MacGowan & Lombardy's THE GREAT WAR fast-playing card game

Why did this project take so long to complete? (Here is a video link that answers this question)
about 3 years ago – Mon, Sep 27, 2021 at 10:39:29 PM

In the next couple of weeks the final, printed rules and other components should be delivered to my warehouse and we can assemble and start shipping to the Kickstarter and BackerKit supporters.

I am embarrassed by how long it has taken to complete the game, and I offer NO EXCUSES. I made 3 critical mistakes that caused these delays, and I am determined to never have this happen again in my next game Kickstarter.

What were these mistakes, and how do I plan to avoid repeating them?

Game reviewer and podcaster/vlogger Stuka Joe interviewed me at Consimworld Expo in early September where I explained how this Kickstarter project went sideways. Here is the link to that interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m4geWRe__c

The part where I discuss the World War One card game begins at the 43:48 point of the 57-minute interview. In the first 43 minutes I talk about the battle history, design evolution, and show some artwork of my future (fourth) edition of Streets of Stalingrad – this one will NOT be a monster game like two of the previous ones that had 2,000 playing pieces and a huge 8-foot long game map.

IF ANYONE WOULD PREFER TO RECEIVE A REFUND INSTEAD OF A COPY OF THE WORLD WAR ONE CARD GAME, I WILL SEND THE MONEY TO YOU VIA PAYPAL. If you don't have a PayPal account, I'll mail a check to your shipping address.

Thanks to everyone who has been so incredibly patient with this project!

FINALLY! Off to the printer next week after Labor Day holiday weekend
about 3 years ago – Fri, Sep 03, 2021 at 06:16:48 PM

I am currently at Consimworld Expo in Tempe, Arizona completing the final playtesting for the card game. (See photo attached.) I've been too optimistic in the past, but we really are at the end of playtesting. There will be one last proofreading by friends with fresh eyes this weekend and then the print-ready files go to the printer next week.

I will post an update as soon as the printer has an estimate for shipping the components to my warehouse. As soon as I receive these components (rules, examples of play, FAQ, solo rules, etc.) I can finish assembling the games. Shipping to the Kickstarter backers and BackerKit pre-order customers will start as soon as possible thereafter.

Thank you for being so incredibly patient! DANA

Final assembly will happen soon!
over 3 years ago – Mon, Aug 09, 2021 at 03:51:55 AM

A good friend in the game business just gifted me his shrink wrap machine and oven (see photo of Dana below). This will save a lot of time because we do not need to send the assembled games out to a firm that does this work.

We are still on track to finish the final assembly of all game components in August and ship around the end of the month.

More updates soon!

Final playtest & proofing of solo rules today – then off to the printer!
over 3 years ago – Wed, Jul 07, 2021 at 07:40:05 PM

The month of June was used to thoroughly playtest the solitaire rules, and triple-check the revised illustrated examples of play against the streamlined rules and ALL of the stretch goal cards that were added to the game. The rules and components are now version 6.0 – solo rules will be version 3.5 and the War of the Worlds expansion will be version 1.5.

We took this extra time to make sure the rules and examples were the best presentation we could prepare in terms of comprehension and understanding. (The number of rules were actually reduced!)

We will post these components as free downloads ASAP. And we will post updates on the printing and assembly of these final components over the next few weeks.

We should be able to provide the games to our fulfillment company by the end of July.

THANK YOU for your patience and support! 

Almost finished with solo rules playtesting – final components should be gang printed & games assembled this month!
over 3 years ago – Thu, Jun 03, 2021 at 12:42:49 PM

The solo rules are currently in final playtesting. As soon as that's completed (soon!), all of the paper components such as rules, paper play mats, Examples of Play folder, Turn Sequence outline, etc., can be printed and delivered to my warehouse this month. I've got a team lined up to help assemble the games and coordinate shipping. We are optimistic that everyone should get their games sometime in July, depending on their country and location in the USA. 

We put a lot of work into the solo rules so they would be challenging and not too easy to win. One tester played 12 solo games very quickly (he lost 7 of them).

Thank you so much for your patience!