Santa’s Secret Space Raid - 2015Please make sure you read all the rules thoroughly! Dear tyrants, petty and great, join us for the fifth annual Secret Space Raid as once again we
surf Santa’s webway during the holiday season and take from the good to give to the naughty!
***Key points***:
Saturday, November 14th – deadline to enter
Monday, November 16th – victims’ names are assigned
Wednesday, December 16th – recommended date to have gift posted by
Friday, January 1st – gifts should be received by this date
You are asked to get delivery confirmation when you mail your gift and provide the tracking number to me.Who can enter, prey tell? All are welcome. However, following several members failing to come through in previous years, which detracted from the experience to a significant degree for numerous others, there are some pre-requisites, unfortunately. Thus, in order to enter the 2015 raid, you must:
- have a minimum of 50 posts as a member of TDC prior to the closing date for entry (no last-minute spamming);
- and have been an active member of TDC for at least 3 months prior to the closing date for entry;
- and be in good standing mod-wise.
There may be some wiggle room to get in, but I reserve the right to use my sole discretion in ruling people in or out of entering. This may seem somewhat harsh, but we wish to avoid a repetition of past failures. And this
is Commorragh after all, so if you are a relatively unknown quantity here and I have misgivings for any reason, then I may choose not to let you participate (after I first contact you).
WARNING - If you do not participate in a reasonable manner and timeframe, i.e. you fail to respond or abuse the event just to try and get free stuff, you will be banned from future raids. And just like in the Bad Traders Report in the Barter Port, your forum name will be publicly listed as being a Naughty Santa. I am also looking to set up a
Deep Space Raid Aide Committee, in case a participant does not receive a gift for whatever reason. This is entirely voluntary, and open to any forum member (even if you are not participating in the Secret Santa exchange). PM me if you are willing to help out, should the need arise.
What are the rules, prey tell?This is a gift exchange, something fun to do, and
not a competition. This is a True Kin event only. Your gift may be from Warhammer 40K, Fantasy, LoTR, Epic, BFG, or even some other line of miniatures, but it must be Dark Eldar-related. A Dark Eldar model, or something else converted or themed for Dark Eldar – figures, vehicles, terrain, objective markers, etc. Harlequins are OK, if suggested, but our poncey, Craftworld cousins? ………………………………. well, ……………. again, if suggested, and you are unable to come up with any more worthy tribute!
Timeline:
November 14th – deadline to enter
December 16th – recommended date to have gift posted by
January 1st – gifts should be received by this date
How do you sign up, prey tell?First of all,
go away and think about whether or not you really want to participate in this exchange and will be able to meet the deadline.
Second,
go away and think about whether or not you will realistically be able to meet the deadline.
Finally, send me an e-mail (
not a PM)
before November 14th. No further entries will be received after that date.
I can be reached at archon.santa at gmail.com Do not PM me your details.
PLEASE NOTE that your entries are not considered official until I (Archon Claus) receive an e-mail from you containing all of the following information: 1. Your full, filthy mon-keigh name and your TDC moniker.
2. Your complete address, including the country, for targeting purposes.
3. Your Dark Eldar gift preferences, if you have any, for what you collect or play. Don’t be too specific, these are just some basic clues that will be passed on to your Secret Santa to help get them started. E.g. are you a foot-slogger, a speed addict or a deep-striker? Do you play a Kabal-, Wyche-, or Coven-style army (or Corsairs), or perhaps another system such as BFG? Do you prefer painted or unpainted? Etc.
Please keep your requests reasonable, your Secret Santa may not have as many funds or other resources available to them as you do. E.g. Clawed Fiend = OK. Tantalus = not OK.
The information in your message is very important because I literally just forward your information direct to the person giving you your gift, so please make sure it is complete and legible.
After you have sent me your e-mail, you should also post a message here in this thread containing the following:
1. A simple note that you are participating.
2. A copy of your Dark Eldar preferences, but only if you want to. Some people find that a bit awkward and prefer that only their gifter sees their suggestions.
What happens next, prey tell? After November 14th, I will sort all of the participants into loose geographic regions to try and help you save on shipping costs and time. Please be aware that you may still be asked to send your gift to the other side of the planet.
With the aid of my trusty Coven Fiend, I will randomly pick out names from a hat and pair them up, and forward each of you a copy of your victim’s message containing their real name, address and any gift preferences no later than November 16th.
Trusty Coven Fiend:
**VERY IMPORTANT** – the deadline for your victim to get his/her gift is
January 1st, 2015, so you will have plenty of time to buy/build/convert/paint/whatever your gift and get it sent out.
Please respect this deadline. December 16th would be a very good mailing date to aim for, but earlier would obviously be better.
Do not wait too long to get started, or to mail it out. Real life happens, trust me! Place your bitz/kit orders sooner rather than later so you don't get shot down by some shipping disaster.
What will this cost you, prey tell? Cost is obviously very subjective, but common sense would suggest approximately US$15-$20 (plus shipping) as a minimum. This is intended to prevent someone from sending something like a single warrior or wych from a box set, for example. Single miniatures are more than welcome and might actually be preferred in some senses, so long as they meet the minimum $15-$20 requirement.
You can also send some older models if the person you are gifting has expressed a preference for some of those, provided they are in good condition and are sufficient in number to make a good gift.
You will basically be held to the honour system to ensure that the person who you are gifting does not feel cheated. Or else you can expect a visit from my pet Talos!
I do encourage everyone to go beyond the $15-$20 minimum if possible, but only if it is within your means.
When you sign up, please put some money aside for the gift right then. If you do not have sufficient funds, do not sign up. It makes no sense to sign up for an event that you cannot afford. You won't know at the time of sign-up who you're getting, or what you're going to be gifting, or even where you will be sending it to, but it's not unreasonable to put $20-ish dollars aside before you even start.
What would be a suitable gift, prey tell? You should only gift based on what you're capable of. Make sure that whatever you attempt is achievable within the timeframe. And even if you aren't that good with converting or painting models, a single mini or a boxed set is still a nice and simple gift.
Remember, it is not a competition. Please also keep in mind that the whole point of this event is that you are a
SECRET Santa, so don’t blab about it to anyone else. You can post your project in the Haemonculi Workshop sub-forum if you wish, but
DO NOT mention who it is for, or even that it is meant to be a Secret Santa gift. Some examples of what might constitute a good gift:
A boxed set or single miniature?
A nicely converted miniature, or set?
A nicely painted character, vehicle or squad?
What would be a bad gift?Hmmm ……..
Note that this little fella may show up on your doorstep. He is the official mascot of the Secret Santa Raid, to be cherished and obeyed, and re-gifted to another denizen each year.
What do you do when you send/receive your gift, prey tell? Here are a few suggestions for sending your gift:• Include your forum name (and real name if you want) so your victim has some idea of who is sending them this mystery box! Just write it on a piece of paper and throw it in the package with the gift.
• Use a Delivery Confirmation service so that you can track your package and make sure it gets there.
This is important (and it doesn’t cost very much) as a lot of items go missing in the Christmas mail and it really helps avoid disappointment.• ***E-mail me when you have sent it, so I can let your victim know that it’s on the way.
PLEASE include your tracking number, for my reference.• Check in with your victim via PM a week or so after sending the gift to confirm they have received it, if you don't hear anything.
Remember to allow a good amount of time to send it and ensure that it arrives in time, it’s Christmas, the post is often much slower than normal.
And, some guidelines for receiving a gift:• Let your Santa know via PM that it arrived, as soon as it arrives! People get very worried about this sort of thing!
•
IMPORTANT:also post in this thread that your gift arrived, again, as soon as it does. Otherwise I may not be able to call off the Khymeras in time.
•
And include some pics, you lazy, mon-keigh luvvin’ git! Your Santa probably worked very hard on the gift and wouldn’t mind it being displayed, plus, we are all greedy and want to see what you got as well!
• If you know that your gift is on its way and you think that too much time has passed and you haven’t received it, PM me and I will gently apply my Ichor Injector and ask the sender to check on it.
Remember to give it a good amount of time to arrive before you start worrying, it’s Christmas, the post is often much slower than normal.
What if you cannot complete the exchange, prey tell?You should try and complete your gift and send it, even if it is going to be quite late. Most people will not mind, so long as a) they know that it will be late but it is at least on it’s way, and b) they do eventually get it.
Real life happens, we all recognize that. If circumstances outside of your control force you to be late, or even pull out in extreme circumstances,
PM me and let me know immediately!But understand that lame excuses will absolutely not be tolerated and names will be published.
Last WordThe success of this raid, and the viability of future raids like it, rest in your hands.