Robotech Kickstarter - Heading in for a Landing! 10 Days to go!

Well we have only 10 days left on the Robotech Kickstarter! So, I figure I would drop my thoughts and predictions on this one as this is my second Kickstarter since the Reaper Bones.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rrpgt/robotech-rpg-tacticstm

The Good:

1)      It’s Robotech Miniatures. Nuff said. They are doing some excellent details on the figures and keeping very close to the cannon. Plus at 1/285 they are scaling them to a reasonable size that makes the detail shine.

2)      Price. Right now the Battle Cry pledge of $140 puts the figures about just a tad less than $2 a figure, cheaper if you go Showdown for $260.

The Bad:

1)      Too many Add-On options. This is going to limit the purchase power and hurt the Kickstarter because when you overwhelm someone with too much they will get less.

2)      Prices were not well thought out. For Example: 3 Fighters was priced at $20 and then dropped to $15 as a goal. Simply, the fighters should have been $15 off the bat and the upgrade should have been for something else to excite the backers. Many things seem higher than other items of similar value and impact in the game I am sure they will try to push a few price drops in but it will be too late. I would like to note that is the only price drop upgrade they have done also. Not very consistent.

3)      They won’t make $1 million in goal. I would predict about $700-800k will be the peak with 10 days left which is sad as if they had a better backer reward strategy it would have worked in their favor with more money.  Add on items should have been the big stuff like the MAC, Power Armors and Super Veritechs for example and then left the other stuff to slowly feed into the pledge deals and as an add on if people wanted more.

4)      They started the Backer Rewards late. That should have been something else right out of box as that would have IMO generated more interest.

5)      Decals at 3500 backers. Maybe, but unlikely. Not Transfers? I am not impressed. I am a transfer’s kind of guy.

Overall, it hasn’t been a bad Kickstarter, but could have been done better. If you are on the fence it is well worth the time to throw your lot in and grab the goodies! The $140 Battle Cry is a deal and even if you don’t get anything else, you will walk away happy with your purchase.

Feel free to drop your thoughts and opinions!

1st CORPS Miniatures - A look at the company

Simon over at 1st Corps has kindly donated some prizes to my Bolt Action Tournament in June and I wanted to talk a moment to highlight their company.

http://www.1stcorps.co.uk/

They carry tons of historical models from a variety of time lines from Ancients to Sci-Fi. I peeked at the SU85 tank and I have to say it is a high quality resin product and a damm fine kit. The figures also had a great amount of detail and character that is worthwhile to add to a collection!

Here is what they donated! 

Russian SU85 1/48th tank

2 blisters of Special Steiner Set (Cross of Iron)

Check them out!

Warlord Customer Service A+

While the shipping/packaging department may be slacking, Warlord's Customer Service is A+. I got my replacement bits that I was missing in about a week and they sent free Armored Car as an apology since I had 3 kits fragged. That I can respect about a company, yes we made and error, let's fix it and for your trouble a gift.  It was very nice of them to do that and shows they are a hobby company and not a corporate money grabber. They know they will get business again because of that very act. Loyalty is earned.

Stay tuned as I will drop some picks of the stuff and a review on all my new vehicles!

Back to the Minis Giveaway

Just spreading the word there is a cool contest on this blog!

http://backtotheminis.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/happy-birthday-lets-start-with-crazy.html#!/2013/05/happy-birthday-lets-start-with-crazy.html

The woes of Mail Order! Part 2 Good Karma!

Well, I got a response back today from the rep that helped me with my delay to my order and she was following up to ensure I get all the parts I was missing and they are tossing in a SDKFZ 222 since they messed up on three vehicle kits. Now we just have to wait for it to get out in the mail and here! Still, a nice thing to get a bonus vehicle for the trouble, very nice of Warlord!

I did assemble my Nerbelwerfer and based it last night. I also started to assemble what I did have for  my other three vehicles to ensure once the parts arrive I just have to add them on and head outside to primer!

The woes of Mail order!

Well, with some saving and scraping of cash I pooled with a few friends and placed an order with Warlord to get some goodies for our armies. The order was placed on 4/12, it sat in "picking" for several days before I sent an email asking what was the issue. By this I mean it was the 18th, 6 days is reasonable for 14 items, most of which is vehicles. Then again I think they may have been picking their nose or ass for all I know (but more on that later). 

I get an email on the 21st with an apology and just shortly after the package is in the mail UPS and should be here on Wednesday. Of course my wife is out of town and I work far away so it is shipped with a signature request. Just bad timing as normally my wife is at home because she works at home. It just happens she was out of town at a conference! So, we wait till today it shows late in the day. I drive home all happy and excited after almost 3 weeks I have my goodies! I open them up and inspect my order (a habit I have learned is essential, you just don't open something and not check it). After sorting my friends stuff, I start to dig into my wares only to find that all three vehicles are missing parts! Not only that they managed to give me extra parts also! I had an extra crew for my 251/16 flamethrower half tracks but no front machine guns and shields! The Sdkfz 7 Half track has no axle (I did get tires) and it appears I am missing a metal sprue with the windshield, steering wheel and tow bar!!!! Oddly I did get an extra set of tracks for it, so I can only assume it is prone to breakdowns in the track section during play and I have a replacement set just in case. 

So, I emailed the person I was spoke to prior about the delay and asked the ticket to be reopened to fix my order. I have three flipping vehicles after almost 3 weeks with enough parts to do anything with. Very frustrating.

And for the Superboard Game Geek: Guardians Chronicles.

Wow, a neat looking Kickstarter! Just launched appears to be on the same format as the Zombiecide game with tiles and objectives with what appears to be some very cool paintable miniatures.

It still has 58 days left and appears to be interesting, they claim the game is for 2-5 players but I suspect if you add the extra characters you could expand it to larger games.

Check it out! I may jump in on this later once I see how much damage I sustain from Robotech and my gaming trip in May! Ouch! SPREAD OUT THE KICKSTARTERS GUYS! PLEASE!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/iello/guardians-chronicles

Feel like being a hero? Or villain?