Re: Field Marshal Games Pieces Project Discussion thread

@FieldMarshalGames:

@RedArmySoldier:

Is this still the unit count we can expect to get per set of 150?

24 Infantry (Two Sculpts - Rifle and sub-machinegun Infantry)
12 Artillery
12 Armour (Two Types - Light and Heavy)
12 Fighters
6 Tactical-bombers
6 Bombers
12 Submarines
12 Destroyers
6 Cruisers
6 Battleships
6 Aircraft Carriers
6 Transports
12 Half tracks (Armored Cars)
6 Commander Units
6 Transport Planes
6 Trucks

Almost.  Considering the MILLIONS of little men produced, there is always a possibility that in the sorting phase there may be some flux.  Due to this I changed the site description to the following:

Each National Set includes the following:

Infantry (Two Sculpts - Rifle and sub-machinegun Infantry)
Artillery
Armour (Two Types - Light and Heavy)
Fighters
Tactical-bombers
Bombers
Submarines
Destroyers
Cruisers
Battleships
Aircraft Carriers
Transports
Half tracks (Armored Cars)
NEW
Commander Units
Transport Planes
Trucks

Each National set will include 150 UNITS!!

(Due to the large QTY of units included, actual quantity of each unit may vary)

Hi

I think it is best that it is a specific, the quantity of each unit when ordering a set. So you know what a set actually includes of units. So we don’t end up like with the OOB pieces, there the quantity did vary, someone got 6 Tac Bombers, while others got 8 Tac Bombers and so on. I think this is very important. I don’t won’t to end up with example 10 infantry and 12 Transports. I want to know what a set does include/the count of each unit, so I know what to expect and paid for. It also would make it easier to order extra FMG pieces from Historical Bordgaming. Also, will these set still include a special surprise/units? Anyway, I really looking forward for the units and combat dice.

I’m starting to wonder if I should have not pre-ordered my Italian units from FMG and just bought them from HBG.

I think I may just do that with future units.  :-(

-Slainte

Can those of us who have received their FMG Italian Combat Units please be kind enough to post a complete breakdown of the pieces included in their set? I for one am a little concerned about this latest development about the varying numbers of pieces in the set.

FMG Jeremy - can you please confirm when you changed the wording on the website, as I was not aware of this? When I placed my order last October I was under the impression that I would recieve the quota as originally stated/intended.

Thank you everybody.

Here people go freaking out again.

Actual quantity MAY vary from set to set due to human error.  You can never ever guarantee that the person bagging a set of pieces together may not put in one too  many infantry, or miss a tank.  It’s just the nature of human beings handling the sorting.

I’m sure that the sets will almost entirely include the specified amounts.  It’s likely just been changed because you cannot in any way guarantee it (for reason stated above).

@FieldMarshalGames:

@RedArmySoldier:

Is this still the unit count we can expect to get per set of 150?

24 Infantry (Two Sculpts - Rifle and sub-machinegun Infantry)
12 Artillery
12 Armour (Two Types - Light and Heavy)
12 Fighters
6 Tactical-bombers
6 Bombers
12 Submarines
12 Destroyers
6 Cruisers
6 Battleships
6 Aircraft Carriers
6 Transports
12 Half tracks (Armored Cars)
6 Commander Units
6 Transport Planes
6 Trucks

Almost.  Considering the MILLIONS of little men produced, there is always a possibility that in the sorting phase there may be some flux.  Due to this I changed the site description to the following:

Each National Set includes the following:

Infantry (Two Sculpts - Rifle and sub-machinegun Infantry)
Artillery
Armour (Two Types - Light and Heavy)
Fighters
Tactical-bombers
Bombers
Submarines
Destroyers
Cruisers
Battleships
Aircraft Carriers
Transports
Half tracks (Armored Cars)
NEW
Commander Units
Transport Planes
Trucks

Each National set will include 150 UNITS!!

(Due to the large QTY of units included, actual quantity of each unit may vary)

This is what I got with one exception. I got six extra dive bombers. Mistakes are bound to be made by those doing the packing.

@Lozmoid:

Can those of us who have received their FMG Italian Combat Units please be kind enough to post a complete breakdown of the pieces included in their set? I for one am a little concerned about this latest development about the varying numbers of pieces in the set.

FMG Jeremy - can you please confirm when you changed the wording on the website, as I was not aware of this? When I placed my order last October I was under the impression that I would recieve the quota as originally stated/intended.

Thank you everybody.

I’ll count when I get home, but you get LOTS.  I believe every thing was there.  When I painted my pieces, I didn’t bother with quite a few of them, as you’ll never use that many pieces with Italy.

I am not liking the sounds of what I’m hearing here.  Most of us that pre-ordered haven’t even gotten our pieces yet and already I’m seeing excuses like “too many pieces” and “human error”.  FMG gave us a specific piece count for these sets and I think we have every right to expect that piece count, both per unit and total, particularly those of us that have been very patient for the past year.  Yes, I can understand with sets of 150 pieces that in a few sets there may be a piece missing here or an extra piece there.  If that is the kind of “flux” you are talking about, I imagine that most of us can live with such small errors.

However, I do worry about any (what I would call) major errors.  For example;  a set missing all of a certain unit.  I certainly hope that FMG will have a system for correcting such errors.  I don’t want to get a set missing half my tanks and be told “Oops.  Mistakes happen.”

HONESTLY?

If there is a MAJOR mistake, we will correct it.  But HONESTLY….  with 150 units including 14 different sculpts!!  If a MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR operation like Hasbro/WOTC can not make Chinese sorters get an accurate count 100% of the time.  How are we supposed to!

There MAY, SOMETIMES, be a SLIGHT, variance IF!  Maybe a 5% failure rate!?!?!?  You MAY get more than you paid for… You MAY get one extra of something and one less of something else.  If there is something missing, or a major mess up we will fix it for you.

Just a thought - I asked HBG a while back about the Marine sets, and they pay someone here in the US to go through each bag to sort out defects and ensure accurate count. Perhaps this would be an option for FMG as well, in order to ensure a quality product?

@reloader-1:

Just a thought - I asked HBG a while back about the Marine sets, and they pay someone here in the US to go through each bag to sort out defects and ensure accurate count. Perhaps this would be an option for FMG as well, in order to ensure a quality product?

It could happen.  But lets look at the differences:  You get ~20 units in a set from HBG with 5 sculpts.  Our sets are 150 with 14 sculpts.  So that is EIGHT times the sorting and THREE times the complexity.  It could be done but it would raise the cost to the customer as North American labour is not cheap.  When in all honesty and probability; 95% of customers will not even count them, and 99% would not care if they got an extra something, or were missing one of something else.

I am a Board Game Fan and collector with a huge collection.  I can tell you that many games have variance in the number of components etc…  From Monopoly to Axis & Allies.  It is just the nature of Mass Production.  It is nothing unique or deficient with our process…  it is just reality and the Human error component magnified on the tremendous scale of manufacturing and sorting in these quantities.

This is a QUALITY product.  I am just being honest and realistic in making this variance known.

FMG - Thanks for the response. Your math is off by a little bit, however. HBG’s upcoming set of Axis Minors has 10 unique sculpts, and 28 pieces. His prices are identical to yours, for similar quanties:

FMG: 1 set, 150 pieces, $39.99
HBG: 5 sets, 140 pieces, $39.75

I would argue that it is harder for HBG to go through his sets than for a sorter to go through yours.

Hey, it is your call to determine your quality control options, but to use size as an excuse is really not a valid reason.

@reloader-1:

Just a thought - I asked HBG a while back about the Marine sets, and they pay someone here in the US to go through each bag to sort out defects and ensure accurate count. Perhaps this would be an option for FMG as well, in order to ensure a quality product?

I find it a bit surprising that HBG does this.  It would make sense if the bagged sets HBG receives have a very high error rate (in which case they should talk to their supplier about instituting better quality control at their end).  If on the other hand the error rate is low (let’s say only 5% of the bags having errors, and those errors only being minor ones), this would mean that a large number of perfectly okay bags are being checked for errors that mostly don’t exist.  In that kind of situation, it can be more efficient and ultimately less expensive to let all the bags (95% of which are fine) be shipped to customers uninspected and to simply spend money as needed to correct the few mistakes that get discovered and reported by customers who are genuinely bothered by the mistake and wish to have it fixed.  Wanting a guarantee of 100% accuracy on 100% of sets sounds nice in principle, but the excessive work which would be involved in achieving this would add to the overall cost, and this added cost would ultimately end up having to be passed along to the consumers.

@reloader-1:

Just a thought - I asked HBG a while back about the Marine sets, and they pay someone here in the US to go through each bag to sort out defects and ensure accurate count. Perhaps this would be an option for FMG as well, in order to ensure a quality product?

When I got my Marine sets from HBG, both colors, there were 1 or 2 missing pieces from a couple of sets and some of the flamethrower Marines were missing their tanks.  There was just a big hole in their backs.  Coach replaced the missing/damaged pieces right away so there was no problem as far as I was concerned.  If he has someone that is supposed to be double-checking the sets, then they are falling down on the job.

I think it was costing coach more to send out the replacement pieces, and he started the QC process a few weeks ago, after receiving complaints of missing piece, etc. I can see how it would be an extra expense, however.

@reloader-1:

I think it was costing coach more to send out the replacement pieces, and he started the QC process a few weeks ago, after receiving complaints of missing piece, etc. I can see how it would be an extra expense, however.

FMG’s pieces came to me all bagged separately, so someone had to count them and bag them at the factory.

This whole deal is not worth you all making into a huge discussion! I got 4 sets of Marines from Coach and one was short one, another had 2 extra. This happens with a lot of the games and extra parts. Face it, its going to happen! If its a large error then I am sure FMG and Coach will take care of it.

@Fishmoto37:

This whole deal is not worth you all making into a huge discussion! I got 4 sets of Marines from Coach and one was short one, another had 2 extra. This happens with a lot of the games and extra parts. Face it, its going to happen! If its a large error then I am sure FMG and Coach will take care of it.

Thank you.

@Fishmoto37:

This whole deal is not worth you all making into a huge discussion! I got 4 sets of Marines from Coach and one was short one, another had 2 extra. This happens with a lot of the games and extra parts. Face it, its going to happen! If its a large error then I am sure FMG and Coach will take care of it.

Pretty much what I was trying to iterate earlier.

No matter how much quality control you add, there WILL be errors.  Just because there will be errors does not mean it is something to fuss about.  If it’s an issue and you are short that one piece, get it fixed.

Really, what FMG’s set description should probably say is something along the lines of ;

“Each nation set includes (list all piece counts) (Piece count not guaranteed.  Actual count may vary slightly)”

Or something to that effect.

NObody, and I mean nobody can guarantee that the guy bagging all the pieces in China, or the person who inspects all those bags, is going to get every single bag (we’re talking 1000’s of sets here really) perfect.  It’s a fact of life and absolutely nothing to get worked up or even concerned about.

My 2 cents,

FMG has kept us informed the whole way and even involved our us to a degree.  As soon as he got the pieces, he mailed them.  He kept us informed about the problems.  He treated us as investors, and kept us informed about delays.

He didn’t have to (and in hindsight probably shouldn’t have) keep us informed.

So after all his best intentions, you think he is going to turn around and treat us badly with poor customer service?

The pieces are a great addition.  I recommend them.

Hey you bunch of panic merchants settle down, when you have the pieces in your hands then you can complain " if there is something wrong". Give the man a break he has been working hard and stressing to get the pieces to us so be grateful that somebody cares enough to get us new pieces……