Forum Noir

Just thought I'd fill you in on the goings on at HQ at the moment. Comments/questions/suggestions welcome as always.

I am seriously thinking about setting up a mailing list. Would appreciate your thoughts on this.

Imminent Releases:

We have two imminent vehicle releases - the Garford-Putilov Armored Truck (WW1/RCW) and the often delayed DaVinci Tank. There are some pieces that have been mislaid with the DaVinci Tank, so that's the current reason for the delay - nothing major, just the cannon barrels, which I have placed somewhere amidst various greens, files, etc. When I locate them, the final process can finally begin. The Garford-Putilov, meanwhile, will probably go off this weekend or Monday at the latest.

Very pleased with the Garford Putilov design, and I'd proudly compare it to Copplestone's Garford as being just as good, if not slightly more technically accurate. Hope you agree. I hope to have it molded and cast soon. The main issue with the Garford is that it only has two wheels sculpted, and the caster will need to cast up two extra wheels before doing the master mold, which usually adds a few days to the process. However, once that is taken care of, I expect it to be available soon. No later than June, certainly.

When in June? Depends upon whether it arrives before I leave the country in the third week of June, or not.

New Stuff in 15mm:

Several new things in the works. The 15mm WW2 range continues to be worked on, but there has not been any communication from the sculptor in about a month, and so I really don't know when to tell you to expect the Norwegians. That said, I have recently located another vehicle sculptor (actually two vehicle sculptors), one of whom is willing to work in 15mm, which will allow us to do armor, trucks, etc for the WW2 range. First vehicle will likely be the German "Land Cruiser" from the Norway Campaign, but Norwegian trucks aren't out of the question, by any means.

It's just that, with trucks, people tend to ask for them, and then when they are available, they tend to avoid buying them until the last minute, so I need to get something in production first (ie: a German tank) that will guarantee enough funding to be able to do less popular (but necessary) items such as the truck.

The next 15mm WW2 Army to be done will be Germans in winter gear for the Norway campaign (and no, they didn't all wear winter gear during the war, so yes, you can use the Germans you already have to game Weserubung.) After that, I would like to do Danes, but that depends upon how well the Norwegians do. The next "major" army after the Germans is still a matter of discussion here. I am in favor of Slovaks or Greeks, but that all depends upon how this all comes together. We do plan to do the Early War period as thoroughly as we can, so the other armies aren't out of the question, either.

New Stuff in 28mm:

In terms of Shanghai, 1930, there have been a couple new developments. First is that Leandro Ventic has agreed to do lots more for us, which is great. I really like Leandro - he's a genuinely good person, and he's a hell of a sculptor, so it's good to have him doing more work for us. He is currently updating the Shanghai Municipal Police, to include two new characters (and a dog), plus new constables and various weapons options. I think you'll be very pleased with his work, and hopefully the sculpts will inspire more interest in the range.

Work on ACW2 continues apiece. There will be miniatures to support the book, but of course, you can use whatever you like to play. I've added an ACW2 topic for discussion in case you'd like to share your thoughts/ask questions there. The working title for the book is "Divided Republic."

Shanghai, 1930: The Miniatures Game (!)

On that note, the Shanghai, 1930 Miniatures Rules are now in a state of proofreading and army design. Hope to start beta testing the rules some time this summer.

We will need Beta Testers, and I'll eventually be looking for artists (art for the rulebook, and painted examples for the color shots), as well as general feedback (I always value your feedback, and in fact, I crave it.) So please consider keeping us in mind.

The Shanghai, 1930 Miniatures Game will be a skirmish scale Pulp era game set in the Shanghai, 1930 universe. It is being designed to be played with "Patrols", smaller forces that a player could acquire without a h uge outlay of cash, although you could easily expand your battles if you'd like. Will include everything from the Occult to the standard gunfight, brawling, etc.

The Plan, at least for the moment, is to sell the armies as "box deals" similar to the excellent work being done for several of the next generation miniatures games currently being released. So, you'll be able to buy a starter box for, say, the Japanese, with enough troops for a basic patrol (five or six figures, in most cases) at a slight discount from purchasing them separately. However, the individual components will also be available for purchase.

If you're at all interested in the game, I've added a new topic to the boards. SO feel free to chat it up. And spread the word.

A word of apology in advance for being secretive about certain details. I do intend to reveal a few more details over time, but because of reasons I'd prefer not to get into here (though you can likely guess what they might be), I've been forced to be much more secretive about certain upcoming plans until things are closer to release.

The Other Project

As a very few of you know, I have been quietly commissioning something completely different in 28mm for the last several  months. I prefer to keep most of the details quiet on this for the moment, but I will say at this point that it will involve both individuals and vehicles. There will likely be a sourcebook (very close to finished.) Possibly dedicated rules (still working on that part.) Once again, I might need some help with artwork in that department.

If you'd like a hint, this is something that has been done before, in a broad sense, but not quite with my err.. unique.. take on things.

The initial sculpts for the first four figures are GREAT. In fact, you could say that they are 'totally radical';)

Brian Cooke, who did the fabulous Great Adamski, is the lead sculptor on this project.

-Alex

P.S.

You all wanted to know who FC Julian was. I'll make it easy. He's already in our range, in another form;)