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Ulaya Chronicles: Cooperative Wargame

Created by James Baldwin

Welcome to the Ulaya Chronicles pre-order! Everything you need to play is in the box, but you can upgrade your standees with multi-part metal miniatures if you wish! Additionally, a heap of awesome extras for Ulaya Chronicles and The Drowned Earth were unlocked during the campaign! Additionally, available below at a discount of 10-15% is everything you need to get started with The Drowned Earth Miniatures Game as well. We look forward to seeing you in the jungles of Ulaya!

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Long overdue update (and an exciting freebie for you all!)
over 2 years ago – Mon, Aug 02, 2021 at 05:59:50 PM

Hey folks! Firstly, apologies for the long delay in getting you this update. I have a tendency not to want to update unless I have any news to update with, but I realise that, especially in these uncertain times, people get a little nervous when there’s a big silence, and so I should have just checked in to say “still here!”.


As I’ve mentioned in previous messages (and you’ve probably heard through the hobby grape-vine) both production and shipping in China have been massively hit, by the pandemic in the last three months or so. There’s a lot written on this subject so I won’t go in to detail here. Perhaps in a future update.

Now though, I do have some news! We are finally at the top of the queue with our manufacturer, and this means that as of today the engineers are prepping our print files, and sending me proofs to ensure everything is looking good. This will probably take a few weeks of back-and-forth, and then the machines will start to roll.

The miniature production (which is located in Europe) is complete, and all that stuff is just waiting to be packaged up.

More on timings later in this message.


First though, I have not been resting on my laurels while we wait for the supply problems in China.


New Punchboard

I’ve decided that to apologise for the pandemic delay I’m going to add another punch-board to the game- one which has the Ceratops, Ceratops baby and Ankylosor standees on it! It’ll also have a measuring tool and few extra “repeat” tiles such as control panels and an additional door which aren’t necessary for the scenarios in the box, but might come in handy for those of you who want to try your hand at designing your own scenarios!

As you remember from the Kickstarter, the Ceratops and Ankylo aren’t included in any of the scenarios in the box, but we are going to publish 4 online scenarios which do include them.

More Cards

We’re also going to include another card deck which has the profile cards for all the extras from the campaign, and all the TDE profile cards too. This means that with a short download you’ll be able to play TDE right out of the box! Two games for the price of one :D.


More campaign pages:

The campaign guide is now twice as long as advertised, being 54 pages instead of the 24 originally stated in the Kickstarter. This extra room has allowed me to really flesh out the story and include a lot of narrative flavour, as well as some additional features. As we approach delivery I’ll start to reveal a little more about this and some of the game features, but without spoilers of course.


Rulebook expanded:

Both in length (28 rather than 24 pages) and also in illustrations, I've spent some time really ensuring the rulebook is as clear as possible. Honestly, it could be a lot shorter, but we all know that a picture speaks a thousand words, and so I've gone a bit overkill on the illustrations!

Here's an idea of how the rulebook will look

What now?

Of course if the printers start to roll in a few weeks we are still quite a way from delivery. At a rough estimate:

  • Production: 2-4 weeks.
  • Shipping (from china): 6-8 weeks.
  • Fulfilment: 2-3 weeks.

I have to say my pride is a little hurt- I thought we’d be able to slip under the radar and deliver on-time. However, nobody could have predicted the very delayed and very profound effect the pandemic has had on chinese manufacturing and global freight shipping. The latter has increased in cost SEVEN fold… but that’s a conversation for another day.


Anyway, I can honestly say there’s not much I could have done differently apart from not running a Kickstarter in the first place. All of this has been compounded by the best news I’ve ever had- my partner fell pregnant during the Kickstarter (it was a very productive month!) and I’m sure the parents amongst you will attest that working from home, in lockdown, with a brand new baby has not been easy!

The other eagerly anticipated arrival of 2021

Anyway, I’ll check in next week with some news about address shipping, and to let you all know how the print-proofing is going.

-J

Progress report!
almost 3 years ago – Wed, May 26, 2021 at 03:19:59 AM

Hey folks! Quick update, with some progress photos.

So, if you’ve been backing any other projects this year you’re probably aware of the supply and shipping issues which the global pandemic have caused in China. They have hit everyone from Asmodee to Games Workshop, so we’re in good company. I had hoped that our little project was small enough to slip in under the radar and not be effected, but unfortunately I have to announce a delay. Don’t worry though- it won’t be the six month delay most people seem to be experiencing! My estimate at the moment is somewhere between 5 and 8 weeks delay- so we should be fulfilling in late July/august instead of late June.

I’m really sorry about this, and I know it’s not news anyone wants to hear. This has been a really challenging 14 months for most of us and to stay on schedule would have been a miracle.


The good news!

But it’s not all bad news. The extra time has allowed me to expand the Campaign Guide from 24 to 56 pages, and we’re also going to publish 4 online scenarios raising the total scenarios from 14 to 18. These online scenarios will be designed for use with the additional models not included in the box, but you can use them with the models in the box also. Therefore you’ll be able to play them regardless of what you added in backerkit.


Miniature Production

Anyway, here are some fun photos of the European side of the production- we’ve also had some supply issues here but had the foresight to buy a literal metric ton of metal last year, so we’ve got no concerns there! Silicon was also problematic and we’re waiting on some supplies to make the last 4 production moulds.

The man who makes the magic: Ramon at DTR Spincasting!

Pledge Manager Closing in a few days!
almost 3 years ago – Wed, Mar 31, 2021 at 01:27:35 AM

Just a very quick message to say that I'm extending the pledge manager date just a few days- it'll close on Monday the 5th of April: This is your final warning!!! If you've lost your survey you should be able to pick it up here: 

https://ulayachronicles.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders


Additionally, by popular request, I have added a "new leader bundle": our December releases for The Drowned Earth

We can't offer these individually in the pledge manger, but a number of you asked if they could add them to their order. Note that they have no use in Ulaya Chronicles- they're just for the TDE players amongst you. 


Please also be sure you have the correct address for a June delivery! Your order will be locked down as we go in to production, so we won't be able to change it now if you're moving home. 


Ok folks! That's all from me. I'm back to proof-reading Upgrade Card abilities! 

Production Begins (+ Pledge Manger Deadline)
about 3 years ago – Thu, Mar 11, 2021 at 11:07:36 PM

Hey folks!! Picture heavy update incoming!

Soooo, thanks for your patience with the lack of updates in the last month or so- as i mentioned in the last one we had a bereavement in the family plus a brand new arrival (born on the 21st, just a few days after my last update), who has been taking up lots of my time!

My partner and I discovered she was pregnant during the Kickstarter, but were obviously nervous of announcing it publicly so early on. Anyway, he’s here now, and amazing, although not as helpful a personal assistant as I was hoping!

But enough cute baby photos. You want to know what’s been happening, and have a look at some of the recent progress!


Pledge Manager

The Pledge Manager will close on April 1st, so we’re nearly there. I’ll remind you about this once again before it closes. Please ensure your shipping address is correct if you’ve moved, or are likely to move before now and June. It will be impossible to change addresses after the pledge manger locks.


Miniature Production Begins

All but three of the moulds are now made, and we’re well on the way to having all of the production moulds ready as well. Some photos from the workshop:

So over the next eight weeks we will be spinning these moulds and casting thousands of miniatures for you all!

Core Game Manufacturing

So, I have a secret I’ve been waiting to tell you. I spoke to my main illustrator and we decided that the board box needed a more exciting cover, based on the older work, but with a bit more “pazaz”! Here it is:

This week I started to get files organised with the manufacturer and begin to prep for manufacturing proper. This is a lengthy process, as we need to ensure all the print files are working perfectly so that when we do get running things are smooth. I'm hoping that next month the printing presses will start to roll! 


Playtesting and game content

The rules are now totally finished, 75% of the graphic design is done, but we are still tweaking profile balance and scenarios. Honestly, it would be dishonest of me to say that the global pandemic hasn’t made playtesting a fair bit more difficult (not to mention the arrival of our baby) and I would like to have finished this by now, but I’m more determined to get it right than to rush it through to printing before I’m happy with it. Testing online is much slower and makes communication (especially non-verbal communiciation) more difficult. However, the volunteer playtesters have been amazing, and they've been really dedicated. It's a trickier process, but we've come a long way and now only have a few small milestones to achieve. 


Having said all that, I built some contingency in to the schedule and so this shouldn’t have a knock-on effect on our overall deadline.

So that’s all for now folks!

Quick 2021 update
about 3 years ago – Wed, Jan 20, 2021 at 04:52:37 AM

Hey guys- I’m so sorry this update has taken so long. The project is 100% still on schedule, but it’s been a difficult few months personally. The good news is that we’re expecting our first baby this week. However, both my parents caught Covid and tragically my stepfather passed away last week.

Therefore I’m going to keep this update shorter than I’d like.

Pre-production

I have a whole load of amazing tile artwork which Henning sent me in the first week of January, but the files need to be processed to show them to you, and I just don’t have time as you might expect.

We are currently in the slow process of making all the metal masters for the miniatures and simultaneously beginning work on some of the production moulds.

Game Development

I will go in to more detail in a later update on this- quite a few improvements to the rules system have come out of the work we’ve done in playtesting. The campaign story and scenarios are all now fully designed, and we’re just putting the fine tuning in to balance.

In particular I’m very happy with the skill and upgrade system.

Then the slow but important work of page-setting the rulebooks and graphic design for a production date of first week in April. The card graphic design is mostly done, although I have a few finishing flourishes to add.

Pledge Manager

In light of a firmer production date I’ll be extending the pledge manager open period for another few months. Please aim to finalise everything by April 1st, as I will close it a few days after that.

New Leader Models

I’ve been asked by a few people if I can add the recently released leader models for The Drowned Earth in to the pledge manger. Short answer: yes. Long answer: Not right now. I’ll let you all know when this has been done, and you’ll be welcome to add them to your order.

Contacting me

As you might expect I’ll be mostly offline for a few weeks. I’ve put several good people in charge of keeping up with comms and getting directly in touch if there’s anything urgent.

I’m not sure why, but I do not get reliable notifications of Kickstarter messages and such. I will be going through any messages that have been sent now, but in the future if I’m not responding then head over to the TDE facebook page http://www.facebook.com/thedrownedearth/ and send me a message there.

Anyway, thanks for your patience with the slow updating. In this mid-production period there’s typically not much to update with. We’ve got another 5 months till delivery will start, but rest assured we’re on track.