Quick update - pledge manager and Evil Turkey!
over 6 years ago
– Wed, Jun 20, 2018 at 01:34:57 AM
Calling all BPRD Agents,
It's been a few weeks since the Kickstarter finished so we thought we would give you a quick update on how things are progressing. Short answer: very well!
James is busy working away on making sure the game is AWESOME and recently posted a blog about his progress here.
Rob is busy sorting out the pledge manager. We're expecting it go live July 9th and it will be open until August 6th. There will be late pledges available so if you know any friends that missed out on the Kickstarter, let them know there will be an opportunity to jump on board. The pledge manager will be hosted by BackerKit. We've worked with BackerKit numerous times before and they're great.
Matt has been crying about the weight of the Agent Pledge. We originally anticipated the Agent Pledge would weigh around 3.5kg (roughly 7lbs), however when we test packed it the other day it's more like 5.5kg (roughly 12lbs). This is down to all those stretch goals that upgraded the card components and added extra scenarios. The result is a heavier package, but the end result will definitely be worth it.
Finally, the Evil Turkey has been sculpted ready to waddle its way into the game. This means the only miniature remaining for the Agent Pledge is Iron Shoes. This is currently with Mike Mignola and we'll show that once it's been approved.
BOOM! Hellboy: The Board Game is FUNDED thanks to YOU!
over 6 years ago
– Sat, May 26, 2018 at 02:03:07 AM
Calling all BPRD Agents,
That’s all folks! The Hellboy: The Board Game Kickstarter campaign has officially finished. It’s been a hell of a ride (pardon the pun) over the past month but, thanks to your support, we’ve achieved something very special. Let’s have a quick recap of the stunning achievements:
- Funded four expansions: Conqueror Worm, BPRD Archives, limited edition Hellboy in Mexico and Darkness Calls
- Unlocked a whopping 64 stretch goals
- Helped to create dozens of different miniatures
- Raised enough to create Hellboy: The Board Game and release it next year
- Upgraded a bunch of components to make sure that this will be an incredible board game with top spec pieces
From the stupendous first 24 hours to the final days, it’s been incredible. The comments section has been a hive of great ideas – some of which we’ve even incorporated into the campaign. In fact, we’ve been consistently overwhelmed by the support we’ve received and the passion shown by backers.
There have been some particularly touching moments too, like a group of backers stepping up to help one backer who had hit hard times. We’ve never seen anything like that and it’s testimony to what a great bunch of backers we’ve had on this Kickstarter. Those people who got involved with that know who they are and should be very proud *wipes tear from eye*
Anyway, *clears throat* all this support has ensured that this has been Mantic’s biggest ever Kickstarter and, in fact, the second biggest tabletop gaming Kickstarter to come out of the UK. That Agent Pledge box is absolutely crammed to bursting but we’ve made sure we haven’t gone too crazy, so we can hit that February 2019 delivery date. The addition of the Box Full of Evil gives us a little breathing room to create some new expansions and miniatures ready for delivery in July 2019, which will allow us to concentrate on making the core experience superb.
It’s also been an absolute honour to work so closely with Dark Horse Comics and Mike Mignola. We’d like to take this opportunity to say thanks to everyone at Dark Horse and Mike Mignola for approving our (often slightly crazy) ideas… Evil Turkey, anyone? Hearing that Mike Mignola couldn’t wait to receive the Koshchei the Deathless miniature was a definite highlight :D
Tackling such a hugely popular character as Hellboy and the cast of characters from the BPRD is always a daunting task because we wanted to get them (and the gaming experience) just right. However, with James M. Hewitt busy beavering away on the rules and the team at Mantic ready to step in when required, we’re confident of delivering a world class gaming experience.
Perhaps the greatest thing is that this is only the start of our Hellboy journey. As we’ve said numerous times in interviews, we want the Hellboy board game to carry on well into the future. The Kickstarter got us all the way to Darkness Calls but after that there’s still so much more to come, like the Wild Hunt and the Storm and the Fury, and that’s before we even start tackling the BPRD storylines. So if your favourite character didn’t make it into the Kickstarter (#whereisBenDaimio) then don’t worry because this is only the beginning.
So, what’s next? As you’ve seen, most of the miniatures are completed and are ready to go into tooling (this is often the most time-consuming element of a miniatures heavy Kickstarter, so we’ve made sure a lot of that heavy lifting is complete). We’ve got a few amends to make and some miniatures to create (Evil Turkey and Iron Shoes) ready for delivery in February, but they’re mostly ready to go. James is already hard at work on the rules and we’ll continue to provide updates on his progress, plus any playtesting opportunities.
Finally, if you want to keep up with the latest Mantic news, including our other games like The Walking Dead, Dungeon Saga or the upcoming TerrainCrate scenery, then make sure you subscribe to our newsletter.
Thank you once more for all the amazing support. We're off to the pub to celebrate. Rum, anyone?
New monster worming its way to pledges. Can we slip on the Iron Shoes?
over 6 years ago
– Sat, May 26, 2018 at 12:12:46 AM
Calling all BPRD Agents,
Boom! That's the mighty £1,400,000 mark obliterated. What an incredible achievement! And that means you've unlocked not one but TWO stretch goals in one fell swoop.
The first is our final stretch goal for the Box Full of Evil - more floating heads!
Also unlocked at the same time is the awesome Saint Leonard's Worm boss. Taking on this terrible beast isn't going to be easy... and the Visitor might not be around to give Hellboy a helping hand this time. You'll get that reference if you've read The Visitor: How and Why He Stayed!
Should you wish, there will also be the option to pick up a resin version of Saint Leonard's Worm. In related resin news, there WILL be an option to get all the resin miniatures in the pledge manager. We will have an 'All-in Resin Pledge' available as an optional extra, however we just wanted to see what miniatures were unlocked before locking down the price/contents. Stay tuned for more details on that... and a super, special, never seen before diorama... but we won't boar you with details about that right now.
However, we've still got one more stretch goal to go - originally we had planned for Saint Leonard's Worm to finish off the Kickstarter but the total keeps on going, thanks to your incredible support. At £1,430,000 Iron Shoes will leap into action...
Can we unleash Iron Shoes before the campaign closes?
Iron Shoes leaps into pledges...
over 6 years ago
– Fri, May 25, 2018 at 11:14:22 PM
Calling all BPRD Agents,
Wow, we absolutely didn't expect to be writing this update so soon. The number of backers today has been fantastic, which means we've blasted through our final stretch goal with time to go.
Now the total has soared over £1,400,000 we can add the Iron Shoes miniature and Deck of Doom card to the Agent Pledge. We can't wait to see what our sculptor does with this miniature and we'll keep backers updated on the progress after the campaign closes.
And that really is it this time! We've crammed as much as we can into the Agent Pledge and that Box Full of Evil is looking very full too, what with both expansions and the additional stretch goals. A quick note on the Box Full of Evil, we will be including art prints of the two expansion boxes in there as we had a number of requests for them from backers. We didn't want to make it a stretch goal or anything, but felt it was the right thing to do.
However, even though we've finished with the stretch goals, there's still time to tell your friends to get on board with the Kickstarter to make sure they don't miss out on an absolute bargain. Thanks again, for the incredible support!
It's the final day... we need some iron resolve to make it through
over 6 years ago
– Fri, May 25, 2018 at 01:52:46 PM
Calling all BPRD Agents,
This is it! The final day of the campaign, and what a campaign it's been. Thanks to your support this is the biggest Kickstarter we've ever run and is one of the biggest ever from the UK. In fact, James crunched some numbers on his blog yesterday, which you can read here. The facts are totally bonkers.
Anyway, some excellent progress overnight means that Igor Bromhead has been added to the Box Full of Evil optional extra. We're already busy sculpting this crafty character and will keep backers informed of the progress. But what's next?
If you've read the Heads short story, you'll know that Hellboy fights a group of six floating heads. Well, we've already unlocked three but we need another group to complete the set. Once unlocked these will be added to the Box Full of Evil optional extra.
However, that's not all we'll be unlocking when we get to £1,400,000! We wanted to finish on something big and we've seen lots of requests from backers for more monsters (#moremonsters). So, our final stretch goal is going to be the impressive Saint Leonard's Worm as seen in The Nature of the Beast. We absolutely love this sculpt and we're confident the final push will get us to £1,400,000. Let's take a closer look at the worm again.
So, that's it! The Agent Pledge box is crammed to bursting and Matt the operations manager has had to take a week off to recover. There's absolutely no way we can fit anything else in. Thanks for your... hang on, wait a minute... we're just getting a message from the studio... *muttering and much discussion*
NO, DON'T STOP READING BACKERS! Like the post credits scene in a movie, we've just been told some exciting last minute news. With a little bit of juggling around, we CAN fit another much-loved and much-requested monster into the core pledge...
That's right, IRON SHOES is leaping in at the last moment. We can't believe it. We were honestly expecting that Saint Leonard's Worm would be our final goal and were excited about ending there... but miracles can happen.
There's still time to get this dangerous little goblin into pledges. If you haven't already, get out there and tell your friends, family, even strangers in the street, to get in on the Hellboy action. Come on BPRD Agents, this is your final mission... can you do it? #MYIRONSHOES
