We return to the show circuit soon, starting at the Hereward convention at the Cresset Centre in Peterborough on Sunday September 1st, followed by Colours at Newbury Racecourse less than a week later (Saturday 7th). As always, we’re more than happy to take orders for collection at either event – simply send us an email with what you require and pay on the day, or you can order and pay in advance via the website using the ‘Collect in Person’ shipping option.
As our ranges have grown we’re no longer able to bring everything with us, so to help you plan here’s a list of what we’re intending to cram onto the stand at both events – if we aren’t bringing what you’re after, get in touch and we’ll see what we can do.
Celtos – Decent stock of all individual figures, small unit packs and medium and large army packs
Aeronef/Imperial Skies – All of the most popular fleet packs (the major powers) but not the smaller nations; a good selection of individual capital ships in blisters; rulebooks and accessories for Imperial Skies. Latest releases (German/French cruisers) also available individually.
Small Scale Scenery – the full range of all models
Spaceships – full range of fleet packs; no individual models except for new releases
Hammer’s Slammers – rulebooks and accessories; the full range of 15mm models; latest 6mm releases as individual models; a selection of 6mm and 15mm detachment packs.
15mm SF – full range of 15mm vehicles, figure packs and accessories; no buildings
6mm SF – full range of army packs, company packs and building packs; no individual models except infantry
Great War Belgians – full range of figures
Magpie Miniatures – individual figures and packs
Squadron Commander – full range of blisters packs; no individual models or starter packs
Crom’s Anvil – full range of figures
We will not be able to bring any 10mm SF buildings, Iron Stars or Land Ironclads miniatures unless ordered in advance.
We’ve been sent a number of photos of some excellently painted examples of our 28mm Great War Belgians by Sven de Braekeleir. He’s very kindly allowed us to use them on the website, so we’ve updated a number of the photos of various codes including infantry in shakos and the mounted lancers. Please go and have a look at Sven’s Facebook page where you can find more samples of his work, both on our figures and many others.
Having been out of stock for a while, we’ve just received a big consignment of flying stands including several thousand black ones, so those are now back on sale on the website again (woo-hoo!). This means that spaceship squadron packs will also ship with black bases again instead of the clear ones we’ve had to use lately.
We’re often asked about the exact dimensions of the bases so while I was updating the website I added a couple of photos to make the sizes clearer (these show clear bases, the black ones are exactly the same size).
We’ve been meaning to do this for a while, and we’ve finally got around to adding an option on the website for tracked/signed-for deliveries. Our current shipping rates don’t normally allow for this, but for customers that would prefer the peace of mind of tracking and a signature, for an additional cost (£1.25 UK/£5.00 overseas plus VAT if applicable) you can select a Signed For service (either First Class Signed For in the UK or International Tracked & Signed overseas).
It’s almost time for our local club, Maidstone Wargames Society, to hold its annual Open Day. This year it’s on Saturday June 22nd between 11am and 4pm, at the club’s usual meeting place in Linton, Kent. It’s not a conventional wargames show, there are no traders or bring-and-buy, and no entrance fee. Instead, the club puts on a selection of games across a variety of periods and scales to showcase our activities and hopefully attract one or two new members. All of the games are open for people to join in and try out a new period or set of rules.
Periods include Vietnam, Dark Ages, English Civil War and even a James Bond-inspired spy-fi game. I’ll be there, running a 1/600th Suez Crisis aircraft game featuring dogfights between MiGs, Meteors, Mysteres, Mustangs, Mosquitoes and some other planes not starting with M!
I’m not officially there in a Brigade capacity – there’s no Brigade stand and I won’t have any stock. However, if anyone is planning to come along to the Open Day and would like me to bring anything along to save on postage, don’t let me stop you – just drop us a line and we’ll sort something out.
Our next show is due in a couple of weeks. It’s our local event, Broadside, run by the ever-friendly Milton Hundred Wargames Club. Both Phil and I will be there in our customary spot. It’s held at the Swallows Leisure Centre in Sittingbourne from 10am to 4pm – a convenient ten minute walk from home (although a half-hour drive from Brigade HQ).
We’ll have decent stocks of most lines, including our newest releases. As always for any show, we welcome advance orders – you can either place an order and pay in advance using the collect in person option on the website, or just drop us an email with a list and pay on the day. You’ll see from the list below that we can’t bring everything, so if you would like anything from ranges that we’re not bringing with us then you’ll need to order it in advance.
Celtos – Decent stock of all individual figures, small unit packs and medium and large army packs
Aeronef/Imperial Skies – All of the most popular fleet packs (the major powers) but not the smaller nations; a good selection of individual capital ships in blisters; rulebooks and accessories for Imperial Skies.
Small Scale Scenery – the full range of all models
Spaceships – full range of fleet packs; no individual models except for new releases
Hammer’s Slammers – rulebooks and accessories; the full range of 15mm models; a selection of 6mm and 15mm detachment packs
15mm SF – full range of 15mm vehicles, figure packs and accessories; no buildings.
6mm SF – full range of army packs, company packs and building packs; no individual models
Great War Belgians – full range of figures
Magpie Miniatures – individual figures and packs
Squadron Commander – full range of blisters packs; no individual models or starter packs
Crom’s Anvil – full range of figures
We will not be able to bring any 10mm SF buildings, Iron Stars or Land Ironclads miniatures unless ordered in advance.
I’ve had a bit of an IT problem for the last day or so (ie the Wi-Fi here at Brigade Towers is playing up), which has meant that I haven’t been able to get the next batch of new releases onto the website.
It’s also means that I can’t get any orders posted as I can’t get onto our PayPal account to print out shipping labels – so there’s a big pile of orders sitting in the office waiting to go.
So apologies to anyone waiting for their order – I’m hoping that it will be back by tomorrow morning so I can get everything posted before the weekend.
I’m off for a few days (the rest of this week, to be exact) for a short break to congratulate/commiserate with the Brigadieress for putting up with me for another year. All orders up until the end of yesterday (Monday) have been completed, but there will be a hiatus until I return to the workshop at the start of next week. The website of course remains open so you can still place orders, I just won’t get to them immediately.
In the meantime, I’ll leave you with some upcoming new models – these are German spaceships, replacements for the older Osnabruck and Wuppertal models that are in need of a new production mould so we’re taking the opportunity to update them to new digitally sculpted designs. With a bit of luck they’ll form part of our Salute portfolio this year (which is already frighteningly close, just five weeks away).
Towards the end of last year, I wrote a post on the Royal Mail’s last posting dates before Christmas, commenting that I thought it would be “our least exciting post of the year“. This year I’m getting in early for that accolade with this piece.
I had a number of emails during the sale concerning the way our shopping cart system works, in particular related to the application (or non-application) of VAT – customers outside the EU worried that it hadn’t been deducted correctly, or others in the UK or Europe questioning why a big lump of tax had been added to their order when they checked out. So this is my best attempt to explain how it all works and who or what it applies to. I’m not an accountant, which I’m hoping will be an advantage as I’ll try to explain things from my layman’s point of view. I’m also looking at it from the point of view of the Brigade website only, there may be some special cases or rates that don’t apply to us, in which case I won’t complicate matters with those. So if you’re’re all sitting comfortably, then I’ll begin…
VAT VAT stands for Value Added Tax – it’s essentially a sales tax. In the UK it’s levied on most goods and services, although only if the company supplying them is registered for VAT. Companies over a certain annual turnover threshold (currently £85000) are required to register for VAT in the UK, although ones with a lower turnover can voluntarily register (there are advantages to being registered – for example, you can claim back any VAT you pay out). Incidentally, this needs to be borne in mind for overseas customers ordering from other sites – I’ve seen complaints on TMP for example complaining that company X didn’t deduct VAT for an order from the US or Canada, when company X may simply not have been registered in the first place. But that’s by-the-by, since Brigade most certainly is VAT registered.
Rates
The current rate of VAT for most goods is 20%; there are some different rates for other specific items, but none of these apply to Brigade except for books, which are zero-rated (which means that although they are technically eligible for VAT, the current rate is 0% so no tax is charged on them).
Prices on our website or blog are always given with VAT included. So an item that is listed at £6 is actually £5 plus 20% (£1) VAT. On the website we state the amount of VAT on each item page, but if you’re trying to work it out for yourself, remember that VAT is 1/6th of the total price (not 1/5th, as might seem the obvious calculation).
The Shopping Cart
The way the cart works has changed slightly. The values that go into the cart are without VAT – so if you add our previously mentioned £6 item to the cart, the value that actually goes into it is £5 (plus the shipping cost for the item is added to the running total). VAT is only added later once you give the system your shipping address and it can then determine whether or not you need to pay the tax. If you’re within the the main 28 EU countries (not those in the EEA) then you will be charged VAT; anywhere else in the world, you won’t. So when you checkout, if your delivery address is within the EU, 20% will be added to the order total. But remember, the value that went into the cart was without VAT, so the total amount you will be charged is still the same as was stated on the website initially.
Shipping
HMRC have decreed that VAT also has to be added to any shipping costs at the same rate as the rest of the order. If you place an order for books only then that rate will be zero, so no VAT is added. If the order is a mix of books and other items, then the higher rate of 20% VAT is added to the entire shipping cost.
Example
Below are five images showing an example from start to checkout. I’ve captioned each image so as you scroll through the gallery, hopefully everything will become clear!
1 – select the correct shipping destination. This ensures that you are charged the correct amount for shipping
2 – we’re going to add one of our new EuroFed models, a Liberte battleship, to the cart. As you can see, the price is £6 which includes £1 VAT. The shipping cost for the model is also shown.
3 – the Liberte is now in the shopping cart – as you can see, the amount that went into the cart is without VAT (£5).
4 – we’ve now reached checkout, I’ve logged into PayPal so the system now knows my shipping address. You’ll notice that the total cost is more than the previous cart total. If you click the little up arrow next to the total…
5 – …you’ll see a summary showing that £1.31 VAT has been added, which is 20% of the total basket (goods plus shipping)
OK, I think that’s it – I hope it all makes sense, but if anyone has any questions (or, just as importantly, if I’ve got anything wrong or could explain it better), please let us know.
I’ll now get back to the far more interesting and important task of making little model tanks and spaceships now…
One final update before we shut down the centrifuge for the Christmas holiday. We’ve managed to clear almost all of the sale orders, which at one point didn’t look very likely, but a week of long days (and evenings) means that we won’t be returning after the new year to a pile of unfinished ones. Frustratingly, there were two we weren’t able to get shipped; one needs a couple of items from another manufacturer that we’ve run out of, while the other needs a 15mm building, the mould for which split at the most inconvenient time and we just haven’t been able to make a new one. We’ve also sorted out all post-sale orders that reached us by the end of last Friday (21st). All remaining UK-bound parcels were posted on Saturday, so with a bit of luck they might arrive on Christmas Eve. There are a few overseas ones left to send that will go to the post office on Monday, so while they’ll only sit there for a couple of days, at least they are in the system. I will be at the workshop Monday morning to try and clear a couple of orders that have arrived over the weekend, but even if I do they won’t get posted until later in the week.
Phil and I are now taking a break until the New Year; the website remains open for orders, but nothing will be processed until the melting pot gets powered up again on January 2nd. Have a great Christmas holiday everyone, we’ll be back in 2019 with lots of exciting new models.
