10 days left before we lock pledges!
over 1 year ago – Mon, Aug 22, 2022 at 03:08:48 AM

Hello everyone, I thought it would be a good idea to send out an update today letting everyone know there are only have ten days left before we lock completed pledges. Locking pladges enables us to deliver BW4: Outremer to you by our deadline, the end of January 2023. 

Confirming your choices provides Footsore Miniatures & Games with the final pack numbers they need to produce stock. Currently, there are 124 uncompleted pledges, which is about 16% of the total. It would be great to have all finalised, if possible, by the last day of August, enabling us to crack on delivering everything for everyone.

A few backers asked me why they are still receiving reminder emails inviting them to complete their pledge when they have completed their pledge. It turned out they had done everything EXCEPT click the button at the end, saying ‘Place My Order’. Clicking this button is the fail-safe to ensure that you are indeed finished. We can't lock your pledge until that button is clicked.

Painting the Outremer Range

With the phenomenal success of the Kickstarter, the new Outremer range is extensive. With this in mind, we have spent this period starting to get the new miniatures painted as we will need images of painted models for the book. Besides the fantastic work already done by HVM workbench, we have drafted two other painters to help us. We thought you might like to see some of their work so far.

Ben MacIntyre (Brush Demon)

Steve Beckett (Miniature Giant)

There are plenty more packs to complete and our plan is to continue to share painted images as they are finished. Hopefully we will have everything done by the time the pledges start to land and you can use the pictures for ideas and inspiration.

How many packs do we need?

Having figures to paint indicates Footsore Miniatures & Games have started the manufacturing process. As it currently stands today we will need in the region of 14,500 packs to fulfil the Kickstarter. I asked them how the project was progressing and they sent me the following images.

 It is still early days for production which will start in earnest once pledges are locked. This provides us an accurate stock numbers for what will need to be produced. 

I plan to send another gentle reminder towards the end of this week flagging the deadline of the 31st of August 2022 for pledges being locked. We can't guarantee your pledge will be despatched by our deadline, which is the 31st of January 2023, if it isn't completed by then.

If you have any other questions about what you need to do or about the pledge manager, or anything else, please get in touch.

Stay safe!

~Andy & Paul (Hobday & Hicks)

Why not join The Barons' War Facebook Group and checkout the WARHOST website the home for The Barons' War game.

How are we doing & why aren't my Freebies included?
almost 2 years ago – Tue, Jul 12, 2022 at 03:31:51 PM

Hello everyone, I thought I'd take this opportunity to let you know how things are currently going with pledge management.

All pledge emails have been sent and so far you have completed 518 out of 793 pledges, that's 65% done which is just brilliant, providing us already with a good idea of how many packs we need to produce. Yes it's a lot!

We are still on track to lock all completed pledges at the end of August, in 50 days, so there is still plenty of time.

Locking your pledges provides us with concrete stock numbers for fulfilment helping us to deliver on our goal of shipping by the end of January 2023. Current stock numbers tell us that the current top five choices are:

1. Military Order Knights on foot 1

2. Military Order Knights on foot 2

3. Military Order Knights on horse 1

4. Ayyubid Archers 1

5. Ayyubid Archers 2

If you haven't finalised everything yet and need a reminder of what you need to do, check out our walkthrough provided via an earlier update which can be found here.

Please note, if you do miss the end of August 2022 deadline you still receive your pledge, as long as you complete your survey.  However, it is very likely to be shipped later than the end of January 2023.

FREEBIES

If you are still wondering "Why aren't my FREEBIES listed in my pledge manager?" we have the answer for you right here.

All FREE bonus miniatures, The Ayyubid (Muslim) Commander on foot, The Military Order Knight Commander on foot and The Holy Relic; plus a copy of the printed Outremer book, with the Turcopole Guide & the Mamluk Champion will be added by us to any and all qualifying accounts once pledges are completed and before being locked to give you the maximum opportunity to qualify.

How you qualify:

• The Monk, 24hr Early Backer Exclusive Miniature: backed the project in the first 24 hours and purchase at least one pack of miniatures - all backers up to and including backer #643 are eligible.  This has been added to pledges already

• The Ayybid (Muslim) Commander: back the project for at least £45 (exc. postage)

• The Military Order Knight Commander: back the project for at least £80 (exc. postage)

• The Holy Relic: back the project for at least £240 (exc. postage)

• Printed Outremer book plus Turcopole Guide & the Mamluk Champion: back the project for at least £45 (exc. postage)

• Digital Outremer book: All backers who complete their survey. Sent via email when ready, most likely end of December 2022.

If you have any other questions about what you need to do or about the pledge manager, or anything else, please get in touch.

Stay safe!

~Andy & Paul (Hobday & Hicks)

Why not join The Barons' War Facebook Group and checkout the WARHOST website the home for The Barons' War game.

BackerKit surveys are coming! Get ready for your Pledge Manager email
almost 2 years ago – Sat, Jul 02, 2022 at 05:18:42 PM

The good news is we are now ready to go as Kickstarter has completed their bit and transferred all pledge information into BackerKit, our pledge manager of choice. This update contains a lot of helpful information, so please read it. If you have any questions or need help, please message me, Andy Hobday, as I am only too happy to help.

Kickstarter has had an issue with 22 backers unable to complete their pledges. As we don't want anyone to miss out, Andy Hobday will be contacting each person individually to see if we can get something sorted out in BackerKit.

Over the next couple of days, everyone else will be receiving an email from us, via the pledge manager, with a personal link to their BackerKit survey. It’s important to respond to your survey as swiftly as you can since we need this information to fulfil your pledge. To be able to send it to you by the end of January 2023 we need you to have completed your survey by the 31st of August 2022.

When you receive and open your email, click the button 'Click Here to Respond' to get started.  By doing so you will be taken to the starter screen for your personal pledge survey.

Select 'Get Started!' to, funnily enough, get started. We have asked you a few questions, to begin with (we hope you don't mind). These questions are a guide to help you understand how we have handled your pledge plus a couple of bonus questions asking you what you would like to see added to the range in the future.  If you don't want to answer anything just 'opt-out' each time, it is more than OK to do this.

Once you have completed the questions section, you can select packs up to your pledge amount if you have backed at the 'Choose your Packs & Pledge' level or over-pledged at any of the pledge levels or purchase any add-on items for an additional cost. This is all done in the Add-ons section.

When you have finished choosing, click 'NEXT' and you will be taken to the next screen and asked for your shipping address.

Your shipping information will generate your postage and packaging costs and will be added to your pledge along with any extras for other add-ons.  Payment for all extras is expected on the 'confirmation' screen via credit/debit card or PayPal unless you have already added extra funds to your pledge amount to cover this.

On 31st August 2022, we will lock completed backer pledges, which will be any that have completed all stages of the survey, with a plan to charge any extra card payments during the following day on the 1st September 2022. Locking pledges informs us of what we need to manufacture for the fulfilment, helping us to deliver on our goal of shipping all completed pledges by the end of January 2023. If you miss this end of August 2022 deadline, your pledge will likely be sent later than the end of January 2023.

Locking pledges also enables us to add all eligible freebies, as at this stage, we will be able to work out precisely what each pledge qualifies for and add them—more about this below.

Choose Your Packs & Pledge Level

If you backed at the Choose your Packs & Pledge, pledge level you will have your pledged amount as credit in your account which you now spend on Add-ons.  Choose the packs you want by adding them to your account.  If you want one of every pack select the 'All the Outremer Figures' product and we will have you covered. You can back for more than you have already pledged by paying the extra amount as you complete your pledge survey.

The Antagonists Pledge Level

If you backed at The Antagonist pledge level, you would already have the first ten white metal packs of miniatures automatically added to your pledge manager. You will be able to add additional packs in the add-on section. If you want one of everything, click on the 'All the Stretch Goals, in the Add-ons sections, and we will have you covered. You can back for more than you have pledged, paying the extra amount as you complete your pledge survey.

All the Franks, All the Muslim Warriors or All the Outremer Figures

If you backed at one of these pledge levels, you will already have the white metal packs of miniatures automatically added to your pledge manager. You will be able to add additional packs in the add-on section. You can back for more than you have pledged, paying the extra amount as you complete your pledge survey.

A Unique Sculpt by Paul Hicks Pledge Level

If you backed for a Unique Sculpt by Paul Hicks, you will automatically have the initial ten packs of miniatures in white metal added to your pledge manager. Andy Hobday will also be in touch very soon via email to discuss plans for your unique sculpt by Paul Hicks. You can add additional packs in white metal in the add-on section.

Terrain Pledges

The following is what you need to know if you have backed one of our Terrain pledges, you can add figures in the pledge manager and add all the figures from the Kickstarter select 'All the Outremer figures' as an add-on product, and we will do the rest.

Digital Terrain Files (STLs) by November 2022

If you have backed or plan to add the digital files to your pledge, we aim to have them available for you to download by the end of November 2022. There will be further updates about this over the coming weeks, so more information to follow. You can add figures to a digital pledge but be aware that if you add anything that needs shipping, you will be charged postage and packaging costs as you complete your pledge survey.

Fortified Hospital (physical terrain), initial pledge of 25 by January 2023

If you have backed for a physical Fortified Hospital, it will be sent in its own separate package to protect it from being transported with a heavy selection of metal, and because it is big! If you back for both figures and fort, in most cases, the postage will reflect this. However, we are NOT charging you the total amount for postage twice. We have decided to share some of the cost of sending two parcels with you.

Fortified Hospital (physical terrain) second wave pledge of 25 by May 2023

If you backed for a physical Fortified Hospital added as a second wave pledge level during the Kickstarter, everything above applies except your fort will be sent out by the end of May 2023. Everything else you choose will be sent to you in a separate package simultaneously as the other pledges by the end of January 2023. It is just the fort that will arrive later.

Fortified Hospital (physical terrain) third wave pledge of 25 by September 2023

If you backed for a physical Fortified Hospital added as a third wave during the Kickstarter, everything above applies except your fort will be sent out by the end of September 2023. Everything else you choose will be sent to you in a separate package simultaneously as the other pledges by the end of January 2023. It is just the fort that will arrive later

Please note, if you have pledged the amount for a fort but not backed at one of the Fortified Hospital (physical terrain) pledge levels you must contact Andy Hobday as soon as possible so we can allocate one to you.

Freebies

All FREE bonus miniatures, The Monk (the Early Backer Exclusive Miniature), The Ayyubid (Muslim) Commander on foot, The Military Order Knight Commander on foot and The Holy Relic; plus a copy of the printed Outremer book, with the Turcopole Guide & the Mamluk Champion will be added by us to any and all qualifying accounts once pledges are completed and before being locked to give you the maximum opportunity to qualify.

How you qualify:

• The Monk, 24hr Early Backer Exclusive Miniature: backed the project in the first 24 hours and purchase at least one pack of miniatures - all backers up to and including backer #643 are eligible.
• The Ayybid (Muslim) Commander: back the project for at least £45 (exc. postage)
• The Military Order Knight Commander: back the project for at least £80 (exc. postage)
• The Holy Relic: back the project for at least £240 (exc. postage)
• Printed Outremer book plus Turcopole Guide & the Mamluk Champion: back the project for at least £45 (exc. postage)
• Digital Outremer book: All backers who complete their survey. Sent via email when ready, most likely end of December 2022.

We have included extra shields and extra weapon options in the add-ons section if you want them. Also included are a selection of products from previous Barons' War Kickstarters, which we believe fit right into the Outremer setting.

If you need to review your information or pledge status, after you have received your initial email, you can return to your survey by clicking the link in your survey email or requesting your survey link under "Lost your survey?" on our BackerKit project page at https://the-barons-war-4-outremer.backerkit.com.

If you used your Facebook credentials to log in to your Kickstarter account, the BackerKit survey is sent to the email address you use for your Facebook account.

Please remember that answering your survey promptly helps us get your pledge out to you faster. BackerKit helps us save lots of time by streamlining the survey process, automating data organisation, and providing us with pledge management software to make it easy to process shipments.

I hope the above makes sense. Please ask questions if not, as I know, there is a lot to digest. Once again, thanks for all your support. With the help of Footsore Miniatures & Games, we can't wait to send out The Barons' War 4: Outremer pledges to you. Standby, you will receive your pledge manager email in the next couple of days!

Stay Safe!

~Andy & Paul (Hobday & Hicks)

PRODUCTION SCHEDULE

If everything goes to plan, this will be our production schedule for the campaign:

• May 2022 - Kickstarter Campaign
• July & August 2022 - Pledge Manager
• July, August, September, October, November & December 2022 - Production
• November 2022 - Deliver STL files to Digital Backers
• End of January 2023 - All pledges despatched for Delivery
• End of May 2023 - The second wave of Physical Fortified Hospitals despatched for Delivery
• End of September 2023 - The third wave of Physical Fortified Hospitals despatched for Delivery

Pledge Manager opening Sunday 3rd of July 2022
almost 2 years ago – Thu, Jun 30, 2022 at 02:03:51 PM

A relatively short update just to let you know that the Outremer pledge manager will be going live on Sunday, the 3rd of July 2022, which is this Sunday. I did mention in earlier updates that it would likely be the end of this month. However, the success of the Kickstarter has meant there was a lot more to get ready this time, and I wanted to double-check to ensure everything was correct and ready to go. 

When it does go live, you will receive an email that looks like the image above from Paul and me. You will gain access by clicking on the 'Click Here to Respond' button.

I will send out a further update over the weekend with all the information you need to complete your survey and manage your pledge. If you need any help or you find an issue, please do not hesitate to contact me, and I will do my best to help you.

OUTREMER ACTION TOKENS

There is no reason why you can't use your existing Action Tokens for games played out in the crusader states. However, if you want everything to tie in like me, we have you covered. Steve Beckett has designed new Outremer Action Tokens, which we have added to the pledge manager for those who want a set. The eagle-eyed among you will notice there is a new 'Exhausted' token. We have included it as the Outremer book has new rules for your warriors becoming exhausted. It's all that fighting in the sun that does it.

If you have any questions before the weekend, please get in touch. If not, the next time you hear from us will be when the pledge manager opens!

Stay Safe!

~Andy & Paul (Hobday & Hicks)

Why not join The Barons' War Facebook Group and checkout the WARHOST website the home for The Barons' War game.

An Update about the BW4: Outremer Pledge Manager
almost 2 years ago – Mon, Jun 27, 2022 at 02:54:02 AM

It's almost the end of June, so when will we get access to the pledge manager? 

Well, if everything goes to plan, it will be this week. The final step we have to take is to obtain approval from BackerKit, and we will be requesting this tomorrow, Monday the 27th of July 2022.

If you are not aware, BackerKit is the pledge manager we will be using and, in our opinion, one of the best, which is why we keep using it. For example, all pledge details submitted during the Kickstarter campaign have been seamlessly transferred over and are waiting for you. BackerKit helps us to save lots of time by streamlining the survey process, automating data organisation, and providing us with pledge management software to make it easy to process and keep track of your pledge shipments. 

EMAIL INVITATION TO THE PLEDGE MANAGER

When we get the green light, you will receive an invitation email sent to the same address as your Kickstarter email. This email will contain a private link to your individual pledge manager account, and it is essential to log in and submit your responses as quickly as possible since we need this information to process your pledge.

If this is your first time, do not fear! On the actual day the pledge manager opens, we will send out a guide, via an update, explaining how to use it. It will include a detailed walkthrough, with images, explaining each step of the process. Both Paul and I will also be available throughout the entire process, not only with updates, but on hand to provide individual help where needed.

So in short not long now until the Outremer pledge manager opens. We will notify you as soon as we are ready.

~Andy & Paul (Hobday & Hicks)

Why not join The Barons' War Facebook Group and checkout the WARHOST website the home for The Barons' War game.