By Jon Webb
February has arrived and the STL release this month is part of a wider topic that I’ve been wanting to discuss for some time as it will impact the Fallout Wasteland Warfare line going forward.
It’s usually best to rip off the plaster (or band aid to our American players), so as has been hinted at for those closely watching my online presence, wave 9 will be the end of miniatures shipping with custom sculpted resin bases.
As with all change, there are reasons that this is happening, but there will be people upset and/or frustrated by this news. I will outline the thinking behind it in this blog as well as providing details of how we are hoping to serve all interests going forward.
So, why are resin bases (mostly) going away. Basically, this comes down to one simple reason. Cost. Covid was a pretty miserable time for all of us, but on the manufacturing front it saw rapid price rises in all our raw materials (and let’s not even get into shipping containers and boat space).
Each base adds another 40-60% raw material cost to each miniature in a box and these costs were starting to get to the point where the RRP of our product would rise higher than I was happy with and likely many of you would want to stomach. To help stabilise costs and keep that RRP as sensible as possible, I took the decision to remove scenic bases from most boxes.
As we have revealed, Wave 8 includes our first hard plastic kit with the T45 Power Armor and Wave 9 will have four more kits (the three Nuka World gang core sets and an as yet unrevealed Power Armor set that is very enjoyable to work with). These kits will all ship with blank plastic bases (first seen in The Elder Scrolls plastic core sets) and our 30, 40 and 50mm based resin models will also have plastic bases from wave 10 onwards (Nuka World bases are still sculpted outside of the plastic sets).
Now, there are some upsides to this (beyond prices not spiking even higher and where possible hopefully coming down on comparable products). I know many of you are frustrated by the mould injection tab (essential to allow liquid resin to flow into the mould) as removing these cleanly and without distorting the base edge can be challenging to put it mildly. With plastic bases there isn’t the same injection point needed, so that’s one less issue to worry about.
For those of you who like to present a unified front, sometimes the theming of the bases was a little disparate between various sets in a faction. This will no longer be an issue as you can theme and customise your bases to suit the environments your forces battle over and ensure everyone is presentable (at least until the bullets start flying).
However, we know many enjoy the themes the bases bring to your miniatures and I’ve certainly enjoyed briefing all the little vignettes and easter eggs I’ve scattered into the range over the years… so what happens to you all?
Firstly, this month’s STL releases provide a range of options to create your own scenic bases and themes for your miniatures. From the fauna of the wasteland to the mean streets of the desolate cities of your choice and even skulls, because nothing says post apocalypse like using human remains for decoration... These sets provide a great jumping off point for basing and hopefully stimulate ideas among you all. Grab some small rocks and gravel, some basing medium or sand and have fun creating your own bespoke bases.
For those who still want the classic look, or who don’t have access to a 3D printer, we will be releasing themed sets of resin bases in 30, 40 and 50mm sizes. The first themes will include Vault flooring, ruined cities and the wild wastelands which provides three great biomes to fight over. You could even combine these with the STL sets to really create some truly unique bases to set off your paint jobs.
Julian will be creating some basing guides as part of the upcoming book releases to give you all some great starters and if I can find some time I’ll get Callum to do something similar as a guide to his awesome Appalachian bases that adorn the wave 10 figures.
Of course, you won’t have seen those yet… So here is a sneaky peek into the future as we reveal the first of the wave 10 figures. Despite first appearing in the 2 Player starter set, the Zetans have not been seen outside of their crashed spaceship since that first step into Wasteland Warfare. But fans of these little green men will be rewarded for their patience with the forthcoming Zetan core set that contains not just the staple Zetan, but a few of their more durable allies. Speculate away as to what that might mean.
The largest showpiece miniatures will continue to include scenic resin bases for the foreseeable future, so anything with a 60mm base will have a resin scenic base included. Also, existing sets won’t see their resin bases be replaced. However, if and when sets get replaced or updated then you will likely see those bases removed (and new sculpts added, but that’s getting a little ahead of ourselves).
That’s about it news wise this month. We are continuing with the major restock project, hoping to build up a reserve of the kits that have been missing from store shelves for a while now. There are some other changes coming to Wasteland Warfare in the future, but I’ll save those for when we are a little closer to the release of Nuka World (we haven’t even got to Capital yet!)
Community Roundup
Let’s take a look at the community and see what folks have been up to since I last checked in.
Speaking of Julian, it seems he was also part of the Brahmin challenge from last month. Seeing as we missed him off, I feel like we should show everyone’s work again (some of you may have missed this previously).
From upgunned artillery platforms, to mobile food stands and even a Super Mutant cavalry figure… This batch of bonkers bovines really show off the creativity and imagination of you Wastelanders so I take my hat off to the excellent work.
Well done to Clara, Dustin, Julian, Levi, Pawel and Ryan for their top notch converting and painting skills and sheer imagination on display here.
Rumour is another challenge is underway so I look forward to reporting on it in the future.
Finally this month, let’s take another visit to the work bench of blog regular Adrien Feroc. This time he’s exploring an irradiated forest region (perhaps getting ready for an Appalachian adventure)? With some lovely colourful yet muted tree stands as well as a tastefully weathered settlement with all manner of rusting surfaces and the ubiquitous barrels (no table is complete without them). There’s even a pen to keep your Brahmin from ending up on top of any nearby roof.
He’s also painted up a nice trader caravan and some terrifying local wildlife to bully those poor brahmin.
All in all, this is a delightfully curated set of terrain and miniatures, perfect to go Into the Wasteland and try to make your fortune as a caravan trader.
That’s it for this month, we’ll be back in March with another STL drop that’s going to provide a new theme for tables and the ongoing restocks will continue to make their way to distribution.
Until next time.
