"Wargames Factory Limbo limbo Man!" Topic

If your WF listings are like mine, then they are struggling in the 4-8% sales area (1/2 of which you purchased!).

Don't get me wrong, I'm not discouraged. I actually love the idea and process. I check my levels everyday to see if they have gone up 1%!

So any way, this is a generic post to see where your submitted ideas are on the list, how you feel about the process, and what we the submitters, or WF could do to move our products along more expeditiously.

Some initial thoughts from me:

Several people I have seen post or spoken to still seem to be under the misconception that when you pre-order you are commited to buying those figures (false!).

Others state that they wont order figures till they see what they look like. To me, this is a stupid excuse because, as stated above, you are not spending any $ to book figures.

So why not book a small amount to help the submission get to 50% so we can get WF to post some sketches/ renders of the figures?

Any way, here are my struggling ideas:

13th Century Mounted Samurai – Number Needed to Enter Production: 920 – Percentage Complete: 8%

13th Century Samurai On Foot – Number Needed to Enter Production: 960 – Percentage Complete: 4%

15MM HUAXTECS (AN AZTEC ENEMY STATE) – Number Needed to Enter Production: 990 – Percentage Complete: 1%

40mm Tall Mech Bi-Ped Walker, Dreadnaugt, Robot – Number Needed to Enter Production: 987 – Percentage Complete: 1%

Near Future Islamic Rebels – Number Needed to Enter Production: 963 – Percentage Complete: 4%

Near Future Weapons Sprue – Number Needed to Enter Production: 993 – Percentage Complete: 1%

Near Future Russians (2050-2150) – Number Needed to Enter Production: 812 – Percentage Complete: 19%

My biggest dissapointment so far are my samurai, thought those would do better!

I still have suggestions not posted that include:

15mm Samurai Fanatical Monks (Ikko-Ikki)
28mm Bugs (Xenomorphs)
28mm 13th Century Ashigaru (Lightly armored retainers)

As for sprues that are not mine, I have ordered the following:

Modern Insurgents – Number Needed to Enter Production: 970 – Percentage Complete: 3%

Modern US Marines – Number Needed to Enter Production: 977 – Percentage Complete: 2%

Modern/Near Future Armed Civilians – Number Needed to Enter Production: 393 – Percentage Complete: 61%

Mid-Tech Sci-Fi Soldiers – Number Needed to Enter Production: 995 – Percentage Complete: 0%

Sci-Fi Civilians – Number Needed to Enter Production: 883 – Percentage Complete: 12%

Modern/Near Future Armed Civilians – Number Needed to Enter Production: 393 – Percentage Complete: 61%

Zombies – Neighborhood Protection League – Number Needed to Enter Production: 919 – Percentage Complete: 8%

Modern Zombie Family – Number Needed to Enter Production: 954 – Percentage Complete: 5%

and of course:
1. Zombies! Broken WELL past 1000 on it's way to 2000.

I must give WF due credit for taking on such a bold project and coping with their early problems well. They have also been extremly responsive to answer my numerous questions and more than understanding when I made an error or two in subbmitting posts/ ideas.

Good luck w/ all of your submissions.

15MM HUAXTECS

I'm really surprised those aren't flying up to the top of the list. Huaxtecs? Man, everyone digs those guys. :)

Mid-Tech Sci-Fi Soldiers

Hmmm. I should pay more attention to this stuff. I might actually be interested in those.

"I'm really surprised those aren't flying up to the top of the list. Huaxtecs? Man, everyone digs those guys. :)"

Ok, so those were my long, long, long shot…lol.

But every boy can dream!

I certainly appreciate your enthusiasm, Uesugi Kenshin!

I would like to clarify the 'booking' process, as we at Wargames Factory want people to understand this. When you make a pre-order, you are not putting any money down. But it's more than, say, a vote on a TMP poll. If you actually know that don't want these figures at all, don't book them! We certainly expect some people to lose interest, or to cancel their order when the time comes to make the deal firm, but we do ask for a sincere interest in the final product. That seems only fair to our design team.

You did notice that 16th C. samurai are up to 46%, right? My guess would be that if the most recognizable type of samurai reach production, other East Asian types will lift off as well.

I do think you are right not to hold your breath on the 15mm Huaxtecs, though :)

The thing holding me back is that I will never be buying anything direct from WF, as I don't import stuff from the US….sooooo should I book some without any plans to buy from WF?

If I do so, I will be pulling out at the next stage……so for me it's not a case of canceling my order because I changed my mind it's a case of never in a million years i'm I going to place an order to buy direct from WF and get hammered on postage, customs and Royal Mail charges.

There are some figures (post apoc, near future types) i'm interested in, but in it's present format……nope, if they make it into production and are available from a UK or European stockist then i'll buy them.

John

Now I know I have not read all the information on the WF website, and I'm sure my answer is there somewhere, but before ordering I need to know what is likely to consitute a sprue?

For example I would certainly like some 15mm simians in boiler suits, preferably armed with AK-47s or G3s, to provide a mad scientist with defenders for his secret base in the African jungle. I estimate that I would need around 60-80 figures. If a sprue is going to have 10 figures that's 6 to 8 ordered, but if there's 12 on a sprue this goes down to 5-7.

I know that different items will be different sizes but perhaps WF could give a ballpark figure for the likely number of figures per sprue per scale for 10mm, 15mm and 25mm to make it easier to estimate what you are likely to need.

I think the sprue size for the WF Liberty, Union and Zombie League entries is 4" x 6" (though some of the current requests feature items that would be pretty hard to fit on such a space).

The amount of sprue space would largely depend on the level of multi-partness – the more pieces you have per model, the higher the amount of sprue space required. Single-part models would take the least space.

Griefbringer

Interesting point, Earl of the North, and one we'd not considered. Everyone hates customs duties and fees, and most people don't want to pay too much in postage either.

North Star will be carrying Wargames factory products in the UK. We have no doubt that the more popular 'graduates' of Liberty and Union will be packaged for general sale, although some may never be massively commercial. A second possibility we could consider would be to send an order to the UK in more than one small package, staying under VAT limits; obviously, this would increase postage costs, but shipping plastic figures is hugely cheaper than sending lead figures.

As to 15mms – we don't know yet! But I am looking at a sprue of 28mm Roman shields which I consider to be about the same size as 15mm infantry. There are 16 on the sprue. Obviously, extra bits, and any figures made in wildly animated poses might alter that ratio!

If WF was producing this in Europe I'd already have signed up for a few, including the armd civilians which I think could be very useful.

I'd have also put forward mine (refined a little) 28mm 4-5 heads (mixture of gasmask and cloth covered faces with a mix of US helmets & Civilian headwear – baseball caps, motorcycle helmets etc) 4-5 Backpacks (featuring picks, shovels, ropes etc), 4-5 improvised weapons (Nail boards etc) and 4-5 battered firearms (hunting rifle held together with wire and duck tape etc).

I'd prefer the bodies as well, but add the conversion sprue to the amrd civilians or modern US figures and bobs you uncle post apocalypse scavengers/survivors for the Zombie figures/rebel troops for near future or hard sci-fi.

Any manufactures reading this…….please, pretty please.

John

ps If the packages came under the VAT limit that might work, althrough I could end up paying more in postage then for the figures.

Earl, I think once the first 4 or 5 sets fly off of the shelf (zombies, WWII germans, 6mm Androids, Zulus and 15mm Huaxtecs) you will probably see a UK stockist come to light.

Yes, thats right…Huaxtecs….why are you laughing?
link

"I do think you are right not to hold your breath on the 15mm Huaxtecs, though :)"

"I'm really surprised those aren't flying up to the top of the list. Huaxtecs? Man, everyone digs those guys. :)"

Up to 4%…but still not holding breath. ;-)

Uesugi-sama,

I share your frustration; my poor Ming Chinese armoured cavalry are still stuck in the low teens. It seems that people just aren't grasping the fact that these are historical opponents for 16th century samurai armies. Phooey!

Happily, my 28mm "generic powered armour suit" is doing much better, having reached the 40% mark! Just 10% to go and WF starts 3D modeling… bwahahaahaa!!!

Here's an evil thought; what if WF were willing to include a simple set of skirmish rules with each box of the L&UL offerings that see production? Or perhaps a bundling deal with Two-Hour Wargames or some other rules publisher not tied to a specific figure manufacturer? With the apparent popularity of such THW rules as "All Things Zombie" and "5150," IMHO this might be a good way to attract new blood to the hobby, as well as make things enjoyable to old hands looking for a change of pace without laying out hundreds of yuan in hard earned cash just to start another period.

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

I've been watching ur "generic powered armour suit"s. Well done. Can't wait to see what WF does with them.

No frustrations here. All in good time.

Uesugi-sama,

well, I have not yet begun to, er… SKETCH! I hope to upload some new modifications to the last suit design, taking into account the feedback I've been getting on the L&UL forum.

Stay tuned…

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

When that project is done perhaps I could convince you to sketh some like into my 40mm Mech project? ;-)

that should be "sketch some life" ….shesh.

My take on the process (and I have put my requests in at the L&UL site.)

I find something of interest (and I admit I limit my genres/periods on purpose) and I place an "order" (or would that be a pre-order?) for the amount I would initially buy if they were retail to "see them in my hand." If I like I order more.

Waiting to see how the process works in my specific areas of interest. Patiently, I might note.

Gracias,

Glenn

Kenshin-sama,

you want *moi* to contribute some *drawings?*

BWAAAHAHAAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAAHAAHAHAHAAAAAAA!!!

Igor!! Zathrus!! To the laboratory!! BWAHAHAHAAHHAHAHHAAHAHAAAAA!!!

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

"What did you do, Kenshin?!"

"Um, well, I tried to clear my mind, and it just slipped! I mean, it was something from my childhood, something innocent…!"

"What? What was it?!!"

"THE FORM OF THE DESTRUCTOR HAS BEEN CHOSEN!!!"