"Kickstarters" Topic

… U.S.-Backed Afghan Soldiers.

"Rising casualties among local Afghan forces who are trained and supported by American troops and the growing presence of an ISIS-affiliated group are becoming growing concerns for commanders, the top U.S. general in the region told Fox News.

Gen. John Nicholson said the Taliban killed more than 5,000 Afghans last year and wounded another 14,000 -- and the casualty rate is climbing this year.

Nicholson, who in March took command of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, spoke for the first time this weekend to a small group of reporters in Kabul.

"In one year, [U.S.-backed forces] suffered roughly double the number of casualties that we suffered in 15 years," Nicholson said…"
Full article here
link

In other words… the Afghan government is not winning the war…

Amicalement
Armand

Hi everyone,

I have never participated in a kickstarter before and one has started that has items of interest. There are some special items only available in the kickstarter and prices are reduced compared to what they will sell for latter once this is over as an enticement to participate now. Has anyone every gotten "taken" on something like this? I have no experience with this so do not have a feel if this is something to stay away from or not worry about it. Thanks for your time responding.

Been involved in 7 to date, never been stiffed yet, mind I'm careful who go with, usually people with a proven track record of wargames manufacturing pre kickstarter.

If the release dates seem unrealistic, give it a pass. That is a sure sign that they don't know some of the pitfalls of making something to sell.

If the stretch goals are extensive, give it a pass. Ambitious sketch goals tend to kill Kickstarter projects.

What kickstarter are you looking at?

I've been involved in five campaigns all had great communication all except one was delivered in a reasonable amount of time. The one was delayed a bit longer but they continued to communicate, were honest, and when the figures arrived they were beautiful. well worth the wait. And I've still not painted them. lol

Like 45thdiv, who are you looking at.

Duane

Learn the track record of the publisher. If an established company putting out an expansion to an existing product, or putting out a new product, it is usually fine as long as they also tell you that some of the work is already done.

Beware of an independent guy (one man company) who has not published/manufactured anything before, and beware the small company taking on a huge new product that dwarfs any of their prior products. Last, beware a book or game that is less than 50% written already. If nothing else. These small, inexperienced guys miscalculate postage costs or fancy artwork, and blow up their already-thin margins. The two failed kick starters I backed both were RPG products with these problems; the famous Martian Front Kickstarter is an example of the overly-ambitious expansion products by a small company.

Oh, for hell sakes! The BUG!!

YogiBearMinis covered it pretty well.

I have been in on several dozen KickStarters, two were a bust and got nothing, one I got small portion of items (The infamous "All Quite on Martian Front"), one I got a total refund. Never pledge money you are not ready to loose! But it is a great way to help people get things going you want to see on the market. You can always pledge just a buck or two to test things out. Also, expect loooong delays. Often several years to get the things done.

Do your research. Who are the people involved? What is their reputation in the hobby? Have they successfully brought previous kickstarters to completion? If so, read the comments from the kickstarter.
I've successfully completed 19 kickstarters with another seven winding their way to completion. The only one I got a bit burned on was All Quiet on the Martian Front. I've also completed 4 IndieGoGo without a hitch.
Can you get burned? Yes, it can happen, so don't spend money that you can't afford to lose.
You will get all sorts of naysayers chiming in here soon. Make up your own mind, but keep in mind, that a lot of those telling you not to do it, have never participated in one.
One more thing, there can be some delays in completion of a kickstarter. Sometimes a lot of delays. If patience isn't one of your virtues, you're probably not the target audience.

I've only been taken by one (Sentinel Games) so far, but most seem to miss the anticipated release dates unless the release is fairly small. It seems like the ones with more KS only or freebees are the ones that miss release dates – probably due to the one-off rewards they have to produce.

Defiance Games

Sentinel Games

can read about these and see things go bad.

Eight Kickstarters now and did anyone really think that the Afgan Military were going to win?

No amount of kickstarting of the ANA by the US will make a difference in Afghanistan. Afghanistan has never been won in its long and tortured history.

And by way of a fond adieu to our departed friend kyoteblue, I will quote one of his oft-used comments in regards to continued US presence in the ME:

"How about we tell them we need to take a smoke break and don't come back?"

We miss your sense of humor kb.

Hi everyone,

Thank you very much for the informative assistance. I suspect a computer glitch got the Afghan soldiers post intertwined with the kickstarter.
45thdiv and Syr Hobbs War-games asked about the kickstarter that had my interest. It is Blood and Plunder by Firelock Games. It is a heroic 28 mm pirate game. The proposed figs are very well sculpted and a complete line of items is planned including dice, ships, game mat, and cards to be released in December. It appears the rules are written as there are a number of YouTube movies demonstrating mechanics of the rules.

I just have no experience with kick starters and not heard of this group before so I have no dealings to base a decision upon.

From what you have relayed and what I read, it appears things can go very well or very badly. Your advice is well received and thank you again for taking the time to respond. I appreciate it.

What does this have to do with ACW products?

Is the Taliban using Kickstarter to acquire gear to refight the American Civil War in Afghanistan?

:-D

Like others have said, it's just buyer beware. do your research, it's easy to see something shiney and new and want it right away and hit the pledge button, but with Kickstarter you have to want it a year from now too since that's probably how long you'll be waiting. So yeah, if there's tons of stretch goals added on day 1, or a really low and unrealistic funding goal, beware of that kind of campaign. Some people make a really low goal so it will fund quickly, but in the end if they don't make much more than that, the campaign will still fail. But on the other hand, if the person is doing all of the sculpting and production themselves, a small goal might be correct. So you really just have to do your homework. I've backed a lot of projects, there's been some delays but so far every one has delivered except for HINT which is late but almost there.

not all 1 man companies are bad though, just check their track record and make sure they know what they're doing. My game Blackwater Gulch is run by just me. Red Box Games is run by just the sculptor, Tre Manor, and he's done several successful campaigns.

It was my intent with this post to acquire information about kickstarters in general, not limited to a particular time period, product line, or manufacturer. This prompted cross posting on boards that I frequently read whose contributors are well informed and readily share their knowledge in a courteous manner. This approach allowed a spectrum of perspective and that goal was achieved. The topic of pirates only arose when two individuals asked what kickstarter initiated the post and out of politeness the answer was offered. The constructive comments in the posts assisted with making my decision. Hopefully this post will be archived and searched in the future by others seeking more information about kick starters. I hope they find it as useful as I did. Thank you.

I'll also just add that you can always back a risky or "First Created" KS if it's not asking for much money. Various accessory KS do this, and I've received some mighty fine dice for my Eldritch Horror game. Myself, I set a limit of $25 USD for a "First Created" KS with no retail experience. That's less than the cost of shipping for a CMOn game!

Speaking of CMON, KS is at a point where you can do nothing but back creators with both retail and KS experience, and still spend a ton of money. I still see posts about "the little guys", but there's nothing "little" about how much some of these creators are asking for on KS.

Here are some more input on KS's from similar questions in the past:

TMP link

TMP link

Kickstarters deliver more often than not, even if they don't meet 100% of their promises. The thing to remember is that there are always risks, no matter how small. Be wary of KS's that promise too much and sound too good to be true. If the company had previous successful KS experience they are a safer bet.