Crowdfunding Delay Rant

   Am I the only person who is really just fed up with the delays of virtually every Kickstarter / crowdfunding program out there? I have backed or am currently backing seven different games-related Kickstarters. Here's the performance record of those that have funded:

• Blackwater Gulch:  5 months late. 6x over goal. Funded April 15, 2012, Est. delivery June 2102, Actual receipt November 2012.
• Ogre: Designer's Edition: 11 months late. 46x over goal. Funded 5/11/12, Est. Delivery November 2012, Noe promised on 10/19/13.
• Empire of the Dead: Requiem: 2 months late. 18x over goal. Funded 3/26/13, Est. delivery June 2013, Now estimated "end of August and throughout September" 2013.
• Steampunk Cthulhu Playing Cards: 2 months late. 1.5x over goal. Funded 3/19/2013, Est. delivery June 2013, now estimated "within a few days", August 2013.
• 28mm Steampunk Inspired Heavy Weapons & Carriage: 3 months late. 12x over goal. Funded 5/5/13, est. delivery June 2013, partial fulfillment August 2013, remainder (including mine) expected in September.

   5 out of 5 late, so far. One I only donated a dollar, because my funds were otherwise occupied (All Quiet on the Martian Front). The last, the new Space: 1889 rules, is still going on, although it has also surpassed its funding goal bya wide margin. I hope this does not mean it too will be delayed by 2 to 5 months.

   Crowdfunding can be a really great way to get new designs and ideas and toys produced that might not otherwise ever see the light of day, and that is a great thing. But something is going terribly wrong when so many projects are delayed significantly. And I think I know where the problem is: stretch goals.

   Yep, the stretch goals. While they are undoubtedly very cool, they are also additional work for the creators. This work takes additional time, obviously. And when the creators just go nuts with the extras because of an overwhelming response to the project (like, say, Ogre, or EotD:R), then you get a significant delay in shipping out product. So, that's the problem. What's the solution?

   I see two options. Option 1 is just not to do stretch goals. While this may mean fewer backers (we all like the extra goodies, I am no exception to that), it should mean fewer excuses - er, reasons - for delays. Option 2 is what I would prefer to see happen: finish and ship the original project as soon as possible, then send the extras along in a reasonable time frame. And define that time frame with each stretch goal. For example: "Stretch Goal $300K: Solid Gold Widgets to replace the Original Cardstock Widgets - two months after delivery." So we can get started, and then get the extras later; after all, being extras, they aren't integral to the product, right?

Okay, /rant.

Armored Bear?

   I have to admit a fascination with bears. I just think they are awesome creatures. They are part of the reason I keep wanting to add a Kislevite faction to my Warhammer forces, or a Russian faction to VSF or Weird War forces. Anyway, I found a new one today while strolling the electronic goody aisles of Privateer Press.

   Now, forgetting the handler, if you like, that is one massive, mean, armored bear. The handler is Brun Cragback, and the bear is named Lug. They are Minions for the Hordes game - I am building a slow Circle Orboros force. I'll post pictures later of the two pieces I have so far.

   If you are interested, you can find more information about them on Privateer's website, here. As usual, the image is theirs, I mean no challenge to their copyright, I have no idea who painted it, I'll remove the photo if asked, but I consider this positive advertising  on a small and yet totally free scale.

PanzerKaput's Painted Review: The continuing Work in Progress

PanzerKaput's Painted Review: The continuing Work in Progress: Here is the latest stage of the cover for the Winter of Discontent and I have to say it is proving to be one of my favourite pieces to date....

  I am a big fan of PK's artwork. It is part of what made me interested in A Very British Civil War in the first place. He does a lot of the artwork (all of it?) for Solway Crafts and Miniatures, the publishers of the VBCW books.

OGRE Terrain Boards over on Ogre Miniatures

First, here's the link: First Ogre Miniatures Game on the New Terrain Boards.

Second, here's one picture just to whet your appetite:

Now go and check it out. Good stuff going on there, and it looks like he's just getting ramped up for more Ogre-y goodness.

Is Ogre-y a word? I suppose it should be Ogrish. Whatever.

And look, two posts in the same day!

Bondage Girls of GW (Short Rant)

  While following a thread on TMP regarding a sort of steampunk-feel walker, with the driver out in the open, a la Ripley in Aliens, the miniature below was offered as a starting point.

   Okay, I don't like the figure much. It's a Sister of Battle Penitent Engine, for the record. I don't play 40K so I was unfamiliar with it. Worse, however, are some of the other Sisters of Battle: the Sisters Repentia.

   The backstory is essentially that they have been naughty and have to be punished. I mean, really? Is someone at Citadel having dominatrix fantasies? I am by no means opposed to the display of the female body, but this is just... twisted, if you ask me. Which none of you did, but its my blog, so you get my opinion. The old Penal Battalions were cool, with the human bombs and whatnot, trying to clear the stain on their honor through suicide attacks. That sort of thing has been around for a long time in the real world. But dressing up in bondage gear to do it? Ummmm... no.

   I may get a nasty letter from Games Workshop's legal department over this post. And that's fine. I used their images without permission and I said bad things about them, they will probably demand that I cease and desist. When I receive said letter, via certified mail and on legitimate letterhead so that I know for sure it came from them, I'll do as they ask.

[/rant]