Messages

1

Non-FOD minis / Eureka Miniatures 15s

« on: September 25, 2011, 04:46:47 PM »

I know there isn't much love for anything smaller than 28mm around these parts but as this is the first time in 25 years I've actually finished painting an entire army I thought I'd show them off.  As with most 15s they don't look like much individually but when they're all ranked up they do the trick for me!

Painted in an approximation of the Mantis Clan colours for a 15mm Clan War variant.



Ashigaru Archers (front line), Spearsmen (at the rear) and Arquebusiers (left and right flanks).  Seated General (and advisers) with Samurai foot archers and bodyguard regiment with Naginata surrounding him.



Close-up of the bodyguard regiment



Cavalry regiments, archers in the frontline, swordsmen in the rear.



Samurai Bushi with daisho



Infantry officers and shugenja.

Now I just need to start painting the opposing army for them to fight!

2

Heresy - Announcements/News / Re: Use it or lose it. Heresy's future...

« on: July 13, 2011, 09:58:19 PM »

If you don't want anything, or can't afford it, that's up to you, but save the business advice, or amateur psychology for another time - its not going to pay his mortgage.

Fair enough I suppose, rather than derail the thread further I'll refrain from further comment.

3

Heresy - Announcements/News / Re: Use it or lose it. Heresy's future...

« on: July 13, 2011, 11:56:02 AM »

i bet he says "NO"

Andy, do you even want to do 15mm?

http://forum-of-doom.com/index.php?topic=9850.0

4

Heresy - Announcements/News / Re: Use it or lose it. Heresy's future...

« on: July 13, 2011, 09:41:27 AM »

but that may just be personal preference as a former gamer and now just a painter

And that, I think is what makes the debate so interesting, I would imagine that painters tend to buy one (or possibly a couple) of any one figure to paint up.  Whereas I'm at the opposite end of the spectrum, as a gamer who can't paint at any more than a tabletop standard I'm much more interested in buying figures in bulk to make up units, hence my interest in the smaller scales.

Wargamers are much more likely to buy figures in large quantities to build armies and in smaller scales it is much more likely that figures will sell in large quantities.  For example Eureka minis do a range of 15mm samurai which are of reasonable quality for the scale.  They only have three variations of the Ashigaru figure with spear but if you're building an army you are still likely to buy a large number of castings (my own army has over 200 spearmen alone).  So for the sake of sculpting three figures, they have sold 300 to me alone.  Okay the value is lower but the going rate can be as high as £5 for 8 figures (eek, hope my missus doesn't read this).

5

Heresy - Announcements/News / Re: Use it or lose it. Heresy's future...

« on: July 13, 2011, 08:09:45 AM »

but could also drive away the established customers

I don't really see how, are people going to stop buying 28mm figures because the manufacturer does an additional range that doesn't appeal to them?  There is room for more than one scale in a company's range.  Look at Mark Copplestone and GZG.  I doubt that they would agree with you.

I'm suggesting diversification into additional territory rather than abandoning 28mm completely.

6

Heresy - Announcements/News / Re: Use it or lose it. Heresy's future...

« on: July 13, 2011, 06:40:29 AM »

15mm fans tend to be cheap. "Never mind the quality, feel the quantity". And that's if you're lucky ...

Bit of a broad generalisation don't you think?  I'll refrain from getting into an argument over it, suffice to say I feel differently.

The point is that the current business model isn't working as well as hoped, adding something different could attract a completely different set of customers. 

7

Heresy - Announcements/News / Re: Use it or lose it. Heresy's future...

« on: July 12, 2011, 10:11:43 AM »

I for one would rather hear it how it is rather than have Andy suddenly post that he's gone out of business, this way we are kept properly up to date with the current situation whether good or bad. 

However, i think as with any business there probably are things that could be done to improve sales, please bear in mind that as a non-businessy type much of this could well be nonsense;

1) Find something of an identity for the range would be useful, it used to be monsters but now there's a wee bit of everything one sci-fi gang, a few troopers, the usual monsters, a couple of "not" figures, customs inspectors and a few units of creatures clearly appropritae for army building etc.  it can be difficult to find reasons to buy some of the figures because there isn't much to go with them (just my opinion you understand).

2) The success of Cutlass would indicate that figures may sell better if there are rules to go with them, look at GZG they give away all of their rules and while they don't insist you use their figures in their games they almost certainly sell loads more because there is a game to play.  perhaps you should redraft (or ask someone to give you a hand redrafting) Netherhells into a skirmish game and making it available as a free download?

3) Consider changing scales (or rather adding a new scale to the range), 15mm is growing in poularity due to cost and peopel tend to be more forgiving of having fewer different figures whenbuilding units at that scale.  If you look at mark Copplestone's new barbarians there are only ten figures currently available and yet the day they came out people were buying 5 or 6 packs to make a HOTT army, the same would go for GZG Stargrunt and others all of which are free rules sets.  Having seen your test figure a few years back i have no doubt that you are able to sculpt in this scale so it may be worth giving it a go?

Just a few thoughts of course.

8

Heresy - Announcements/News / Re: Use it or lose it. Heresy's future...

« on: July 08, 2011, 04:40:41 PM »

Fair enough, a goblin army it is then.

9

Random Chat / Re: The 1st ever Heresy dragon. A big one. [UPDATED Halloween 2010] DONE!!!!

« on: July 08, 2011, 04:09:16 PM »

So I got home from two days in London today (without internet access) to find that my dragon (number 001, sorry so excited couldn't resist putting the number in) had arrived in the post, I've seen it on the Heresy Website and at shows but nothing prepared me for how amazing it is to see it sitting on my desk dwarfing everything else around it. 

It isn't a miniature, it's a work of (insert expletive here) art.  Andy, thanks for sticking with this it is genuinely amazing, all I need to do now is pluck up the courage to assemble and paint the beast.

Too excited to type any more!

10

Questions and Answers / Highlighting black hair?

« on: July 05, 2011, 10:43:48 AM »

So I cracked and picked up a bunch of the new 15mm barbarians from Mark Copplestone and halfway through my first test painting hit a major snag, i quite liked the idea of black hair but have no idea how to highlight it.  Any ideas?

11

Libertee's Miscellaneous Musings II / Re: What would have happened if......?

« on: June 06, 2011, 03:32:33 PM »

What if...

Gandalf had had a quick word with his mate Gwaihir (the eagle) and asked him to "just take a wee jaunt over mount doom and drop this old ring into the fire while you're at it will you?  Cheers, now who's for the pub?"

12

Eye Candy / Re: Which weapon?

« on: March 30, 2011, 11:13:49 AM »

Personally I prefer the human faction weapon.

13

Random Chat / Re: The 1st ever Heresy dragon. A big one. [UPDATED Halloween 2010] DONE!!!!

« on: March 02, 2011, 10:21:38 AM »

Any update on the P&P costs yet Andy?

14

Random Chat / Re: The 1st ever Heresy dragon. A big one. [UPDATED Halloween 2010] DONE!!!!

« on: February 17, 2011, 02:19:52 PM »

Congratulations Andy, both on the exceptional quality of the final sculpt and on having it recognised appropriately by the community at large, I genuinely don't think there was any real doubt that it deserved to win the Best Miniature category.

Even after two years I'm still just as excited by this figure as I was when it was first announced in fact now that it's finally on the home stretch I really can't wait to have a crack at it (glad I got in pretty early).  We all know that sadly this project had turned into something of a millstone around your neck for the past couple of years but from my point of view the end result is one of those figures that will certainly go down in gaming history as one fo the greats. 

Thanks for persevering with it Andy.

15

Random Chat / Re: The 1st ever Heresy dragon. A big one. (WIP) [UPDATED Jan 2010]

« on: October 07, 2010, 10:15:50 PM »

And some of us probably will.  However, I for one will now think twice before taking advantage of any pre-orders or special offers from any FOD companies as somehow when you do it is viewed as ripping them off.

16

Random Chat / Re: The 1st ever Heresy dragon. A big one. (WIP) [UPDATED Jan 2010]

« on: October 05, 2010, 09:43:19 AM »

 

My point exactly, but rather more eloquent.

17

Random Chat / Re: The 1st ever Heresy dragon. A big one. (WIP) [UPDATED Jan 2010]

« on: October 05, 2010, 09:38:40 AM »

As would I as it happens.

18

Random Chat / Re: The 1st ever Heresy dragon. A big one. (WIP) [UPDATED Jan 2010]

« on: October 05, 2010, 08:57:52 AM »

I'm not sure I'd agree that people who chose to pay in advance are somehow ripping Andy off.

19

Libertee's Miscellaneous Musings II / Re: things that really p** you off

« on: July 13, 2010, 12:57:40 PM »

It's marching season again, I'll avoid the politics of it but it usually seems to end in tears for someone.

20

Information / Spare parts (HFD017)

« on: June 04, 2010, 09:08:34 AM »

Is it possible to order specific replacement parts for HF miniatures? 

I'm specifically in need of the hand weapons from the HFD017 multipart dwarves as I've managed to lose one of the sets of arms from my last order.  I'm thinking that as they're probably moulded as a set it's likely that this won't be possible but it never hurts to ask.

21

Libertee's Miscellaneous Musings II / Re: In a bit of a panic, am I being paranoid?

« on: October 26, 2009, 01:50:34 PM »

Okay, the following assumes mainly that lead is the problem rather than any other issues (I'm a hazmat specialist so I tend to fixate on chemical problems rather than anything else).

As far as i recall lead "poisoning" is pretty easy to spot using a blood test although the various symptoms can make it harder to diagnose by observation.  Most people working with lead these days need to have routine blood tests to keep an eye on their exposure as the material tends to accumulate in the body and is slowly excreted.

I would recommend removing the figures from your home (chuck them in the garage or somewhere rather than the loft if possible) to minimise the amount of lead getting into the air and wearing a P3 respirator and disposable gloves while handling damaged/corroded figures (yes really).  if the lead is the problem then proper ventilation of your home (opening windows to allow a good throughput of air) may help to reduce the level in the air or at least improve the air quality (bet you wish we weren't heading into winter) although a good deep clean including washing down the walls, woodwork, furniture etc. will also help by removing adsorbed lead particles, this a proper cleaning programme will be necessary to prevent the problem re-occurring).

You may find the following helpful (although don't get too worried by the detail as in my experience when people think they might have been exposed to something they tend to get very anxious and start imagining symptoms no matter how sensible they are the rest of the time).

http://www.nationalinspection.net/inspector/articles/lead_contamination.html

http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg305.pdf

There are some tests that can be done for lead contamination including the use of Leadcheck swabs and further lab analysis but these are intended more for professional and are probably more than is required at the moment. There is a home use version:

http://www.buybrandtools.com/acatalog/Homax-Lead-Check-Test.html

The best advice has already been given to you, see your GP as soon as you can and have him do the appropriate tests.  However if lead contamination or exposure is the problem then you may also like to consult the local environmental health or the HSE for further advice.

22

Ideas for New Heresy Models / Re: What next?

« on: August 25, 2009, 09:57:53 AM »

15mm, skeletons and adventurers for me as they're the things I might actually use.

Persoanally I really dislike not-"X" figures, not becuase they aren't nice you understand I just think that your original stuff is much more interesting.

Just out of interest did you give up on the idea of your forest elemental?  I seem to recall it doing quite well in the last poll.

23

Random Chat / Re: The 1st ever Heresy dragon. A big one. (WIP) [UPDATED May 10th]

« on: July 08, 2009, 06:47:52 AM »

Dual ridges gets my vote.

24

Suggestions (HF) / Re: More dwarves with crossbows

« on: June 26, 2009, 10:03:37 AM »

I doubt even a stocky dwarf could lug around an iron crossbow and use it though.

True, although on top of their axe/sword/armour etc. I'm not sure how much difference it would make as the crossbow moulded on the existing dwarf isn't that large, dwarves is tough!

25

Suggestions (HF) / Re: More dwarves with crossbows

« on: June 26, 2009, 08:37:03 AM »

The crossbow idea is interesting...especially as a lot of dwarfs are said to live under mountains or in mountainous terrain - locations where wood is in low supply... yet it seems to me that crossbows take much more wood to produce than a short or compound bow.

Most modern crossbows tend to use metal rather than wood for the "springy-bit" and I suppose the stock could be made of any material you like so I guess the undermountain dwarves may just have gone down this route?