The problem is that Ares ship eveything through America. If they are going to be stung with extra tariffs perhaps they should consider shipping directly to Italy.
The problem is that Ares ship eveything through America. If they are going to be stung with extra tariffs perhaps they should consider shipping directly to Italy.
My understanding is that there will be warehouses in Europe and Canada, besides the USA, for the KS packages. Now, will the product be forwarded from the main warehouse in the USA, and will they be able to defer any tariffs and duties as transhipped product? We'll have to wait and see.Originally Posted by Naharaht
Mike
"Flying is learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss" Douglas Adams
"Wings of Glory won't skin your elbows and knees while practicing." OldGuy59
Hmmmm . . . If they ALL come through the US . . . where might that be? The elves have rented a huge motor home and are asking for GPS coordinates . . .
Good point, the big question is "if" as of now it is a "no". Negotiations will most likely happen and hopefully resolve issues.
So, we got the news, as mars streaks by the communique arrived today. Not so good for us. Nothing we can do, production has not even begun-hot rats! My last investment now, no more KS for the elves and me . . .
Here is the actual communication from Ares.
People of the Earth!
July is almost at the end and the project has been moving forward - but we're still not at the point to press the "go" button on the production.
A little more than one week ago (9 days, precisely), we finally got all the samples for the airplane models (after a mishap with the first sending of the Nieuport 16, which arrived in worse shape than after a crash landing).
The samples included all the "series 1" models (Fokker Triplane, Camel, Albatros D.V, SPAD XIII) - both those which are a part of this project, and the reprints; the two Nieuport 16s; and even the Drachens (not a part of this project, but I guess many of you are interested to know they are coming back before the end of the year).
Most of the airplane samples were as good as we wanted them to be, but we had to reject 5 of them, as the colors, or the definition of the decals, or other details, still did not match our expectations. Even one of the two Ni.16 (Ball) while overall good, had decals which were too glossy, and we had to reject that sample. We also had to reject both Drachens, untfortunately.
We provided detailed feedback about our findings to the factory, and they are now at work to prepare new samples.
Before we can start the production, we will continue to work together with our suppliers to get the quality our models exactly where we (and you) want them to be, so please be patient.
Next week, I will be at GenCon, but the office staff and the factory will continue to work on the pre-production of the models. If you are at the "best 4 days in gaming", you are welcome to come by and say hello at our booth #335 and in Events Hall A - and join us for a game of Tripods & Triplanes with our prototype.
Thanks for your patience and continued support,
Roberto/Ares
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."
Beat me to it by seconds, Rob.
Copy/Paste was in buffer - glad I looked before clicking "paste"
No worries Pete. It often happens to me as well.
Rob.
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."
TIME TO ENGAGE THE CYROGENIC SLEEP MODE FOR THE ELVES! Yikes! They get so cranky when they have nothing to do for so long. Last time we all traveled to Sails of Glory land and made ships . . . hmmm, might as well, nothing is going to happen here till Christmas ��
The real reason for the delay . . .
https://www.wired.com/story/space-ph...ek-mars-storm/
Just like here in Phoenix . . .
Last edited by clipper1801; 07-28-2018 at 12:19.
So Xmas??? Poo...
That's just my guess . . .
How long does it normally take for the production people to produce revised samples and have them approved? Months? Yeah, then Christmas. Weeks? A whole lot sooner. But if they are saying the Drachen, while equally sent back for new samples, are going to be out before the end of the year, I would suspect that T&T would be out a fair deal earlier than Christmas (unless they can’t get them right with the next sample set). If I was going to GenCon, I think I’d just ask them there what the projections are.
We have been expecting an announcement of a delay ever since we heard that models had been crushed in transit. It was good to hear that Ares are hoping to release Drachen models by the end of the year.
If the martians are ready to be produced, they should release them, and send the planes as they come in. I've been in KS that had delayed stretch goals, but the main focus game was not delayed.
Karl
It is impossible for a man to begin to learn what he thinks he knows. -- Epictetus
So have I Karl, and it didn't end well... once bitten.
I trust Ares, which is more than can be said for another games company.
well, at least it sounds like ares is cracking down on quality control some. that, at least is good news. hopefully the look of the new minis reflects it.
For me gents, not impressed, these samples were originally slated to be with Ares in April or early May, I believe. Here we are end of July and not yet approved.
It is a KS, Delays happen. Better to get it right the first time then do a half baked effort. Suspect the WWII rules are throwing them though. Got to thinking on it and using WWI rules the walkers get 3 moves one of which has to be a back/stand move if I remember right. How does that convert into a 2 card turn for WWII? every other move a back/stand move? I can see where some of the conversion madness can lie. We get it when we get it, a later date works better for me as I was going to be out of town most of the first half of August. Trick with KS is to get one or two cooking at a time and forget about them. When they arrive it is like X-mas in the middle of the year and everyone is happy. Follow them every step of the way and you go mad.
If it was their first KS, or second I'd tend to agree. But Ares, like many small companies, is just using KS rather than a bank to raise money for what are essentially routine releases. With so many years dealing with their suppliers one would hope they would have a better handle on things
the ww2 version might actually entice me to play if only to see how my 75mm gun nose b25 fares against offending tripods.
Unfortunately, as I understand things, you just can't depend on Chinese factories to be dependable. I don't know why. Ask LuluLemon about supply problems (www.cbc.ca - lululemon Recalls Pants for Being See-Through). And, I'm not sure they are using the same producers for each run, and probably not the same producers as Nexus.
Mike
"Flying is learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss" Douglas Adams
"Wings of Glory won't skin your elbows and knees while practicing." OldGuy59
Don’t forget that ALL the kickstarter companies have had China troubles well before any trade disputes. Heck, a couple I’ve backed had issues with both minis and books as far back as Jan/Feb.
In the recent Ares announcement, it said," The samples included all the "series 1" models (Fokker Triplane, Camel, Albatros D.V, SPAD XIII) - both those which are a part of this project, and the reprints; ".
We know the 4 series 1 models attached to the Kickstarter project but do we know which series 1 models are being reprinted, please?
If we do not know, perhaps someone, who is attending Gen Con, could try to find out.
From what I was reading last year, the production facilities shut down a month for Chinese New Years and a large percentage of their work force goes home to the country for the holiday. Many do not return so they are always trying to correct their backlog with green crews and short help. For some reason a lot of KS's schedule themselves for delivery right at that time, not a real bright move on their part.
A lot of it is the different culture East vs. West. I was talking to a higher level person in Catalyst Games about Leviathan, and a possible return. He told me they have had experience with Chinese factories that literally could not make the product to spec, but would never come right out and say it. Sometimes, they would just not respond to pointed queries, in the hope that the customer would go away, and they would not have to lose face by admitting directly their inabilities.
So, yes, this can be a serious problem with game production. Plus, Ares is a small company. If FFG weighs in with one of their mega game parts orders, all lesser orders are delayed, lost or otherwise pushed aside....but never directly canceled.
Karl
It is impossible for a man to begin to learn what he thinks he knows. -- Epictetus
sounds like "mei ban fa"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxP2fAqamZQ&t=23s
The Upcoming page on the Ares website now gives October 2018 as the release date for the Tripods and Triplanes Starter set.
http://www.aresgames.eu/upcoming-products
Looks as if you are right Phillip.
Rob.
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."
Note from Ares on the Kickstarter page:
“Gentlemen, I am in China right now, and one of the things I am working at (and one of the reasons for being here) is to move forward faster and clear up some of the obstacles we had.
Believe me, I am as worried and disappointed of the delay as much as you are (maybe even a little more!) Fortunately, with the last round of sample checking we did it looks like we are at a good point of the project and I hope, at the very least, to give you the good news of "mass production launched" with the next update.“
Thanks for the update Bruce.
At least it shows that they are doing something positive about it.
Rob.
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."
Sounds like they decided to send someone who could expedite, make decisions, and give instructions on the spot, rather than have to wait on mail cycles and misunderstood instructions. You always want your product available for the Christmas buying season, which means they probably want it available before the end of September so it can be on shelves by October, November at the latest. That time frame is getting tight, what with actual production, shipping to warehouses, then distribution from there.
Used to produce computer games - I know the drill.
It sounds like some good news.
Well, it sounds like some news. Whether it is good or not, who knows? I guess time will tell!
Here is a new video from Gen Con which Ares Games posted on Facebook.
Latest update is very long, but basically, mass production has begun. That’s the good news. The bad news is the estimate is eight weeks for production, and another 3-4 for shipping (and possibly much longer depending on how remote you are relative to wherever they are shipping from - implied direct from China, but it may be to their main warehouse and then on from there). So, Mid-November for end of production, and into December (or later) for it to be at your door. Haven’t had a KS from Ares before, but I have noted that in KS shipments from China, I tend to get stuff here on the Left Coast of the US a week or even more before the East Coast. Note that the message posted was by a guy who is making estimates rather than someone more expert in the process, so I wouldn’t take these as firm promises on their part.
Mass production finally starting!
Posted by Ares Games (Creator) Good morning, people of the Earth (and Martians too!).
I left you with a last update at the end of July where approvals were "almost done" for the airplane models to be included in the production. Then, weeks of silence, which many of you interpreted as "Ares is not interested in getting T&T done".
This is far from being the truth, so to shed some light on the topic, this update is a little more personal than I usually do. Remember Ares is still a small company (7 people in the Italian office, 2 in the US office) and that what we do relies on a dedicated but small team. I take the KS communication as one of my main roles in the company, as this is so strictly linked to what I do production-wise. So when communication suffers, it's mostly my personal fault, and I apologize for it.
After my end-of-July update, I flew out to GenCon, where I spent the first week of August. At our booth there, some of you could see the Tripods up close and in action - if not, you can take a look at some of the videos posted by various gaming channels, such as the ones below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOjJRrE3SBQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEFVKmii4ss https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvvlqbkynLw While I was at GenCon I could not be involved much in moving the project forward, but our office team (Fabrizio and Leonardo) was still working on revising the models we were not happy with, submitting corrections to the China factory, while in the meantime our lead graphic designer (Fabio) was using the "extra time" to improve the presentation of some of the game components (the paper/cardboard components which you see in the videos above will all look better in the final version).
I was back from GenCon on August, 7th. I checked in the office on Wednesday and Thursday to see where things were at - and (not unexpectedly, as I had seen the mail exchanges in the previous days) we were still not at the point where all models could be approved.
On Friday, I left for a very short but nice holiday with my family (August 10th to 15th - some of you are my friends on Facebook and have seen a few photos of me shooting wooden animals in a mountain wood with a bow :-) and on August, 16th I took a plane to China for a multi-purpose trip.
I was scheduled to attend DiceCon, a convention in Beijing, on August 24th. Originally, I had planned to fly out on August, 21st, but I realized that getting there sooner I would have about one week of precious time to visit our factories in south China, to give to our projects still in development a good push forward. E-mail and cloud-based cooperation are great tools, but sometimes the amount of work you can do in a few days face-to-face is just SO much more (especially when what you've got to do is to discuss a number of tiny things, which may require 50 mails--- or 50 minutes in a meeting with airplane models in one hand and pantone booklets in another one)!
The trip to the Shenzhen area was indeed very useful. I met with the three factories there who are working on our products at the moment, and this allowed me to get several projects (including this one, and Battlestar Galactica, the two most complex ones which were suffering a slowdown) to the "next stage" in the pipeline: this one to final approval, BSG to production.
I was back from China at the end of August in the hope of all issues had been cleared... And finally, last week we got all the revised pre-production samples in our office.
In the past days, we had a final check on the models and we could approve them all. And (as you can guess from the title) THEY ARE ALL READY FOR MASS PRODUCTION NOW!
So, of course your next question is "when do I get my rewards?" You know I am not the best one to give good answers to this kind of question (to answer, I might summon my good friend Zoe Brain who seems to know more than me about what goes on with Ares products, even if she lives at the antipodes :-)
If you REALLY want me to try - I assume 8 weeks from now mass production should be finished, and we will start the shipping process (which as we have seen in the recent past, can take from 3-4 weeks for the closest destinations to 10-12 weeks for the more distant ones).
I am sure these are not the best news you wanted to hear (and this was indeed a long rant - fortunately if you were not that interested to read me, the title says it all!).
I must, once again, thank you a lot for your patience and support. I also want to remind you that we are always open to refunding your pledge if you get tired of waiting.
And I really, really hope that you will be VERY pleased when Tripods & Triplanes finally becomes a reality on your gaming table!
Roberto/Ares
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."
So after Christmas then . . .
Now I see . . .
It sounds like nothing will reach the U.K. until well into the New Year.
And from [edit] from someone that looked like they were from Ares but wasn’t (see below):
Ares has a hard deadline - the Christmas shopping period. Heaven and Earth will be moved so they can get product into the shops by then. The Thanksgiving deadline they were hoping to meet is very probably not feasible. Ares aren't the only organisation begging the factories to get their product ready by then of course, there will be great competition for scarce machine space and other resources. Larger organisations have the advantage of being able to put more pressure on, and have slush funds to grease the wheels.
*****
Just the same as the software game biz - you want it on the shelves in October, for God’s sake for Thanksgiving weekend, and you essentially missed it even if you get iton the shelves by December, but better late than after...oops. Having done this for (at the time) a nine employee company (Interplay way back even before Blizzard was working for us or even called Blizzard, and same as Ares now apparently), I remember all the same issues.
Last edited by Dawn Patrol; 09-15-2018 at 23:46.
I still think China and the Martians are in cahoots . . . Santa may not be able to deliver if he is being held hostage, there is a disturbance in the elves community . . .
It is not the Chinese or the Martians that are the problem. It is the Klingons!
Oh! A mash-up of War of the Worlds and this: Jingle Bells, Machine Gun Shells... Or Red Sleigh Down?
Mike
"Flying is learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss" Douglas Adams
"Wings of Glory won't skin your elbows and knees while practicing." OldGuy59
Um... That was from me. Despite any appearance to the contrary, I'm not employed by Ares. Maybe I should be, as a consultant.
I helped clear a log jam with their Giants KS fulfillment in Australia. With the new Australian distributor, that won't be an issue, they're reliable.
If I were budgeting for the project, I would have put aside some Renminbi as palm grease to ensure priority in manufacture at the China end. Even taking the right people's families to a top restaurant can be a worthwhile investment.
I stand corrected, then.
I think Manuel knows when Tripods and Triplanes will be delivered....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxBSUA5pUgg
and not a moment before
Sapiens qui vigilat... "He is wise who watches"
Just reread the entire thread and it is indeed like a bad comedy sketch. The refund offer is sounding better each month it drags by, $200 would make a good Christmas better for my grand kids . . .
It appears that the Battlestar Galactica game has not suffered the same production delays because on the Ares website it talks about having copies of the starter set on sale at Spiel 2018 (October 25th to 28th, Essen, Germany), and having them in the shops in November.
http://www.aresgames.eu/22004
Thanks for the update on that Dave.
Rob.
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."
Maybe they learned, and are using a different Chinese supplier?
Karl
It is impossible for a man to begin to learn what he thinks he knows. -- Epictetus
So the Battle Star version of WoG is not a Kickstarter project? Straight to retail?
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