July Update
almost 3 years ago – Fri, Jul 30, 2021 at 09:19:17 PM

Hello friends,

By now, most of you are probably aware of the ongoing global delays in ocean freight shipments from overseas.

Global Shipping Delays

Unfortunately, they are now affecting our fulfillment timeline for Flames of Freedom as well. While the vessel containing our book is actually close to reaching its U.S. port, the current backlog in the port will mean delays in processing and getting the shipment to our fulfillment center. At this point, we are frankly unsure how much time this will add. We have been closely monitoring our shipment’s progress and will update you as soon as we are able.

These delays affect publishers throughout the world and are outside of our control. We are so close to getting your items sent out – and we are as ready as all of you to make it happen. Please bear with us!

Maps

With this news out of the way, we did receive printer samples of our canvas maps! Have a look:

We will be surging the canvas map's edges to eliminate the white and red thread edging so that the sepia runs edge-to-edge:

Here's the largest map, compared to the book size:

Packaging

We've also got a packaging sample. Here's a look at how the Book + PDF pledge level will be packed up. The box will be form-fitting to ensure nothing slides around inside. This means no damaged corners:

The canvas map and an included special surprise will be the first thing you see when you open it up. Although this is a canvas map sample, it will be placed in a polymer sleeve and sealed to prevent water damage:

Underneath the canvas map is a sealed padded mailer, which will include dice and Campaign Coins:

Beneath the padded envelope is the Historian's Screen. Shown here is a white sample, but the screen will be shrink-wrapped to prevent water damage:

Beneath the screen is the Flames of Freedom book. Like the Historian's Screen, the book will be shrink-wrapped to prevent water damage:

Finally, the inside of the box will include added bubble wrap to ensure no slippage inside the box, making for a super tight fit to prevent book corner damage:

We are excited, and as committed as ever to get you your copies of Flames of Freedom and other items soon.  

Cheers, 

~d.fx
 

June Update
almost 3 years ago – Thu, Jun 24, 2021 at 07:46:26 PM

Hello friends,

We have exciting developments to report!

THE PHYSICAL BOOK

Advance copies of Flames of Freedom have arrived, and we are proud to say they are stunning! Your copies are now en route to our fulfillment center, to be mailed to you along with your other Kickstarter items in August. Take a first peek:

CAMPAIGN COINS

The full order of Campaign Coins has also come in:

HISTORIAN SCREEN PDF

And in more immediate news, the Historian’s Screen PDF is ready to be released! We have distributed the files from DriveThruRPG to your Kickstarter email addresses. Be sure to check your DTRPG Library. If you didn't receive it, hop into our Discord and message Daniel in the Flames of Freedom #resouces channel at https://discord.gg/Zweihander Here's the key image on the front of screen by Dejan Mandic:
 

ACTUAL PLAY VIDEOS

Want to get a jumpstart on gameplay, but unsure where to begin? Watch the first two sessions of Van Helsing 1776, an ongoing actual play for Flames of Freedom! Released by The Vampire Interpreter & friends, they're now available as VOD on YouTube:

We will continue to update you as more items arrive. Everything will ship out in just a few more weeks, and we look forward to seeing you get hooked on Flames of Freedom. Thank you again for your support!

Cheers,

-d.fx

May Update
almost 3 years ago – Sat, May 22, 2021 at 11:27:27 PM

Hello friends,

We have lots of updates today… First the single most important news: All PDFs are ready to be sent out to you – this includes the Flames of Freedom ebook, game master screen, and character sheets. Please be on the lookout for an email from that will contain your unique download link on DriveThruRPG.

This makes you the very first readers of Flames of Freedom (the book and ebook will officially be available September 21). That is beyond exciting!

Meanwhile, the print books are on press and on track for distribution in August, along with all other items.

In addition, we just received a printed sample of the game master screen, which has turned out terrific – take a look:

As always, we look forward to your feedback… especially once you’ve had a chance to read through Flames of Freedom. Be sure to tag us on social using the hashtag #ZweihanderRPG to tell us what you think.

Happy gaming!

-d.fx

PS If you haven't already, join the Flames of Freedom discussion over on our official Zweihander Discord at https://discord.gg/Zweihander

April Update
about 3 years ago – Sat, May 01, 2021 at 09:24:37 PM

Hello friends,

It’s late April, and lots of things are happening behind the scenes for Flames of Freedom! In the past weeks, we have reviewed tons of proofs and prototypes of your different stretch goal items.

THE BOOK ITSELF

Sneak peek at some incredible samples from the book:

FOLDING MAP

We also received the white proof of the physical book. It includes the perforated character sheets, and as pictured here, the folding map that is removable along the perforations. The team has taken great care to allow affordance between the spine and perforations, so you don't damage other pages when you tear the map out:

END SHEETS

The end sheets are rendered in sepia tone and are glued to the beginning and end of the book:

CAMPAIGN COINS

Here are prototypes of the Campaign Coins. We went with a copper finish to resemble an American penny. The purple die pictured in the image is not from Flames of Freedom but shown to illustrate the scale of the coin. They're sized as an American poker chip and are stackable:

HISTORIAN'S SCREEN

We've also the white proof of the Historian's Screen, and a preview of the interior and exterior:

PDF DOWNLOAD

And finally: As of today, the EPDFs of the book will be ready to fulfill in late May via DriveThruRPG. Please look out for additional messages with details or updates. We can’t wait for you to see a first digital copy!

Cheers,

-d.fx

March Update
about 3 years ago – Wed, Mar 31, 2021 at 07:20:12 PM

Hello friends,

We are so close to completion on Flames of Freedom! Here's what's happening internally here at Andrews McMeel Publishing:

LAYOUT

The layout is finalized, and routing to Richard and internal stakeholders for final changes + approval. We're expecting to wrap all of this up in the next 7 days. Final changes to pages will then go to our layout artist, and then it'll be sent off for printing in mid-April. to the printers. Here's an example of what the final layout looks like. You'll see some additional whitespace, which reflects print-ready processing:

PDFS

Once all is finalized in layout, we will also route the PDF over to our digital team. Digital will then prepare the PDF for you all, and we anticipate having it ready by end of April. This PDF will be fully bookmarked and hyperlinked, available only to backers prior to retail release in September.

CAMPAIGN COINS

We have photos of the metal proofs! Mark Morrison over at Campaign Coins cast two different colors, bronze, and copper. Which do you like the best?

GM'S HISTORIAN'S SCREEN

We kicked off our UX discussion with Amber, and we're anticipating having stubbed-out designs by end of the week. We'll make some rounds of edits, and share out once we've got a finalized version in-hand. Dejan is also working on the four-panel illustration, which we anticipate having by Monday.  We'll share out finals in April.

CANVAS MAPS

Geekify is sending over a physical proof soon, and we'll include pictures in our April update. We're very excited to have the maps in-hand and to show you – they're absolutely humongous!

CUSTOM DICE

Our dice printer Top Imprint is now working towards production. Once we've samples in-hand in May, we'll share pictures out.

THE PHYSICAL BOOK

While the retail publication date is set for late September 2021, we anticipate having books (along with all the exclusive stuff from Kickstarter) in the warehouse, packaged up and ready for distribution to you in August. We'll share more out as we begin moving through the print process.

MISCELLANEOUS

Are there other topics we've missed that you want to hear more about? Have anything you really like about what you're seeing? Please do let us know! As always, we deeply appreciate your support and can't wait to share out more with ya'll next month...

Cheers,

-d.fx

PS be sure to join our Discord for up-to-date information on Flames of Freedom, Zweihander and other games we're working on: https://discord.gg/Zweihander