Latest of my lads in action

[lentulus]

Tried out a set of rules a friend of mine has been working on for quite a while.

Here's a sampler:



with the whole collection here:

http://s236.photobucket.com/albums/ff44/lentulus/Not-SYW%20in%2010mm/Hearts%20of%20Tin%20-%20Battle%201/

The rules can be found here:

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B6Vtpy0fz6kBNDUzMzZmOTQtNmYyYi00YWM3LWI3YTItZGM5OWMzZTJjZjZl&hl=en

Someday I must do a proper AAR.  I have been putting out too much terrain for the size of armies that I have now;  next time I think something a bit more open.  I found the rules a bit less frustrating than Black Powder -- a matter of taste of course, both are good fun.

Ross writes about his gaming, including his rules, here:

http://gameofmonth.blogspot.com/

[nikharwood]

Excellent - thanks for the link to Ross's rules too...with a SYW scrap just set-up (and with me expecting to play it with Black Powder) I'll have a good read of these & see what I think...

...knowing me, I'll probably want to fight it twice just to see the difference 

[lentulus]

...knowing me, I'll probably want to fight it twice just to see the difference 

I'll be interested in the result - and I expect Ross will be as well.

[Leon]

...knowing me, I'll probably want to fight it twice just to see the difference 

Oooh, two batreps!

Good stuff Lentulus!  Are those the Hexon tiles from Kallistra?

[lentulus]

Good stuff Lentulus!  Are those the Hexon tiles from Kallistra?

Yes, don't have enough to do a full table, but they are great for generating interesting hill patterns and store very nicely between battles.

[Leon]

Yes, don't have enough to do a full table, but they are great for generating interesting hill patterns and store very nicely between battles.

Yeah, they're a great bit of kit, I've always been impressed with them.  Much more versatile than the regular square tiles.

[Grenadier]

I looked into Kallistra as I'd never heard of them.  Very nice stuff, but, jinkeys!, the cost to ship them to the U.S. puts the kybosh on obtaining any. The 20% shipping that most companies charge in the UK is keeping me from making quite a few purchases. I got a very small box from Baccus which cost me $19 shipping! Man I hope the USD-GBP exchange rate gets closer to 1:1

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Probelm is that 20% is roughly what it does cost, inculding all the bits and peices. Just sent a package to US for £5.96 + 1 hr to build it (for painted 6mm), £1.30 for the box, and £1 ish for packageing. The hour should cost at least £5.50, before our current leader removes nat min wage, and send kids up chinneys. payment for order was £50, total cost £60. 

IanS

[Leon]

I looked into Kallistra as I'd never heard of them.  Very nice stuff, but, jinkeys!, the cost to ship them to the U.S. puts the kybosh on obtaining any. The 20% shipping that most companies charge in the UK is keeping me from making quite a few purchases. I got a very small box from Baccus which cost me $19 shipping! Man I hope the USD-GBP exchange rate gets closer to 1:1

As IanS says, the 20% for them is probably about right for the Hexon tiles, with most couriers charging for the size as well as the weight now.  We dropped our rate from 30% to 15% earlier this year, and we've seen more orders come in, but we actually lose money on some of them now.  A Dungeon Set to the States is £6 postage for the customer, but costs us £16 to send!

I don't know if Kallistra have a US stockist?

Incidentally, Dave went to school with Paul from Kallistra, they've been friends for about 40 years now! 

[Luddite]

A Dungeon Set to the States is £6 postage for the customer, but costs us £16 to send!

Serious Leon, unless you're running that as a defined loss-leader product that does actually generate extra trade to make up for the loss i'd suggest you rethink that.  No business can sustain selling at a loss.

[Leon]

Serious Leon, unless you're running that as a defined loss-leader product that does actually generate extra trade to make up for the loss i'd suggest you rethink that.  No business can sustain selling at a loss.

That's an extreme, just as an illustration of how much the postage can be on some items.  It's not ideal, but US customers are never gonna pay 40% postage on a Dungeon Set, and the supplementary sales of Dungeon related items makes it worth it.

[lentulus]

In Kallistra's defense, while the shipping is pricey (I live in Canada) its is full-bore courier with accurate tracking and delivery within a very few days.

[Grenadier]

  Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming Kallistra, Baccus, Pendraken or any other UK outfit,  just the shipping system.  Almost all UK product sold through US distributors actually cost more than buying direct as I still have to cover the distributor's cost of shipping to the States, middleman markup and then shipping to my door, if it's @#*% in stock.  I suppose I could order by the container load to save on shipping. Hmmm, Leon, set me up with 10,000 of everything you got, and I need it by the 1st of December. I'm kidding, reallly, don't do it!
There is SO much great stuff from the UK that sometimes I wish I lived there.(at least long enough to buy what I need)

Grenadier

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

No then both HMRC and US Cutoms and Homeland Security will get you.

IanS

[Leon]

  Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming Kallistra, Baccus, Pendraken or any other UK outfit,  just the shipping system.  Almost all UK product sold through US distributors actually cost more than buying direct as I still have to cover the distributor's cost of shipping to the States, middleman markup and then shipping to my door, if it's @#*% in stock.  I suppose I could order by the container load to save on shipping. Hmmm, Leon, set me up with 10,000 of everything you got, and I need it by the 1st of December. I'm kidding, reallly, don't do it!
There is SO much great stuff from the UK that sometimes I wish I lived there.(at least long enough to buy what I need)

Grenadier

I know what you mean, we have quite a few distributors around the world, and the postage charges can sometimes negate any discount we give them, so I can understand why they have to put a bigger mark-up on the product to make it worth their while.

(Just as a quick plug though, when you look at our prices even with the shipping, we're still cheaper than some of our competitors without shipping!)