Marszałek-Trogi Swaróg

Herb has finished sculpting Troglodyte Warlord Marszałek-Trogi Swaróg and we think you'll agree he looks like he'll give those invading Dwarves something to think about as he leads the brave Troglodyte army in the defence of its homeland.

Next up, exciting news for Gnome generals. Herb has started work on the much anticipated Gnome snail tank and Darko is close to finishing the Gnome Fusiliers Marins, naval troops who stand alongside the Voltigeurs against the might Dwarven war machine rampaging across the mushroom fields of Dûn-Nomin. Hopefully not too long until we can show you these.

Kret Bitwa 3TK War Mole

A treat for Troglodyte generals today, the Kret Bitwa 3TK War Mole!

The War Mole is a really cool addition to the Trog army and its ability to tunnel under enemy lines and burst out amongst its enemies gives them a big tactical edge in battle.

This impressive model has taken Herb some time to finish, sometimes translating a piece of concept art into a 3D model is not as straight forward as it might seem, but I think you'll agree he has done a lovely job here.

The model itself is a bit larger than we originally anticipated so we will probably end up selling them individually for around £18 to £25, but if you selected them in the pledge manager you will get your two for £22 as promised.

Next up for Herb will be the Gnome snail tank, this is proving to be a little problematical taking it from concept to model but we will get there. Darko is also working on something for the Gnomes.

Steve is still working on the Skirmish rules and hopes to put these to bed by the end of February.

Spitfyre: Troglodyte Mara 23 Bat Light Bomber

Your relentless hunting down of stretch goals shows no sign of stopping, thank you for all your support. The latest Stretch Goal to fall was the Troglodyte Mara 23 Bat Light Bomber - all ACE pledgers will now receive on free in their rewards!

Troglodyte Mara 23 - one free to all Aces!

Whilst the Trogs use the Mara for both bombing and reconnaissance missions, the Dwarves utilise giant storks for the latter, with their ability to fly extremely slowly and land/take-off in extremely short distances. The Dwarves have found that their Storch 156 not only ideal for reconnaissance but also great for inserting spies behind enemy lines, anti-partisan missions against the Troglodytes and even rescuing imprisoned rat dictators! Whilst the Storch 156 is not going to shoot down many enemy air beasts, it opens up a whole world of scenario and mission ideas for Spitfyre gamers...

Dwarf Storch 156 - the next Stretch Goal!

If we manage to reach £12,000 by the close of the Kickstarter this evening, all ACE pledgers will have one free Storch 156 added to their rewards along with all the other freeebies...

Spitfyre: Dwarf KampfKondor 52 funded!

The Dwarf KampfKondor 52 transport Stretch Goal was unlocked this morning and all ACE pledgers will have one included into their reward - the largest model in the range to date!

KampfKondor 52 funded - one free to all Aces!

So what next? Well there have been a number of requests for another airbeast for the Troglogytes so if we can reach £11,000 in funding in the next day and a half we will include one Mara 23 Bat Light Bomber in every ACE pledge.

The next Ace stretch goal - the Mara 23 light bomber!

We were discussing the Tôrg Baraz campaign at the Warfare show yesterday and the air battles fought in the huge caverns under the Tôrg Mountains, and we will be including rules for obstacles (like cavern walls, stalagmites and stalactites) and what happens if you don't manage to fly around them!

Spitfyre: Bats Over Tôrg Baraz Funded!

Well that didn't take you long! It seems you are batty for Bats Over Tôrg Baraz! Thank you for your support. The supplement and its seven miniatures will be included alongside Spitfyre and the eleven miniatures that come with that for all Ace level pledgers!

Ok, so what's next? Well following the Dwarf invasion of Tôrg Baraz a "volunteer" force of Orc Air Force pilots flew to the Troglodyte realm to help fight the invading Dwarves. Alongside the Spitfyres and HurriKanes that headed north were a number of Defier wyverns, a rather unique air-beast with, literally, a sting its tail!

Rough concept sketch of Orc Defier wyvern

Noting this particular wyverns unique hunting habit of flying ahead of its prey and attacking with its venomous tail, the Orcs came up with the idea of incorporating the breed in the Orc Air Force, supplementing the wyverns natural weapon with a rear gunner firing four machine-guns. 

Defier tactics are to fly ahead of enemy bombers and then attack them in their typically unarmed front arc with their own rear facing weaponry. How successful was the Defier in combat? Well you'll have to wait and see...

Every Ace level pledger will receive one Defier wyvern and flying base for free if we reach £7000 in pledges...

Spitfyre: New Pledge Level and Supplement Announced

As promised here is details of the first Spitfyre supplement - Bats Over Tôrg Baraz!

The core of the supplement will be a set of campaign rules along with a scenario generator, but we will also look at the air campaign over, and under(!) the mountains of the Troglodyte homeland of Tôrg Baraz.

Like the basic game this will come with seven models - a flight of three KriegAdler 110 Doppelmesser heavy fighters (that have a two man crew allowing forward and rear firing) and a flight of four P11 War-Bat fighters manned by the Troglodytes. (please note the artwork is placement art and will be changed once our concept artists catch up with your enthusiasm!) 

After that we have three planned stretch goals for more free models that will ONLY included in the ACE pledge level.

The models from this supplement AND in the Pilot pledge can be used in both the Tôrg Baraz and Branzhûm air campaigns.

As we hadn't planned the first Spitfyre supplement until later next year, we will be unable to ship this until later in the year and are looking at a June fulfilment date.

Post-Kickstarter Update XXVIII: Dwarf Straftruppen, Troglodyte Brute and Scenery...

Work is now underway on Wave 3...

3D Prints:

Good news in that the Dwarf Straftruppen section, Wojtek the Trog Brute and Kaiser and Grossmeister Brauer of Khâllazdûrin Alberich have all been printed ready for moulding and look wonderful.

Unfortunately the prints are printed in a very bright orange resin that is not easy to photograph as you can see...

Even playing with them in Photoshop does little to improve things...

But they are very, very nice and will undoubtedly prove popular.

Here are Steiner and Dietz...

And Wojtek stuck together with Blu-tac, hence the gaps...

Rob will take photos in a nice grey resin that will show off the exceptional detail once he has moulded and cast them!

Rob was printing the Dwarf zombi when I left so hopefully we'll have photos of them quite soon (not in orange!)

Scenery:

We managed to take some photos of the new Troglodyte scenery beautifully painted by Hannah and we am sure you'll all want to buy some now...

And that is it for this update, more as soon as we have it!

Post-Kickstarter Update XXVII: Troglodyte Infantry and Gnome Command & Support

Ok, we said the last parts of Wave Two would be in production by the middle of January and Rob and the team have been hard at work making sure we hit that target.

The final three sets, Gnome Command Set, Gnome Support Weapons Set and Troglodyte Infantry Section are now in production and the team are now busy casting up all the sets needed up to fulfil the final Wave Two pledges.

The pictures aren't brilliant as Rob took them on a potato phone in crap lighting but here is a photo of a Troglodyte Infantry section...

Troglodyte Infantry section...

And the Gnome Command set...

Gnome Command Set...

Rob will take a photo of the Gnome Support Weapons once he has had a chance to make up a set.

Once the Wave Two pledges have been despatched the sets will go on general sale and we should have some at Crusade in Penarth on the 28th January so come along and say "Alla i brynu rhai o'ch corachod newydd rhagorol gwelwch yn dda?" and we will gladly serve you...

So three cheers for the team and all their hard work!

And if that wasn't good news enough the Futbowel rulebooks eventually turned up and the pre-order sets are now on their way to lucky gamers across the globe.

Post-Kickstarter Update XXVI: Troglodyte and Gnome Brutes

First off Happy New Year Panzerfäustians, we hope you had a great Hognachtswatch and start to 2017.

Unfortunately the last couple of months of 2016 were ones were if it could go wrong, it did go wrong and this put a serious crimp in the ongoing fulfilment of this Kickstarter and our plans for the next. So...

Wave Two:

We are almost, almost there... 

Chris doing his back in is the latest problem we have as he makes the moulds for the metal bits and pieces, but Rob has promised that the remaining three sets of Wave Two (Gnome command, Gnome support and Troglodyte infantry) will be shipping by the middle of this month at the very latest.

We can only offer our sincerest apologies for the delay, as backers of other Kickstarters ourselves we know that delays are frustrating but thank you for sticking with us, we are getting there...

Wave Three:

Once Wave Two is out the door it is all hands to the pump for Wave Three. Lots of work needs to be done for this, but we shall keep you regularly up to date on the ongoing progress. 

First up, here is the 3D sculpt of Wojtek, the Troglodyte Brute, I think you will agree that Herb has done an amazing job here, I can't wait to get my hands on him and painted up...

Secondly, we weren't that happy with the pose or some of the soft detail on the Ghul miniature, the Gnome Brute, so we got Herb to do some re-work on it and he has come up with a much better end product.

The Ghul with the rock is now the Kickstarter exclusive and the regular model will have two sets of arms so you can pose your brute in one of two ways. Great work by Herb.

Future Plans:

It is not secret we have big plans for future Panzerfäuste releases and had planned a mini-campaign this month and a larger one in the summer. Given the unfortunate delays we have experienced (and lessons learned) with this Kickstarter we have decided to focus on getting Wave Three done and dusted before looking to expand the game into new realms with new races. So we are holding off on these for the time being, but make sure you put that money Auntie Mabel gave you for Hognachtswatch away somewhere safe as you will need it later in 2017! :-)

Ok, that is about it, here's to a great 2017 and lots of Hysterical times ahead!

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.

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.

Post-Kickstarter Update XVI: Troglodyte Gorale and Steurmer's Stormers

First up, apologies for the delay in this update. We usually do a update every week and we've been really good, but since the shows in March, Rob has been totally rammed up with prep work for Salute. He's taken the time to put together a summary and get this update written - so let's get this show on the road!

Kickstarter Shipments:

We have received over 50% of the Pledge Managers from you guys (not including £1 pledges) - that is excellent news! We really must urge you to complete your Pledge Managers by the end of March (or into the first week or so into April) just so that we know where we stand on getting stuff made. This is paramount to getting Wave 2 done on time, so that we know exactly where our priorities are AND so that we can order out external items that will need printing, like the bags, t-shirts and posters.

If you want Wave 1 shipping, we really MUST request it is completed by the end of March. We know a few of you have to wait until April and, in those few cases, is absolutely fine.

Those of you waiting for Wave 1 orders to arrive, we are still working on shipping these out. Of course, this only applies to those of you who did not tell us which items you want in advance, therefore, we are having to manufacture a few extra copies of those items. We really, really appreciate your patience.

Please keep an eye out for PayPal invoices that we send out to cover the cost of your Wave 1 shipping. It may not seem like a lot, or it may not seem like it matters, but we have not budgeted to cover postage for free and it is really very important that you can cover this cost. If you have received a Wave 1 parcel, and know you haven't paid for the postage, it might be worth logging into PayPal to check if you have an unpaid invoice from us! :) We've tried to keep the costs as low as possible.

Now for some exciting news in the world of 3D sculpting.

3D Sculpting:

Troglodyte Gorale Unit shot Heriberto, our magical Mexican, has been busy working on the Gorale and has done a bloody superb job! He's pumped tonnes of character into this elite Troglodyte unit, I am sure you will all agree. They are currently slated for Wave 3!

Troglodyte Gorale Unit shot

Here's a close up...



A long way from Mexico, in Poland, Irek has been just as busy working on the Dwarf Straftruppen. This unit is full of characters that will play a large part in the Skirmish Rulebook. Steurmer's Stormers are, arguably, the most infamous of all the Dwarven Straftruppen Sections, so we chose to run with them. Irek's been sculpting their heads!

*Far top right Pickelhaube is not finished!

Community:

This article is too good not to share. Ant has made a really nifty guide on how to paint your Gnome Voltigeurs in WW1 Horizon Blue uniforms. It's a super simple guide that will allow you to paint a unit in an evening with ease! Excellent stuff!

Salute 2016:



Yep, we're bloomin' excited for this one. It's obviously our first year trading and we've got a bunch of exciting stuff happening.

Sadly, Steve can't make it; but Rob and Allan are going to be on site to assist you. It's also a shame, but we don't have a demo game this year. As it's our first year and we got in a little late - we're fairly limited on space. Next year, it will be a bit more luxurious. :)

Will Beck is going to be at the show, whilst he's on the stand, he's going to be drawing a variety of different Panzerfäuste subjects, so it's well worth coming and checking out what he's up to (we've never even seen his face before, so that's going to be a surprise in itself!).

Something else that's pretty cool will be the first of our Salute exclusive mugs! Every year, we will announce a new illustrated mug that will be sold at the show and on our website over the weekend. These are strictly limited to 40 copies, 20 on the website and 20 at the show - so please get in there quickly.

Here's a rough (very rough) mock-up of what we intend to print on it. The Panzerfäuste logo is going to be a little bigger!



In addition to mugs, we will also be announcing a number of new releases for the Maveryc range and at Salute, we hope to have physical previews of a number of Wave 2 units. We're not sure exactly what we'll have ready in time; but we'll let you know.

Final point, an exciting development for us is that we have just purchased a 3D printer. It's due to arrive in around 6 weeks and we hope to not only do our own stuff, but offer it out as a service to other small companies. Should you, a friend or a business you like to support require affordable, fast and reliable 3D printing, please get in touch! We already cast miniatures for a number of people, we now need to build up a database of 3D printing clients!

Post-Kickstarter Update XIV: Troglodyte Support and Gorale

Thank you to everyone who has emailed Rob to let him know what items you are wanting from Wave One. Your prospective orders are currently being processed and it's been very helpful for us to understand which units are the most popular. Rob's been busily making moulds all week (especially of the Orcs!) in preparation for the shipment.

PLEASE LET US KNOW (BY PRIVATE MESSAGE) BY THE END OF THE DAY ON WEDNESDAY 2ND OF MARCH IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO BE A PART OF WAVE 1 TO ENSURE YOUR PARCEL WILL BE SHIPPED ON FRIDAY OR READY FOR A SHOW IN MARCH.

If you have already told us, then do not worry. :)

Okay, so let's get on with the update.

Pledge Manager:

Yes, this is coming this week. Apologies for the delay, this has come about because Craig is just tidying up the graphics and making it as easy as possible for you guys to find exactly the items you are looking for. It's a pain, but it's very important. Craig will update you all through Kickstarter, as well as email the first 50 people. The priority will be in people who have expressed interest in Wave 1. We will be contacting people in batches of 50. We expect to get everyone sorted very, very quickly indeed.

Sculpting:

Some nice progress this week. Firstly, we've had renders back for the Troglodyte Support. These are still work in progress, as we just fine tune a few details, but here you go!















Even more on the Troglodyte theme, we've had the first render of the Troglodyte Gorale as well! These are utterly FANTASTIC. We're really happy with these and simply cannot wait for the full section.



Casting:

Nothing new this week. Rob has been totally focused on items for the First wave, which will be shipping out on Friday, if all goes to plan. It's gonna be tight!

3D Printing:

Anders has come back and told us that he has shipped out a few more prints to us. We hope to get this all moulded up over the next few weeks.

Rules:

You can now access the Beta rules for Panzerfäuste Mass Battle. Ian Hill has been pivotal in the creation of these rules, so we thank him from the bottom of our hearts for his assistance. Please go and give them a read and let us know what you think in the main comments section on the Kickstarter! We are sure that Ian would love to hear your thoughts.

Keep in mind, they are just Black and White, they are not bookmarked or hyperlinked. We will make a document that is much easier to use, but we just wanted to get these basic things out before the Pledge Manager goes live.

The files are all locked down with a password, which is pzfks1

Shows:

As February closes and March begins, we start to really come into the UK Show Circuit...

We wanted to remind you that we will be at the following shows this month:

Alumwell - WMMS (West Midlands Military Show)

Sunday 13th March Aldersley Leisure Village Aldersley Rd Wolverhampton WV6 9NW

19th and 20th March 2016 English Institute of Sport Coleridge Rd Sheffield South Yorkshire S9 5DA

So yes, March is set to be a very busy month for us!

Other Announcements:

We're very proud to announce that we are expanding our range of products to include Maveryc's products. We are now the distributors of S.P.Q.oRc, their history-fantasy miniatures game which includes a number of charming and humourous designs within the campaign setting of 'Pax Bochemannica', which is set to expand into other regions of this particularly barmy world...

Pax Bochemannica Starter Box 

You will find Maveryc's products on our website, once the webstore goes live. You will also find the full range of products on our trade stand at all the shows which we will be attending! This includes a number of miniatures which have never been released before!

That's it for now, we will be back soon with the Pledge Manager!

Post-Kickstarter Update XIII: Zombi Dwarves, Zombi Troll & Skøgtroll

We're getting there! Promise! Turns out, the programme we're using for Pledge Manager doesn't support wave shipping, but we're working a way around it. We hope there will be something really very soon.

Those of you who have messaged us in regards to last week's update, thank you. This has been incredibly useful information. Rob has been busily casting miniatures, and we've had some great support from a few of our friends to help bump the number up a bit.

If you want to pick up at a show (for free shipping) or you want to have Wave 1 shipped out, please, please, please let us know roughly what you would like. Rob is going to start packing these orders as soon as he's got confirmation, so we know your orders are ready to go. That said, if you don't, we will do everything we can to ensure your Wave 1 still goes out before we start attending shows!

Right then, we've also made some fantastic progress in the last 2 weeks and we thought that maybe we should report on that.

Artwork:

Artwork has actually begun on the next campaign. Will Beck is starting to conceptualise the new races that will feature in the next campaign. Very exciting, but you won't see anything more on that for a good few months! On the other hand, sadly, the others have been committed to other projects and unable to deliver anything. We had hoped we would be able to share pictures of all the 'pledge level' characters before the Pledge Manager goes live, but that is looking quite unlikely! We'll do what we can to get them, or as much of them, or as much concept information made available to aid your selections.

Sculpting:

This is where we've had a bit of a stellar time. Heriberto has been busy on the Zombie Dwarves, completed them and is now working on the Troglodyte Support. He also has a friend working on the Troglodyte Gorale. We're hoping to share pictures of these in the Pledge Manager for you, when that finally goes live.

The last 5 Zombie Dwarves, hope these are gory enough!

Troglodyte MMG Team (Poses)

Troglodyte Anti-Tank Rifle Team (Poses)

Troglodyte Mortar Team (Poses)

Obviously the trogs are all in WIP poses, just to show how they will be arranged around the weapons. Heriberto is working on these this week and has assured us it should not be a too difficult job to complete.

We've also had some progress on the Skøgtrolls from Alex. Here are the first of the Gevärstrupp... We hope that, if we generate enough revenue from these, we will be able to shortly release the other half of the Demi-Section. Alex is fairly busy, so we've not commissioned them yet. His Kickstarter for Troll Bridge starts VERY soon!

Work in progress...

Work in progress...

Victor is still chipping away at the Orc LOV. He's told us that he is quite ill, with gallstones, so we hope he recovers soon. Despite being ill, he's still made a little progress.

These are all T-Poses, made before posing. Still a long way to go on the webbing, etc. Victor is learning history from scratch, so it's a steep learning curve for him!

Community:

Bit of a surprise, we're going to not show anything just yet, but progress continues on the Demo Boards for our UK shows. We think they will be utterly awesome and the guys at Leicester Phat Katz are doing a fantastic job!

However, Steve has been doing a little bit of painting himself. This time on the Deathless Zombi Mountain Trolls (Vuoritroll) which will be available in the Pledge Manager and as part of the Wave 2 shipment!

Standard Zombi Troll (No Crew)

Kickstarter Exclusive Zombi Troll (No Crew)

Okay, well that's it from us this week folks. We'll be back as soon as we've got the Pledge Manager down and confirmed. Again, sorry for the delay, but this just has to be perfect.