First of all I want to say thank you to all of us for your support!
It have been a long day today for Rackham and one of the most important for
the company history, and it's now night time in France, even late, but it's
have been a great day for Rackham and I want to let you know.
As you may know Rackham have been on the French Chapter Eleven since 15
months now, and today I was on the Court explaining my plan for the future
of Rackham. In France, the normal French Chapter Eleven delay is a maximum
period of 6 months + eventually a second 6 months period. No more!
In regards of our incredible capacity of resistance, our capacity to
continue to create and to produce even in a financial perillous situation
and our results, the Court have decide to give us an unusual 3 months
supplementary delay to find some partners to help us to completely recover
all our capacity to be strong enought for the future on the worlwide market.
Unfortunatly we were too fragile. Our global results was good but not
enought to built the future in a strong and calmly way everywhere.
These 3 months I have spend lots of my time to find REAL partners to give us
this opportunity to work on the future calmly for Rackham.
And I find these partners! Today we explain to the Court our strategy and
our goal for Rackham and his Creative Studio.
And the Court have decide to let the company lives from his own, let us to
continue freely!
After 15 months of fights, what it means for us at Rackham is that we are
still alive! we have resist to all the incredible traps of some of our great
friends to recover the company... we have resist to some financial proposal
from some financial sharks. And finally we have resist to those we want to
kill us because we want to stay what we are! Of course unfortunatly we have
loose some of the Team, the Ennemy was at the gates all day, everydays, we
are less than before, but this Team is the heart of Rackham, the most
motivated and the most stronger part of the company, the ones who have
continue every day in this rude months to believe in the company, to believe
in the Team and our games. And to believe in a brightness future.
What it means for us, is that Rackham will no longer exist on next Tuesday.
Rackham will become Rackham Entertainment. Why? simply because since the
beginning we have try to realize more than miniatures and games. We are
Universes makers, we play miniatures games, boardgames, video games. We read
fantasy and SF books, we love fantasy movies... and we have created
universes such Confrontation and AT-43 to be able to do more than miniatures
games, to be able to write some novels for example, doing some great
partnerships with the video games industry, done some boardgames in our
universes but not only. Our partners know this and think that our
miniatures, books, universes have an incredible +. This creativity and this
unique flavour must be protected and having the possibilty to grow. The
Creative Studio must work and grow to become more famous because it is
unique and innovating. These partners are wellknown in the Games and Toys
market, they are big. They have some great licences, but they don't have the
capacity to create and develop some original worlds with all around. They
will give us the capacity to finish to develop our third universe for
example which is on stand by since more than two years now (But I will let
you know more about it in the upcoming months) or to finish our new
boardgame: Rush and Crush, a brutal races boardgame set in the AT-43
universe.
There will be no changes, no changes on the games mechanics or miniatures,
or on the quality, there will be no prices increases and our goal is to
continue to find technical solutions to increase the quality. We will
continue to develop Confrontation and AT-43 miniatures and Army Books in
priority but we will work for example on the packaging of the lines as we
think since a long time that we must change the size of it.
Right now we must work to produce far in advance the more than 6 months new
miniatures armies we have ready to be launch for Confrontation and AT-43 to
show all the new releases to the public and the shops. We must assure the
fluidity of our regular monthly new releases with all the Distributors for
the Retailers, especially in the US. We need to speak to the community and
help the stores. We need to show to the community the positive face of
rackham, the games and all the new things ready and isolated the naysayers.
It's really important as false rumors, intentional or not and negativ
comments break us a lot since several months on lots of forums and blogs.
It's not an easy thing to do, there's a lot, and it become a sport sometimes
to break Rackham... and in the real world, PPP miniatures will be the
standard like miniatures + cards is now our standard using by every others.
Remember confrontation 1 ten year ago...
In the upcoming days we will recover our capacity to produce some great
samples new releases in advance to send it to you before end of December.
Count that we will be completly ready to come back on all front (marketing,
communication and supports at the end of December). With these minis for
example, all of you will be able to show the future releases to the shops
and of course to the players in the shops! Some of them will be paint, some
will be pre-plastic cast in the very first time. But the most important
thing is that you have the products in advance.
We are actually working a dedicaced logo for the Sentinels exclusive and all
of you will have it automatically with their avatar when connecting on our
forums. I hope to finish it for the next week. I will let you know.
In the upcoming months we will create some special free ready to play gaming
tables for all the shops who carry the lines regulary (of course you will be
able to have it for your personnal use too). These gaming tables will be set
with all the necessary miniatures to demoing the games. Not huge games with
lots of miniatures, but for initiate the players or simply to done some
Rackham games on it in the shops.
As I told before, I will be the exclusive in charge of the Sentinels. I have
decide and organize this because I have seen in the past that some of us
from Rackham was very good to promise a lot on internet or in some fair, but
don't do the job in the real life, which means that if I told you that I
will send you this or this, it will be done, The idea is absolutly not that
you stay alone trying doing something from your side waiting for a sign of
us. I want to built a team with you!
Don't be surprise too: on Tuesday night I will be no more the CEO and the
Art Director. I will be the Art Director. What it means for me, nothing it
was the price to pay to the Court in regards of the French Law for the
company in Chapter Eleven and as I create Rackham 10 years ago to create
fantastic universes and great miniatures, because I love miniatures and
games that's great for me. I stay the heart of the new company, ready to
create all we have in minds with the Team and to built a strong community
with all of you!
Stay in alert!
Keep the details of this message for you. The official announcement will be
done next week on wednesday!
Thanks again for all your support and confidence,
Let the battle begin!
With my Best Regards,
Jean.
