Update #67
May 9 2014
Not Much to See, But Have a Look anyway!
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Friday does seem to come along quicker than ever, but that's no bad thing as we're sure you'll all agree!
This week we have
sculpt work in progress updates from Olivier Bouchet, Roberto Chaudon and Stéphane Simon;
images of new paintjobs by Martin Grandbarbe;
updated lists of sculptors and sculpts;
current Kindred Musters;
what miniatures we believe will be sent in Wave 1;
what you can expect from us over the next few months.
More of the same, but slightly different, basically!
Xontór, Gorgon of Khthon
It's all Khthones this week and we begin with Xontór. Stéphane Simon's cracking on with things!
Such is Stéphane's speed that we think Xontór will be finished in time for a Wave 1 shipment, which is awesome news!
Thelliatiss, Gorgórix
Olivier Bouchet has begun work on our Gorgórix from the artwork by Beth Hughes. It's early days yet but Thelliatiss is certainly taking shape!
With Olivier being pretty speedy, we do think Thelliatiss will be a Wave 1 shipment.
Myrkranio, Bone Warrior
Talking of speed, Roberto Chaudon has again astounded us with how quick he's getting these Sávrar commanders sculpted... Myrkranio's almost done!
It's very likely that Myrkranio will make it into Wave 1 of course.
Painted Jowan and Hounds of Carn Dhu
Fresh from his awesome work on our Bow-Drunes, Martin Grandbarbe has been beavering away at more Ysians and the results, we think, are absolutely stunning.
Painted Goaders of Ys, Goad-Drune Unit
Martin has worked wonders on the Goaders too, they look superb!
Next up for Martin will be Dungann, and then he'll begin painting the Angelcynn infantry... which we're really looking forward to, we have to say!
Darklands: First Edition Fulfilment
At this stage - early May - we have a fairly good idea of what will and what won't make it into your Wave 1 shipments, and whilst we have planned for delays, there are always some circumstances that ensure delays are unavoidable.
To maximise the length of time between now and Wave 1, and thus get more miniatures sculpted and cast, we're going to start shipping Wave 1 in the last week of June. Bear in mind, then, that shipments will continue into July and probably August, and as always we will prioritise orders in date order - i.e., if you ordered early, you'll get your stuff sent early!
What Ships When?
Here's an up to date list of what we think will be shipped when. Note that this list could change, but we'll keep it updated every Friday.
Items in bold will DEFINITELY be sent in that wave as we have the sculpt; items in italics should make it into that wave, but we don't yet have the sculpt.
SHIPMENT WAVE 0: complete for this project.
SHIPMENT WAVE 1 (beginning June): Dúngal on foot - Dúngal on pony - Ciniod - Itaina - Domnech - Bagseg - Eadric on foot - Leofwen on foot - Broga - Urien on foot - Angedern - Mag
ap Mag - Ieuan Longshore and Taranau - Erebius - Mananaan on foot - Idruaada - Daarkan - Naraa - Gaarwäg - Scecchus - Xontór - Thelliatiss - Dawn of Khthon (Myrinna - Syntyss - Thillia - Phyllidii - Elthissi) - Thoth - Hanokh - Ágriosávra- Eikovra - Myrkranio - Knútr on foot - Knútr on horse - Birna - Víthar - Rollo Iron Head - Jörmungand - Crom on foot - Crom on horse - Annik - Zethag - Gondard (Gondard - Ekk) - Brugg - Uhtred Uhtredson - Finnan - Danilo Cruz
SHIPMENT WAVE 2 (beginning August): Eadric on horse - Timoth - Aldhelm - Hrōr - Urien on horse - Carys - Caedoc - Ffion Ferddig - Equitus Durio on foot - Equitus Durio on horse - Agathae - Velchior - Djiuzu - Con I Modius - Mananaan on horse - Baagath's Herd - Praach - Hrafnen Crew - Mälmord - Seza
SHIPMENT WAVE 3 (beginning October): Cnebba - Gesith Unit - Trytheorn - Rick Boer's Frisian Warrior - Max Schüte's German Berserker
Have I ordered the right Waves?
Fairly obviously (and to remind you all that we won't split orders unless you've purchased more than one shipment wave) if you've only purchased one Shipment Wave item, your items will only be sent in one shipment when everything is ready. In a nutshell:
If you have purchased Waves 1, 2 and 3, whatever is available will be shipped in each wave, with wave 3 waiting until everything's finally ready.
If you have purchased Waves 1 and 2, whatever is available in Wave 1 will be shipped in June, with everything else waiting until everything's finally ready.
If you've only purchased Wave 1, your orders will be shipped when everything's finally ready.
There's still time for you to change this by ordering more shipment waves of course - feel free to do so, but as soon as Wave 1 is complete, that shipment item will be removed from the webstore. so you'd best be quick!
Please be patient!
We would ask you all to be patient with both ourselves and our artists; sculptors live in the real world and real world problems often impinge upon their time, so please bear in mind that they are working as fast as they possibly can on our miniatures and giving us their full attention. We do not want to rush sculptors for the simple reason that rushed work is often poor work!
Danilo Cruz has been added!
Many of you will have seen that we've now added Danilo Cruz to your orders. This is because you originally pledged for more than £150 during the project, and didn't pledge for (or purchase later) "THE SWEET SPOT", "DARKLANDS, UHTRED & NOBLES" or "YOU'RE THEIR DESCENDANT".
If you believe you're entitled to Danilo and he's not in your list of orders, please let us know and we'll fix it!
Of course, if you pledged for "THE SWEET SPOT", "DARKLANDS, UHTRED & NOBLES" or "YOU'RE THEIR DESCENDANT", you can find Danilo Cruz listed in its contents, so have no fear - he'll be sent to you regardless.
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 begun work on Thelliatiss.
Stéphane Camosseto: Stéphane has begun work on Eadric on foot and he will sculpt Eadric on horse after that. He has also now taken on Hrōr, so that he matches the Werwulfas unlocked as part of Darklands: First Edition II.
Allan Carrasco: Next up for Allan is Knútr on Horse and Cnebba.
Roberto Chaudon: Eikovra is complete and work on Myrkranio has begun. He will be followed by Mag
ap Mag, Mälmord and finally Djiuzu, in that order.
Benoît Cosse: Benoît is still working on Darklands: a World of War miniatures and won't start Finnan, Praach and Baagath's Herd for a 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.
Jacques-Alexandre Gillois: work has begun on Daarkan and Naraa and he 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 is currently sculpting Erebius, which should be completed fairly soon.
Patrick Masson: It's Gaarwäg for Patrick next, which should start soon.
Hector Moran: he will be digitally sculpting Con I Modius, Legionary Contubernium in the near future.
Stéphane NGuyen: Stéphane should begin work on Seza soon, but we're not sure when right now.
Juan Navarro Pérez:Urien on horse, Carys, Caedoc and Ffion Ferddig will be sculpted soon. Juan has also agreed to sculpt Tomas Johansson's Geat Warrior, Trytheorn, although he's not sure when that will occur.
Stéphane Simon: Xontór is underway and after him he'll have Crom on horse, the Holumenn Unit and the Gesíth Unit to do. He's getting there!
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 - Hrōr - Leofwen on foot - Gesith Unit - Cnebba - Broga
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 Darklands: First Edition II (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 Darklands: First Edition II. 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!
QuickStarter Rules, Muster Rules and Kindred Musters
Here's some info on how Darklands is looking...
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 we 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...
Printing the QuickStarter Rules
We have excellent news: the QuickStarter Rules are about ready for print and will be shipped off to our printers soon.
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. The Muster Rules will not be printed, please remember; they will, however, always be available for download and will always be living rules.
At some point I'll get around to putting links up on our website...!
A Kindred Muster, what we call an army list, gives you the blocks to build a host of a particular kindred for Darklands. It includes all of the different unit types available to you as a general wishing to create an army, in the shape of warrior profiles.
The kindred musters given below now include all of the warriors unlocked by Darklands: First Edition and Darklands: First Edition II, so you can check exactly what you're getting for your money in game terms.
Bear in mind, however, that any new profiles are only partially playtested (if at all) - expect changes and feel free to give us feedback on the Mierce forums. Check them out for some awesome new warriors, however!
ALBAINN MUSTER v1.6
ANGELCYNN MUSTER v1.11
BRYTHONIAID MUSTER v1.7
BYZANTII MUSTER v1.2
FOMORAIC MUSTER v1.9
INFERNII MUSTER v1.1
KHTHONES MUSTER v1.5
NORSE MUSTER v1.6
VRAS MUSTER v1.5
YSIAN MUSTER v1.8
SELL-SWORD MUSTER v1.4
Muster Links in bold include warriors from this project.
No doubt there'll be a few errors or typos - feel free to tell us about them!
Upon each profile is 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.
...and that's it for this update! More next week...