Rewarding Wargamers and Getting Miniatures to them

Rewarding Investment in The Ion Age all the Time!

Want a pack of miniatures?  Sure I do.  Want them all in unique poses?  Wow!  Yes, I would.  Want 10% off if you take three packs at the same time with no need for a discount code?  How kind yes, I would like that. Then you got it!

That is the kind of conversation I have had with wargamers at countless shows and conventions in the UK and elsewhere.  I do keep notes...lots of notes, so it all goes in and sometimes you get some results from it.  Like here.  I thought it would be an awesome idea to reward a wargamer's investment in The Ion Age from the start.  Buy three packs and save 10% off pack prices automatically on the screen.  

Every Ion Age code will have this option!

The Muster postal system does its best!

Of course miniatures are physical objects and that means getting them from the balmy climes of Scotland to customers all over the world (yes, everywhere including the North Pole!).  I know no one likes paying postage but its a cruel world and so we must.  But we are kind too!  So as a result of that no complex shipping table, no need for emails to and fro, no seperate payments and no need to worry about how much freight is going to be.  One size fits all.  Five pounds anywhere (including airmail as standard!) and free shipping once you top seventy five pounds spent.  This is great value as we only use high quality wrapping and packaging materials and we aim to dispatch within a day or two of receipt.

Next Posting....spotting the new poses among the veterans of IA001 to IA004.

GBS

PLEASE READ THIS
May 2019 and The Ion Age has been taken back into Alternative Armies.  It continues with new releases into the future!  Go to Alternative Armies for Ion Age pages of the 15mm Range the 15mm Terrain Range the 28mm Range the Publications range and the Free Downloads collection too for the latest.  All links to the ion age site are now defunct sorry!  If you wish to see something or ask a question email me on sales@alternative-armies.com.  GBS

The Dream of Every Pose being Different

I want the diversity of larger scales in 15mm science fiction!

Following on from the last posting on the blog about how 'Hard' science fiction is all well and good but I preferred space opera and high adventure it brings me on to the subject of miniature poses.  Poses for those who are not of the fold means the way a miniature stands and the equipment it holds; essentially the way it looks to the eye.

Over the decades since the early 1980's when science fiction wargaming really took off the diversity of poses has increased markedly especially in the 28mm scale of miniatures.  It is true to say that 15mm scale was a late comer to this boom in pose variety but I can see it now happening.  Indeed in my own work I have moved away from two to three poses a pack to four or even five when the HOF range is concerned.  But I wanted more, I wanted parity.  The same for 15mm as for the bigger 28mm scale.  In fact I wanted every poses in a code to be unique!

Madness...maybe.  Ambitious certainly.  Impossible...certainly not!

As you can see with the above image taken from TheIonAge.com none of the IAF series of packs do or will have any doubles among them.  This means a truly character driven experience when you are painting and using Ion Age miniatures.  Plus as the sign says you can choose to purchase any miniature from any pack on its own.  I bet it bugs you as much as it does me to just want a couple or one from a code and have go get them all.

Sure all of this has put us to more trouble, more effort, more molding, more work...but you guys are worth it!

In the next blog posting I will be moving on to the benefits of multi-pack purchase and our postage system.

GBS

PLEASE READ THIS
May 2019 and The Ion Age has been taken back into Alternative Armies.  It continues with new releases into the future!  Go to Alternative Armies for Ion Age pages of the 15mm Range the 15mm Terrain Range the 28mm Range the Publications range and the Free Downloads collection too for the latest.  All links to the ion age site are now defunct sorry!  If you wish to see something or ask a question email me on sales@alternative-armies.com.  GBS

From HOF 15mm Science Fiction to The Ion Age!

IA001 Retained Post Alpha

I have a vision for the Ion Age and in the next few postings I am going to tell you all about it. Its my hope that as time passes wargamers and hobbyists will flip back through the blog on the website and come across these postings. So what is my vision?

Well those who follow my own website and postings on blogs such as Dropship Horizon will know that I lament the endless stream of science fiction clones that are being introduced to the wargame industry. Hard military sci-fi is a great genre but its not for me, its not what I want to play. It also seems its not what a lot of other wargamers want from their science fiction gaming either. I want space opera, nobility, heroes, actual knights in space! More like the grand visions of the 1970's and 1980's. A new look at space opera for wargaming. Hence our new website, this blog and all the efforts put in by myself and others towards this goal.

This is a herculean task and no mistake I know that. But from small acorns and all that. The beginning..well that was in the HOF 15mm Science Fiction range over on 15mm.co.uk.

The HOF range contains nearly one hundred different packs of miniatures and they are a very diverse lot indeed. Zidhe Space Elves, Octopod Aliens, Alien Greys, Automatons, Plants, Droids and other strange things. The Retained Knights and Muster resided in the HOF range while the Ion Age brewed in my mind. But they reside there no longer!

The initial codes here of IAF001,IAF002,IAF003,IAF004 are primarily composed of these veteran miniatures which date back to the 1990's. You can find them in the Prydian Army page of this website with large images.

This is how HOF got this vision of The Ion Age started. Next time its about poses.

GBS

PLEASE READ THIS
May 2019 and The Ion Age has been taken back into Alternative Armies.  It continues with new releases into the future!  Go to Alternative Armies for Ion Age pages of the 15mm Range the 15mm Terrain Range the 28mm Range the Publications range and the Free Downloads collection too for the latest.  All links to the ion age site are now defunct sorry!  If you wish to see something or ask a question email me on sales@alternative-armies.com.  GBS

Favicon Installed!

Not everything is about great space opera miniatures. Sometimes we do things just because they are cute and they add a little dazzle to the website. This is one of those times. Now we are live we have a Favicon, designed by Sam Croes, which will grace all the browsers who surf their way here. Ain't it great!

We discussed several design possibles for this tiny icon and eventually settled on a stylised Retained Knight Helmet. It stands out well and it says Ion Age all over it.

Good job Sam!

GBS

PLEASE READ THIS

May 2019 and The Ion Age has been taken back into Alternative Armies.  It continues with new releases into the future!  Go to Alternative Armies for Ion Age pages of the 15mm Range the 15mm Terrain Range the 28mm Range the Publications range and the Free Downloads collection too for the latest.  All links to the ion age site are now defunct sorry!  If you wish to see something or ask a question email me on sales@alternative-armies.com.  GBS

Dawn of a new Ion Age

We have just popped into existance like a newly formed soap bubble of awesomeness!

Welcome to The Ion Age and the Ion Age Blog. While there is not a lot to look at right now it is still early days, well actually its day one today, this will change soon enough and then the wargaming goodness will begin.

If you have surfed onto our shore please do drop us an email at info@theionage.com and we would be delighted to add you our mailing list.

Gavin Syme or just plain old....GBS

PLEASE READ THIS
May 2019 and The Ion Age has been taken back into Alternative Armies.  It continues with new releases into the future!  Go to Alternative Armies for Ion Age pages of the 15mm Range the 15mm Terrain Range the 28mm Range the Publications range and the Free Downloads collection too for the latest.  All links to the ion age site are now defunct sorry!  If you wish to see something or ask a question email me on sales@alternative-armies.com.  GBS