NEWS on the Home Front at Outpost Wargame Services
(new ranges, ideas and thoughts for the future!)
I will update this every month or more as things progress to let you know how/what we are doing (unless anything special happens!)
May 2008
28mm INCA : Lots of good feedback on these - I've added a downloadable PDF of a WAB list for the army - we have decided to complete the range so that we can supply all of the figures necesary for the army. Expect new figures during June and July
March 30th 2008
I've added the new INCA 28mm range (for release at Salute really, so the page is for 'pre-orders' - mail order won't get sent until after 21st April), these were commissioned by a couple of regular customers and we are all very proud of these.
In the same vein, there is a new Huaxtec range added to the Conquistador and allies page - just two codes, but lovely figures .... sadly, my photos were blurred so until I get these redone, you will just have to take my word for it!
All of the 15mm Byzantines are now available
A customer has started commissioning a Russo-Turkish 1870's war range (Bulgarians first).... more on this after Salute get's out of the way
February 10th 2008 .... HAPPY NEW YEAR!
A very busy start to the new year - and we've got loads going on, so time to give an update
28mm Highwaymen range : the Dragoons are now available (have been for a few weeks, but just got round to updating the web page)
18mm Byzantines for the Crusade period - the first 5 codes are available and another 2 will be ready by the end of the month
28mm Meso-americans : We've got a lovely 'fill-in' range of INCA coming out shortly .... these are the figures you need to complete your armies that have been 'left out' by other well known manufacturers :-) The figures have been commissioned by a group of customers who got sick of waiting - I'm proud of these figures, they are absolutely lovely! Expect some photos and a web page over the next couple of weeks or so
28mm Geezers - a big update for these from 'Killer B games' - which just about doubles the size of the range. I'm busy getting the production moulds done, so expect the web page to be updated within the next 2 weeks
We've also got another couple of ranges in progress - when I find the time to get these properly progressed, I will tell you more - but they should be available for Salute :-) They include a range I've had done just for me .... but of course, I'm happy to share :-)
December (17th)
Well, a strange month or so - thanks to all of you folks to making this the busiest November / December we've ever had (by a factor of 3!!!). On the downside, this is usually the period I use to catch up on new ranges and get prepared for them to be ready for 2008 ... we've been so busy with orders, all of the new stuff has just had to take a back seat. I'm still hoping to have the new Dragoons and a small addition to Meso-America out in early January along with the 15mm Byzantines. But this depends on how much time Marilyn 'allows' me to spend on Outpost during the holidays :-)
November (5th)...
More Highwaymen : I've just got the masters back for the Dragoons (3 foot and 3 mounted) - you can see them on the Masters page. I'm not accepting preorders yet until I get the master mould back (around the 16th Nov) as these are probably the most complex figures we have done so far. To be honest, I'm pretty proud of Martin's efforts here - these are absolutely lovely figures and I can't wait to have a go at painting them! Assuming success at moulding, the fgures will be avilable towards the end of November (I'm hoping to have a limited supply at the Stockton show)
15mm Byzantines - Hooray. Pete as delivered the second 4 codes for the range, so we now have enough to put them out. These last 4 go off to be master moulded with the Highwaymen and should be back at the same time. The whole range (with the exception of the Pecheneg light horse and Kataphractio - to allow for earlier Byzantine armies - these are due in around 4 weeks time), will be on sale late November in time for Christmas orders, again - maybe a few packs at the Stockton show on 24th November. Unfortunately, my photo shoot yielded rubbish results, so I've only got 4 codes on the masters page - will try and do the rest again later this week.
15mm Christian Crusades - I thought this range was finished! .... we've had a few requests for archers to be included in the range, so Pete did a couple of variants for you. Release due at the end of November.
October ..
The GEEZERS range (1970's cops an robbers) - I love these ... they are a 'fun' range we have helped Killer B Games develop, thay are based on those 70's TV shows and films we grew up on and have become popular again through the likes of 'Life on Mars'. Craig of Killer B will have some rules out over the next month or so, but to be honest, you could easily adapt some of the Wild West rules around and have a lot of fun with them - Enjoy! There are 17 figures available already with probably around the same again to come.
More Highwaymen - Thieftakers this time (based on Jonathan Wild and Jack Sheppard)
15mm Byzantines - we've got the first 4 codes, but I'm holding them back until we get the rest. Pete's had a few family problems and is way behind with the range so we will just release them when we can (hopefully towards the end of November)
6th August : New highwaymen fully available.
Byzantines(15mm) : Still haven't got the pics re-done, but just to let you know what we have in master form ..... Peltastoi (Light Spearmen), Scutatoi (Heavy Spearmen), Heavy cavalry (Lancers), Mounted Command. I should get the Varingian Guard, Light Archers, Pecheneg Light Horse and foot Command over the next couple of weeks. Which means we are looking at a release date of around the beginning of October.
25th July - latest highwaymen now available for pre-order, byzantine pics came out badly will need to redo :-( .... nice figures though!
6th July 2007
Well, it's been a bizarre 6 weeks or so. Started with the water company putting a digger through the mains power cable in the street, damaging the casting machine (which was running at the time) and the PC (which was on at the time). It took around 10 days to get the casting fixed, and around 3 weeks for the PC (including retreival of the data from the damaged hard drive!). This ran into us having 2 weeks off to celebrate (!) my 50th birthday where all of the family decended upon us (which was great 'cos we don't get together very much nowadays) ..... but of course I couldn't announce the break on the site! So we ended up way behind with both orders and correspondence, which I believe are now all caught up - but I have an awful feeling we lost a number of e-mails. If we did not reply to you over the last 6 weeks or so, please try again .... it was not intentional, honestly!
NEW HIGHWAYMEN : These have proved to be very popular, so we have had another batch done and will be doing more over the next couple of months(see masters page here). The masters only arrived a couple of days ago, so they won't be available in metal form for another couple of weeks. Once I get the master mould back (to check everything casts OK), I will put them on the page priced so that we can accept advance orders - should be around 16th July. I have to say I think these are some of the best figures Martin has done, the 'Wicked Lady' and 'Sexy TavernWench' are absolutely beautiful! Oh! I've also rearranged the 'set' to make it easier to cater for the new figures when they are available. I've also had to increase the price of individual figures to a flat £1.00 now that the promotional period is over to cover the increased sculpting costs ..... I hope it does not effect sales, but to be hosnest we really can't afford to sell them for any less!
15mm BYZANTINES (Crusade period) : I'm expecting the initial masters for this range to arrive on Saturday (around 5 codes), so expect pictures next week. They should be on sale around the end of the month. Pete has already started some of the 3rd Crusade figures so they should follow in a couple of months at the most.
15mm PRICE RISE : We have put the price of the standard packs up to £1.70 after a 'profitabilty review' of the scale. It's been well over a year since the last rise, which I kept below the recommendation of our accountant. With hindsight, that was a mistake and has made this rise (in percentage terms) bigger than it would have been. It also did not let us expand the ranges as much as I would have liked (we separately account the range scales and put most of the profit back into development of the same scale) .... pretty much everything went up in cost around the time we made the last increase (not just metal) and in fact, the overall profit for the scale over the last year actually went down even though we increased sales! One promise I can safely make though - if you do continue to support the scale at the new price, you will see a lot more figures over the next year. NB : we have slightly 'mitigated' the increase by offering 'starter army packs' for most of the ranges, at a discount ... if these prove to be popular, I will work them out for the rest of the ranges.
23rd April 2007
No real news other than to say we just got back from Salute, which was a really good show for us - great to put a lot of faces to customers names. Many thanks to all of you who bought from us and/or stopped by to say hello - it was very much appreciated. I hope you all had a good time at the show.
1st April 2007 (no foolish stuff!)
MAYAN 28mm : Posted pics on the masters page of a new Sacrifice set - hopefully available at Salute
28th February 2007
NEW HIGHWAYMEN : Just published pics of the new highwaymen set painted by Neil Burt - I love these! However, we will not be doing any more unless you actually want them ..... because this is a 'Niche' range only really useable for skirmish games, I need to be sure they will be of interest. It is quite simple - getting these sculpts done is expensive and they will never sell in huge quantities a you can hardly make an army of them! But, for every 50 buyers of this set - I will create another one and so on until we have a complete range .... suggestions for the next set, with purchases of this one are very welcome. So there you go - the range is in your hands :-)
SALUTE - WE ARE GOING TO SALUTE THIS YEAR .... if you are too and want some of our figures, because we can only carry a limited stock, it would be a real help if you can pre-order.
17th February 2007
RULES : At last - Great Captain is available (Rules for the Ancient Medieval and Renaissance periods) .... these have been so long in the making / refining, I've kept quiet about them until I had them in my hands for real! Written by our 15mm figure sculptor and a wargaming buddy, these are the best rules I've ever read and played. See the book section for more details