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Order Brass now at roxley.com

Created by Gavan Brown of Roxley Games

Brass: Birmingham and Brass: Lancashire Deluxe Editions are STILL available for purchase on the Roxley website: https://roxley.com/products/brass-birmingham-deluxe-edition https://roxley.com/products/brass-lancashire-deluxe-edition

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Status Report - 2018.01.13 - Board Finish Challenges & Production Schedule Update
over 6 years ago – Sat, Jan 13, 2018 at 11:11:05 PM

 

 

TL;DR - Glare and potential for wear issues with the linen finish on game board has resulted in a material change.  This has resulted in a 3 week delay, exacerbated by Chinese New Year delay.  Fulfillment to now begin in April.  We are incredibly sorry for this delay, see more below.  We are adding 8 additional Iron Clay coins to Brass Lancashire and Birmingham (30 chip fillout unchanged).  Brass and Iron Clays on display at PAX.   Payment processing coming January 20th

Manufacturing Update

The challenge: We are extremely happy with the dark and different creative direction we have taken with Brass.  Because it is different, it has been absolutely important for us to playtest the game in different levels of light to ensure the game remains absolutely functional.

Originally, we had thought that the game in lower light would be the challenge.  After testing the press proofs though, we discovered the opposite to be true: playing in low light is amazing, but playing in bright light is a problem.  The reason is that dark graphics under linen finish reflects too much light, which causes glare.   This glare can reduce the usability of the game for some players at the table if you are playing the game under direct light.

But this was not the only trouble we were seeing with the linen finish on dark art.  Because the board is double sided, one side of the board has a fold line all the way across it.  These fold lines on a normal board are not overly noticeable.  However, because of the art style in Brass, there is a high probability that this line will wear greatly over time creating a bright white and unattractive line through the middle of the board.

This problem is not present on the tiles though, as the colors of the tiles are much lighter.  

Because Roxley always strives for usability and quality above all else, this is something we needed to address.   

The solution:

We looked at other games that have dark boards, and we one that really stood out for us was Clank.  Not only does clank have a very dark board, but it does not create glare.  It also does not have the white "wear" line on the board folds that we saw on the linen board proofs we have.  So what's the difference?  The difference is that Clank is finished with in matte PP laminate, rather than linen finish.

We immediately had the manufacturer send us different finish options, including different types of linen finish, and an option for us to upgrade to matte PP finish.

After playtesting each of them, the results were immediately apparent.  Matte PP finish is not only the most usable for our art style, but also is the most resilient.  

Because matte PP is very flat, it also has the positive side effect of making the tiles stand out from the board, which also increases usability.   

Side effects of this change

  • Because matte PP board go through a lamination process, and requires different material, it does cost slightly more than linen, but Roxley will absolutely cover this additional cost.  
  • Missing Chinese New Year - In December when we announced that we were trying to hit Chinese New Year for production being completed.  This was contingent on there being no major challenges.  So because we lost a few weeks with getting new press proofs, we will now miss the opportunity to ship before Chinese New Year.   For those who don't know, Chinese New Year is like Christmas in North America, where everything shuts down for 2-3 weeks.  This realistically adds 4 weeks to the production schedule.  We have updated the production schedule to reflect this.

Buck Stops Here

While our team has many years of experience in the print industry, and knew there were potential challenges with going with such a different graphic style for Brass, this was absolutely not one that we had anticipated.  

For this additional delay, I am incredibly sorry.  If you have any questions about this, please contact our team at [email protected].

All component printing is under way now.   We are extremely pleased with how well everything has turned out.

The revised production schedule has been placed in the status report graphic.  We have also updated that preorder delivery date on backer kit and added a graphic to campaign page that makes it easier to see at a glance what the slated delivery date is.

More Iron Clays Automatically Being Added At No Cost

Because of the nature of how money is spent in Brass to the turn order track, the game requires more 1-denomination currency than nearly every other game out there. 

32 1-denomination chips is technically the maximum number of necessary in a copy of Brass.  This is how many we initially included.

However, when playtesting the proof of the game, we felt that while we weren't running out, there were times where we felt we were making change too often.   

To remedy this, we are adding 8 additional 1s to both Lancashire and Birmingham, bringing the quantity of 1s to 40 (the amount of 1s in the original printing of Brass), and the total Clay quantity to 78 in each game.  This change came at a large cost, but again, usability is paramount to us. 

For those of you who have added the 30 chip fill-out upgrade, do not worry, you will still receive 30 chips in that box.  This will mean though, that you have 8 extra Clays that won't fit in the container (108 total).  I suggest you keep these on your desk to endlessly fidget with. :)   There is not way to change these at this point as the 30 chips upgrades have already been produced and packed.

PAX South and Photos

Paul Saxberg is at PAX south right now with the press proofs.  If you are there, please come by booth 1104 to say hello, and see Brass and the Iron Clays!  

Paul is in possession of the first final complete set of Iron Clays.

We have not shown any photos of the final design, but we do have some surprises for you that have been added to the game that we have not even told you about yet (none of which have affected the schedule).   We will show photos and video of this when we get the proofs back into the office.

20 Most Anticipated Games of 2018 Reminder

Brass is neck and neck with about 4 other blockbuster titles in the running for most anticipated game of 2018.  Please consider voting for us here, as we absolutely cannot win this without your help: https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/235922/20-most-anticipated-board-games-2018-final-voting

As always, if you have any comments or questions, please email [email protected]    

Payment Processing Reminder - January 20, 2018  

We will be processing payment for all preorders, extra owed shipping, and addons on January 20, 2018. On January 20th, your card will be charged in the amount owing in Canadian dollars indicated on your survey.  

Please note that you will only be charged what, if anything was remaining owed for extra shipping or addon costs.  The amount you pledged during the campaign is of course applied to this, and if your survey showed you owing nothing back in September, you will not be charged.

Can I still add to my order?  YES. But you will have to get your survey unlocked to do so. Please email [email protected] to have your survey unlocked.   

Can you process my payment sooner?  YES. If you would like us to process your order immediately, please fill out this form and we will process your payment within 24 hours. As always, if you have any comments or questions, please email [email protected] 

Keep rollin' sixes,  

Gavan Brown & Team Roxley

Newsflash - Payment Processing January 20, 2018 (Not Feb 20)
over 6 years ago – Tue, Jan 09, 2018 at 12:22:52 AM

Payment Processing - January 20, 2018  

Sincere apologies, there was an error in the previous update.  We will be processing payment for all preorders, owed shipping, and addons on January 20th, not February 20th. This means you have a little under 2 weeks to change your order. On January 20th, your card will be charged in the amount owing in Canadian dollars indicated on your survey.  

Can I still add to my order?

YES.  But you will have to get your survey unlocked to do so.  Please email [email protected] to have your survey unlocked.

Can you process my payment sooner?

YES.  If you would like us to process your order immediately, please fill out this form and we will process your payment within 24 hours.  

As always, if you have any comments or questions, please email [email protected]  

Keep rollin' sixes,  

Gavan Brown & Team Roxley

Newsflash - Call to Brass fans - Please vote Brass as most anticipated game of 2018!
over 6 years ago – Tue, Jan 09, 2018 at 12:02:58 AM

We need your help!

One of our backers, Rick Vinyard runs an awesome annual contest on boardgamegeek for the most anticipated games of the year.  

Click below & vote for Brass:

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

To find Brass on the list, simply do a "ctrl + f" ("command + f" on mac), and type "brass".   We appear in a few lists, but the most important is "Overall".  

Brass was actually the first nomination, and received over 800 thumbs, putting us in 4th place!

Together we can show that the heavy games community is stronger than ever.  Thank you for all the support we've seen from this awesome community, and long live heavy games!

Payment Processing - January 20, 2018

We will be processing payment for all preorders, owed shipping, and addons on January 20th.  This means you have a little under 2 weeks to change your order.  On January 20th, your card will be charged in the amount owing in Canadian dollars indicated on your survey.

If you would like us to process your order immediately, please fill out this form and we will process your payment within 24 hours.

As always, if you have any comments or questions, please email [email protected]  

Keep rollin' sixes,  

Gavan Brown & Team Roxley

Status Report - 2017.12.31 - Waiting For Adjusted Proofs & Happy New Year!
almost 7 years ago – Mon, Jan 01, 2018 at 12:39:56 AM

 TL;DR - We are waiting for adjusted press proofs.  Received Iron Clays Box Proof.   Happy New Year! 

 

Hope you all had an amazing holiday with friends and family and got to play some awesome games. 

Updated Press Proofs

We are currently awaiting some updated press proofs for Brass.  These will feature some adjustments to some of the finishes.  We have also requested a few tweaks to the vac tray.  We hope to receive these this week.  If we do, we will do another update next weekend with some photos.

Iron Clays Addon Box Proof

We've received a proof for the Iron Clays addon boxes.  Anyone who has purchased Iron Clays as a separate addon, or the "fill out option" will receive this box.  The box is gorgeous.  It features a magnetic flap, and beautifully printed lining, foil, embossing, and of course amazing design by Chad Michael.

After play testing the Brass proof with Iron Clays, I am in love.  We've also played other games with them, including the new re-release of London, which they are a perfect fit for.  We absolutely love them and are so proud of the work that our team, Chad Michael, and our manufacturer, GPI have done to bring these together.  We are getting a few adjustments made to the foil.  We will be posting photos of this soon as well. :)

Happy New Year from Roxley

2017 was a transformative year for Roxley.   Brass and Santorini have been met with great success.   Steampunk Rally and Santorini also continue to sell amazingly well.  We've grown our company and now also have an office to call our own.

You helped us make Brass into the game it truly deserves to be, and we are so thankful to you for that.

2018 is looking even more exciting.  We have some new amazing titles that we are developing, as well as exciting new partnerships with some amazingly passionate creators.  Stay tuned :)   

Thank you again for believing in us and allowing us to continue making the best possible games we can for you folks.  

Happy New Year!

As always, if you have any comments or questions, please email [email protected] 

Keep rollin' sixes, 

Gavan Brown & Team Roxley

Status Report - 2017.12.17 - Manufacturing Continues; Holidays Approach
almost 7 years ago – Mon, Dec 18, 2017 at 12:35:00 AM

TL;DR - Initial press proofs received.  Some adjustments being made to mock-up proofs.  Happy Holidays to everyone!

 

Manufacturing Update

Press Proofs

We have received initial press proofs of all game components.  We have playtested it several times.  All content is correct, which is of course, the most important thing to nail down.

These games look and feel beautiful.   

Photos?

While we are so happy with how things are progressing, we are not ready to show photos of the proofs yet, as a few of the components will be adjusted, including the linen finish on the tile and board components, as well as the cards.  We are also making a few adjustments to the Vac tray designs.

We will be posting some photos as soon as we receive updated components.

Happy Holidays

Several members of our team are heading out for a short Christmas Holiday starting tomorrow.  Someone however will still be around to answer your questions and make adjustments to people's orders if you need.

At Roxley we have a lot to be thankful for this year.  Thank you so much for believing in us.  From our families to yours: Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy Holidays!

As always, if you have any comments or questions, please email [email protected]  

Keep rollin' sixes,  

Gavan Brown & Team Roxley