2 little updates this week
KS2
Update #71 Jun 13 2014
The Smallest Update
Back to normality again - another week gone, another update!
After last week's brutal mega bumper update fun, this week we only have a few bits to show you, but good bits all the same...
This week we have:
•sculpt work in progress updates from Roberto Chaudon and Yannick Hennebo;
•a list of what miniatures will be sent in Wave 1;
•updated lists of sculptors and sculpts;
• curent QuickStarter Rules, Muster Rules and Kindred Musters;
• what you can expect from us over the next few months.
Let's begin...
Agathae, Signifer
Yannick Hennebo is rapidly becoming our go-to guy for females... just look at Agathae, sculpted from the art by Steve Pierce!
Agathae should be a Wave 2 shipment of course.
Mälmord, Bergrisar
Wow. Fresh from completing Mag
ap Mag, Roberto Chaudon has clearly been inspired by Christophe Madura's artwork because he's almost finished Mälmord!
As you can see by this next image, Mälmord's a big 'un... he'll fit on a 60mm base though!
Clearly, Mälmord should make it into Wave 2.
Darklands: First Edition Fulfilment
There's plenty going on at the moment as we gear up for sending Wave 1. We now know what will make it into your Wave 1 shipments and have actually begun splitting orders to get them ready for packing.
As we've said before, we're going to start shipping Wave 1 in the last week of June, i.e., the week beginning the 23rd. 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 (Wave 2 onwards, anyway) 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 are in progress and 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 end of June): Dúngal on foot - Dúngal on pony - Ciniod - Itaina - Domnech - Bagseg - Eadric on foot - Aldhelm - Leofwen on foot - Broga - Urien on foot - Ffion Ferddig - Angedern - Mag
ap Mag - Ieuan Longshore and Taranau - Erebius - Mananaan on foot - Idruaada - Daarkan - Naraa - Gaarwäg- Scecchus - Thelliatiss- Ágriosávra- Eikovra - Myrkranio - Knútr on foot - Knútr on horse - Birna - Víthar - Rollo Iron Head - Jörmungand - Crom on foot - Annik - Zethag - Gondard (Gondard - Ekk) - Brugg - Uhtred Uhtredson - Finnan - Danilo Cruz
• SHIPMENT WAVE 2 (beginning August): Eadric on horse - Timoth - Hrōr - Urien on horse - Carys - Caedoc - Equitus Durio on foot - Equitus Durio on horse - Agathae - Velchior - Djiuzu - Con I Modius - Mananaan on horse - Baagath's Herd - Praach - Xontór - Thoth - Hanokh - Dawn of Khthon (Myrinna - Syntyss - Thillia - Phyllidii - Elthissi) - Hrafnen Crew - Mälmord - Crom on horse - Seza
• SHIPMENT WAVE 3 (beginning October): Cnebba - Gesith Unit - Trytheorn - Rick Boer's Frisian Warrior - Max Schüte's German Berserker
Thoth and Hanokh have now been printed and we're happy with the result, so we're getting the Dawn of Khthon printed next. Even so, they'll still be Wave 2 shipments now.
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 in your orders is 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!
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.
• Stéphane Camosseto: Stéphane will sculpt Eadric on horse next. He has also now taken on Hrōr, so that he matches the Werwulfas unlocked as part of Darklands: First Edition II.
• Allan Carrasco: There's just Cnebba for Allan, later on in the year.
• Roberto Chaudon: Mälmord is in progress and after him will be Djiuzu.
• Benoît Cosse: Baagath's Herd is next followed by Praach.
• Thomas David: Timoth is underway!
• Jacques-Alexandre Gillois: Equitus Durio on foot and Equitus Durio on horse will be sculpted over the summer.
• Christian Hardy: Velchior is underway.
• Yannick Hennebo: Agathae is in progress, and Yannick has also agreed to sculpt Mananaan on horse for us as Pedro cannot sculpt this now.
• Hector Moran: he has begun digitally sculpting Con I Modius, Legionary Contubernium with Gellius being the first example.
• Stéphane NGuyen: Stéphane has begun work on Seza and we should have images soon.
• Juan Navarro Pérez: Next up for Juan is Caedoc and then it's Urien on horse and Carys. 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 half-way through 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 Rikkard, Rick Boer's Frisian Warrior (due to be drawn by Stefan Kopinski) and Maximus, Maximilian Schüte's Germanic Berserker (due to be drawn by Danny Cruz). Briefs have been passed to both artists so we should have artwork soon.
Sculpts are certainly progressing now!
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 - Rikkard - Maximus
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)
However, please note that the rules won't be ready for June as a PDF download. We are now looking at the end of July for this.
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
There's a few other bits and pieces yet to be done of course, so here's how progress is looking on those fronts...
There's now a new version of the QuickStarter Rules - v10.6 - and this is now the FINAL version before printing. We took the opportunity of the delay to get a few formatting changes (including the addition of page numbers) in as well as tidy up a couple of rules that needed attention.
You can download them here: DARKLANDS QUICKSTARTER RULES v10.6
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. Unfortunately, converting an Open Office document into a print-ready CMYK colour version is proving problematic, and does involve reworking the whole book into a different program; but we hope to have them by the end of July now.
A word to the wise: don't use Open Office or Microsoft Word if you want the results printed by a professional printer...
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 particualr 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 include all of the warriors unlocked by our projects 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.
That's it for this week people... until next week!
KS2.5
Update #72 Jun 13 2014
Not Much, But Good
There's not much to show you today, after last week's stunning collection of superb miniatures... it had to happen one Friday!
Emyr, Teulu Warrior
More Teulu stuff from Olivier Nkweti, and this time a warrior, Emyr!
Again, he'll definitely be a Wave 4 shipment!
Darklands: First Edition II Fulfilment
Wave 1 (for items from Darklands: First Edition) will begin shipping on the week beginning the 23rd of June, so watch out for that; there's a bit of a wait until Wave 4 occurs, but there's plenty of items going out in Waves 1, 2 and 3 later on this year.
Sculpts and Sculptors
Here's the big list of who's sculpting what and when for Darklands: First Edition II. 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: along with the alterations to Gromi, Olivier will also be sculpting the Oghu Guardians, Oghur Unit and the Abhorrents of Ys, Abhorrent Unit.
• Stéphane Camosseto: Stéphane has taken on Eoric's Pack, Werwulf Unit as well as Armoured Hrōr for us.
• Allan Carrasco: Allan will be sculpting Ravener Birna and Thórrir.
• Roberto Chaudon: Thanks to Roberto being so awesome, we've loaded him up with the Craven Fiends of Dis, Fiend Unit, the Corpse Takers, Hrafnmann Unit, Enslaved Ágriosávra, Khallas, Parawn and Hrókr.
• Benoît Cosse: we've given Benoît the remainder of the Slaughterers, Krokodar Unit, Brunchaath on Gooracx, Srók, and lots of alternates! Kill-Head Flint-Fang, Marked Galagaak, Skyclad Itaina and Skyclad Ciniod are now complete, leaving him with Young Magágg and Umaer Drast.
• Yannick Fusier: thanks to his awesome work on Bagseg, we've given Yannick the Oghu Keepers, Oghurithne Unit - and he's already begun work on them!
• Yannick Hennebo:Sáthach is now complete of course and he will sculpt the alternate Feral Agathae now, also.
• Patrick Masson: Patrick will be sculpting Uhtred on Horse, to match his foot version.
• Hector Moran: excitingly, Hector will be digitally sculpting In III Judas, Demilegionary Incaendium and Quintus Crito.
• Stéphane NGuyen: Stéphane will sculpt Akkaz and Tykho!
• Olivier Nkweti: Olivier has begun work on digitally sculpting the Loyal Guard, Teulu Unit and he will also be digitally sculpting The Eye Ascendant, Warriors of Baalor Unit, the Warriors of Dyngonwy, Rhyfelwyr Unit, and the Spears of Dun Durn, Gairlom Unit. Four units for Olivier, but such is his work rate and professionalism, we think that's no trouble for him.
• Juan Navarro Pérez: Juan will be sculpting the alternates Tonsured Caedoc and Forwyn Carys from this project.
• Stéphane Simon: the Shadows of Carn Bran, Shadow-Drune Unit and Ax-Crom - as well as Yrag, Bil and Ekk's Heap - are the sum of Stéphane's work for this project.
• Andrew Speirs: one of our regular backers and a good friend, Andrew will be converting the Trolls to become Armoured Trolls, and work has already begun on them.
• Ernst Veingart: the sculptor of Mjagnir, Ernst has begun sculpting a "miniature" that will dwarf Mjagnir the Jötunn - Gomagg, the Albainn Giant!
• Valentin Zak: Valentin has now sculpted Cæna, and that concludes his work for us on this project!
• Unknown: we don't yet have sculptors confirmed for Sweordsman Timoth, Rēoc's Pack, Geraint on Ceffyldraig and Max Schüte's second Descendant, but we hope to confirm them soon.
Tons 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: Oghu Guardians - Skyclad Ciniod - Oghu Keepers (Brugbad - Dungabad - Lobeg - Bogad - Rubeg) - Skyclad Itaina - Spears of Dun Durn - Umaer Drast - Gromi (Gromi - Gromi with two cleavers - Armoured Gromi with two cleavers) - Young Magágg - Gomagg
•ANGELCYNN: Armoured Hrōr - Eoric's Pack - Sweordsman Timoth - Cæna - Rēoc's Pack
•BRYTHONIAID: Geraint on Ceffyldraig - Loyal Guard, Teulu Unit (Cynog - Lleu Gryf - Gerallt - Dafydd - Emyr) - Tonsured Caedoc - Warriors of Dyngonwy, Rhyfelwyr Unit - Forwyn Carys - Parawn
•BYZANTII: Quintus Crito - In III Judas - Feral Agathae - Tykho
•FOMORAIC: Brunchaath on Gooracx - The Eye Ascendant - Helmed Naraa - Marked Galagaak
• INFERNII: Craven Fiends of Dis
•KHTHONES: Srók - Slaughterers - Enslaved Ágriosávra - Khallas
•NORSE: Thórrir - Corpse Takers - Ravener Birna - Armoured Trolls - Hrókr
• VRAS: Kill-Head Flint-Fang
•YSIANS: Abhorrents of Ys - Ax-Crom - Flesh-Scavengers (Gondard - Ekk - Yrag - Bil - Flesh-Pile) - Shadows of Carn Bran - Akkaz
•SELL-SWORDS: Uhtred on Horse, Sáthach
•DESCENDANTS: Max Schüte's second Descendant
Let us know if we've missed anything!
