All-new stand-alone expansion + Reprint!! Build your team, unite their power and fight to victory in furious tactics battles!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
The Final Proof + Fix Your Addresses!
about 1 year ago
– Mon, Jan 20, 2025 at 10:41:42 AM
Happy New Year!
As we rapidly approach the 2-year anniversary of launching this campaign, I'm happy to say that the game is (still) very finished, as it has been since like August. Just before New Year's, we received a brand spankin' new and final production sample, this time, including ~everything~.
But first:
Fix Your Addresses, Fix Your Cards
Go to the AEGIS2 BackerKit and make sure your shipping address is correct if you've moved!! If you're one of the 9-ish Backers with a broken credit card, it would be cool if you fixed it!!
Final Chance to Pre-Order, Update Orders, etc
Most of your orders are now locked! However, if you want to add something, just message me or BackerKit, and we can make it happen!
Consider the:
AEGIS2 Scenario Book, it's really cool! It's like an entire game on its own!
The Solo Expansion, which is $5-10 less than it should be! Gonna fix that after release!
The new 6-Player Mat, it's way nicer than originally planned! Its price will also likely go up!
Honestly, most of these prices are likely going up post-release!
In case you're not keeping track, we've had a number of physical versions of this game delivered to us since the campaign began/ended:
August 2022: The first 'review copies', featuring ~67 robots. these were used for all the media and videos for this campaign. Originally I planned to just to 75 robots, so this was "close to done", but 100 was just such a cooler number.
June 2024:The first For-Realsies Production Proof. All 100 robots, the final rulebook, and all the other final assets. I think we rebuilt everything between 2022 and this one. Also, the Kaiju expansion, Kickstarter promos, and A2 scenario book were printed for the first time.
This one had a small pile of errors on basically everything. Some inconsequential, some not. A lesser publisher would've just said "seems legit" and shipped it, but we didn't! We used the data from this to then build the rest of AEGIS1's Reprint Edition and the remaining items. Now all items are very polished and consistent.
December 2024: The Mass Production Proof arrives, featuring the final print colors and materials for all items. The 6-Player Mat and All-in box are made for the first time. See below!
The Mass Production Proof
The game is finished!! Let's look at it. It's all here.
And then a peek at the individual items:
The Final Processes
Even though the game is printed/mostly printed, there is still work to be done. Obscure work, but important work nonetheless.
Like reviewing the ~carton marks~, aka the printing on all the shipping boxes for each item. If these are wrong, my life will suck for years, as our warehouse sends out the wrong stuff.
Review the assembly instructions for all items, making sure they put stuff in the boxes correctly. If these are wrong, items in the box may be damaged.
Ironing out the last bit of printing/production questions, like why are we doing an "all-in box" that is going inside of another, similar box. Sometimes it is a long and difficult process to explain and clarify these things.
Doing shipping/impact tests and other safety tests, as seen below:
Because AEGIS is a thick and heavy little game, we have to make sure it doesn't get totally wrecked as it flies to you!
New Pictures, Sights Unseen
The 6-Player Mat!
Reborn and improved! Compared to the 2018 version, it:
Has no empty space! We chopped off the corners, now it's a hexagon!
Has walls printed on it! Less customizable, but a way faster setup and less fiddly play for you and your 2-5 homies.
Has updated art! Lots of little broken bits in bobs cover the battlefield. This'll help you count hexes and remember spots if your bots get jostled!
Stitched edges!! They're very luxurious. We didn't even intend for this, since I didn't think it was possible.
Better shipping! Last time, we had these rolled, and a bunch of y'all got mad because they showed up looking like accordions. This time, they're just gently folded into quarters and are much less likely to get messed up in transit.
Next up, the Star Die:
A nice piece of swag all Kickstarter backers get. It's very sparkly, and a bit bigger than the standard AEGIS Dice.
This is used for AEGIS2's Starpoint Arena mode, and also by the robot AHMNI-001. It can also just be used as a d6, or some homebrew machination of your own design!
Sorry this update took about 2 weeks longer than desired - I decided to instead focus on exchanging multiple long emails to our printer, nailing down the remaining stuff on this project. Invisible work, but very productive nonetheless!
Annnnd... It's Chinese New Year
Which means everything is set back another 2 weeks. But I expect that basically everything will be printed and packaged before then. So shipping will ensue immediately afterwards. During that time, I'm still finalizing the fulfillment the best sproces to get the best service/cheapest rate combo. Stay tuned!
Also, here's another cute chibi robot by Eyetypher! Commission him to draw your fave Gundam!
Fight and Unite
AEGIS Printing Has Begun
over 1 year ago
– Tue, Nov 19, 2024 at 10:07:44 AM
That's it, that's the update.
Kidding, but basically. Last week we finally sent the big pile of money to our manufacturer to begin the game printing process. This means, in an ideal world, we'll be getting final proof copies in the next couple weeks.
If it comes in all nice and complete, maybe we'll raffle it off to the backer who wants their copy the earliest!
UPDATE YOUR ADDRESSES
It's been a while and some of you have moved! Please make sure all your info is correct. As fulfillment actually gets closer, let's make sure you're ready to get your games!
Also like 10 of you still have broken credit cards, so fix that too please! If you have any questions about BackerKit, please reach out to me!
Our most active social media was originally Twitter, but it's honestly become a hellhole, so along with many other publishers, designers, artists, etc, we moved over to BlueSky! It's been a great experience, has a lot of nice features, and has no ads.
If you have a scrolling fixation, help us rebuild our following! You can even harass us over the game being late!
If this project seems like it's fulfilling very slowly, that's because it is! Sorry! Here's a little timeline of the very uninteresting process of printing a game:
Me, Sept 27: Sent some final graphics revisions. Requested invoice for this many thousand of each of the 10 items
Printer, Sept 28: received! Thanks!
Me, Oct 4: Hey checking in
Printer, Oct 5: Hey! Here is a final giant folder of all the digital files to approve
Me, Oct 8: I have checked all the files, here are like 5 small errors
Oct 9 to 21: back and forth over confusion about which version/specs of a couple files are correct
Printer, Oct 25: THE BILL ARRIVES
Oct 26 to 30: back and forth correcting some fees and adjusting item quantities to make the number go lower lmao
(Oct 31st, I fly to New England for a wedding/vacation)
Me, Nov 5, now on the other side of the country: sit in a bank for an hour sending a big international wire transfer. The 50% deposit is sent and thus printing shall begin.
Me, Nov 6: begin writing this update
Printer, Nov 7: would you like to re-confirm all the files one more time?
Me, Nov 9: ok they still look fine
Me, Nov 15: so when is printing
Printer, Nov 17: this week lol
And that's really how weeks just sort of melt away. Everyone's doing their best but progress is marred by the game being huge, me making too many revisions, and communication being similar to telegraph. Our printer also surely has 100 other clients and yet our rep is a darling who is always on-point.
Aside from the above, I've also been having a few different conversations about freight quotes, how many pallets fit into a shipping container, and where/ how to split the shipment into multiple regions the most time/cost effectively. All in all we're printing about 3x the volume of ~Stuff~ as our first Kickstarter, so it's much more daunting. I don't know how those fridge-sized minis campaigns manage these things. Definitely don't want to get rekt by some sort of shipping malarkey, so I'm being extra careful here.
Hey Look It's That Mat Finally
We finally have a look at what the 6-Player Mat looks like, and it's pretty neat! They stitched the edges! It's a big hexagon!
In retrospect we should've put some AEGIS branding on it. Oh well, next time.
This floppy lad is great for 3-player, as well as 6-player. Or heck, just play 1v1 on it if you want a bigger map! It looks like it has a lot of stuff on it, but only the walls and start zones matter - everything else is just aesthetic.
WHEN'S THE GAME ARRIVE?
I wrote a big thing here, but then backspaced it. Instead I'll say "probably January"
For those who really want it sooner, the game will be printed by early/mid December, and for an additional shipping charge, I can have them zoom it to your doorstep straight from the factory, months ahead of schedule. Interested backers, please message me.
PAX UNPLUGGED!
We'll be in Philly next month! Again! With no AEGIS to sell! Again!! But the important thing is that we'll be able to say hi to everyone, and we'll have some cool promo cards to give out. More deets in the next update.
Come say hi at BOOTH 3909, we'll be there with Galen's Games and Super Snipers again, like at Gen Con.
Also, he is wrapping his new Kickstarter TODAY! It would be irresponsible if I didn't give it a shout out --
Maybe our next game should be something like this, that won't take 2 years to fulfill...
Until Next Time
If printing is actually starting now, I expect it'll be done around PAX time, along with the mass production print proof, and that'll be an exciting update!
Fight and Unite
2nd Prototype Unboxing, Everything is Still Done
over 1 year ago
– Mon, Sep 23, 2024 at 11:11:53 AM
Annnd we're back! Last time I told you that the everything was finished and we're waiting on printing, that's still true. Last week we got the second round of physical print proofs in the mail, so let's check it out!
It's like Christmas every month! So many little surprises.
Basically where we're at now is the phase where I'm sending a bunch of emails back and forth, fixing extremely minor things. Everything in the above prototype was perfect, except:
Scenario book had the wrong cover (How? Who knows, the print proof from June was perfect)
They just didn't include the 6-player mat, again! To date we haven't seen a physical version of this even though that file's been done since before Spring.
The various plastic pieces are undergoing a color redo that the printer has been talking about since July, but I haven't seen them yet. Will just commit to the previous plastic colors if it seems like it'll delay the project.
Some minor typos and typography stuff that's already fixed.
I've actually given the OK to begin printing AEGIS2 and a couple of the other SKUs just to get the ball rolling. Last week was a factory holiday, but I'm hoping we'll get it all going ASAP.
That's pretty much it! Aside from answering emails very quickly and turning around minor file adjustments, it's out of my hands at this point. I can only incessantly poke our printer to make progress, which I've been doing!
Pictures!
Let's look at some nice pics of the new prototype in the meantime. AEGIS1 has never looked so nice.
AEGIS1 Reprint
Box: Check! I sent a lil revision to make the bottom-left text more readable.
Cards: Check! Here are some of the cards with newer art!
All three decks: Check! 140 cards of raw robot power. Also, the errata pack!
Punchboards: Check! The pieces are more easily punched this time.
Terrain punchboards: Check!
Board: Check! It pops and the wall pieces look good!
Solo Expansion
This is the first time this has been printed! And it's nice and shiny. Debating on making the box thinner, but not if it delays the whole production.
Box: Check!
Punchboard: Check!
Seen here: The Solo Expansion boss standee vs the standard bot standee.
AEGIS1R Scenario Book
It looks good! We expanded it by a page or two and spruced up some wording, font sizes, QOL stuff, etc. However they printed both sides as the back cover. We've since gone back and forth sending new versions of the file to them a few times, it's unclear why A2's book came out perfect in June, but now they're booth having trouble. The wonders of game making!
2018 Errata Pack
Looks good! 30 cards is thicker than I thought.
These are the 10 new promo cards for 2018 backers, they're cool!
Kickstarter Promo Pack
These three goobers are lookin' good. Still waiting on the Kickstarter dice to go with them. I could also nix it to speed up printing, but I doubt y'all would want that. Hopefully it will appear this coming week.
6 Player Mat
We still don't have this, but you all should go look into Knee Deep in Hexes, since our game actually works pretty well with it LOL. I still don't know why they sent us this.
PAX West
Were you there? We were! On a little table in the Indie Co-Co-Op booth. Next year we're gonna have da big booth!
We're also locked in for PAX Unplugged, which is getting closer and closer by the day... see you there! Hope I can yield some good news before then!
Until Next Time
Still slamming the "print this game now please!!" button @ our printer.
They're saying we have one more proof box incoming with the mat, and hopefully the final plastic doodads and other fixed things. We're so close!!
Fight and Unite
1st Prototype Unboxing, Everything's Done
over 1 year ago
– Tue, Aug 13, 2024 at 06:03:24 AM
Hello!!! Another late update, but this one's a happy one. I'm officially done with working on this game!! All of it! It's all done!
Of course, there's always minor revisions and ancillary tasks, like writing Kickstarter Updates, but after a stressful first half of the year, I'm feeling pretty good about the project finally being delivered.
Also happy to say that after talking with our printer and logistics people at Gen Con, it's looking like this game will be hitting your doorstep this fall (if you're in the US - other regions will probably take longer, but we'll see.) I'm hoping to get everything proofed, printed and on a boat ASAP before we hit the holidays.
Though, on this very morning, I've woken up to excellent news that certainly won't cause me irritation and suffering in the future:
I guess we'll see how this unfolds.
AEGIS2 Prototype Unboxing
I give "micro updates" in the Kickstarter comments, so some of you may have seen this already. A couple days after the last update, we got AEGIS2 in the mail, and it's beautiful!
This was the first, and most important, print proof we've gotten. We went through it and tweaked a bunch of the files throughout June, then based on those issues, I adjusted and finished the rest of the games/books/expansions, leading all the way up to Gen Con (leaving no time for update writing.)
AEGIS Stream Replays
Also during that time, we did a bunch of Twitch streams where we tested bits of the Scenario Book. We caught a bunch of minor, final issues here, and they're pretty fun to watch. You can catch all of them on our YouTube channel.
We're very far from pro streamers, so our audio kind of sucks, honestly, but we try our best! The audio is very different from video to video.
Gen Con!!!
I was so busy leading up to Gen Con that I didn't really advertise that we were going to be there. And we kinda weren't - our presence was understated at our booth, opting to show off the new game Super Snipers instead.
However, we ran about a dozen sold out 6-player events! And they went well!!! So nice to see it taught and played so many times, and the only issues that cropped up were already fixed. The game is good, folks!
Some of you did manage to find us and stop by and say hi, and it was great to see you!
Progress and Final Assets
As mentioned above, the 7 or 8 weeks between last update and Gen Con was spent putting the final touches on the game. Some of this was finishing packaging, cards, etc while other stuff was simply fixing very dumb and tedious problems, including but not limited to:
Adding correct barcodes and SKU numbers to each little thing
compiling all the robot cards into decks a bunch of times every time one card had a minor typo and then making sure I didn't forget to update those cards in other SKUs if they appeared in multiple things
Fixing typos and minor errors only I would notice on seemingly every asset in the game, every week
Finding diecut lines for specific punchboards I made 6 years ago
Discovering and then fixing some of the hex grids on certain boards being 7% smaller than they should be
Testing and adjusting various bits of the AEGIS2 scenario book
Going through and adjusting all the map images, robot lists, and rules text, along making QOL improvements in the AEGIS1 scenario book
Adjusting a handful of this stuff again after getting notes back from the printer last week after Gen Con.
Aside from fixing errors so we don't have to Day 1 Patch the game and call it an expansion, I also built the remaining stuff we promised, mostly in the solo expansion:
SOLO EXPANSION BOX
Box layouts are my passion. It has all the legalese and info a never-coming-to-retail product would ever need!
SOLO PUNCHBOARD
A new punchboard! How exciting. The Solo Expansion comes with 8 large standees for the bosses, along with some more drone tokens, just in case you only own AEGIS1.
SOLO RULEBOOK
I really wanted to make sure this expansion was usable without AEGIS2, so it comes with its own special rulebook! A side effect of this is that it actually has expanded Solo Rules with more clarifications, tips, etc, on top of new setup instructions for playing on AEGIS1's board.
So when you whip out Solo Mode, you can just grab this one book and it'll have everything you need.
Did you remember this? Well, if you didn't, we made it anyway!
Everyone on this campaign is getting the Kickstarter Promo Pack, which includes a few crossover characters and this special, rollable cube. It's made to be used in AEGIS2's Starpoint Arena game mode, but otherwise still functions as a standard d6. It will be more impressive when we get a manufacturer proof for it. It's gonna sparkly!
And Off to PAX
We'll be making appearances at PAX West and Unplugged this fall, and hopefully delivering your games too!
Let's see if global trade collapses just in time to ruin everything. Hopefully not!!
Fight and Unite
Bonus Robot Art!
Just for fun, I commissioned the artist eyetyper (follow him) to do chibi versions of some of AEGIS2's important robots. Check em out! Maybe we should make stickers or promos of these dudes...
AEGIS Streams are back! Print Proofs incoming! AEGIS1 Reprint!
almost 2 years ago
– Fri, May 31, 2024 at 03:21:35 PM
And we're back - I promised a May Update, and here it is. Let's dive in.
Streams will take place at 7:00 PM Eastern on the following days:
Monday, May 20th (1v1 Quintus vs. Kaiju)
Monday, May 27 (Solo Mode Test)
Thursday, May 30 (3-Player Scenario)
Friday, June 7 (Solo/Co-op Scenario)
Monday, June 10 (TBA)
Thursday, June 13 (TBA)
Replays of the streams can be found on our YouTube Channel. We've already done a couple (mostly focused on working out technical kinks).
AEGIS Events
We were at KublaCon Protospiele in SFO last weekend, testing a bunch of stuff!
Origins Game Fair: We were planning to go to this! But we aren't now! Mostly to save time and costs, since we have nothing to sell and cons are very expensive.
Gen Con: We WILL be at Gen Con however, at booth 2939 allllllll the way near the back wall, in the middle (thank you Gen Con!). We have a whole ton of events there where you can take AEGIS for a swing and try out the final production version! Several events have 1 slot (of 6) left, but there are a couple that are pretty open:
Also at Gen Con, you can check out SUPER SNIPERS at our booth! It's a great lil dueling game that will be making its sales premier at the show. We're also attached to Giga-Robo's booth, as always, with Solis Game Studio right around the corner.
PAX West: We'll be here as part of the Indie Game Co-Op on the tabletop floor (and also probably setup nearby in freeplay)
PAX Unplugged: As always, we will be here!
AEGIS Printing Update
We expect AEGIS will be printed and available at PAX Unplugged, maybe PAX West if we're very lucky!
In our last update, we sent a bunch of the files. Since then, we've been going back and forth, fixing misc print errors and files issues. Now we're being sent some file proofs THIS WEEK! Around June 3rd, we'll have a DHL box with a bunch of the physical assets to look over, which we'll then OK for a production sample. We'll stream opening these on Facebook or Twitch.
It's happening!!!
A Look at AEGIS1's Reprint
Now that AEGIS2 is more-or-less finalized and getting sent over here, we'll push the AEGIS1 Reprint files to them (both games use all the same sizes, molds, etc).
Owners of the 1st Edition: The reprint edition is mostly minor aesthetic upgrades, and QOL things for new players. The 2018 Upgrade Pack you're all getting contains just the robots with errata'd mechanics, plus 10 new/compiled promo cards. The slightly fancy-fied boards and other assets aren't included.
Let's start by checking out this amazing new key art by Noah Nagata. We have a cool poster for AEGIS2, so we went back to make one for AEGIS1!
Next I revisted the box art - basically just replacing some of the hex robots so that it was "the same, but different" - you'll also see new bots on the sides.
Then we re-approached the boards and added a bit more depth and detail, adding clearer "put terrain tiles here" slots:
Compared to 2018's, which was a good deal flatter:
To go along with the new boards, we upgraded the terrain art that matches the rest of the game a bit better. We also included new Starpoint hexes for playing Solo Mode on the AEGIS1 board. There's also no more Player 1 Token.
New
Old
We also redid all the Energy Trackers and moved the character descriptions to them, much like AEGIS2, and removed the commander cards. We also dropped the number from 13 to 9 and just made them all double-sided. Streamlined!
On the robot front, we errata'd 20 bots in the box and added 20 more (counting the Variant Command expansion), for a total of ~120 playable units.
Cards: Consolidated!
While we had the chance, we also upgraded art on 6 or 7 robots:
Robots: Beautified!
Robots: Beautified!
And of course, the rules are updated to match AEGIS2's. The major adjustment to A1's specific rules is that we've redone the "Point Control" king of the hill mode entirely.
Summer Cometh
And so does AEGIS. Stay tuned to our social media for pics of the test prints coming in the mail next week!
