Warmachine: MKIV Update

Es gibt ein Update zur kommenden vierten Edition von Warmachine von Privateer Press, mit einer Verzögerung der zwei neuen Armeen der Orgoth Sea Raiders und der Cygnar Storm Legion, aber auch einem Ausblick auf die neuen Produktions- und Vertriebswege.

Mkiv Progress Report

Due to unprecedented demand, the originally planned October 28th release of the Orgoth Sea Raiders and Cygnar Storm Legion armies will be delayed until a bit later in the year. This, however, will not delay the launch of the Beta version of the app or the planned beta rules for MKIV Legacy armies, all of which are still on schedule for the end of October. While we need to announce the extended release date on the physical release of the new armies, we have several pieces of more exciting news to share as well. What follows is an outline of the various factors that have contributed to the delay as well as the several positive updates that have arisen from it.

Here’s the abbreviated version, if you’re short on time:

• Sea Raiders and Storm Legion Starters release date is moving to later in the quarter.
• The WARMACHINE app Beta is on schedule and due to release at the end of October.
• The extra time has allowed us to add more new poses to Sea Raider and Storm Legion infantry units so no two troopers in a unit look the same.
• We are working with a UK-based 3D printing company that will be taking on a portion of our production to minimize the initial delay. In the future, they will supply our customers in the UK and EU, minimizing shipping time and expense and ensuring consistent availability of product to the UK and EU.
• Thanks to the additional production bandwidth this partnership brings, we might be able to see some Dusk: House Kallyss on the table sooner than later!

Read on if you want the detailed version!

Before I dive into what brings us to this point, I want to clarify that while the Core Army Starters are going to experience a delay, WARMACHINE MKIV the game is not. Our target release date for the WARMACHINE MKIV app Beta, as well as the starters, has always been the end of October and remains so. Currently, the app development is proceeding on schedule, as is the development of the first Prime Legacy armies that will be available upon the launch of the Beta. So, by the end of October, you’ll be able to peruse the available card library, build forces, and play the game with MKIV preview models or Legacy models in the WARMACHINE MKIV app, which will be free to download and use.

The delay of the physical product is the result of multiple compounding factors. First, in an effort to promote the new edition and get models into the hands of players early, we offered the Preview Battlegroups online during Gen Con. Even though we took no more orders after the very first day, the response was, in the best possible way, quite overwhelming. Within the first 24 hours of Gen Con, we sold thousands of preview boxes! We stopped the sale early out of caution to avoid exactly the situation we’re in right now, but we still received so many orders in that short period of time that it consumed much more of our production time than anticipated.

As of last Thursday, all of the Preview Battlegroups were shipped. If you ordered a Battlegroup, and particularly if you were part of the latter half of the shipping, you’re keenly aware of just how long it took us to get them out. And believe me, so are we. Even though we predicted a longer ship time than normal ahead of the sale, the volume of orders greatly exceeded our expectations, extending the fulfillment time beyond our goals. While the sheer number of orders was the primary factor, another unforeseen complication arose: over half the orders placed for the Preview Battlegroups included additional products, some of them including dozens and dozens of back-catalog miniatures. Because most of our inventory is produced on what is called a “just-in-time” schedule (meaning we don’t stock inventory deep), this meant that instead of just being able to focus on the new 3D-printed battlegroups, our production staff was stretched thinner by producing miniatures from our back-catalog to fill in all the unexpected non-Preview Battlegroup orders. Historically, once we have announced a new edition of WARMACHINE, demand for existing models freezes while players wait to see how rules for existing models are going to change. So, the last thing we expected was that we would suddenly see a surge of orders for older models. The unforeseen rush on the back-catalog doubled our anticipated fulfillment time of those Gen Con orders because so much needed to be made before we could ship them.

August 30th was our deadline for retailer orders to be placed to guarantee delivery of our first shipment of the Core Army Starters to arrive in time for the originally planned street date of October 28th. Once again, the initial orders placed by retailers and distributors significantly exceeded our expectations, which, while exciting, necessitated a change in plans. Thus, we determined we would need to push the release date to later in the quarter.

These are good problems to have, are the words I’ve heard countless times over the past month as we have endeavored to find a way to stay on track. And indeed, I’m very pleased to be able to say that the MKIV edition of WARMACHINE is poised to launch with great anticipation and excitement. But good or not, they are still problems. I’ll trade overwhelming orders shipping late for underwhelming orders shipping on time any day, but we know it’s frustrating for you to wait longer for something you’re looking forward to, and it is frustrating to us any time we fall short of delivering what we have said we’re going to do. Just know that we’ve spared no effort to keep production moving as fast as it can.

And therein is yet another problem that has contributed to our delay: like many other businesses in this country right now, we are having a heck of a time growing our staff to meet the needs of our production. We increased the number of printers in our facility by 25 percent immediately after receiving the orders over Gen Con. But scaling the mechanical side of production is easy. The reality is that most of the effort that goes into creating a model is done by hand, not a machine, and scaling our staff is not as simple as buying new equipment.

Our current production crew is amazing, improving our processes daily, and they have been flexible with their schedules as we rearranged shifts in order to get more rotations out of our printers each day. And though our mechanical capacity is capable of producing several thousand parts per day—far in excess of what we could even do with traditional metal and resin casting—we have not been able to find the additional human power needed to consistently operate at peak efficiency and meet the demands of our orders. Throw in any staff absences from time to time, and suddenly our rate of production begins falling short of our projections. We are continuing to search for more team members and are processing applications and scheduling interviews as quickly as they come in. Depending on our ability to increase staff, our overall timeline can change.

And so, the Core Army Starters are going to be a little late. And very likely, this is going to have a ripple effect on subsequent releases in the short term. But we expect to get back on top of our planned schedule by the end of the year. And as a silver lining, it doesn’t look like you’re going to have a hard time finding a game once MKIV is on the table!

But wait, there’s more!

Once we realized that our late October target wasn’t going to happen, we started looking for solutions—and we made good use of our time. With the start of production of the Core Army Starters pushed back, we took the time to revisit our contents and create additional poses for the infantry units in both the Sea Raiders and Storm Legion Starters, so there will be no duplicate trooper poses in any of their units.We’ve also gone back to sculpts to add supporting elements or re-engineer elements that are prone to breakage in an effort to deliver an ever-improving product. The forthcoming standard bearers, for instance, had us worried because of the long poles supporting the banners. By adding some decorative elements, we’ve managed to create a stronger and, at the same time, more interesting sculpt that shouldn’t be prone to easy breakage.

Meanwhile, we have been working out a strategic partnership with a 3D printing manufacturer in the UK, who is going to take on about a third of the manufacturing necessary to complete the Core Army Starters so we can deliver them as soon as possible. Even more exciting, they will be supplying our models to the UK and EU in the future, reducing shipping times and shipping expense while ensuring ready availability of MKIV products to our UK and EU community. Thanks to the increased bandwidth this new partnership presents, we think we just might be able to see some Dusk House Kallyss models on the tabletop sooner rather than later…

In the meantime, as a way to tide things over until the Core Army Starters ship, we’ve been working up the first WARMACHINE MKIV event. In the tradition of our annual Longest Night in-store event, this year we’ll be promoting the Longest Wait event (See what we did there?) with early access to the upcoming Alexia, Queen of the Damned mercenary model as part of a prize package that will be available to retailers who pre-ordered our MKIV launch kit. Details on this exciting event will be coming soon!

Because we coordinate shipping the orders to all our distribution and retail customers at the same time for a simultaneous worldwide release, we can’t just start shipping as things get done; everything must arrive about the same time and that means nothing can go until the entire production run is nearly complete. Currently, we are projecting a 6–8-week delay in shipping the initial Core Army Starters. We’re constantly assessing our progress, and we’ll have updates along the way so you can keep up with where we are.

While the delay of the Sea Raiders and Storm Legion Starters is disappointing, many of the contributing factors to that situation bode well for the future of WARMACHINE. An unexpected increase in demand is, truly, “a good problem to have,” and we have weathered it in the past. We’re going to do everything in our power to deliver the WARMACHINE MKIV starters as soon as we can, and once they release, we’re looking forward to an exciting new era for tabletop combat in the Iron Kingdoms. We are grateful for your support and appreciate your patience. There is nothing we want more than to see these new armies on your tabletop.

— Matt Wilson

Quelle: Privateer Press