Forum Replies Created
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I called them and they will prepare a quote for me.
The sheets are easy to find it’s someone who’ll cut them that’s the issue.
I have some 4 sets of free (and generic) ACW flags available. All you need to do is download and resize the images (in a Word doc for example) to fit your figures.
In the light of the current direction of the discussion, this may be of interest:
[H]ere I’d like to: muse a little about how I approach editing; show some pages before and after editing; and finish by offering a few tips for would be authors.
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Approach
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I believe wargames rules are essentially technical documents. They can, and probably should, be approached in a user friendly way but to work as rules they have to have a sound structure and provide a consistent framework for players.Editing anything is both subjective, as in this doesn’t look right, and objective, as in this doesn’t work. Throw in a need to apply some consistency in layout etc and you get the basics of my approach to editing. In essence it’s a lot of copy editing with a bit of sub editing thrown in for good measure.
Fresh eyes always see things as they are, not as they are intended to be. So when editing there’s a lot of tidying up and moving text around but I try really hard to capture the author’s intentions. After all they are not my rules. My job is to make sure they are as easy to understand as possible.
However, there always comes a point where I uncover something that is either illogical, far too complex, or doesn’t fit with the intent of the author. Then I have to define the problem and come up with options to fix it.
Full article & tips – https://work.vexillia.me.uk/2020/09/rebels-yankees-v20-released.html
Has this been deleted?
Just finished, small but beautifully formed:
Full set:
https://blog.vexillia.me.uk/2022/07/15-mm-war-of-roses-commanders-complete.html
I listen to a lot of podcasts.
Latest stuff:
https://blog.vexillia.me.uk/2022/06/15-mm-welsh-spear-donnington.html
https://blog.vexillia.me.uk/2022/06/15-mm-arab-archers-li-forged-in-battle.html
Doesn’t really belong in a gallery but what the heck …
https://blog.vexillia.me.uk/2022/05/adlg-2022-survey-overview.html
OK I’ll bite.
Dealing with just Milliput:
[1] Milliput is a two part epoxy. The first is a monomer which hardens when a polymerisation reaction is initiated. The second part is an initiator for the first part (how very Marx Brothers).
[2] The initiator is not stable indefinitely. It has to have a certain “reactivity” (non-technical term) to act as an initiator.
[3] As the Milliput ages so will the initiator decrease in potency. It will, however, not degrade to the point of not working at all for quite some time (years?).
[4] A weaker (older) initiator will produce a slower reaction with the monomer when mixed. Thus older Milliput will harden (or set) far more slowly than fresh.
Hope that helps?
If you tell me what AC is I might be able to help further.
I shall have to go and read opinion poll results from the Brexit campaign to satisfy my stats cravings by the looks of it.
This might help your cravings:
https://blog.vexillia.me.uk/2022/05/adlg-2022-survey-results-part-1.html
Batch #1 shown below now sold. Batch #2 still available. Same style but PM for pictures.
Back the OP.
See my 2014 article “The Business Vanishes” from Miniature Wargames, 376. I retired last year but my views didn’t change.
I’d be interested in trying a copy of this system. Nice to see someone using Linux! How do we get in touch? I have a contact form on my blog.
A few points:
[1] Facebook hasn’t been cool for years. Teenagers thinks it’s what their grandparents use.
[2] There are many excellent free options for support forums such as groups.io etc.
[3] Businesses switching to Facebook is an attempt to achieve maximum volume & reach with minimum effort.
[4] If you don’t run an adblocker & other security aids Facebook will follow you everywhere.I think Facebook has become the Internet for average users with no technical understanding who don’t mind “being the product”.
Thanks for the kind words and I’m glad you enjoyed them.
Russian medieval levy intended for ADLG:
Figures from Fighting 15s.
https://blog.vexillia.me.uk/2021/09/15-mm-medieval-russian-levy-fighting15s.html
Latest batch of completed figures:
https://blog.vexillia.me.uk/2021/08/15-mm-medieval-russian-arcchers-essex.html
I have 7 packs of Tony’s 40×15 mm bases if they are any use – https://is.gd/cBsRZA
Get in touch via the web form on this page – https://work.vexillia.me.uk/p/retail-stock-clearance.html
Hi Tom
Most of these are on eBay which you can see here – https://blog.vexillia.me.uk/p/ebay-listings_7.html – of the things you mentioned the prices are:
Static grass – £1.50
40 x 15 mm magnetic bases – £2.00
Handgunners – £2.00There’s a contact form at the bottom right of the linked page above. Send me an email of what you’d like and I’ll work out the postage etc.
My understanding of the way eBay’s Global Shipping Program (GPS) works is that all the seller has to do is ensure delivery to the eBay shipping warehouse after that it’s down to eBay. If you have proof of delivery to eBay you should be OK. From eBay’s help pages:
How you’re protected
With the Global Shipping Programme, you’re protected in the following ways:[1] You qualify for automatic 5-star protection on postage and dispatch charge detailed seller ratings when you provide free domestic postage to the UK Shipping Centre
[2] You qualify for automatic 5-star protection on delivery time detailed seller ratings when you post with same day or 1-day dispatch, upload tracking information within 1 working day of receiving cleared payment (or mark the item as shipped if you don’t use a tracked service), and the item is delivered to the UK Shipping Centre within 3 working days
[3] Your buyers will be able to leave you feedback for transactions involving Global Shipping Programme items. However, eBay will remove neutral or negative feedback associated with Global Shipping Programme transactions in some circumstances:
[4] You aren’t responsible for item loss or damage that occurs after the item reaches the UK Shipping Centre. Once an item has been forwarded by the UK Shipping Centre, you won’t be responsible for refunding the buyer if an eBay Money Back Guarantee or PayPal Buyer Protection case is filed against you for one of the following reasons:
A buyer claims an item isn’t received or a package is damaged in transitSource: https://is.gd/C2mji
Re-reading your OP it’s not actually clear whether you used the GPS or shipped direct in which case you are “on the hook”.
To be honest if your current blog is broken and you can’t fix it, you’d be better starting afresh. The issue is finding a blog platform that matches your technical skills not one that offers more features.
With Blogger the recent changes really do require you know something about html. Then you can edit the code to fix links and really control the post layout. Relying on the wysiwyg editor provided by Google can be very frustrating.
As I have coded my own web pages, using html in the new Blogger editor is surprisingly efficient. It just takes some getting used to it’s quirks.
I suggest you add the “Subscribe by Email” widget rather than rely on the Google followers mechanism not least because not everyone has a Google account.
Finally, your last post at https://withob.blogspot.co.uk/ (Jan 2018) does show large images on clicking the image.
After chatting to Tony he couldn’t help me. Still looking.
The rules for parcels sent to the EU will change on July 01. Currently small parcels are cover by “small consignment relief” but this will end. You have been warned.
I’ve made two purchases from the UK since Jan 1st, one from an Ebay seller, one from Antediluvian. Both were below £25 and arrived in Dublin quickly and without any fuss or additional charges from Irish customs. Both were clearly labelled for customs. Once I keep my orders small, I don’t think I’ll notice any difference.
Plus eBay will start to add VAT automatically for EU buyers.
I seem to be writing very strange blog posts this year:
- https://blog.vexillia.me.uk/2021/01/rebasing-thoughts.html
- https://blog.vexillia.me.uk/2021/01/cheap-paint.html
Normal service will resume once the medication kicks in.
Latest post: 15 mm Early Medieval Horde (Essex)
https://blog.vexillia.me.uk/2021/01/15-mm-early-medieval-horde-essex.html
Latest post: 15 mm Medieval Medium Cavalry (Essex)
https://blog.vexillia.me.uk/2020/12/15-mm-medieval-cavalry-essex.html
Having listened to the podcast too I’m not sure the above is a fair summary of the discussion. Part of the question being considered was “why are wargamers so tight fisted?”. This was discussed in a broader context including other hobbies like golf, model railways etc.
The big problem with the argument posted above is that it leaves each person to make their own judgement of what a premium price is. The individual nature of the value judgement is compounded by the common habit of applying perceived, sometimes dated, market norms to identify higher priced ranges.
Lower priced ranges (that is older ranges) will make modern, realistically priced ranges seem expensive when they may not be given their recent, and much higher, development costs. It can take years for a 15 mm range to recover the cost of sculpting, mastering and production moulds. That’s why there are lots of small businesses that sculpt their own and sell at the lower end of the price range: their development costs are much, much lower.
The failure to set a reasonable retail price contributes to ranges, and sometimes whole businesses, vanishing. I wrote an article about this in 2014 for Miniature Wargames that you might like to read.
Finally, I was left wondering how one fights against “premium pricing strategies” other than a commercial boycott? Only buying when things are heavily discounted perhaps (although I’m not sure that helps support any business in the long run)?
Mike said:
3: TWW is not a court of law and I have no intention to try to act as one.
Admirable sentiment but …
5: I have been in direct contact with both parties and neither have shown me any proof …
Here you are acting as both investigator and final arbiter. Isn’t that what courts & judges do? See point 3 above.
Liked the unintentional pun.
I know but if you think I’m painting free hand Austrian knots in 15 mm you’re crackers! Plus I’ve only painted shoulder tabs on one figure not all and the other general figure has cast epaulettes so I wasn’t going to cut them off.
Two new ACW blog posts:
https://blog.vexillia.me.uk/2020/11/15-mm-acw-confederate-command-warrior.html
https://blog.vexillia.me.uk/2020/11/15-mm-acw-old-glory-vs-warrior.htmlFirst post include lots of free flags like this:
Charged £14.22, on £95.00 order, order received sent 2nd class Royal Mail for £2.95, I except there is a cost for someone packing and the box but this seems well over the top.
This is unreasonable. To me it looks like the costs are calculated on low value, heavier items (was your item especially light/small) or someone has set up their shopping cart very badly.
I can’t believe people intentionally set out to overcharge on large orders: it just doesn’t make commercial sense. Setting up a shopping cart can be really hard see the homework below.
I really don’t “buy” into the handling costs thing. That should be covered in the mark up of the product. The profit margin on the retail sale is the handling and packing fee.
If only life were that simple. Very high delivery charges are a no-no but …
[1] Not all costs are directly related to the product. They are incurred once per order and so are better in the delivery charges. Things like a fixed transaction costs, boxes, labels, padding and overheads. This last item can be staff costs if the business is large enough.
[2] Retail margins are not that great that everything can be lumped into the retail price and remain competitive. Direct retailer (read manufacturers) have much larger margins and therefore can afford “free packaging” offers for larger orders. This option is not available to stockists etc.
[3] Competition online is such that a truly competitive retail price is vital if the item is generally available. Hence there is real commercial pressure to keep the retail price and delivery charges separate (see first two points).
Finally, here’s some homework for you to ponder:
Packs retail at £2.00 each. They cost £1.30 to buy at trade. Each order has transaction costs of £0.30 plus 5%. Packaging costs £0.50 for up to 5 items and £0.75 for 6-10 items. UK postage costs £0.90 for one item, £1.50 for 2-5 items & £2.40 for 6-10 items.
What delivery do you charge for ordering 1, 5 and 10 items? Don’t forget to add 5% to the delivery cost to cover the online transaction charge.
Hint: a 10% on-cost for delivery costs you money.
Have fun.
There’s always one. I’ve changed the wording especially for those that don’t read the pages.
However I think that, for example, mentioning some tactical factors (+1 etc.) in a paragraph of explanations is not always bad if it helps to understand the logic of this point of the rules system – on the condition that another document or page contains easily readable charts of all these tactical factors.
We’ll have to differ. Doing this mixes explanation and detail.
It also involves duplication (if you get it right) which doubles the work of keeping things consistent. If you get it wrong the user doesn’t know where to look for detailed factors and may even struggle to decide which of two options is right.
Compare the left and right side of each image.
First things first: thank you very much. The figures arrived this morning and they are just what I wanted and have solved nearly all my problems.
For everyone’s information:
[1] The Peter Pig foot are an almost exact size match for the Roundway foot figures I’m using to refresh my War of the Roses army. They also match the Warrior ACW figures I’m using. In both instances it looks like I can use the Peter Pig ranges to add a touch of variety. Roundway & Warrior sell single pose packs.
[2] The Peter Pig mounted knights are a close match to the Roundway armoured knights I’m using but the horses are a little smaller. I could probably get away with mixing them but I’ll have to be selective about poses etc.
Finally, I have put the 4-5 painted samples you sent in the paint stripper but only because I want to double check the above comparisons with a few painted examples. As to any “Muppet painting” I was pleasantly surprised: your comments had led me to expect something far worse.
Thank you once gain. Much appreciated.
edit, they all have paint on, is that an issue?
No. I have some Dettol.
