Hello Everyone! We just cleared out a huge backlog of orders now that the production team is running at full speed! If you haven't received a shipping notice please contact us via the Contact Us page and we'll track it down for you!

In other good news we are shortly going to release the new UAMC JRAB 4x4 vehicle for the Marines! This will kick off a new series of regular release that will also include the German Mech, Chinese Infantry (sculpted by Bob Naismith), the UAMC Hardsuits, and more!

Just a quick note to let you know the Google ads running on our site our not supposed to be there! We are working with our host to get them off the site!

Please note that our e-commerce store is unaffected by this as it is a completely separate website hosted in a different location that just ties into the main site.

Sorry for the inconvenience and ugly ads!!

We are busy producing, packing, and shipping orders and we'll be putting up some "real" updates and news on upcoming sets and our plans soon!

Sorry for the lack of updates - it's been all hands on deck in the new plastic "factory" here in Boston to get the Germans rolling out as fast as possible.  

We've been shipping steadily albeit slowly but will be able to move everything out much faster now that we've solved some problems on this end with production. 

As many of you know, Ed Fortae officially joined the company back in August after working with us for several months in figuring out a new plastic process that lets us put figures that have all the undercuts and "life" of metal miniatures into hard plastic. This was a new process that Ed was still perfecting and took a while for all of us to get to a point where we could produce reliably and consistently.

Our first set for this new plastic process - Hudson's Bugs - was in many ways both a great choice and a poor one. The Bug box consists of 30 Bugs each made with 10 parts - 4 legs, 2 body parts, 2 arms, a head, and a 30mm round base. There are LOADS of parts in the box and they take a LONG time to produce. It was great to start with these as it was the perfect test of the system and helped Ed iron out a lot of issues and go from experiment to full-on production. It was bad though because they're just a tough set to produce in quantity - a lot of man-hours go into them. For example we can get about 6 German boxes for every Bug box!

The Bugs were creating a HUGE bottleneck and holding up all the other releases so we decided that they would have to be sidelined for general distribution for the time being and we would just focus on getting the pre-orders out and then catch up on them for distribution release later. 

At the same time that all this was going on, we bought new plastic equipment and moved into our new production/warehouse space here in Boston. We had to get the whole team up to speed on the process - and in doing so we ended up changing some things along the way including how Ed was doing molds so that the process could go faster. 

Every time we thought we had a handle on things - something would creep up to knock us back. Well - knock on wood - we've finally got it all figured out and we've been producing steadily and consistently for the last few weeks and building up and shipping German sets.

One of our packing stations. The parts come from the molding room and are checked, sorted, and bagged before being boxed.

All of this, of course, has had a cumulative effect so we're just WAY behind on everything in our plan. Like they say - no plan survives contact with the enemy! Despite all these setbacks and disappointments along the way, we're feeling really good about the process and the end product. It's an awesome feeling to see a beautifully detailed piece come fresh from the mold. 

So as we get the rest of the Germans out to consumers, retailers, and distributors over the next couple weeks, we're also continually moving ahead with additional projects for both our ALIEN WAR range and some co-branded sets that will leverage the new plastic process. These sets will be kept under wraps until their boxed and ready to go…but there are some fun and unexpected things coming down the pike!

Again, we're so sorry for all the delays and false starts on our end. We kept thinking we had things sorted only to stumble into some other delay as we moved forward. We are working as fast as possible to get the Germans all shipped off to everyone - and making sure there are some extras in there to try to make up for the delays on our end. 

We hope all this is behind us now and we can get on with the very important work of making toy soldiers!!!

Oh - and something coming for the Germans in 2013…

Tim Williamson sent in a shot of his painted Fritz the MG11 Gunner. Fritz is the free giveaway figure for every German order. He's still available on all orders until these head out to our distributors in about 10 days so if you want one - put in your German order now!

Fritz can be added to any German Panzergrenadier gruppe as one of the two MG11 gunners. He's "slightly" larger than your typical German trooper and generally forgoes an assistant gunner as he is quite happy carrying all that extra ammo himself!

The first German pre-orders started to ship out this week and we are moving through them very quickly in preparation for the full launch to all retailers and distributors!  

Many of you will have these in your hands shortly, but in the meantime we wanted to show off the new German Force File to let you get them into your next ALIEN WAR game as quickly as possible!

The Germans are available and shipping now from our webstore - just click here.

We posted up a new poll. We're thinking of getting a contest started between now and the end of the year and wondered what everyone would be interested in. The choices are:

1. Design an Alien - which ultimate winner eventually gets made

2. Painting - for cash and prizes

3. Create Universe Background - i.e. write up a nation or unit or planet, etc.  

4. Sculpting - design a figure or a vehicle and the winner gets made in plastic  

The poll can be found at the bottom of this page in the left hand corner. Have at it!

We wanted to give a quick preview of SOME (not all) of the weapon options that will be included on the new UAMC Hardsuits...

Leave some comments below or pop into our forums to discuss as we put the final touches on these bad boys!

Not Defiance Games news per se - but our own Howard Whitehouse has just launched his latest set of wargames rules!

From Howard's announcement:

Released today, like out of Sing Sing with five dollars and a bus ticket --

Roderick Robertson and I, founders, owners and Capos di Tutti Capi of Pulp Action Library are happy to announce the release of "Mad Dogs With Guns", our 1920s Prohibition Era shoot 'em up rules.

"Mad Dogs" uses the core mechanisms from "Astounding Tales!", but in a more structured and  "realistic" way, in that Big Shots can get shot, and puny mob ‘associates' can get lucky with a cheap pistol every now and then. You can drive like a maniac, throw dynamite through your rival's window, and occasionally get beaten up by a little old lady.
 
It has a full set of gangland scenarios and a campaign system to run rackets in the imaginary, yet totally corrupt, city of Paradise, Illinois.

This is done in association with Copplestone Castings' "Gangsters – Mad Dogs With Guns" range of figures.

Mr. Capone says you should buy several copies. You know, you got a nice place here – be a shame if anything happened to it.

http://www.copplestonecastings.co.uk/range.php?range=GAN

“Mad Dogs With Guns” is available from Wargames vault at $18 for the PDF version or $29 for the print copy, or $45 for one of each as a bundle. Right now only the PDF version is showing up. You get six free pages to make your mind up, because we’re swell guys.

http://www.wargamevault.com/product/105836/Mad-Dogs-with-Guns

We first unveiled the Swamp Worms a couple weeks ago - but now we can tell you that they will be shipping the week of October 8th! 

The American colony world Aleutia is a beautiful - and deadly - planet.

Known primarily as the home of the Vralk, the semi-aquatic intelligent natives currently in rebellion against the United Americas, Aleutia features vast oceans, arid highlands, and dense swamp jungles that are home to the famous Swamp Worms of Aleutia. 

These massive invertebrates can grow up to 5 meters or more in length and can swallow a human, Bug, or Vralk whole. The Worms live in small family groups in underground burrows, laying in wait for unwary passerbys before exploding out of the earth. 

The Aleutian Swamp Worms are our first Edge Force set for the Alien War universe. This means that this box set stands on it's own unlike the Core Forces which are made up of multiple box sets. You can play the Swamp Worms against Bugs, Germans, or UAMC Marines or add them as a "3rd party" scenario in a game.

Each set features 8 Worms (3 unique heads and 3 unique bodies that can give you 9 completely unique combinations - and many more than that depending on how you assemble them!) You'll also get 8 40mm round bases and 2 special 40mm round Worm Burrows. These are great for battlefield objectives or just for some extra scenery. The worms range in height from 45-55mm tall (over 90mm in total length).

Click here to pre-order a box for $29.95 and we also have 4 and 10 box specials that can save you up to $60! All orders of $99 or also receive FREE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING. 

Swamp Worms sculpted by Ed Fortae. Artwork by Diego Gisbert Llorens.

The talented painter Tim Williamson sent in some photos of 3 different UAMC Marine fire teams in different uniform patterns.

First up is a desert scheme:

Second is a jungle pattern:

Third we have an urban scheme:

Thanks to Tim for the great photos!

Try out your own schemes with a box or two of Marines ($29.95 for 24 Marines!) from your favorite local hobby shop or right here in our webstore!

We wanted to show you how the Germans build up. For this build we chose the basic helmet version with a small 4-man fireteam including a grenadier (kneeling) and a trooper with a panzerfaust...

First up is a shot of some of the pieces we used on their tabs. This is how the parts come in the box divided into their own baggies.

Next are three of the troops in various stages of completion - two are still attached to their integral bases.

Here's a close up of a panzergrenadier with a standard G-54 rifle at the ready. Head and backpack about to be attached.

Finally the whole team on patrol in some semi-arid waste. This could be the grasslands of Neu Sachsen where the indigenous Pocapec race has staged an uprising against German control. Pocapec envoys recently arrived on Earth to protest German colonization officials and the Schlief-TG corporation. It's unclear how the primitive natives, coming from a society that has yet to invent the steam engine, could have made it off world...  

Clearly the metal deck-plate 25mm bases are a bit out of place in the setting...but nothing a bit of PVA glue and sand won't clear up!

We hope you enjoy a closer look at these figures! We're getting very excited for their launch! You can pre-order the Germans in 1, 4, and 10 set deals in our webstore starting at $29.95 for a 20-figure set! Click here to check them out and order.

To lead things off - Adam Pratt painted up a few Swamp Worms for us. You can see them in all their colorful glory below! (Diego Gisbert Llorens has been hard at work on the box illustration as well - we hope to show that off soon too!) 

Alternate Paint Scheme

The Aleutian Swamp Worms are our first Edge Set (i.e. not a Core Force in the ALIEN WAR game) and will be released in September. You will get 8 Worms with 8 40mm round bases and 2 40mm Worm holes for $29.95.

It's been busy days here at our new plastics factory in Boston. Although we've been making plastic toy soldiers for awhile now, making them ourselves is a BIG change! Ed and the team have been rocking and rolling to streamline the process and it's really humming along. We knew from the beginning that we'd figure out new ways to do things and as we lived with the process we would tweak and optimize things. For example, yesterday we discovered that a simple 8.5" x 11" sheet of white paper can save a worker at one of the plastic production stations about 15 minutes per hour in effort. Who knew the power of white paper?!?!? Thank you Staples!

Yesterday we turned on the German production mold (actually the pre-production mold as Ed went back and refined the production molds this week to optimize them) and ran off the first 15 or so sets of Germans for painters and as a surprise for Bug pre-orders. Every Bug and/or Marine order that ships out right now includes a little baggy with enough parts to build 2 German Panzergrenadiers.

We are starting to build up stock on Germans and next week we'll start on the Worms so that we have a LOAD on hand for release in September. The response to the Germans has been fantastic - much better than what I was expecting - thank you to everyone who has pre-ordered! This is going to be a record launch for all of us involved!

We just posted up a preview of the Hardsuit with the missile pod options and a bit of fiction to explain how they work...

Check it out in the Fiction Section by clicking here!

We wanted to show you a little peek behind the curtain on how we do what we do.

Most of our plastic sets are designed in a digital environment using computer sculpting tools.  Because of this and because computer screens lie - LIE I SAY! - and what looks good on a screen sometimes doesn't look all that hot at 1-to-1 scale - we like to 3D print the sculpts to get an idea of what they'll ultimately look like when they're in plastic.

This is an example of that process. Here is Fritz - our special giveaway figure for every German Panzergrenadier pre-order. If you pre-order the set (or one of the multi-box deals) - you'll get a free Fritz along with a 25mm base to go with him. Click here for details.

As you can see from the picture above - Fritz is a "big" boy who likes his squad support weapon. He also believes that you can never have enough ammunition (as evidenced by the EXTRA ammo can hanging from his belt). And, for those close encounters where the venerable MG11 is just too unwieldy - he likes to strap a big ol' combat knife to his boots.

The above is a photo of the actual 3D print of Fritz prior to clean up. All those crazy lines are the support structure that keeps the top part of the print from collapsing as it's created layer by layer. The detail of the print is the same exact resolution that we achieve in the plastic using this new manufacturing process (all of which is done here in the US which is somewhat unbelievable these days!)

Once we know that the figure is ready - we send the files off to Ed for molding with his new process. Ultimately the molds come back to Boston for production. The first German molds will be with us early next week for us to begin building up plastic stock as we finish Bug production. Thanks to the new process we can go from finalized sculpture to production plastic in a matter of days and not weeks or months!

To get your own copy of Fritz the MG11 Gunner - just click here to check out the German Panzergrenadier Pre-Orders!

The first plastic has been produced and the time has come to set the stage for the Germans! 

Ed finished up the first German production molds this week and we will start building up plastic stocks as the box goes to press. With our move to the new space completed and all the new plastics equipment in place here in Boston, we are now running at full steam here at Defiance Games!

Bug production is in full swing and we'll be caught up on shipping soon. In the meantime, the German molds are being added to the production line next week so that we can build up a huge amount of plastic parts and start packing them over the next month in the lead up to release. We're excited to have full control of the process here in Boston now with the team up to speed on the new equipment and in the "swing of things"! 

So without further ado…the Germans!

Shipping the week of September 24th!

Germany is a major Force in the Alien War universe. German troops are stationed throughout German territory to protect far-flung colony worlds and project German policy in Human Space. 

At the sharp end of the spear, the Panzergrenadiers are Germany's quick-reaction force with the most advanced weaponry and tactics of the modern Bundeswehr. 8-man squads form the backbone of any German military operation combining a potent mix of maneuverability and hard-hitting weaponry.

This 28mm (1/56th scale) multi-part plastic set includes enough parts to build 20 figures - 2 full 8-grenadier gruppes along with four "extras" including a prone MG11 gunner. There are over 45 unique parts in the set including 2 torso types, four legs, 12 unique weapon arms (29 weapon arms in all!), 6 unique male heads, 6 unique female heads, helmet head (42 heads in all!), backpacks, loose versions of the weapons, and 25mm round steel-deckplate scenic bases! Over 170 parts!

For every pre-order we're also including an exclusive specialty figure - Fritz the MG11 Gunner. Fritz brings some "presence" to your German squad!

A single set is $29.95 for 20 figures. Multi-box deals will save you over $60 if you want to build your army quickly! Every order of $99 ships FREE WORLDWIDE as well.

Click here to check out the sets. We'll be showing off more parts, more assembled figures, and painted figures over the next few weeks in lead up to the launch!