Mierce Miniatures Darklands Ongoing News and Rumors Thread! Darklands Rulebook ships on April 18!

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**judgedoug**

Is the 6PM start time GMT? (so 1PM EST?)

**Alpharius**

"Mini" Kickstarter launching at 6PM GMT:

A Darklands Mini Kickstarter Project STARTS TODAY at 6pm!
2 comments
4 likes

We have a BIG surprise for you - we're launching a mini Kickstarter project TODAY, at 6pm!
DARKLANDS MINI KICKSTARTER PROJECT

We're not going to unveil much about this project in this announcement, to keep that surprise, but what we can tell you is that we'll be running it from 6pm (GMT) today, the 1st of July until 6pm Monday, the 14th of July - so that's two weeks' worth of Mierce awesomeness!
What's the goal?

We have set a initial goal of £5,000 for this project and we do hope to achieve that fairly early. To that end, one of the rewards will be an early bird, and there'll only be 125 of them available - so you'd better be quick and grab one; and you get £10 off the main reward for doing so.

There's only one reward (two if you count the early bird version), too; and that's set at £50 (so £40 for the early bird).
What's it all about?

You'll have to wait until 6pm!

All right, here's a few details. This little project is designed to fund some very cool miniatures indeed, some of which were seen by backers during our last Kickstarter project (Darklands: First Edition II), although they did not become stretch goals; and some miniatures that nobody has seen until now...

Broadly, we are hoping to produce one extremely fantastic miniature - that is being sculpted right now by the awesome Daniel Cockersell - and add a few more to the Darklands range.
Why now, not later?

It's very simple, really - if we wait until September to produce these miniatures (which is the date scheduled for our next big project), you'll be waiting until well into 2015 before we can use Dan Cockersell's skills. He's a very busy man, he had a window of opportunity for us and we took it - the downside being that his awesomeness comes at a high price, and we don't want to dip into funds reserved for other project miniatures.

As well as that, it's an opportunity to produce some more fantastic centrepiece miniatures, too - depending on you guys of course! - and is a bit of an experiment; if this project is nice and successful, we may well run a couple of mini-projects like it in 2015.

We shall see...!
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 may appear during the course of the next project... if there's enough interest ;o)

**cincydooley**

Honestly, I'm fine if it is standard practice for them.

If the window is there, I'd rather they get the funds so they can bring more great sculptors on board.

**Baragash**

This early bird

in Kickstarters from "known" companies is starting to

me right off.

**Mierce Miniatures**

Zond,
Yes, it is. We are a Kickstarter-based company now, it's as simple as that.

The simple fact is, Kickstarter is where it's at for projects like ours; if we just put miniatures up on our website, we'd sell about one percent of what we are funded for on our projects. Kickstarter enables us to interact with our customers in a way that nothing else can, and people love the community.

I'm sorry you feel cynical about it, but it's the only way we can make new miniatures and keep people's interest.

This project, by the way, is only a little one to fund one miniature by Dan. If it funds more than that, great - if it doesn't, great! We've still funded a fantastic miniature.

As for the rules, again, it's very simple - the QuickStarter Rules are already out there, you can play Darklands already. The full rules are being worked on and will be available soon, but - as I say to everyone who asks about it - I do pretty much everything for Mierce apart from mould and cast, and it all takes time; my time is basically limited, and as I have a big family I can't do much at home either.

I would suggest you look at some other companies and how late their projects are before you get too cynical about Mierce and Kickstarters, to be honest!

We keep everybody informed all the time about the state of what we're doing - it's not like we're trying to pull the wool over anybody's eyes.

Anyway, hope to see lots of Dakka Darklanders at 6pm!

**corgan**

Does it start at 18:00, UK time?

**OrlandotheTechnicoloured**

yes 6pm UK time (about 2 1/2 hours from now)

If folk look you'll see the early birds fund the project (£40 x 125 backers) which seems fair enough, once this happens other backers are aren't 'needed' (although they are wanted)

**cincydooley**

Mierce Miniatures wrote:
Zond,
Yes, it is. We are a Kickstarter-based company now, it's as simple as that.

The simple fact is, Kickstarter is where it's at for projects like ours; if we just put miniatures up on our website, we'd sell about one percent of what we are funded for on our projects. Kickstarter enables us to interact with our customers in a way that nothing else can, and people love the community.

Not only that, but it allows you a great avenue for risk mitigation.

That's a big reason why I have no problem with Kickstarter's in general.

Further that with the fact that Mierce, if you're looking at the big picture, has been one of the few KSes I've backed that have had accurate timeline quotes and delivered on time. They've run their KS projects incredibly responsibly, IMO.

As a reminder (or refresher to anyone that doesnt know) Dan sculpted a few of the FW Greater Demons and sculpted the Mierce Risen Kraken Uuthull.

**Malkaven**

Will there be stretch goals?

**Denilsta**

Didn't Dan sculpt Krull, the Terror of Fortiou and Malacant as well? Three of my favourite all time miniatures.

@ Mierce, ignore the cynicism and keep up the good work.

**cincydooley**

Denilsta wrote:
Didn't Dan sculpt Krull, the Terror of Fortiou and Malacant as well? Three of my favourite all time miniatures.

@ Mierce, ignore the cynicism and keep up the good work.

He did!

So yeah, I'm expecting something big and badass.

**Bossk_Hogg**

cincydooley wrote:
Honestly, I'm fine if it is standard practice for them.

If the window is there, I'd rather they get the funds so they can bring more great sculptors on board.

So much this. Lock them in before their schedules are filled! I cant see how they would be able to retain so many talented in house sculptors, so I'd rather them commission from the best. And compared to other artists who have fallen behind in their works, the ones Mierce uses often beat the expected deadline!

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Mierce Miniatures wrote:
Zond,
Yes, it is. We are a Kickstarter-based company now, it's as simple as that.

The simple fact is, Kickstarter is where it's at for projects like ours; if we just put miniatures up on our website, we'd sell about one percent of what we are funded for on our projects. Kickstarter enables us to interact with our customers in a way that nothing else can, and people love the community.

Have you guys looked into getting into more NA distributors? I know you'd get less of a percent of sales as opposed to direct, but hopefully it would expand the market.

**Alpharius**

cincydooley wrote:
Denilsta wrote:
Didn't Dan sculpt Krull, the Terror of Fortiou and Malacant as well? Three of my favourite all time miniatures.

@ Mierce, ignore the cynicism and keep up the good work.

He did!

So yeah, I'm expecting something big and badass.

At £40 or £50, it had better be!

As for Mierce and Kickstarter - I'm more than OK with it.

It is their 'business model' and it appears to work.

They've go to be one of the leaders in terms of delivering to schedule, and I know they are the leader in terms of miniature quality!

They also depend upon the quality and consistency of their sculpts, so they need to 'lock in' as many sculptors as possible, as soon as possible.

If Kickstarter campaigns allow them to do this, and apparently they do, I'm all for it.

**tre manor**

.....Well this IS the way that the business seems to be going.

I have to wonder if people would reward a business for NOT using kickstarter being that so many people are getting so tired of it.

Automatically Appended Next Post:
.....Well this IS the way that the business seems to be going.

I have to wonder if people would reward a business for NOT using kickstarter being that so many people are getting so tired of it. Cause that is the onyl way this will ever change.

wierd........

Not meanign this as a dig at Mierce just saying in general.

**Alpharius**

I'm not sure many people are getting 'tired of it'.

A vocal minority on the Internet may be, but the real proof will be in the pudding.

Zombicide 3 is doing ridiculous money 2 days in.

Mierce do very well with their campaigns.

I think Kickstarters are here to stay, especially in this hobby of ours.

**OrlandotheTechnicoloured**

I'm sure a few would, but it would only be those that really disapprove of KS (or that particular company using KS),

most just won't care

so for the foreseeable future I think KS is the way to go for companies that want to use it

**Alpharius**

And at this point, as it amounts to an interest free loan (minus the upfront fees), it is hard to see why many would not use it.

**cincydooley**

tre manor wrote:

I have to wonder if people would reward a business for NOT using kickstarter being that so many people are getting so tired of it. Cause that is the onyl way this will ever change.
.

I know I'm only one guy with one opinion, Tre, but I'm fine with Kickstarters in general. There are going to be instances like Zach Braff's "Wish I Was Here" that will cause some people to bristle , but in our niche little hobby, I think any and all of the anger and cynicism is misplaced.

I think we'd perhaps more deservedly see some if Games Workshop decided to kickstart a project, but I won't lie: if they opted to release all of their "pet projects" and/or specialty games like that, I don't know if I'd be that upset about it.

But with most of these projects, we're talking about very small companies, with very few employees. CoolMiniOrNot, who many see as one of the "larger" players in this industry, has like, 14 employees. And about a quarter of those are warehouse staff.

In all honesty, I think a lot of of the "tired of it" is simply a synonym for "I don't have money for it right now;" I could be way off base here, but that's the impression I get.

**Malkaven**

cincydooley wrote:
tre manor wrote:

I have to wonder if people would reward a business for NOT using kickstarter being that so many people are getting so tired of it. Cause that is the onyl way this will ever change.
.

I know I'm only one guy with one opinion, Tre, but I'm fine with Kickstarters in general. There are going to be instances like Zach Braff's "Wish I Was Here" that will cause some people to bristle , but in our niche little hobby, I think any and all of the anger and cynicism is misplaced.

I think we'd perhaps more deservedly see some if Games Workshop decided to kickstart a project, but I won't lie: if they opted to release all of their "pet projects" and/or specialty games like that, I don't know if I'd be that upset about it.

But with most of these projects, we're talking about very small companies, with very few employees. CoolMiniOrNot, who many see as one of the "larger" players in this industry, has like, 14 employees. And about a quarter of those are warehouse staff.

In all honesty, I think a lot of of the "tired of it" is simply a synonym for "I don't have money for it right now;" I could be way off base here, but that's the impression I get.

I Agree, and because of KS the "larger players" like CoolMiniOrNot can stay small so that they have more control on their product. I'm new to the Mini hobby and it's due to KS and the exposure of all the mini companies that run there campaigns on the site. KS is good for the hobby. Companies like Mierce are also the reason why I'm constantly broke.

**Denilsta**

I think the only thing people are getting tired of are projects over running by months (or a year in the case of Drake) or substandard final products (Drake again, SW etc...).

**Baragash**

cincydooley wrote:
tre manor wrote:

I have to wonder if people would reward a business for NOT using kickstarter being that so many people are getting so tired of it. Cause that is the onyl way this will ever change.
.

I know I'm only one guy with one opinion, Tre, but I'm fine with Kickstarters in general. There are going to be instances like Zach Braff's "Wish I Was Here" that will cause some people to bristle , but in our niche little hobby, I think any and all of the anger and cynicism is misplaced.

I think we'd perhaps more deservedly see some if Games Workshop decided to kickstart a project, but I won't lie: if they opted to release all of their "pet projects" and/or specialty games like that, I don't know if I'd be that upset about it.

But with most of these projects, we're talking about very small companies, with very few employees. CoolMiniOrNot, who many see as one of the "larger" players in this industry, has like, 14 employees. And about a quarter of those are warehouse staff.

In all honesty, I think a lot of of the "tired of it" is simply a synonym for "I don't have money for it right now;" I could be way off base here, but that's the impression I get.

^This.

TBH IMO even GW should consider using KS for "niche" products that some customers want but they don't produce because of either uncertain or low predicted demand eg Genestealer Hybrids or FW special characters.

My beef with early birds for "established" companies is that to me the function of an early bird in KS is to create up-front momentum, but "established" companies already have a natural upfront momentum from having a loyal existing fan base so what happens is that some existing fans that are ready to jump aboard ASAP get left out for arbitrary reasons like being born/living in the wrong part of the world or simply not being available at that time. (There are also practical issues like camping that more complex projects like DBX suffer from, but I've written enough

).

**OrlandotheTechnicoloured**

I think never underestimate the power of free advertising which is effectively what KS does

even if the only people mierce connect with is the people on their KS mailing list (and actually it's a lot more as a whole load of us post stuff on forums like this)

that's still several hundred people (with money in their pocket at least some of the time or they wouldn't have become backers) who get shown all your new shiney minis as they grow from concept sketch to final production piece

and each time a mini is shown is a chance to sell them one

I like and buy minis from a whole range of companies, but I'm most likely to buy them when I see them, and I can't check every company every week, but the mierce stuff comes to me

you get a similar but probably weaker effect from posting on loads of forums/sites /social media outlets or from having a newsletter,

but basically the more people that see the new stuff (as long as it's good) the more it will sell, and at the moment I suspect KS is the top of the mini advertising game (maybe a few big sites like dakka may be close), and most importantly is certainly the major site for showing your stuff to people NOT normally interested in them

and while a lot of the new folk will back one project and that's that, some will become hooked and as you hooked them you'll probably end up selling a significant amount of your other stuff to them as your all they know in the field to begin with

**Zond**

I praised Mierce's use of kickstarter, and I'm not tired of the platform being used by any company, although the fulfillment and quality of some, and again not Mierce leave a lot to be desired.

If Mierce say this is the only way to secure a sculptor's services I'll believe them this time. If this becomes a norm I'll resume cynicism mode. The normal kickstarters I have no problem with,they're well spaced out and it's easy to grab what you want, even if I dislike early birds, time dependant rewards and discount levels as opposed to pledge levels. :-P

It would be nice to see a trickle of releases rather than endless kickstarters, say like Corvus Belli and Infinity, however it's never that simple and it's apples and oranges as I'm sure someone more knowledgeable can explain. I just note that Mierce seem to have a hugely reduced retail presence.

I'm interested to see how these microstarters go, as it could be potentially more appealing to grab £50 every so often rather than a few hundred at large intervals.

**grefven**

Dan Cockersell at £40/£50. Oh yeah, I will really be there when it starts.

Looking at what he has been doing in the past, I am sure it is nothing short of spectacular.

**Nostromodamus**

Looks like it started already...

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mierceminiatures/darklands-monstrous-mounts?ref=discovery

**Fenriswulf**

Well getting an early bird defrays the postage cost so I am happy

**Slinky**

Already at nearly £4k!

**Sirio**

Zond wrote:
I praised Mierce's use of kickstarter, and I'm not tired of the platform being used by any company, although the fulfillment and quality of some, and again not Mierce leave a lot to be desired.

If Mierce say this is the only way to secure a sculptor's services I'll believe them this time. If this becomes a norm I'll resume cynicism mode. The normal kickstarters I have no problem with,they're well spaced out and it's easy to grab what you want, even if I dislike early birds, time dependant rewards and discount levels as opposed to pledge levels. :-P

It would be nice to see a trickle of releases rather than endless kickstarters, say like Corvus Belli and Infinity, however it's never that simple and it's apples and oranges as I'm sure someone more knowledgeable can explain. I just note that Mierce seem to have a hugely reduced retail presence.

I'm interested to see how these microstarters go, as it could be potentially more appealing to grab £50 every so often rather than a few hundred at large intervals.

+1
I said the same thing some days ago (before learning of this Mierce KS which I have no doubt it will also fund). I really can't see a reason for KS from these companies other than (obviously) make more money with minimum risk. Mierce does well in doing so and will not stop imo (as long as people keep buying that), but it's bad for the customers in general, I mean you literally have to pre-pay something someone will eventually have to make if he ever wants to grow.
A KS is understandable when someone wants to get established, but if you already got hundreds of thousands of pounds in pre-sales, you should be brave enough to do something on your own and not depend on the others any longer. I mean I really can't remember anything in the past years that this (and many other similar) companies did without a KS!

As for the "this is the only way to secure sculptors", lol, give me a break, hand them $$$ in advance and you secure the Eiffel tower need be. But why bother doing that when people will do that for you? No actual risk... sounds good!

**decker_cky**

Sirio wrote:
Zond wrote:
I praised Mierce's use of kickstarter, and I'm not tired of the platform being used by any company, although the fulfillment and quality of some, and again not Mierce leave a lot to be desired.

If Mierce say this is the only way to secure a sculptor's services I'll believe them this time. If this becomes a norm I'll resume cynicism mode. The normal kickstarters I have no problem with,they're well spaced out and it's easy to grab what you want, even if I dislike early birds, time dependant rewards and discount levels as opposed to pledge levels. :-P

It would be nice to see a trickle of releases rather than endless kickstarters, say like Corvus Belli and Infinity, however it's never that simple and it's apples and oranges as I'm sure someone more knowledgeable can explain. I just note that Mierce seem to have a hugely reduced retail presence.

I'm interested to see how these microstarters go, as it could be potentially more appealing to grab £50 every so often rather than a few hundred at large intervals.

+1
I said the same thing some days ago (before learning of this Mierce KS which I have no doubt it will also fund). I really can't see a reason for KS from these companies other than (obviously) make more money with minimum risk. Mierce does well in doing so and will not stop imo (as long as people keep buying that), but it's bad for the customers in general, I mean you literally have to pre-pay something someone will eventually have to make if he ever wants to grow.
A KS is understandable when someone wants to get established, but if you already got hundreds of thousands of pounds in pre-sales, you should be brave enough to do something on your own and not depend on the others any longer. I mean I really can't remember anything in the past years that this (and many other similar) companies did without a KS!

As for the "this is the only way to secure sculptors", lol, give me a break, hand them $$$ in advance and you secure the Eiffel tower need be. But why bother doing that when people will do that for you? No actual risk... sounds good!

It isn't a question of whose pocket the money comes from - if there wasn't Kickstarters for these small companies, then the small companies would remain tiny, and wouldn't release even 1/4 as much as they're able to. Even Mantic, which is a decent size, gets to compress 3-4 years of releases into a single year because of Kickstarter.

Consumers deal with risk and delay, and are compensated with price and selection that otherwise wouldn't be available.

**Fenriswulf**

Project Update #2: £10,000 - Ciniod, Umaer of Dun Durn on Aurogg

With us now funded, and Erebius on his Behema a reality, here's your next stretch goal - and it's something none of you have seen before...

Ciniod has featured in both of our previous Kickstarters - on foot, of course - but now you can grab him on a mighty Aurogg, a titanic beast of the mountains of Alba that is related to the domesticated cattle of the lowlands.

Increase your pledge by £50 to purchase Ciniod on his Aurogg! Remember, that early bird can only be applied once, but you can use your early bird for Ciniod on Aurogg rather than a different monstrous mount.

Ciniod on Aurogg will ship in February 2015, Wave 5.

The next stretch goal will be unveiled at £15,000...

Welp, this is something I was hoping they'd make, and here it is. Damn... So glad I got an early bird!