Shipping Update - Game shipping after Chinese New Year
about 2 years ago – Tue, Feb 08, 2022 at 02:38:08 PM

Hi all,

We just wanted to post a status update for shipping for Sniper Elite. Unfortunately delays related to the safety testing meant that we were not able to ship the games on our intended schedule. All of the testing subsequently came back with no issues, but the huge demand for shipping prior to Chinese New Year made it impossible to secure shipping containers in January on short notice.

We’re currently working with our freight forwarder and fulfilment partners to book shipping for post-Chinese New Year, and are expecting to hear back from our Chinese contacts in the next couple of weeks once they have returned from their holidays.

Our expectation is that fulfilment will be delayed by a further 6 weeks, with stock arriving at our fulfilment centres from the end of April and fulfilment running throughout May and into early-June. We will be able to give a clearer picture of fulfilment by region once we have heard back from our freight forwarders and booked the new containers.

We really appreciate your understanding and patience with this, and are working to get the games to you as soon as we can. They are all ready to go, and we’ll keep you updated as soon as we have more information.

Many thanks,

Pete & the Rebellion Unplugged Team

MPS fully approved - incoming Pledge Manager deadlines.
over 2 years ago – Thu, Jan 06, 2022 at 12:33:15 AM

Happy New Year everyone!

We hope you’ve all had a good holiday break. The MPS has now been fully approved and production is due to finish shortly. This means that we remain on track to ship prior to Chinese New Year, with distribution scheduled to start in mid-late March.

There is still potential for delays due to the continued disruption to shipping, but we’re optimistic and excited about getting the games across to our distribution hubs and out to you all! We’ll keep you updated throughout the shipping process so you know when to expect your games.

Charging Cards, Pledge Manager, and Locking Addresses

We’ll be charging your cards on Friday 7 January for any outstanding funds (shipping, add-ons, and failed Kickstarter payments), and locking in your addresses on Tuesday 11 January, so please ensure you make any changes before then. As we’re based in the UK, backers in other time zones should make any final changes the night before (Monday 10 January) to ensure they’re in on time.

The Pledge Manager and Late Pledges will also be closing on 11 January, with preorders reopening on the Rebellion Unplugged website closer to the retail release date.

Please double check that the address you filled in on your survey is correct to avoid delays or our distributors delivering your games to the wrong address! You can do this by going to sniperelite.backerkit.com.

Many thanks,

Pete & the Rebellion Unplugged Team

The MPS samples are here - let's take a look!
over 2 years ago – Wed, Dec 29, 2021 at 10:11:56 PM

Hi folks,

There’s huge excitement with the Rebellion Unplugged team as our MPS copies have arrived and are looking great (photos to come in the second half of the update!).

We’ve checked through the games and have identified an issue with the clip-on bases fitting much too loosely to the miniatures (these are what indicates which squad a mini belongs to). This issue is something that our manufacturer flagged prior to the games arriving with us and they have already proposed a fix – in fact, they are so confident in the fix that they have begun mass-production of the new mini bases.

What does this mean for the schedule? 

We still need to approve the new bases – the samples have already been sent out to us and Duncan is ready to check them the moment they arrive. However, disruption due to the pandemic and Christmas postage could lead to delays with these arriving, and as we are getting closer and closer to Chinese New Year there is little margin for error.

In our previous update we had said that we anticipated the game arriving with our distributors and fulfilment starting in mid-late March. Provided we can approve the new bases ASAP that is still the case. However, if there are delays with this it could push shipping to post Chinese New Year, adding roughly 6-8 weeks to the current schedule.

We know this is frustrating, and share your frustration. Everything else with the games is looking great, so as soon as the bases are approved we’ll be good to go. We will post another update the moment we have more details for you.

Charging Cards

Provided the bases are approved, we will be charging your cards for the outstanding funds on 4 January. This is slightly earlier than we had planned due to getting an earlier shipment date for the finished games.

We will be locking addresses the following week (11 January), so please ensure the details you have on BackerKit are correct, especially if you are moving to a different country as we may need to redirect some stock to a different distribution hub.

We’ve had to accelerate this part of the process slightly to ensure that stock gets out before Chinese New Year, and appreciate your understanding on this!

If the bases are not approved and shipment is delayed until after Chinese New Year we will be charging your cards on 21 January and locking addresses the following week (28 January).

A Look at the MPS

On to the main event! Let’s start by taking a look at the core game.

Here’s a look inside the core box. The insert has been designed so that the German defenders will fit with or without their clip-on bases, meaning you can keep the same squads or switch them around for every game.

For the sleevers amongst you, the insert does accommodate sleeved cards. The cards measure 63x88mm, and a set of 100 will cover you for everything (55 cards in the core game, 40 cards in the expansion). 

Next let’s look at the components for the Launch Facility. Here is the main board, the Sniper Board, 9 objective cards, and 6 solo cards unique to this map.

All of the Sniper Boards are dry wipe with a sepia tone, with the colours for the different sections, features, and terrain types overlaid on top for clarity. As you can see, the dry-wipe pen is nice and clear on top of all the details of the map so the Sniper will have no problem keeping track of where they are!

The second map in the core game is the Submarine Pens, and here again we have the main board, Sniper Board, objective cards and solo cards.

If you’re wondering how to keep track of where you think the Sniper might be, there are 10 transparent tracking cubes that you can use however you wish. Your superiors won’t be worried about your methods as long as you stop the Allied Sniper.

Sniper Elite: The Eagle’s Nest

For the Eagle’s Nest expansion, you get two new maps (the Eagle’s Nest and the Heavy Water Facility), the four Allied Snipers, and new objective, loadout, and solo cards. These cards are the same size as those in the core game, and sleeved cards will fit into the insert.

Here you can see the specific components for the Eagle’s Nest map. The narrow corridors will make for some tense moments as guards will often only be a few spaces away from the Sniper. Whether they find them or not…well, that’s another question.

With all those tight spaces, the Knife is a new loadout card included in the expansion that can come in very handy when an enemy gets a little too close for comfort.

The final map to show you is the Heavy Water facility, a real challenge for both the Defenders and the Allied Sniper as they manoeuvre themselves around this map. 

Two of the new loadout cards – the diving gear and the climbing gear – can be particularly useful on the Heavy Water Facility, allowing you to bypass some of the natural barriers featured on the map. Of course, a well-placed mine or the judicious use of the Thompson SMG can be just as good.

The Deluxe Upgrade Kit

Finally, here’s a look inside the Deluxe Upgrade Kit, offering bespoke miniatures for each of the officers, two ferocious hounds, the Teste-Kill miniature, weighted clay shot tokens, and an oversized embroidered shot bag.

Those of you who have played War Chest will know what these tokens feel like – it’s very satisfying pulling them out of the bag when you take a shot. I almost don’t mind missing when I’m pulling out these tokens.

Here’s a closer look at each of the Specialists, as well as the two Guard Dog miniatures and the Teste-Kill mini. He’s definitely going to need a medic after that one!

It’s great to finally get to see the game all put together, and we can’t wait to get copies out to you all. We hope you are all getting a nice break at the end of the year and getting some good gaming in!

Many thanks,

Pete & the Rebellion Unplugged Team!

Sniper Elite Production Update
over 2 years ago – Sat, Nov 13, 2021 at 05:54:28 PM

Hey all,

I hope you've all had a great week!

I just wanted to bring you a status update for where we are with Sniper Elite: The Board Game. Apologies for the delay in getting this out to you all, we were waiting for responses to make sure that the information here is as accurate as possible.

The game is currently being manufactured at the factory in China, and at present is on track to ship before Chinese New Year. This would mean the game would arrive with our distributors in mid March, with fulfilment getting underway towards the end of March and running into April 2022.

This is unfortunately running behind our revised schedule. A major cause of this is that the delivery of samples from the factory that require our approval has been severely delayed by global postage issues. Even using reliable couriers we’re finding packages to and from China are taking four times as long to reach their destination. Each one of these delays adds up to 3 weeks to our schedules.

We’re doing everything we can to keep the schedule on track, and are checking the samples as soon as they come in. The only remaining approval is the Mass-Production Sample (MPS), but if there are further delays with the postage this could push things into Chinese New Year, adding roughly a month’s delay.

We’ll be putting out updates with each stage so that you’ll all know exactly where we are in the process.

Many thanks,

Pete & the Rebellion Unplugged team

Infiltrating the Eagle’s Nest - plus Pledge Manager deadline fast approaching!
over 2 years ago – Sat, Oct 02, 2021 at 11:41:54 PM

Hey all,

Today we’re talking about the Eagle’s Nest, one of the two maps included in the expansion. The other map you get in the expansion is the Heavy Water Facility, which you can take a look at in this update.

A quick bit of housekeeping before we get into it – a reminder that we’re going to be locking in your orders on Backerkit very soon. We’ll be hitting the button on Monday, 4th October, so you have until the end of the weekend to make sure you’ve ordered what you want. You can check on your pledge on the BackerKit website using the email address associated with your Kickstarter account.

You’ll still be able to make changes to your shipping details ahead of fulfilment.

The Eagle's Nest

The Eagle’s Nest – a luxurious retreat nestled in the mountains above the town of Berchtesgaden. While so much of Europe lies in ruins, this alpine hideaway offers a welcome escape for the Axis elite – unless the Allies have anything to do with it that is.

Made up of a series of narrow corridors and small rooms, this map has been specifically designed for frenetic, close-quarters action. Both the sniper and the defenders will find themselves battling the claustrophobic conditions just as much as each other, and a couple of false steps could be the difference between victory and defeat.

The first thing to note about the Eagle’s Nest is the special rules that apply when playing this map. Unlike on the other maps, there are no windows or holes in the interior walls, so they completely block line of sight for shooting, spotting, and searching. To shoot in or out of a room, you’ll need to make use of the doors – if you can draw line of sight to the door itself, you can shoot the space on the opposite side, and if you are standing in the doorway space you can draw line of sight to the spaces on the other side.

These added constraints force you to think even more carefully about the routes you are taking and how your opponent might counter you. As the sniper, the rules around Line of Sight might mean that shots you would have taken on the other maps give a bit too much information away now, while the defenders may find themselves frustrated by a slippery opponent who keeps darting from room to room.

Another interesting feature on this map is the Black starting space, coming out of the lift in the centre of the map. This can be an excellent entrance, giving you easy access into either the Red or Yellow sectors, but it’s not without its risks. It thrusts you right into the action, and if you get caught out early it’ll be easier for the defenders to punish you. The lift space itself is inaccessible – once you are out, there is no going back!

For defenders on this map, the Kennel Master is a specialist that can really help in those tight corridors. Not only do the dogs make it feel a bit more like home, they also bark up a storm whenever the sniper runs through their space – perfect for a map with so many choke points.

As the sniper, the S-Mine can be useful to keep a doorway or corridor clear, and bringing either the Tommy Gun or the Trench Gun to deal with enemies who get a bit too close is likely to come in handy as a last resort.

There is one extra piece of equipment we haven’t mentioned yet – the Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife. This is an extra loadout card that has been added to the expansion for when the enemy gets too close and the sniper needs to cut and run (literally). Giving away your position is always a risky choice, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Now that you've seen all four of the maps available in the core game and the expansion, which are you most excited to play on? Let us know in the comments section!

Thanks,

Pete & the Rebellion Unplugged team