Man Battlestations Forum

General => News and Rumors => Topic started by: warbird on September 26, 2017, 12:38:20 pm

Title: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: warbird on September 26, 2017, 12:38:20 pm
I just got this email



Warcradle Studios Announcement
View this email in your browser

Hi

Wayland Games Ltd (Buyer) purchased certain assets of Rebel Publishing Ltd (trading as Spartan Games) on Friday 22nd September 2017 and we note that you are currently listed on Rebel Publishing Limited's (Seller) customer database for the purpose of receiving details of products and/or services from the Seller.


Your personal data has been transferred to the Buyer for the continued provision of the details of such products and/or services to you. The Buyer will process your personal data fairly and lawfully in accordance with the principles of the Data Protection Act 1998 for the sole purpose of continuing to provide such details to you.


Please do not hesitate to contact our Customer Support team on support@warcradle.com  if you have any queries or if you wish to have your personal data removed from the database.


Please note that should you require removal of your personal data, we will be unable to continue to provide details of products and/or services to you.


Yours sincerely,

Wayland Games


Copyright © 2017 Wayland Games Ltd, All rights reserved.
Signed up via Spartan Games

Our mailing address is:
Wayland Games Ltd
Units 17-19
Eldon Way
Hockley, Essex SS5 4AD
United Kingdom

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Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: Brimat on September 26, 2017, 12:46:35 pm
I am curious, what "certain assets" are.  :)
Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: Dakkar on September 26, 2017, 12:50:37 pm
Warcradle has rescued everything (but HALO ...we expected that)

http://mailchi.mp/wildwestexodus/warcradle-studios-announcement-1333721?e=a8c1d67155

Quote
Hi

 We have some great news from Warcradle Studios!

 We are proud to announce that we have acquired all rights and materials relating to the Dystopian Wars, Firestorm Armada and Uncharted Seas settings.

 Dystopian Wars, Dystopian Legions, Armoured Clash, Firestorm Armada, Firestorm Planetfall and Uncharted Seas were created by the team at Spartan Games and we are excited to now be able to explore these settings further. We will also be developing and expanding on a large number of exciting scenic products to support these ranges.

 We are actively working to bring the games to a wide audience from next year. Through Warcradle Studios, Wayland Games will be investing in all aspects of the design, development and supply of these worlds.

 We are committed to producing an exciting range of new plastic and resin miniatures to support the growth of our games. These will build on the established releases as well as introduce new narrative and competitive gaming opportunities.

 We are planning in-store organised play support for our games as well as a range of exciting events planned throughout 2018 and beyond.

Look out for our announcements of new products and show attendance in the coming weeks!

 Take a look at our announcement on Beasts of War!

"All Materials" means current sculpts remain active too!

I really like how Warcradle has been investing in revamping Wild West Exodus, and their booth was one of the coolest things at GenCon. So this bodes well for long term!
Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: Wanjajoral on September 26, 2017, 01:03:00 pm
Did you hear this? Plastic? Not that I dislike the Spartan Resin (it is actually one of the few I really liked), but plastic is always a tad nicer to work with.
Wayland is certainly a good choice for the IPs - it would not have been my first choice, but they handle Wild West Exodus nicely and they have the potential to reach a wider audience - so I am hopeful for the future.
Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: Fracas on September 26, 2017, 02:05:56 pm
Great news!
Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: RuleBritannia on September 26, 2017, 03:55:36 pm
Plastic legions?
Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: Landlubber on September 26, 2017, 04:16:11 pm
Very happy to hear this--I wish the Halo games could have been saved, but I know there are other issues going on there.

Spartan launched some great game systems, but just couldn't follow through on the vision. Maybe Warcradle can take these great systems and really make them shine!
Title: Warcradle Studios/Wayland Games Acquires Rights to Spartan Stuff
Post by: Easy E on September 26, 2017, 04:20:30 pm
source:
http://www.beastsofwar.com/warcradle-studios/warcradle-studios-acquires-dystopian-firestorm-settings/

Warcradle Studios have just given a press release announcing that they have acquired the rights to Dystopian Wars, Firestorm Armada and Uncharted Seas.

Thoughts?
Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: Lord Nobody on September 26, 2017, 05:56:14 pm
Great!  Except now I have to pay for the same figures I bought before.
Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: Ruckdog on September 26, 2017, 06:07:23 pm
All, I merged the two topics that got started about this ;).

Suffice to say, I am happy to hear that the core Spartan IPs got picked up by a new company, and I'm cautiously optimistic about the future for these games!
Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: Creon on September 26, 2017, 10:31:33 pm
I say hoorah!  Way land can distribute effectively.
Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: Landlubber on September 27, 2017, 02:24:03 pm
"...exciting scenic products..."

Can't wait to see what they have in mind!
Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: Fracas on September 27, 2017, 02:54:04 pm
I am skeptical about the plastic part
They mentioned it for their Wild West exodus a year ago and still nothing?
Meanwhile they are recruiting for a resin worker


I remain positive about their plan to resurrect spartan thought
Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: Rich1231 on September 27, 2017, 05:05:48 pm
I am skeptical about the plastic part
They mentioned it for their Wild West exodus a year ago and still nothing?
Meanwhile they are recruiting for a resin worker


I remain positive about their plan to resurrect spartan thought

Hi Fracas, Skeptical about plastics?


We have produced some new plastics already for WWX, we also have loads with tool making companies at various stages of production. It is not quick getting a tool made. We are taking steps to speed up the process but it takes time.

PS I am Wayland's MD.
Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: Fracas on September 27, 2017, 05:16:29 pm
I am skeptical about the plastic part
They mentioned it for their Wild West exodus a year ago and still nothing?
Meanwhile they are recruiting for a resin worker


I remain positive about their plan to resurrect spartan thought

Hi Fracas, Skeptical about plastics?


We have produced some new plastics already for WWX, we also have loads with tool making companies at various stages of production. It is not quick getting a tool made. We are taking steps to speed up the process but it takes time.

PS I am Wayland's MD.

This is awesome!
I love that you are here and I stand corrected! :)

You should start a thread!
Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: Dakkar on September 27, 2017, 06:44:39 pm
PS I am Wayland's MD.

Welcome Rich!

Were you the gent on D6 Generation a few episodes back? That combined with the amazing GenCon booth has given a very hopeful cast to this acquisition of the Spartan assets.

If you are amenable, would you consider a quartet of questions?

1) Will initial plans be to keep the current former Spartan materials in print, or to pursue a full redesign immediately?

2) Would any redesign/reissue proceed from the work to date on DW 2.5, Firestorm 3, and whatever was in the can for Planetfall? Or would any redesign go for a more comprehensive system overhaul?

3) Are there discussions yet on truly fleshing out the Firestorm universe and races? I've bemoaned for years the lack of artwork and clear descriptions of the races.

4) Are there any discussions of merging WWX and Dystopian Wars?  I feel like the DW background is vague enough, or certainly new enough, that few would (should?) mind a little retconning. Just the idea of the Black Wolf now being Rani Nimue, or alternately Capt Nimue getting her own squadron box for DW, gets me fired up. :-)

Thanks for taking the time to drop in here!

-Dale
Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: WestAustralian on September 27, 2017, 07:45:41 pm
Excellent News about the Acquisition.
Plastic of Resin, whatever, as long as it's not white metal.
It is going to be a really tough set of games to kick off.
Where to even start? I just hope the community gives them lots of time to get each system represented.
Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: Landlubber on September 27, 2017, 10:09:33 pm

PS I am Wayland's MD.

Welcome aboard Rich! Glad you've found Man Battlestations, and I hope you don't mind getting peppered with questions.

Really looking forward to what Warcradle has in store for the Dystopian and Firestorm systems!
Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: Landlubber on September 27, 2017, 11:17:30 pm
I just watched the Warcradle video on Beasts of War. I like that one of the guys in the video (Stuart I think) said he owns an RoF fleet for Dystopian Wars, a Relthoza fleet (and one other I can't remember) for Firestorm Armada, a land force for Dystopian Wars, and even some Dystopian Legions miniatures--AND a fleet for Uncharted Seas. Sounds like these guys are real fans of the game systems.
Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: Fracas on September 28, 2017, 12:55:58 am
Rich,

2 more questions:

5) will war cradle host a forum to get customers/ players feedback or will you frequent indie forums such as here?

6) will you move forward with the firestorm universe fluff as is or will you change it (tweaks vs overhaul) when armada 3.0 and planetfall 2.0 is released? A new map? Realignment?
Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: RuleBritannia on September 28, 2017, 03:49:59 am
Rich, any chance you could or have purchased the last two campaign books by Franco?  They sound great but seem to be stuck in the Kickstarter blackhole.
Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: Rich1231 on September 28, 2017, 04:21:32 am
PS I am Wayland's MD.

Welcome Rich!

Were you the gent on D6 Generation a few episodes back? That combined with the amazing GenCon booth has given a very hopeful cast to this acquisition of the Spartan assets.

If you are amenable, would you consider a quartet of questions?

1) Will initial plans be to keep the current former Spartan materials in print, or to pursue a full redesign immediately?

2) Would any redesign/reissue proceed from the work to date on DW 2.5, Firestorm 3, and whatever was in the can for Planetfall? Or would any redesign go for a more comprehensive system overhaul?

3) Are there discussions yet on truly fleshing out the Firestorm universe and races? I've bemoaned for years the lack of artwork and clear descriptions of the races.

4) Are there any discussions of merging WWX and Dystopian Wars?  I feel like the DW background is vague enough, or certainly new enough, that few would (should?) mind a little retconning. Just the idea of the Black Wolf now being Rani Nimue, or alternately Capt Nimue getting her own squadron box for DW, gets me fired up. :-)

Thanks for taking the time to drop in here!

-Dale

Hi Dale,

that was Stuart, he is the head of our Studio. I am the MD and owner, we work in a sort of symbiotic way I tend to focus on business stuff, and Stu creative.

In answer to your questions.... I cannot reveal much...


1) Not sure at the moment

2) We have quite a lot of design resource and technology and it is increasing, we want to leverage it as much as possible improving what we have and creating new stuff. :)

3) Yes...

4) Wouldn't that be cool :)


To add to my answers....

We try and work as closely as possible with the community... Wild West Exodus should be an example...


Regarding other questions, until we have all the assets on site, its difficult to know exactly what we have... But should know in a week or so.

And I will answer as many questions as I can :)
Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: Brimat on September 28, 2017, 06:27:49 am
Hi Rich, thanks for stopping by and giving some insights.  :)
Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: McKInstry on September 28, 2017, 12:38:54 pm
Thank you for reaching out and I can honestly state this is the best news many of us that are fans of Spartan have heard since the implosion.

I'm very heartened to see these systems preserved and I'd like to caution fans to temper their excitement/impatience as these are large ranges, complex systems and invariably in an asset purchase out of bankruptcy, some things will be disrupted or even misplaced. I expect to see very little until sometime in 2018 and that is OK.

To those burnt on the Kickstarter or other pre-orders. I got 100% of my investment back by disputing the charges through my credit card company (via PayPal). If you have not contacted your CC and tossed it into dispute, do so now, as in today. There is a finite limit timewise but generally you can be made whole.

You can save that refunded money for the new guys! :)
Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: Spartan on September 28, 2017, 12:56:13 pm
Fantastic news.
Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: Amiral X on September 28, 2017, 03:40:04 pm
I am skeptical about the plastic part
They mentioned it for their Wild West exodus a year ago and still nothing?
Meanwhile they are recruiting for a resin worker


I remain positive about their plan to resurrect spartan thought

Hi Fracas, Skeptical about plastics?


We have produced some new plastics already for WWX, we also have loads with tool making companies at various stages of production. It is not quick getting a tool made. We are taking steps to speed up the process but it takes time.

PS I am Wayland's MD.

Hi Rich !

It's great to have here  a guy from Wayland !

I have so many question, but I try not to flood you right now ! I just wish to know if there is (or will be) some kind of official forum for DW rebuild, and if you will use the community for beta test and collaborative developpment of the games ?

edited : oups, I was so excited to see a wayland member here that I posted my question before seeing someone already asked the same thing  ::)
 

Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: Rich1231 on September 28, 2017, 04:17:27 pm
I am skeptical about the plastic part
They mentioned it for their Wild West exodus a year ago and still nothing?
Meanwhile they are recruiting for a resin worker


I remain positive about their plan to resurrect spartan thought

Hi Fracas, Skeptical about plastics?


We have produced some new plastics already for WWX, we also have loads with tool making companies at various stages of production. It is not quick getting a tool made. We are taking steps to speed up the process but it takes time.

PS I am Wayland's MD.

Hi Rich !

It's great to have here  a guy from Wayland !

I have so many question, but I try not to flood you right now ! I just wish to know if there is (or will be) some kind of official forum for DW rebuild, and if you will use the community for beta test and collaborative developpment of the games ?

edited : oups, I was so excited to see a wayland member here that I posted my question before seeing someone already asked the same thing  ::)

Don't worry forums will be back soon in some way.

We didn't have everything we would have liked about the announcement, but we have customer data handed over and we checked with the Information Commissioners office in the UK about our duty with the data and how quickly were should notify those whose data we held. They said as soon as you can reasonably do it... so the email was sent out pretty much as soon as that call ended. So a few things are still being updated in the background.
Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: Belisariusca on September 28, 2017, 07:58:37 pm
I just started into Dystopian wars  with getting the Naval groups. I had the Britannia one to get and was planning on getting it shortly from
Spartan. The announcement means I do not have to pay a huge cost for it now. Can hardly wait for it to come back up for sale.
Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: Lord Nobody on October 05, 2017, 07:39:59 pm
Rich1231
Thank you for buying Spartan Games.
Thank you for keeping us informed.
Thank you for giving us hope!

Please keep us informed. In the mean time my wallet is getting fuller and fuller.   ;)
Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: McKInstry on October 18, 2017, 03:17:36 pm
I am very optimistic  :) based on EDR#7. Very good interview and the folks at War Cradle/Wayland seem to have a very level headed approach.
Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: Fracas on October 20, 2017, 03:11:15 pm
Spartan / warcradle forum back up?
Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: McKInstry on October 21, 2017, 12:30:06 pm
No idea but I'd expect the folks hosting the Spartan site got stiffed as well and shut down the pages.
Title: Re: Status of Spartan Games
Post by: BrdingPrty1 on October 21, 2017, 05:30:26 pm
Forum Is Up.

No Halo sections.

Logged in but didn't try to post anything.