June 2010
We've been Raging!
Well, no one can accuse us of spamming you with our newsletter... This is only the first one since winter...Indeed, it has been a long time coming, partly because we've been working hard to fix the various technical and logistical problems but also because since you've made this first run a big success, it made sense for us to reconsider the way we were operating Raging Heroes, the goals we wanted to attain, the minis that we would like to produce, and so on. And so, we've decided to postpone the newsletter until now instead of giving you some information that might be irrelevant in the next few weeks.
So what's new? Well, we've been revamping our production pipeline from the ground up, we've added new people to the team, we're in the process of setting up a studio, we'll soon have Raging Heroes miniatures in shops, … Read on to learn more.
In this issue:
Giving birth to our first Command Group will have been a challenge that we would never have imagined. But, at last, after many back-and-forth communications with the foundry and several production challenges, we can definitely tell you that the remaining orders are currently being fulfilled. Here is the plan, agreed upon with the foundry:
28mm: The last 28mm Command Groups that haven't shipped yet will be taken care of this week. The worst-case scenario is that the last ones will be sent on Wednesday of the following week.
54mm: Orders containing 54mm minis that have not been processed yet will be dealt with in the following manner: since the Eleriel and Alaniel's flag is a real nightmare to cast (see next paragraph for details), we will cast all the Asharah and Moloss & Minion first, send them to you starting in the beginning of next week so that you can get most of your order as soon as possible. This first batch will not take more than two weeks. Once we're done with that, we'll have the foundry working exclusively on casting the 54mm Eleriel & Alaniel, and we'll have them sent to you separately free of charge.
So what took us so long?
Well, the overall complexity of the project has exceeded everything our team could have expected. In the end, the 54mm Command Group requires a set of 15 different moulds to be cast! The Eleriel and Alaniel's flag has been the most problematic part, both in 28mm and 54mm. It took many trials and test moulds before the right approach was found. But this is still a complex element to cast and no more than 15 54mm Eleriel & Alaniel can be produced per mould in a week! We're having additional moulds done to keep up with the demand.
However, given the additional production costs due to the complexity of these 54mm minis, please note that starting June 30th, we will be forced to increase our prices on Asharah, the Flag Bearer and the Musician.
Syl-Iriah, Spirit of the Woods
  The Forest Elves' Godmother is an ever-changing creature, her appearance following the cycle of the seasons: in turn a hatching queen giving birth to each soul in the forest, a morbid and devouring arachnid predator, or the fairy incarnation of the exuberant forest's life force.
The Elves name this latter incarnation Syl-Iriah.
Be one of the first 100 to pre-order her and save up to 7 Euros!
Designed and sculpted by Raging Heroes' Art Director Benoit Guerville, Syl-Iriah is the first character of our Spirit line. This superb creature of the forest comes with a pack of 6 weapons and accessories. She is available in two different sizes, Legendary and Heroic, which means that she can be used in any unit as a sorceress or heroin on a 20x20mm base or as an independent monster on a 40x40mm base or even as a 54mm collector model. We may also release her later this year in an even bigger Epic version that will be usable as a 54mm scale collector model or as a massive creature of godlike proportions for 28mm scale tabletop gaming.
Follow the links to see many pictures of her in Legendary and Heroic along with a size comparison chart and detailed information.
Shipping was expected to start at the end of June. However, given the fact that we now have a new and very talented collaborator in our team (see below: News from the Front) whose work will be to oversee the quality of the master and the production process, we thought it would be wise to postpone the release to mid-July to ensure that he has the chance to work is magic on this mini.
In the meantime, you can preorder her at a reduced price before she becomes available.
Kahn-Urkan, Lord of Shadows
  Kahn-Urkan is probably a member of Asharah's slightly dysfunctional family. Perhaps an evil cousin or something…
Be one of the first 100 to pre-order him and save up to 10 Euros!
With or without wings
Based on a concept by renowned Concept Artist Bertrand Benoit, our Lead Designer Ignatius Tan and A.D. Benoit Guerville, 3D-sculpted by our key sculptor Fausto Gutiérrez López and Benoit, Kahn is a veritable war machine. He can be used as a Vampire Lord, a Dark Elf Prince or Demi-god, a Chaotic Champion or a full-blown large Demon. He comes with 3 heads, 5 weapons, 2 sets of shoulders, and you can choose if you want him with bat wings, thorn wings or no wings at all. Like Syl-Iriah, he is available in Heroic (20x20mm base) and Legendary size (40x40mm base to use him as a divine avatar / large demon in 28mm, or as a 54mm collectable model), making him one of the tallest demons on the market today!
Click to see many pictures of Kahn-Urkan in Legendary and Heroic version, along with a size comparison chart and detailed information.
Shipping was expected to start mid-July but again, we are involving our new production supervisor in the process (see below) and so we prefer to move the shipping date to late July.
In the meantime, you can preorder Kahn-Urkan at a reduced price before he becomes available.
Akzeltolt, Spirit of the Forsaken Sanctuary
Our next miniature is a terrifying character, a creature of magic that was buried alive and entombed for centuries. Now, he has broken free of the mighty spells that held him captive and he's about to unleash his wrath upon his enemies.
Here are a two 3D renders of the work-in-progress sculpt. Many details such as accessories and weapons are yet to be added. Once again, we had the talented Ignatius Tan refining Benoit Guerville's original concepts. The sculpt, begun by Benoit, is being finalized by Fausto Gutiérrez López over the next few days.
As always, we're providing multiple options for this character. You will be able to make him a formidable Egyptian-like mummy character, a feathered snake character of Mayan / Aztec descent, or a vulture-ish warrior/sorcerer that could roam any ancient evil necropolis or corrupted temple.
Akzeltolt is part of our Spirit line. He'll be available for pre-order at a low introductory price before the end of the month. Just like Spirit of the Woods Syl-Iriah, you'll be able to choose between the Heroic and Legendary versions. See more Work-in-Progress images here.
Please note
As mentioned above, the complexity of manufacturing the 54mm versions has resulted in many additional costs. This is forcing us to raise the prices of 54mm Asharah, Eleriel & Alaniel, and Moloss & Minion starting June 30th.
54mm Asharah : demon princess or avatar for 28mm armies
  We're at last holding the entire 54mm Asharah Command Group in our grubby little hands...
At this size, the miniatures reach a whole new level of charisma and frankly, we were stunned when we first set our eyes on this XL version of Asharah. It dawned on us that she could be a great addition to a 28mm army as a stunning Demon Princess, or as the great avatar of an evil goddess.
Should you agree, remember that this lady is only available as a limited edition (and the 28mm version is now sold out). Shipping is still a bit slow, but current orders should be filled within 4 weeks.
Try a 54mm Moloss & Minion conversion
 It's the same for the 54mm version of Moloss and Minion. When we saw Moloss in 54mm, we thought he would make a magnificent beast of burden for any evil army. With a minimum of conversion, you can easily equip it with a palanquin to house your army's general, or with a howdah filled with firing soldiers or with magicians, and thereby achieve a foolproof tank. You could also have Moloss carry on his shoulders the temple of a Dark Lord.
Why not enter the Flag Bearer in a painting competition?
And what about the two sisters slaves, 54mm Eleriel & Alaniel? Despite the complexity of this mini, assembling the two sisters is a snap. And in a painting competition, this gigantic banner (17cm high!) is sure to attract attention from afar. And hey, once you've paint this mini, especially if you made a freehand on the banner of the sisters, we'd absolutely love to see the result, so please send us your photos!
No more Asharah Command Group in 28mm!
As I'm writing this there is only one Asharah Command Group left in 28mm. Currently you can still get some of the last few Moloss & Minion and Eleriel & Alaniel in 28mm, but you should probably hurry if you want them! Again, keep in mind that deliveries are still slow as we're sorting out the 54mm shipments, so allow about 4 weeks for delivery.
We never could have anticipated Asharah's success. Apparently something in her caught your attention and she's been selling like crazy. But if you missed her, don't fear we have some plans for her. We intend to release a non-limited edition in the next few months and her character will live on! As promised we will also finalize a version of her on a horse and on a Pegasus in the near future.
The team is growing
With the growing success of our first models, it became obvious that we had little choice but to add to the Raging Heroes team. Interestingly enough, since Raging Heroes' launch on the Internet, there have been several rumors about how we might be linked in some way or other to French miniature company Rackham. Well, that was never the case! Until now…
Meet MIKH, who will act as our production and manufacturing manager. MIKH is a world famous figure in the miniature world. For many years, he was Rackham's lead sculptor. During that time, he was also very much involved in the production and manufacturing process. When he left Rackham, he worked on various projects, with renowned clients such as Infinity, Forge World, World of Warcraft, …
Working with Raging Heroes, MIKH will now follow the sculpting and manufacturing process of each of our new minis. He will make sure that the minis are properly 3D printed, hand-correct the prints, supervise the work with the foundries, etc. You can see MIKH's superb work on is blog.
Work starting on a RH game engine
We've already mentioned that we had plans for a game focusing on our Spirit characters.
Well, the project keeps evolving because new crazy ideas keep coming up. We're currently working on a "game engine", that is, a set of game mechanics that would be truly distinctive to allow us to develop different games that could potentially connect with each other.
Our first game based on this engine will probably be a quick skirmish game using the Spirits as centerpieces. Another very different project is also looming ahead and will probably be released in the wake of the first one. We intend to have a very open game development so that we can incorporate any input you might have.
New line-up: why we had to rework our release plan
The delays we've had with our foundry had a profound impact on our plans and forced us to focus on more "simple" or, should we say, "straightforward" projects for the next few months. However, fear not, since the definition of "simple" at Raging Heroes is probably a little bit different than the norm. What this means is that we'll have to postpone some of our most complicated or experimental plans.
For example, we won't produce command groups or units straight away, as that requires sculpting of many models simultaneously. The same goes for the war machines we had in mind. They will just have to wait their turn. We are still working on the release planning and we will leak out more info as it becomes available...
RH in a shop near you
We're currently setting up our plans for shop distribution worldwide. If you're interested in getting RH miniatures at your favorite shop, you can help us by telling your shop manager about our minis and by suggesting him to contact us via email. We'll be happy to answer any questions he could have.
Raging Heroes in the press
 The great German magazine TableTop Insider did a superb feature on Raging Heroes in its latest issue.
Stay in touch
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Also, we'll be happy to have you share with us how to best use our Twitter account – we just can't seem to get the hang of it...
Spread the word
Thanks to many of you, Raging Heroes has appeared on quite a few Internet forums over the past few months, and this has been invaluable to us. So please know that you are absolutely welcome to repost Raging Heroes images over the web and don't hesitate to mention Raging heroes miniatures in any forum, thread or blog you see fit. Your support helps a lot!
Win Raging Heroes minis
 We're very curious about what you've done so far with your Raging Heroes miniatures. For what game do you use them? What kind of role did you give them in your army? How did you paint them? Which accessories did you use? Please let us know. The most interesting answer received by July 30th will win a Raging Heroes gift certificate for 50 euros.
Minis of your dreams
Just wanted to remind you that on our website, you can find the "Minis of your dreams" section where you can share with us your thoughts about what miniature you'd like us to make. We've already got some pretty good ones but we're always on the lookout for more. It's not too late to take a chance and have your idea incorporated in our next release schedule.
Discounts
If you received a discount coupon earlier this year, this is a reminder that it expires on June 30th, so don't miss out! And what if you didn't get one? Then stay tuned for upcoming ones via this newsletter.
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