Wargames Atlantic has laid out its big plans for miniatures in 2023, with what they will be producing in hard plastic, as well as their digital files!
Wargames Atlantic is always coming out with incredible new models, and their kits are always affordable and full of detail. They generally offer some of the best value we’ve ever seen in the industry, so it’s nice to see what they have planned for 2023!
Recently, they have also started making STL files for all the 3D printers out there, so they are also talking about how to expand those lines as well. Let’s jump into the plans!
Wargames Atlantic Lays Out Their 2023 Plans for Digital Files & Plastic Minis
Let’s get the rundown of what they are up to:
- Vox Populi lets you vote on sets that are already planned to be produced – your vote just lets your choice skip to the front of the queue. There have been over a thousand votes cast so far.
- There’s no slow down on plastic releases – quite the opposite!
- The Atlantic Digital experiment is full steam ahead with 11 new file sets each month for each of our 11 ranges (we know we’re missing 3 file sets from previous months – they’re almost done too)
- We’ve been REALLY busy with a secret project
There always seems to be a lot of confusion about what we’re up to. I think a lot of it stems from the reality that most people don’t read anymore. And part of it comes from the fact that we probably over-share information. And part of it is just that we’re doing a LOT of different stuff!
Most companies like ours might preview a set of plastic and then you don’t hear about it for a year until it’s released. Since launching in 2019 we’ve always flooded our site and socials with loads of updates so it has always seemed like a lot of stuff going on. We’ve also worked on a LOT of plastic sets (probably too many because we’ve front loaded the production schedule with over 40 sets!) because we have a great team of in-house sculptors who like to keep busy (which was one of the reasons we launched Atlantic Digital but more on that below).
First up, being able to vote on the kits and files is just really awesome! We have heard some people complaining about the number of plastic kits recently, but they released so much in 2022, that we don’t really understand the reasoning.
Not only did they release a bunch of different styles, but they actually also had some collaborations and put out more than most companies.
With that in mind, let’s see what they will be releasing in plastic.
Hard Plastic
We let you know back in January our biggest challenge is keeping up with production and keeping our three warehouses stocked up. There are a variety of factors that go into this but most of it has to do with playing catch up from the move from China to US-based production. Getting the US-based team up to the same speed and quality of China was a painful, drawn out process that took way too long and knocked us off pace.
We also wanted to change up how we do releases. Instead of having a new release show up at three different times to the three warehouses (with US always first as it’s closest to production and doesn’t require a ship or plane) we wanted to have global release dates. So a set goes up for pre-order and then x weeks after that is the release date but that means it’s the same date for Australia, US, and UK and all ships out at once (the release may be sitting around for a month in the US waiting for the UK ship to arrive). The German Sentries and SAS are our last sets being done the old way. The next one – WW1 British – will have a global release. We’re working on the plan for that now.
This year we plan to release at least 12 new plastic sets in total (more if we are able to) but we want to make sure we are doing it right and setting ourselves up for success going forward. So far the Landsknecht Ogres, Harvesters, German Sentries, and SAS have released/are releasing in 2023. WW1 British next and then at least 7 to follow.
Twelve new kits are honestly a ton for a company, and that averages to one a month! Then, they also previewed this shrouded mini as something they’re working on (we’ll look at it more below)! A lot of folks want 40k alternatives, but it’s nice to see them still expanding their WW1 line.
However, they are also expanding their digital releases to keep their sculptors busy.
Atlantic Digital
April was our sixth month of Atlantic Digital and it’s been a crazy learning experience – we still are learning as we go. We’ve gone from zero to close to 800 subscribers and so far we’ve released 77 different file sets (and thousands of individual files).
For those of you who don’t know about it, Atlantic Digital is our 3D file and 3D print arm. As mentioned above, we have an incredible team of sculptors on staff and we’ve front loaded the plastics release schedule with so much stuff we wanted to give them another outlet for their creativity. So each month we create one set of files for each of our 11 ranges. Some of these are single figures, some are conversion parts for our plastics, some are terrain items, many are full figure sets like you’d get on a plastic frame.
It’s taken us a bit of time to get used to the schedule and process and we have (mostly) ironed out the kinks. As the months go by we will be bringing out that month’s releases earlier (we tend to release them all toward the end of the month or into the following month). We’ve missed a couple sets here and there (these will be added back in over the next couple weeks). But all in all the process has been fun and it’s given the team a chance to make a lot of stuff. It’s also a great test market for things that may be popular enough to move into plastic…speaking of…
For everyone out there with 3D printers, they have really been smashing the STL side of things, and from the sounds of it, they are not stopping anytime soon! This brings us to their secret project.
Secret Project
We’ve been hard at work on a secret project in partnership with a well-known tabletop gaming content brand. The goal of the project is to do something we’ve never done before and bring out an entire Death Fields army in one shot through a crowdfunding campaign. And by army we mean 6+ hard plastic sets in one shot! We’ll be making an announcement about this soon but we’re within a few weeks of launch so you’ll be hearing a LOT about it.
From the looks of the shrouded mini, we would bet this is Traitor Guard, and at this point, we know it will be a crowdfunding campaign for a whole new line of plastics in conjunction with MiniWarGaming, with the paint jobs by Cult of Paint.
It will also feature their first tank kit as well!
This campaign will be focused on releasing 8 full hard plastic sets for the newest Death Fields’ faction: The Damned! (their backstory can be found at the bottom of the page).
These 8 sets will let you build a full army of The Damned and includes plastic sets for: Infantry
Command
Brutes
Outriders
Heavy Support Teams
Hounds
Artillery
Tank (yes our first hard plastic vehicle!)First painted examples of the Infantry set by Cult of Paint.
MiniWargaming will be previewing all the sets and setting the stage over the next few weeks as we prepare to launch. We’ll have more painted models, videos, and lots to see and talk about as the campaign progresses!
If successful, this campaign will allow us to do something we’ve never done before: release an entire ARMY in one shot! And once we’ve fulfilled all the backer pledges all 8 sets will be available as part of our regular catalog and at retailers worldwide.
Retailers: we will have full retail level pledges in the campaign as well.
This is actually good news, as it probably means we’ll get a ton of extras and such, so keep your eyes peeled for this project!
Check out Wargames Atlantic Here!
What do you think about Wargames Atlantic’s plans for 2023?
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About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Socials: @paschbass
About Travis Pasch: Travis has been a Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the 1990s, playing the game since Third Edition. Through extensive traveling, he’s seen a lot of the miniatures hobby from across the world, giving him a unique perspective on the latest gaming topics and trends.
Travis’s brother even owns a commission painting studio, where he’s picked up a lot of good advice and techniques for painting Warhammer and tabletop miniatures over the years, as well. Travis joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the lead writer since 2020.
Currently, he’s working on converting all his 40k Adeptus Mechanicus models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!
