DANGER, WILL ROBINSON, DANGER!!!

Hi awesome readers as most of my readers seem be from the UK I thought this post most poinent a few days ok the below OH FUCK, OH FUCK WE'RE OUTTA MONEY!!! email arrived in my inbox below. Now I stopper using Maelstrom a while back for a few reasons.

Firstly: Orders take for fucking ever to get to New Zealand.

Secondly: Re-stocks move slower that contenintal drift

Thirdly(not really a word): They're liars. Remember some time back when they went all anti Battlefront and stopped selling the most popular WW2 toy soldier game in the world and blamed it all on BF? Well that email/excuse was a page full of lies and they did come crawling back to BF on bloodied knees, probablly something to do with Wayland Games taking all that sweet sweet toy soldier money.

Anyways the below says to me HI, WE'RE FUCKED, CAN I HAS YOUR CREDIT CARD? lol what fuck off mate. Anyways smart readers as always use my link and shop Wayland Games I have no complaint of product from them.



Here at Maelstrom Games we have decided to clear as much of our hard-earned stock as we possibly can over the next few days - and therefore generate some much-needed cashflow - in order to ensure we can fulfil the orders that you, our valued customers, have placed over the last few weeks. To that end, we have decided - in consultation with our trading partners - to sell our remaining stock of Battlefront Miniatures (at 25% off), Perry Miniatures, Victrix, Plastic Soldier Company, Artizan Designs, Gripping Beast and Great War Miniatures (all at 30% off). All other ranges' stock will now be sold at 40% off UK RRP - we hold good stocks of Gamezone Miniatures, Dark Age, Cool Mini or Not and Scibor Miniatures, and there's a fair bit of Privateer Press and Malifaux left too. As well as that, from this moment onwards we have decided to stop any customer from placing orders for items that are not in stock, simply so that we can clear the orders that have already been placed.


We have not made this decision lightly, and please note that we have absolutely no issues with any of the above manufacturers or suppliers; we are simply trying to sell off stock in order to clear older orders and ease any worries our customers may have regarding the speculation that is currently rife on the internet. As well as that, we believe that our retailing model must now change to selling products that are in stock at the time of purchase, and as such that will continue to be in place in the future, once our orders are cleared and our stock is sold.

I would ask all of our customers to remain as patient as they can with Maelstrom Games and, indeed, our staff, for we will use the money generated by the sale of our stock to ensure all of your orders are fulfilled in their entirety as quickly as possible. We remain committed to servicing our customers first and foremost and will continue to do so in the future.

Your Stock Clearance Sale Voucher
To recap, we're clearing our remaining stock of Flames of War products at 25% off UK RRP, and clearing Perry Miniatures, Victrix, Plastic Soldier Company, Artizan Designs, Gripping Beast and Great War Miniatures at 30% off UK RRP until this Friday, 12th of October 2012 at midnight (GMT). All other products are at 40% off bar Templar's Forge products, which are being cleared at 50% off UK RRP, please note.

These kind of sales do not occur very often and we would hope that you take advantage - and remember, our stock will be sold on a first come, first served basis so you will have to decide what you want very quickly as we suspect it will sell very quickly!

Your voucher code is: WAREHOUSE-MOVES

To use this voucher simply register on the webstore, www.maelstromgames.co.uk (if you haven't already), copy and paste the code into the Voucher field in your basket when you have selected the items you want, press 'REDEEM', and the webstore will do the rest. You are not limited to one purchase and, indeed, we would ask you to recommend us to your friends with this voucher!

Remember though that this voucher is intended for the webstore only.

Happy Ordering! "

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50 shades of panzer grey

Hello again readers and than you for popping by and having a read and a looksee you're probably wondering "Hey WTF happened to Daniel, he used to blog a lot and now it's just the same shit and no new pictures!"

Well first off I apologise yes I have been tardy with my updates. However this does not mean I've stopped painting and playing ,goodness no, if anything my wargaming and hobby mind has been expanded it was like I took the red pill and it's been pretty fucken awesome.

 Since I've been gone I've helped start a wargaming club in here in West Auckland known as T.C.O.W (That Club out West aka Those cunts out West) it's been running quite successfully for about 3-4 months now, if you live in West Auckland and want to show up or join just let me know.

Now with great gaming club comes new games and I have played and seen a few Zombiecide, Super Dungeon Explore, X-Wing, Malifaux, Song of Blades and Heros, Warmahine, New 40K and some more Flames of War.

Next thing we needed was a forum for all this awesome shit Facebook is a great tool but it's not as good as a nice organised forum turns out the folks here http://www.cityguard.co.nz/forum/ forgot who actually owned it long boring story short, didn't like what they were doing and is turning it into a generic NZ or Auckland wargaming site, so lots of cool stuff going to happen there.

I also got a promotion and although I never let work interfere with play I have been tired as my underlings are a tad shit and half them don't show up not to worry there's always someone who will work harder for less.

"But Dan all we see is a wall of text whatcha painting?" Well I was on the verge of finishing a commission for a nice gentleman in Australia had a few decals to slip on and little touch ups on some planes when all of a sudden I couldn't find the first platoon of brit infantry I painted. So I've conceded and brought another blister fortunately I paint Infantry pretty quickly but I HATE LOSING SHIT!

I'm sure there's a ton of other stuff I've missed out on oh yea yes I filled in for Damian in a game of 40K in a biggish tourney it was the first time in 15 years that I'd played and my opponents weren't even born then I CRUSHED THEM here's some pics of the crushing the children (doubles tourney) apparently seizing the initiative gives you the first turn or something..

That robot machine spent the rest of the game facing that wall. Y'all wanna see my painting desk?

RAAAAAW Red things anyways that's enough for now stay frosty people.

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Armchair Repairs:

I didn't write this someone said I could use it on the condition of anonononominimityism anyways it was their take on how BF could fix their current issues.

 We all would have Stratagems to Control and Counter the PSC (insert X-brand 15mm WWII mini manufacturer) superior points of difference, being AVAILABILITY, PRICE and QUALITY.


So currently the customer visible practices are:

- lockdown BF Tournament miniature usage

- suggest that BF-supported Tournaments do the same

- control the Gamer-2-Gamer & Web message by the BF Ranger program

- control the Local Game Store message as BF Dealers getting deals for promoting the brand

- expand BF-associated Tournaments in the US & UK/EUR

The things they need to do in addition is:

- make public statements and display how they are working on improving their Quality Control & Assurance,


- show how they practise their goals of providing a Quality Product


- Structure and Control their own damned infernal Supply Chain, it is a SHAMBLES.


- Win back their customers and potential customers worldwide by functional, real world, gamer friendly displays. eg, Website quiz to win Minis or limited edition clobber.


- Talk To Your Customers, don't just Tell Them What They Are Thinking. BF is terrible at this, they always state what their customers want. "I don't want to play against non BF minis, yo" - this is what a BF sales rep would say, who is not a customer. Easy to achieve with simple (and done in the past) web market research that you can then use to actually back up your position or change it when your customers show you their opinions. Have questionnaires at major stores, send them out with orders. Most importantly is follow the advice as it will make your product and brand better.


- Control your Message by allowing your supporters to provide positive examples of your good practice and superior brand. They cannot provide those examples without the company making the best choices for the customers. Make sure you have a company wide message that syncs your customers needs to your goals. Brands fail when they think they are bigger than their customers. People buy products they identify with as part of themselves.


- Provide options that allow their customers to gain a benefit from spending money on your product. eg Boxes actually provide discounts, distribution chain wide deals for 'spend x, get y'. This doesn't mean the RRP changes, this means the customer has incentives to buy your stock over the cheaper stuff sitting next to it or easily accessible online, straight to their door.


The saddest thing is that they could do all these properly, it is achievable even for a 'company of their size'. They need to make it a priority across the entire staff, every team.

Not just hot air, it needs to be parcelled out as process changes, mentality shifts and the realisation that if they continue forward they really will lose what made them a successful company with generous support from its customers.

The issue I believe is that they are largely ignoring the tough work and feeling busy enough doing the achievable work of supplying miniatures to dealers, building miniatures and having very high production issues with their products.

They are losing the PR war, if they haven't lost it already. A lot of their longest supporters are growing very weary and tired of the same issues and mistakes, becoming jokes to laugh off, then memes, then embarrassments.


There are still a lot of people who enjoy Flames of War and who want the system and Battlefront to do well. But to be mistaken for fervent supporters who can take any change and continue to provide the same brand loyalty is a very dangerous and arrogant assumption.

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Product Review Time

Hi again everyone! Who was that angry guy in July? Crazy anyways let  move onto some positvive happy stuff. Things that make our toys look awesome and can enhance our battlefield. I saw on Battlefronts site that they were releasing Chain, Barbed Wire (15mm & 28mm Scale) and Cable I found these 3 in Vagabonds in town today during lunch and thought they be just what I and you the reader needed.

First up Iron chain 1.5mm chain there's 2 meters of it so it'll last forever any self respecting Warmachine players going to want to pick up a set of these that and anyone who wants to or needs chain. A trick that can be done with chain is shaping it by super glueing individual links and hitting them with GF9 Rapid Cure having the chain set up in a dynamic pose.

Chain Fist



Next up is Barbed Wire (FOW) this is set up for flames of war and suits the theme the way of making more realistic looking barbed wire is time consuming and a little stabby it comes on the same spool however there is 8 meters of it (that's 400 yards in imperial probabally). Overall a handy product if you need to shore up some defences.

Finally we have Iron Cable 1.0mm once again it's 2 meters now I had to hold this in front of the mini as it has a tendancy to unreel itself. However this is braided cable great for tow cables on tanks and also power cording on robot death machine things. This product probablly won't be the most popular but it has it's uses.

If you like any of the products shown here be sure to use the Wayland Games link at the top of the page and get yourself a few sets.

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Kristen Stewart cheats on Robert Pattinson

Awww so sad that this happened.

 Actually no not really it took me a while to figure out who they were and by that time I had lost all interest and that leads us on to the month just ended and holy shit has it been a crazy one.

TL:DR: Daniel gets angry stays up late gets all ragey and makes lots of spelling mistakes.

I make no qualms about it Flames of War is my favourite miniatures games but when you do something really daft and release the below statement

The final change we are making is that from the new season all the events we run with will be only allowing Battlefront miniatures to be used. This is bound to cause some debate, so let me be clear as to why we have chosen to go down this path. Joe, Gareth and our events cost a great deal of money to run: a little over a quarter of a million American dollars this year alone. And, although it seems childish to draw a line in the sand and say, "If you want to play at our events and support the FOW hobby, you should not be bringing other people's models along," it is absolutely that simple. Our business is a business and we want Flames Of War to grow; we intend to give it the best support we can, but this support has a cost

Which created a clusterfuck shitstorm level 33 on the forums now with any Games Workshop, Privateer Press game you can do this because no one else can make an Adeptus Astartes Space Marine but anyone in the world can make a fucking 15mm Sherman.

Now although it's a dumb idea it only applies to their tournaments so all the other tournies are ok and for some unusual reason it was going to apply to New Zealand as well? Last time I checked Joe Krone didn't do anything here and spreading the tournaments around the country and having local clubs arrage it that's cool but who the heck missed out on Battlecry? It's only the biggest non-electronic wargaming event in the whole country!!!

One thing you can tell that this was a management idea ones who are disconnected from actual wargamers. Wargamers are tight bastards who spend 90% of their time trying to get blood out of a stone and to get them to only use your expensive toys when there are loads move alternatives out there some at a third the price is rediculous.

The other things I hate about corporate tools is when they lie this sentence  "we get quite a lot of people saying they don't enjoy playing against non battlefront miniatures" quoted by John Matthews BF CEO  USA I call bullshit the only thing I don't like about flames of war is losing and all the Steve's who play.

Who would go up to the CEO of a company say that. NOBODY! That's who in fact it would work the opposite

 "Oh hey these tanks are plastic they look really good" "Thank's they're Plastic Toy Soldier Company cost about half the price" "Wow I'll have to look into that" .

Fortunately for BF people power works and they did listen to reason and they released the below  statement however in the 3 days that it was the new rule they did more damage to their company then any price rise or rule change could've. If they'd had stayed the course I'm almost certain 2013 would've been BF's last year.


Battlefront Official Events Update

In all the years we have been in business we have had an open and honest policy about listening to our gamers and genuinely taking their views on board to the extent of sometimes changing our plans. We apologise for the confusion and angst our announcement has caused as it was never our intention. We did not see this change as a big problem as we were simply formalising something we already thought was existing practise, albeit informally.

In the interests of compromise and fairness to everybody’s opinion we will change the word “all” to “majority” (meaning over half) in the tournament rules for the 2013 season. Although we were not clear enough about this last week we did not consider die cast planes, scratch built models or objectives (assuming they are the right size), terrain or models we do not currently make to be covered by this. As is always the case, if you are unsure simply get in touch with your tournament organiser and clarify the situation but we are going to revert to the best option in all cases, common sense.

The new season rules take effect from the masters in December this year and only apply to the officially run Battlefront tournaments listed on our site. Independent tournaments are free to choose their own system, as they always have been.

One of the feedback ideas that did come back from our weekend conversations that we really liked was to also further reward people who came along with 100% Battlefront armies. This is an idea that we will definitely work on for the future.

We are committed to supporting and growing the Flames Of War hobby and want to invest more in the future, in events, the website and programs like the Rangers all of which we are happy to spend money on to provide this to you for free.

We want to thank our moderators for doing such a sterling job this weekend especially given they had no warning at all. We appreciate all the civil comments whether for or against. We feel that our compromise shows that we believed all views have merit. We hope this once again proves that we do listen."

~ Pete, John & John-Paul.

Never underestimate the power of the enraged wargamer and never ever make statements unless you are prepared to back them up stats. Next week I'll post up some pictures of kittens or something :P

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Warhammer 40K Rulebook

So I hear all this noise about the above book mostly it's NZ price tag of $146 to which would be justified if it came in a box filled with toys but it doesn't. I thought I've give 40K another chance I haven't played a game since the 1998.

This was going to be like seeing that good friend you hadn't seen since high school sure he'd gotten more corporate and and wasn't as fun anymore but hey it was still him. As a wargamer it is my solem right not to pay full price and I didn't I wandered into the new Vagabonds located out the back of the building I work in and paid $99 for it a "bargin" so they tell me.

I thought to myself this is a hefty tome full of rules and handy diagrams but alas twas not to be 432 pages long 131 of them are rules the rest is fluff and pictures of toys I guess Games Workshop needs to get new blood into the hobby so 300 pages of stories and pretty pictures might do it.

I read the rules in a night with my friend Damian advising me on what meant what and what changed since the last version and crazy stuff I hadn't heard about (I played Version 3 only). It's a very straight forward move, shoot, assault game as it always was.

Dare I paint an army???

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Rubber Shoes in Motion

Here is my test mini for a Khador army I'm working on. The head and arms are all magnatised so that once painted I can load out the 3 different Khador Jack options as they are all based on a standard chassis.

The paint job only took about 5 hours in total. Originally I had airbrushed it with Tamiya Red and then added German Grey to the mix although the red tones where nice I wasn't happy so I decided I want to a winter wash Khador the kind that's been in the field for 3 months and things are just plain muck and rust.

After the now dull red was applied I ran some hairspray through my airbrush and sprinkled salt over the parts I wanted to remove. Painted it white and removed the salt as per the below videos and used Vallejo and some Mig weathering pigments to enhance the worn rusty and the base was made with the soon to be released 28mm Hero Basing kit, KingDans Snow and KingDans Just Sand. I hope these videos help you out. As usual support Wayland games using the link above and don't forget about the chair fund it has a total of zero dollars so far and I may soon be forced to purchase my own :(

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