down as in its original size I can't see it less then $50 in bones too which probably it too much for most people. Just look at the size of it's bottom here in this pic from reapercon

I had no interest in the game, but some if the sculpts looked cool. Definitely in need of repaints, but some interesting stuff. I particularly lament that a plastic Pallantides based of the McFarland concept wont get made :(

To anyone who liked the rules they had/have the stuff still posted up for free (rules/cards). Can still easily be played with GW models.

Not sure why anyone would particularly like those rules.

I am very confused by the comments on the Kickstarter about the low numbers when it exceeded the threshold that *they* set. I would think that this would be a pretty significant black eye to the project. But, since it isn't pitching to retailers anyway, I guess it doesn't matter.

I am sure Reaper will put the terrain out anyway, likely as Bones, since they don't seem to be doing resin terrain ATM. I would hope the price point comes down, though their recent pieces don't seem to indicate that. As for the pic, I am guessing that is a 3-4x as the KS pic looks much smaller.