Update #63
Apr 10 2014
Thursday is Mierce Day
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As we're off to Salute 2014 tomorrow, the usual Friday Mierce Day has to be a Thursday Mierce Day instead - which is no bad thing!
Today we have more work in progress images (including one completely new sculpt) and the usual fulfilment news as well as news about our current project, Darklands: First Edition II...
Broga, Wereofor Thegn
The lovely Valentin Zak has begun work on Broga, our Wereofor Thegn, from the concept art by Christophe Madura. It's early days, but he's coming on!
Broga was originally a Wave 2 shipment, but it looks like we can turn him to a Wave 1 shipment now, which is awesome news!
Scecchus, Servile Fiend of Dis
As Dan Cockersell is a working man he only sculpts for us part-time; this means that sculpts such as Scecchus, and so updates thereof, are few and far between. They are worth the wait, however... because Dan is, frankly, a master sculptor.
Scecchus should easily be done for Wave 1, so rejoice, Infernii lovers!
Ágriosávra, Sun Warrior
The lovely man Roberto Chaudon has continued his work on Ágriosávra, from the concept by Christophe Madura. It's certainly getting there!
Once again, Ágriosávra is a Wave 1 dude, so he'll be sent in June.
Gondard of Karaez, Flesh-Drune
Blimey. There's no stopping Stéphane Simon - look how fast Gondard of Karaez and his Nithing, Ekk, is progressing!
Gondard and friend will be a Wave 1 shipment.
Painted Dyndreigiau of Gwaelod
Sébastien Picque has been pulling out all the stops for us recently; not only has he been re-basing our old miniatures (from the square to the round), he's also been cracking on with getting the Dyndraig painted... and here's the stunning result!
Dyndreigiau of Gwaelod
Next up for Sébastien will be some Fomoraic I shouldn't wonder...!
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. We do believe that, now, all Wave 0 orders will be shipped by the end of April, if not earlier!
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: Olivier Bouchet has taken on Thelliatiss, and she will be sculpted traditionally.
Stéphane Cammosetto: Stéphane has begun work on Eadric on foot - although it's just an armature at the moment - and he will sculpt Eadric on horse after that.
Allan Carrasco: next up for Allan is Knútr on Horse, Víthar, Birna and Cnebba.
Roberto Chaudon: Ágriosávra is in progress and he will be followed by Eikovra, Myrkranio, Mag
ap Mag, Mälmord and finally Djiuzu, in that order.
Daniel Cockersell: the Daddy of all monster sculptors, Dan is cracking on with Scecchus.
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 about 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.
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, Gondard of Kareaz along with his Nithing, Ekk, is almost done; and after them he'll have Crom on horse, Xontór, the Holumenn Unit and the Gesíth Unit to do. Phew!
Valentin Zak: Valentin has begun work on Broga and he should be finished fairly 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...
Completed Sculpts
We thought this would be a good idea, as things are cracking on - a list of completed sculpts, in kindred order! Completed sculpts are in bold; in progress sculpts are in italics.
ALBAINN: Dúngal on foot - Dúngal on horse - Ciniod - Itaina - Domnech - Bagseg
ANGELCYNN: Eadric on foot - Eadric on horse - Timoth - Aldhelm - Hrór - Leofwen on foot - Gesíth Unit - Cnebba
BRYTHONIAID: Urien on foot - Urien on horse - Carys - Caedoc - Ffion Ferddig - Angedern - Mag
ap Mag
BYZANTII: Equitus Durio on foot - Equitus Durio on horse - Erebius - Agathae - Velchior - Djiuzu - Con I Modius
FOMORAIC: Mananaan on foot - Mananaan on horse - Idruaada - Daarkan - Naraa - Gaarwäg - Baagath's Herd - Praach
INFERNII: Scecchus
KHTHONES: Xontór - Thelliatiss - Dawn of Khthon (Myrinna - Syntyss - Thillia - Phyllidii - Elthissi) - Thoth - Hanokh - Ágriosávra - Eikovra - Myrkranio
NORSE: Knútr on foot - Knútr on horse - Birna - Víthar - Rollo Iron Head - Jörmungand - Hrafnen Crew - Mälmord
YSIANS: Crom on foot - Crom on horse - Annik - Zethag - Gondard (Gondard - Ekk) - Brugg - Seza
SELL-SWORDS: Uhtred Uhtredson, Finnan, Danilo Cruz
DESCENDANTS: Ieuan Longshore and Taranau, Trytheorn, Rick Boer's Frisian Warrior, Max Schüte's German Berserker
Let us know if we've missed anything!
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!
Darklands: First Edition II still needs YOU!
It's been a whirlwind of a few weeks since our next Kickstarter project, Darklands: First Edition II, went live, and whilst we've smashed our initial goal of £20,000 and have now funded all of the initial Units stretch goals - we stand at just over £80,000 - we still need YOU to come in and pledge, if you haven't done so already, to push the project further and get producing lots of awesome new miniatures!
Darklands: First Edition II ends on Wednesday the 23rd of April (
St George's Day, of course), which means you've still got thirteen days to get a pledge in!
What's it all about?
It's all about funding units! The point of Darklands: First Edition II is to create units for eight kindreds - Albainn, Angelcynn, Brythoniaid, Byzantii/Infernii, Fomoraic, Khthones, Norse and Ysians/Vras. Each unit includes a free, project exclusive miniature too!
It's not just the units, either - there's plenty of other stuff to go for, including beasts, commanders, more units eventually and even some accessories.
Here's what you can pledge for at the moment... this will change rapidly, so keep watching the project!
There may well be more units as time goes by, too!
Freebies Galore!
To add amazing value to those units, if you've pledged for one you get a free, project exclusive, strictly limited edition miniature too - such as Feral Agathae below, free with the Craven Fiends of Dis!
Feral Agathae, free with the Craven Fiends of Dis
Additionally, if you've gone for the "ALL THE INITIAL UNITS" or "YOU'RE THEIR DESCENDANT", you get Uhtred on Horseback - sculpted by Patrick Masson from a concept by Stefan Kopinski - for free!
Uhtred on Horseback
If you've gone for a Gold Reward, and we reach 400 backers, you'll get Sáthach - our Irish Fianna Queen - for free, as long as you pledge before the 14th of April!
Watch out for more freebies as the project continues, too!
Great Value Rewards to Choose From
There's four different rewards to go for in Darklands: First Edition II, and each give you great value for your funding contribution:
"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 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 INITIAL 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, especially when you add in those freebies!
The "YOU'RE THEIR DESCENDANT" gold 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 go for!
What's this "Bronze" and "Gold" malarkey?
Virtually every item shown on the project has a gold cost and a bronze cost in pounds sterling.
Each reward is either a "gold reward" or a "bronze reward".
Pledging for a bronze reward allows you to purchase items at bronze prices.
Pledging for a Gold reward allows you to purchase items at gold prices!
It's that simple!
(Although some items, particularly freebies, can only be purchased additionally at one cost for both gold and bronze rewards).
So what's the best deal?
Without a doubt, the "ALL THE UNITS" reward. For just £400, you get 49 miniatures (five from each unit, eight free project exclusives and Uhtred on Horseback) worth £785 when bought separately at RRP; that's almost 50% off! Not only that, but you'll get a £40 gold reward bonus with "ALL THE UNITS" - how amazing is that!
"THE GOLD SPOT" is a pretty good deal too. For just £100, you get a gold reward bonus of £10 (giving you £110 to spend) and you can pledge for miniatures at 20% off their
UK RRP.
For your £100, for example, you could pledge for the Slaughterers for £80 (getting Enslaved Ágriosávra for free, too, worth £115 if purchased at RRP) and the Loyal Guard for £28 (getting Tonsured Caedoc for free, and worth £50 if purchased at RRP).
Thus, you're getting £165 worth of miniatures for pleding £100 - that's 40% off what they'd be at RRP!
There's plenty of deals to be had!
Added Benefits!
Not only do you get to fund fantastic new miniatures for the Darklands range, and up to 40% cheaper than they will be when eventually released, you also get loads more!
By backing Darklands: First Edition II, you also get
£10 added to your pledge for every £100 you contribute - called the gold reward bonus. Thus, if you've pledged £1,000, you actually get £1,100 when you manage your pledge - effectively a 10% bonus! Note: this is ONLY given to backers that have chosen a gold reward.
the chance to purchase the limited edition, project-exclusive sell-sword Uhtred on Horseback as well as other project exclusives, if you haven't got them free!
the chance to get Sáthach, Ríonfénnid for free if you choose a gold reward and pledge before the 14th of April
the possibility to get your hands on further deals and offers as the project continues
access to the special post-project Kickstarter category on our website, where you manage your pledge, but which also enables you to purchase miniatures from our existing range at 20% off
UK RRP until the end of May
access to items from the Darklands: First Edition project in that Kickstarter category on our website until the end of May - at that project's prices!
Now those are fantastic deals!
What are you Waiting For?
Head on over to Darklands: First Edition II and see what you can help to fund!
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