The Old Hellfire Club

Old Hellfire Update: Week 38 and a Half!
about 4 years ago – Thu, Jan 30, 2020 at 07:20:33 PM

What-Ho Hellfire-ites!

Well... The World just doesn't stop giving does it?! First - the happy news...

For anyone who hasn't backed a Tabletop Kickstarter Campaign before - You've joined us in a rather special week - It's one of the Master's affairs....

Or, more accurately, it's Chinese New Year! A time of year which many people in the West can find a little frustrating when our friends in the People's Republic take up to three weeks off to celebrate and be with their family. Essentially, it's an equivalent level of importance to many people from China and of Chinese heritage to Christmas for many of us - so I for one would like to say a heartfelt 恭禧發財 恭禧 發財! to all the people in China who will be vital to making The Old Hellfire Club a reality!

And so onto more complicated news - This is also the week in which the UK will leave EU. This will have no impact on the production of The Old Hellfire Club as the transitional period in which all of the customs arrangements and so on  will last until the end of 2020. In deference to the exhaustion of the many, many generous British backers among you I will avoid saying anything more on this.

Finally the sad, but unavoidable news - The Coronavirus outbreak. I'm afraid I'm no better informed that many of you about the impact this tragedy will have on timelines. The Chinese Government have extended the Chinese New Year celebration period in a bid to encourage people not to travel and so slow the spread of the disease meaning I haven’t been able to get in touch with my manufacturing contacts since the outbreak began in earnest. I really hope it works any avoided deaths are worth the delay of a simple card game - I hope you agree.

Brighter news - Your big surprises! I cannot say how much I have appreciated all of your comments - public and private - about whether you would prefer sixpences or bonus cards. I haven't reached a conclusion yet - largely because the response rate for each side has been RIDICULOUSLY finely balanced. If you haven't had your say yet then PLEASE, PLEASE DO SO! I really, really want to provide what you want!

And in fantabulous news - The Old Kickstarter Club has just received a ratings bump on Board Game Geek thanks to a new review! we're now officially rated at 7.625 out of 10 (which compares very nicely to a little game called Pandemic at 7.621 - has anyone heard of it!). If I've been lucky enough to play The Old Hellfire Club with any of you at a convention, or if you've had the time to try out the Print and Play Edition it would be just AMAZING if you could find the time to join in and vote on BGG too! Huzzah!  

And finally insofar as the updates are concerned - what have I been up to!? 

Frankly - this has been a week of two WILDLY opposing halves! On the one hand - I've been buried deep, deep in accounting and tax and I have been bored to administratively necessary tears! On the other hand - arriving tomorrow are A FULL SIXTEEN LBS OF GENUINE VICTORIAN COINS that will be winging their way to Imperial level backers and anyone who's bought the Victorian Penny with an Additional Rule Add-On on Backerkit!

What can I say - I'm lucky, You're Lucky, (I hope) We're All Lucky! Ahahahaha...

And so with that – and in the meantime – lets catch up on the latest Choose Our Own Adventure!

The Story So Far… It had all gone  tragically, tragically wrong! With butlers Great Britain awash with  cloned butlers and opium I had fled to Russia and had been immediately  imprisoned in a forced labour camp and escaped with fellow inmate Charles Darwin! We fled  in triumph and returned to Blighty just in time to be met by the height of the BUTLER  CLONE APOCALYPSE and an equine assassin who has just introduced me to their FLAPDOODLE!!!

WHERE SHOULD OUR ADVENTURE TAKE US NEXT – YOU DECIDE… VOTE NOW!

All my best to you all!

Jamie

Old Hellfire Update: Week 36 and a Global Revolution!
over 4 years ago – Thu, Jan 16, 2020 at 01:51:12 AM

What-Ho Hellfire-ites!

Before we delve ever deeper into the murky world of 19th Century anarchy I want to say a very genuine and heartfelt thank you to  everyone who reached out to me (both on Kickstarter and elsewhere) with  messages  of such generous support and encouragement. I’m really struggling to  articulate both how much I appreciate it and, for what it’s worth, I  really want to say again that you really are the best backers and  supporters I could have wished for – THANK YOU!

And so, with that very important thing said… Onto The Production Update!

[That really sounded less anti-climactic in my head… And, to be fair, it sounded pretty anti-climactic there…]

The Production Update – The Big Question!

In my last update I said that I  wanted to add something to the pledges for physical copies of The Old  Hellfire Club as a thank you from me both for being so patient with the  challenges we’ve faced, but also an a thoroughly  deserved reward for being such damnedably fine individuals (virtue  should have additional rewards on top of being a reward in itself – thus  it is written in the Old Hellfire Club constitution after all!). And  so, after long and careful research, I’ve come  up with two possible options…

1) Add 5-10 Additional Cards to the  Game – I’ve got some great ideas for what these cards could be – the  Victorian world simply overflows with heroism, villainy and out-right  idiocy. But, I’m hesitant to do this because  I can’t economically provide them to just you the backers – they would  need to go into all of the copies and that feels a bit like I’m cheating  you out of something special. Or…

2) A Genuine 120-ish Year Old Silver  Sixpence – Sixpences are hugely symbolically important to the Victorians  as good luck tokens and a sixpence is even one of the object cards so  it feels like a fitting token of  thanks! But, I’m torn because I’m not sure whether the mood would be to  prefer something that enhanced the game rather than just being a fancy  extra piece.

So, with the above in mind, I’d love to hear what you all think! You made this dream possible, so I REALLY value your views!

And so with that – and in the meantime – lets up on the latest Choose Our Own Adventure!

The Story So Far… It had all gone  tragically, tragically wrong! With butlers Great Britain awash with  cloned butlers and opium I had fled to Russia and had been immediately  imprisoned in a forced labour camp. There I immediately  hatched an escape plan with fellow inmate Charles Darwin – all it took  was THUGGERY and a mutual fondness for BILLINGSGATE FISH MARKET! We fled  in triumph and returned to Blighty just in time for the 1874 General  Election… and for the height of the BUTLER  CLONE APOCALYPSE!!!

WHERE SHOULD OUR ADVENTURE TAKE US NEXT – YOU DECIDE… VOTE NOW

All my best to you all!

Jamie

Old Hellfire Update: Year 2020!
over 4 years ago – Thu, Jan 02, 2020 at 12:05:15 AM

What-Ho Hellfire-ites!

Welcome to the World of Tomorrow… Yesterday!

Or at least I think that’s the way that should be… Either way – A Very Happy New Year to each and every one of you! I hope that the year in which you will all be able to lay your hands on your very own copies of The Old Hellfire Club is treating you well even in its infancy!

Things have been, what I can only describe as, fantastically busy at Hellfire HQ with the festive season treating us to a laden complement of family, friends, food and… f-presents! We’ve been truly and utterly treated beyond any point that anyone could possibly deserve and it has been utterly wonderful.

It’s with that heart-warming backdrop that I have some utterly frustrating news as in the dying days of 2019 I was contacted by my manufacturer to let me know that there had been a problem with the money transfer for the printing deposit and that as a result The Old Hellfire Club has been pushed down the production schedule because they can’t start printing until they’ve received the first payment. That in itself is painful, but it’s made so much more so because that pushed our slot into Chinese New Year meaning the print run is unlikely to be completed before the end of February.

To be blunt – I’m feeling a little devastated at this because you don’t deserve to have to wait and I feel like I’ve let you down. To be entirely clear – I am NOT saying that there is any risk that the game will not be delivered. However, in recognition of the delay, I’m working on something that will be added to the rewards of every who backed at a level that got them a physical copy of the game – I’m afraid it’s not going to be life-changing, but you believed in me and I want to make sure you get that trust repaid.

Onto brighter news! The companion book – The Old Hellfire Club: A Secret History – is nearly complete! I have only one more story left to finish and then it’s just a matter of layout and submitting to the printers (a process which I’ve thankfully done before and have entirely in hand)! It’s looking fantastic and the depth of entirely unnecessary information is a personal triumph – do you want to know about Victorian science fiction? Drug use? Belief in fairies? I’ve got you covered! And so much more!

And with that I’ll sign of for now, but with one last quick thank you to everyone who voted in our Twitter rerun of the 1874 General Election to coincide with the events of 12 December last year. It turns out that, on balance, Old-Hellfire-ites support the idea of a Liberal-Labour Pact who would have thought it!

And so off into the future I run with all best wishes to all you and yours!

Jamie

Old Hellfire Update: Week 30!
over 4 years ago – Tue, Dec 03, 2019 at 02:21:16 PM

What-Ho Hellfire-ites!

I can barely believe it – it’s DONE! It's only gone and got itself nearly DONE!!

And what has been done? I hear you cry... THE OLD HELLFIRE CLUB - that's what. After what I can only describe as a backbreaking slog to bring this project to fruition The Old Hellfire Club has finally reached the miraculous point when a game ceases to be an idea lodged in my head and becomes a REAL TOUCHABLE THING THAT YOU CAN PUT ON YOUR SHELVES!

After what at times was the sheer agony of proofreading 182 text-heavy unique cards I can reveal that the final formatting checks are being performed in the industrial heart of China and then WE GO TO PRINT!!! I can only apologies for this having taken longer than expected - proof reading 182 cards took colossally longer than I ever could have expected it to (to be frank - the number of lost hours sleep nearly broke me), but I simply couldn't release the designs to the printer before being as sure as I ever could be that you were getting a perfect product. 

So what’s left to do - precious little! The last remaining big job before delivery is to finish writing the companion book which will be winging its way to Exclusive and Imperial level backers. It's 85% finished already and the pages are coming thick and fast so there's no risk of this towering piece of literature holding back production. 

So, with The Old Hellfire Club nestled happily on a hard drive somewhere in Ningbo readying itself for the final giant leap onto Gameland's mighty printing presses, let us turn our attention once more to the devolving madness that is our latest  Choose Our Own Adventure!

The Story So Far… It had all gone tragically, tragically wrong! I had  been so preoccupied with whether I could that I had never stopped to  consider whether the world really needed an endless supply of butlers  and opium! Damn my scientific mind! My Serving Wench, Jessica  Fully-Rounded-Character, as I had fled these abominations into the night  in the hope of finding succor in Whitechapel, but all did not go well for The Poor took against my disguise and I was forced once more to flee into the welcoming arms of a forced labour camp in Tsarist Russia! Thus it was time for Charles Darwin and I to plan our escape…

WHERE SHOULD OUR ADVENTURE TAKE US NEXT…  VOTE NOW

As always- All my best to you all!

Jamie

Old Hellfire Update: Week 25!
over 4 years ago – Tue, Oct 29, 2019 at 01:14:41 PM

What-Ho Hellfire-ites!  

I am almost falling off my chair with excitement at the prospect of this update – it’s just that AMAZING!  

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IMPORTANT NEWS FIRST – All existing orders entered an automated locking process. From the time of this update you have 24 HOURS to make any changes.  

PLEASE, PLEASE – Check your order here if you haven’t already done so - https://oldhellfire.backerkit.com

[You will still be able to change your shipping address and create new orders after this date – it’s just that all existing orders will be unchangeable once it passes.]  

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So what’s so AMAZING?! Well – I’m confidently predicting that The Old Hellfire Club will be FINISHED and that the final designs submitted to our manufacturer THIS WEEK!  

THAT’S RIGHT – 142 unique cards (or 182 if you’re an Exclusive Edition Backer!), a stunning new box design with gorgeous artwork by Bryn Jones, an expanded and illustrated rule book, and pennies and sixpences galore to fund your miscreant fueled adventures are ALL within touching distance of being FINISHED!!  

So – with The Old Hellfire Club nearing its very final state let us whet our appetites for the anarchy ahead by catching up on the latest Choose Our Own Adventure!  

The Story So Far… It had all gone tragically, tragically wrong! I had been so preoccupied with whether I could that I had never stopped to consider whether the world really needed an endless supply of butlers and opium! Damn my scientific mind! My Serving Wench, Jessica Fully-Rounded-Character, as I had fled these abominations into the night in the hope of finding succor, but all was not well…  

WHERE SHOULD OUR ADVENTURE TAKE US NEXT – YOU DECIDE…  VOTE NOW - https://twitter.com/OldHellfire/status/1188923499030732800  

All my best to you all!  

Jamie