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Made in gb
Stealthy Warhound Titan Princeps





If they're really discontinuing a product that's been paid for and not delivered, that really should be grounds for a refund, KS shenanigans aside.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/12/12 01:13:14


 
   
Made in au
Regular Dakkanaut





JWBS wrote:
 warboss wrote:
Sounds like some maelstrom webstore style shennanigans.


I wouldn't go that far. Sounds like some over-reach to me. I'd hope they've learned some lessons about cashflow etc since Maelstrom, and if we assume that they have, that might even be something that's contributing to the production delays.


I'm guessing they have cash-flow issues, I know they are sculpting the works for James from both his Kickstarters:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/reclusivephoenix/the-avatar-of-cthulhu/description
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/reclusivephoenix/slumbering-oblivion-cthulhu-inspired-game-miniatur/description

And all of Slumbering Oblivion has been done...the lot, all shipped.
So Mierce set aside the time from moulding their own backlog to complete ALL of both of these other kickstarters.
That shows their cash-flow is minimial, and they need this work to survive, same with casting off new designs over the backlog...

Grim...



   
Made in us
Shrieking Traitor Sentinel Pilot




Burbank, CA

yxalitis wrote:
JWBS wrote:
 warboss wrote:
Sounds like some maelstrom webstore style shennanigans.


I wouldn't go that far. Sounds like some over-reach to me. I'd hope they've learned some lessons about cashflow etc since Maelstrom, and if we assume that they have, that might even be something that's contributing to the production delays.


I'm guessing they have cash-flow issues, I know they are sculpting the works for James from both his Kickstarters:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/reclusivephoenix/the-avatar-of-cthulhu/description
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/reclusivephoenix/slumbering-oblivion-cthulhu-inspired-game-miniatur/description

And all of Slumbering Oblivion has been done...the lot, all shipped.
So Mierce set aside the time from moulding their own backlog to complete ALL of both of these other kickstarters.

Well... one of those KS ended 3 days ago.. just sayin.
That shows their cash-flow is minimial, and they need this work to survive, same with casting off new designs over the backlog...

Grim...





I don’t really understand why (if it is true) you consider it such a bad thing that they are doing everything they can to keep their company afloat. Should they just give up and not try to produce all the miniatures they funded in their KS campaigns? Several small game/miniature companies have had to close this year, Andi think it’s been a real struggle for most others. In the last few years GW has stumbled (finecast), and fallen flat on their face (end times - horrendous launch of AoS), but they’ve done an insane job of coming back with a vengeance (40k 8th). In the wake of their downturn, a lot of midsize, and smaller companies got their boost. Mantic, PP, CMON all got big thanks to GW falling down. Now that they’re back & killing it, most are hurting. Mierce is definitly a small company, and they all seem to be doing everything they can to stay relevant in the new market.

Yeah they are late. Most KS are. I really don’t think most people care. Kingdom death took almost 6 years to get some people their stuff. Their next KS made 12 MILLION DOLLARS! I guess people didn’t care..

Mierce said they were going to focus on getting through their backlog this year, and they’ve come a long way in doing that. They’ve only run 2 KS this year, one of which had no unsculpted miniatures in it (that Templar’s forge swag one). Meanwhile, they’ve gotten over new (MostlyKS funded) figures into their web store to sell to folks who didn’t pledge for them. All that and these new sculpts they’ve been putting into the store are all bringing in money outside the kickstarters. Doing the slumbering oblivion stuff is certainly adding more time to completing their own KS stuff, but if they in fact, need that extra money to continue functioning, why do you hate them for it?

None of us know if Mierce are having issues or not, and most companies wouldn’t tell you if they are, but this year they’ve not only cut back on the KS they run, they have a full time artist (who’s amazing!) on the payroll. They said they’re working with other new digital artists as well (which there are far more of today, then traditional ‘green-stuff style artists). They’ve upped their store content. They’ve purchased their own 3D printer to print their stuff (and other companies stuff possibly) in house. They’ve bought all the equipment to do their own metal casting in house (just waiting on the city council still). They still have great customer service, and excellent casting. A lot has happened this year.

Why you gotta hate them for stayin in the game?

, , , , , , ,

 
   
Made in au
Regular Dakkanaut





I don't "hate" them, that's a ridiculous suggestion.
I, like many, many people here, are waiting for minis that we paid for getting on to 3 years ago.
The money to make those minis was in Mierce's bank account for that purpose, and that purpose alone.

If indeed they have run out of that money (highly likely) than that speaks to financial mismanagement.

Pointing out that Kingdom Death took 6 years is irrelevant, so we should only compare companies to the worst standards set?
Slumbering Oblivion was done and dusted in 6 months, I had mine completed in 3 months. This from a first time Kickstarter.

Mierce have run enough KS's that they should have learnt exactly how long to forecast out shipment time frames.
Instead they kept offering time frames that were stretching out and out, up to a year after the kick starter before the first shipment was to be delivered, and even so slipped on those times frames again and again.

They had the infrastructure to fulfill orders from day #1, they were Maelstrom Games before, and had therefore some experience in the whole artwork -to-finished product process.

So whilst Mierce apologists like you are content to sit back and wait, others, like the people you quoted, are fed up with Mierce's mismanagement of their obligations.
This effects their reputation in the industry, and their KS's have attracted fewer and fewer backers, and less pledges as this went on.

They only made one recent KS because of a "miraculous" last minute "Donation" of nearly £3000 to push it over the line...
https://www.kicktraq.com/projects/mierceminiatures/darklands-starter-hosts-ii/#chart-daily

The reason why we are acting like this...because there is a risk that Mierce will fold and we will lose our money...so we want what we paid for before that happens.

Not the first time:
http://thefrontlinegamer.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-truth-about-maelstrom-games.html

So, yeah, you're happy to let Mierce act with little regard to their once passionate supporters, and delay again and again shipping times that they accepted money for many years ago.

But I'm afraid this is not helping Mierce win more friends, get more customers, and grow their business.

This message was edited 5 times. Last update was at 2018/12/10 05:57:30


 
   
Made in gb
Rampaging Reaver Titan Princeps





Warwickscire

yxalitis wrote:
They only made one recent KS because of a "miraculous" last minute "Donation" of nearly £3000 to push it over the line...
https://www.kicktraq.com/projects/mierceminiatures/darklands-starter-hosts-ii/#chart-daily


I'd just like to point out that this is standard for most Miniature kickstarters - the last 48 hours is when a huge chunk of pledges come in as well as the fact that people tend to increase their pledges to get unlocked goals.

Finally, as you are clearly unhappy, I'd recommend that you try again for a refund. As said, you can always re-visit when they produce the models.
   
Made in gb
Dakka Veteran





 OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:
I've got a bunch of this message in my order history both complete and live items,

basically its shown on all stuff that is no longer being made either because it's been dropped, was limited and is sold out or is an original version of a resculpted model

If I remember correctly (and you'd need to do your own digging or ask Rob to be sure) than plan is that if you'll get the 'most recent' version of a mini you've ordered as part of a KS unless you object and want the older version where that will be provided if possible,



I think you might be replying to me, Im sure he was in the surplus metal/ltd ed sale from this time last year and not a KS/PM purchase, i ordered him along with 4 other surplus/ltd ed minis(that got delivered in March along with another Mierce delivery :/ ) and he was split from that order and like i said last i heard they were waiting on enough orders of him.

However as usual Rob was pretty quick to reply to my message,

"I'm afraid Danilo has not yet been produced in metal, but he will be very shortly - we've just had the first samples back from the external casters and we'll be ordering the production versions shortly. I'm very hopeful they'll be shipped in January. I can turn him into resin for you though, if that helps?"

So ive asked for a resin version of him which in my opinion is a superior material
   
Made in au
Regular Dakkanaut





 zedmeister wrote:
yxalitis wrote:
They only made one recent KS because of a "miraculous" last minute "Donation" of nearly £3000 to push it over the line...
https://www.kicktraq.com/projects/mierceminiatures/darklands-starter-hosts-ii/#chart-daily


I'd just like to point out that this is standard for most Miniature kickstarters - the last 48 hours is when a huge chunk of pledges come in as well as the fact that people tend to increase their pledges to get unlocked goals.

Look again...look carefully at the number of backers on that day...now compare to other KS's.
See how when there is a large amount pledged, there are a lot of pledgers that day, makes sense, right?
So Day, 1, 2, and 3...average Pledge, £33, £56, £100. Last day, average pledge £58.
All this is perfectly normal.
However...2nd last day..average pledge...£335!
This amount was EXACTLY enough to JUST get the Kickstarter funded...amazing!
Compare to:
https://www.kicktraq.com/projects/mierceminiatures/darklands-a-world-of-war/#chart-daily
Note the symmetry between backers per day, and pledges per day,

I'm not stupid, nor should you be...
 zedmeister wrote:

Finally, as you are clearly unhappy, I'd recommend that you try again for a refund. As said, you can always re-visit when they produce the models.

As I stated, Mierce IGNORED my request for refunds, on multiple occasions...

Besides, they still had my money for years...getting a refund at this late stage is not optimal.
Now at least the 3D sculpts are done, and they promise February delivery.

If they fail that one, I'll be demanding a refund again!

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2018/12/10 21:59:15


 
   
Made in gb
Stealthy Warhound Titan Princeps





yxalitis wrote:


I'm not stupid, nor should you be...


You're very percipiant in the post further up the thread where you talk about how their KS should be run, yet you somehow seem to be out of pocket on this whole thing

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2018/12/10 22:23:01


 
   
Made in au
Regular Dakkanaut





JWBS wrote:
yxalitis wrote:


I'm not stupid, nor should you be...


You're very percipiant in the post further up the thread where you talk about how their KS should be run, yet you somehow seem to be out of pocket on this whole thing


What?

I seriously have no idea what you're trying to say here...

I'm not "out of pocket", I'm waiting for orders to be completed.
I never told Mierce how to run Kickstarters, merely suggesting that they focus on clearing the backlog, as they promised to do THIS YEAR.

FOR EXAMPLE...Bob completed the 3D sculpts for many Kickstarters, we have seen these in Mierce Fridays for months now...bit most have not yet been printed, molded, cast, or shipped.
YET, the Wokor was only shown a couple of weeks back, and it is already being shipped....
SO instead of focusing on the backlog, Mierce prioritised a new sculpt...
This is NOT the first time this has happened.,...you understand now?

NO idea what you're on about man...

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/12/11 00:06:33


 
   
Made in gb
Rampaging Reaver Titan Princeps





Warwickscire

yxalitis wrote:
Look again...look carefully at the number of backers on that day...now compare to other KS's.
See how when there is a large amount pledged, there are a lot of pledgers that day, makes sense, right?
So Day, 1, 2, and 3...average Pledge, £33, £56, £100. Last day, average pledge £58.
All this is perfectly normal.
However...2nd last day..average pledge...£335!
This amount was EXACTLY enough to JUST get the Kickstarter funded...amazing!
Compare to:
https://www.kicktraq.com/projects/mierceminiatures/darklands-a-world-of-war/#chart-daily
Note the symmetry between backers per day, and pledges per day,

I'm not stupid, nor should you be...
As I stated, Mierce IGNORED my request for refunds, on multiple occasions...

Besides, they still had my money for years...getting a refund at this late stage is not optimal.
Now at least the 3D sculpts are done, and they promise February delivery.

If they fail that one, I'll be demanding a refund again!


I still see nothing out of the ordinary. Also, you haven't factored in the 48 hour reminder e-mail. Any other kickstarter will have a similar look - high start, not much movement in the middle and then a bump on the last two days.

As for the backlog, Bob alone has sculpted this in 2018:



Which doesn't include all variants done. And that's just one sculptor who's churned all that out. And out of that lot, 3 have not been commissioned through a Kickstarter. You can wail and gnash your teeth all you like, but at the end of the day, movement is happening. Have Mierce commissioned too many models to work on? Possibly. Certainly, the backlog will take some time to clear. Should Mierce be focusing exclusively on the backlog? Absolutely not. With them cutting down on the reliance on Kickstarters, they need to put out releases through traditional channels. It's a pain that Uuroch and others are taking so long, but it is much further on to where they are working on. They're now done with sculpting for Savage Hordes and not much left to sculpt with Savage Hordes II. After that, it'll be the two Mighty Monster Kickstarters. Luckily they're not that large and a lot is already done. Personally, I think we'll see Savage Hordes III worked on in 2019 though I doubt you'll get them in hand before 2020 myself. A lot has happened this last year - they've assigned a lot of work to Bob, they've got their own 3D printer and now they're in-housing metal casting (though they're waiting on the local council for that) not to mention they've been inundated with Black Friday orders.

This message was edited 5 times. Last update was at 2018/12/11 09:51:50


 
   
Made in it
Regular Dakkanaut




Darklands/Mierce's biggest problem in my opinion is a completely lack of a decent game system to use all the great looking models in.

At this point I would only buy what is in stock and only as proxies for other systems.

I backed a couple kickstarters many years ago...they did deliver but it took years for them to finally deliver everything I purchased. Then when the rules came out they were IMO not very good so most of the miniatures have sat unassembled since.

I have built a chunk and they are very nice models but of little use aside from Roleplaying games or taking up shelf space...or as proxies in other systems....that's my 2 cents.
   
Made in gb
Stealthy Warhound Titan Princeps





yxalitis wrote:
JWBS wrote:
yxalitis wrote:


I'm not stupid, nor should you be...


You're very percipiant in the post further up the thread where you talk about how their KS should be run, yet you somehow seem to be out of pocket on this whole thing


What?

I seriously have no idea what you're trying to say here...

NO idea what you're on about man...


I'm just saying, you're capitalising every other word, calling people stupid, telling us how it should be instead of how it is, chiding and berating people that have no connection or fault in this whole thing. t's starting to look a bit like screeching.

This is NOT the first time this has happened.,...you understand now?


Yes, yes I do. I saw the very obvious pattern of unsculpted, unreleased, backsliding completion dates after a few kickstarters and so I dropped out.

Edited by RiTides

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/12/11 12:14:54


 
   
Made in us
[DCM]
Dankhold Troggoth






Shadeglass Maze

Okay, let's all step back for a minute, please!

We're all passionate about miniatures here, and Mierce have some really good ones, as well as a large number in progress, as we all know. Different views on them as a company and their KS fulfillment practices are fine and encouraged.

What is NOT fine is things like using "autistic" as an insult. We only have one main rule on Dakka - "Be polite". Please, let's remember that and keep things civil, even if you strongly disagree with someone, and maybe take a break from the thread if needed/helpful towards that end.

Any questions, just PM me or any other moderator. Thanks all!
   
Made in us
Willing Inquisitorial Excruciator





 zedmeister wrote:


As for the backlog, Bob alone has sculpted this in 2018:



Which doesn't include all variants done. And that's just one sculptor who's churned all that out. And out of that lot, 3 have not been commissioned through a Kickstarter. You can wail and gnash your teeth all you like, but at the end of the day, movement is happening.


While it is nice that Bob has sculpted all of those in 2018, I have many of them in my backlog, no lack of shipping items, and still haven't received a package from Mierce in getting close to a year now.

So, while there is certainly movement at Mierce, it would appear that there are also a certain amount of problems there as well.

Even if it is 'only' one of logistics, poor planning, not enough workers for all the work, etc.

And Rob has been uncharacteristically quiet on this front.

As well as the failure of 2018 in terms of being the year that the backlog was going to be significantly reduced.

Just doesn't seem to have happened in reality, outside of some nifty 3D sculpting, of course.

EDIT

(quote fix)

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/12/11 13:41:34


Insidious Intriguer 
   
Made in gb
Dakka Veteran





Well Rob has said he will send out a resin replacement tomorrow for me, so that was a bit of a win-win situation i got him cheap in a sale and his material has been upgraded from metal to resin
   
Made in gb
Stealthy Warhound Titan Princeps





chaos45 wrote:
Darklands/Mierce's biggest problem in my opinion is a completely lack of a decent game system to use all the great looking models in.

At this point I would only buy what is in stock and only as proxies for other systems.

I backed a couple kickstarters many years ago...they did deliver but it took years for them to finally deliver everything I purchased. Then when the rules came out they were IMO not very good so most of the miniatures have sat unassembled since.

I have built a chunk and they are very nice models but of little use aside from Roleplaying games or taking up shelf space...or as proxies in other systems....that's my 2 cents.


I have to wonder how much of their resources they poured into the game system. It did seem like a bit of a failure to me, despite not being a gamer I was looking forward to getting the book (I think it was included basically free in on of the early Kickstarters), it was touted as a big colourful hardback full of art and fluff, and rules obviously. In the end they "rushed" it (it was super late anyway), and had approximately zero art or fluff, and by approximately, I mean literally. Even for gamers though, even a decent non-GW system seems to have a hard time gaining traction in this hobby, and from what I hear the Darklands system is a bit of a slog. Maybe they should have just stuck to cranking out high quality boutique / proxy / hobbyist miniatures.
   
Made in au
Regular Dakkanaut





 zedmeister wrote:


I still see nothing out of the ordinary. Also, you haven't factored in the 48 hour reminder e-mail. Any other kickstarter will have a similar look - high start, not much movement in the middle and then a bump on the last two days.

If you can't see that this was a deliberate and suspicious surge unlike any other KS I have seen, than i can't say anymore.
 zedmeister wrote:

As for the backlog, Bob alone has sculpted this in 2018:



Oh my, you haven't really...yes, you did
This is a COMPUTER RENDER of Bob's work!
A good portion of the works in that photo have not even been printed yet, let alone,cast, and shipping...Next February, at the earliest.

That is ENTIRELY my point, thanks!




Automatically Appended Next Post:
JWBS wrote:


I'm just saying, you're capitalising every other word, calling people stupid, telling us how it should be instead of how it is, chiding and berating people that have no connection or fault in this whole thing. t's starting to look a bit like screeching.

I didn't call anyone stupid, I suggested that someone should NOT BE stupid, that's not the same thing.
I haven't chided or berated anyone...show me where I have done that\?
JWBS wrote:


This is NOT the first time this has happened.,...you understand now?


Yes, yes I do. I saw the very obvious pattern of unsculpted, unreleased, backsliding completion dates after a few kickstarters and so I dropped out.

Edited by RiTides

Umm, so, in fact, you agree with me...

*sigh

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/12/11 22:06:01


 
   
Made in gb
Stealthy Warhound Titan Princeps





Spoiler:
yxalitis wrote:
 zedmeister wrote:


I still see nothing out of the ordinary. Also, you haven't factored in the 48 hour reminder e-mail. Any other kickstarter will have a similar look - high start, not much movement in the middle and then a bump on the last two days.

If you can't see that this was a deliberate and suspicious surge unlike any other KS I have seen, than i can't say anymore.
 zedmeister wrote:

As for the backlog, Bob alone has sculpted this in 2018:



Oh my, you haven't really...yes, you did
This is a COMPUTER RENDER of Bob's work!
A good portion of the works in that photo have not even been printed yet, let alone,cast, and shipping...Next February, at the earliest.

That is ENTIRELY my point, thanks!




Automatically Appended Next Post:
JWBS wrote:


I'm just saying, you're capitalising every other word, calling people stupid, telling us how it should be instead of how it is, chiding and berating people that have no connection or fault in this whole thing. t's starting to look a bit like screeching.

I didn't call anyone stupid, I suggested that someone should NOT BE stupid, that's not the same thing.
I haven't chided or berated anyone...show me where I have done that\?
JWBS wrote:


This is NOT the first time this has happened.,...you understand now?


Yes, yes I do. I saw the very obvious pattern of unsculpted, unreleased, backsliding completion dates after a few kickstarters and so I dropped out.

Edited by RiTides

Umm, so, in fact, you agree with me...

*sigh


Mate, you "Strongly implied" that he was stupid, if that's really the way you want to put it (IDK why, it's really very obvious to anyone what you were saying. No one's looking any better if you want to say that you technically didn't use the direct accusation). I was kind of on board with what you were saying until you started suggesting that so and so is a dumdum and you aren't, despite you being a bit out of pocket and clearly quite irritated about the fact. So yes, I agree with you. In saying that though, anyone complaining about Mierce KS lead times at this point (if they have any experience of the long and storied history of Mierce and its predecessor companies) should also be looking to themselves as well as Mierce, even if they only know of Mierce as a KS entity. And I'd also like to say I'm not accusing Mierce of doing anything underhanded. AFAIK, at this point nobody has been gimped by them on any of their kickstarters. They're just really slow due to being overworked. Maybe they shouldn't be operating like this. I don't like it, so I voted with my wallet.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/12/11 22:33:39


 
   
Made in us
Experienced Saurus Scar-Veteran





California the Southern

The metal casting seems to be the big bottleneck.

Hopefully they can get that sorted out soon.

I hope they continue producing some new one- offs every few months if it helps keep funds coming in while they try to clear out the backlog.

Despite Rob's reluctance to make one, I still want some Fomorian shark men. I keep looking at all my other various deep sea themed guys, and none of the shark folk really are anywhere near as impressive as the figures Mierce has produced.

Even better would be having one hopefully hanging out with my someday released Octopus prince.




Poorly lit photos of my ever- growing collection of completely unrelated models!

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/627383.page#7436324.html
Watch and listen to me ramble about these minis before ruining them with paint!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmCB2mWIxhYF8Q36d2Am_2A 
   
Made in us
Been Around the Block




Out of curiousity since I haven't been in the last few kickstarters, has there been any word on the fluff book that we paid for years ago being produced. Rob used to say it was being delayed so he could add more to it, but that has been a very long time now. Any news on it or is it even being talked about anymore?
   
Made in us
[DCM]
Longtime Dakkanaut





It's not something I've seen brought up for quite some time but I really haven't followed the KSer comments much since the spring so I could have missed it.
   
Made in au
Regular Dakkanaut





madzerker wrote:
Out of curiousity since I haven't been in the last few kickstarters, has there been any word on the fluff book that we paid for years ago being produced. Rob used to say it was being delayed so he could add more to it, but that has been a very long time now. Any news on it or is it even being talked about anymore?

From what I've read over the years, it's pretty much never going to happen.

I'd get a refund if I were you.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
 highlord tamburlaine wrote:

The metal casting seems to be the big bottleneck.

Only for metal mins...this doens't explain any the delayed resin minis...in fact with metal casting in house, and no new staff, they extra effort to produce the metal mins will reduce the time available to cast resin minis...
 highlord tamburlaine wrote:

I hope they continue producing some new one- offs every few months if it helps keep funds coming in while they try to clear out the backlog.

Seems likely, they realised that a new Kickstarter is unlikely to succeed, and would simply add to their backlog
 highlord tamburlaine wrote:

Despite Rob's reluctance to make one, I still want some Fomorian shark men. I keep looking at all my other various deep sea themed guys, and none of the shark folk really are anywhere near as impressive as the figures Mierce has produced.

Even better would be having one hopefully hanging out with my someday released Octopus prince.

There are other shark-men minis out there...just saying...

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/12/12 02:08:27


 
   
Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

first the easy cut and paste


Mierce MiniaturesCreator
7 minutes ago



So let's talk about other news and what's to look forward to in 2019.


We are, steadily, working through the backlog of printing; Ákontar Eikovra and the Sávrakontar are being cast as we speak, as are the new Hippoxa, Fomoraic characters (although we do have an issue with Ice Staff Maagaan) and Daghda Lúg. The Sávrar are almost moulded, the Atalantes Toxotes/Iliotoxotes/Meso guys have been printed with just one Pyro to go and Tim's prepping the Werwulfas for the new year. We are behind with printing, but we are getting there. The machine has paid for itself twice over already, if not thrice over, so it has definitely been worth it cost wise. The downside is time. As always, thank you for all your patience and understanding.


In the new year we should begin metal casting in house (the machine has landed) but we still have a couple more hoops to jump through with the local council so it won't happen immediately in 2019. However, it won't be long now and I'm hoping that in February we can start. It will start necessarily small while we get to grips with things; bear with us on this please - I know you have already, we're just trying to ensure all the i's and t's are crossed and dotted and the p's and q's minded.


In terms of sculpting, Bob is cracking through Darklands: Savage Hordes II and I very much hope that will be completed by the end of February 2019, as Stéphane Camosseto will be converting the Reiver units too. Then Bob will be sculpting the Leiptrolls, Hydrar and Sentinels from Darklands: Mighty Monsters; Andrew May has begun the armoured Dyndraig and will be doing the Armoured Fiends after those guys. Yannick Fusier should be finishing the Ograx in early 2019. So by the end of March I would hope that Savage Hordes II and Mighty Monsters will be complete in terms of sculpting. Then it's on to Darklands: Savage Hordes III, for which Bob will be doing plenty, starting with the Duguth - which, you may be happy to know, he'll be resculpting on foot at the same time. Valentin Zak will be starting Sreng from SH III and the Fir Bholg from SH IV in early 2019 also.


We are, as always, getting there...


The Miercendise is coming together, finally, and I am very hopeful that in January I'll be able to order everything branded and get the templates / tokens sorted too. I'm very much hoping for a February release for everything, but we shall see.


So what will 2019 bring?


The first releases of 2019, slated for February but available shortly, will be a resculpted Seza by a newcomer to our range, Jamie Phipps. That was Jamie's test piece, and his next work will be the resculpted Leofwen for Darklands: Savage Hordes IV.


Darklands: Second Edition, that's what... funnily enough, that will coincide with Savage Hordes (it has to!), which is one of the reasons why it's taken so long for that book. However, my playtesters and I are hammering things out and getting things organised. The game will be faster, certainly less reliant on mathematics and it will have a much smaller rulebook. As for when it will be ready, I am hopeful for Salute, but I'll be honest - it's doubtful as there are still a number of things to do. Either way, I am working on it, and I may well give more away regarding rules changes and whatnot in the new year, perhaps a 1.5 upgrade pack so you can play the new game for yourself before it's released.


Speaking of Salute 2019, there will be a VERY limited edition miniature available there, free if you purchase a certain amount or purchasable both there and online - Explorer Onumo, for Allan has happily agreed to convert him for us!


Whatever happens, all here at Mierce Miniatures wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 
   
Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!



Hark! The herald good wife sings, "Glory to the wolfborn king; Peace on earth and mercy mild, Woden's sceptics reconciled!" Joyful all ye nations rise, Join the triumph of Miercendise With the wulf's hunt proclaim "Santa Claws is king of the Tame"!

It's Ḡeoltide (Yuletide), everybody, and where would we be without Santa Claws?

So Merry Christmas to all our Miercenaries out there in Xmasland, and a Happy New Year too - because 2019 is going to be even more fantastic for you!

What's going on here then...


We have more movement on the branded Miercendise, so hurrah to all and sundry and no bah humbugs here. Our contact at the branding company has swapped heads and this new head is competent! Not only have samples been received copiously and either rejected or accepted, we actually have some miercendise in our grubby mitts!

Regarding shipments, it's unlikely we'll get much more before Christmas than the indicated below, so what we'll do is take stock in early January and send what we can at that point rather than now. Again, I can only apologise for this and beg for forgiveness!

We do always get there in the end...

Miercendise Progress

Here's a brief run-down on where we are with everything.

Miercendise
• T-Shirt - sample not received; still trying to get this
• Beanie Hat - sample received and rejected; it's not good enough, too flimsy and wouldn't keep your head warm. Ordered three different samples more, should get those in January.
• Pint Glass (568ml) - ordered, the company say they'll deliver in January, we've got a sample! Image below.
• Pint Tankard Glass (568ml) - ordered, the company say they'll deliver in January, we've got a sample! We really, really, really like these - they're going to be awesome...


The three pints! Even Twroch fancies one!

• Jumbo Mug (570ml) - ordered, still not with us... you can see the size of it above.

• Bottle Opener Keyring - order received!

The keyrings look spiffing!

• Black Pen - order received



The Mierce Miniatures black pen!

• Black Dry-Wipe Marker Pen - order received



• Dice Pouch / Stuff Pouch - samples received and rejected. I've had another sample which has also been rejected; two more expected.

• Tokens Tin - another sample received and rejected; it's big enough, but it's got a handle, which is a bit weird for a tin. 2 more samples coming...

• 5m Tape Measure - order received!


The Tape Measure looks great, even with my photography!


• A0 size Darklands Poster - sample received, but rejected as too dark (my fault really). Awaiting further sample A0 size

• The Lands of Darkness Poster - sample not received (not too worried because these poster guys are very quick)

• A0 size Concept Art Poster - sample not received (not too worried because these guys are very quick)

• Dice Tray - with us now, it's great.


The Mierce Miniatures Dice Tray!

Miniatures


Both have been sent to the photographer so expect some photos in early January.
• Morag of Mann - printed & moulded
• Sáthach - printed & moulded

Templates & Tokens

The templates and tokens have been sent off to the manufacturers; these won't take long as we've lots of experience doing these. Even so, there's no chance we'll get everything before Christmas. We should be getting the first samples before then, however...

• Command Tokens Set - order received


The Darklands Command Tokens Set - 9x Wary Tokens, 5x Retain Tokens and 1x Force Token

The rest of the templates and tokens will follow...

Mat Sets

Still haven't sorted these yet, but am working on it. As it's the same company for the dice trays, there shouldn't be any issues. Those guys were super quick.

We'll keep updating you on progress in this fashion over the next few weeks.

How long have I got to order stuff?

We'll start taking the bits off the webstore in January at some point, so if you haven't already ordered your stuff, do it now...

That's it for now...

 
   
Made in us
Shrieking Traitor Sentinel Pilot




Burbank, CA

More Goodness! I'm loving Stephane's artistic license he's taking with the Reiver variants.

AUX III JANUS, AUXILIARIUS CONTUBERNIUM
One more miniature for the Auxiliarius, a woman in fact! Three more to go and the unit's done!

Madrona, Auxiliarius
Here's the lovely Madrona for the Auxiliarius.




These guys and girls should be done early in the new year!

AUX SAG V BRICTIUS, AUXILIA SAGITTARIUS CONTUBERNIUM
From one comes two: the other Auxilia are the Sagittarii... archers!

Magdala, Auxilia Sagittarius
The archer version of Madrona is in fact Magdala, a happy girlie if ever there was one!



We are hoping these guys will be a Wave 26 shipment, but we shall see...

SHIELDWALL KAARSTAN, REIVER TAIN ON FOOT
Right! Somehow I'd forgotten these, but here they are... the Fomoraic Reiver characters, originally sculpted by Valentin Zak but converted by Stéphane Camosseto! Let's start with the Shieldwall version of Kaarstan... erm, Shieldwall Kaarstan!






He should be a Wave 25 (February) shipment...

GREAT AXE KAARSTAN, REIVER TAIN ON FOOT
The great axe version of Kaarstan, named Great Axe Kaarstan, funnily enough, has a helmet.







The horns are too small and will have to be changed, and perhaps the axe needs a bit more work, but he's almost there...

TWO AXE KAARSTAN, REIVER TAIN ON FOOT
Weirdly, Stéphane has given Two Axe Kaarstan elf ears - perhaps rather appropriately for the time of year, but not for a bad-ass Reiver chief. Needless to say, they'll be changed!






These guys should be Wave 25 (February) shipments, but we do have an enormous amount of miniatures to get ready so don't be surprised if all of these nobles get pushed back to April...

ARCHER MAARI, REIVER TAIN ON FOOT
The rather scary Maari is now available with a bow, and she's called Archer Maari, which makes her less scary but more so in some weird strange way.






Yes, we know he's done the arrow on the wrong side, he'll correct that before we get her...

She should be a Wave 25/26 shipment!
spoilered, as NSFW! (ish)
Spoiler:

SAARIN MAARI, REIVER WITCH ON FOOT
.






Tim's head has been used, as always, to protect the innocent.


Wave 25/26 should be a cracker!

, , , , , , ,

 
   
Made in ca
Experienced Saurus Scar-Veteran





California the Southern

Tough to decide which version of Kaarstan I like the most.

Leaning towards great axe. That's a pretty fabulous helmet he's got.

They all look pretty distinct to the point that a little difference in paint you could probably get away with running multiples of him as different people.

How big is he though?

I'm personally waiting for the warriors more than the reivers. I wonder if he'd fit in with Bloodreaver models?

Poorly lit photos of my ever- growing collection of completely unrelated models!

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/627383.page#7436324.html
Watch and listen to me ramble about these minis before ruining them with paint!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmCB2mWIxhYF8Q36d2Am_2A 
   
Made in se
Dakka Veteran




I'd easily pick Shieldwall Kaarstan.

   
Made in us
Willing Inquisitorial Excruciator





He's good, but he's 2 or 3 for me.

Great Axe Kaarstan is number one with a bullet!

That helmet - so ace!

Insidious Intriguer 
   
Made in us
[DCM]
Dankhold Troggoth






Shadeglass Maze

Agreed with all the praise for that great axe sculpt - wow!

All of Stephane's conversions look really good
   
Made in us
Soul Token




West Yorkshire, England

JWBS wrote:


I have to wonder how much of their resources they poured into the game system. It did seem like a bit of a failure to me, despite not being a gamer I was looking forward to getting the book (I think it was included basically free in on of the early Kickstarters), it was touted as a big colourful hardback full of art and fluff, and rules obviously. In the end they "rushed" it (it was super late anyway), and had approximately zero art or fluff, and by approximately, I mean literally. Even for gamers though, even a decent non-GW system seems to have a hard time gaining traction in this hobby, and from what I hear the Darklands system is a bit of a slog. Maybe they should have just stuck to cranking out high quality boutique / proxy / hobbyist miniatures.


I don't think my interest in a game system has ever crashed as hard as it did when I read the Darklands rulebook. Desert-dry computer language to determine everything from "hitting" to "is it raining?" to "did your general get spooked by a black cat crossing his path?" with an incredible number of steps, and almost zero fluff.

"The 75mm gun is firing. The 37mm gun is firing, but is traversed round the wrong way. The Browning is jammed. I am saying "Driver, advance." and the driver, who can't hear me, is reversing. And as I look over the top of the turret and see twelve enemy tanks fifty yards away, someone hands me a cheese sandwich." 
   
 
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