Capturing (the essence of) the Welsh
over 2 years ago – Tue, Oct 19, 2021 at 04:09:03 AM

As the ‘Backerkit’ went live for the Footsore Welsh Kickstarter, we have been overwhelmed by the response and extra packs purchased over and above the initial pledges – thank you, everybody!

It has also thrown up some good questions as there is a bewildering variety of packs available, so I thought I would explain the logic behind it so everybody can make the right choice.

When Matt and I discovered we both had a mutual love for the history of Wales, it was a natural progression to want to make a range of Welsh warriors to cover the Dark Ages (Early Medieval) through to the rise of the Marcher Lords and at a stretch the Barons Wars.

Where to start with such a broad period?

We wanted to offer a generic range that could be customised to build any force. We had to look for a theme that ran through our period, and that was for us that generally, the Welsh were depicted as brave and cunning fighters but were lightly or poorly equipped (but not always) compared to their enemies. The battles won by the Welsh showed that the lack of state-of-the-art arms and armour did not impede victory.

We have gone for a core of unarmoured warriors in traditional Welsh dress as written records suggest it doesn’t change much for the lower-class troops. However, the many Royal families would have been as contemporary as possible to keep up appearances. What we have done is offer your basic warriors with as many as three different shield types. For example, the poor warriors come with Dark Age round shields, javelin and shields or Heater shields. You can therefore use your warriors as basic DA spearmen, javelin men or Medieval troops. If you like, the DA round shields and javelin men can be mixed as the Welsh were fond of the javelin. Although it took a long time for Feudalism to replace the traditional Welsh social structure, the Heater shield troops are the equivalent of medieval peasants. The idea is to make options available for you so that you don’t have to buy lots of shield packs (unless you want to) and have lots of spare shields lying around. It is also possible to ‘pepper’ your round shield force with a few heater shields to suggest a later period.

The leaders are where your force is defined, and we have some tremendous characterful figures that will clearly define the period you are representing and ‘household’ troops to re-enforce the look.

Commanders and household troops usually have mounted versions, and this leads us nicely onto horses and ponies. The Welsh were quite rightly famous for their horsemanship, and the Welsh pony is a tough breed capable of looking after itself. The nobility was the same as across the rest of Europe. Their horses were status symbols and prized for the practicalities of hunting and warfare. We have again tried to offer you a range that hopefully covers the needs of every wargamer. Most options are available on ponies (usually described as ‘light’ in the description) or horses (except knights with lances as they will look silly on ponies) and again with a choice of shields. This choice allows you to field an all cavalry force with a mix of horses and ponies or to supplement your infantry force with fast-moving scouts or brutal hitting warriors.

We have tried to give you a comprehensive range of Welsh that will enable you to field the force you imagine, or with a bit of troop selection, will allow you to field a force that you can use for many periods. We aim to give you as many choices as possible. Hopefully, we have thought of them all, but if not, please let us know so we can help you out.

~Mark Farr

BackerKit surveys are coming! Get ready for your Pledge Manager email
over 2 years ago – Thu, Oct 14, 2021 at 06:55:08 AM

The good news is we are now ready to go, Kickstarter has completed their bit and transferred all pledge information into BackerKit, our pledge manager of choice.  This update contains a lot of useful information so please make sure you read it, if you have any questions or need help please message us we are happy to help.

Over the next couple of days, everyone will receive an email from us with a personal link to their BackerKit survey. It’s important to respond to your survey as swiftly as you can since we need this information to fulfil your rewards. To be able to send your pledge by the end of April 2022 we need you to have completed your survey by December 2021.

When you receive the email, click the button 'Click Here to Respond' to get started.  By doing so you will be taken to the starter screen for your personal pledge survey.

Select 'Get Started!' to, funnily enough, get started. We have asked you a question, to begin with (we hope you don't mind). This question explains what we have done so far for you regarding your pledge and what your options are.

Once you have completed the questions you will be able to select packs up to your pledge amount if you selected the 'Pick your Packs and Pledge'.  You can also add packs if you over-pledged at any of the pledge levels, or purchase any add-on items at additional cost.

When you have finished, click 'NEXT' and you will be taken to a screen asking for your shipping information.

The shipping information you share will generate your postage and packaging costs. On this final screen, you will be asked to place your order.  Before you do you will need to pay any extra for additional add-ons and shipping using either a credit/debit card or PayPal - unless you have already added extra funds to your pledge amount to cover this.

On the 30th of November 2021, we will lock completed pledges, which will be any that have finalised all stages of the survey. This is done ahead of charging any extra card payments during the following day on the 1st December 2021.  Locking pledges provides the total number of packs we need for fulfilment, helping us to deliver on our goal of shipping all completed pledges by the end of April 2022.  If you miss this end of November 2021 deadline it is likely your pledge will be shipped after the end of April 2022.

Please note, if you pay via PayPal you will be charged when you complete your pledge not when your pledge is shipped.

--------- THE FOLLOWING SECTION IS ABOUT YOUR PLEDGE JUST READ THE ONE YOU BACKED ---------

Pick your Packs and Pledge

If you backed at the Pick your Packs and Pledge level you will have the amount you pledged as credit in your account which you now spend on Add-ons.  Choose the packs you want by adding them to your account.  If you want one of every pack, select the 'One of Everything Deal (Kickstarter Figures)' product and we will have you covered. You can back for more than you have pledged by paying the extra amount as you complete your pledge survey.

The Dark Ages (Early Medieval)

If you have backed at The Dark Ages (Early Medieval) pledge level you will already have 10 white metal packs added automatically in your pledge manager.  You will be able to add further packs in the add-on section.  You can back for more than you have pledged by paying the extra amount as you complete your pledge survey.

The Barons' War (High Medieval)

If you have backed at The Barons' War (High Medieval) pledge level you will already have 10 white metal packs automatically added in your pledge manager.  You will be able to add further packs in the add-on section.  You can back for more than you have pledged by paying the extra amount as you complete your pledge survey.

The Welsh (All initial packs)

If you have backed at The Welsh (All initial packs) pledge level you will already have 18 white metal packs corresponding to the initial figures automatically added in your pledge manager.  You will be able to add further packs in the add-on section.  You can back for more than you have pledged by paying the extra amount as you complete your pledge survey. If you want one of everything, just click on the 'All the Stretch Goals (Kickstarter Figures)', in the Add-ons sections and we will have you covered.

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Freebies

All FREE bonus miniatures, The Early Backer Exclusive Miniature, The Medieval Champion and the Hermit Priest will be added by us to any and all qualifying accounts once pledges are completed and before being locked to give you the maximum opportunity to qualify.

How you qualify:

• The Early Backer Exclusive Miniature: backed the project in the first 24 hours and purchase at least one pack of miniatures - all backers up to and including backer #393 are eligible.
• The Medieval Champion: back the project for at least £50 (exc. postage)
• The Hermit Priest: back the project for at least £80 (exc. postage)
• Welsh Minors: back the project for at least £155 (exc. postage)

We have included extra shields and extra weapon options as add-ons, if you want them.  Also included are a selection of Late Saxon packs, also sculpted by Matt Bickley, that we believe would be of interest to backers of the Welsh and could be added to a Welsh Warband or used as adversaries.

After you receive your initial email, if you need to review your information or pledge status, you can return to your survey by clicking the link in your survey email.  You can also request your survey link under "Lost your survey?" on our BackerKit project page at https://the-welsh-28mm-miniatures.backerkit.com/.

If you used your Facebook credentials to log in to your Kickstarter account, the BackerKit survey is sent to the email address you use for your Facebook account. If you have another email address that you prefer to use, please contact support at https://the-welsh-28mm-miniatures.backerkit.com/faq.

Please remember by answering your survey in a timely fashion helps us get your rewards out to you faster. BackerKit helps us save lots of time by streamlining the survey process, automating data organisation, and providing us with pledge management software to make it easy to process your shipments.

We hope the above steps make sense. If not please ask questions there are no stupid ones and we are well aware there is a lot to digest here! Once again, thanks for all your support this wouldn't have happened without your help.  We can’t wait to send out your pledges to you so standby, you will receive your email in the next couple of days!

Stay Safe!

The Footsore Team

An Update about the Welsh Pledge Manager
over 2 years ago – Sun, Oct 03, 2021 at 06:01:54 AM

We have been asked a couple of times now, when will we get access to the pledge manager? Well, it looks like if everything goes to plan, it will be Monday the 11th of October 2021. However, we have to add it appears things are moving a little slower than usual.

While we wait we are going to take the opportunity to provide an initial rundown of how pledges are managed:

The pledge manager we will be using is called BackerKit, one of the best and the same one we used before for the Mythic Mortal Gods Kickstarter. BackerKit helps us to save lots of time by streamlining the survey process, automating data organisation, and provides pledge management software to make it easy to process your pledge shipments.

How it works is, first up, Kickstarter needs to transfer over your funds confirming everyone's payments and pledge details individually into the BackerKit pledge manager, this is what we are currently working on and it should be anytime now.

When it's ready to go, you will receive an invitation email from the pledge manager sent to the same address as your Kickstarter email. 

This email will contain a link to your personal survey and it is important to submit your responses as quickly as you can as we need this information to process your pledge. If you already have an account with BackerKit the Welsh Kickstarter will be added to it.

Secondly, where needed, we have to find out from you what packs you choose for your pledges and where we need to ship them.

Until pledges are locked in December 2021, if at any time you need to change your survey responses, purchase add-on items, or update your shipping information, you can click the link in your survey email again or request your survey link under "Lost your survey?" on our BackerKit project page. (Please note, this page will only start working after we send the surveys out). 

As of today, the pledge manager is built and we are currently in the process of adding all the options you will be able to choose from. We plan to be ready to go by the end of today and at that point, we will just be waiting on Kickstarter and BackerKit to give us the green light. 

So while you wait we thought we would share screenshots of what to expect. This is an example of the first screen you will see, welcoming you to the pledge manager:

After answering our survey question you will reach this screen where you can select your packs (if needed) or add extras to your pledge:

This is the third screen where you add your address details, confirming the cost for shipping:

When the pledge manager opens, we will send you an update as a helpful guide explaining how it works with a detailed walkthrough. The above images are just examples of what to expect. We hope this all makes sense, if not please do ask questions.

Again, thanks for all your support and your patience, it really is imminent. We can’t wait to send your Welsh pledge to you.  

Stay safe!

Mark & The Footsore Team

+4 days since the Campaign Ended - What Happens Next?
over 2 years ago – Mon, Sep 13, 2021 at 10:26:40 PM

Hello, everyone, a few days have passed since our Welsh Kickstarter finished and we thought it would be helpful to send a quick update explaining what happens next.  I know there is a lot here as we have tried to cover as many potential questions as we can, so please read if you are a backer.

 Kickstarter Are Collecting your Pledge Amounts 

When the project ended, on the 9th of September, Kickstarter started collecting your pledge amounts, which they say can take up to two weeks. Please check to make sure that your pledge has been collected successfully. You will receive an email from Kickstarter informing you if there is an issue. After around two weeks, Kickstarter will transfer all pledge information over to us, enabling us to open the pledge manager. Until this has happened, we have to sit patiently and wait.

The Pledge Manager

While Kickstarter process pledges, we are putting together the pledge manager for this project. We are using BackerKit. We believe this will take a couple of weeks, and we aim to have it ready by the end of September 2021. If this is your first Kickstarter, when it opens, the pledge manager is where you check and manage your pledge, choose any add-ons/packs, and spend any extra pledge money. It is like a self-contained website for this campaign.

You will be given access via the email address linked to your Kickstarter account and be invited to confirm your pledge type. In the pledge manager, you will be asked for any further information to process your pledge, such as your postal address. You will also be able to add extra packs or add anything else available, paying for these separately if needed. Once you have made your decisions and finalised your pledge, the shipping cost will be calculated and added. The pledge manager also offers PayPal as a payment option, which Kickstarter doesn't.

Freebies

When it comes to the 'freebies', we will manually add them to your pledge in the pledge manager once you have finalised your pledge and it has been locked. We wait until the pledge manager is completed to ensure we assign the correct freebies to the correct backers, so this will happen right at the end.

The freebies are the 24-hour miniature, The Medieval Champion, The Hermit Priest and The Welsh Minors.

 What do I do when The Pledge Manager is ready? 

When the pledge manager is ready to go, we will prepare a "How to..?" guide to share as an update explaining how everything works. You will receive an email link to your pledge providing you with access. We will also be on hand for anyone who needs help.

We (Footsore Miniatures & Games) will be manufacturing everything ourselves and have already started to make the production moulds. We want to be ready to begin manufacturing in bulk to build stock as soon as you complete your pledges, enabling us to start shipping orders in a timely fashion.

That's all for now. While we wait, please do not hesitate to contact us either in the comments or via messages if you have any questions.

We smashed it, thank you so much everyone!
over 2 years ago – Sat, Sep 11, 2021 at 01:23:37 AM

Thank you, everyone, for backing us. I can't describe how pleased I am that Matt's and my passion project found so many of you with a similar interest. We undoubtedly exceeded our expectations by going four times over our original target. Keep following the email updates as we will use them to explain what happens next. 

With the Welsh project ending successfully, Kickstarter will start to collect your pledge amounts. This process can take up to two weeks. While this is going on, we will begin to set up the pledge manager, which we will be able to launch once Kickstarter has finalised everyone's pledge.

We are fully committed to delivering your pledges in the most timely of fashions. We will explain what happens in detail in the coming days. For now, it is time to start planning your force ready for defence or conquest!

If you have any questions at any time, please ask here in the comments or via messenger.

Mark Farr