Doing a Mordian

So we're cracking on with the new Darklands warlords for the 100 Warlords kickstarter project; Rafael Callegari was tasked with the new Penda, and we think the result speaks for itself!! He'll be a great addition to your tabletop, that's for sure.

Rafael is currently working on Talorc and he should be finished next week, and then he'll get cracking on a few of the others. We'll probably split the warlords between him and Cleyton Amorim, and we'll be on course for April's production relatively easily. The whole point of this project, really, was to raise a little money and produce new miniatures without tasking the production side of things too much; we can usually fit 25 or so human-sized miniatures on a plate, so it won't take too long to get it all done.

In a week or so (or maybe earlier if I can get my finger out) I'll pop the new warlords on our Special Editions page for you to pre-order them as a set or individually, but both will be more expensive than getting them through the kickstarter project; and we'll actually release them for general consumption once the kickstarter miniatures have been produced and sent out.

Mordians Ahoy

Releasing new miniatures is always interesting, on both sides of the deal, because you get to see what your customers really, really, really, really want. Even if you don't want to. Every single time we release a miniature - and every time any other miniatures company releases a box-set, or announces some upcoming warlord, or hints at there being something new at all - someone will inevitably reply: "When is x coming?"

(I'm kidding. Normally it's something like "OMG! Why do you hate me <company>? I need this NOW").

Anyway. This is called - at least, here in Mierce Towers and at least at one other company I know of - ‘doing a Mordian’.

Cast your minds back, if you will, to the depths of time around the early years of this century, when Games Workshop released a new unit of plastic Cadians, and very pretty they were too. Proudly displayed for the first time at a show in the United States, alongside the new rhino as I recall correctly, there was a bit of a chat about it from the GW guys and then questions were allowed.

The very first question was "When will you do plastic Mordians?"

This story was related to me by someone who worked for GW and I've never forgotten it, to the point where it's become a bit of a fun thing here and with the Miercenaries who I've told the story to, because they still fall foul of it sometimes when I tell them about something new (and sometimes even if I just talk to them).

I get it - people want what they want, and that's good information, right? Sure. Uh-huh. But the point of my ramble here is this: when we release something new, something that we've slaved over for months, and spent a lot of money on to make to boot, to be met with a response that ultimately says "I don't care, give me what I want instead" is a little... bloody well annoying, if I'm honest, and it can be very disheartening if you let it be.

All right, stop crying mate, I can hear you say in your heads. I'm only arrskin'. No harm in that, is there? Well, okay, no there isn't: and while I've got used to it over the years, and it usually makes me laugh now, this past week I've been reminded why it's important to point out that if your first response when met with a fine new miniature is to ask about something else, publicly, that really doesn't help us.

In this ultra-competitive industry - especially now, with the sheer amount of new companies making digital miniatures for peanuts, let alone the domination of GW - us little manufacturers need your help more than ever, and every little bit helps, even if it's just "Wow, that's amazing!" or "When's that going to hit my mailbox?" or "Does it have x feature?"

(I suppose I should say, through gritted teeth, if you think a miniature is rubbish, it's fine to say that, too).

Free speech is everything, of course, and I would defend your right to say "When's this other miniature coming" forever. Just don't expect a polite response!

Darklands Lite

On to other things. Recently I've been mulling over Darklands Lite, and how quickly I can get it done. I was hoping to get it sorted early this year, but time is always my enemy; with the best will in the world, it's not going to be ready until the summer, but it does give me time to think about how I'd want to launch it.

Ideally I'd like to have a couple of armies going head to head in a video, which is scary for me as a) I only have a face for radio and b) it means I actually have to paint something; the actual rules are pretty much all there, I just have to condense them and get them out of my head. That should happen in March so the Miercenaries can playtest to their heart's content, but I reckon sometime in July or August will be right for a project on Gamefound or something like that.

Anyway: just to let you all know that I'm still working on it. A bit.