Spartan Games have decided to release the core v2 rules online in a free download directly from their website;
http://www.spartangames.co.uk/firestorm-armada-rulebook-download
This is a great move - for anyone that doesn't already know and play FSA but has an interest in 40K, BFG, SF, space-faring or wargames in general, get the rules now and get playing!
There's plenty of meaterial that isn't in the hardback book, so once you've tried it out there's still reason to buy the book, which is a smart and a commendable route for a games company to go down. Let's hope this move encourages others to join what is a friendly and fun community, and boost sales of their excellent miniatures.
Thank you Spartan!
Various ramblings on the modelling & gaming antics of my son and I
Showing posts with label Customer Support. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Customer Support. Show all posts
Wednesday, 30 January 2013
Monday, 2 July 2012
Back to 40K...
After the Spartan community debacle, I couldn't bring myself to look at any FSA models at the weekend, so I thought I'd get back to sorting out my Hellhammer and painting up a landraider. The Hellhammer has sat around for ages - I've always intended to sell it, but other things have always been more important/distracting. Anyway, I need the money so that's always a push in the right direction. First up, I needed to spray the sponsons, and then go over the whole thing paint chipping with a Karisma silver pencil. Here's progress to date...
Next up is to do the detail painting on the sponsons and weathering, then she's done. Then it will be ebay and off to it's new home!
Next up was a landraider, which on a whim I decided to paint up as a Blood Angels vehicle (I'm normally an Ultramarines man). So, a base coat of Mechrite red, followed by Blood Red and Blood Red/Blazing Orange sprayed highlights;
An overall wash of green for contrast (still wet in the photo)...
...and then drybrushed with Blood Red and then Blazing Orange;
Lots of specific painting to go now - lascannons, exhausts, bolters, tracks, emblems, lights....then more washing & drybrushing, followed by weathering & paint chipping. Seems like a long way off but getting the base colour sprayed is always the biggy, as I don;t seem to get the time to spray as much as I should or would like.
Next up is to do the detail painting on the sponsons and weathering, then she's done. Then it will be ebay and off to it's new home!
Next up was a landraider, which on a whim I decided to paint up as a Blood Angels vehicle (I'm normally an Ultramarines man). So, a base coat of Mechrite red, followed by Blood Red and Blood Red/Blazing Orange sprayed highlights;
An overall wash of green for contrast (still wet in the photo)...
...and then drybrushed with Blood Red and then Blazing Orange;
Lots of specific painting to go now - lascannons, exhausts, bolters, tracks, emblems, lights....then more washing & drybrushing, followed by weathering & paint chipping. Seems like a long way off but getting the base colour sprayed is always the biggy, as I don;t seem to get the time to spray as much as I should or would like.
Wednesday, 21 March 2012
Games Workshop New Paint Range
Well I received a "sneak preview" video in my inbox from Games Workshop yesterday, which I think is intended to generate some awareness of their 145 new paints in the "all-new" range that's been heavily leaked already. Apart from the sneak peak being pretty obscure (you'd really have needed to know that they were about to release a new paint range to know that's what it's about), I must say I'm very underwhelmed by the prospect of a load of new paints. Having got used to the properties of Citadel paints over the past years, and having a large stock of them, I'm not about to chuck them all in the bin and buy a new range. If I did go for a new range, I'd probably move away from Citadel and the Games Workshop franchise for reasons of quality and price. Unless the new ranges turn me into an instant artist, I'll be greeting them with a hearty "meh".
Now, I'm not against improvement, but a wholesale change of something as fundamental as the paints is something different. Think of the tens of thousands of paints out there already, and those in GW stores...at more than 2 GBP (about $4) each, I'm thinking that the reason GW want a new paint range is more about economics and profit than painting. I welcomed the washes they brought out, and even went for the foundation paints (not 100% convinced, though I do use them), but I'd have thought this was also the way to bring out further additions to the range (and apparently their are other "types"), whihc would have had more "buy-in" from their customer base. I'm afraid it really smacks of GW not actually caring what their install base thinks, just what new custom they can buy. This has been an underlying theme in their rules changes and codexes, where whole rafts of (expensive) models suddenly become redundant (thinks Necrons and Pariahs, for example).
As a businessman, I'm afraid I find this approach just a tad too cynical for my liking. It's not like their aren't other games companies out there, and they have very different attitudes than the leviathan that GW has become. Oscar and I have been getting into Firestorm Armada from Spartan Games, where a complete starter fleet will set you back the same as a single carnifex from GW. So for 40GBP each you and a friend can buy a complete fleet, rulebook and cardset and be playing deep-space battles. In fact, you can spend 15GBP and do the same as they provide downloadable cut-out fleets so you can try before you buy the models, so you can even get a feel for how they play before you commit to them. That's pretty good. Granted, the rulebook does have less gloss, background and integration than some GW publications, but it's also less than half the price and, in terms of gameplay (which is what really counts, after all!), works extremely well.
Now, I'm not against improvement, but a wholesale change of something as fundamental as the paints is something different. Think of the tens of thousands of paints out there already, and those in GW stores...at more than 2 GBP (about $4) each, I'm thinking that the reason GW want a new paint range is more about economics and profit than painting. I welcomed the washes they brought out, and even went for the foundation paints (not 100% convinced, though I do use them), but I'd have thought this was also the way to bring out further additions to the range (and apparently their are other "types"), whihc would have had more "buy-in" from their customer base. I'm afraid it really smacks of GW not actually caring what their install base thinks, just what new custom they can buy. This has been an underlying theme in their rules changes and codexes, where whole rafts of (expensive) models suddenly become redundant (thinks Necrons and Pariahs, for example).
As a businessman, I'm afraid I find this approach just a tad too cynical for my liking. It's not like their aren't other games companies out there, and they have very different attitudes than the leviathan that GW has become. Oscar and I have been getting into Firestorm Armada from Spartan Games, where a complete starter fleet will set you back the same as a single carnifex from GW. So for 40GBP each you and a friend can buy a complete fleet, rulebook and cardset and be playing deep-space battles. In fact, you can spend 15GBP and do the same as they provide downloadable cut-out fleets so you can try before you buy the models, so you can even get a feel for how they play before you commit to them. That's pretty good. Granted, the rulebook does have less gloss, background and integration than some GW publications, but it's also less than half the price and, in terms of gameplay (which is what really counts, after all!), works extremely well.
Tuesday, 13 March 2012
Spartan Games Customer Support
Just thought I'd put a quick "Thank You" and ringing endorsement to Spartan Games for providing excellent customer support, which in the current climate really sets it apart from many companies out there...(one will not be mentioned!).
I had a Sorylian frigate in my starter fleet box received a week or so ago from an on-line trader which was slightly mis-cast, not majorly but enough that it couldn't be easily fixed (it looked like the resin at the rear hadn't cured when it had been taken out of the mould, and so had extruded/lengthened at the end, plus being slightly banana-shaped), and so the metal end-piece wouldn't fit on. Even if it had, it would have looked wrong. It was the only mis-cast in the box, but I got in touch with Spartan via email anyway as I'd heard they had good after-sales service from their forums.
Within 10 minutes I got a reply saying they'd replace it, and I received it today. No fuss, no quibbles, just a request for the colour of a packing dot so they could trace internally for QC (I couldn't find this, so just sent them photos of the box so they could see it if I'd missed it!).
10/10 Spartan for your customer service - I was already a fan, but this has further cemented my opinion.Seems they have guaranteed further spending on their products for the future!
I had a Sorylian frigate in my starter fleet box received a week or so ago from an on-line trader which was slightly mis-cast, not majorly but enough that it couldn't be easily fixed (it looked like the resin at the rear hadn't cured when it had been taken out of the mould, and so had extruded/lengthened at the end, plus being slightly banana-shaped), and so the metal end-piece wouldn't fit on. Even if it had, it would have looked wrong. It was the only mis-cast in the box, but I got in touch with Spartan via email anyway as I'd heard they had good after-sales service from their forums.
Within 10 minutes I got a reply saying they'd replace it, and I received it today. No fuss, no quibbles, just a request for the colour of a packing dot so they could trace internally for QC (I couldn't find this, so just sent them photos of the box so they could see it if I'd missed it!).
10/10 Spartan for your customer service - I was already a fan, but this has further cemented my opinion.Seems they have guaranteed further spending on their products for the future!
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