A Message from Tom on his forum (sorry I'm so late in getting this out):
Hey all-Wow, where to begin... 2008 was an amazing year for us in every measurable way. Once again we grew at a rate exceeding our wildest expectations with revenues up dramatically over the previous year. Our advertising and convention outreach efforts paid off beyond our most optimistic forecast, resulting in huge numbers of new customers for us. We picked up Crafty Games as a partner, and have a number of exciting Spycraft releases planned for 2009. The new year will also see us expand into foreign sales markets, with Spanish, German and French translations of our most popular sets being offered to customers in those countries. I'll post more info on this marketing project in the spring.
First quarter 2009 will see several new DRAGONSHIRE releases, new sci-fi sets (more on this below) and more E-Z TERRAIN sets. We'll also be having some more wargame focused sets to appeal to the customers over at Wargamevault.com where we are now selling our products. Our model releases will continue as they have for the last three and a half years, but there will also be some new offerings in our catalog. In addition to releasing preprinted model sets later this year, FDG will also be publishing RPG supplements for several popular RPG systems, including our newest business partner (drumroll please...)
TROLL LORD GAMES! Last month we signed a contract with TLG to produce products supporting the wildly popular CASTLES & CRUSADES RPG. We have a number of things planned for this amazing game system in 2009, and work has already begun on several of them. I am a huge fan of the game (it's what I run for the FDG crew) and more than that, it is truly an honor to get to work with the Trolls. Steve and Davis Chenault are great guys whom I've really grown to admire and respect over the last few years. It is also very gratifying to me to work with the company that Gary Gygax chose to publish his work in his final years. Of all the companies that Gary could have gone with to publish his material, he chose Troll Lord Games, and for good reason. TLG reminds me of the old TSR we all knew and loved back in the early 80's and I am geeking out to be a part of that. All model sets will directly tie in with the game and/or include C&C stats. Our upcoming sci-fi releases will include stats for TLG's brand new sci-fi STARSIEGE RPG. For those of you who are not familiar with Castles & Crusades, I strongly urge you to click over to the TLG site and download the free quick-start rules. Trust me, you'll be glad you did: http://trolllord.com/cnc/ccqs.html
We're upping our convention appearances this year. Origins and Gen Con are for sure, with several more planned as well. I am really looking forward to seeing many of you again, and hope to see some of you for the first time. These cons are always a blast for us, and I am especially looking forward to Indy this year (we have an AMAZING booth planned for those of you attending with some really neat SWAG this year.)
Finally, I want to thank each and every one of you. All of you made 2008 an extraordinary year for us, and 2009 looks even better. I hope you all have a safe and prosperous new year.
Thanks all!Tom
