The Barons' War 2 - 28mm Medieval Miniatures

A Sneak Peek of a Page from the Alpha Rulebook
almost 4 years ago – Fri, Jul 31, 2020 at 02:05:57 AM

Nothing is set in stone, or print, until we send the book off to be printed, however, I thought you might like a sneak peek of a potential page from the alpha rulebook. 

Everything on this example page is subject to change, at least for a couple more weeks, I just thought you would like to see what Steve Beckett and I have been up to.

~Andy

Lets get this casting party started! (and other things)
almost 4 years ago – Thu, Jul 23, 2020 at 03:17:49 PM

Morning all, just a quick update to let you know things are happening. 

Production Well Underway

All of the production moulds are now ready to go, including duplicate mould for the most popular packs.

Footsore Miniatures & Games have been spinning these Barons' War moulds every day for the last few weeks building stock ready to start packing next week. Yesterday we worked out from the packs so far selected in the finished pledges Footsore will need 1024KG of metal, which is over a metric ton ( a metric ton is 2,205 lb), to manufacture everything that has been chosen.

As well as ordering a 'ton' of metal (see what I did there? hehe) yesterday I also ordered the backing cards so we can start packing.  We have worked out in total 20,000 cards are needed to complete all the pledges.

The Most Popular Pack

The most popular pack so far added is Mounted Sergeants with Hand Weapons 2.  In fact, all the mounted Sergeants have proven to be very popular with Mounted Sergeants with Hand Weapons 1 being the second most popular pack!

The Alpha Rules

In regards to the rules, even with the lockdown hampering playtesting, I have now signed off the Alpha rules as finished.  With only the 'Building your Retinue' section to finish off and a bit about the background of the First Baron's War to complete the manuscript will be done and on its way to being firstly proofread by a grown-up and then a proper edit by a professional.  

Once laid out and signed off, the plan is to send out, via email, a PDF of the rulebook to EVERYONE who has backed this project before it goes off to be printed, I will keep you updated on this.

That is all for now, make sure you are all keeping safe!

~Andy & Paul (Hobday & Hicks)

An Update about Resin Miniatures, Decals & Banners, The Rules and the next stage for King John & Prince Louis Backers
almost 4 years ago – Wed, Jul 01, 2020 at 04:37:31 AM

Hello everyone, I hope you are all well and safe despite how difficult it has been over the last few months. I thought you would appreciate an update on how things have been progressing and what our future plans are for delivering your pledges.

Pledge Update

To start you may like to know that, so far, we have had 573 surveys completed leaving just 93 to go. This is fantastic and so helpful for Footsore Miniatures as they prepare the moulds and make stock as it provides them with real numbers to work from.  Thank you for being so prompt!

The good news for all you Rebels is that a huge chunk of the resin miniatures have been created and will soon be packed and made ready for adding to pledges when the time comes to ship them out to you.

Freebies will be added to Pledges

All FREE bonus miniatures, The Early Backer Sergeant with Two-Handed Axe, the Kneeling Knight, Aymeric de St. Maur the Master of the Knights of the Temple in England and the Maid Marian; plus a copy of the Alpha rulebook and full-colour Action tokens will be added by us to any and all qualifying accounts once pledges are completed and before being locked.  

It has been done this way for the single reason that if you have increased your pledge with Add-ons in BackerKit it allows us to add any extra freebies.

King John and Prince Louis Pledge Level

For the six King John & Prince Louis backers, you will be receiving an email from me, Andy Hobday, today to kick off our discussions about your unique sculpt by Paul Hicks.  The email you receive will have details about how we go about planning and creating your brief.  The more information you can provide us with the better the end results will be, so start getting prepared.

French Decals and Banner Sets

We have added French decals and banners to BackerKit, there is a set for Prince Louis, which is shown below,  plus another six sets for some of his supporters. 

The Alpha Rules

With lockdown initiated and being in isolation for the last few months playtesting had to be put on hold until we could meet up again. With the situation being relaxed recently here in the UK, Mark Farr of Footsore Miniatures and me (Andy Hobday) have formed our own social bubble enabling us for the last three weeks to arrange games, complete with face masks, alcohol gel and social distancing.

These sessions have gone well with individual games moving quickly away from friendly discussions to quite competitive but fun skirmishes enabling the core mechanics to be finalised. The gameplay is based around individual actions like Mortal Gods and Test of Honour though similarities do end here as d10s are used for dice rolls and players have a free choice of which of their groups to activate each turn - or their opponents turn if reacting.

Groups of warriors vary in size, we are finding 5 to 7 models being the average for a 750 point playtesting game although we are fielding groups as large as ten for infantry and as small as three for cavalry.  These groups can in fact be whatever size you choose as long as you pay the correct points for each warrior you recruit when you are mustering your retinue.

Over the last week, I've spent time compiling the first draft of the rules which has gone well, with just a couple of sections left to finalise before it goes off to be edited; I have an editor on standby waiting patiently. It does appear to be on track and as soon as there is something more concrete to show we will, I'm really looking forward to sharing it with you all. 

We will be sending out digital copies via email to all backers once the rules have been laid out which at the moment is looking to be before your pledges start shipping.

Locking Pledges

Our plan is still to lock all completed pledges and start charging any card payments on Friday 31st July 2020.  Our aim is still to have all completed pledges shipped before the end of November 2020.

Stay safe!

Andy & Paul (Hobday & Hicks)

Changing my Retinue pledge into 'One of Everything.
almost 4 years ago – Sat, May 30, 2020 at 12:42:29 AM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

BackerKit surveys are coming! Get ready for your Pledge Manager email.
almost 4 years ago – Fri, May 29, 2020 at 01:02:45 AM

The good news is we are now ready to go as Kickstarter has completed their bit and transferred all pledge information into BackerKit which is our pledge manager of choice.  Kickstarter has only had an issue with 5 backers unable to complete their pledge and as we don't want anyone to miss out Andy Hobday will be contacting each person individually to see if we can get something sorted out.

Over the next couple of days, everyone else will be receiving an email from us with a special link to their BackerKit survey. It’s important to respond to your survey as quickly as you can since we need this information to fulfil your rewards.

You don’t need to create a BackerKit account to fill out your survey. When you receive the email, click the survey link to respond.  By doing so you will be taken to the starter screen for your personal pledge survey.

Select 'Get Started!' to, funnily enough, get started. We have asked you a series of questions, to begin with (we hope you don't mind). These questions are to help us decide what we should do next for this range, in a nutshell asking you what you would like to see.  If you don't want to answer any of our questions just 'opt-out' each time, it is more than OK to do this.

Once you have completed the questions, you will be able to select packs up to your pledge amount if you are a 'Baron' or over pledged at any of the pledge levels, plus purchase any add-on items for an additional cost.

When you have finished choosing, click 'NEXT' and you will be taken to the next screen and asked for your shipping information.

This shipping information will generate your shipping cost which you will be asked to pay along with any other add-ons on the next 'confirmation' screen either via credit/debit card or PayPal.

At the end of July 2020, every Friday we will be locking completed backer pledges, which means any that have completed all stages of the survey, charging any card payments at this point.  We are doing this weekly so we can ship completed pledges as quickly as we possibly can with the aim of having all pledges shipped before the end of November 2020.

Barons Pledge Level

If you backed at the Barons pledge level you will have your pledge amount as credit in your account which you now spend on Add-ons.  Choose the packs you want and they will be added to your account.  If you want one of every pack select the 'One of Everything Barons War 2' product and we will have you covered. 

Retinue Pledge Level

If you backed at the Retinue pledge level you will already have the first 10 white metal packs added in your pledge manager automatically.  You will be able to add further packs in the add-on section.  If you want one of everything, just click on the 'All the Stretch Goals, Barons' War 2' in the Add-ons sections and we will have you covered. 

Rebel Pledge Level

If you backed at the Rebel pledge level you will already have the first 10 resin packs added in your pledge manager automatically.  You will be able to add further packs in either resin or white metal (or both) in the add-on section. If you want to end up with one of everything in resin, just click on the 'All the Stretch Goals, Barons' War 2 (RESIN)' in the Add-ons sections and we will have you covered. 

King John and Prince Louis Pledge Level

If you backed at either King John or Prince Louis pledge level you will have one of each pack in white metal added in your pledge manager automatically.  Andy Hobday will also be in touch very soon via email to discuss plans for your unique sculpt by Paul Hicks.  You will be able to add further packs in white metal in the add-on section.

Freebies

All FREE bonus miniatures, The Early Backer Sergeant with Two-Handed Axe, the Kneeling Knight, Aymeric de St. Maur the Master of the Knights of the Temple in England and the Maid Marian; plus a copy of the Alpha rulebook and full-colour Action tokens will be added by us to any and all qualifying accounts once pledges are completed and before being locked.  How you qualify:

The Early Backer Sergeant: backed the project in the first 24 hours and purchase at least one pack of miniatures.

The Kneeling Knight: back the project for at least £40

Aymeric de St. Maur: back the project for at least £80

The Maid Marian: back the project for at least £145

Printed Alpha rulebook and full-colour Action tokens: back the project for at least one pack of miniatures

Digital Alpha rulebook: All backers, this will be sent via email when ready.

We have included extra shields, decals and banners, and extra weapon options in the add-ons section if you want them.  Also included are all the packs from our first Barons' War Kickstarter.

If you need to review your information or pledge status, once you have received your initial email, you can return to your survey by clicking the link in your survey email or requesting your survey link under "Lost your survey?" on our BackerKit project page at https://the-barons-war-2.backerkit.com.

If you used your Facebook credentials to log in to your Kickstarter account, the BackerKit survey is sent to the email address you use for your Facebook account. If you have another email address that you prefer to use, please contact support at https://the-barons-war-2.backerkit.com/faq.

Please remember by answering your survey in a timely fashion helps us get your rewards out to you faster. BackerKit helps us save lots of time by streamlining the survey process, automating data organisation, and providing us with pledge management software to make it easy to process your pledge reward shipments.

I hope the above steps make sense, if not please do ask questions. Once again, thanks for all your support. With the help of Footsore Miniatures & Games, we can’t wait to send your Barons’ War miniatures to you.

~Andy & Paul (Hobday & Hicks)