Post-Kickstarter Update XXV: Problems, Problems...

Well they say no plan survives contact with the enemy and that certainly seems the case here at Hysterical Towers were we have had a month blighted by a series of unfortunate events.

As we said last update, the Gnomes have been causing a few problems so we decided to switch production of the arms and weapons to white metal. Unfortunately that was not as simple a solution as we first thought so we have brought in expertise to solve the problem in the form of Chris Nicholls of Macrocosm Miniatures.

He has solved that problem (go Chris!) and now we can get on with getting the Command and Support sets finished and out to you.

Le Problem du Gnome has had a knock on effect on the Troglodytes as the work Rob needed to do to get the masters ready for moulding has been delayed in him trying to get the pesky Gnomes to cast. However with Chris on board, Rob can now devote some TLC on the Troglodyte infantry.

Trog buildings with some Gnome ones...

In addition to this one of the Trog buildings one was destroyed in the mouldmaking process, so Tony is remaking the master and Rob will need to mould that up using a less aggressive technique. Those that survived have been cast up for orders and look really nice.

If your Wave Two has been delayed because of this all this we can only apologise.

And if that was not enough…

Whilst Ian is working away on the Mass Battle game, even starting to lay out pages of the rulebook, Matthew has been cursed with a string of bad luck that almost beggars belief, including his chimney breast collapsing at his home and being driven off the road by a lorry and ending up in a ditch. Fortunately Matthew was unscathed, unfortunately his car was not. This obviously has had a knock on effect on the Skirmish rules, quite what that impact will be we’re not quite sure at this stage.

We're Futbowel Crazy, We're Futbowel Mad!

As the first year of the Great Dwarven War draws to a close in the trenches of the Môn-Gerahnt Line, Orc and Dwarf soldiers settle down to celebrate Hognachtswatch. As both sides scoff their stollen or figgy pudding, some overly excited Orcs accidentally boot a futbowel across No Man's Land into the Dwarven trenches. Waiting for the expected response of machine-gun fire the Orcs are surprised when a voice calls out...

“Oi Orcy, doz youz fancy a game?”

Panzerfäuste Futbowel is a stand alone beer and pretzels game allowing you to replay the impromptu games of futbowel played in No Mans Land between the Orcs and Dwarves on Hognachtswatch. See how many goals you can score before High Command stops the fraternising by launching an artillery barrage and watch out for unexploded bombs when playing...

Panzerfäuste Futbowel will be released on 1st December 2016 containing a rulebook, 11 Orc futbowelers, 11 Dwarf futbowelers, a Gnome referee, 4 goal posts and a futbowel. The games normal RRP will be £50, but if you pre-order before 1st December you can grab a copy for £40.

As well as being used for playing games of futbowel, the figures can be used as POW's or unarmed troops in Panzerfäuste games and the goal posts as graves or objective markers. Additional teams can be purchased for £25, but if pre-ordered before 1st December will cost you just £20. 

You can pre-order Panzerfäuste Futbowel right now here.

Post-Kickstarter Update XXIV: Deathless Zombi, Command and Support

From the frozen north come the Deathless marching onto your tabletops...

Deathless Zombi (photo by Ant)

Well Panzerfäusters we have some good news and some not so good news and some teasing news...

The Good News:

We have shipped out LOTS of wave two pledges, with a pile more to go early next week once Rob and Vince return from the show in Derby this weekend. The Deathless Zombi, Command, Support and Brute are now all moulded and being cast up at a rate of knots. If you have opted for Wave Two and picked Deathless, here are some pics Vince took yesterday in the workshop of what you're going to be getting...

Deathless Command set

Deathless Pulemet

Deathless Okhotniki

Deathless Minomet

 The Not So Good News:

The Troglodytes need some more work on them to allow us to mould them. Rob will be working on fixing the 3D prints next week then getting them moulded and cast asap. This isn't a complicated job, just one that eats time.

We have been having some issues with the Gnomes, especially the separate arms, and have decided that they would work better with the arms cast in white metal. This is going to delay the Gnome Command and Support packs a little whilst we get the bits moulded, but we think it is the right decision to make. The Voltigeurs will also see their arms replaced with metal ones.

The Teasing News:

Well no one worked out the forthcoming product tease in the last update, so here is another...

We are hoping to release this product in November to enable Ol'Piggy to bring you one for Hognachtswatch! :-)

In Other News:

It is great to see what gamers around the world are doing with their Panzerfäuste miniatures and we hope you have all joined the Panzerfäuste Facebook Group where you will have seen photos of Robyn's latest models posted from Australia. Her Zinn Mann here has a magnet in its neck to allow the optional head to be swapped with the regular one, and another in his arm that allows Hansi the cat to sit on it without falling off...

More news soon Panzerfäuste fans...

Post-Kickstarter Update XXIII: Wave Two Update

Ok, lots of exciting news today as the Phoney War is over and September sees the launch of Wave Two!

The first boxes of Wave Two will be going out this week coming and the operation continue throughout the month. We anticipate (all things remaining equal) that the vast majority of Wave Two pledgers will receive their goodies by the end of the month.

Vince "packing" wave two goodies

We will be clearing pledges as quickly as we mould and cast the relevant codes, so if your pledge only contains items in the top of the list below, you will be receiving yours before someone who has pledged for items at the bottom of the list (sorry but something was always going to be produced before something else and it makes no sense to have them sat in Hysterical Towers for the whole month if we can ship them out now). The first pledges are boxed and will be posted next week, after that it is all hands to the pump to get the rest of Wave Two out asap.

This is the current Wave Two manufacturing situation…

Printed, moulded and being cast:

Deathless Nezhit Troll Brute

Dwarf Support 

Dwarf Zinn Mann Brute 

Entwickler 

Dwarf Panzerbär I/II 

Dwarf Kasier’s cat Hansi

Orc Support 

Orc Fomori Brute 

Orc Matilda Wyrm

Printed and cleaned awaiting moulding and casting:

Deathless Zombi 

Deathless Command

Local Orc Volunteers

Printed awaiting cleaning and moulding and casting:

Gnome Command 

Gnome Support 

Gnome Ghul Brute

Deathless Support

Troglodyte Infantry 

Troglodyte Support

The Troglodyte Command have unfortunately been pushed back into wave three as we are still waiting on some figures being sculpted.

The Troglodyte terrain, which was not part of the KS but which we planned to ship alongside Wave Two, will now be shipped in October as we are still waiting on mould boxes for them. So if your pledge includes them, it will be slightly delayed until October (sorry).

The bags have arrived and t-shirts arriving next week at Hysterical Towers to be included in pledges. I’m still umming and ahhing about including place names on the world map as it such a lovely piece of art…

A snippet of the lovely map of The Land...

On the miniatures front we decided that the Orc Wyrm that we had been showing off was not imposing enough, so rescaled it and made it 20% bigger. Rob was not happy with the initial casts of the Zombi and Ghul so reprinted, remoulded and recast them to ensure they are the sort of high quality you expect from Hysterical Games.

In Other News…

There is a great four page Panzerfäuste article in issue 347 (September) of Wargames Illustrated about Lee and Ant’s great Commando raid game they’ve been taking around the shows, so make sure you get hold of a copy if you haven’t already.

Rob and Vince will be at the Hereward wargames show in Peterborough tomorrow and next week we will be at Colours in Newbury. So if you are at either show please come along and say hello.

Finally, just to ramp up your excitement levels even further, here is a little teaser of something we are planning to bring you in November…

Post-Kickstarter Update XXII: Dwarf Support Weapons, Deathless Zombi & T-shirts...

On the Kickstarter front Rob and Vince have been beavering away on the 26 sets coming in Wave Two, which is all going to schedule, and to whet the appetite here is a picture of the Dwarf Support Weapons Set - cool or what?

And talking of cool, you will look so cool in your Panzerfäuste t-shirt that you pledged for in the Kickstarter. Rob will be getting these printed soon and as all wargamers are not all 2XL, can you email him asap with your preferred t-shirt size at hystericalgamesorders@gmail.com (even if you are proper sized 2XL wargamer).

AND if you are thinking, "oh no I won't look as cool as (insert name here) in their exclusive Panzerfäuste t-shirt" and that makes you sad, don't be sad, send Rob an email and he will send you back a Pay Pal invoice for £15 so it can be included in your pledge when it ships.

Wave Two will also include the first Deathless models and Steve was lucky to grab a set of the Zombi on one of his visits to Hysterical Towers and have painted them up - and jolly nice they are too in their blood splattered uniforms...

Wedding Bells, Honeymoon Discount and the New Hysterical Towers!

Today is a great day of excitement here at Hysterical Towers as young Rob is getting married to a lovely young lady who he somehow has convinced that making toy soldiers is a viable career opportunity that will enable him to keep her the in the lifestyle she would like to become accustomed...

To help him achieve this, and to celebrate his nuptials, we are giving you a whopping great 20% off everything in the Hysterical Store if you enter the code HONEYMOON20 in the checkout!

This discount will only apply for the remainder of August and orders posted when young Rob and his bride return from their honeymoon. So get over there now and share the love by grabbing yourself a bargain! (and if your better half is less than enamoured with you buying yet more toys, let them know you are only doing it to celebrate young lurve...)

And if that was not excitement enough we have new toys for you!

Skøg! Skøg! Skøg!

Yes, the Skøgtroll Gevärstrupp LMG Demi-Section, sculpted by the insanely talented Alex Huntley, are now available and yes, the 20% honeymoon discount applies even to them! (if you remember to enter the HONEYMOON20 in the checkout!)

As you can see one of the LMG crew has a watering can to cool down the LMG as it mows down the pesky Dwarf invaders...

In other news...

Despite young Rob being off on his honeymoon, the Hysterical Bandwagon will still be rolling and we WILL be at The Other Partizan in Newark on Sunday 21st August and we will be offering the 20% honeymoon discount there too if you say the code phrase "love is such a Hysterical thing" in a Barry White voice when ordering (ok, you don't really need to say "love is such a Hysterical thing" but I just want to see the look on Alan's face when someone does...).

The Skøgtroll Gevärstrupp LMG Demi-Section will be available for sale from us at The Other Partizan so if you can't wait until young Rob is back from his honeymoon, come along and grab one of the sets not quite as young Vince is casting up as I type this...

In the NEW HYSTERICAL TOWERS!!!

Yes, we have moved to a bigger and better premises... More details on this soon, but here is a picture of some soup pots or something at the new Towers!

Now please be upstanding, raise a glass and wish young Rob and his fair lady all the best and a long and happy life together!

...and remember to enter the HONEYMOON20 in the checkout!

Post-Kickstarter Update XXI: Kaiser Alberich and Gasteroportes...

Well as Rob is a busy little bee, having been at shows up and down the country (with a loyal little band of helpers - thank you loyal band) and preparing loads and loads of moulds for wave two, sho he has been allowed a relaxing cider (Tesco value brand) this evening as he sits in some cheap Swindon hotel half way through a weekend of bringing Hysterical goodness to the fine citizens of Wiltshire at Attack in Devizes.

This level of busyness is not really that interesting, well apart from Rob hitting his head on the StuG barrel several times at the Bovington show, but it is a vital part of the Panzerfäuste war effort. That said here at Hysterical HQ we do have some exciting news to bring you, so please make sure you are sitting down before reading on…

3D Sculpting:

Irek has finished sculpting Kaiser Alberich, who as you can see is going to be a really a special little model…

And if that was not exciting enough, Heriberto has completed these awesome sculpts for the Gasteroportes (which Gnome speakers assure me makes more sense than Chasseurs à Escargot).

Next up for the sculptors, the Dwarf Fallschirmjäger…

Ok, that’s it for this update.

Keep the Fäuste!

Panzerfäuste Unarmoured Released!

Panzerfäuste Unarmoured, our introductory skirmish starter set, is now available to buy on our website - at the reduced price of £40 for the remainder of July (normal RRP £50).

Panzerfäuste Unarmoured comes with a 32-page full colour rulebook, a section of Dwarf Grenadiers and a section of Orc Infantry, as well as 4 Panzerfäuste D6...

Post-Kickstarter Update XX: Kazak Cavalry & Steurmer's Stormers

We've had a busy few weeks of design work and a host of wargames shows in the UK and Germany but things still progress!

Manufacturing:

Some of you will have spotted Rob's very naughty sneak peek on Facebook of the Deathless Zombie Elves shambling into battle against an Orcish Sausage Shredder team!

This IS a sign that there are Wave 2 moulds in manufacturing. However, we have not moulded everything yet (we have moulded 6 Wave 2 items - we won't share what they are until we are 100% that we're happy with the quality, even these elves need a bit of work in our opinion!).

It's worth pointing out that we now think that a sensible estimate is that Wave 2 will ship in SEPTEMBER and that Wave 3 in January or February. We do apologise for this delay and hope that you can forgive us, given that it was a project that funded at 600% of it's target goal with many more sets to produce than originally planned, we think we've done remarkably well to stay at least close to our deadline.

Of course, the same rules apply as before. We will not sell anything from Wave 2 or Wave 3 until we have started shipping it.

This will not affect our future release plans.

We are planning a small Kickstarter campaign to go live in November. This is not a swift cash grab, we have been working on the concept art for this next Kickstarter since October last year. Sculpting is due to begin as soon as Wave 3 sculpting from our initial project is complete.

Speaking of which...

3D Sculpting:

Herb has completed the Deathless Zombi Kazak! These are HUGE models, the Undead Elves are 36mm tall, literally head and shoulders over an Orc. The demonic Nightmares which they are riding are really imposing (imagine them painted black with flaming eyes, mane, tail and hooves!). The heads are all interchangable on the riders, so you can pose them slightly differently and create at least a little variety.

Irek has also been continuing his work on the Dwarves and has completed Steurmer's Stormers - the Dwarf Straftruppen section, which, as you can see, look absolutely amazing...

Post-Kickstarter Update XIX: Troglodyte Kret Ułani and Panzerfäuste Unarmoured

We have very exciting update for you today! It's been a couple of very busy weeks with a whole load going on in the background so we apologise for the short period of silence and hope this update will make up for it!

3D Printing:

Rob has been very busy indeed. Not only has he been busily moulding things for Wave 2, he has also been running our new 3D printer 24/7 (literally!) to get all of our files printed out. It's a colossal job, but he has actually brought us up to date. Everything that we have sculpted is now printed, we just need to clean every print (they come out with a sort of 'scaffolding' that you have to cut off and hand clean, without snapping details off!) and then get them moulded. This is a long process, but one we are committed to doing.

This will likely mean some delay in Wave 2 (which will also knock Wave 3, we are quite sure of that!). It's early days yet, so Rob and Steve still need to meet up to discuss that and then let you guys know exactly what we will do. We are very sorry for the delay!

Mould-making/Production:

Yes, Rob has been busy with the printer, but he's also been making moulds. We currently have 2 of the Wave 2 units in production and expect to have another 2 or 3 in there by the end of May. Obviously, it takes time to actually build stock once the mould is made.

3D Sculpting:

Well this is the exciting part. We have a number of units being worked on right now, some of which we are still finalising, but this morning we finalised this unit and just couldn't wait to let you see them. So here they are, for your viewing pleasure, the Kret Ułani (Mole Lancers)!

These beautiful and characterful figures were designed by Heriberto, our latest team member who has been assisting with getting the last few Wave 3 units done. Irek is still badgering away on Dwarves and Victor has finalised the Local Orc Volunteers.

Shows:

Just a reminder that we will be at Partizan this Sunday at Newark.

The week after that, we are at RPC in Cologne, Germany; with our German Distribution partner, Laughing Jack! And then a week after that, it's UK Games Expo in Birmingham!

Rules:

At all of these shows, we will be premiering our brand new 2 player starter set, Panzerfäuste Unarmoured, which gets you a 32-page full colour rulebook, a section of Dwarf Grenadiers and a section of Orc Infantry, as well as 4 Panzerfäuste D6... We will have the rules available for sale on their own too, just because we know many of you have those figures and dice already. Prices are to be confirmed, but we hope to get it up on the website once the shows have all passed!

Community:

We also received a really lovely review via Youtube, we thought you might like to see that!

Jason Buffin of Bulldog Studios also sent in these really fantastic Dwarf Grenadiers. Well worth checking out! We think that the clean paint-style he has gone for really works on our figures.

Panzerbär!

Steve has painted up a test casting of the forthcoming Panzerbär model...

The  model comes with an alternative turret (Panzer II style) and bear head as well as some more accessories to hang off the Panzerbär.

Post-Kickstarter Update XVIII: Dwarf Penal Troops and Fomori Brute

Hail fellow Panzerfäustians...

Sculpting:

We've had quite a bit of progress on the sculpting front. We have two 'T-Poses' ready at this stage, we're not going to show them yet as they tend to lead to confusion. It's the step in 3D sculpting you take before posing the model, you lay it out like a mannequin almost, and then repose it.

However, Irek has finalised a number of his 3D renders for us, some of the Characters from the Dwarf Straftruppen set!

I think you'll all agree with us, they have a great deal of character and will really add something to any Dwarf army.

3D Printing and Casting (Wave 2)

We're still working away on this. Our 3D printer is due to arrive in the next couple of weeks, then we expect it will take a short while to learn how to use it properly. Once that has smoothed out, we will be able to really update you on this front. In the meantime, Rob has managed to mould up the Fomor Brute a few more times and has put it into proper production. Word Forge Games kindly offered to cast the Kaiser's Cat for us and is working on casting enough of the little guys to fulfil all of your orders.

Pledge Manager

Please, if you haven't filled in your Pledge Manager, try and fill it in as soon as possible. We really need to lock it down and still have 30% or so of the pledgers (not including £1) that have not filled in the manager. We're only a small company, so it's very important to know exactly what we need to do to get everyone the products they deserve.

If you have an issue with, or you do not believe you have received, the pledge manager, please email craig@shattered-glass.co.uk for advice.

Panzerfäuste Quarterly is Dead! Long Live Panzerfäuste G2!!!

Some sad news... 

Some good news... 

And some GREAT news!!!

Issue two of Panzerfäuste G2 - our irregular Panzerfäuste e-zine is now available here.

Tabletop Day 2016 Discount!

Today is Tabletop Day 2016 and the start of May Day Weekend! 

To celebrate Hysterical Games' very first Tabletop Day, we have a Special offer on our Webstore until May 1st of 10% off of all of our Products, including the newly listed Maveryc 'S.P.Q.oRc' Range! 

Simply use the code 'TTD2016' in the checkout to redeem your discount!

Webstore Open, Skøgtroll Released...

Our brand new webstore is now up and running so you can mail order any off our existing product line (Maveryc figures to be added soon).

Which is where you can buy the brand new Skøgtroll released today!

Post-Kickstarter Update XVII: Local Orc Volunteers and Skøgtroll...

Greetings fellow Panzerfäustians...

Sculpting:

Heriberto has started work on the Deathless Kazak cavalry which should be awesome and Irek is beavering away on Steurmer’s Stormers (all the character heads are done now) which we are really looking forward to given their history in Panzerfäuste over the last eighteen years...

Great news is that Victor has almost finished the Local Orc Volunteers (LOVies). There are a still a few tweaks required on all the models but we thought you’d like to see some now as they are brilliant!

"Don't tell them your name..."

"They don't like it up 'em!"

"We're doomed..."

"I got some 'essential supplies' lads..."

"I'll tell mum..."

"Bloody hooligans!"

Salute:

All hands to the pump this week to get ready for Salute (well Rob’s hands as Steve will be working in Germany and sadly miss the show).

Where are we?



We are on stand TH06.



What will we have there?

We apart from all the wave one releases we will have the first non-Kickstarter Panzerfäuste models, the mighty Skøgtroll sculpted by Warploque maestro Alex Huntley. They are amazing and will no doubt prove very popular. Rob has cast up a lot but to make sure you get your mitts on them rush over to TH06 as soon as you get to Salute!

Skøg! Skøg! Skøg!

Where if you are very quick you might be able to buy one of our extremely limited edition Panzerfäuste mugs! (we will have some for sale for those of our not able to attend the show so don’t panic).

Two Panzerfäuste mugs - only one on sale!

And if all this excitement is not too much for you, our amazingly talented concept illustrator Will Beck will be on the stand with pencil and drawing pad doodling away all things Panzerfäuste. We have given him the (top secret) list of ALL the planned Panzerfäuste races and historical equivalents so if you are lucky you might get to see what the Canadians or Chinese are going to be…

Oldfäuste:

Whilst looking for SWMBO’s Easter Egg Steve discovered a very small stock of the original 1998 Panzerfäuste skirmish rulebooks. Rob will have some of these on the stand at Salute but if you are not able to attend and want a piece of Panzerfäuste history send GBP5 (shipping included) via PayPal to Steve and he’ll send you a copy. There are just 21 left now and once they are gone, they are gone…



Community:

Aside from the official Hysterical Games Facebook Page there is a fans Panzerfäuste Facebook Group were Panzerfäustians across the world share ideas and photos. It’s a great community so if you want to find out how to make a Gnomish mushroom forest for example, and you are on Facebook, please join it - and if you are not on Facebook join Facebook just to be part of it!! :-)

Robyn's Gnome mushroom forest...

Ok, that’s it for this update.

If you can get to Salute make Hysterical Games your first port of call, if not watch out for the next update coming soon!