Post by: Grant Rodiek

I’ve been busy pulling together the various elements to make Battle for York a lovely game for the few of you interested enough to buy the game. I think you’ll be very pleased with the final result. It won’t compare to a game manufactured by Panda Manufacturing, but I think it’ll really stand out among its Print on Demand peers in terms of component quality, production values, and polish.

Some fun things in the works!

• I’ve hired John Ariosa to illustrate the 5 cards for the game. John is easily one of my favorite artists — you may know him for his work with Plaid Hat Games, including Mice and Mystics and Summoner Wars. He has a beautiful, painterly style that is imaginative and unique and I’m SO excited. He sent me some early composite pieces and already they are fantastic. 
• I’ve hired Sarah Rodriguez Pratt of Quail School Media to write a short story about the fiction of the world. I thought this would be fun, thematic, and would help the game stand out. Her first draft was already great and it’ll only get better.
• I hired Robert Altbauer to illustrate the map. I wanted a beautiful board and he did just that (see top).
• I’ve finalized the layout for cards, player boards, and game boards. There are some tiny tweaks and simplifications since Protospiel. My friend and peer Chevee Dodd is going to help me with the visuals and layout tweaks to make it look professional, clean, and consistent. I cannot thank him enough for his help.

Final pricing will vary, and I’m still working with the excellent Andrew Tullsen of Print & Play Productions on the details, but the final game will be about $60. I know this isn’t cheap, but the game will include:

• A double sided, high quality board.
• Thick, double sided player boards with 4 unique factions and the 1 generic faction.
• Thick, double sided battle boards.
• Nice, linen cards. These will include the 4 player decks, Strategic Victory cards, and because I have enough room, you will all get 2 special promo cards that spice up the game.
• A nice box with a printed cover, backs, and sides.
• Glossy, full color rule booklet with well-edited, well-tested rules.
• All wooden components! Wooden cubes for Units, nice squares for turn order and action markers, for forts. And, where appropriate, I’ll provide stickers so you can make them just a smidge more thematic.
• A nice cloth bag for storing and pulling out the components.

All of this will be lovingly crafted by hand or sourced by Andrew Tullsen.

I’m going to try to do some promotion for the game. All of my art and writing costs will be written off as a loss — I’m just not recouping that. I’m doing it for me and my personal satisfaction (and to excite those who want to own the game). I imagine I’ll purchase a review copy which I’ll send to some folks with the intent of them sending it to the next one (at my expense).  I’ll also try to write a Designer Diary for BGG. I have a story to tell and hopefully it’ll be worth a read for others.

All told, I’m very excited. I’m very happy watching this all come together and I can’t wait to get my copy.

Do you have any questions? Thoughts? Concerns?

Thanks!