Update #69 Dec 6, 2013
WIPs, QS Rules and Much Else
We have quite a few
WIPs for you this week, including the almost-finished Belech, more of Druc and Kernuor on Karnun-Beast and the very first images of Maallolvór and Leofwen's Great Hart!
We also have the final draft version of the QuickStarter Rules - v10.3 - for you all, and news of fulfilment, as always.
Fridays are Miercedays!
Belech, Scion of Baalor
That didn't take long! Belech, the son of Baalor, is almost finished and Roberto Chaudon must, of course, take a bow for creating such a superb beastie. Roberto's done it again!
Belech is just about done, there's a few details to sort but we expect to get him before Christmas; but it's unlikely he'll be sent before January though.
Druc, Meat-Hulk
Stéphane NGuyen's been working away on Druc and whilst progress is a bit slow you can see that he's really taking shape now.
We do expect that Druc will be finished in January.
Kernuor, Seer-Drune on Karnun-Beast
A small update on Kernuor but a good one - Kernuor himself is being sculpted! There's a way to go yet but it's still progress.
We're hoping that James can find the time to finish Kernuor on his Karnun-Beast before Christmas, but we will see.
Maallolvór, Lumbering Mallox
Benoît Cosse's working hard on his next monstrosity: Maallolvór, the giant sloth creature for the Fomoraic!
Maallolvór won't be huge, as you can see: he'll be on a 100mm base. That's plenty big enough though!
As you can see, it's still early days, and so we expect that Maallolvór will be finished for January. Then, happily, it's Werwulf time for Benoît...
Leofwen, Fane-Bearer of Mierce on Great Hart
Stéphane Simon's recovered from coming back from his holiday in November (he certainly deserved one!) and has started work on Leofwen's Great Hart. It's still early days, but it's looking regal already...
Leofwen and Great Hart should be finished in January.
Darklands: a World of War Fulfilment
We're still working through the Khthones Starter Sets; thanks to hitting a few snags with Ygandr and Ssibyros (who is, it has to be said, a pain to cast!), and trying to combine Angrislaug and much else with your sets, it's unlikely we'll get them all out by the 9th of December. We do apologise for this, and whilst it may happen that the last few will be sent in January, we do hope that most of them will be sent before Christmas.
This of course means that shipment of remaining items from Darklands: a World of War orders will be delayed into the new year, most likely. However, this does mean that - as the QuickStarter Rules will be printed in January - we can combine them all.
We'll also combine these remaining items with Wave 0 orders for First Edition items from the Darklands: First Edition kickstarter project with these shipments where possible, of course.
Of other recently completed sculpts, the Limited Edition Penda with Wolf Helm, Chaagmuth on hoof, Brynhild Gunnblindi, Gamla Bror and Jowan and Drune-Hounds are now being shipped, along with the first casts of Angrislaug, Vaak and Pétroyos. Please understand that we are prioritising orders with Khthones Starter Sets - so if the above miniatures are all you've left with us, please be patient!
In terms of remaining sculpt progress, here's an update:
Allan Carrasco: Qaano will be sculpted later in the year, possibly January now.
Benoît Cosse: Maallolvór is under way. The Werwulfas are next...
Roberto Chaudon: Belech is about done, and then it's Darklands: First Edition projects for him!
James van Schaik: Kernuor on Karnun-Beast isn't yet finished. We hope to have him before January, but we will see.
Stéphane NGuyen: Druc is under way!
Stéphane Simon: Work has begun on Leofwen on Great Hart! Leofwen on foot for Darklands: First Edition will follow.
Darklands QuickStarter Rules - v10.3 (final)
We've been beavering away on getting the QuickStarter Rules revised and ready for the designer and it's only fitting that you guys get a downloadable version too.
Thus, it can safely be said that this version of the QuickStarter Rules is the FINAL DRAFT version - i.e., there won't be any more versions before it's printed, and immediately it is printed it will turn into the LIVING rules, which we'll update as and when we find issues; until, ultimately, we get to the full rules.
You can download them here: Darklands QuickStarter Rules v10.3
So what's changed, I hear you all cry? Well, a few important things, so please bear the following in mind when you start to play with these rules. The major changes are listed below:
Parry Dice: parry dice have now been removed entirely from armour and weapons. The reason for this change is simply because using parry dice, in any form, was becoming very clunky and annoying during combat; so we've removed it. Instead of parry dice, shields give their wielders a -1 strike modifier.
Hour's End and End of Battle: the "An Hour Passes" section now includes the check for a host being ravaged and a general dying, called the "Gathering Courage Sequence". Then Victory Conditions are checked.
Woe! Woe!: If a host does not have a general, it can still remain on the field. This ensures the death of a general is not as annoying as it was.
Recover action: Performing a Recover action now gives the Recoverer 2D10 Constitution, and 1D10 if he has performed another action that hour.
Subclass: a warrior's class can now have a subclass. This is mainly used with mounts - for example, a Beast can be a Mount or an Ardent Mount.
Damage+: Damage+ (as a way to increase the effects of attacks) has now been removed. Once again, it was proving too clunky (you had to roll dice for each warrior individually) and was confusing when set next to Wound+, which is still there of course.
There are other minor changes, so I would recommend - especially if you are familiar with the previous versions of the QuickStarter Rules - to have a good read through.
In future, any changes to the downloadable Living QuickStarter rules will be made in red, so you can see at a glance what has changed.
There will be a place on our website where the rules, muster rules and profiles are stored and you are assured of being able to download the latest versions. This will happen, but please be patient!
Please Bear in Mind...
As before, please bear in mind that these QuickStarter Rules are to get you by until they're formatted for printing. As such, whilst they'll look very like these rules in terms of layout and the wording, they'll be a bit more... well, spangly when they're ready for print.
Once the QuickStarter rules are printed (we're looking at some time in January), they will of course be sent out to you along with the remainder of your order.
Muster Rules
The Muster Rules, Musters and Warrior Profiles must, of course, change thanks to the rules changes. This will occur over the coming weeks and we'll keep you all updated, week by week, with what's been done. We'll get the warrior profiles sorted first so you can get gaming.
They should all be done before Christmas, but we'll see!
Again, these are LIVING versions and will change over time depending on what is found, people's experiences during games and much, much more besides. This means they won't be printed - only the QuickStarter rules will be such - at least, for a good long while...
Templates
As we showed you all last week, we've been hard at work with Stefan Kopinski to get the templates sorted and the results are fantastic.
Here's a few examples of what Stef's been up to:
8", 6", 4" Flame Spray Template
Wordy bits and arrows and suchlike are yet to be added, but you get the general idea.
Just to recap, these are the templates that will be available:
4" Flame Spray Template (Dyndraig, Cawrdraig) - one of this template will be sent to everybody that ordered a Dyndraig Starter Set
6" Flame Spray Template (Chimaera)
8" Flame Spray Template (Draiggoch)
6" Breath of Ice Spray Template (Shaaroc)
4" Gopping Spray Template (Torku)
3" Pig Splatter Crush Template (Cormorágg)
3" Ice Shard Crush Template (Vaak)
2" Stone Shard Crush Template (Cormorágg, Magágg)
We did forget to include Vaak's Ice Shard template in last week's update - rest assured, that will be done!
Christmas Shipping
As always at this time of year, shipping times become longer until we get into January and the backlog is worked through.
In terms of "last shipping dates", here's Royal Mail's document giving you dates in full:
http://www.royalmail.com/sites/default/files/Last_Recommended_Posting_Dates_2013_Business_version.pdf
In short, you're looking at last posting dates, for normal airmail anyway, of:
Australia/New Zealand - 4/5 December
Canada, France, Greece, Poland - 10 December
USA - 13 December
Europe - 14 December
UK - 18 December (second class). Whilst its actually 20 December (first and recorded) and 23 December (special delivery), we're on holiday from the 18th, so treat everything for the
UK as the 18th.
It often happens that packages are delivered after those dates but before Christmas, of course, so there's always hope. I've no idea why France is so early though!
All we ask of you guys, really, is that - again - you remain patient over the festive period, your package will arrive in January if not before!
UPS Shipping
There is a possibility of using UPS to ship your package, which can be 2-3 days, but be warned - this will be expensive and we must ask for that shipping cost before we ship your items. Simply ask for details (by sending an e-mail to
kickstarter@mierce-miniatures.com) if you're really impatient for your stuff or need it for a present or something!
That's it for this week!
Couldn't help myself so if I get him it would be to do that.
