What's next?
about 4 years ago – Wed, Apr 01, 2020 at 12:06:02 PM

Ladies & Gentlemen,

We will keep this short, a few ideas of what will happen in the next few weeks...

1. We will send the 3D models for assessment to the factory and then the molding process will begin (and last for 3+ months).

2. On 16-Apr (if all goes well) we will open the pledge manager. You will all receive an invitation. In the pledge manager (which we will keep open for as long as we can) you will be able to select add-ons if you want and you will provide your delivery address (which you will be able to change).

2A. For those who missed the campaign, preorders will be available. They will come at a slightly higher price, but not unreasonable.

3. After the pledge manager opens, we will refocus on completing missing pieces of art work and then prepare files for production.

You will hear back from us in about two weeks with details about the pledge manager.

Have a great weekend,

Andrei

A big thank you - and a short look into the future!
about 4 years ago – Tue, Mar 31, 2020 at 06:56:55 AM

My Lords and Ladies!

The campaign is now officially over, and it has been amazing. You pledged over $200 thousand, and helped bring Dark Ages to life! Thank you or – since Dark Ages is in fact both Heritage of Charlemagne and Holy Roman Empire– truly a double thank you!

This has been (and still is) and amazing and very ambitious project for us, a game which – with its size and 288 miniatures per box – fully deserves the monster game category. Dark Ages has been in the making for almost three years, and thanks to your generosity and your passion for gaming, it is exactly what we wanted it to be.

The next few days will be a time of rest for us, so please don’t worry when answers to your questions and messages stop appearing as quickly as they have when the project was live. None of your questions will be overlooked – we will just need a bit more time to get to them.

Within the coming weeks we will prepare the pledge manager, and we will open it for both existing backers and late pledgers. All of you with a Housecarl, Lordor Emperor pledge will receive invitation emails – all your pledged funds will go toward your orders.

Everyone else will be able to join the pledge manager and make a pre-order, which will most probably come with a bit of a higher shipping fee than what we were able to offer you. However, if you know anyone who may be interested in Dark Ages, there will still be an option to get their copies – and it will be much more difficult later, as Heritage of Charlemagne and Holy Roman Empire will not be going into regular distribution.

Before the pledge manager opens, we will also have a comprehensive update explaining exactly how to use pledge manager, when it opens and when we are planning to close it. We are already quite sure that it will remain open for no less than 90 consecutive days – and possibly up to twice that time.

Please make sure you read the pledge manager update carefully when it lands. This way we can avoid any problems in fulfilling your games. Just a few minutes of reading will tell you all you need to know, and will help us create a better overall experience for each and every one of you.

Once again, thank you all very, very much! Despite the difficult time we are all in, we managed to create something incredible together, and when all of this goes back to normal, you will have an incredible new game to play with your friends. Until then, please make sure to stay safe, stay inside as long as it is needed, and protect yourself and your loved ones from harm!

Have a great day and – as always – stay safe,

Błażej

and the Board & Dice Team.

Very Important! Project length extended and new add-ons available!
about 4 years ago – Sun, Mar 29, 2020 at 11:49:32 PM

My Lords and Ladies!

This update comes with great deal of very important news. Since there is a lot of ground to cover, let me jump straight in.

Project Length Extended

Many of you have noted that in this difficult time a longer project would give more people a chance to make an informed decision about backing Dark Ages. When Kickstarter announced that – for the first time in its history – there is an option to extend the length of the project, we immediately started working on this option, and were granted an extension. Thus the new project end date is:

WEDNESDAY MARCH 25TH, 23:59 CET

Our campaign was prepared as short and action-packed, which is why after Saturday there will be no new Stretch Goals. We came to you with prepared and polished content, which we planned out for the campaign in its original length. This is why we do not want to make rash decisions or promise on something that we will not be able to deliver.

Our timeline for development and production stands and those of you who backed us in the past know that we treat our promises (including deadlines) very seriously. This is why we will strive to use the extra time to provide you with more information, offer explanations of the existing game content and answer your questions. Also, please know that the plan to keep the pledge manager open longer does not change.

We hope that this will give both new and existing backers extra time needed to fully asses if they want to support us. We value your support, your time, and your money. For those of you willing to use the extra time to spread the word, we offer our thanks!

New add-ons!

Many of you expressed the desire to event further upgrade your copies of Dark Ages. In fact, you expressed your wishes very clearly: you wanted metal coins, realistic resources and neoprene mats for boards. We started working on these immediately, hoping to bring them to you with the pledge manager. However, with extra effort we managed to secure a deal that will bring you all of them!

Yes, neoprene mats, realistic resources and metal coins for Gold! To secure your copies, simply add the add-on value to your pledge, and we will ask you to tell us exactly what you ordered in pledge manager. There is no extra shipping cost.The prices you see here are final.

Please note that when ordering the Emperor Pledge, you should still be fine with a single set of realistic resources and metal coins in most cases, but if you would like to order more, you can pledge for multiple copies.

Retailers and group orders – please contact us for details on the new add-ons. For everyone else, if you have any questions, we will be happy to answer.

Have a great day and stay safe!

Błażej

The final 24 hours!
about 4 years ago – Sun, Mar 29, 2020 at 12:18:20 PM

My Lords and Ladies!

The final 24 hours of the project is upon us! This time without a further extension we are entering the final stretch for Dark Ages on Kickstarter.

With 288 miniatures per box (which means a whopping 576 miniatures with the Emperor Pledge) and 17 different Modules unlocked during and before the project, Dark Ages is a civilization game few equal in terms of scope and scale!

If you still want to help out, look into the add-ons offer – and tell others of our project (for example by sharing this post on Facebook or by clicking on the image above.

Thank you for being here with us, and let’s go make history together!

Błażej

The Ages of War - and the final push!
about 4 years ago – Sun, Mar 29, 2020 at 11:49:54 AM

My Lords and Ladies!

We are now in the last few hours of the project. Before it all comes to a finish, let us take a closer look at the Ages of War Module.

The Core of Dark Ages

At its core Dark Ages is a civilization game. Warfare is featured as appropriate to the time depicted in the game – but there is also much more going on, allowing you to choose from multiple strategies and build effective, fun combos.

The Euro-American hybrid engine of Dark Ages means that building and development was always meant to be key elements of the game. We also made a conscious choice to make attacking other players a move that would be seen from afar, allowing everyone to prepare for the possibility of having to defend their lands – and making mounting a significant defence easy. With Ages of War it changes. A lot.

The Card Play

The main component of the Module are the cards. Each player will start with a small hand of Combat Cards, which they will be able to use against human opponents to improve their chances of success. In building the Ages of War Module we have drawn inspiration from established titles like Game of Thrones, Kemet or our own classic Exodus: Proxima Centauri (where Combat Cards are introduced in the Edge of Extinction expansion).

The Ages of War Combat Cards will provide you with a boon when facing off against human opponent – but you may have to work for that boon to actually come into play. Specific circumstances or army compositions will allow you to fight more effectively – if you can get your opponent exactly where you want them.

Rules Changes

The Ages of War Module is not just the cards. It also comes with a small pile of War Tokens, and some important rules modifications used when incorporating its contents into you game.

Firstly, winning battles against opponents scores you a War Token. It is that simple! When the pool of War Tokens is exhausted, the game end is triggered – and once the game is over, War Token majorities score their owner extra points.

Secondly, ties now go to the attackers, so the aggressive player will not only have an immediate small advantage over the defender – but will also be able to expand more quickly, having an easier time with any barbarians.

Module Interactions

Finally, for those of you looking for an aggressive game with plenty of player versus player combat, make sure to use Ages of War together with Local Resistance and Contribution (soon to be renamed to Tribute) modules – and of course make sure you have the Military Commanders in your game. This will create a game focused on aggression, allowing you to move with haste and purpose, dodge enemy defences and bring painful strikes to the heart of enemy territory.

Furthermore, if you wish to play a game that feels more like sharpening a weapon than building a civilization, leave all other Modules in the box, with perhaps the exception of Alchemists, Fibonacci or the Norsemen Module. This way, deliver on the carnage you were hoping for!

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Thank you for being with us in those final hours of the project! If you still want to help out, you can share this post on Facebook to make more people aware of the Dark Ages campaign.

Stay safe and talk to you soon!

Błażej