Overview
It’s been several weeks now since i posted my article about my first order at Microworld Games. Been quite busy in the meantime so here comes a later-than-expected update.
As a quick reminder what i ordered: i went with two starter armies each for fantasy and scifi.
For fantasy i decided for the classic Orc and Elven theme. For both i ordered a pack of command figures (also including some mages), spears, melee troops, archers and light cavalry each. This should give a great foundation to build upon with a future order. Will add heavy cavalry, war machines and similar next time.
For the scifi armies i each picked tanks, IFVs, some support vehicles like artillery and rocket launchers as well as some scout units. Everything you need as a starter. As there is no scifi infantry available from Microworld Games as of now, i also acquired a pack of Venators from Oddzial Osmy to complete my ground forces.
Ordering process and shipping
Ordering and paying process was super easy and went with no issues. The scifi miniatures were cast-to-order, so they are done for the customer once ordered and not taken from stock. After a quick week already everything was cast, packed and ready to be shipped. Steven from Microworld Games wrote me a kind mail to let me know about the status. Shipping itself too happened without any issues. Since the parcel was tracked, i could easily follow it’s way around the globe. After arrival in Germany, the local customs office decided to just wave my order through within 5 minutes and no questions asked. Transport time within Germany was little too. I sadly did not have time to pick up the parcel immediately, so it had to sit in the post office for a bit. Finally picked it up about three weeks after ordering.
VAT and other cost
As this was my first order from outside the European Union (my last abroad order was from UK before Brexit, so i never had to deal with separate VAT), i can say the process went very smooth.
If you are wondering about the cost: living in the EU and ordering from outside the EU, final cost will include:
- The miniatures and shipping cost payed to Microworld Games when ordering
- On delivery/picking up the order:
- 19% (for Germany, yours might differ) of total order value as VAT, payed to the shipping company.
- Probably a handling fee. For DHL in Germany it was 6€ so they handle all the customs formalities, which is a fair price i think. I did not have any contact to customs office myself, no paperwork or similar.
If in doubt about cost or with any other questions, check with your local customs office. In the EU usually everything is regulated and unified, but countries might have local extras to obey.
The miniatures
When ordering first time from a miniatures range, you usually do based on more or less meaningful pictures. Luckily, in contrary to some other manufacturers, Microworld Games had some really great photos ready to display the miniatures. This way i could already judge what will arrive. Having received them now and taken a look at them first hand, i can say i am just overwhelmed. Sculpting is wonderful with lots of detail one would not expect with this scale – especially on the fantasy range. Casting is done very well too. There are no big mold lines, bubbles or anything. Excess material is at a minimum and can be easily removed. Due to the scale tho, when removing excess, some care is necessary. Thin parts like spears are robust enough for normal handling, but too much force when removing recess can break them.
The pictures i have taken are “raw” – as in i did not remove any casting lines or excess material before the shot. I did this on purpose so you can see how they arrived. Excellent quality with little work needed.
Conclusion
I can say i am super satisfied with my order. The miniatures are well done, have an unique design (like the scout jeep with triangular shaped tracks instead of wheels) and a great level of detail for this scale. From doing some test painting i can tell these are very fun to do. Will definitely get some more of these and later on probably more armies too. I am still quite busy with my Cold War forces but hope i can start to work on these miniatures quite soon. Already got me some of the Vallejo colorshift colors, which have a metallic color that changes by view angle. Think these will do great on the scifi miniatures. For the fantasy miniatures i really look forward to paint colorful – after doing lots and lots of NATO camo and Soviet green paining in the past 🙂 Stay tuned for some follow up, might showcase some color schemes and test paints next.
If you like the 3mm Microworld Games miniatures too, make sure to pay the Microworld Games shop a visit and let me know your experience in the comment section.