Nova Aetas: Renaissance

Designer Diary #6 - Big Guys!
over 2 years ago – Mon, Aug 09, 2021 at 02:51:44 AM

Hello Heroes!

New Nova Aetas Renaissance update with big news and important information regarding the state of work and production.

New PU Samples are coming from the factory where the pre-production phase of the miniatures is continuing at full speed, and in the last package received we found a really ... huge surprise!

Well yes! As you can see in the pics, the absolute protagonist of this new PU sample shipment was your beloved Draco! We too were impressed to see his physical version! We knew he was going to be big, but finally seeing him live and not on a screen really blew us away! 

We are sure you too will appreciate this truly remarkable model that perfectly embodies the Dragon-Dinosaur mix (not surprisingly renamed "Dinodraco" by the community) characteristic of the Nova Aetas setting! When you face his Mini-Campaign, you will discover numerous details about the origins of these powerful and ancient beings that will also reveal to you why the dragons of the world of NAR have this so original aspect!

But the surprises don't stop there! We can also show you, two other models, very much anticipated by all of us and you!

Also the mighty Minotaur is definitely impressive in his physical form! The miniature has undergone a little restyling compared to the one shown during the KS Campaign, its size has also been increased to make it towering over the playing field, be prepared for a no-quarter battle when you will meet this fierceful beast in your campaign!

We conclude this roundup of PU samples with one of the most loved models by the community and certainly one of the most successful "inspired by" characters in the history of LMS.

We are obviously talking about the Mediceo! Finally, we can admire his physical form, and in this case as well we are really proud of the final result.

The pose and tension of the original concept have been kept to perfection in the miniature that shows us this hero as one of the coolest characters in NAR's entire collection of miniatures.

What do you think? Are you already in love with these miniatures like we are? Give us your feedback and expect more miniatures in the next updates!

Production Update

As many of you know, the production of a game like Nova Aetas Renaissance goes on two main lines that move in parallel, one linked to the production of materials, in particular miniatures, illustrations, and graphic layouts, another linked to the development of the game, of the narrative campaigns, of the rules, of the balance of the various missions.

The production of the materials is proceeding well, as per the original plan, and with quality levels that make us really happy with the final results. The development of the game is instead making more effort, unfortunately lagging behind the predetermined plan.

COVID-19 restrictions applied in Italy from December 2020 to mid May 2021 have completely blocked external playtesting, a fundamental activity for the development of a game as vast as NAR. To overcome this issue, we tried to use tools to manage playtests remotely (video conference, TTS, etc.), but the results were not up to the need.

The good news is that playtests have finally restarted, and thanks to the resumption of this activity, lot of the material developed in the previous months is finally under review. Unfortunately, starting the review about 6 months late compared to original schedule, will inevitably lead to a delay in production times and consequently, we will have to postpone the delivery of NAR compared to what was announced during the KS.

We could try to speed up all those processes, or eventually even cut the number of playtests & review cycles, but this would more likely translate into a loss in the quality of the game experience. Announcing a project delay is never pleasant, but as we've always said, the priority for us is to deliver a game that is not only beautiful to look at but also great to play. 

At the moment we can estimate a delay of about 6 months for final delivery, hoping to be able to work without other hitches and shorten these times if possible.

As always we will continue to keep you informed of all developments and thank you for the support and trust you are giving us!

See you with the next update within a couple of weeks with new miniatures and previews!

Happy summer everyone!

Pledge Manger Update and....Miniatures!
almost 3 years ago – Sun, Jul 25, 2021 at 04:17:31 PM

Hello Heroes!

As announced in the last Update, the Pledge Manager of Nova Aetas Renaissance officially closed on July 18th.

As we said, the closure of the PM will not prevent latecomers from completing their survey even from now on, but consider that with the start of mass production, we will sign with the factory quantities of the goods to be produced and commit to that production locking the costs of raw materials. Those quantities will be based on orders closed on Backerkit, plus an extra quantity to cover some potential additional orders and replacements.

This means that we will have an extra availability for each item, which can be used to cover some late orders that will arrive from now on. Once this extra quantity is over, orders will be definitively closed.

This means that if you have not yet completed your survey, you can still do it, but we invite you to act as soon as possible, to avoid potential stock issues.

For any problem or question, as always, please contact our support service at this link:

LMS LITE SUPPORT CENTER

And now a quick update about the production.

Despite the problems caused by the Covid-19, the work on the miniatures went on without particular problems, and therefore we are very happy to show you the first PU samples for Catacomb expansion models!

PU samples are the first copies of the models that the factory produces and sends us for the final approval on the material and details quality, before the start of mass production.

We are very satisfied with the results, therefore we are happy to share with you the pictures of these models and let you appreciate their quality and level of detail. We are sure that you will agree with us that the NAR miniatures will be a real feast for your eyes!

See you soon and Happy Summer everyone!

Designer Diary #5 - Into the Forge
almost 3 years ago – Fri, Jul 09, 2021 at 01:52:48 AM

Hello Heroes!

Welcome to the hottest place on the Italian peninsula!

Today we will take a closer look inside the "Vesuvio", one of the most dangerous volcano in history, inhabited by mythological creatures called Cyclops, led by their king Vesuvio.

The story of the "Vesuvio" expansion takes place between the main campaign of Nova Aetas and Under Siege (you can find more details on this expansion in Update #41).

Your mercenary company will be hired by the population living on the slopes of Mount Vesuvio, for protection from the increasingly frequent incursions of a mysterious cult, which more and more frequently attacks the villages of the area in search of mysterious stones.

Your heroes will begin to investigate the cult of the "Sons of the Forge", in a series of tactical and narrative adventures that will lead them to explore cities buried for centuries, caves and tunnels full of asphyxiating gases, trying to reach the heart of the volcano, where the powerful Forge of Vesuvius resides.

The expansion will add a new campaign consisting of 10 missions, with 4 different endings, and it will add 2 new tiles, new crafting items, and of course a host of new fearsome Enemies. The Scarfaces, the cult members who take out one eye to honor their masters,  led by burly Head Cultists and accompanied by terrifying fiery beasts.

But the most dangerous Enemies will be the Cyclops, with their formidable strength and endurance, led by their powerful King Vesuvio, one of the bosses who will put your skills to the test the most!

In addition to the enemies represented by new and splendid miniatures, many of the enemies of the base game will do their part to hinder your heroes, new Enemy Cards will differentiate their abilities and characteristics from the classic versions. For example, the miniature of the Gipsy will be used in Vesuvio with a new guise of "Fire Witch", the flaming mage of the cult!

The heroes will also have to contend with the prohibitive environmental conditions that they will find inside the volcano. Environmental effects such as Fatigue and Extreme Heat will require different tactical choices than usual. Luckily the traders of the towns and villages in the area will be able to offer you useful items to help you during this extreme journey... after all, you are about to enter a volcano!

What do you think? Are you ready to face the unstoppable force of Vesuvio?

We remind you that you have until July 18th to complete your Survey on BackerKit, if you have already closed your Pledge Manager, but want to add something more, you can use the link you received via e-mail or use the normal access you find. here:

NAR Pledge Manager

Once logged in, just follow the simple procedure described in Update # 40.

For any problem, as always, you can contact our support service at this link:

LMS LITE SUPPORT CENTER

Under Siege new models

In the last update we talked you more about Under Siege Expansion, we just received from the factory some PU samples for the new miniatures. We're really happy about the result, here you have some pictures, let us know!

Playtests restarted!

In Italy all the actions implemented to fight COVID 19 combined with vaccine campaign are giving very positive results, restrictions in place have been finally reduced during the last month! This is a great news as it means that we are finally getting out of the horrible situation that has lasted for over a year ... Going into our specific activity, it is a great news because we finally have been able to restart playtest sessions in our office!

As you can imagine, for the quality of the final game, we focus a lot on this moment of meeting with the playtesters, and therefore being able to organize these sessions again is of vital importance for the development of Nova Aetas and all the other games.

LMS is not going on holiday this year (among other things, we have an important appointment on August 24th... Black Rose Wars: Rebirth!), we will use these summer months as much as possible to try make up for the time lost due to the COVID-19.

That's all for today, see you soon!

Designer diary #4 - Rome Under Siege!
almost 3 years ago – Sat, Jun 26, 2021 at 01:42:14 AM

Hello Heroes!

In this update, we will take a closer look at another NAR great expansion: Under Siege!

Under Siege is one of the most unique expansions ever created for one of our games.

The plot of this expansion is based on a very famous and well-documented blood-soaked historical event: the Sack of Rome in 1527, at the hands of the imperial troops of Charles V of Habsburg.

Lansquenets, Spaniards, and bands of Italian mercenaries, crossed Italy arriving in Rome,

devastating and oppressing it, halving its population in the course of a year.

For many historians, The Sack of Rome is the event that set the end of the Renaissance.

But the historical period has also given us many important characters, including Giovanni dalle Bande Nere.

Taking inspiration from all these information, we have included 2 main plots in the campaign.

The first is a "what if" with Giovanni dalle Bande Nere who does not die in an attempt to stop the German army, here he helps our heroes to defend Rome (with a twist of fantasy element coming directly from the Black Forest), the second is more linked to the real historical events. Both plots will lead to a total of 4 different endings.

One of the things we had the most fun with was the reconstruction of Rome, you will be able to visit several of its Neighborhoods (aka "Rioni"), highlighted on the map. Given the frenetic sequence of events during the Imperial Siege, the Neighborhoods will work very similarly to the Main Campaign Towns. So, depending on the Neighborhood where you find yourself at the end of a Mission, you can carry out various activities during the Rest Phase, before throwing yourself into the desperate defense of the Eternal City.

In terms of gameplay, you will face Von Frundsberg, the old troop commander, 2 units of Lansquenets, a unit of Spanish Lansquenets and Italian bandits... as well as a mighty Werewolf!

With the help of Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, some missions will bring you through the old districts of Rome, with a spectacular 3D reconstruction of the “Passetto”, a long fortified path that served to take to safety the Pope, linking San Pietro to Castel Santangelo fortress.

Giovanni dalle Bande Nere acts as an Ally, he is a special character with his own special card that can be used in any NAR campaign or mission. Allies will add new tactical options during missions, they are perfect to create a large group of Heroes, especially when playing solo!

Under Siege's last surprise is Brynhildr the Lancer, a warrior from the lands of the North who follows Viking traditions, pervaded by the power of the ancient Norse gods. The young woman chased the imperial army to put an end to an ancient curse.

This new Hero will impress you with her abilities, they combine divine powers with martial skills, she is capable to control the battleground and inflict massive damage to the Enemies. But be careful, she can't count on a great resistance like Valerio and Gregorio.

Are you ready to go through this dark historical event?

Next week we will publish a new update dedicated to the Vesuvius expansion!

Pledge Manager

We are approaching the closure of the Pledge Manager. As we received several requests from you, to allow some more time to the backers who have not yet completed their survey, the closure date will be July 18th.

What will happen after July 18th?

With the start of mass production, we will sign with the factory quantities of the goods to be produced and commit to that production locking the costs of raw materials. Those quantities are based on orders closed on Backerkit, plus an extra quantity to cover some potential additional orders and replacements.

This means that we will have an extra availability for each item, which can be used to cover some late orders that will arrive from now on.

Once this extra quantity is over, orders will be definitively closed.

This means that if you have not yet completed your survey, you can still do it after July 18th, but we invite you to act as soon as possible, to avoid potential stock issues.

We remind you that all NAR orders on Backerkit have been reopened, therefore everyone has the possibility to add items to their orders. The procedure for accessing your orders again was explained in the second part of Update # 40.

To access your order you can use the link that was sent to you by BK via email or use this link:

NAR Pledge Manager

For any problem, as always, please contact our support service at this link:

LMS LITE SUPPORT CENTER

That's all for today! See you next week for a new Update!

Designer Diary #3 plus Pledge Manager Update!
almost 3 years ago – Mon, May 24, 2021 at 01:23:00 AM

Hello Heroes!
  Welcome to a new update full of important news ... a slightly different Designer Diary!
  Let's start immediately by talking about the Pledge Manager, which according to our original plans should have closed at the end of May.
  Following your many requests, we have decided to postpone the closing to July 1st 2021, thus allowing all of you to have more time to complete it!
  But it doesn't stop there! In this, and in future updates, we will analyze in more detail the most important expansions of NAR to give you more details that will be useful for you to decide whether or not to add them to your order.
  For today's Update, we couldn't help but start with the most-awaited and requested of NAR's 3 big expansions, Catacombs!
  Ready to go down into the darkness?

CATACOMBS 

Italy is an ancient land.
Many catacombs have been excavated throughout its history, in the most remote places, and in the most disparate ways.
Visiting a city will often lead you to discover some of these mysterious places.
Welcome to dark and often forgotten tunnels, turned into catacombs and transformed into fantastic dungeons. Yes, because the peculiarity of this expansion is that it will allow you to experience an exciting "Dungeon Crawler" mode within Nova Aetas, allowing you to take a break from the standard Missions of the main Campaign to venture into these forgotten places full of mysteries.
  One of the options that you will have when carrying out the Rest Phase in a city (usually between one main Mission and another) will be to venture into its underground.
  In a section of some City Cards, you will find the CATACOMB Keyword and basic information that will help you decide whether or not to go down through its tunnels.
  Usually, you will find 2 pieces of information: the type of opponents you will face, listed by factions, and if the catacombs in question have special rules, for example by visiting those of Venice you may find yourself facing the encroaching water that will slowly fill the corridors and rooms with the rising tide.
  Other rules related to darkness or poisonous miasmas may hinder you in other areas.

  Enemies within a catacomb will always be represented by the various Undead included in this expansion, and by one or more Factions from the base game. You may encounter groups of marauders who went underground with the same purposes you had, or religious fanatics intent on cleaning up the evil from these places (and who will obviously consider YOU "evil" as well!!!) You may even find enemies that are not from the dead of ancient times … younger than the ancient ones who roam the catacombs, who in this case will be undead versions of normal enemies you often face.

  But the real antagonists of the Catacombs will always be the fearful Undead, the ancient bodies of the Roman era awakened by dark and evil magic (or perhaps technology?). Starting from the Legionaries who will overwhelm you with their numbers, supported by the lethal Centurions, up to the Patricians and the terrible Abomination that will put your skills to the test with his fetid presence.

  Once you have chosen whether to face the catacombs, you can choose – based on the time available –whether you take a quick run or explore the entire catacomb; this will change the number of rooms and corridors you will need to visit and also the difficulty of the dungeon. Generally, the longer catacombs will be the most difficult ones and will require more time and better preparation to deal with their many hazards.

  Each catacomb to be explored will refer to a specific page of the rules, where all the special rules will be explained, and how to build the enemy draft deck and the exploration deck made up of the Catacombs Cards.

The main purpose of these explorations is to recover rare materials and objects, such as formulas or new equipment.   Failing to complete it in time will not result in particular penalties for the purposes of the main campaign, but it could lead to the loss of all or part of your loot.   Each Catacomb is formed, according to the chosen difficulty, by a certain number of Catacomb Cards that will describe its rooms and corridors.

  The corridors will have tables directly on their reference card that will tell you what type of event can take place inside them. The rooms, in addition to random events, will always guarantee you a reward once cleared.

 Some Heroes, especially Luca (the mythical Hero included in the expansion), will have skills that will allow you to better survive in the catacombs and their special rules. For example, our Grave Robber, thanks to the “Underground Explorer” ability, once per dungeon will be able to discard a freshly drawn Catacomb Card and draw a new one; a skill that used at the right time, can greatly help to complete the mission in time.

  Therefore, each group that will leave for exploration will need to be well studied to perform better within a particular catacomb: a group that will need to race against time, perhaps because of the rising tide, should be made up of heroes with better movement skills, while longer missions in dungeons saturated with poisonous miasmas will be easier if faced by a group of hardy heroes or with exceptional healing skills.

Visiting the Catacombs of Rome, you can decide to explore the Domus Aurea, the ancient home of Nero. This will start a mini-campaign of 3 Missions linked to this famous Roman Emperor.
  This mini-campaign will have special rules and will lead you to face many characters of Roman history, culminating in a hunt that will give access to spectacular rewards!

  We really hope we've piqued your curiosity and increased your hype about this expansion!

  In case you have already completed your order, do not worry: even after the many requests received, we have proceeded to reopen all orders that have already been closed, in order to allow you to add new add-ons.
  To do this, just follow these simple steps:
  Once you have clicked on your invite link (or log into your BackerKit account), you will find yourself on the screen shown below. At this point, just click on the "Edit you address" button.

  You will then arrive at this new page where you need to click on the “Edit Add-ons” button! 

  Then you will return to the Survey page that will allow you to add new add-ons to your order!

Easy right? Once the payment methods have been confirmed, all you need to do is wait for your card to be Charged which, for all those who have added items to their order, will take place in the first days of July.
  For any problems you can contact our support service using this link:
 

LMS SUPPORT CENTER

  We hope you enjoyed this long overview of the Catacombs! In the next update, we'll give you more information on NAR's other two big expansions: Vesuvio and Under Siege!

  See you soon!