It is just about mid-year so I thought I would post another yearly update, although this one is going to be shorter than those in the past. My main goal is to get out from under the large amount of stuff I have ready for moldmaking and what not.

In terms of releases for the rest of the year, August will see the release of the long-awaited 6mm ratkin.

The dwarf fantasy naval fleet production molds are finished, though I want to get them painted prior to release. I'm also undecided as to whether or not to hold them until the orcs are also ready. Sculpting is finished on the orcs, but the production medium is kind of up in the air. The dwarf models had to be hollowed out underneath to make them feasible in metal. This is less of a big deal on the sailing ships, as they have open decks, but the hulls are still going to be heavy pieces of metal. I will have to do a cost comparison with full metal v. resin hulls. I hate mixed kits, and I don’t generally love resin, but I may not have a choice on the ship hulls.

I’d like to push out at least the first wave of 6mm elves, as well as some 2-headed giants. There are some potential issues with the last wave of elf prints, the cavalry etc. I will probably post them up to get some opinions.

I made some pretty big bets on things over the past couple years, in terms of releases. None of them really panned out, some are spectacular failures. We’ll see how the fantasy naval stuff does.

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For all your Dark Realm, 6mm scifi and 6mm fantasy needs: http://www.microworldgames.com/

Any idea on the greater goblins ? Naval fleet idea to postpone seems a very good idea until the orcs are ready.

Glad 2018 is going well for yourgent store, evenot with the hick ups you have still managed to get a lot done

It bums me out a lot to hear what sounds like a downer on this as everything you’ve released so far has been a huge hit with me! I know in alone don’t constitute a market but I hope you’ll persevere.

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http://www.viciousprint.com/6commando

Yeah, I probably shouldn’t post negative things up, but at a certain point, when people ask questions as epic just did above, what are you really supposed to say, other than the truth? Which is that I will release the greater goblins whenever I have an extra $1200 to lose.

The main thing sapping my morale was the 15mm fantasy release, which quite literally did not sell. Maybe because I expected it to do great, similar to how when you go see a movie with awful reviews and it doesn’t seem that bad. I also dropped a bunch of money getting a casting setup, but it really isn’t feasible for my business. I end up having a ton of molds lying around that aren’t being spun, and you’d be surprised how fast they pile up, those things start to take up some serious space!

The whole shift of the industry to crowdfunding has me bummed as well.

I’ve also been thinking about the elves a lot lately, which is a funny sentence to type. I like the sculpts, people on Facebook seem to like the sculpts, but my whole fantasy line is hand sculpted. The heights match fine, but the proportions of the elves are much slighter, similar to Onslaught’s miniatures. I could have the sculptor work to get them to look more hand sculpted, but then why am I even paying all that extra to go for CAD at that point? I have been thinking of literally rescaling the whole line to 10mm and just starting a 100% CAD sculpted 10mm fantasy line, then getting the elves resculpted in 6mm by my usually sculptor, minus the dragon mounts. But I already paid for a majority of the prints in 6mm, and going through all of what I just wrote leaves me feeling exhausted.

I’m not going to close the business or anything, it’s just kind of a bummer of a time.

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For all your Dark Realm, 6mm scifi and 6mm fantasy needs: http://www.microworldgames.com/

I get it. It’s not that it’s a bummer that you’re saying it, just that I’m bummed on your behalf. What you’re producing is so unique and so well made! Like I said, I know that I, alone, can’t constitute a market but you have my support for whatever that’s worth, not to speak of my business!

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http://www.viciousprint.com/6commando

I haven't followed your company much theu the years but theres a question that pops up in my mind when I'm reading your posts: When you're deciding what to produce next do you have a specific game system in mind that your models can be used with?

When it comes to 6mm Sci-Fi Epic:Armageddon is the most played ruleset out there. Sure theres probably a bunch of others but I have a hard time seeing any of them having a more wide spread audience than E:a.
For 10mm fantasy Warmaster is the largest game. Again, there might be others with a small following but i'm pretty sure WM is still on top in that genre.
I've played miniature games off and on for 25 years and i can't think of any 6mm fantasy games or 15mm fantasy games, or 10mm scifi games either. Not without giving it some thought anyways.
I get that a company can try to fill a certain nische where no other companies venture. But that is a very risky enterprise since that nische might be unexploited because it's to small.
Could it be that ypu overestimated the demand for certain ranges of models within the miniature wargame community? Would it work better if you produced miniatures to be used as proxies for with certain more common games? It seems to have worked pretty good for both Onslaught and Vanguard so far...

I'm not trying to have a go at you or being condescending. It's an honest question tjat poped up in my head. As stated earlier i don't know enough about your company to form an opinion, maybe you've done what i've written already. But if that's not the case maybe that kind of thinking could help sales in the future?

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https://epic40ksweden.wordpress.com/

"You have a right to be offended" - Steve Hughes
"Your feelings are hurting my thoughts" - Aron Flam

You aren’t being condescending, but maybe I should clarify my position a bit. I never actually expected to be very successful. Possibly in the beginning for a brief moment, but certainly not after the past 8 years or so if experience. My specific reason for being bummed is that, unlike in the past, I had a strong feeling some new releases would sell better than they did. I should also clarify my learned definition of success for my company. That would be losing 80% of my money. That’s the happy region. The bummed region is somewhere around 98% loss, which I haven’t experienced that much until the past couple years.

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For all your Dark Realm, 6mm scifi and 6mm fantasy needs: http://www.microworldgames.com/

I do follow your company, as I am very interested in what you're doing and where your efforts lead. With all due respect to Mordoten, I don't believe proxying stuff is the way to go. There are enough proxy companies out there. Frankly, I personally hate the look of their universe and proxies turn me off. I spend no money on game pieces that are proxies. Although I admit, I may be an exception to the rule.

The problem is that minis are not as popular with recent generations as they use to be due to the level of video games that can be found these days on game consoles. Instead of working on minis 90% of the time so you can play the other 10% of your free time, video gamers pop in a game cartridge and play immediately. Instant gratification.

I have a lot more to say here, but in the interest of keeping it short, I will keep it brief.

We as a community respect what you're doing and I certainly wish things were better for you. Hang in there.

Anthony

Um... Dropzone Commander?

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Thanks,
Troy


Once Upon a Midnight Dreary....

Conversely, Deacons outstanding TAU proxies are what got me into buying 6mm scale figs again, and I have since dropped around $600 on his stuff.


I look in on microworld periodically, but so far nothing has tripped my trigger enough to order (though the OGR..., er, super tanks came close. When/if I finish what I want to do with my Tau we’ll see.

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Thanks,
Troy


Once Upon a Midnight Dreary....

Seen it played once on a convention by 2 guys. And my point was not that no 10mm sci-fi games exist, just that they are not very popular (in Sweden anyways) and you don't here much about them if your not a player of the system...

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https://epic40ksweden.wordpress.com/

"You have a right to be offended" - Steve Hughes
"Your feelings are hurting my thoughts" - Aron Flam

I do buy quite a lot of figures from microworld games and so in the first instance I would like to say thank you for all of your wonderful sculpts.

I suppose I would say that companies like games workshop have a massive footprint in terms of introducing people into fantasy wargaming and so I would imagine that this along with the lord of the rings book and films would mean that proxy type figures would sell best of classic and othrr games workshop races.

Perhaps also historical cross over periods eg 13th or 14th century knights etc with additional fantasy elements. Maybe also sending of samples to br reviewed by wargames magazines might boost sales. Miniature wargames magazine in the uk has a regular column that reviews fantasy and sci-fi.

I am also conscious that obviously none of the rest of us actually have to run your company and so our views are not necessarily valid compared to your actual experience. Whatever happens I wish you luck with everything you do.

I'd echo what several have said. we don't run your company, so all we can offer is our thanks for your hard work.

All I can suggest is keep going, most businesses fail in the first five years, as someone who has spent several 100 Euros/Pounds on your stuff, I am delighted with every single model (at the same time wanting more, Human Wizard type perhaps?).

I am so looking forward to your ratkin, and high elves.

'Be bold, and mighty forces shall come to your aid'

Well, maybe not Mighty Forces, but at least the contents of my Wallet when you release them!

All of my 6mm purchases are for proxies for "that system", too. Fortunately, any reasonably comprehensible sci-fi line of models can find a use for at least one existing army - I've got "Guards", "Orks", "Dark Eldar" and "Tau" armies purchased as batch orders from various proxy makers.

I like the microworld sci-fi (and fantasy demons, which have sci-fi applications) stuff myself, but purchase less from you due to the hassle and expense of customs. Sometimes I get something that I can't find anywhere else (such as Demons, the Lizard Riders and Kreen walker tanks), and bite the tax bullet, but I'd probably buy more if I could pay in Euros and get shipping from within the EU...

have you thought about attending conventions on the east coast to display and sell your miniatures. Their are three big ones in the PA area, Cold Wars, Fall In and Historicon. You might be able to snag a spot in the vendor hall. Also a bunch more up the coasts in New England. As for crowdfunding it might be the way to go on some releases.

Kal

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https://oxfordwargaming.blogspot.com/