Time for a crowd funding update

    
    

Yay another free snake man mini... w00t!!!

First up this week has to be the Bushido Ito Clan Indiegogo campaign. Firstly GCT Studio's managed to reach their $25,000 stretch target. So everyone who has pledged $100 or more will get an extra free miniature, the snake headed Akimoto, or 6 Ito clan D6's. The choice as they say is yours. I want to take a moment to pause here and think a little bit about what the hell all of this means. I think sometimes with some of the Indiegogo campaigns and Kickstarter campaigns in the industry it is quite easy to become blasé about the sorts of figures achieved and money raised. So lets be clear here, in roughly 35 days GCT studios, a very small company from Britain, run by part-time enthusiasts, who have only been in existence for roughly a year have managed to get somewhere in the regions of $27,000 last time I checked. These guys don't get a lot of exposure from many of the big gaming sites, they don't have Cool Mini or Not backing them, this purely off of the strength of their product and how professionally they've approached everything... take a bow guys, because trust me that's some achievement.

There's still more time to go though. Their campaign still has 15 hours to run at time of writing, and that means there is still time to get in on this phenomenal campaign, that has offered free miniature incentive after free miniature incentive. Seriously pledge $100's for the 'I Want I-Two perk' and you'll be getting potentially $175's worth of mini's depending on what you pick. That's bloody brilliant value for money. There's still extra stretch goals going up:

• $26,000's - 5% store discount voucher for everyone (achieved)
• $27,000's - 10% store discount voucher for everyone (achieved)
• $28,000's - 15% store discount voucher for everyone
• $29,000's - 20% store discount voucher for everyone
• $30,000's - 25% store discount voucher for everyone

So there you go. They're still offering further incentives for people to pledge money for. Genuinely I think what they've offered already is way more than enough, but I guess these guys just want to keep giving and sharing with the community that has supported them so well... so what are you waiting for? You've only got a short time to take advantage of these amazing offers, if you don't you know you'll regret it.

It's a shame this hasn't been handled better as a campaign.

Now while the guys at GCT Studio's have shown people exactly how to run a Indiegogo / Kickstarter campaign I think it's fair to say my next campaign hasn't gone so smoothly, which is a real shame. The Gruntz Army Builder Campaign, or Barracks to give it its name got off to a flying start, stalled and then strolled over their target of $2,222's. I was immensely pleased about this, as both Robin and Ian seem like decent champs and I was glad the project would be funded. Then came a moment of controversy when they put up there stretch targets. Here they are:

• $3,500's - Monsters Ahoy! = Monster units added to Barracks.
• $5,000's - Save & Reload = The added ability to save and reload unit cards in Barracks so you can tinker with them.
• $6000's - Army Lists & Printing = Ability to search through saved units, add them to lists and print out a summary table card and all unit cards.

These stretch goals have caused a slight amount of annoyance amongst backers and potential backers alike. I know people who were actually put off backing the project because of these stretch targets. Why? Well to be brutally honest you'd expect these features to be included in the base program from the start. I have to say I did shake my head a little when I realised they weren't. Here's the thing, this capain and what it was, to be honest, was poory defined from the start. Robin and Ian have offered refunds to anyone who wants them, which you can say fairer than, and it was good of them to do so. But had they defind the features of their Army Builder better int he first place I think they'd have not had half the problems they did have. Oh well I'm sure they'll know for next time, I haven't pulled my support and nor would I, but given the campaign has 11 days still to run and is currently only on $3,013's I think we're going to get an Army Builder with some key features missing... that is a shame and I think I'd not be comfortable advising people to support the project anymore. Sure you still get the Army Builder, and it will be made. Just be sure if you do support the project that it's the software package you want.

Next up are the perverted bad boys of crowd funding... or they are if you believe certain sources. Me I just prefer to think of them at Soda Pop as just being really, really cheeky, and I like cheeky. Here we have another highly successful crowd funding project that despite Kickstarter cowardly pulling support from it has gone from strength to strength, and has yet again smashed through the original goal and all subsequent bloody stretch targets placed before it. On their own website the Tentacle Bento Campaign continues to chug along at a pleasing pace. They crashed through the $18,500 stretch goal like it wasn't even there. They then made light work of the $25,000 stretch target like it was a mere play thing to be tossed aside. They even obliterated their third stretch goal of $35,000's with consumate ease and a certain sense of elan. So what next for these probing tentacles? Who bloody well knows? John Caddice has yet to put up the 4 Strettch Goal, and rumours that it will be a kiss on the cheek from Marie-Claude Bourbonnais for all backers can neither be confirmed or denied! So for now we'll just have to wait and see what's next for this card game.

Finally we have what is currently the pin-up poster boy of Kickstarter campains... drum roll please... I give you Sedition Wars! Funded in less time than it takes to boil an egg, it has been an unbelievably popular and successful campaign so far. Hopefully it'll continue to knock peoples socks off, and if it continues at this unbelievable rate Mike might actually be able to fund real world experiments to brng the Strain to life for real. Lets take a look at what stretch goals have been passed so far...

Well within less time than it takes to say Bob's our uncle they smashed through the $40,000 target and means all games will be upgraded with two alternate sculpts of troopers with alternate female poses. Splendid!!!

There next 'stretch' target, if stretch is really the right word for this campaign, was $60,000's and this was surpassed in double quick time too. It means that everyone who has pledged at the Biohazard level ($100's) or more will receive an additonal 12 Vanguard troopers each. Even more splendid!

The $80,000 stretch target took more than 24 hours to achieve, so... oh who am I kidding they breezed past this target too! This one is great news though for those of us who really hammer our board games. The card / paper chits will be replaced with plastic ones in ALL copies of the game. This is a real result for me!

Next up was $100,000's, which lets be honest most Kickstarter campaigns would love to get close to. Well Sedition Wars continues to march ever forward, making a mockery of the word 'stretch'. They've achieved it and that means we get an extra sculpt in the game for the Phase 1 Strain. It really does just keep on getting better and better.

So where next for this never ending juggernaut of a campaign? Well to $120,000's so that everyone who has pledged for the Biohazard level ($100) and above gets an additional 12 Strain miniatures... this they haven't yet achieved. I know they're slacking off aren't they? Well last time I checked they were only on $108,277's with only 29 days to go. I think it'll be a struggle... but I'm pretty darn sure they'll get to it eventually. If they don't I'll be flabbergasted, I really will. So what are you all still reading this for? Go and support these projects if you haven't done so already... and have a great weekend people! Peace out