Got my copy today - looks great and busy organising some games!
A suggestion for futute overseas shipping though - the packaging used is quite flimsy - just a cardboard envelope with no additional padding - my book is quite badly torn along the seam which takes the gloss off (quiet litterally actually) a bit. Hopefully some glue will restore the look and keep it together - bugger.
Gary - I'm sorry to hear that. I'll talk to the shipper.
Yes, and Ive already heard from Nic at Eureaka to sort out paying and shipping my copy :)
Roll on next week when it arrives :)
cheers
Should mine arrive in NZ in similar condition I would expect a little more than talk. The cost of postage was horrendous and completely out of line with the actual cost. Goods that arrive damaged will do nothing for the good will of the game.
Please do more than "talk" to the shipper - as I have little doubt that Gary is being polite and is actually extremely angry and feeling ripped off about now!
Hiya
Yes mine arrived just a bit north of Garry during the day.
Sadly the paper/cardboard bag it arrived in was no match for the elements, I'm drying out the pages and getting ready for a night of enjoyable reading.
regards
DAvid B
I hope my two copies are in better condition.
That is what plastic bags were invented for, to prevent water damage. I always send books out wrapped in plastic as a safety precaution.
Of course, I'm totally envious that you have your copies already. 8-)
John / Nikephorous:
>>"The cost of postage was horrendous and completely out of line with the actual cost."
As I've said many times, I am actually losing money on direct shipments overseas. The US no longer offers surface mail; it's all Air. That, plus my fulfillment fee (which I pay the shipper/warehouser), plus the PayPal fee (which is higher for currency exchange) has meant - for example, that I spend about $14.50 to ship to Canada, yet charge a Canadian customer only $12.
>>"Goods that arrive damaged will do nothing for the good will of the game. Please do more than "talk" to the shipper - as I have little doubt that Gary is being polite and is actually extremely angry and feeling ripped off about now!"
In the good old days before the internet, if a customer had a problem, he contacted the seller directly and privately and got it resolved. Now, of course, everybody shares everything with everybody, for better or worse. Gary wasn't complaining; he'd received his game and was letting me know there was a problem. I am the kind of guy who keeps track of these things and gets them fixed.
I am going to get a sense for how many books need to be replaced. That will probably take another week or so, as all the pre-orders finally arrive. Then I am going to replace all the bad ones, at my expense. If the shipper in a different state made a bad decision with packaging, I will pay for that. If the printer in a different country didn't use the best glue on the binding, I will pay for that. If the post office or customs mangled it en route or left it in the rain, I will pay for that.
One last thought: I am an individual. Not a company. Like you, I have all the responsibilities of life and work that make it physically impossible for me to inspect every one of 800 books that all needed to be shipped in a couple of days, to store them in my little house, or to have the time to ship them, myself. I have to leave these things to others (services for which I obviously have to pay), with the understanding that if they get it wrong, it comes out of my pocket, and I will personally face every criticism and condemnation for mistakes made by others. If there are five copies that need to be mailed to Australia/NZ, the postage alone will be over $100 out of my pocket.
That's part of the business of selling wargames. Unless you've done it, yourself, you can't imagine how unpleasant, thankless, time-consuming, and above all - Expensive - it is. For the past month I've been getting daily emails asking why their pre-orders haven't arrived yet, despite my launch schedule being almost perfectly accurate from what I've been promising since June. Could I have asked the shipper to mail the games in padded plastic overseas envelopes? Yes, but that would have increased the shipping cost by at least another five dollars, in some cases more like seven dollars. And of course I've been getting daily emails complaining about the shipping costs, too.
So in the end one simply has to choose a price, get the product out as efficiently as possible, and accept that inevitably there will be problems, and they'll get fixed.
>>"Should mine arrive in NZ in similar condition I would expect..."
John, all I ask from my customers is that they at least wait until there actually -is- a problem, prior to complaining about one. The existing problems are hard enough.
Sam
Hi there Sam
I feel the pain
As a seller of lead I get requests to sculpt up and market something so obscure that the punter will only want 3 of them and nobody else in this galaxy will ever buy.
They think I'm joking when I quote the real cost of a X hundred bucks for their figs.
regards
david B
Hi All
O goody! Mine might be on the doorstep when I get home from work!
Has anyone in Oz (specifically Sydney or surrounds) made any decision regarding basing as yet? I'm tossing up between 40mm x 25mm and 40mm x 30mm bases. Any thoughts? Will this make any difference to possible forthcomming comps?
regards
Stephen
Hi Stephen,
I can definitely relate to your question. I currently have 2 nice armies based for NB and will likely rebase once I have confirmed my initail good impressions from reading the rules with a few actal games. 40mm frontage seems to be becoming a standard with both FoGN and HF&G using it as their standard basing. Depth is another consideration. Two NB bases side by side is 1.5 inches wide (close enough to 40mm) by 1 inch deep (25mm) which looks good as the figures are quite closely packed. 30mm deep bases seems to be a standard to go with 40mm frontage and I notice that a lot of the 6mm figures are on relatively quite deep bases to give the effect of standing off and blazing away at the enemy line. A slightly deeper base will also help to prevent crossing bayonets with your opponet's figures when they are in combat. And, I guess 5mm is really not going to matter much.
I am leaning to 40mm by 30mm deep.
as i read it, base depth is more of an aesthetic issue than a mechanical one. consistent base WIDTH is the most important issue from an actual game play standpoint.
We're going with 40x30mm too - partly because it's the same sized base as other rules, and partly because there are base sellers out there who do 40x30, but not many who do 40x25mm.
Hi there
Clearly both players will have to use the same BW for things like measuring moves and shooting range, I think the easiest solution is for comp organisers to set paramaters like;
"This competition is for 15mm armies, the BW will be 40mm (armies based on a close Imperial equivalent to 40mm may also be used) all troops will be considered to be notionally based at 40mm if slightly less. All troops will be considered to have the following notional depth of x.."
I'm not sure about depth, I'll re-read shooting and look for loopholes. Troops may need a notional depth to ensure each are treated the same way under the rules.
Officers should be based no larger than 1 BW x 1 BW.
My bases are 40mm x 30mm for foot.
regards
David B
Hi All
My copies arrived today, looks fantastic!
I think I was a little fortunate as the two copies were virtually undamaged although the packaging was sadly mistreated, the cardboard protected most of the books with the exception of 1cm of the spine end.
Now to the rules! (Oh and the army lists....)
regards
Stephen
Hi
my copy arrived today as well; no damage worth reporting.
On a positive note, they do look excellent. Only had time for a quick scan, but everything I have seen I like. Except the photos of the 40mm miniatures as it means I am going to struggle not to buy 40mm AWI or Napoleonics all over again.
Regarding basing, I am building 28mm armies and will either use 50mm square as recommended or 60mm as I have used this for my WoSS armies.
As there seem to be a few Lasalle fans in Oz, we should start an Oz Lasalle topic in this forum and see what we can do to promote the riles.
BTW, is Ashur_dan Stephen H from Tarbuck in Sydney? if, so, i reckon Naps Battles basing is the way to go.
David_W
Yay!
Mine also arrived Tuesday (Yesterday now by about 15 minutes!).
No damage at all thankfully.
Reading through. it seems to be a set that can be learnt and committed to memory after a few games. I can't really foresee even QRS being referenced much during play, leaving plenty of grey matter for concentrating on moving lead/plastic. May take a few games acclimatising to sequence of play.
Mark
Newcastle, Australia
Regarding basing for we Aussies.
May be a worthy subject for its own thread?
I too will have 15mm armies and was not thinking about 40mm at all!
Mark
Newcastle, Australia
Got to love Canadian customs and the post office. We are just 'up the road' from the US but I'm still waiting for the rules delivery, while it manages to fly all the way around the world and get into peoples hands.
Ah well...
Mark
Hi gang
I'd be up for a demo / trial event in 15mm figs, 40mm or equivalent bases at CanCon.
I'd exect table space would probably not be available on the Sat or Sun (but may be outside of the main hangar).
However on Monday there always seems to be some spare space about, maybe we could bumble through two games on that day.
Is anybody keen?
Regards
David b
Hi David_W
Yes, tis Stephen H, sorting through figures at present and consulting the Army Lists.
regards
Stephen
Got copy via Nic at Eureka, great service i must say.
Few boys were playing at our club in Eastern Suburbs last night, nearly all the boys in these parts play 28mm on 40mm basses and 50mm for Cav.
Steve. (a different Steve H! )
Wish I could evilgong, but will be home on the Sunday.
Mark
My copy arrived in NZ today. I see what people mean by flimsy packaging. Disappointing.
Of course all of this was forgotten once I opened the cover. Mmmmmmmm.
Good work Sam - thanks. Please still slap your shipper for us though.
John McLennan
Auckland, NZ
You must log in to post.