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Miniature Gaming News
Saturday, 31 May 2003
Editorial: Time Is Money!
One of the big problems we have in this hobby/industry is the loose and unreliable way many publishers and manufacturers play with "release dates". It is not only common but expected that when a manufacturer or publisher tells you an item will be released in 'June XXXX' for most gamers to automatically build several months into that estimate.

The question then becomes, why is this necessary? An industry old adage in every industry is that "time is money" and this is probably more true in the hobby industry where gamers often save scarce funds in anticipation of a much anticipated release. However, after already holding your money for four to six months to be put off another three to six months is almost too much for most gamers to bear. So inevitably that small pub that would have gotten that $50.00 purchase from you on its new army loses out to the Mega Shop that actually released its 9th Edition in September 2003 as promised.

I don't mean to single out any individual manufacturers but some illustrations are called: First of all, I have anxiously been awaiting two products from West Wind Productions. The first is its Antagonist line of miniatures for its Vampire Wars game which was announced for release in "Easter 2003", well not only has Our Lord Risen, but we just celebrated his Ascension this past week. The next is their new Dwarf Wars miniature game by Frank Chadwick scheduled for release in June 2003 (I know it's not June yet). Who wants to bet that will be out on time? Finally as a real topper, check out the article on Crocodile Games and the release schedule included with it from their official website. War Gods of Olympus was scheduled for release in December 2002 (almost six months ago) and I am hearing now that it won't be "previewed" until GENCON 2003 in late July!

Meanwhile one new company deserves high marks for actually "exceeding" its release schedule. When I met the folks at Black Orc Games last year at GENCON and asked them about how often new armies would be released for Hundred Kingdoms I was honestly told about "two" per year or one new army every six months. Well, in less than a year Black Orc Games has released over four new armies for Hundred Kingdoms and a new boxed skirmish battle game called Warband. This is on top of the special characters they have continued to release for existing armies and updates and revisions to the official rules. No wonder out of all the new games I previewed at GENCON last year Hundred Kingdoms has gotten more of my money than the rest combined.

Time is money and for all those manufacturers and publishers who non-chalantly ignore release dates as they fly by without so much as a "We're sorry" until you respect our "time" then don't expect to see much of our "money"!

Deano C. Ware
Miniature Gaming News

Posted by deanoware at 5:56 PM EDT
Updated: Saturday, 31 May 2003 6:04 PM EDT
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Check Out Our Archives!
If you are wondering what all the dates to the top right are, well they are links to our archived pages. They are definitely worth checking out especially if you are new to the page. Even if you are not don't be lazy and do so now as some of our links to pages like GW are updated with images of new releases whenever GW updates its page! That way we save you an extra trip of having to go over there! Besides you never know what you may have missed!

Posted by deanoware at 5:10 PM EDT
Updated: Saturday, 31 May 2003 5:39 PM EDT
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The Little Grenadier Magazine!
I've added a new link to Gary Chalk's The Little Grenadier Shop and Magazine. . This looks like a great, fun site and already has some interesting items up like flags for "Darkest Africa" and a new WWII card driven game!

Posted by deanoware at 4:56 PM EDT
Updated: Saturday, 31 May 2003 5:01 PM EDT
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New Kingdom Maps for Hundred Kingdoms
Black Orc Games has updated all of the maps for their Hundred Kingdoms game. They have also redone all of the artwork on their blisters to match that displayed on the Warband Boxed Game. As for miniatures, they appear ready to release some supplements for the Panthera Tribe which you can check out concept art for at their Scheduled Release Page.

Posted by deanoware at 4:44 PM EDT
Updated: Saturday, 31 May 2003 4:47 PM EDT
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War Gods of Olympus to Debut at GENCON 2003!
I don't have much on this yet but it is being rumored that Crocodile Games' long awaited War Gods of Olympus is to debut at GENCON 2003! .

As a result I thought I would reprint the initial press release by Crocodile Games announcing this game for release in December 2002!

* * * * * * *
"War Gods of Olympus"

Crocodile Games is pleased to announce "War Gods of Olympus", the second installment in the "War Gods" series of miniature games, due for release in December, 2002.

"War Gods of Olympus" is based on the rich mythology of ancient Greece. The game will detail the war between the Demigods and the Titans, and the men and monsters that swear allegiance to them. Olympus is being designed by the creative team of Chris FitzPatrick & J. Allen Thomas. Once again, the pages of the book will be illuminated by the amazing artwork of Des Hanley & Paul Jeacock. And as always, the game will feature more stunning miniatures by the Crocodile Games sculpting team, including Todd Harris, Ben Siens, and Fitz -- of course!

War Gods of Olympus will be the second in a series of 5 games, each based on separate mythologies, but compatible on the table-top. Each game uses the Crocodile Games' innovative Command Counter System, but with new armies, spells, powers, and possibilities! Thus, players will be able to play all of the forces of the Antediluvian Age in battle... a Harbinger of Anubis against a Demigod of Ares, and so on!

The games will be released in the following order:

War Gods of Olympus -- December, 2002
War Gods of Valhalla -- 2003
War Gods of Atlantis -- 2004
War Gods of Hyperborea -- 2005


Posted by deanoware at 4:32 PM EDT
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D&D Pre-Painted Game to Replace Chainmail!
I ran this story before when I was editing the Wargames Weekly miniature page. But for those of you who haven't heard. WotC is planning to release a new D&D game to replace Chainmail with pre-painted, randomly packaged miniatures like those featured in Mage Knight. There is a good preview page of these at Fantization. Check It Out Here!

Posted by deanoware at 4:25 PM EDT
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Friday, 16 May 2003
Foundry Rules now Available at Website in PDF!
Wargames Foundry is announcing that their famous miniature wargame rules are now available at the foundry website in Adobe pdf format:
...........................
Our Foundry Rules, now as Adobe Acrobat PDFs. Including Street Violence, SYW, and Old West, ready for you to download, free! You can then print out the rules easily for tabletop use. Some of the rules are quite long so will take a while to download. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to read the rules. If you do not have it, you can download it by clicking here.

Posted by deanoware at 10:24 AM EDT
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A Harbinger of Things to Come!
Griffin Miniatures has announced the release of its upcoming miniature gaming magazine, Harbinger. According to the people at Griffin: "HARBINGER is the ONLY dedicated independent miniatures magazine. Packed with news, reviews, guides, goodies, photos, competitions, adverts, scenarios, features and much, much more.......HARBINGER - here to change the face of miniature gaming forever! HARBINGER exclusively focuses on miniatures and strategy games, there will be no roleplaying games, no live roleplay and no card games. HARBINGER is 100% miniatures. We've got painting guides and master classes from some of the world's top talent, reader's showcases, scenarios, free rules, modelling tips and a whole host of other goodies.

At last miniature gamers are getting what they deserve: a magazine devoted entirely to their favourite hobby!




There is no word yet on whether this will be a free downloadable magazine, a printed published magazine or simply a web mag. We also have no word on cost, if any yet. You can count down to the release of this exciting new magazine at Harbinger.

Posted by deanoware at 10:11 AM EDT
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Pinnacle Looking for Authors!
Pinnacle Entertainment, the makers of Savage World are looking for would be authors for their upcoming 'Savage Tales' compilation of rules and adventures. The official news release follows:

..............................
Announcing: Savage Tales!

Dozens of you have been asking how you can make and sell your own Savage Worlds adventures and settings. The bad news--we have NO intention of doing an Open Gaming License.

The good news--we've finalized the details of our own Savage Tales, a book that will come out three times a year featuring articles, settings, and adventures by established authors AND guys and gals just like you. This isn't "fan" work. If your work is accepted, you'll be contracted and treated just like any one of our regular freelancers. The work will be edited by a professional, you'll do rewrites as required, and when all is said and done, you'll be paid and published as a professional author! Those concepts that would make great stand-alones might even get their own book depending on the schedule and our needs at the time.

Pinnacle Entertainment Group

They are also looking for contributors to their official Savage Worlds Magazine, "Games Unplugged"! Check out the Pinnacle Site for more info!

Posted by deanoware at 9:58 AM EDT
Updated: Friday, 16 May 2003 10:17 AM EDT
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Tuesday, 29 April 2003
Gallery Pages!
I've created a new links section for gallery pages. Hopefully these will be a good source of inspiration for those looking for painting schemes or color combinations for various miniatures! If you know of any good galleries feel free to drop me a line.

Posted by deanoware at 2:09 PM EDT
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