Necromunda The Sump: General hobby venting thread (Beware: old men shouting at clouds)

[Pagumb]

I’m not regretting giving Bombshell Minis a try. I should check out their rule set, but it’s kinda Space Opera Fantasy so…. Maybe not?

My big problem now is that most of the minis I like are made overseas and I can’t afford that. Bombshell is across the country. So is Mad Robot. And then I think Victoria Minis has a US plant or producer for their products.

Victoria Miniatures does have a USA producer. $5 shipping with $50+ orders getting free shipping.

I’ve had some luck with places like Miniatures Market or Noble Knight Games who try to carry a wide variety of games/miniatures/terrain but I have also made my peace with mail order and trying to support smaller hobby companies like Pulp Alley in Oklahoma or Anvil Industries. That plus Etsy and Drive Thru RPG for digital rules for games like Verrotwood keep me in hobby clutter.

 

[MusingWarboss]

Given GW's "limited run" approach to, well, everything these days, I'm wondering if I'll need to start worrying about Mantic pulling FOMO moves too now.

One of my ancient grumbles about Mantic was their tendency to just go to Kickstarter for apparently everything. Even units for established games like Kings of War.

Made me lose interest in them as a company tbh, it was almost as if they either had no faith in their own product lines to sell if produced traditionally or were deliberately just passing the initial risk over to the customer.

Can’t see why they’d go FOMO when they could just limp back to Kickstarter.

 

[ClockworkOrange]

Warlord are also totally cool with people using other miniatures. Yes, they make miniatures for their games but they're quite open that there are other options to play and don't force you to use theirs, even for their own tournaments.

Just to echo @Stoof the main rule book actively encourages using other manufactures miniatures, and shock horror you can buy a full proper Army in one box! There’s also nothing quite like the shock an awe when you open your first Warlord army box and realise how many models you get for a very reasonable price! It makes you want to buy Moar!

Edit - This is the Sump? Ahhh the above makes me so grumpy, as a good capitalist management type think of the money they are losing! Pah!

 

[Punktaku]

I

Victoria Miniatures does have a USA producer. $5 shipping with $50+ orders getting free shipping.

I’ve had some luck with places like Miniatures Market or Noble Knight Games who try to carry a wide variety of games/miniatures/terrain but I have also made my peace with mail order and trying to support smaller hobby companies like Pulp Alley in Oklahoma or Anvil Industries. That plus Etsy and Drive Thru RPG for digital rules for games like Verrotwood keep me in hobby clutter.

I thought Anvil was in Europe?

 

[Ardavion]

I thought Anvil was in Europe?

It is, it's in London. I think @Pagumb is saying that while the shipping costs are probably quite a bit, it's worth it (maybe when putting in a big order?) to support the little guy that is "Not GW".

I bought some Victoria Minis once, and while I'd happily buy more Penal Legionnaires from them (and probably more) the shipping cost was roughly equivalent to the price of the minis I bought. If I made another order from them, I'd appreciate either a UK distributor to keep the shipping costs down, or to get together with some fellow Yaks to put one big order in, share the shipping cost and we all get our bits from the order at a TribeMeet or similar.

 

[Punktaku]

Yeah, Victoria is in Australia. But it was last year (I think) that they partnered with a producer in the US to print and distribute their models. I thought I read that they had a European/UK partner too?

 

[Mr. M]

@Punktaku More and more places in the US seem to be carrying Wargames Atlantic stuff. I've bought a few boxes of their stuff (conquistadors and space nam), and it's very well done (and also very reasonably priced).

 

[Punktaku]

I think I was eyeing their space valkyries?

 

[Troubled Child]

They have a good digital subscription as well.

 

[Brendan Flynn]

I am in Australia and Victoria miniatures do make some really nice guard alternatives. I have Orstralians, and several other lines of her minis including the excellent beastmen.

In America you have some smaller lines like Bronze Age minis which are excellent models (now out of our price range due to US mail prices), and yes bombshell minis too also an excellent range but again US mail is ridiculously expensive. To ship to Oz a five dollar mini cost ten dollars to ship. Pretty much killed sales outside the country.

There are a number of mini companies in the states I used to buy from often, but now seldom make a purchase from. Shipping prices are killing international trade so much so that it is rare for me to order overseas anymore. Even Royal mail is getting expensive and they have always been the cheapest and most reliable in the world.

 

[Punktaku]

I had a box of ork stuff I was going to send to a Yak Down Under, and it all fit in a small “flat rate” box. It was nearly $40 to ship. We called it off. Now any purchases are strictly from US companies. (I’ll have to check our Bronze Age.). Although sometimes Noble Knight or Miniature Market will have something else I want (like GW stuff). FLGS don’t carry much GW stuff at all.

 

[MusingWarboss]

If I made another order from them, I'd appreciate either a UK distributor to keep the shipping costs down, or to get together with some fellow Yaks to put one big order in, share the shipping cost and we all get our bits from the order at a TribeMeet or similar.

I brought some Victoria Miniatures stuff about 12 years ago, the models were lovely and well cast but the shipping was indeed expensive.

I quite like their retro Ogryn but I’d never order physical minis again as it’s too expensive and I don’t have a 3D printer.

It’s an odd situation. I’m a UK Yak so I could go in on a split shipping OR if the stuff you’re after is 3D printable, could just buy the 3D files and beg one of the nice Yaks with a fancy printer to print them out for us and bring them to TribeMeet…

Saying that, I’m unlikely to use said Ogryn for many years yet so I’m in no hurry.

 

[Ardavion]

I brought some Victoria Miniatures stuff about 12 years ago, the models were lovely and well cast but the shipping was indeed expensive.

I quite like their retro Ogryn but I’d never order physical minis again as it’s too expensive and I don’t have a 3D printer.

It’s an odd situation. I’m a UK Yak so I could go in on a split shipping OR if the stuff you’re after is 3D printable, could just buy the 3D files and beg one of the nice Yaks with a fancy printer to print them out for us and bring them to TribeMeet…

Saying that, I’m unlikely to use said Ogryn for many years yet so I’m in no hurry.

I'd be a physical bits guy; I've had a look at some of their STL offerings and I've not got much use for any of them.

My main draw for Victoria Miniatures is the "Penal Guard", who have torsos and legs that work pretty well for Pit Slaves, but I similarly don't *need* anything from Victoria Miniatures - my previous purchase was without understanding the shipping cost and just wanting to kitbash some Pit Slaves, so I now realise the extra shipping cost so I'm a bit more shy about it. Another nail in the coffin of ordering anything is that quite a bit of the stuff on offer (other than the Penal Guard) I can get comparative alternatives from suppliers in the UK.

If Anvil made sculpts of Prisoners/Convicts, for example, I'd have very little reason to buy anything from Victoria.

 

[MusingWarboss]

Yeah, it’s not just shipping I think we might even get stung with import costs now too.

They really need a UK distributor.

Anvil is really good, they do Wasteland body parts but not the chained up VM Penal Legion look.

 

[Spenetrator]

@Ardavion Wargames atlantic's cannon fodder have 'penal legion' bits that might fit the vibe you're after. And a decent distro model means you shouldn't have to worry about that side of things!

 

[Ardavion]

@Ardavion Wargames atlantic's cannon fodder have 'penal legion' bits that might fit the vibe you're after. And a decent distro model means you shouldn't have to worry about that side of things!

Wargames Atlantic Cannon Fodder (WACF) are a little more "jumpsuit" than I'd maybe want; they have the explosive collars built into the heads, whereas VM Penal Guard have them on the torsos, where they're a bit bigger. I do see the manacles/chains on the WACF sprue, though, which might be good for additional kitbashing.

The WACF torsos might, weirdly enough, work for a firefighter, which if Anvil produce their firefighter bits outside of digitally would probably provide a bit more variety for posing.

 

[Punktaku]

So I went to one of the FLGS type places, and they have a new wall of Gundam models and stuff. That stuff is so cheap compared to GW stuff…. Even the giant sets.

 

[cronevald]

So I went to one of the FLGS type places, and they have a new wall of Gundam models and stuff. That stuff is so cheap compared to GW stuff…. Even the giant sets.

Yeah, there are a couple of reasons why it became my other hobby. That's definitely one of them. There were a lot of price fluctuation and availability issues due to pandemic/supply chain but it seems like it's leveled off now. I've just started picking up the HG Witch from Mercury kits which are a whole lot of fun.

 

[Punktaku]

There are a couple of scenery sets for Gundam that I looked at and thought “That would be cool in Necromunda, but they’re probably too expensive” but it turned out they were $12.00. I’m pretty sure a similar kit would be around $40 from GW.

And what’s with the wide disparity or pricing on GW kits? Boarding Action beastmen were $60 and 40k chaos cultists were $47.50.

 

[Ardavion]

So I went to one of the FLGS type places, and they have a new wall of Gundam models and stuff. That stuff is so cheap compared to GW stuff…. Even the giant sets.

I was looking at some model kits for vehicles, to look at kitbashing new vehicles for ash wastes games. Some highly detailed (as in, in some cases you build the engine block before placing it under the bonnet, there are thin brass components) kits are similar in price (and likely weight) as some GW vehicles, even more so for forge world. Given that some of these kits are supposedly larger in scale but still look like they'd fit, I'd be of a mind to buy and convert.

Slight case in point;

1/43 Freightliner FLC 120 64 T Yellow 1977 - North East Model Centre

northeastmodelcentre.co.uk

Put a floor and some sides on the back, that's a decent truck for only £4 more than an Ork Trukk.