"Wargames Factory Announces Liberty & Union League" Topic

So, I could suggest you make WWII German Infantry or WWI British Expeditionary Forces Late War Soldiers and if a 100-people order 10-sprues each (for a total of 1,000-sprues) you'll make them?

Brilliant!

And you'll make them in plastic and in any scale provided the requests are there?

Fantastic!

Brilliant idea. I'm down for 10 sprues of Zombies!

This announcement just flabbergasts me. My experience with Plastic Injection Molding suggests that tooling prices are ten times higher than the $1,000 USD up front with which Wargames Factory claims they will be able to start production.

If you Wargames Factory folks can actually make this plan work, you will achieve status as minor gods.

All the BEST to Ya !

Chick

Tony, I'm down for rank and file Normans/Saxons foot and cavalry.

I hope this works.

28mm multi-part/pose scifi canids…

Hey, does it have to be a fig, or could it just be sprues of stuff, like 'post-apocalyptic stowage' or 'scifi weapons, arms and heads that happen to be compatible with the most common sci-fantasy mini company's unarmored troopers'?

Can I jump in ahead of John the OFM and be the first to ask for War of Jenkins' Ear Bavarian Kettle Drummers? I'll leave it up to the next interested person to specify whether right- or left-handed.

Thanks Chick! We've crunched the numbers as we're confident given our capabilities.

The $1/sprue is a good faith deposit -- but you don't pay it until the sprue has hit 100 customers/1000 sprues "pre-ordered" (which are soft, no-money down pre-orders)

Once we hit 100/1000 -- we contact everyone and if they all agree to put $1 USD down per sprue ordered, we make the sprue.

(Prior to this – when we hit about 500 -- we will start showing work-in-progress shots and take feedback -- so that everyone sees what they are going to get)

And then when it's in plastic, we ship it out and charge the rest -- which will typically be about $4-8 or so per sprue depending on what it is.

Thanks again!

Tony

Tony Reidy
Wargames Factory
wargamesfactory.com

Also -- just a quick note -- we're receiving a very high # of submissions – so it may take a couple days to sort them all and get them posted.

When yours is posted, you'll receive an email to let you know.

Thanks,
Tony

Tony Reidy
Wargames Factory
wargamesfactory.com

Sad – my idea was already submitted by one of the Wargames Factory guys.

Happy – I will place my order.

This is just awesome Tony! Great idea!

Just submitted two Hun Cav and Generic WSS Tricorn Infantry.

Donald~

Dear Tony,
This is a great idea – I am sure that you will be innundated.

Please can you post some WIP shots of the Celts, Celt Cavalry and Chariots. And any other WIP items plaese.

Thanks
Mick

Looking thru the site, I see other great Ideas. I really hope this idea takes off.

This is just awesome Tony! Great idea!

Donald~

Oh, this could be good.

I hope the idea does too. One thing that I have a quetion on. If you don't know how many figures are on a sprue, it's kind of hard to figure out the number needed to make a unit.

So, based on what I have seen with the British Zulu set, would 5 figures a sprue be a good estimate?

Matthew

Hi Matthew --

On the Submission page link we have some guidelines – this is the first one:

1. Our sprues are 4" x 6" and can typically support 4-6 multi-part 28mm figures or 6-8 marching pose (single or 2-3 part) figures. Please keep this general guideline in mind as you craft your submission.

But as a sprue idea receives 'votes' through soft pre-orders, and we reach 500, we'll start to show actual designs and layouts.

The goal is that you know exactly what you are getting when you put down your $1/sprue deposit at 1000 sprues pre-ordered!

Thanks,
Tony

Tony Reidy
Wargames Factory
wargamesfactory.com

I've tried to submit an idea 3 times now but I get an submission error like the site is busy or my browsers settings are wrong. I'll try later.

Thanks Tony. My pre-order took on the Sudan set you already have up.

Matthew

Well, that was fun. I submitted:

1944 WWII US Infantry (in general, I think WWII is a natural for 28mm plastic multi-part figures).

Medieval/Renaissance/Pirate/Fantasy heads, 28mm

Female versions of the GW Empire Militia/Mordheim human mercenary sprues.

That's weird Matthew -- we're getting a steady flow of new ones (what monster have I created!!) ;-)

It might just be a browser/connection "deal"

If you continue to have trouble, just email me!

Thanks,
Tony

Tony Reidy
Wargames Factory
wargamesfactory.com

Here's the error I got now – whichis really odd.

"ERROR: An error occurred. Your web form must capture customer name and email address. Please fix this issue and re-insert your web form on your web page."

I made sure I had everything filled in.

Matthew

That was great. I submitted:

Modern Zombie Family – Zombie Dad, Mom, Boy and Girl Teenager, Boy and Girl 8yr old, and toddler.

Modern Zombie Neighborhood Watch – Non Zombiefied Neighborhood Watch to protect their own homes men and women with hunting and improvised weapons, and couple sniping on roofs.

Modern Zombie Fighting Military Specialists – Reorganized military zombie fighters – based upon Ken Brooks great novel World War Z – With the zombie killing shovels.

I am sure this service will provide discussions for internet forums for months to come.

Time to go and stock up on the popcorn.

Griefbringer

I just submitted "American Revolution infantry in overalls", with a variety of heads. I asked for Tarleton helmet, to make Lee's and British Legion, plumed slouch hats and tricornes. For reference, I cited Troiani's Soldiers of the American Revolution.

I am canvassing the League of the War of Jenkin's Ear to see how deep (or shallow) the desire for Bavarian Horse Grenadier kettle drummers really is. We may have a better shot with WOJEB farrier sergeants and suttlerresses.

Why is there a 100-person order minimum, and not just 1000 sprues?

Crud, I had suggested Zombies to Howard a couple of months ago when he privatly asked for some ideas. Someone beat me to it on the site.

Hi, if the model designs are also done (say in one of those matter printer programs) as well as the promise to buy does that make it more of a sure thing?

Isn't it a little silly to come out with this proposal when you haven't even been able to come out with a box of Celts yet or to put up clear pictures of your Romans? I mean how about delivering on and fleshing out your basic offerings before starting something totally new? Frankly at this point I wouldn't sign up for this because I have no faith in your ability to deliver based on your track record. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but I think the comment is a valid customer perspective.

nvdoyle – I strongly suspect that 1000 sales *isn't* enough to cover the costs of manufacture. On the other hand, 1000 sales to 100 people shows enough market depth that you can be pretty sure of continuing sales after that initial 1000. If one person ordered 1000 sprues you wouldn't have the same confidence of follow-on sales.

Hi nvdoyle --

The 100-person minimum in conjunction with the 1000 sprues (i.e. roughly 10/person -- but you could order 1 and someone else could order 19)…

The reason for this is that we want to produce sprues that will have more "life" in them after the initial 1000. 1000 gets us on our way to breakeven on the project, but we need to sell substantially more to make this financially viable.

With 100 individuals showing interest (as opposed to John the OFM ordering 1000 sprues of War of Jenkins Ear – hi John!) we have an indicator that there are probably more people out in the wide world of wargaming who would be interested in that set. Whereas John's WoJE mold will sit gathering dust on a back shelf (although who knows, we may be surprised!)

The real benefit of the program is to get your idea out to the larger audience of wargamers and see who's with you and can make your idea a reality!

Best,
Tony

Tony Reidy
Wargames Factory
wargamesfactory.com

Tony and Dom-

Thanks, makes sense.

Another question – I noted the "Please no 'Not X'" part, but how about things that are compatible, assembly-wise, with other company's IP? Like, say, heads and arms/guns for GW's Imperial Guard plastics? Not necessarily the exact same style or modified copies, but other stuff that 'fits' with the bodies and such?

OK. I need to step it up a notch. I know that I am wildly optimistic, but I submitted Ming Chinese foot to field with my Choson Koreans. Please support the cause!

I just submitted a sprue idea – 17th century armed civilians. These could make excellent Clubmen for English Civil War, or armed civilians for Monmouth's Rebellion, or even armed peasants for Thirty Years War. I put my john hancock down for 15 sprues – so defend thy homestead, ye goodly men, and put your name down for many a sprue!

I just submitted two sprue ideas. They are basically sprues for modern opposition forces both of which would work best with separate upper and lower bodies to be able to get a good mix. One sprue would be in a more generic BDU or Soviet/Easter Bloc'ish uniforms with a mix of bare heads, helmets, caps, boonies, bandanas, balaclavas, beret, plus a mix of weapons primarily AK's. The second sprue would be more civilian with jeans and shirts and mix of head wear and weapons both US and Soviet. These two sprues, depending on how you mixed and matched the parts and how they were painted could work for most any third world force. Think Central/South Americans from the 60's to the late 80's, drug cartels, Cubans, African rebels and warlords, terrorists, even mercenaries/corporate security to mention but a few. Heck the civilian sprue would also make great Delta or SAS operators as well as street gangs.

Oh and the more civilian sprue would be great to fight those Zombies as well.

With 100 individuals showing interest (as opposed to John the OFM ordering 1000 sprues of War of Jenkins Ear – hi John!) we have an indicator that there are probably more people out in the wide world of wargaming who would be interested in that set. Whereas John's WoJE mold will sit gathering dust on a back shelf (although who knows, we may be surprised!)

Pesimist…

How many 15mm figures would you calculate for a sprue?

Actually, this is even better than a poll, since you are sort of committing your money to do this at some point.
I think Nic learned early on the wisdom of a diversified subscriber base.

OK. I need to step it up a notch. I know that I am wildly optimistic, but I submitted Ming Chinese foot to field with my Choson Koreans. Please support the cause!

nycjadie – I'm right there with ya I am wanting pretty much anything Ancient China as 28mm plastics. Only just learned about the Choson Koreans from the new Perry miniatures and like them too. Heck we should submit the Choson stuff for plastics.

"nycjadie – I'm right there with ya I am wanting pretty much anything Ancient China as 28mm plastics. Only just learned about the Choson Koreans from the new Perry miniatures and like them too. Heck we should submit the Choson stuff for plastics."

You can add my voice to the call for Ming Chinese suitable for the Imjin War! Plastics would be ideal for the Ming -or any Chinese Dynasty- as Chinese armies tended to be quite large numerically, so plastics would make such projects more affordable IMHO!

And some Ming artillery while they're at it too… the Ming really liked to use artillery on people… Mwahahahaahaaa!!

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

I vote celt infantry, with the number of people who have already pre-ordered them have we reached the 100 people 1000 sprue limit? And does this mean that we get wip shots for passing the 500 mark too?

I really like this idea and hope that it's successful. I won't submit any of my wishlists right away but will wait to see what ends up on the list in the next few days (no point in duplicating effort and all that).

I can say, though, that I am excited about the potential this has.

and for everyone!

There's nothing in your sprue list for fantasy or sci-fi. Is that a deliberate omission? or is it just that no-one has requested anything?

Of course, the problem with anything here is that you actually need to get 100 miniature wargamers to agree on something.

Griefbringer

Brandlin,

I think that's what "Other" is for.

I'm following axabrax in this point. The Celtic infantry could be pre-ordered in august (I think) and when are they going to be released? Maybe it's better to finnish things off before starting with something else.

So I guess this means that the plans to make the Crecy period armies after the Roman and Celtic stuff is done have been set aside.

this is quite fantastic. i am thrilled to see english civil war on the list already. i will be adding my own as well. huzzah!

Not at all Larry! We are well on our way with four boxes for the HYW! Longbowmen, Crossbowmen, Men-at-arms, and mounted Men-at-arms/knights are all moving along nicely now for early '09.

The Liberty and Union League isn't going to completely replace what we do with our Field of Glory box sets and other products we're working on -- in some cases it will sync up (i.e. FoG armies that are more popular within the program will find themselves in boxes faster than others)

So no worries!

Tony

Tony Reidy
Wargames Factory
wargamesfactory.com

Not at all Larry! We are well on our way with four boxes for the HYW! Longbowmen, Crossbowmen, Men-at-arms, and mounted Men-at-arms/knights are all moving along nicely now for early '09.

That's nice, what about the Celts though?

Tony you really do need to stop telling people about other ranges when one that you promised in August remains missing.(Do people still have orders outstanding on those or have you issued a refund to everyone?) New stuff is cool, yes, but lets not get ahead of ourselves shall we. Fulfill the promises made many months ago before making new ones. WF's credibility is slipping away.

Hi 13th munky -- we're almost there with the Celts! That set was particularly tough as we had learned so many things in the process of doing the Romans and British (and some other sets we're far along with) that we wanted to go in and just make these incredible.

We also had some great feedback on the Romans and British that we wanted to incorporate into all of our sets going forward -- the goal here is to just get better with each and every release.

It's been a long, hard road to get to this point -- but the launch of this program (which we've been holding off on for AGES) coincides with the internal knowledge here that we can really rock and roll with these sets going forward.

And the really GREAT thing about the Liberty and Union League is that you, the customer, is involved in the process every step of the way. So you'll see as we move from one stage to the next. And I think you'll be very, very surprised at how fast we can do these sprues going forward now that all the hard work of conquering the crazy hard plastic learning curve has been put in!

Thanks again all! (Back to reviewing and posting submissions!)

Tony

Tony Reidy
Wargames Factory
wargamesfactory.com

Good to hear Tony – the Celts really are long overdue, and while delaying to get the product right makes sense, the lack of updates is just the sort of thing to get people antsy; a few words on the subject are definitely welcome.

So nice one on what could be a very exciting project, but also on reassuring those of us wanting Celts that we've not been forgotten, especially those like 13th munky (could've sworn he was businessman a couple of hours ago?) who are so excited about your products that they're the only thing they ever post about.

Dom, who also wants Celts, and welcomes anyone voting for SYW Prussians….