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2019/08/17 05:05:39
Subject: Kickstarter: Dungeons & Lasers - HISP Terrain for Fantasy and Sci-fi.
I saw this on Facebook but didn't see it here. I'll post the details but I'm not going to be tracking this as I have too much unbuilt/unpainted plastic already. :(
"Remember - this is the company that threatened to take BGG to court because somebody did some research and proved that Prodos and Archon were effectively one and the same (a fact that they'd flatly denied to backers of both AvP and LOAD). This is the company that uses the name Load Board Games on Kickstarter because they tried to launch the LOAD project under an essentially anonymous banner because they were attempting to wash themselves clean of their past mess with Prodos.
By way of taking that last point a little further, you will note that the owner of Load Board Games on Kickstarter is Christopher Birkenhagen. He does not work for (and to the best of my knowledge has never worked for) Archon or indeed Prodos. His only link to the company is that he is the Director of Sales for Ninja Division, the company behind Soda Pop, and the company that was going to be responsible for distribution of AvP in the USA (after Prodos fell out with CMoN who were originally doing this role). Ninja shipped just 180 copies Stateside before being distanced by the project (whether by choice or force I don't know) and Prodos took on distribution themselves. Everything about the LOAD project was initially set up to avoid any possible link to Prodos and it was only when the effectively anonymous creators mentioned Unicast, that AvP backers put two and two together - although Unicast was not used for AvP v1, Prodos had already blogged about being the proud owners of this new technology that would revolutionise mini manufacturing. That linked Prodos to LOAD, a link the creator was desperate to avoid, and ultimately lead to them admitting that Archon was involved, and denying that Archon = Prodos. Archon subsequently claimed ownership of Unicast, and overnight gained a bunch of staff who were previously employed by Prodos - effectively they asset stripped the former company. I fully expect them to do exactly the same again in the future if/when the Archon experiment goes wrong.
There's a thread on BGG whereby Jarek, the owner of Prodos threatens legal action and denies being a director of Archon. In fact, a brief search of the Polish version of Companies House shows him to be the Chairman of the Board for Archon, and the sole legal representative of that company. Oddly, in the past 48 hours, he has changed the ownership of Prodos from himself to what appears to be some sort of investment holding company - trying to hide his link to them again ?"
I've never had any interaction with Prodos, but I would be tempted if any of the add-on fantasy rooms were interesting, but the large things on the walls in all of them repeat too much, making the room look funny ("A skeleton for every wall!").
But Prodos reputation plus wonky add-ons make this a "wait for retail if ever" kind of thing.
2019/08/17 17:59:09
Subject: Kickstarter: Dungeons & Lasers - HISP Terrain for Fantasy and Sci-fi.
I really want a good plastic dungeon wall set, and this is pretty tempting. Given how much hardware they are showing, at least some of it is done already and I'm really tempted.
.Are there any other plastic dungeon sets that stack up well against this one? If so, I haven't seen one. Doesn't need to be too fancy - I too wish to avoid the "skeleton on every wall" effect.
2019/08/17 19:05:49
Subject: Re:Kickstarter: Dungeons & Lasers - HISP Terrain for Fantasy and Sci-fi.
I thought so too. I'm going to slap a bit of paint on the floor tiles and seal them up this evening. I'll try yanking them apart a good number of times and we'll see what happens.
I'm thinking a gloss spray first and then a matte would help. I'll see what happens!
Poorly lit photos of my ever- growing collection of completely unrelated models!
Rampart backer comments seem to be okay (other than Prodos / Archon's flub with the tracking info -- oops), but those of Prodos / Archon's other KS don't seem too happy.
I guess it depends on your tolerance for follow-up customer service and what you expect for $100+.
So my Rampart wave 1 just arrived, figured I'd show you what to expect from modern day Archon/Prodos.
Spoiler:
Box contents - 1 Cathedral set and freebies. Note GW style CAD assembly guide.
Starcide freebie infantry. Not far behind GW on sculpts and casting, just a tad softer. Better than Mantic or Wyrd plastics.
The terrain sprues are noticeably softer and chunkier than GW models, about the level of GW's Made in China faction terrain (the current stuff, like the CSM Stargate, not the gakky ABS plastic from a few years ago).
I went in fully knowing the risks and it paid off. Now I'm not in the market for dungeon corridors but if I were, I'd be all in on Dungeons & Lasers in a heartbeat.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2019/08/28 22:59:10
The old meta is dead and the new meta struggles to be born. Now is the time of munchkins.
2019/08/24 15:58:07
Subject: Re:Kickstarter: Dungeons & Lasers - HISP Terrain for Fantasy and Sci-fi.
I just backed this last night. Hadn't seen this thread re: anything fiddly with their business. Review copies looked good on all the videos I watched and On Tabletop made the last Archon set look really good. I'm mostly looking forward to the little critters and the xenos stuff. Hopefully in a year's time I'll be able to post how it all looks.
This thread is tiny because of those huge images.
Need to be spoiled if I’m gonna read through it.
I can’t be sliding back and forth every sentence, it does my head in.
Images looked nice of those model sprues though, whatever they are
2020/05/21 14:10:31
Subject: Kickstarter: Dungeons & Lasers - HISP Terrain for Fantasy and Sci-fi.
I wasn't in this one for the terrain only the bonus animal minis which delivered a while back but always good to see another Archon KS start to deliver the meat of the project around on time
Not my jam, but it's glorious to see pallets upon pallets full of hard plastic terrain. And with this out the door, Rampart 2 should not be far behind.
The old meta is dead and the new meta struggles to be born. Now is the time of munchkins.
