Your Cart is Empty
Go to WarStages Kickstarter.
Yesterday, we posted an update was mostly about inspirational stuff: How you can use your kit to create completely different kinds of set-ups such as the Spaceship table, and what your games will look with our new WarStages extended video.
So today, let’s get into more factual information and talk about the value of our kits.
There have been conversations about the pricing of our kits. Are they too expensive for what you get? Especially since it’s ‘cardboard’? Of course not, but some people seem to think so.
Go to WarStages Kickstarter.
A no frill, behind-the-scenes image taken during the video shoot to give you a better grasp of the MEDIUM Cathedral Kit size.
For sure, WarStages is not an entry level product, we are very aware of that and we totally get it is not for everyone.
Our goal is to make an exceptional scenery piece that has the epicness of a convention table, but at a fraction of the costif you were to build it with some of the other products on the market.
At first some might think it is overpriced, but if you look into it, you’ll quickly realize that its cost is WAY below GW and pretty much all other terrain prices FOR A KIT OF A SIMILAR SIZE. AND you don't have to paint it (and pay for painting supplies). They say that time is money, so that's another cost savings right there :)
We have probably failed to communicate clearly how large and comprehensive our WarStages kits are,and how much you can use their very powerful modularity to transform them (from a multi-level building into a single level one for example).
When you do the math, WarStages is MUCH LESS expensive than most of what's on the market for something of a similar size.
In summary, the numbers show that WarStages kits cost
- 5-10xless than Resin,
- 4xless than Plastic,
- a bit less than other hard cardboard suppliers
- is hard to compare to MDF (see why below) but generally not more expensive, is much lighter, and you don’t have to paint it.
Go to WarStages Kickstarter.
Let's start by something obvious for us (and our backers), but perhaps not to others: our kits are MASSIVE! They are MUCH bigger than anything on the market, both in terms of size and in terms of the number of varied components in each kit.
True, we did not break down our offer like other companies do: price A for a tower, price B for a portal, price C for a choir. We put entire kits together at 4 different price points.
Our goal has always been to create an out-of-the-ordinary package deal that allows you to build truly unique epic set-ups.
So we’ve compared WarStages with some similar products. This will also help some see why we chose High Density Thick Coated Cardboard to create WarStages, and why it’s such great value and cost.
Don't get us wrong: we really like the products that we compare WarStages with. We just know that what we offer IS a great alternative: an all-in-one epic construction that is so modular that it can fit most gaming needs. With a great bang for your buck.
The analysis below might also give you insights on how to maximise the use of your kit.
Go to WarStages Kickstarter.
Cardboard Scenery is a great option with many benefits (pre-painted, light, modular, much more sturdy than you might think). As someone mentioned on Facebook, let’s all remember that the hobby pretty much started with cardboard scenery. And others commented that they were still using their GW cardboard scenery from 20 years ago! Hey, we agree! We still own their Medieval Fantasy Village cardboard kit released many many years ago, and it still rocks, despite it being only cereal-cardboard thick.
It can definitely be very long lasting. If you take care of it, it will last as long as your miniatures. Make sure you store the parts properly, away from moisture and they will last for years. Adding some dessicant pouches in their container will be a good idea too.
Go to WarStages Kickstarter.
If you're coming from WarStages Kickstarter Update #8, below is the remaining info.
WarStages is at least 4x less expensive than Games Workshop plastic gothic scenery
Building something like WarStages' MEDIUM Cathedral kit with GW plastic kits would cost over $1150. Our kit costs $285. IT IS 4 TIMES CHEAPER THAN A GAME WORKSHOP KIT!
To build something the size of our MEDIUM Cathedral kit, you would need:
4 Imperial Sector = 4 x $120 = $480 to build the walls around the cathedral
3 Shrine of the Aquila = 3 x $40 = $120 for the portals
You are already at$600, that is, TWICE the price of our MEDIUM kit.
OH BUT WAIT ! You don't have any towers yet, and nothing to make the Pulpit of High Command! While there is nothing exactly similar in size and shape for the towers, we can look at the amount of material required and a low estimate would be the kind of building they sell for $40.
So add 4 Bell towers + 4 Triangle towers = 8 X $40 = $320
And the Pulpit of High Commandwould probably cost about $33
Let'srecap: $480 + $120 + $320 + $33 =$953
But there is still more: you need to account for the Freebies we throw in the mix: extra walls, extra floors, ruins, and all the furniture. That is at the very least (and we are VERY conservativeon that figure) another $150.
-> Overall, you have a GW total of $1153, when our MEDIUM CATHEDRAL pledge costs $285. So it is 4 TIMES LESS expensive than A GAME WORKSHOP KIT!
Go to WarStages Kickstarter.
In our opinion, Puppet Wars offers a simple but nice product at a reasonable price: a resin cathedral for 99€ (about $115). The cathedral measures 37 x 24 cm and is 18 cm high.
This means that you can put about 5 or 6 of Puppet Wars Cathedral INSIDE our SMALL Cathedral kit! And we’re just talking footprint. If you had to stack them up to get the same height, you would need to put about 4 of them on top of one another.
If we JUST count the footprint, it means that AT THE MINIMUM you are at $575 but you can easily double or triple this when you factor in the height of our Cathedral. In order to build a SMALL WarStages Cathedral with Puppet War elements, you’ll need to spend at least $1725! Our SMALL Cathedral Pledge is $185...
So WarStages is 10 TIME LESS EXPENSIVE before even accounting for all the Freebieswe offer with each kit: Freebies that add more floors, walls, ruins and furniture which, in resin, would cost a lot of extra money.
A 70 x 70 cm table from Darwen Forge made of prepainted resin material costs 530$
We can create a similar table with half a Small Cathedral from WarStages,so about $93!
How can we do that?Easy! Simply transform our multi-level structures into a single-level set-up. Most of the elements you see in our SMALL Cathedral either have 2 or 3 floors.
So take the wall sections of the Small Cathedral, use them on a single floor level, attach them together to build rooms and corridors, and you easily get a 70x70cm table.
(By the way, we have a Stretch Goal coming up that will give you the option to turn all the Cathedral GothicWindow sections intosolid walls.)
Furthermore, even when using only half of the SMALL Cathedral kit, you’ll still have many Freebie elements such as extra wall and floors to extend your set, and cool furniture to dress it up.
Go to WarStages Kickstarter.
We love Battle Systems, they have a great products and they showed the world that cardboard scenery, far from being something of the past, was completely relevant to today’s games.
Price-wise, we come out as somewhat less expensive than Battle Systems when comparing the amount of material that goes in our kits. Our entry price is higher, but that’s simply because we provide complete kits of very large size, so there’s lots of material in each of them. Most of what you’ll need is already included in the kit, instead of an à-la-carte menu.
Overall, it’s easy to forget that our kits are much taller than anything else on the market. Some just compare the footprint of our kits to other products and feel that it’s not a good deal. But if you take all the higher levels of the Cathedral back to the ground, you double or triple the total footprint of each kit. Keep in mind that, aside from the Large Portal Doors, all the Wall Sections, Towers, and other elements are multi-level set-ups that you can completely break downin 2 or 3 levels.
Go to WarStages Kickstarter.
MDF prices vary greatly. So do their looks. Some are really great! Some are more expensive than ours for the same amount of material / gaming surface. Others are super basic, ultra repetitive gothic MDF kits sold at very low prices, perhaps even as low as half our cost, but the look cannot be compared - this is truly a different product.
We feel WarStages offer much more variety and details. And WarStages is a completely finished product: all the finely detailed visuals are there and there’s nothing to paint. Last but not least, there is the actual physical weight of MDF. If our SMALL Cathedral kit were in MDF, it would be unaffordable to ship by mail, not to mention a real pain to transport to your gaming locations...
Go to WarStages Kickstarter.
Comments will be approved before showing up.
So yes, it is true, some of you have already received their WarStages parcels! In fact, as I’m writing this, there are WarStages parcels crisscrossing the country in their last trip to your home if you live in the USA. Read the update to learn what’s happening in the rest of the world... Also, don't miss the assembly videos we prepared for you, or check out the full Playlist on Youtube.
