2015? When did it become 2015?

So apparently it's now over halfway through 2015 and I haven't blogged in 9 months! What the hell, me. Given that exciting things have happened and will be happening I suppose a roundup is in order...

My hobby

Bit of a poor showing on the purchasing front so far this year! While I've picked up the odd bit of Infinity here and there (mmmm Geckos...) a lack of gaming time has meant not many new toys have found their way into my drawer of shame.

The introduction of N3 for Infinity and the need to re-read a rulebook that is a) different enough to what I knew to need reading, yet b) similar enough to be really boring to read, has really hampered the amount of gaming I've managed this year (a total of 3 games and a tournament!). I did move on from the good old Ariadna to re-start my Military Order but so far they've got a grey primer coat and little else. I picked up a couple of Crusader Brethren, the Hospitaller HMG, the Knights of Santiago and the new Joan of Arc model that came with Angel Giraldez's painting book just to complete the set.

The only model painted so far :D

  Apart from the Infinity models, I did pick up an awesome figure at Salute (from a stand manned by Jeremie Bonamant no less!). Jack from Da Clash, a game by Ammon Miniatures, a very characterful figure that I got for pure painting pleasure.

Wot we been making
Well the big release this year has been the C.A.S.Hstak (that's Comfortable And Spacious Housing. Stak) city block range. We figured it was about time our poor citizens of the future stopped living in cramped little pods and got some proper accommodation for themselves! With the release of this set an entire Warmill city is now very achievable, and we've already seen a few complete tables showing up (helped by the mega sale we ran to coincide with the release).

The Mega Mansion

A customer's collection, absolutely awesome!

We also released the RUM Outpost, a replacement for the old but apparently not mourned Security Compound, our second ever terrain kit! This range consists of 2 types of Lander building and a modular fence kit that incorporates parts that were originally intended as an upgrade for the old kit, and can be seen in some pictures a few posts below this one.

Or here, with a tiny man in the middle!

What's next then?

Good question. With the introduction of a city block set we've hit stage 3 of our colony range, from rough and ready PUPs, up to mid-range MULEs and RIBD bars, to actual nice housing! Now it's time for the gentrification of those horrible old colonies, so expect posh shops and posher homes. We're experimenting with using coloured card cladding for newer kits, to allow us to produce a) more interesting shapes and b) pre-coloured kits. The focus will be glamour kits (RIBD_4 bar-style) and smaller scatter pieces. 

We're also hoping to see the end of the 3D printer tale of woe shortly, which will allow us to get back on with producing our robots, and start modelling up some new items. Ed in particular has been hard at work modelling all sorts of interesting resin gubbins that will be great for terrain modellers.

I've been re-visiting my Zbrush education to make sure that when we do get our new printer we can churn out some nice figures. No designs fixed yet but areas we'd like to visit include sci-fi civvies to fill the streets of Warmill city.

As a personal project I've been experimenting with game design, whether it ever becomes a product who knows, but I've been enjoying the theory-crafting! The project's been about designing games that involve no luck at all, just tactics. No dice, no cards, just the player's control of their units.

Right now I'm working on a set of scatter terrain street furniture which will be our next release, still at the prototyping stage but they should be ready before too long. Make sure to like our facebook page for more frequent updates.

Thanks for everybody's support during the past year, and to all those customers who kept us so busy after the mega sale!

Harry, Ed and Lisa