Production Update
about 6 years ago – Mon, Feb 12, 2018 at 11:24:10 PM

Hello Avertigos, 

Its been a busy time for us in production. All the files and artwork had been prepared are ready for manufacturing. Our artists and developers have put an herculean effort and the game is looking better than ever.

While this was happening, our production team has been scouting for reputed manufacturers. We have spoken to various manufacturers and have become much better acquainted with the landscape for game production.

One of the most impressive profiles we came across was of Ningbo Lijia Games manufacturing. In the business since 1992 they have done work for companies such as Winning Moves,  Goliath Games,  Gamewright and Mantic, amongst others.

We have contacted Lijia and they were able to accommodate us in their schedule. They have been very proactive and helpful, and last week Shailesh visited them, along with our production team. Here are some pictures from the visit. 

Not only were the teams able to work out the production within our exacting timelines, the samples they’ve shown us for the various components are of very impressive quality. 

We have finalized the terms and are entering production with them. Their technical artists and production engineers have evaluated our designs and as soon as China reopens, after Chinese New Year, the manufacturing will start. 

As always, feel free to ask me any questions or raise any concerns. We’ll keep you closely updated on the progress. 

Regards Sid 

Note: Panda Games has informed us that they are unable to assist us on the expedited schedule required for this project due to operational constraints on their end.

Mêlée à Trois
over 6 years ago – Tue, Jan 09, 2018 at 08:03:38 PM

We’ve coasted the skies mano-a-mano. We’ve paired up to split resources and take on the other team, and we’ve have free-for-all kill balls where every Avertigo looked out for number one. Now here come something entirely different.

 Our new three-way Strategy map imagines combat from a whole new angle(60 degrees, to be exact). With limited resources and heavily defended islands, the tension is racheted up from the beginning – a wrong move early on could cost you everything, but with greater risk comes greater reward. Choose your strategy wisely, Avertigo!  

Designed by George, this beautiful three-way Strategy map is a small map, measuring 2ft x 3ft, and costs $35SGD/$27USD. Order yours now for a whole new battling experience! 

Vote for us!  

We're excited to announce that Avertigos South China Sky has been nominated and shortlisted for the Board Game Geek "20 Most Anticipated Board Games of 2018" competetion, in the 'Wargame' and 'Sci-Fi' categories! Log in with your Board Game Geek account, or sign up for one, and vote for us now! 

https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/235922/20-most-anticipated-board-games-2018-final-voting

A closer look at the new pilot board design

In our previous update, we showed you some of the changes we were making to the hull and module cards. Here’s a detailed render created by George to show you exactly how the final designs will look like and function. 

 As you can see, the height change allows for a much neater setup when you have multiple ships compared to before. While hull cards have the same overall layout and design, module cards are now slightly different. 

The weapon dice now sit in a recess on the left side of the module card, under the section marker, while the weapon portraits are now on the right. The number of dice and designation of attack type will still be represented in the same way as before – the number of squares corresponds to the number of dice, and the coloration of the square will designate if it’s a normal or aimed attack.

Action points are no longer running down the right of the module cards – they now sit just above the Hit Points bank. While all module cards will have the same max number of peg holes, the actual amount of HP and AP will be very clearly shown via the illustrations on the card.

We’ve heard your worries about pegs leaning over time, and that’s something we’re looking into. We’re currently working things out with the manufacturer to explore our various options. Which reminds me…. 

We have some big news regarding production coming soon, so keep an eye on out for that! Till next time, calm and clear skies Avertigos! 

With a Sail you are a raptor, without; a-drift! Onwards to 2018!
over 6 years ago – Sat, Dec 30, 2017 at 11:47:41 AM

Here we are folks, the last but one day for 2017. What a year it has been! 

All are us at Playware are grateful for having found this community.  We would, once more, like to thank each and every one of you for your encouragement and support.   

Wishing all you Avertigos, a very very Happy & Prosperous 2018!

This will be our year, we can feel it in our bones. 

As this is the last update for 2017 we wanted to make it special. 

Unveiling the New Pilot Board Design 

As you are all aware, Avertigos is a massive game with close to 400 components in just the Base Game itself. Once the Game is laid out for 4 players it takes up a lot of table space. 

See this picture of the Game setup on a 2 meter diameter table in our studio. 

Now we always intended to build a big game and are happy with how rich and immersive a fully setup Avertigos Game feels. However, in a lot of the sessions we've been playing the Pilot boards seem a little misaligned. 

The original hull and module board designs were scaled at slightly different heights. This creates a situation where we have wasted table space once cards are set up for multiple ships.     

We are correcting this by changing the heights of both types of boards to match. This will allow multiple ships to be more tightly setup and played by one player. 

Another minor change in the Pilot Board design is that we are swapping the action point cubes for pegs. While the cubes look good on the board they inadvertently tend to move out of position as the game is played. 

With recessed boards this situation inverts and it feels clumsy trying to pinch them with your nails as you try and move them to or from your board. Pegs solve this situation quite elegantly and, in our opinion, look cooler on the boards. 

Let us know what you think of the new designs in the comments! 

Sail Making for Avertigos Ships

Avertigos fly these gorgeous ships through the sky. The shape and marking of the sails announces to the world, who crews a particular ship. 

Alex and Geroge have put together this small sail-making tutorial for Avertigos miniatures. 

 .

One of the things we are most looking forward to is, the sorts of unique sails and heraldry, the more creative players will make for their ships. 

Sails will also have the game looking even more fresh, every time you play. Change the sails and modules and you have a totally different looking ship. Here is a printable template for the sails (original file can be found on BGG). 

That's all for this year folks.   

Once again, 

A very happy prosperous and exciting 2018 to all Avertigos!!! 

Warmest Regards

Sid

A Singular way to play!
over 6 years ago – Fri, Dec 22, 2017 at 08:16:11 PM

The game strikes back!

Fellow Avertigos! It took weeks of testing, many nights of playing, and even a week sitting on deck exposed to the elements as we worked to get here, but we’re proud to finally unveil the Solo Play Kit! The Solo Play Kit comprises of three elements – The Formation Flight(which we covered in the 42nd update), AI Cards and the Scenario & Character Sheet. 

The AI Cards and Characters in Avertigos may be played as an expansion to the Multi-player game or as a Solo-play session or campaign. 

AI Cards  

The AI cards are the wind in the sails of the enemy ships, setting out the instructions for what should be done and when to do it. 

There are a total of 24 cards in the AI deck. 20 are AI Movement and Action Cards and the last two in the image above are Target and Ally cards.

Each card will contain four instructions in a randomised order across the cards. The type on instructions are:

 The instructions are carried out in descending order, depending on the ability of the vessel to carry out the action. The cards are drawn one at a time from a face-down deck, and discarded after. When all cards are played, the discard pile are to be shuffled back into a deck.

Character Sheet  

The Character sheet dictates the vessel’s starting and final stats, their module loadouts and any abilities they may have (heroes, etc). This is also where the Story and Flavor text for the AI characters, events and scenarios are.

The Character sheet will also provide information for what each character action and upgrade does - here’s an example of a Character sheet.  

Some of these actions and upgrades are the same in multi and solo play, some may be specific to the mode of play.  

Along with the Character Sheet the Scenario Booklet may also contain a specialised Character board. This allows AI Units to have different statistics from regular units. Here is the Character Board for the Pirate King:

 And that’s the full kit! Tell us what you think, and if you have any idea for how it could be improved, let us know! (We will release a video demonstrating a solo-play session soon). 

Best Regards

Sid

IMPORTANT! Final Survey date (also the penultimate strategy mat!)
over 6 years ago – Fri, Dec 15, 2017 at 08:52:04 PM

Hello everyone,

As of Date there are about 135 backers who have still not completed the survey on BackerKit. 

If you are one of the Backers who have not completed the Survey please take the time to do so immediately. We need to consolidate this information to work out the logistics. 

To facilitate this, we are making one final change in the closing date for the Surveys. The last date for the Survey closure is set at 30th of December 2017. Any backer who has not completed their survey by this date will not be having their their kit shipped with the first shipments. This date will not be shifted!!!

This may also mean that such backers may need to pay customs, duties or excess shipping charges and will have their shipment delayed. 

So please complete the Surveys!

Large Strategy Mat (Artwork by Silvia) 

This map has been designed for hard fought strategy campaigns. The layout of the islands and the distribution of the trade routes and income generating islands all lend themselves to prolonged diplomacy and sporadic-running battles.   

You will be able to see a larger image of this map on our BGG Page here (once it has been approved by the BGG admins) 

Updates

The next planned updates will contain:

• Update 44- AI cards and rules and Pirate King Character Sheet 
• Update 45- Artwork and layout of the Pilot & Module Boards by George along with the Small Strategy Map by Silvia. 

Alex has been working on an awesome play-through video on the Formation flight gameplay that should be releasing on our Youtube Channel soon. (To stay up to date with the Avertigos videos, please subscribe!)  

If you haven't been checking the comments section of the Kickstarter page then we highly recommend that you do so. Some very interesting discussions have been happening there. 

We are very inspired by all the world building and community variant ideas put up by our backers Robert Lewis, Joux A, Einar Wulfsberg, Minty and Magnus. You all rock!  

The Definitive Set has emerged the most popular KS tier; a total of 224 Definitive sets have been been ordered to date (including the KS and BackerKit orders). Other popular add-ons ob Backer Kit are Patrol-pursued (38 ordered) and Big-Ship brawl (22 ordered). 

We have been working very hard to make Avertigos the most Epic game of 2018. We plan to work on right through this holiday period and more lore, art, updates and plans for production will follow soon. 

As always any backers visiting Singapore are welcome to come over to our studio for a game of Avertigos. Thank you for all your continued support and interest.  

Warmest Regards

Sid