I'm not sure how the French do it, but it sounds like Rackham is in trouble (http://www.gamingreport.com/article.php?sid=24162&mode=thread&order=0):
QuoteIn filings made public recently, Rackham SA has filed for the French equivalent of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The filing does not necessarily indicate that Rackham is bankrupt; rather, that they are currently solvent on a cash-flow basis but are undergoing difficulties which the firm is unlikely to overcome and that may lead to insolvency. The filing indicated that this is largely related to slow sales of AT-43 in Europe, on which Rackham placed a great many of its hopes for the future. AT-43, a science-fiction miniatures game using pre-painted figures, was intended to bring in new customers and to make up for the loss of revenue from declining sales of the Confrontation product line, viewed to be at or near the end of its practical life cycle. Trading in Rackham stock on the French stock market was halted in light of the filing.
Rackham's accounts are in the course of being reviewed by French authorities. For more information on Rackham, visit http://www.rackham.fr/ (http://www.rackham.fr/).
Hmm. And this right after their announcement with Fantasy Flight to get their stuff distro'd in North America. Hope they come out of it ok.
Yes, I noticed that... pity, AT-43 is the first ever minis game (as opposed to wargame) to grab my attention for more than 5 secs. But I read elsewhere that US sales of the game are very brisk, so this may be a basically healthy company's effort to survive an unexpectedly rough period.