Armies Army: 15mm Cold War Kickstarter

Mit dem Armies Army Kickstarter sollen Briten und Soviets in Winteruniform zur Zeit des kalten Krieges finanziert werden, im 15mm Maßstab.

First off, thank you for looking at my Kick starter campaign! I hope it serves you well.

Around two or three years ago and after several years making a range of 15mm Sci Fi figures I began investigating creating a range of 15mm figures for the Cold War era. I began to research several scenarios including the Nato Northern Flank, British Army on the Rhine and began modelling several vehicles to represent the nations involved. The fruition of this work finalised with the release of my Soviet Airborne VDV (Vozdushno-desantnye voyska) force, which is comprised of infantry units, Artillery, APC and Tank Destroyers. They were recently reviewed by the breakthrough assault group whom are the largest Flames of War group/bloggers . I can quote them – ‚as good as ‚ Battlefront figurines. A full interview and supportive comments can be found at their podcast home http://breakthroughassault.libsyn.com/

The VDV release includes the BMD 1 and 1 P, ASU-85 and a soon to be released company level infantry force. These are all 1:100 or 15mm scale and the infantry do match popular figures such Forged in Battle and can be used with Flames of War miniatures etc.

With the successful launch of these figures I’ve started to look at my next release and after hours of thought and discussions I’ve decided upon my most favourite force and closest to my heart the British Army (plus a little VDV Soviet Airborne to allow for quick start battles), however with a slightly different trait in that Ill be working on ‚Winter uniforms‘ I think they look cooler and take me some what away from the ’norm‘. Its not snow suits, however more representative of cold weather gear which was often worn.

Why kickstarter? Well a couple of reasons. Funding gives me the ability to release a FULL range of infantry and vehicles and secondly it provides me with an awesome marketing platform which can help calculate demand via the reward system and more importantly plan accordingly all of which are important to me. I want to set a plan and to stick to it!

To help I have in place several elements which should give me the necessary capability to stick to the plan.

First I have ran a successful kickstarter and had plenty of lessons learned. I had some challengers in that I was reliant on others to produce my figures. This reliance has been vastly reduced as I now have the capacity to produce my own metal parts and figures.

I am not starting from scratch. The infantry are to be created from a series of dollies, which have already been mastered and readied. The sculptor will simply create the upper torso and use metal dolly heads, weapons and dolly legs to create the forces. This will greatly speed up the process.

British Dollies andSoviet Dollies

My mold maker is an old hand and his business is ‚mold making‘. Importantly he lives within 15 minutes of me. This again allows me to simply drive over to drop items off and pick items up.

I have several 3d models already created. The most recent models have been described as the best yet for printing and mold making by the guys themselves. I am using the same guys. I have a tried and tested 3d printer of the highest quality ready for use and have now used for a number of years ironing out any previous issues. The print and clean ups are of the highest quality and amongst the best out there in my opinion and many others!

3d Print Quality!

The first goal I want to achieve is enough figures and vehicles to represent an infantry company, mechanised infantry company or a tank regiment for the British and an airborne company for the Russian VDV airborne. This is based upon a platoons 3 rifle sections and a HQ section. If mechanised, each section has an APC.

For the British the Armoured Personal Carrier will be the FV432 with crew (resin hull and metal parts)

FV432

The main battle tank will be the venerable Chieftain tank with crew (resin hull and metal parts)

Chieftain MBT Render

The infantry will be in winter cold weather uniform, Mk V ‚turtle‘ helmet, 58 pattern webbing and the L1A1 SLR rifle. Each section will also carry the GPMG and 84 MM MAW ‚Carl Gustav‘ . They are representative of the cold war period up to around 1988 and probably even a little later given the speed it takes to change uniforms etc.

The platoon HQ will have 2 officers, 1 Radioman, 1 light Mortar and a Medic

The Soviet VDV Airborne Armoured Personal Carrier will be the BMD-1 or BMD-1P (All metal parts)

BMD-1

The ASU-85 Tank Destroyer (resin hull and metal parts)

ASU 85 – Master

The infantry will be in winter cold weather uniform, armed with AK rifles, RPK’s, RPG’s with mixed helmets and Ushanka hats. The command HQ consists of officers, radio man, medic and a political officer!

The majority of these Soviet VDV are already in the production cycle and will be available at my shop before this Kickstarter finishes. I will also offer new troops and vehicles through the kickstarter rewards and these will be available at the special kickstarter price. Anyone whose reward includes only items that are already available will be shipped immediately on success 🙂

Again these are representative of the cold war period, however are quite suitable as most soviet bloc force troops for a number of years later and can even be used as forces for today’s world.

VDV Sculpted Greens

REWARDS

The reward pricing seems a little odd at first glance, however I am trying to provide rewards based on a troop, section, platoon or company so that explains the odd price levels. I have tried to allow for separate British and VDV options and also some starter game rewards which include both forces. I am quite happy to offer others on request. I’m hoping it makes the most sense as opposed to selecting rewards by a set of fixed prices.

STRETCH GOALS

As every stretch goal is achieved I will increase the range of options available as part of your reward and create some new rewards. These will also include the special kickstarter reductions. They will also be made available as addons. A series of stretch goals have been planned and if successful will allow you to represent an even greater force with numerous variants. I am happy to listen to alternatives 🙂

I will also be offering addons for all individual elements on top of your rewards at the same discounted price. This will enable you to purchase exactly what you require for your personal OOB.

Stretch goals will be an option to anyone who has pledged £25 or more. They will be added to reward choices or additional addons

>>>>>>>>>> £2700 TARGET REACHED!!!!!

>>>>>>Reached!!! British 2 man Sniper Team, VDV sniper team

>>>>>>Reached!!! British Sustained Fire GPMG team, VDV ALG team

>>>>>>Reached!!! British Milan ATGM team and VDV Sagger team

>>>>>>Reached!!! British Air to Air BlowPipe Team and ZSU-23-2

>>>>>>Reached!!! Set of Stowage for that ‚in the field‘ look

>>>>>>Reached!!! Landrover and UAZ 469

>>>>>>Reached!!! Scimitar / Scorpion Armoured Recce Vehicle

>>>>>>Reached!!! Challenger 1 MBT

>>>>>>>£4500 FV433 Abbot SPG

>>>>>>>£4800 FV432 81mm Mortar Carrier

>>>>>>>>£5100 FV438 SwingFire

>>>>>>>>£6000 4 man SAS Troop , 4 man Spetnaz

>>>>>>>>£6700 Fox Armoured Car

ADD ONS

All pledges will also be allowed to purchase add-ons at the discounted price. Discounts vary between 5 and 10 % off retail price. Additional sets may vary as more stretch goals are reached. Shipping varies on location and size of pledge. Shipping will be kept as minimal as possible. I have listed below the first set of stretch goals I would like to achieve

Add ons are available at the following prices. Shipping will be calculated if in addition in size/weight of the reward. This price is a special kickstarter price

British Troops

Infantry section 8 men = £3.20

Infantry HQ 5 men = £2.00

FV432 APC =£6

Chieftain MBT = £8.00

Challenger MBT =£9.00

British MBT Chieftain Troop = £23

British mechanised infantry platoon = £35

British Mechanised Company HQ = £35

British MBT Company Chieftain = £107

British Mechanised Infantry Company = £127

British Sniper Section (6 men) £2.20

British GPMG sustained Fire Section (6 crew 3 guns) £3.40

British Milan ATGM Section(6 crew 3 guns) £2.80

British BlowPipe Section (6 men) £2.20

Soviet VDV Airborne

Infantry section 8 men = £3.20

Infantry HQ 5 men = £2.00

BMD 1 = £5.50

BMD 1P =£5.50

ASU 85 = £6.50

Soviet VDV mechanised Airborne platoon = £30

Soviet VDV Tank Destroyer Troop =£19

Soviet Tank Destroyer Company = £63

Soviet Airborne Mechanised Infantry Company =£104

Soviet VDV Sniper Section (6 men) £2.20

Soviet VDV AGS-17 Section (6 crew 3 guns) =£3.40

Soviet ATGM Section(6 crew 3 guns) £2.80

Soviet ManPad Section (6 men) £2.20

Shipping will be calculated on total weight and size depending on final awards/addons you would like

Preparation and Shipping

As mentioned the VDV are nearly 100% ready. They need to be cast and shipped depending on any additional stretch goals reached.

The British forces are also many weeks into the process. The 3d sculpting of the Chieftain MBT and FV432 are completed and awaiting printing. Other stretch goals are also readied for printing. The infantry dollies have been master cast and ready for assembly and final sculpting. All of this preparation will allow myself to start shipping well before the May deadline, however experience tells me to allow for extra time for unforeseen issues out of my control such as success! Yes a massive success has successful scuppered many a good kickstarter and I’ve put as much as I can into place to account for this, including the use of a bulk caster of miniature casting fame:) If I successfully reach all of my stretch goals then that would mean a massive success and this might add a week or two in addition. This will mean though that you have far more options in your rewards:)

Please do not hesitate to contact me with questions or suggestions. I aim to add stretch goals depending on feedback! Ill try my best to do what you want to see!

Finally many thanks for looking!

best regards

Keith

Die Kampagne steht aktuell bei 4.758,00 GBP und läuft noch 23 Tage.

Quelle: Armies Army: 15mm Cold War Kickstarter