Special notice for customers who bought the Four Corners expansion or who are thinking of picking up a copy from a retailer in the near future. A couple of map files from the very first batch needed emergency revision (it's a long story). Please be aware you can order the revised maps from Blue Panther LLC at no charge. The maps in question are the pair for the Carnatic War module. As of 17 October 2022 BP will only be printing the corrected maps, so replacement only applies to copies bought direct from them prior to this date, or to retailer copies that might have been sitting on the shelf for a while.
20 September 2022 General News
The following is a copy of the latest newsletter.
RSG is pleased to announce the release of two new titles: The Last Labour of Hercules, and Four Corners. Both games are now available to order from Blue Panther LLC.
There are a couple of caveats. [Since publication of his letter, these should have been dealt with - the games are now shipping.]
Product webpages already exist at Red Sash Games but it will take a few days for Blue Panther to activate theirs, so you will have to email them with your requests. You can find the prices at RSG.
Please be aware that Blue Panther has only had a couple of weeks notice about these titles, so production may take longer than expected, especially since they will need to source wooden cubes and card decks for one of the titles. Personally, I would base my expectations on them beginning work at the start of October. If they turn out to be faster, that’s a plus.
We regret that Red Sash Games will not be offering the traditional preorder discounts. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, there is no longer any need to present the manufacturer with a ‘batch order’ to reduce the set up fees. But, more importantly, the Europeans can no longer take advantage of the discount; it would not be fair to offer it to only some of you.
Print and Play copies are now available at RSG. As I mentioned before, one of the titles requires cards. As usual these will be available at the DriveThru Cards website. But, because I need to receive proofs and submit approval before physical decks are made public - a process which will apparently take a few weeks, you cannot buy the physical decks just yet. The card PDFs are available as a free download at DriveThru.
[The LLH decks are now available, both to download as PDFs and to order as physical copies.]
A reminder: Blue Panther is willing to supply physical counter sets for the PnP copies, at a cost of $7 USD per sheet.
The Games
The Last Labour of Hercules is a two-player ‘light’ wargame about the English occupation of Tangier from 1662 to 1684. It combines two different styles of play. Periods of preparation and lulls in the action are resolved through card play, while siege actions (there will be more than one) use a map of Tangier, with point-to-point movement and forces represented by wooden cubes. The game is a race to see who can accomplish their objectives first.
Four Corners is a collection of four expansions in the Sea Lords series (one is actually a companion for Heirs of the Golden Horde) . The expansions are:
King George’s War, supplementing Yellow Jack and featuring the siege of Louisbourg.
Eastern Med, supplementing Mistral by adding the rest of the Mediterranean. This expansion includes the 2.0 Upgrade kit (especially the counters) which was previously only available as a PnP.
Black Sea (the actual name is in Turkish), which can link to the Med but which is to be used with the Lace Wars game Türkenkrieg and its expansion, Heirs of the Golden Horde.
Carnatic War, which covers naval action off the Coromandel Coast (the section of India opposite Sri Lanka). This map does not physically join with any others but you will need Cold Waves for the counter mix.
These expansions will NOT be sold separately as folios (ziplock). However, if you are only interested in one or two topics , and are willing to accept a PnP copy, we should be able to come to some arrangement.
New Projects
There is still no shortage of subject matter for new games. Some of you have asked about SYW, the French and Indian War, Napoleon’s campaigns, and even WWII. None of those are off the table, but I do think there are many fine titles out there on those subjects, making them less of a priority. So, the immediate project is going to be a game about the Fronde.
If you buy our games you probably know what the Fronde was (not that any source I have read has really been able to define it). Very superficially, toward the end of the Thirty Years War, and with the death of Louis XIII, France went into a period of turmoil. It was because of the Fronde that Louis XIV established an absolute monarchy. As conceived at present the game will be a four-way power play between various elite factions: Mazarin, Retz, Condé, and the Cabal des Importants (a coven of idle rich women and their husbands/lovers). Two- and three- player options will be available. Unless it proves unworkable the game system will probably be very similar to the one developed for Parcel o' Rogues.
After the Fronde, which hopefully will be released late in 2023, our projects will probably return to conventional wargaming.
That’s all for now.
Remember, if you have any questions or suggestions about rules, upcoming designs, etc. please feel free to write to me at the above email address. I do respond on FaceBook, BGG, and Consimworld, but not regularly.
Questions about production, shipping, pricing, etc. must be directed to Blue Panther LLC. They handle all of that.
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18 July 2022 General News
The following is a copy of the latest newsletter.
Blue Panther LLC is now producing our entire line under license. They now are the only manufacturer as I was unfortunately forced to terminate arrangements with the local printers. The parting was amicable, but due to personnel challenges they will not be in a position to to fulfil requirements for some time.
Current Shipping Status
The 15 January production run is now complete. Canadian orders were the last fulfilled and are probably still in the mail. Additional orders made through the end of June have likewise been fulfilled, as have the issuing of replacement parts. If you ordered a game in July, BP will get those out to you in mid August.
If you have not yet received your game and think you should have, please write to Blue Panther LLC (address below).
Ordering Games
As of now, the old pattern of asking for orders and starting a print run after X amount are collected is defunct. Everything is ‘on demand’ (although you should still expect 2-3 weeks for manufacturing - the games are big).
So, who to order from?
If you want PnP, order from Red Sash Games. Those prices have not and will not change, and all the payment buttons and links will continue to work (I hope).
If you want a boxed game and live anywhere but Europe, order direct from Blue Panther. They are creating dedicated catalogs for each of the companies they deal with, so there is a Red Sash Games section. If you do not see the game you want listed, check back with the Red Sash Games site or send an email.
NOTE: for the next week or so, please DO NOT buy a boxed game through the RSG site! Email first and we will make arrangements. The prices have radically - radically - changed. The RSG site should be revised by the end of this week, after which you will be able to see the damages but will be unable to harm your pocketbook through knee-jerk reaction to a cart button.
If you want a boxed game and live in Europe, order from these companies (I won’t add the URLs since you already know them):
Agorajeux
Second Chance Games
Noble Knight Games (US-based but they ship worldwide)
Product Support
Regarding Support Materials for the games (rulebooks, squadron log sheets, etc.), they will still be available on the Red Sash Games site.
Re missing or damaged components, the people to talk to are Blue Panther LLC. They now handle all manufacturing, packing, and shipping. There have been a few issues during this transitional period; I am actually relieved there have not been more. BP has been very good at fixing problems. They replace items at no charge. So be sure and write to them if you want justice :)
BPs' email is questions@bluepantherllc.com.
Red Sash Games email is administrator@redsashgames.com.
Pricing
I am going to talk pricing one last time. Once the websites are updated you will see that almost all games have gone way up in price. The short reason for this is the global economy. But also, RSG’s prices have basically remained fixed since 2004, in part because the local print shop was, unknown either to myself or the company owner, undercharging me by a significant amount. That came to a screeching halt during the last audit. So, you will see the biggest increase with the oldest games.
The way it works now is that BP sets prices based on what it costs them to manufacture. Margins, FYI have not changed - parameters are actually pretty strictly limited by the dynamics of the industry.
When the economy improves, the prices should come down again. Also, with about 50% of our customer base in the USA, shipping is now much cheaper.
Discounts?
Although the games are now available on demand I think we can maintain the policy of a one-off discount on new titles. I will have to coordinate with BP on this, but I expect that when a new title is announced, there will be a short period where you can get a 25-30% discount, though only on that game. Unfortunately, European customers can’t benefit, but stores will of course run their own specials and clearances.
Upcoming Releases
We hope to have two new titles available by the fall (prices TBA):
Four Corners (working title). A quad expansion pack for the Sea Lords series including King George's War (expansion for Yellow Jack), an Eastern Med extension for Mistral, a Black Sea map for use with Heirs of the Golden Horde (connects with the East Med map, too), and Carnatic War (the Indian Ocean), which is technically a Cold Waves expansion but plays on its own.
The Last Labour of Hercules. A Euro-style two-player game about the long siege of Tangier in the 1660s and 1670s. This one is small and fast.