"Stolen Armored Orc Sculpts" Topic

Recently, December 22nd, Chapterhouse Studios LLC stopped working with an employee by the name of Tomas Fiertek who lives in Sweden. He is also a sculptor and frequent poster to many discussion boards and goes by the name of Pyriel or -Pyriel.

I was not aware of the fact that he was using the company name to hire out a sculpting job to one of our regular sculptors. Unfortunately he mislead this sculptor into sending him a finished miniature on January 2nd, and Tomas was released from the company on December 22nd. Unfortunately, the sculptor has not been able to contact Mr. Fiertek through emails since then and he considers the time and miniature lost or stolen. I am currently speaking with the sculptor and working with him towards a solution.

The sculptor has not seen payment from Mr. Fiertek or emails since he asked what address to send the sculpts to.

Please be cautious if you have any contact with Mr. Tomas Fiertek, he is no longer associated with Chapterhouse Studios LLC or any other company that I am aware of. Seeing that the sculptor was not paid for works delivered, I have my doubts on whether Mr. Fiertek has the funds to pay for future works. If there is any further information I will update this post.

Sincerely,
Nick Villacci
Chapterhouse Studios LLC

What goes around comes around.

what goes around comes around? what the hell does that mean?

If I'm a sculptor doing freelance work for a company with the questionable reputation of Chapterhouse, I would ask for the payment up front, or at least a 50 percent down payment now and the other 50 percent upon completion of the work.

Otherwise I would require a legal contract to be signed to guarantee payment.

Contracts are difficult, and quite expensive, to enforce -- you must go to court to try to enforce the contract. If the defendant is outside the court's jurisdiction, your contract is completely worthless.

There is an old saying, "Locks keep honest people, honest." Contracts encourage honest people to remain honest, but thieves don't care. The half payment up front, half payment on delivery, is a better option, with a contract to encourage honesty. No contract, no upfront money -- no deal, is the best policy. Trust is earned, in business, unless dealing with the public… >;-)

Caesar wanted to say that the Fist of Justice will ,sooner or letter ,catch up with Fiertek.He'll get his due,this way or the other.Right?

what goes around comes around? what the hell does that mean?

Oh just the put on Chapterhouse for ing off GW.

Thing is Chapterhouse won most of that Lawsuit.

Sucks for GW though.

Chapterhouse "winning most" of the lawsuit doesn't prove that Chapterhouse wasn't effectively stealing from GW. In fact, Chapterhouse was found at fault and had to pay.

The victim here is the sculptor, caught between two theives.
Hopefully, there will be some sort of justice served to Fiertek in the future for stealing that sculpt.

What goes around comes around. It can be taken in more than one way.

Chapterhouse "winning most" of the lawsuit doesn't prove that Chapterhouse wasn't effectively stealing from GW. In fact, Chapterhouse was found at fault and had to pay.

Yup, a whole $25,000. USD

But GW lost on the most important items.

All the items that they could careless about making.

Oh what do you think about GW when they tried to tell Amazon that they can't sell this book.

Their basis was that they thought they could bully their way to owning the rights to Space Marine.

Because that is what GW has been doing for years. Bullying others with all of their C&D's.

Results GW got their ass handed to them.

link

Oh and now is GW stock doing right now?

Oh that right it is in freefall and lost nearly 24% of it value.

link

Expect some more prices increases to shore it up again.

Um Ceasar, we are not thieves.

Regardless, if you told someone that you worked for a company, send their work to you and then that the company would pay for it… Your a thief straight up. Having a jury trying to figure out complex IP law with over 100 filings in a civil court and a few stick, does not make you a criminal or thief…

Will you change your tune if the appeal comes back and Chapterhouse wins 90% or even 100%?

I have personally worked with this sculptor for over 3 years and he has always been paid for his work. The fact an ex-employee took advantage of him should be something that is sad and you should have compassion for, not throwing personal attacks over.

Chapterhouse
Sounds like the sculptor was working in good faith. Do you have any plans to cover part of his commission lost?

Mithmee, Chapterhouse knew what they were doing and they flaunted it. They are not some hero of people that got tread on by GW, they were in the wrong and got called on it. The only reason they got away so lightly is because they got good lawyers for free.
Try to avoid comparing and confusing different issues in your anti-GW fervor. Why don't you spend some of that energy on something you love rather than looking for opportunities to rant about things that you hate?

Chapterhouse, you can try to spin it all you want, it doesn't change the truth.

Mithmee, Chapterhouse knew what they were doing and they flaunted it.

Thing is I am on the side of Chapterhouse and not on GW side.

Most of everything GW did was steal from others. Then called it their own.

Their games are nothing but bucket of dice games now.

Oh and they (GW) are going to be impacted by that ruling, which will allow others to make items that gamers can use with their 40K figures.

Why don't you spend some of that energy on something you love rather than looking for opportunities to rant about things that you hate?

I am, I love to rant but GW and will do so any chance that I can.

As to this reason for this post. The individual who con the sculptor out of that figure(s) needs to be hunted down and dealt with.

The sculptor more than likely put some long hours into the figure thinking that he will get paid but now won't.

Caesar,

You didn't answer my question about

Spots the Space Marine

Or do you believe that GW had the right to do what they tried to do?

Mithmee, Spots is not the same issue. Your posts confuse different issues with GW into one single one that you cannot discern the differences between. You are arguing about apples when we are discussing winter tires.
I find it disheartening that you (or anybody else) would support theft just because you have a dislike for a company. Your flexibility in right or wrong depending on the victim isn't something to be proud of.
I get that you are an unhappy ex-fan. I was there once, too. If you are so willing to support the victimization of GW then you have lost all credibility when it comes to complaining about GW victimizing others.
Just do yourself a favor and let it go. Find something in this hobby you love and concentrate on that.

Leadjunky,

The sculptor was not working for Chapterhouse, he was mislead by an ex-employee into doing the work and then when he sent the materials that where finished to the ex-employee, that we would cover the cost. We had no idea this project was going on or ever saw a product.

That being said, he wants to do the same project for us, and it being the second time to do so, will likely be easier to finish and we will purchase the finished product.

It has already been shown that Space Marine(s) existed in print outside of GW. So, it is either up for public use or GW owes money to that author (I think circa 1973 copyright? there is a TMP post about this last year I believe?)

As to making accessories for figures for other companies, I don't have a problem with this. However, if making these accessories also have things that violate artistic ownership (such as making shoulder item with Spacewolves or similar Chapter designs owned by GW) then I would side with GW.

There are aftermarket car accessory companies that make products that fit specific automobiles. However, they do NOT put the name of the brand on their products.

I am not taking sides here, although I will say that if GW does use the legal system to try and bully people that are in the fair use business, shame on them. The Space Marine issue is a true egg in their face situation. But the legal system is funny over here in the U.S. as well and you never know what a judge will say.

Regarding Chapterhouse getting good lawyers for cheap/free, what is the problem? Are you saying that because this is a lawsuit they shouldn't get legal help they can actually afford? Absurd…. That attitude may fly in the U.K. but in the U.S. we are afforded legal help when we can't afford it. Granted, this is in criminal trials but still, we have a history here of this.

One thing I do like about the U.K. system is that the loser in a suit pays the defending party's legal bills should they lose. Cuts way down on lawsuits with little merit.

"Regarding Chapterhouse getting good lawyers for cheap/free, what is the problem? Are you saying that because this is a lawsuit they shouldn't get legal help they can actually afford?"

ancientsgamer, Chapter House had it pointed out to them from the very beginning that they were violating GW's IP. Their response was that they ran everything by a lawyer and had a legal defense fund set up in case GW tried to sue them. They were very brazen about what they were doing, until the day they got slapped by a lawsuit and came publicly crying for help because in actuality had no lawyer and they had no defense fund. The only thing that saved them as a company was getting some good lawyers from a prestigious firm to volunteer to represent them.

Since getting sued they have been more restrained in how they post and what they do (their lawyers had to reign them in because, after getting representation, they went back to their usual on line behavior), they learned their lesson. But it wasn't so long ago that they were flaunting their violations of GW's IP, telling their detractors to stuff it and daring GW to sue them.

In this case GW was the victim.
Chapterhouse got what they deserved.

I am no fan of GW's behavior. However, I am not going to cheer on anybody that victimizes the company because it does things I find disagreeable.
Confounding different cases involving GW doesn't help the cause for theft. It only exposes the hypocritical attitude that some of GW's detractors have for condoning or decrying the same behavior, depending of whether it is done by, or to, GW.

Did you even read the two briefs in that case?

GW's was horrible and Chapterhouse's was far better.

Plus here is the results.

<q.Copyright Claims
160 claims alleged against CHS
-GW won on 1/3 of the claims, including items such as CHS' Powerfists
-CHS won on 2/3 of the claims, including the use of the underlying shape and size of GW Shoulderpads.

General Trademark Claims
9 claims alleged against CHS
-CHS won all 9 claims, including either no infringement, or fair use of the GW trademarks on CHS' website.

Disputed Trademark Claims
21 disputed trademark claims alleged against CHS
CHS won 11 claims
GW won 10 claims

GW Trademarks ruled "Previously Used in Commerce" Claims
61 claims alleged against CHS
CHS won 35 claims
GW won 27

Notable Trends and Individual Products Under Dispute
CHS lost on some individual products including:
-Doomseer
-Dark Elf Arch Tortress

CHS won on some individual products including:
-Jetbike
-Super-heavy walker model
-Lizard Ogre

Damages Awarded:
CHS ordered to pay GW damages of $25,000 USD USD

Both sides may appeal the ruling.

Thoughts and Implications:
It's looking like however CHS as an entity comes out of this ruling, the implications for the 3rd party industry are profound.

-The ruling of no infringement for the use of the underlying shape and size of GW shoulderpads is now on the legal record.
-Possibly more important is not guilty verdicts on the use of GW trademarks and terms on the CHS website.
-While certain CHS products themselves may disappear from the Earth in the aftermath of this case, it looks like the verdict may have provided a clear blueprint for the 3rd party accessory bits market. One that allows legal use of certain GW trademarks and terms in a way that goes way beyond what Nottingham themselves ever wished to allow.

link

All & all not good for GW.

Sure that got some money from this but they lost on some of the most major items.

No in this case GW was the bully and they finally got court case.

Then they lost most of that court case.

Oh and GW has been victimizing their Customers for over 15 years; making them pay for paid advertisements with the White Dwarf magazine, dropping whole areas of games (EPIC) or dropping armies (Squats).

Oh and why hasn't GW gone after

Mantic Games manticgames.com

or

Warlord Games warlordgames.com

Warlord Games Bolt Action is 40K with World War II models. Oh it it was written by the same individual who wrote Rogue Trader.

GW does not go after them because the individuals running both to these companies are ex-GW.

"GW does not go after them because the individuals running both to these companies are ex-GW."

If nothing else, this is becoming entertaining.

Dropping games/models and publishing a fan driven magazine is by no means victimizing anyone. It is a company's right to release whatever sells. With that said, I detest their legal pursuits against what one can do with resale of their products and their C&D happy counsel.

GW does not go after them because the individuals running both to these companies are ex-GW.

Could it be that GW knows they would lose if they did and end up losing what little IP they really have.

Dropping games/models and publishing a fan driven magazine is by no means victimizing anyone. It is a company's right to release whatever sells.

Did you know that EPIC 40K was bring in around 20-25% of their sales back then.

Plus if they really wanted to increase sales they can do that by just releasing these again.

They have the molds but since they are idiots they stop selling something that was bringing in huge sales and will not sell other things that would.

Oh and the White Dwarf magazine is soon to be gone as well.

Maybe the Nids ate it.

There stock is in freefall and they have been shoring up their sales by the annual 10-15% increase in price.

Though last year some items actually saw a 100% increase in price.

Like Dire Avengers was selling for $35 USD for a squad of 10 now selling for $70 USD for the same squad of 10. A 100% increase in the price just because they are the most likely troop choice for Eldar players.

Their revenue & rofits are also down from 2012 – 2013

Like to the tune of $7 USD million pounds in revenue and $3.4 USD million pounds in profit or around 30.6% drop in profit.

link

Dropping games/models and publishing a fan driven magazine is by no means victimizing anyone.

White Dwarf has not been a fan driven magazine for over a decade. It has been nothing but a customer paid for advertisement. The articles are about getting you to buy their figures the battle reports are crap and even when they redid it and increase the price all they did was add more pictures of their models.

As for dropping figures well try putting that across the many Squat players or the initial Eldar players who have a 3rd of their Guardians armed with Las Guns.

Now if you have these you can replace the Las Guns.

But the metal ones good luck with that because you will be spending hours trying to converting them.

Because they are no longer legal and have not been since the end of 3rd Edition.

Because that is when GW nerf the of the Eldar Guardians.

Max weapon range cut in half from 24" down to 12"

Oh and what else did GW do?

Well increase the movement from 4" to 6" and increase charge distance to 6" as well.

Now add in movement of vehicles and that you can dismount 2" away from the vehicle and the results were.

Eldar Guardians were drop like a rock from nearly every army list and Mech Eldar came into being.

Oh and what did GW do for the Eldar in 5th Edition?

Well give back 6" on the Dire Avengers weapon.

Why because no one was fielding them.

All because back when weapons had a save modifier Guardians were to damm good at killing Space Marines.

Oh and another thing that happen at the same time was the Force Composition Chart came out and the Min-Max armies came into being.

Bare minimum troops and max everything else that you could.

That was when the balance drop right out of 40K and it has never recovered.

Now you have certain units where the player want to include 3 because they are broken as hell.

Like the Hell-Chicken for Chaos armies.

Because players have gone to Small Elite armies that they can't cope when 2-3 of those Hell Chickens hit the table.

I had my 2000 Imperial Guard army called crap because it has 28 killpoints due to having 190 models in it.

But I would put that army up against any army that is running only around 40-50 models.

Because I know what results will be.

They just will not have the firepower to deal with what I can put out in a turn of shooting.

So what if they slaughter that squad of ten Imperial Guardsmen with that slice and dice close combat unit. I will have another 176 Guardsmen remaining.

But GW has been nothing but a bully for over a decade and is a company who does give one little bit of care for their customers.

They have bullied and have screwed over their customers every chance that they can.

6th Edition 40k is all about flyers and big ass models.

Well given GW track record sure going to suck for those customers who brought 2-3 or even more of those models and GW drops them like a rock in a later edition.

So yes I do love/enjoy ranting about GW and I have every single right to since I started out playing 40K back in 1989 and I have seen many of the things I have no longer viable for all of my armies.

I want to field 10-12 units of 12 Orks and also fielded my 130 of these.

But I can't because I am limited to only six troop choices.

Gee it no wonder Orkz have been a low tier army since 3rd Edition.

Because the Force Composition Chart screws them.

Why did the Imperial Guard get platoons as troop choices?

Because the Force Composition Chart screwed them over even force before they went to platoons.

But the individuals writing the current Ork Codex don't have a clue and will not fix the Orkz like they need to.

Because they were not around when GW screwed over the Orkz.

Funny that you rant about the nerfing of Eldar when they are currently considered one of the top armies in the game. How about some cheese with that whine? Lol.

"Warlord Games Bolt Action is 40K with World War II models. Oh it it was written by the same individual who wrote Rogue Trader."

Um…have you read Bolt Action? It's definitely NOT 40K with WWII models. While I have some issues with weapon ranges the system is considerably smoother and the alternating random squad activation sequence in a turn is something I *wish* they would add into 40K.

By the way, while I look forward to a new Ork codex, we definitely disagree on what an Ork army should look like – I guess I'm a Mekboy at heart but I *like* all my ramshackle vehicles and Orky devices. The old 'Chinese horde' approach makes for a supremely boring list imho, even if your goal actually is target saturation.

GW does not go after them because the individuals running both to these companies are ex-GW.

Could it be that GW knows they would lose if they did and end up losing what little IP they really have.

Now you are responding to yourself…

So yes I do love/enjoy ranting about GW and I have every single right to since I started out playing 40K back in 1989 and I have seen many of the things I have no longer viable for all of my armies.

The only person stopping you from playing with your toys the way you want to is yourself.

GW is right in limiting troop choices to six. Who wants to play against an army comprised of nothing but cheap cannon fodder? No fun and soooo boring. And your hands are going to be sore rolling buckets and buckets of dice. Except for Mithmee, that is.

Funny that you rant about the nerfing of Eldar when they are currently considered one of the top armies in the game.

Yes and how many of those top level armies are using Guardians?

Not many, because they are running with 2-3 units of Dire Avengers mounted in Wave Serpents and then taking Fire Dragons and mounting those in Wave Serpents.

Today Eldar armies almost all have Eldrad because without him they can't function. Also if you know that you are going to face an Eldar army today you know what they will be bringing to the battle.

Guardians suck because they have the worst weapon in the game.

Is there a reason why their weapon needs to be limited to just 12" range?

GW is right in limiting troop choices to six. Who wants to play against an army comprised of nothing but cheap cannon fodder.

So every single army today is made of Elites and Heavies?

No, they are filled with Cannon Fodder.

Which is why I would put up my Imperial Guard against any other army.

You want to go small and Elite well lets see how you deal with nothing but Cannon Fodder because that is what my Imperial Guard army is all about. Oh and it not lacking in Firepower either.

Oh and GW made the game into a bucket of dice game.

The old 'Chinese horde' approach makes for a supremely boring list imho, even if your goal actually is target saturation.

My Ork & Goblin army for WFB is built on the MSU concept since I have over 350 Goblins and over 170 Orks.

Orks does not do Small and Elites all that well for 40K.

Plus they can't do Horde any more either because of the Force Composition Chart.

Is there a pic of this stolen mini? A BOLO could get you quicker reports if it ever shows up….

Yes, but I am not sure on how to post a picture on this board.

If you have a jpg of it just copy and plaste it here.

"Because they are no longer legal and have not been since the end of 3rd Edition."

Heh? Legal? Is this a tournament thing?

Heh? Legal? Is this a tournament thing?

No, please forgive our resident 40K ranter Mithmee. It's just that he's found an axe to grind ever since GW "nerfed" (as he calls it) his precious Eldar in 4th Edition by limiting the Troop Choices to 6 so that he no longer can win by sheer numbers alone. Mithmee's recipe to victory is quite simple if inelegant: Have more cheap 'cannon fodder' troops on the table (hundreds of Guardians for instance) than the number of shots his opponents can possibly throw at him in a typical six-turn game.

Of course, he is free to play using 3rd edition, or just ignore the 6 Troop Choice constraints imposed by 4th edition and after, provided that he can find players who are: (a) willing to play against such an unimaginative army, and (b) don't mind rolling hundreds of dice to hit, wound, and waiting for him to make the applicable armor saves until they drop to the ground from sheer boredom or exhaustion, or a combination thereof.

I think I would just cry 'uncle' and concede in games such as these.

Oh and only used around 80 Guardians not hundreds and the rest were Aspect Warriors.

Oh which you see only a certain type today unlike twenty years ago where you saw every type on the table.

Plus I was more upset with them losing the range on their weapons and not getting being allowed to have Las-Guns anymore.

Actually I am free to play something that is better than 40K.

I just like to rant about GW and what they have been doing.

Oh and only used around 80 Guardians not hundreds and the rest were Aspect Warriors.

I stand corrected. Given that a unit of Guardians can be anywhere between 10 and 20, you can still have 120 Guardians if you forgo Dire Avengers. With 80 Guardians, you're still allowed your 100 foot soldiers on the table with the addition of two 10-man DA squads.

Other Aspect Warriors fall under other categories (Elite, Fast Attack or Heavy Support), so they're not limited by the 6 Troop Choices rule.

Oh which you see only a certain type today unlike twenty years ago where you saw every type on the table.

That is because GW decided that an army's character and composition should be based on its 'fluff.' Eldar is a diminishing and dying race that shouldn't be treated the same way as 'Horde' armies like Nids, Orks or even the 'countless' regiments of the Imperial Guard, which I don't see as a 'Horde' army since I like tanks.

Plus I was more upset with them losing the range on their weapons and not getting being allowed to have Las-Guns anymore.

Yeah, I was pretty ticked off too when they changed the Schuriken Catapult from a Rapid Fire 24" range weapon to an Assault 2 12" range weapon. I mean, it got halved!

But then, I eventually got over it since its effective range is still 18" because it can fire not once but twice at full range even after moving 6", and Guardians were given 'Fleet' which they didn't have before. Again, it makes sense from a 'fluff' or background standpoint.

As for the Lasguns, they didn't really need them because they're really Imperial Guard weapons. Guardians only had them in 2nd edition because they're carried over from the old Rogue Trader days before GW could fully give the Eldar their own 'distinct' character and flavor. One army is only given one 'basic' weapon. The Guard has the Lasgun, the Space Marines the Bolter, the Tau the Pulse Rifle and the Necron the Gauss Rifle. Why should the Eldar be any different?

Actually I am free to play something that is better than 40K. I just like to rant about GW and what they have been doing.

Of course and good for you.

That is because GW decided that an army's character and composition should be based on its 'fluff.'

Actually because how they have changed the rules from 3rd Edition to 6th Edition most Eldar players do want to field an Army that can win battles so they drop/stop fielding several of the Aspects.

Though Warp Spiders are making a huge come back in 6th.

As for the Lasguns, they didn't really need them because they're really Imperial Guard weapons.

Actually I think they drop them because at the same time GW came out with the new Eldar Guardians and by getting rid of the Las Gun. Thus getting rid of nearly 1/3 of all Guardians that most players had at the time.

That was due to the initial Eldar White Dwarf list that required you to have:

1 Las Gun squad of Guardians & 1 Storm Guardian (close combat) squad before you can have a Squad armed with S. Catapults.

So if you wanted a second squad with S. Catapults that meant two squads of Las Guns and Storm Guardians.

Which is why I picked out the above of Eldar Guardians. I needed them for the Storm Guardians.

The Guard has the Lasgun, the Space Marines the Bolter, the Tau the Pulse Rifle and the Necron the Gauss Rifle. Why should the Eldar be any different?

So:

Imperial Guard – Las Gun range = 24 inches
Tau – Pulse Rifle range = 30 inches
Space Marines – Bolter range = 24 inches
Necron – Gauss Rifle range = 24 inches
Eldar – S. Catapult range = 12 inches

There is one very key thing in this list.

Here is an experiment – take ten models of each of the first four and run them against ten S. Catapult Guardians and start 30 inches away from each other over nice open terrain. Then have each side move forward 6 inches starting with the non-Guardians first.

See who is left standing at the end.

Oh it won't be the Guardians because that extra 12 inches of range is a huge differance.

Most of the Guardians will be dead before they even get into range to shoot.

Which is why most Eldar players stop using them because they suck and are the worst Infantry in the game. True some players still took a small squad of them so that they can get a Weapon Platform.

So GW got what they wanted when they nerfed them.

So by the time 5th Edition came and they got their new Codex GW give back 6 inches to the Dire Avengers. Because no Eldar player was using them because with a 12" range weapon they were worst then Guardians.

So they became the go to Troop choice for Eldar players.

So in 6th Edition GW double the price of them.

That is GW for you – number one goal is to screw over their customers.

Mithmee, we all get what you are saying, but your experiment is just bad premise – sorta disingenuous.

Toe to toe with an unrealistic setting, small sample and no winning goals does not an imbalance prove in 40k; which relies just as much on maneuver and mobility as it does on firepower to, "get the win."