Crown of Ash - October Update
10 months ago – Sun, Oct 01, 2023 at 07:53:09 AM

Another month has flown by and we're that little bit closer to hitting the button on mass production of the game.

This last month has been print testing and making minor adjustments to the files to put together pre-production prototype. This will be a full copy of the game and the upgrades shipped to me in person for a final once over before production begins. This is due to be finished next week so I'm hoping to have it in my hands before the next update. Fingers crossed!

Getting decent pictures from the factory has been a challenge. They are fantastic printers but terrible product photographers so most of the images they send me when we are working out the details of the production are not showable.

But, we have made some decent progress and I've managed to squeeze some useable photos out of them to show you in this update.

These are one of the components I'm most excited to see. The cubes are long gone and have been replaced with these beauties.

The Ash resources have been rejected by the factory as the grain of the wood was too pronounced so they are being redone.

In the final version I hope to make these double sided but even as tests these are looking amazing! Not only will they enhance the theme of the game but also help make the game even more colourblind friendly. 

Last month the bags included with the deluxe upgrade were not working for me, so we've been back and forth through options and finally landed on something that works!

The graphics need to be resized as I want them much bigger on the final versions, but I'm happy with the size and material of these now.. result!

Prints for the pre-production prototype are coming along nicely. We had to make some adjustments to the punchboards to ensure clear space and I resized the coins to be a little bigger in the final game. 

I've redesigned the turn tracker to be a little clearer for 1/2 player games on recommendation from my German publishing partner.

I'm removing the logo from the inner box print as I want it to feel like the pattern pages from old hardback books so they are reprinting that.

I'm really looking forward to seeing the game with the Spot UV varnish layer which we're doing tests on at the moment too.

That's it for another month!

Fingers crossed this next month should be significant!  will of course update you all whatever the weather. 

PS.

One more thing. I have updated the TTS mod to include the latest components and player powers so it now represents the final game much better than the previous version did.

Check it out here

Thank you to all the backers!

Crown of Ash - September Update
11 months ago – Fri, Sep 01, 2023 at 11:33:51 AM

It's September and for those in the Northern Hemisphere that means shorter days, longer nights and more time spent inside playing games!

The game is still with our partners for translation, but we have received the artwork from Tlama Games who are producing the Czech version of the game, which was offered through the Kickstarter.

I've been finishing off the final bits of print artwork and working closely with our manufacturer to advance the parts of the game that weren't finalised before the campaign. This mainly includes the components that won't be made in-house at our printer, including the metal tokens and cloth bags. 

Just as anticipated a lot of the photos I'm being send by my manufacturers aren't fit for public consumption. Serious potato quality for the most part! But I did hassle them for some decent shots to show everyone some of the progress and managed to obtain a few.

There are still a few hundred backers yet to fill out the pledge manager. If you haven't filled out the PM and have any issues or questions, please do get in touch with me on Kickstarter and I will sort ASAP.

To our Czech backers you can read the translated rulebook  HERE courtesy of Tlama Games who did an amazing job!

As mentioned I've been working with my manufactuer to progress some of the externally produced components. They sent over the first tests of the enamel turn tracker tokens that come with the Deluxe Upgrade kit. There are still some refinement to be done and the colours aren't quite right but I think these are looking fantastic.

I think Helen, my manufacture, might have quite small hands because these look quite big in the photos, but they are 20mm in diameter so the fine detail here is amazing.

Less successful was the initial bag tests. The white bag that will house the standees is quite nice although it will need some further tests to get the sizing perfect.

The coloured bags on the other hand are no good. My printer sourced these little fuzzy things just to do some initial tests. But I have rejected them. I'm not happy with the material, colour or print so we will be back with some better options soon.

I was lucky enough to attend Norwich Games Con in my home town of Norwich, England and demo Crown of Ash in a beautiful 14th Century former friary church.

Had an absolute amazing time and we had the highest scoring structure yet at 14 points, that's twice what the citadel was worth, a  hisk risk high reward strategy for sure.

Not much on the print front this time. I've tweaked the artwork for the player screens for the Rising Fighters module. Looking forward to seeing these printed.

That's it for another month!

We're getting much closer to pushing the button. So thank you all again for following along and supporting the project as we approach this mile-stone, I really appreciate every one of you!

Cheers,

Richard

PS. special shout-out to Felix who sent me a photo of the 3D printed mini they produced using the sliced file below.

A fully supported sliced file can be downloaded HERE

I still can't track down the original STL file. If anyone knows of a way to reverse a slicer file back to a 3D file, let me know.

Crown of Ash - August Update
12 months ago – Tue, Aug 01, 2023 at 08:51:50 AM

How on earth is it August already! We haven't really had summer in the UK yet, so plenty of time for me to stay in and work away at the many tasks needed to get you your game intact and on time.

The game is currently with our foreign language partners for translation, I expect these to be finished by mid-September.

I've been busy designing the remaining assets to supply to the manufacturer before we start the prototyping components. To speed up this part, I did a lot before the campaign began, including picking the paper stocks, speccing different finishes, perfecting the Minons etc. But there are still a bunch of components added in stretch goals that I want to test before pressing the button on production.

I'm anticipating that next few months update might be a little lighter than usual as I wait for samples to arrive.

I will try to get my manufacturer to take some photos in advance, but in my experience so far, they are amazing at producing boardgames... terrible at photography. But, I will share everything I get with you all.

Thank you to everyone who has filled out their details on the pledge manager.

We will be charging cards today for anyone who has filled out the PM already. but the PM is still open, and will be for a little while yet, so If you need to change address you can still do so.

There are still a few hundred backers yet to fill out the PM. If you have any issues just drop me a message through Kickstarter.

Also, anyone with an encrypted apple email, please message me if you haven't done-so already.

Little bonus this month.

A while ago I produced a 3D printable mini for the big bad strength 6 blood fighter (It's since had it's wings clipped). I wanted to give everyone the STL file, but I've managed to lose it and didn't want to delay this update looking for it.

But I have the Chitubox slicer file, specifically for an Elegoo Mars Pro 2, but I'm sure will also work on other machines.

It's fully supported already and the file can be downloaded HERE

If you do print it, send me over a photo, I would love to see it.

I've been working with my manufacturer to design a custom insert for the game. It's still in early stages and will require some tinkering to get everything perfect and also practical for mass production. But it gives you a good idea of what I'm trying to achieve.

For those who love the extra detail. Here's a sneak peak at the remaining print files produced for the game.

That's it for another month!

So far we're well on track, I will of course let you all know if anything changes. 

Cheers,

Richard

Card Noir

Pledge Manager is Live
about 1 year ago – Sun, Jul 09, 2023 at 10:16:56 AM

As many of you have seen the pledge manager is now live!

If you haven't yet filled in the Pledge Manager, you should have received an email from Backerkit. If you can't find this, you can follow this link HERE 

I thought I'd post a mini update to cover some of the questions asked so far.

How do I select the Czech language version?

If you are shipping to Czechia you will be automatically selected for the Czech language version of the game.  If you wish to receive an English version instead please send a message via Kickstarter and I will change this for you.

If you wish to receive the Czech version outside of Czechia, please message me via Kickstarter.

Does the Deluxe Upgrade box replace the main game box?

No, the Deluxe Upgrade box is a smaller tuck-box that will ship along-side the main game.

Why is my shipping more that I expected?

I've worked really hard with my fulfilment partners to make sure all shipping charges were accurate in the campaign which means we've managed to stick very close to these for the most part.

Any added cost is likely to be VAT applicable in your region. Kickstarter being a Global platform means things like VAT and Shipping can vary wildly for backers which is why a Pledge Manager is very useful for managing all this variation. Charging VAT in a lot of regions is a legal requirement, but also protects backers from getting hefty and unexpected duty/customs charges upon delivery (I'm looking at you Royal Mail!).

How long will the Pledge Manager be open for?

The PM will be open until September at least, this might be extended if possible.

If you have any other questions, feel free to comment on this post and I will do my best to answer. 

That's it for now! See you all in the next update.

Cheers,

Richard

Crown of Ash - July Update
about 1 year ago – Sat, Jul 01, 2023 at 08:56:16 AM

It's July! Halfway through the year already and there's lots to share again this month.

After a fantastic few days at UKGE, we got hard to work getting the game files ready to send over to our localisation partners for translation and preparing files for mass production. But there are a few cool updates to share.

This update will cover:

Pledge Manager, Rulebook, Player Powers, Updated Components, UKGE, Files for Print

We're at the final stages of opening the Pledge Manager. Some of you may have already received access as we do the testing before the full launch. But if not expect an email from BackerKit about access to the Pledge Manager very soon!

Rulebook version 5.0 is now available. This will be the final layout for the rulebook and only minor changes will be made going forward.

We would love your help! If you spot anything that needs clarification or spot any spelling or grammatical errors, pease let us know.

VIEW RULEBOOK HERE 

After a bunch of playtesting we have finally nailed down the player powers. Each player has 2 powers they are able to utilise 

Mors

COMMAND - Can relocate a minion placed on the board to another location allowing them to open up or block access to worker spaces. This makes Mors a very versatile character but also allows them to be played aggressively or defensively depending on the locations opened/closed.

OVERTURN - Can re-roll a dice roll.  

Fortis

REINFORCE - Fortis can add or exchange a defending fighter on the board with one from another location on the board or from their hand.  This allows Fortis to be really flexible with it's troops and is the only character that can add or remove Fighters from the Citadel.

FORTIFY - Fortis can double the bonus for matching Fighters together in combat from 1 to 2. Allowing players to hunker down in defensive positions to deter attack.

Nox 

FENCE - Nox can exchange up to 3 basic resources with other basic resources from the supply. This is the simplest power to use and great for new players, but is also incredible powerful.

EXHUME - Nox can raise a fighter at the beginning of their turn. This means that Nox is the only character that can raise more than one fighter per turn if they have the resources. But also allows them to immediately use that fighter that turn.

Visio

UNVEIL - Visio can reveal the attacking fighters before players pick their combat cards. This makes attacking Visio a much harder affair.

FOREWARN - Before player reveal their cards in combat, Visio can attempt to guess the other player's combat card. If correct it is reduced to a attack value 1. This makes using your strongest combat cards against Visio a big risk meaning your poker face had better be strong!

Thank you to everyone who made suggestions for powers, we tried a bunch and they were very helpful in sparking new ideas for powers. We will be creating a thread on the BGG page where players can submit alternative powers players can try out.

We've made a few changes to a couple of things, the first being that the deluxe pledge with now come in a lovely new box.

EDIT FOR CLARITY (This isn't a replacement for the main game box. The Deluxe and Rising fighters boxes will be smaller 'tuck boxes' to house the additional components in shipping. While many backers will keep these on their shelves, consider them as disposable packaging.)

Next the targeted action card for solo play which makes the game much more challenging has had a makeover from the announcement in the campaign.

Thank you to everyone that stopped by and played the game or said Hi, it was fantastic to meet so many backers in person!

We've been working really hard getting the print files ready for the manufacturer. This will be taking up a lot of the time over the next few months. Here's a look at the print files we'll be sending over.

Is this interesting? Let me know if you like to see this level of detail in these updates.

That's it for another month! I'm hoping to start testing components with my manufacturer over the next couple of months so I hope to have some more physical tactile components to show soon.

Anything else you would like to see in next months update? Let me know in the comments below.

Thank you!

Richard