..... and on the roll of 2D6 it was Easter Monday! Huh, What?!!?

Hello everyone!

Welcome back to Purgatory! We hope you are well and that you have been following our exploits of late on our various pages? It’s been quite busy but we are not stopping there. Oh No. So “did I miss anything?” I hear you ask, let’s run through what has occurred: 

• Website went live! We like it, we hope you do too. Please, please give us some thoughts on the site, is there anything missing?
• 15 sold and counting! Not bad for week one. Death has started to hit the shelves and the response has been pleasing
• St Peter is being sculpted. Yep, the brief for St Pete is complete and we are ramping up the second model
• Painting Competition. It’s really worthwhile grabbing the model, at a reduced rate, painting her and entering our comp. you can win a free St Peter and discount from WAMP!
• Newsletter. Some of you may have seen the newsletter. If you haven’t head to www.purgatory-miniatures.co.uk and sign up for news and updates

And breathe. In truth progress is coming along nicely. We have had some great articles done by Beasts of War, Table Top Gaming News, WAMP and more. That people are beginning to hear about us is great news and we hope that this positive upturn in followers, likes and subscriptions will lead to bigger and better things.

In the coming weeks we encounter a holiday. One of us gets married and has a 3 week honeymoon. But updates will continue and soon, certain snippets of information will only be made available via these mediums so be sure to sign up and find out everything we are up to!

At the moment we are heading into the dark realms of game design, with Death on the shelf and stock available to go to anyone who wants her and with Peter heading to the forge, we now switch our attentions to game mechanics and testing to see just how the game plays out.

Something that is quite key to the process for us, specifically in our world, is that we are able to create a balance. Not only between angels, but also for the main component of the game, which is the human element. Humans in Purgatory are Grots, well to pretty much anything else. And we all know just how rubbish a grot is, though if you have 100 of them, then things just got that bit more serious. Alas however with angels being the paragon of power, skill and general all round awesomeness it is key that a human can inflict damage to any of the angels. We don’t want angels running around killing everyone and then having a giant death match at the end.

That is why the mechanics are important but also the objectives that we design. In purgatory, cats get skinned in a multitude of ways, so the I’ve got the biggest monster, smash, will only carry you so far. In fact, probably not very far at all. Furthermore there will be random events that may very well determine what happens in that battle. For example:

Being from a holy set of text, we figured why not add some variables. In the scenario we now list we figured it would be great to mix up the set up phase. In the example used we are playing ‘general assassination’ where each players primary goal is to take out the angel at all costs, but just not your own angel.

So we come to the day. A D8 is rolled. 1 = Monday, 2 = Tuesday, etc with 7 being a Sunday. Different days have different buffs. However if an 8 is rolled you grab 2d6 and consult the chart. In the example we are going to ‘selectively roll’ say a 7, the chart says it is “Easter Monday – The first model on each side to die, will rise from the dead automatically from the place that it died”. So therefore, pouring all of your attacks into the angel turn 1 may not be a very wise move. It adds a unique dynamic to the game which can change natural or tactical behaviours towards models or characters which we hope you will like.

Anyway, we need to leave something for you testers so we won’t say much more. But hopefully you can see from the little bit above that thinking outside the box (grrr corporate speech) is something that we are striving for. Bringing a freshness to table top gaming is one of our key objectives.

On that note, we will leave you and hope this triggers some enthusiasm or even some curiosity in what we are designing.

If you have any questions then please, please get in touch, say “Hi” and let us know what you are thinking.

All the very best

Team Purgatory

Two multiplied by 10 plus 1 - Death Done!

Today’s post is full of joy, when we posted last week we talked about where we were, the exciting things that had occurred and what might be next for everyone at Purgatory. Well, the boxes arriving, the website going live, a few pre orders trickling in all contributed towards what happened yesterday.

Yesterday, the stock arrived. And a few words spring to mind. Success. Culmination. Fruition. Finishing Line.

It was great to receive some of the stock yesterday, that we had the boxes ready with all of the inserts was great news but to then have the models arrive and be individually boxed was great because it represented a successful conclusion to that particular stage of the project. In fact, it was the completion of the first stage, which let’s face it offers the greatest potential for pitfall. 

So how does it feel?

Brilliant. This project is being run by two people. One of which is a hobby enthusiast of old, you know, the good old times when models were lead. Having won a silver demon, achieved a few finalists at Games Days and Salute 2015, as well as being an avid gamer back in the day at good old GW (First Winner of the Kill Team event) this represented a new milestone in my hobby. To have thought, designed, created, produced and sold a model from end to finish is a fantastic feeling. My partner who is not from the world we all live in and ‘love’ has similar sense of achievement, that we have been able to bring this project to life has galvanised us and well we just want to bring more out!

Any Highlights?

Yes. Seeing thoughts come alive on paper is phenomenal. Watching the barest concept transform over a series of updates is inspiring to say the least. That a whole world or domain can come to life from the fragments of an imagination is quite awe inspiring. I realise I sound a bit grandiose however it’s really how we feel. We had favourite concepts and ideas and to see them walk onto a page is well, just brilliant.

I would be remiss not mention the sculpting process. Watching the character walk off the page, onto an armature and grow is great fun. It helped that the sculptor made it a straight forward process.

Working with friends is great. You can be creative without limitation. Doing something with a close friend has its risks however much with anything if you go about something in the right way, in an open and transparent approach then the process is twice the fun. The laughter generated by creating unique, weird and wonderful characters has been great. It has been tempered with hard work, commitment and no small amount of Madras curry to ease the process. But the balance has been right and we attribute this to our success.

Any Lows?

Yes of course but nothing like I had expected. When you go into something like this you will wander past some naysayers. A piece of advice I’d give is don’t ignore them. Listen actually but most importantly make your own mind up. Everyone in life has a different level of tolerance when it comes to risk, you will find yours along the way, so embrace the idea you have and give it the attention your risk level will allow. You never know, you might end up with something quite special. We think we have.

Delays is the big thing, we are slightly old school in our approach and well, we feel it is important to achieve what we say, when we say it. Shifting dates around can often send out the wrong message. Fortunately for us, this has not happened a great deal and whilst this was a small low, it is something learnt from and in the grand scheme of things is greatly outweighed by the positives.

So what happens next?

The model is on sale. You can but the model by emailing us at purgatoryenquiries@gmail.com pending some sales, we will be asking the sculptor to create St Peter so look out for artwork on him in the coming days. We will also be showcasing our first faction in the coming weeks so that you can see a bit more on the expanded part of the world.

Now we work hard to continue the good work and keep you guys up to date with what is going on. Bringing new art, characters and scenes to life so that we can realise our vision of bringing Purgatory to life.

One other thing that we are going to do is a painting competition. As big advocates of the painting and gaming community we will be running painting competition for each model that we release. Each time we do, we will pick our favourite models from the submissions and those winners will receive a free copy of the next model. Its that simple. You support us and we will reward you. Furthermore, we will be showcasing the painted models on our website for you to show off to the world. How’s about that?

Look out for this, it will be coming out in the next week or so, so grab a copy and get planning.

Until next time, we will bid you farewell. It would have been remiss not to put a phase one post completion take on things, so hopefully having read about the journey you have enjoyed this read and will follow our steps as we march forward.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and see you on the flip side.

Purgatory

Slowly Slowly Catchy Monkey...

Evening folks!

Welcome back to Purgatory!

It's been a tough week. Off project the wedding is rattling along like a mine cart with square wheels, ok so it's not that bad but there seems to be so much to do. My partner and I put an offer in for a house, I wasn't aware we were actually looking but hey, that's life. The good news was it was accepted.

In and amongst this a WHOLE HEAP of stuff happened in Purgatory. Let's look back at what:

• www.purgatory-miniatures.co.uk happened for a start! Super thanks to Mr. Hoang for creating the site on our behalf. We think it looks great and we are pleased to have it out there. It has some bits to be added but in the main it's all good.
• Some models arrived, along with some boxes, some cards and some inserts. Wooo.... now that is quite a big thing. The main stock (after being delayed) will arrive in the coming days and we will start selling the model. Pre Orders go out first and foremost. The whole set looks great!
• Moloch's faction are tied down. The characters are fleshed out and we are super hyped by these guys!
• Ania gave us a fantastic image that we will be bringing to you soon as well
• Salute. We will see you at Salute 2016. We have been accepted for a table and we are super hyped!

So much has happened. It's been a blur, truly but as we take a step closer to the end game we will soon be able to reflect and understand how well this all went.

Review:

We have had some really positive feedback. Thank you. It has been suggested that our model is completely unique and that the presentation and items included in the box of a good quality! That is really great to hear. When you get a mad idea in your head and 'x' months later it appears in reality, the only thing kinda keeping you going is the little devil guy on your shoulder going "this is going to be like, totally rad dude".... so to hear positive things really helps to reinforce our madness.

Pre-Orders:

We had some. w00t! We are seriously humbled by the feedback we are getting. Thank you. I would be remiss not to point you to our 'shop' on the website where you can enquire about purchasing the model. Sales will go ahead as soon as the stock arrives and we can't wait to start shipping this lot!

Soooo now what!??!

St. Peter! Yep, head over to the website, check out the website where you will see yet more (like, yep, more) amazing artwork by Lorinda Tomko for St. Peter. He looks hench and I tell you what, I've been clubbing and if some crazy assed old dude with sandals, wings, white beard, halo and a baseball bat comes after me, I'm like "nope, I'm leaving already".

That's right, our second model will begin the creation process in the next 1-2 weeks and we really hope you guys will like him.

Long Term Goals

When I started this, I never knew my feeble brain had the capacity to actually get this far. When you dream something up (usually just as you drift off to sleep, mind screaming... "nooooooo" because it's so cool but you will have forgotten by the morning) you either dismiss it immediately, or talk yourself into thinking it can't/won't happen.

So when we set this up and Aidan came on board, being quite business like we very much set some limitations. Being 'normal' (to define normal, we pay bills, taxes, have weight issues and have a day job to afford the aforementioned) we knew this is something we could not fund indefinitely. The success of Eve (Death) and St Peter will determine our longevity in this project. The goal quite simply being, sales from Eve and Pete will fund number 3 (yes we have chosen which, but that's a secret right now *wink*). If we can get to Christmas with 3 models and 4 by Salute at least then absolutely yes, we will be going to a kickstarter near you!

Where are you right now. I mean, like right now?

Fair question. This is where we are at:

• 14 Angels/Fallen Angels designed with concepts finalised. 6 Have been sketched out or have colour art.
• 3 Factions completely designed with concepts finalised (each faction has an Apostle, prophet, Minions and 6 other characters) One of which is fully sketched out (soul train).
• Card game is in early development
• Rules are in the making, alpha testing scheduled for early December
• First model is available for pre order
• Second model will commence in 2 weeks
• Salute table is booked
• Kickstarter date is pencilled in

A firm plan is in place, even now, with no idea as to the potential success of Death, you can see that we are well in advanced stages of following the actions through. The reason for this being is that if we stop and stand still it delays the process, if we don't bring enough to the table, you will wonder how rich the world is and how much depth there truly is.

So that's the update. The project is on track and our first model (who by the way will be kick ass in the game - Just saying) is ready to go. Join us and be a part of this project, support us if you can by picking up the Old Dame, painting her in rich and vibrant colours and show the world your craft!

For now we bid you good night and look forward to bringing you more updates along the way...