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I'm pretty sure that it will be:

1) Top of Tre's "To Do" List
2) Obvious
3) Really not that important?

It is going to clearly be Conan/Carter/Pulp inspired, and will probably be readily apparent that it is just that right out of the gate!

Oh yeh. The fiction is every bit as important as the minis here. And while I wont ( couldn't ) deny the influences of Conan and John Carter I think you will find as much influence from Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath and other such works by Lovecraft..... I do not want to presume any kind of stature but I LIKE to think that the fiction this game and minis will be based upon would be something that might result from a collaboration between Burroughs, Howard, and LoveCraft with the one and only admonition being no " technology" or at least nothing recognizably mechanical.

I hesitate to call it pulpy or even fantasy because that conjures images that I do not think fit this setting. This is going to be fresh and different.....I just hope I do nto go TOO far with the " originality ".

Sounds exciting, very much looking forward to finding out more

 tre manor wrote:
Oh yeh. The fiction is every bit as important as the minis here. And while I wont ( couldn't ) deny the influences of Conan and John Carter I think you will find as much influence from Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath and other such works by Lovecraft..... I do not want to presume any kind of stature but I LIKE to think that the fiction this game and minis will be based upon would be something that might result from a collaboration between Burroughs, Howard, and LoveCraft with the one and only admonition being no " technology" or at least nothing recognizably mechanical.

I hesitate to call it pulpy or even fantasy because that conjures images that I do not think fit this setting. This is going to be fresh and different.....I just hope I do nto go TOO far with the " originality ".

Well, Howard and Lovecraft were contemporaries and friends, so...sounds fitting!

There's a fair bit of 'Cthulhu-esque' in many Conan stories too!

Damn - the more I hear about this one, the more I want it to launch already!

Please, Tre, my poor wallet!



Excited for this whenever it comes out. I just got a new job and sorted out some tax stuff, so I will put a bit aside for it now.

Last year RBG kickstarters made a really sizeable chunk of my hobby spending, but I love the models so very much!

I'm holding back myself on a few purchases to save for this one

Thanks guys.

This is a project very near and dear to me so I am looking forward to it finally coming to fruition. I am VERY happy that you guys are awaiting it as well!

 tre manor wrote:
I AM working on getting rules and fluff ready for the existing RBG line. Just one of the MANY things on my plate right now. Patience.

The new Helsvakt KS launches between friday and monday depending on how much work I can get done between now and then. I have three of the new Armoured elites just abpotu finished and 2 more under way but I also want to get the mounted hero in there from the beginning as well.

Don't worry, if there's one thing parenting has taught me, it's patience. There's no rush, I probably won't have my RBG stuff painted until like the middle of 2017 at the earliest. And that's not counting the fact that I'll be buying more between now and then.

In regards to the super duper secret project, I think it's awesome that you're taking the time to develop the world/background/fluff to have it accompany the game. Please do consider having it proofread by multiple people, I'm sure there's plenty of people who would gladly volunteer to help with that. It's always a shame to see interesting and intriguing settings and stories brought low by typos and inconsistencies.

Yeah take the time to develop it!

OK Tre, it has go to be 'Next Sneak Peek' in this thread now, right?

 Alpharius wrote:
OK Tre, it has go to be 'Next Sneak Peek' in this thread now, right?

I second his request!

More info and an update, please!

You are the Alpha and the Omega?

Ha!

I hope not - no end here, at least not until the Super Duper Secret Next Red Box Games Project Kickstarter (SDSNRBGP KS) is complete, and delivered!

Still working on it guys! I am still trying to wrap up the Helsvakt KS and that has dragged otu a little further than I had hoped. BUT I am wrapping it up over the next 2 weeks. The Chosen are done the berserkers are done the helsmaidens are done ( well they need weapons ) and the Craven only lack their hands and weapons, the Helsrider mount needs skulls and the riders need spikes and horns, and then the Jotunn needs his hands and weapons still. The War staff still need a bit of work btu that won;t take too long. It is really just a bunch of really small things that take a long time all together.

Aaaanyhoo......On topic here...... Even though I have all that going on I am still working on the SDSP as well.


I guess it is not exactly common knowledge but I recently decided to make the jump to digital modeling...... The reason for this is that I think that the best way to produce the SDSP is in plastic. I am a bit undecided as to whether I will be using hard PVC or hard plastic. I have received some samples of hard PVC that are truly very impressive in terms of detail but there are a lto of benefits to producing in hard plastic as well.

Hard plastic is MUCH more expensive to set up BUT I like hard plastic a LOT and it will allow for more modularity and ease of assembly. It is going to all come down to the level of detail that I can achieve in hard plastic and in the extent of pose I can use in the figures.

The starter sets will offer a master, a special minion ( which varies by faction ), and a set of standard minions. These standard minions will be modularly fitted to have universally interchangeable parts which will allow players to assemble different options of minion type. Depending on the faction there will be different options available. There will be options to make missile minions and melee minions in different number depending on the faction. Amazons for example will be missile heavy while the mutants will be more melee than missile and barbarians will have an even mix....undead are pure melee.

Backers will also be able to buy the modular minions separately as well.

The first stretch goal will hopefully fund the first faction champion for each of the four factions. These champions will either be large monster or a medium monster with a mounted hero and version of the hero afoot as well.

Beyond that I have plans for various characters and minions sets for each of the first four factions but I want to cover the basics first.

I also don't plan on letting the offerings go too berserk. I want instead to focus on funding what I can deliver reliably in a short time frame. I will have plans for a lot of stuff but there will be a point where I will stop adding new items to the offering for the sake of swift and sure delivery. I can always run a second KS to expand the line as needed as I do have plans and designs for 8 different factions and several different characters and minion types and terrain as well.

The ideal goal by campaign's end will be the starter sets ( 1-3 masters, 1-4 special minions, 6-12 standard minions ) Champion set ( 1 -2 miniatures ), second special minion set ( 2-4 smaller beast minions ) second standard minion set ( 3-6 elite faction minions varied by faction ), and at least 2 other character sets for each of the first four factions so between 16 and 24 unique figures per faction......so a lot of work and a lot of funding, but perfectly do-able.

I am also working on terrain pieces to go with these but I am thinking those will best be left to a separate campaign.

I am REALLY excited about this and I am REALLY looking forward to getting this underway. This is just the beginning as well. I have a LOT of ideas for this world and game that I think a lot of people would be really excited about.

I figure it may take a month or two to get all of the modeling and adjustment for manufacturing done. Then maybe another month to get all of the marketing materials for the campaign done. So I am looking at maybe August or September to launch the KS.

As I have said before the rules at launch will NOT be the final version of the rules. The KS version will be the beta version which I would prefer to test via the supporters of the campaign. The rules will be playable and working but I think ti would be best to test the rules with as wide a market as possible before committing rules to a book printing.


I am working on finalizing the official title of the project and getting it properly protected. Hopefully soon I will have something more to actually show btu I do nto want to get too far ahead of the actual campaign. I promise though, this is Priority A-1 after the helsvakt are done.

Nice update! PVC actually appeals to me more here just due to the cost, lead time and difficulty of getting models made in HIPs. Very excited to follow your progress and hopefully pledge when the time comes later this year! Although I am looking forward to seeing the Jotunn finished first (and receiving it, of course )

Thanks for the update Tre - it is greatly appreciated!

that's real exciting stuff. I was always interested in this game, but the suposedly metal miniatures made be a bit reluctant, since I hate metals with a passion. If you go with HIPS, i'll have to spend an insane amount of money

HIPS would be interesting - I know Malifaux is making it work for a small-scale game. People would buy them in droves for sure.

PVC puts a lot of people off - due to it being so hard to clean up. (I'm slogging through some PP stuff atm - it is a pain ).

I love metal and this is why I have every mini of your last 5 kickstarters (well the of last one not yet). But I would support a project for HIPS minis or for Wrath of Kings PVC quality as you mentioned.

PVC is tempting because I can do more with the poses without having to worry about draw and draft line ( for hard plastic tooling when details are not faced directly into one half of a mold they soften as they get further away from the direct inward facing. ) but HIPS allows me to do more with modularity and assembly is FAR easier.

Costs are widely different between the mediums and that complicates planning.

I know that people universally seem to prefer HIPS to PVC but PVC really has come a long way in the past year or so.

Very interesting and challenging dilemma.

That's a beautiful platypus

It is especially challenging as you've established a certain high level of quality with your sculpts and 'brand' and the wrong 'formula' PVC could be...disastrous.

My preference would be:

HIPs --> "real" resin --> Metal --> PVC

THough I'm certainly open to PVC if you can also crack the 'PVC Formula'...

Well I think that the formula is cracked, there are just certain points to be kept in mind when sculpting for PVC. Certain details need more exaggeration and some elements are better left omitted from design to avoid problematic areas in the final casts. All of the PVC I have cleaned up have cleaned up pretty well in areas where the mold line crossed relatively smooth planes. So bearing that in mind to be careful with details crossing te mold plane I think the clean up woes can be mitigated in the design phase.

The PVC models that I've seen that look good are the chunky Wrath of Kings ones. But the lithe models still suffer. Also, they used a different plastic (I think HIPs?) just for the weapons, as PVC turns sharp weapon blades into butter knives.

So, I do think PVC could work in some ways, but you would have to go with beefier sculpts, and things like spikes which are on many of your models would not come out as sharp... which may not be an issue really, but the weapons could be unless you had them made separately like Wrath of Kings did. I don't suppose there's any chance you can team up with them but they definitely were ahead of the curve on it... and I think HIPs is really a non-option due to it's complexity and how difficult it is to sculpt for, as you say (not skill in sculpting details, but just how restricting it is and how careful you have to be for a model to be moldable in it).

As Alpharius says, "real resin" certainly has it's appeal (and I actually got a great contact as AdeptiCon if you were interested, who do resin casting for some other minis companies and are excellent!) but even for that, I think things would need to be a bit chunkier than some of your metals have been. A lot of it is sculpting for the medium, again as you say.

But get that Jotunn sorted first (I know you will!)

The "newest" PVC I've worked on is stuff from PP that is still 2-3 years old. So I'll trust Tre's judgement on cleanup and whatnot. (and on advances made in the past year or so)

PVC isn't a dealbreaker for me regardless, but I know for a lot of people it is. I just figured if Malifaux could "crack the code" for making profitable HIPS for low model count games others could follow in their lead. (And really, I think 5 -10 years from now everyone will be using HIPS anyway) .

The Wrath of Kings stuff has been nice to work with. Minimal cleanup, especially as models get larger.

I'd be more than happy to see PVC of that quality, especially if Tre wants to make big thick beefy models.

 RiTides wrote:
The PVC models that I've seen that look good are the chunky Wrath of Kings ones. But the lithe models still suffer. Also, they used a different plastic (I think HIPs?) just for the weapons, as PVC turns sharp weapon blades into butter knives.

So, I do think PVC could work in some ways, but you would have to go with beefier sculpts, and things like spikes which are on many of your models would not come out as sharp... which may not be an issue really, but the weapons could be unless you had them made separately like Wrath of Kings did. I don't suppose there's any chance you can team up with them but they definitely were ahead of the curve on it... and I think HIPs is really a non-option due to it's complexity and how difficult it is to sculpt for, as you say (not skill in sculpting details, but just how restricting it is and how careful you have to be for a model to be moldable in it).

As Alpharius says, "real resin" certainly has it's appeal (and I actually got a great contact as AdeptiCon if you were interested, who do resin casting for some other minis companies and are excellent!) but even for that, I think things would need to be a bit chunkier than some of your metals have been. A lot of it is sculpting for the medium, again as you say.

But get that Jotunn sorted first (I know you will!)

The Rhode Islander brings up some VERY good points - PVC kinda still blows for slender/regular human sized miniatures, and it really blows for sharp edges, poles, weapons, etc.

Everything I am hearing makes me excited, though the PVC thing makes me nervous I was happy with my trollcast (I know the delays made others unhappy) so I trust Tre's judgement.

I would be happy with either, and if PVC works well it could be really cool because it is quite durable and dynamic.

I am still hoping for some great looking Lizardmen from this project though

I'm cautiously optimistic here because I don't think Tre will release a dog BUT having said that, I've yet to be really impressed by PVC when used to make slender, human sized figures as well as hard edged weapons...

All fair points on PVC. It does still have some limitations to keep in mind.

I woudl vastly prefer HIPS and I am working with a partner who has committed to helping m to get the models right for production. it is nto impossible, but it is tricky. Still though it depends on what I can do with it.

The scale of the models may have to change slightly to make them work in plastic but I won't be making any drastic changes.

The style will also be somewhat different, again nothing drastic but slightly different. I want this product to have it's own look and feel.

Lizardmen...............Yes. They will be a prominent feature in the Amazon faction being the heavy troops of the faction and possibly a faction unto themselves as well at some future point. I am going to really wing for the fences with this project in terms of imagination. Where I abide by strict rules with my fantasy stuff, this is where I am going to spread my wings a bit.