WOW! What an amazing thing to wake up to.
about 5 years ago
– Sat, Apr 13, 2019 at 02:28:15 AM
When I went out to dinner last night with an old friend, I had just posted an update celebrating the campaign passing $200,000. I wake up this morning, after Mel has run the last of his World Tour live-streaming stops in the US and Canada, and you - our wonderful teammates - have smashed through the final Content Upgrade goal. Mel now has all the pages he has been planning for, and the book can be how he has been imagining it.
Thank you all for that!
Now we keep moving forward with our rolling stretch goal that will hopefully bring us to premium paper AND an awesome FREE PDF for all backers. Very exciting!
The Pledge Manager
A few people have asked if they will be able to increase their pledge level or pledge amount in the pledge manager, and the answer is yes. You'll be able to go from PDF to a physical book (or two or three) if you want, and you'll be able to add the Add-Ons as well.
Additionally, and extra funds that you spend in the pledge manager can be paid with PayPal, if that’s more your thing. I nice little feature thanks to BackerKit.
Shipping Prices
This week I have had a number of conversations with potential fulfillment hubs and it is looking like we will be able to significantly reduce the shipping prices we’ve quoted already. We don’t have that all nailed down at the moment, but we will have it finalized before the pledge manager opens in mid-May. So, if you have pledged for the PDF level because of the high costs of international shipping (particularly for teammates in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand), stay at that level, and keep an eye on the Updates for more news.
Thanks again, everyone! Mel and I invite you to join us tomorrow on The Terrain Tutor YouTube channel when we’ll be live-streaming from his place for an “end of campaign” party!
Cheers
Dave
We have passed $200,000! (and we have a new add-on)
about 5 years ago
– Fri, Apr 12, 2019 at 10:47:35 PM
We know that it’s not a stretch goal, but we still wanted to celebrate the idea that more than 4,000 people are interested in a new book that will help them make the best darn wargaming terrain they can! Thank you, everyone, for your belief in what Mel and I can deliver to you!
A family-focused Add-On
As hopefully most people will know, Mel’s channel and this campaign have been a real family affair. Kez, Corben, and Willow are regular “contributors” to every Sunday night livestream, and we’ve been chatting about ways to help immortalize their support for Mel. We’ve settled on a Poster Add-On!
This poster will be a single-sided, full colour, A3-sized poster with all 84 “Rules for Terrain Building” that Mel has discovered through hard lessons over the last 5 years. We suspect there might be a few more discovered over the next few months while writing the book! These rules include things like:
Never let your liquids FREEZE! You can’t afford that again, Bose!
(Regarding plastic and resin terrain) If it ain’t yours, wash it before you play with it #FlakeyBits
Kez, Corben, and Willow will all be contributing artwork to the borders of the poster, making it a truly family affair! This poster will be limited to the Kickstarter/pledge manager and will NOT be available later in retail. To add it to your pledge, simply click on your Manage your pledge button and increase your pledge by $5!
Final part of the Chill and Chat World Tour!
Tonight is Mel’s final part of the world tour and he’ll be live-streaming at 7:30pm Chicago time (5:30pm Pacific, 8:30pm Eastern) for all of the US/Canada teammates! We hope you have a great time asking him questions about it all.
Keep sharing, everyone, and let’s have an awesome final 48 hours!
Almost there!
about 5 years ago
– Fri, Apr 12, 2019 at 02:34:05 AM
Hi guys! Mel here.
I've been a little ill recently, a mixture of con crud (too many new people, too many new germs) and my back has been in bits with the amount of hours I've spent in this office chair. I have asked you to carry my baby while I rested. OH BOY! I wasn't expecting you to drop kick it down the field so the final goal is within reach! OUTSTANDING!!!
We were expecting it to pickup at the end, but damn! The response from you lot and the industry has been overwhelming. I'm slightly worried that you were planning this all along and you wanted to break me in the final 72hrs. Too late!!! Your support broken me long ago, now I'm just in shock, lol!
There's been a lot of demand for new stretch goals, since you're smashing through them like a heat gun through expanding polystyrene! We've got the final pages to get which, based on the stats, looks like we're going to achieve early! It definitely looks like you're going to get me all my pages, but now I have a request. A request for my friend Dave who has gone above and beyond behind the scenes while this Kickstarter broke and remade me, a true friend.
You see, there were some quality upgrades - an increase to the paper weight and bookmarking ribbons - that should have come three or so stretch goals ago. Dave wants to create books that not only have top quality content, but also have top quality production. He moved the Quality Upgrades because he wanted to get me my pages. So, it's time to get to the top quality book and finish this crazy adventure with the book we've both envisioned over this past year.
So, you've given to us, we feel it's time to give back. I've come up with the idea of a 'Best of the Shows' (working title) PDF, that when we hit the final goal, every backer will get a copy of. It's basically my favourite tables from various shows I've visited along with text telling you why I liked it and what you can learn from it. So, every $4k we go over the final $210k pages goal, we'll add 4 pages to it until we hit $230k which will be a 20 page pdf but also fund the quality upgrades Dave's put aside for us to have our pages.
Our final Content Upgrade goal is in sight. You've done it for me, now let's do it for Dave!
Want to know more? Well, I'll be live on Friday! I'll be wrapping up the World Tour Stateside for the final show (5:30pm Pacific, 7:30pm Central, and 8:30pm Eastern) before our big "end of adventure" show on the Sunday Nighter, which is starting early at 7pm UK so we can watch the final three hours over the campaign.
You wonderful beautiful bunch of people, my family I've never met, thank you so much, the end is in sight and WE CAN DO IT!
Whether it's add-ons, shares, or endorsements, let's crack on!
Thank you, Heralds!
about 5 years ago
– Thu, Apr 11, 2019 at 02:30:13 AM
Today has been another fantastic day! We are, of course, excited to have passed another goal and added 8 more pages to the book, but we are especially excited to celebrate everyone who has brought us to this point - our Heralds. From companies with a large influence in our hobby to those of you who hangout in a small FB group, you have all brought more teammates to this campaign, and we thank you heartily for it! Looking at our list of referrers is just wonderful - over 100 different sources have help us knock down Content Upgrade after Content Upgrade!
We are now at a 160-page, hardback book! Mel has plans for another 16 pages and we’re all working to get him those pages. Thank you for helping us make an awesome book.
Final Stretch Goal Revealed!
Our next goal is to pass $195,000 and add 4 pages each to the Water and Snow chapter, and the Core Techniques chapter.
After that we can see the final Content Upgrade at $210,000. At this point Mel has all the pages he has been planning out for the last year. While the photo on the Stretch Goal image shows his infamous notebook, I will let you know that he hasn’t let me look inside. I think he wants to surprise me. Let’s continue sharing the campaign and get him these pages!
And Finally...
There are two stops left on the Chill and Chat World Tour. Thursday night will be Mel’s regular livestream at 7:30pm UK time, and then on Friday night our US and Canadian teammates can catch Mel in the afternoon/evening as he goes live at 7:30pm Central (5:30pm Pacific, 8:30pm Eastern).
Thank you all. Let’s crack on!
Cheers
Dave
Penultimate Content Upgrade revealed! (and some news on shipping costs)
about 5 years ago
– Tue, Apr 09, 2019 at 11:02:45 PM
We are very excited! The last few days have seen things picking up a little in pace, and this morning our new teammates took us past the $165,000 Stretch Goal, adding very realistic (and functional) hills to the book content!
Next up is the section where Mel will be able to discuss seasonal variations of texture and paint choices, as well as looking at building trees from armatures!
Following that is the freshly revealed stretch goal which will see Mel rounding out the Water and Snow section, and being able to bulk up his descriptions of his core techniques.
After THAT is the final Content Upgrade Stretch Goal to bring us to Mel’s dream book. It’s still a ways off, and time is running short. Please share (and endorse) the campaign with all the wargamers and terrain builders you know! Together we can do it.
Shipping price update
We have been talking with a number of fulfillment hubs and it looks like we’re going to be able to bring down the prices (that will be collected in the pledge manager). We’ll have a final announcement later this week, but we are looking at being able to have the following for the first book:
US, UK/EU/EU adjacent - $12
Canada - $20
Australia/NZ - $25
More details once we’ve been able to lock in the prices.
Thank you all for your support of Mel and this project!
Cheers
Dave
