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Kickstarter Ends October 3, 2019 at 9:30 PM

Back again on the grind, I've got a few new miniatures to go at it with everyone.

WHISPER Wave 3 Link is here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1671822853/whisper-wave-3

First, our initial funding Goal, the Cutter, which will be offered in 2 different poses with two of its alternate weapons for those who Back the Kickstarter straight out of the gate. These single-mold poses will be offered at $10 USD apiece. One pose with the hypergolic bazooka/missile launcher:



The other single pose offered will be with the 85mm autocannon:



Also, for those who want all the options available, you can get a single Cutter with all the available arms and legs for $15.



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Since we've already reached our funding goal, our next Stretch Goal option is the Kyzaghan WHISPER, which will be offered in two single poses at $15 each.

These will be armed with either a hammer:



Or with a mass driver/autocannon:



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Also, there will be an all-in option for $20 USD with all the available parts for the Kyzaghan if we unlock it.



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If this interests you, feel free to come on over and check out this and all the other miniatures that will be available! Thanks much, guys and gals. Got your six.

I'm in and I need multiples of both. Especially the Kyzaghan.

Word from the creator is that following the tank stretch goals, we'll be getting more poses of earlier designs. Specifically mentioned was a new pose for the Raptor, which I've been asking for since the first KS. The minigun toting Tundra is also a likely candidate.

 Barzam wrote:
I'm in and I need multiples of both. Especially the Kyzaghan.

Word from the creator is that following the tank stretch goals, we'll be getting more poses of earlier designs. Specifically mentioned was a new pose for the Raptor, which I've been asking for since the first KS. The minigun toting Tundra is also a likely candidate.

That's correct.

I would like to include new armaments for the Raptor WHISPER.

We've also got a good line-up of WHISPERs from the previous Waves, including the Kraken and Poseidon, some of which I'll be showing painted examples of in updates.

I'll admit to liking that Russian whisper. I might even cave and back for that thing once that goal is in reach.

 highlord tamburlaine wrote:
I'll admit to liking that Russian whisper. I might even cave and back for that thing once that goal is in reach.

If you don't back, others won't. The whole idea of waiting until you think it's in reach isn't likely to happen. That's like a staring contest with no one winning.

I’m definitely interested but I need a better sense of scale. Any chance you could give the approximate height of the Kyzaghan from the bottom of the feet to the top of the torso? Millimeters or inches is fine!

Looks cool, Brandon. Thanks for the heads up as I didn't realize you were running the third kickstarter. Out of curiosity, do you come up with the initial rough general asthetics of the mechs yourself or are they mainly artists' prerogative that you later approve/tweak?

 warboss wrote:
Looks cool, Brandon. Thanks for the heads up as I didn't realize you were running the third kickstarter. Out of curiosity, do you come up with the initial rough general asthetics of the mechs yourself or are they mainly artists' prerogative that you later approve/tweak?

The Kyzaghan was a particular artwork done by Elartwyne years ago. I approached him about it and inquired if he'd be interested in updating it somewhat. He agreed and went ahead with an initial rough sketch that I later showed to Heriberto. From there, Heriberto and I convened and went over everything together. There are still some optional weapons I'd like to do, but without first getting all of these out of the way, that's more cost-intensive.

With the Cutter, Tim created about four different sketches, and this one in particular grabbed my attention. I asked him what he'd think of doing some art of it in a sniper role, which he later did. From there, I went ahead and browsed a few different weapons from various mecha, and thus the hypergolic bazooka and the autocannon were drawn from several various mecha anime as inspiration. I then went over it with Heriberto, and we arrived on the final design in roughly two and a half months.

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In regards to scale, @ChaoticMind, the initial Sokar was 47-49mm tall. The Cutter and Kyzaghan both are planned to be slightly taller and bulkier than that.





For size comparison of the initial miniatures, the Obelisk/Osiris miniature shown here is about the middle ground for what you might expect.



That, plus the Raptor and Sokar:

Looking good, Brandon . Nice to see the new KS is going well.

Do you plan to sell STL files of your mechas in the future? It's kind of my new hobby, and nowadays I'd much rather get a file to print at home than having stuff sent from the other side of the world...

And pledged! Hopefully the Kyzaghan is unlocked but I’ll settle for a pair of kraken.

@Brandon: Looks good so keep up what you're doing. The squat digitigrade mech looks like power armor for a Mass Effect Krogan which definitely suits me as a later potential RPG character upgrade.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Albertorius wrote:
Looking good, Brandon . Nice to see the new KS is going well.

Do you plan to sell STL files of your mechas in the future? It's kind of my new hobby, and nowadays I'd much rather get a file to print at home than having stuff sent from the other side of the world...

I'm in the same boat (although very recently boarded unlike him!) as Albertorius. I'd say consider selling the STLs after you've fulfilled your kickstarter orders and gotten additional retail sales so as not to shoot yourself in the foot. Once the STLs are out there, you can't go back but depending on physical sales post release it might make sense to offer them eventually.

ChaoticMind wrote:And pledged! Hopefully the Kyzaghan is unlocked but I’ll settle for a pair of kraken.

Thank you for that, Chaotic. Every Backer helps and is appreciated.

warboss wrote:@Brandon: Looks good so keep up what you're doing. The squat digitigrade mech looks like power armor for a Mass Effect Krogan which definitely suits me as a later potential RPG character upgrade.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Albertorius wrote:
Looking good, Brandon . Nice to see the new KS is going well.

Do you plan to sell STL files of your mechas in the future? It's kind of my new hobby, and nowadays I'd much rather get a file to print at home than having stuff sent from the other side of the world...

I'm in the same boat (although very recently boarded unlike him!) as Albertorius. I'd say consider selling the STLs after you've fulfilled your kickstarter orders and gotten additional retail sales so as not to shoot yourself in the foot. Once the STLs are out there, you can't go back but depending on physical sales post release it might make sense to offer them eventually.

We don't have many additional retail sales at this time.

In part because we're building the line, in part because I haven't been able to finalize the rules yet, and in part I believe because this is a very small team. As the creator, it falls on me to create the ads (which I do off of what I'm paid from my regular job), to update things, to work on the background, and to turn the universe into a cohesive front while also ensuring the artists are given their due credit and pay them up front for their hard work.

That's why Backers and supporters are important, and why a larger social media presence spread from those who join the Facebook Group and follow along with the Page are important.

I can relate to you precisely how many people a $10 Facebook ad will reveal the product to you. Less than 50, typically. If I increase the amount to $50, it might reach 3,000 people, it might not. Ordinarily it really doesn't translate into pledges, however.

As for selling the STL files, I cannot do that. Impact and I are in a partnership, and they have been very good in creating the prototypes, and also in delivering the products to those who desire them in a timely manner, regardless of where they are in the world.

Not only that, but all the STL work you see is paid for by myself up front before it ever goes to Kickstarter. I incur the costs on a minimum-wage job and what limited credit I have in order to bring them to Kickstarter and advance the WHISPER line.

BrandonKF wrote:
As for selling the STL files, I cannot do that. Impact and I are in a partnership, and they have been very good in creating the prototypes, and also in delivering the products to those who desire them in a timely manner, regardless of where they are in the world.

Not only that, but all the STL work you see is paid for by myself up front before it ever goes to Kickstarter. I incur the costs on a minimum-wage job and what limited credit I have in order to bring them to Kickstarter and advance the WHISPER line.

No worries, thanks for answering anyways . I understand completely and hope it picks up for you.

Unfortunately, although I might just print one for the challenge of it, currently there is no project I'd need these guys for ^^. Plus, timeliness in shipping is one thing, but cost is quite another, as I've found over the years. And nowadays shipping anything from over there to over here is stupid expensive.

That said, I AM in the market for some mecha minis for the Lancer RPG, so who knows!

(BTW, if you want to check out where I'm coming from, I've posted a thread about my printed stuff over at the P&M subforum).

I didn't even think of using these for Lancer. Lancer looks awesome. Then again I really like Tom Parkinson- Morgan's art.

These seem a lot more grounded than some of the craziness Lancer was cooking up.

That said I put in for a Kraken until the Kyzaghan unlocks. It may or may not have to be painted in Zeon colors though...

BrandonKF wrote:

As for selling the STL files, I cannot do that. Impact and I are in a partnership, and they have been very good in creating the prototypes, and also in delivering the products to those who desire them in a timely manner, regardless of where they are in the world.

If they're a good partner and the deal specifically excludes it (or even if you just don't want to potentially jeopardize the relationship), I totally understand. There are already enough variables you can't control that you don't want to add in another that you can. Regardless, RoboKrogan is pretty cool.

Albertorius wrote:

BrandonKF wrote:
As for selling the STL files, I cannot do that. Impact and I are in a partnership, and they have been very good in creating the prototypes, and also in delivering the products to those who desire them in a timely manner, regardless of where they are in the world.

Not only that, but all the STL work you see is paid for by myself up front before it ever goes to Kickstarter. I incur the costs on a minimum-wage job and what limited credit I have in order to bring them to Kickstarter and advance the WHISPER line.

No worries, thanks for answering anyways . I understand completely and hope it picks up for you.

Unfortunately, although I might just print one for the challenge of it, currently there is no project I'd need these guys for ^^. Plus, timeliness in shipping is one thing, but cost is quite another, as I've found over the years. And nowadays shipping anything from over there to over here is stupid expensive.

That said, I AM in the market for some mecha minis for the Lancer RPG, so who knows!

(BTW, if you want to check out where I'm coming from, I've posted a thread about my printed stuff over at the P&M subforum).

I'll check out the subforum shortly, Al.

I appreciate your well wishes on the business picking up, but since things have been so slow, I'll probably be transferring the basic rules over to someone who I know is a great tester of rules for a second set of eyes. I'm a little burned out on rules. I wanted to keep WHISPER simple, no-nonsense, and inexpensive. I don't want to have people debating over inches or millimeters when it comes to the action. Infinity was the initial inspiration, but I also don't want people having to go over details with too fine-toothed a comb. Instead, I'd rather they be able to read the datasheets provided, know what they can do and what they can't do, and have fun.

highlord tamburlaine wrote:I didn't even think of using these for Lancer. Lancer looks awesome. Then again I really like Tom Parkinson- Morgan's art.

These seem a lot more grounded than some of the craziness Lancer was cooking up.

That said I put in for a Kraken until the Kyzaghan unlocks. It may or may not have to be painted in Zeon colors though...

There was some Zeonic inspiration in the Kraken's arms. No denying that.

LANCER itself I paid close attention to when it went to Kickstarter. I give them full props for everything that they've accomplished together.

Theirs, of course, is a post-post-post-post-apocalyptic universe that spans tens of thousands of years and is far more widespread and alien in its origins.

WHISPER was initiated as a combination of Gundam and Star Wars, with some Infinity thrown in for good measure. However, The Expanse also drove me to investigate into how we could naturally progress to the point where we might have seven Dominions (or hyperpowers) vying for real estate on tier 1 and tier 2 planets (i.e. terraformed and terraforming), while also hiding some of our nastier business on tier 3 planets that were not terraformed or only in the beginning stages of terraforming, and also in black ports (i.e. Lagrange colonies in orbit of tier 3 planets).

The real crux was an idea floated by Tom Clancy. In one of his later books, he details an operator going over what he's experienced in life, and what it would be like to put all his experience and knowledge of operations and human anatomy into his younger body, say around 25. From there, it was a short jump to the idea of what it would be like to tie that sort of mind to a mecha that would operate on hardened targets throughout the galaxy.

There are technological limitations that are being sorted (anti-gravity, artificial gravity), and as yet there are no known WHISPERs or vessels that can jump out of a terraformed planet's atmosphere (the hyperspace slip event would tear apart the vessel). And since most space-going hyperspace vessels are built like cinderblocks with layers of laminate and ablative armor to cover their vitals and crew compartments, entering an atmosphere would be a suicide mission at best, and is not allowed under the Accords. Any such Dominion or Power (i.e. regular nation) that were to engage in such an act, including against a Lagrange colony, would find itself immediately stripped of all protective legal rights granted by the Edicts and Accords, and would be subject to severe penalties.

Likewise with the infamous 'red goo' or 'grey goo'... nanotechnology of today can do certain things to repair human or machinery damage, and in operations it can help doctors and nurses overcome cancer or other debilitating illnesses, but no one wants to be caught with a nanobot that has a deconstruction program initiated. These are the equivalent of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. And while certain tactical nuclear weapons are allowed under the Accords for interstellar warfare in space, they are not allowed against civilian populaces or against colonies. See above stipulations for the penalties.

WHISPER is intended to be far more mud-and-lasers gritty, with Dominions and Powers all engaging in black operations behind the scenes, with histories that only their most elite would know about. These events lead to the current state of affairs where all sides are prepared for an all-out galactic war.

warboss wrote:

BrandonKF wrote:

As for selling the STL files, I cannot do that. Impact and I are in a partnership, and they have been very good in creating the prototypes, and also in delivering the products to those who desire them in a timely manner, regardless of where they are in the world.

If they're a good partner and the deal specifically excludes it (or even if you just don't want to potentially jeopardize the relationship), I totally understand. There are already enough variables you can't control that you don't want to add in another that you can. Regardless, RoboKrogan is pretty cool.

Thank you for that, warboss. The Kyzaghan was a hell of a machine when I first saw it a few years ago, and Heriberto's work in realizing it through the STL files have been marvelous to keep track of. So I'm really hoping others will be inclined to follow along and try for it.

A new update has been added to the project:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1671822853/whisper-wave-3/posts/2625049

Final day of the Kickstarter, we've gained a few new pledgers, here's hoping to see more before we close this out!