Baker Company Kickstarter Arrives

My kickstrater figures arrived Monday but I was kind of busy so failed to blog about them but at least I have had the time to have a good look at them since. I was really pleased to finally get them and whilst later than originally expected consider that I am still waiting for the Arena Rex kickstarter to arrive which won't be any time soon and is a year late with no new date given. I think it is better to leave the date blank if they have no idea but at least they are now making updates more regular and I can see that progress is being made. 

Reports from Baker Company were far more regular and informative and I know I would have had my figures sooner if not for the loss of the casting machine. But that as they say is another story. What you want to know is what do I make of them?

I will start and end with the most positive, the tanks. Being at the end of the first round I am one of the ones rewarded with getting bits from phase two with phase one and one of these items is the T-26 which is a small tank compared with the mediums that were to follow but it's still a reasonable size. The detail and casting of the model is great and comes in five parts as the Turret Hatch can be left open or closed. It would be great if Gavin can be convinced to do a few flag waving dudes as these machines were radioless.

A later photo shows the track detail and another close up shows the rivet heads that must have made these an absolute joy to be inside, or not!!! I am no total tread head but I rate this kit very highly and look forward to getting it painted up and on the table. I have decided to keep most of my vehicles and just sell on the Finn stuff that Lee and I agree are extra to our needs. Between us we will have a great Russian swarm in tanks and other such vehicles.

Lead wise I have had a little over 100 or so figures though it does not look as much from the box they came in or the photo above. First imprecision was a little negative and it's easy to see the issues that have been raised. Sure these are no Black Tree or Artizan and the lack of defined detail that comes with greatcoated or snow smocked infantry adds to the overall look of being a little less than one hoped

How ever it is just as easy to miss the details that give these character, no not all of them as some are certainly on the weak side but others have things going for them. I will need to get some of these painted up just to see what I make of them. First thoughts was that they looked small for 28mm, and that was a surprise given that the main reason of their introduction was to replace Baker Company 25mm figures.

Well fear not as on pulling two random figures out of respective piles shows the BC (on the left) is actually slightly larger than the Russian on the right. Proportionally the BC figure looks out of sync with his right hand the size of a bucket!

Another Finn from another pack and as you can see he is a good size as well. A fair few of the figures are on small bases but that's OK as I will be mounting them on 2p pieces. They are also malleable allowing the poses to be changed a little in a few cases which will be nice.

Overall I am less happy than I had hoped on deciding to fund but not so that I wish I had not bothered. On the contrary I am happier than I expected to be and I think they will serve us well and I will probably back the following Balkan and Norwegian kickstarters as well.

Thrown in with the ordered items was this T-26 twin turreted tank which was really cool present from Gavin I assume for the delays and speaks volumes about his commitment. My main concern has been that this kickstarter has ended up costing him money rather than generated any and certainly his new kickstarter is not anywhere as generous even if it's still a good deal but more on this further on.

The T-26 twin MG comes with the two turrets mounted on a deck panel that will need some work to make it look correct but it looks well worth making the effort to do this well.

It's not just a straight swap out either as the two bodies of the tanks have a number of differences and as such are a great addition to the range. I really like what Gavin has managed to do with these and it makes the decision on backing another of his kickstarters easier.

Given that he has just launched one that's probably no bad thing, but this one is more or less just a vehicle one and as such it comes will steeper price points. The NEW KICKSTARTER has already raised £4,000 in it's first day and has just thirteen left to go. It has a nice array of vehicles, mostly trucks and works out for the most as £20 per vehicle. This is no bad price and in some cases the vehicles will come with crews. Time will tell if Gavin brings in more incentives beyond choice of vehicle though I do think he should also offer a larger pledge allowing you to buy more than six vehicles which is the largest commitment you can do at the moment. This would be particularly useful for groups of players but given that nine vehicles look to be available by the end you can't get one each of the vehicles without adding the extra's as add on's (though that is still £20 per vehicle.

Gavin is offering early bird incentives allowing you at the moment to get six vehicles for £105 not a bad opportunity at all.