The Eagle Has Landed …
Backers enjoying the game and posing with the game.
… for the vast majority of backers and pre-order customers, who should have received their games several months ago. Each of the fulfillment hubs have processed all of the orders assigned to them. Everywhere we have been able to find a way to send the pledges, they have been sent. And from all corners of the world, we've seen great pictures of games arriving and hitting the tables, much to our joy!
The Kickstarter Deluxe Edition sold out before summer at all of our international warehouses, and more recently, we've been running out of the Standard Edition copies as well. If you want to secure a copy of the first printing, run to our webshop, or come visit us at Essen Spiel, booth 3-Y102 (more on this below).
Thanks a lot to all of you, who have stuck with us every step of the way, through the thick and thin, to the very end. We hope that you, who believed in the project and supported us throughout the development period, are now savoring the fruits of its completion. We hope it was worth it, and that you can also feel a little proud of being part of this project, because, from the bottom of our hearts, you really are in a very big way!
Due to the war in Ukraine, we sadly have not been, and still aren't, able to send games to addresses in Ukraine or Russia. If, because of this or for some other reason, you still haven't received your pledge and you haven't reached out to us yet, please send us an email at customerservice@aegirgames.com and we'll find a way to help.
If you have ordered the Spanish version, you might have seen the long-awaited good news already. The games are on their way from China. Come this way, to read more about this.
Here is a picture from the assembly line of the Spanish edition of EU:tPoP.
Extended Gameplay Example Video
We know we promised this one a very long time ago, and judging by the 39,000 views on RTFM's How-to-play Video, there is a certain demand for instructional EU:tPoP videos out there. Filming, editing, and recording the audio for this video turned into a long and disjointed process because of the fact that we kept getting caught up in other stuff that just needed to be done ASAP. We aren't professional videographers at all, so it isn't perfect by any means, but we still hope and think that it could be useful to those who are still fairly new to the game, and maybe even to some of the more experienced ones.
The video goes through an entire Round 1 Action Phase of the S1-01 basic 4-player scenario. It shows most of the Basic Actions, and quite a few Action Cards too, as well as Battle examples. We hope you'll like it!
Extended Gameplay Example: A full Round 1 Action Phase
Please, Rate the Game on BGG
Thanks to all of you amazing people, EU:tPoP was the fastest climber of all games in the BGG Rankings in the week ending on 8 Feb and among the fastest for the whole first quarter of 2023! In the 3 months from 6 January to 5 April 2023, EU:tPoP climbed from 5,927th to 2,454th in the Overall rankings, from 1956th to 1,136th in the Strategy category, and from 1,208th to 164th in the Wargames rankings! Today, we are in the Top 100 Wargames, at 98th. That deserves a toast! 🍞
Most rapid climber on the Week ending 2023-02-08, according to @beefsack's Geek List.
We are so happy that the game has gone down so well with our backers! Nothing pleases us more than the fact that you are enjoying the game that we have created! And when I say "we have created", I mean we, as in all of you as well, with your invaluable input, enthusiasm, patience, and support! With more ratings, the game can even continue to climb that ladder, especially since EU:tPoP's average rating of 8.8 is much higher than most of the games above it in the rankings. Who knows, with your help, we might even be able to get into the Wargames Top 20! We just need more of those Ratings.
Here's how you do it! (and the proof that I started writing this in May)
So, if you enjoy the game at all and want to see it prosper, please consider giving it a rating, even if you normally do not rate your games, because it helps the game to get more traction and visibility, which in turn keeps the game alive and increases the prospects of us being able to create more content for it.
From there, if you want to state your opinion with words as well, even better!
If you don't know BoardGameGeek, it is the go-to place online for all things board game-related. This massive encyclopedia of a website can sometimes feel a bit unwieldy and clunky to navigate perhaps, but it's an excellent, ever-updating resource of board game (and life) knowledge.
To all those who already did and those about to do so, thanks for taking the time to Rate! Thanks a lot as well to all those who uploaded pictures and fan-made content to the EU:tPoP BGG page, and to our Discord server, where we even received our first piece of fan art:
'Enjoying Door Play' by LazyBlueHorse (a lot of inside jokes in this one, come to the Discord Server!)Seeing that EU:tPoP already has a place in many of your hearts over at BGG, with several saying that it is covering a niche they had wanted to cover for a long time, makes us very happy and proud.
These are just some entries I personally like from the previous months!
"The Holy Grail of historical board gaming" Yes, that was our aim
"Grail Game doesn't cover it"
"Epic is accurate for this engagement"
2023 So Far: UKGE and Arcon
So, with all this time since the last update, what have we been up to lately? Well, in between making videos, publishing a completely revamped Tabletop Simulator module (thanks, Eike/Spearhead!), working on new projects (see more below), making sure some 7,000+ games reached their destinations, and organizing a 2nd printing, we also managed to talk to and meet some people:
Back in June, Eivind made an appearance alongside cultural historian, Paul Wright, Ph.D., on Beyond Solitaire Podcast 120, the final episode of Season 6 of the show, with EU:tPoP being the main topic. Liz is a wonderful host, so if you haven't seen it yet, make sure you go and do so!
Happy demo-players at UK Games Expo
We visited the UKGE, and I (Víctor) ran demos with the invaluable help of Mike, Mark, and Gaz, at the GamesQuest Publisher Village, taking attendees on a magical quest over the history of 1444 so they could then go back to the table and play right away after the Con!
Fan-boy Víctor with Cole Wehrle
Also, I met Cole Wehrle, the designer of many of my favorite games, and I was starstruck for some days after (I was like a schoolgirl at a boy band concert). We talked about EU:tPoP, Arcs, and John Company. What a great guy, I wanted to ask many more questions but I was about to run a demo, so I think I will invite him to next year's AegirCon (more below).
Later in June, we attended the local gaming convention in Oslo, Arcon gaming festival, which was sponsored by Aegir Games, and where we hosted several demo sessions, while some more experienced players embarked on a longer EU:tPoP game over 2 days.
Games available at our Arcon demo room.
Austria charging ahead in the long game at Arcon.
Coming up next: AegirCon and Essen Spiel
Welcome to the happening of the year, forget about Essen Spiel, it's AegirCon! Well, actually, please come and see us at Essen!
We know this one comes too soon, and that most of you won't be able to make it here. But it is the only Weekend we could manage before Essen, so on 16–17 September, we are hosting a Mini-Con here at our offices in Oslo. If you live nearby or just fancy a trip to Oslo, you can find the Facebook Event here, and tickets here.
Here is a game in progress at the Launch Party at our office in January.
Essen Spiel is also approaching fast as well. We have our own little booth in Hall 3 this year, 3-Y102, right next to GMT Games' booth.
The SPIEL '23 Preview List on BGG is up, as usual, and we would be very grateful if you took the time to pop over there to give us a thumbs-up and a must-have!
As it happens, we also have a few Deluxe Edition copies remaining at our office, which we will be bringing to Essen to sell at the booth. And since we would prefer to bring as few as possible back home with us, they will be available for pre-order on our webshop for pick-up at Essen Spiel only.
Pre-Order for Essen Pick-upThe Future of the Game
Do we have more plans in store for EU:tPoP? Yes, are we ready to give you all the details? Not just yet! But this way we make sure you keep your eyes from blinking too much, and also because we would like some feedback from you guys and gals before we make the final decisions. So, in the light of that, it would be just perfect if you would head over to this little Survey, and answer some questions about what you would love to see next for EU:tPoP!
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Godspeed, and good day, fellow players!
Víctor and Eivind @ Aegir Games