Fragging Unicorns Discord
about 4 years ago – Wed, Aug 26, 2020 at 02:18:57 AM

Hey team! We have a bit a community building update for today.

Fragging Unicorns Discord Server

We've made a place for all of us to come together and chat about Gangs of the Undercity, or Fragging Unicorns in general, and hang out with the dev team and other folks who love minis, rpgs, and games. Here's the invite link, see you there! 

https://discord.gg/RnUuQMt

Gangs of the Undercity Facebook Group

We aren't in charge of this one, but there is also a Gangs of the Undercity Facebook group for those who find that more convenient!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/274512564003695

Signs

These terrain signs were unlocked during the campaign and will be available in the pledge manager. Death Ray is including the kebab rail and the kebab hanger for free in each terrain bundle, but the others are part of a pack you can grab.

Tokens

Some of you had the great idea of having 3rd party tokens to use for certain status markers. So I reached out to Death Ray Designs and picked their brain about it. A day later, they came back with these acrylic versions and are offering them to our backers in the pledge manager. 

We should have a few more art updates soon, and the pledge manager should make landfall at earliest on the 29th, or 31st at latest, depending on how Kickstarter's counting works. We are pretty close to releasing an updated ruleset as well, this time with gang creation stuff inside, so our backers can dig in and help us spot any biff, boffs, and roughs before we go to final layout. I'll see you next update (or sooner on discord!)

 - Opti

Delay of the Pledge Manager
about 4 years ago – Sat, Aug 22, 2020 at 10:24:00 PM

We knew something was going to mess up our flow, and it has happened. Thankfully, this is a very, very small hurdle, and won't derail us much, if at all. 

Backerkit Delay

I was getting the backerkit ready for launch today, and as I was going through the final stages, I was notified by Backerkit that we would have to pay the balance of their fee BEFORE the pledge manager can go live. The unfortunate part is that Kickstarter holds all funds until 14 days after the campaign is over. That means we can't pay the fee and get the pledge manager up until August 29 (if Kickstarter is being straight with us). The moment our funds hit, the pledge manager will go up. 

I know this is a bummer. We are every bit as excited to get this out there and get moving. So thanks again for your patience. We are going to keep the date for closing the pledge manager the same (September 15), which gives you supporters 2 weeks to finalize your pledges and get us the final numbers we need. 

There is an upside. This small delay gives us the ability to get more renders and concept art in, so when it DOES go live, you will have a better idea about the models you want. 

Lastly, though we can't go live, I can give you a taste of what the pledge manager will look like:

Backerkit Preview

Here's what you'll see when you click the link we'll send you...

And here are some examples of the interface where you can purchase the add-ons:

So again, thank you for your patience, and thanks for your forbearance when we trip up. We will be 100% honest with where we are at, every step of the way, so prepare to laugh and cry with us as we make this game a reality!

 - Opti

Stretch Goal Model Previews
over 4 years ago – Sat, Aug 22, 2020 at 12:25:41 AM

Hey Folks, the Backerkit is just a day or two away from launch! Still hammering out some last minute details, but it won't be long now!

In the meantime, I promised some previews of some models we don't have models for yet. 

Unlocked Model Previews

So, in the interest of being absolutely transparent, I am giving you raw, and unfinished looks at some of the models that are coming. These DO NOT reflect the quality of things to come, however. You have seen the quality of our minis up until now, and we are committed to bringing that same level of quality to things once the manufacturing happens, but I also don't want anyone to have to buy anything sight unseen in the backerkit. To be clear, these are just works in progress, concepts, or simply ideas of what will be for the models more recently unlocked. Having made all those caveats, here are some things that are brewing. 

The Assassin Model

Designed to go in the Shadow Caste gang as a sort of foot soldier, these models can be customized with different heads and weapons. Of course, it is ambiguous enough to be a human, elf, or even orc, so it can fit into your own custom gang if desired. 

Elf Mage

This is concept art for the Elf Mage. This piece is modeled off of Grayson the Griot, leader of the Hetairoi, but without the guitar or other accouterments, he would be great in other gangs as well. We are doing our best to allow this initial offering of models to be somewhat flexible in terms of usability, in case folk want to modify them or kitbash from other models. 

Pet Griffs

we have decided that since we have all the sculpts done, we will release all the griffs as well, both as singles, and as a box. These are the six griff models that will be purchasable in the backerkit. The croyote remains exclusive to this campaign. 

Female Orc

As with the Elf Mage, this one pulls double duty. With the instrument, she can be Maryannu of the Hetairoi, but she can double as another orc ganger for your other gangs or games as well. 

Male Ogre

This one is modeled after Raz, a member of the Bulls of Heaven, but can easily be a yetin in any other gang that can have them. This is very early art, but it gives you a taste, both of our process, and also what you can expect. This guy will be on a 40mm base, same as the other yetin models.

Male Goblin

This fun model is modeled after the Hetairoi drummer, but give them alternate weapons and they fit into the Necro Goblins or other gang easily. This will come with multiple hands and heads.

Female Dwarf

I love this concept art so much I can't wait to see it fully realized. This dwarf gives us a second dwarf to put on the table (after Spur), and she sports an arm-cannon as one of her potential load-outs. 

Aesop

This model is based on a Neverkin model, but is flexible enough to be a human in most gangs. This is still a work in progress and doesn't quite reflect the final image, but gives you an idea. 

Neverkin Ganger

This model wasn't part of our stretch goals, but one of our sculptors offered it up for use and it fits our Neverkin theme so well, we are taking them up on it. This model is a female human, and is modular with various heads and hands, so it can fill out your Neverkin gang or be a great addition to whatever you have in mind. 

Satyr and Abimiras

We still don't have concept art for the Satyr or Abimiras models, unfortunately. The Satyr will have multiple options for equipment, but it looks like we won't have any art for him by the time the backerkit opens. But we can say he will fit in the Hetairoi gang or any other gang that allows satyrs. Abimiras also doesn't have any art yet, but he will be true to his story in the Undercity audio drama, so he will be in his wheelchair. 

Buying Models Sight Unseen

As mentioned before, we are going to offer the unlocked models on backerkit, even those without full art or renders finished. We will, of course, update the backerkit with pics as they come in, but it is possible they won't make it in time for the closing of the backerkit pledge manager on Sept. 15. So here is our pledge to you: If you buy a model that didn't have a render available, you can return it for a full refund if you don't like it. We are confident they will all be great, so we don't think anyone will, but I want YOU to feel comfortable in any way possible. 

See you in a few days when the pledge manager opens!

 - Opti

Note: I may be sending out some backerkit previews that allow you to participate in the pledge manager early. This will allow us to work out any kinks that exist before we open it up to everyone. If you get one of those chances, don't be alarmed, just give us feedback!

Here's the Plan
over 4 years ago – Wed, Aug 19, 2020 at 10:53:55 PM

Hey everyone! Its been a few days since the end of the campaign and we've all given ourselves a few days rest. But now, we are back at it and ready to disperse some good news and some production info. 

Backerkit Opens Soon

We are aiming for Saturday to have the Backerkit pledge manager go online. There are a few reasons we haven't put it up yet, even thought is it already set up. First, we were collecting feedback and making some decisions. Second, related to the first, is that we don't have renders for some models, and others don't even have concept art. Given what we've produced so far, you can expect the quality to be the same, but we wanted to get as much as we could done so no one would have to buy one of the unlocked models sight-unseen. But we have made some decisions and as mentioned above, look for the backerkit to open very soon. 

Unlocked Models

When we began the kickstarter, we were preparing for a modest campaign, and priced our models competitive to other minis manufacturers at rates we knew we could be responsible with. But you all exceeded our expectations and allowed us to think differently. One of the ways we thought differently was to offer gang boxes ahead of our original timeline for such things, because you all wanted it! Since it was a good idea and now made financial sense, we committed to offering them. But the challenge we faced was how to offer gang boxes if all the models weren't unlocked or sculpted yet. We shifted some stretch goals around to make it easier for all gang boxes to have functional models, but we weren't quite able to get all of them we needed to complete the gang boxes we desired. But part of our discussions above was that the volume we'd be operating at, plus the availability we will have for these models after the kickstarter, means that we made the decision to offer a few more models than were unlocked. I had promised the live stream if we got to 80k, we'd honor the unlocks from the campaign, but instead, I have talked our fiscally responsible folks into letting me offer the Satyr, the Male Ogre, the Female Dwarf, and the Male Goblin in our backerkit! That should be enough for everyone to get a functional gang box of their favorite gang, no matter what that gang may be! Which brings us to the next point. 

Various Terms and Conditions

Given all the models that were unlocked and all the gang boxes we are offering, there are two things that need to be noted. First, since we clearly aren't at the level yet where we can produce 6-7 unique models for every gang, we have to mix and match for the gang boxes. That is, the Bulls of Heaven, an all-Yetin gang, will have to make do with 2 yetin kits (4 models) instead of 4 unique models. The Necro Goblins will have to make do with a mix of goblins that are available instead of 6 unique models. The Freebooter Box will have a lot of overlap with the Hetairoi box, for example. So please keep that in mind when buying boxes. These are designed to get players able to play with their favorite gang as quick as possible, and does not represent what we want long term for these gangs. We will get there! We'll get to the place where we have unique models for every gang! But until then, we are making do. 

The other thing to note is that since we are opening up the backerkit so soon after the campaign, there are models that you will be able to purchase, or that come in Gang Boxes, that do not have renders or art for you to judge them by. You can estimate the quality by our previous models, but that is still a lot to ask for. So, here is our pledge to you. If you buy any model in the backerkit that has no render yet, and you end up not liking it, we will refund your money for that model. So you can pledge with confidence, even for models we don't have art for. 

I hope you are as excited as I am for all this commotion! 

Production Notes

The only production update is that we have no update. Kickstarter withholds the pledges until 2 weeks after the campaign ends, so until the first of the month, we really can't move on anything large. Concept art and renders are still coming in, and I will make some updates about those as they do, but nothing to report on the production side, yet. 

Thanks for reading and journeying with us!

 - Opti

Folks, we did it!
over 4 years ago – Sun, Aug 16, 2020 at 07:40:39 PM

I am overwhelmed with gratitude. 

Funding

We hit 508% funded, 612 backers, and $61,005 raised. That is far beyond what we anticipated when we began this journey. 

Thank You

Thank you to everyone who backed. Thank you to everyone who told someone else to back. Thank you to everyone who shared on Facebook. Thank you to everyone who tweeted or retweeted, liked, and commented. Thanks to everyone who Instagrammed. Thank you to those of you who had me on your podcasts, radio shows, and youtube channels. Thank you to our team who worked so hard and encouraged each other daily. Thank you to those of you who felt strongly about what we were doing and gave us some monies in the beginning so we could get some balls rolling. Thank you to those excited about the game. Thank you to those excited about the minis. Thank you to those who don't care about either but supported us anyway. Thank you to IGDN. Thank you to the SCN. Thank you to Worlds Without End. Thank you Arcology podcast. Thank you Radio Free Detroit. Thank you to those of you who couldn't donate but worked your butts off to promote for us. Thank you to all of the painters who got their hands on our minis first and made them look spectacular. Thank you to Fortress Figures for making our minis so detailed and superb. Thank you to Darko Kreculj for our concept art. Thank you Kieran Russell for being our lead sculptor. Thank you to Printed Obsession and Papsikels for helping us fill some gaps in our model range. Thank you moms and dads. Thank you families. Thank you friends. Thank you. 

Backerkit

Very soon, we will be sending out information regarding our Backerkit/pledge manager. You will have until Sept. 15 to lock in your final bits and add-ons. More info about the backerkit will be coming soon. Expect good things very soon, everyone. 

Thank you once more. 

 - Opti