Raid is coming to Canada (finally)!!
4 months ago – Mon, Dec 11, 2023 at 10:57:57 AM

Hello Viking Warriors!

Fulfillment in Canada has presented far more challenges than we would have expected, but we have a plan and Raid is going to be landing on the shores of your northern country very soon!

We are going to unlock addresses for Canadian Raid backers in BackerKit one last time and give you an opportunity to update your shipping address in case it has changed. Expect an email from BackerKit today and please check your address + update if necessary in the next 2 days as we will be printing labels and packing all the Canadian rewards up later this week.

Outside of Canada, there aren't many other backers still waiting, but we will shift our focus to those of you who haven't received yours right after Canada is en route. That includes about 30 backers in Asia and a small number in others parts of the world.

We will also unlock shipping address for any non-Canadian backers who are still waiting on their rewards and send an email from BackerKit to finalize your address this week.

Thanks for your patience and Happy Holidays!

- The Modern Games Team

Raid is 92% Fulfilled
8 months ago – Mon, Sep 11, 2023 at 12:55:48 PM

Hello Viking Warriors!

We are long overdue for an update and apologize for that. 

The good news is that nearly all backer rewards have shipped and most of you should have Raid in hand. As the title of this update indicates—92% of backers have been fulfilled. That includes backers in the US, UK, EU, AU and NZ. 

If you are in one of the few backers in those regions that hasn't received your copy of Raid yet AND haven't already contacted us about it, please do let us know via Kickstarter messaging. We are working on resolving any remaining delivery issues over the next few weeks. If you've already contacted us, no need to reach out again just yet.

For Canadian backers, we have encountered a number of issues in our attempts to fulfill rewards up north of the US border. Our original, non-Kickstarter fulfillment partner in Canada, wasn't equipped to handle the unique needs of a Kickstarter fulfillment and we decided to shift to a new partner. Unfortunately, that didn't go as planned and we've had to start the process over again. We are in the late stages of selecting what we hope will be our final Canadian fulfillment partner and our goal is to have Raid in your hands before the end of the year (sooner ideally).

We are also exploring another path where our US fulfillment partner would prepare all of the rewards for shipment including applying the Canadian postage to the shipping boxes, pack all of the individual shipments up into bigger boxes and ship them up to someone in Canada who can drop them at Canada Post. It's not ideal to do it this way, but we are working on this solution as an alternative. 

We appreciate your patience as we work through what has turned out to be a much more complicated fulfillment process in Canada than we expected.

We are also finalizing plans to get the ROTW shipments out and in your hands before the end of the year as well. Shipping across borders is more complicated and we want to make sure we get it right as it's very expensive when mistakes are made.

Thanks again for all your support as we work to wrap up Raid fulfillment!

- the Modern Games team

Shipping Updates for Around the World
almost 1 year ago – Mon, Apr 24, 2023 at 09:53:42 AM

Hello, Viking Warriors!

Father Finian sat his quill down with a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. The shouting outside had only grown louder since it began, and he was beginning to think he could detect something burning.

Someone called his name. There was an urgency in the voice, not typically heard within the walls of the monastery.

Yes, he definitely smelled smoke.

Hurrying outside, he followed the short path toward the beach. There had been omens and portents in recent months: lightning strikes, high and swirling winds, failing crops. He had dismissed them all as vagaries of the weather. Brother Simon swore that a ewe on the far side of the island had birthed a two-headed lamb, but Finian hadn’t seen it for himself.

Now, as the shore darkened with strange and hairy men—seemingly disgorged from the bellies of massive sea creatures with leering grins—it was difficult to deny that the signs had been there. Two especially large specimens strode toward an already crackling fire, barked at a man tending the driftwood logs, and then turned and pointed at Father Finian.

“Well,” he muttered, “I suppose there’s no stopping them now.”

* * *

It’s time for a shipment update! 58% of backers who have completed all the necessary details for us to fulfill their pledge, have had their copy of Raid shipped out. Raid is moving, and the number of people who have the game in their eager hands is only going to go up from here.

If you live in the United States, you should already have it (with a few P.O. box-based exceptions). So if you’re a U.S. resident still awaiting your copy, please send us a message ASAP so we can troubleshoot the issue and ensure the game is delivered as it’s supposed to be.

As for the rest of the world, here’s where things stand. Please know that we update you with information once we get that information:

United Kingdom/European Union

Our expectation is that backers will receive address confirmation emails from Spiral Galaxy starting Friday, April 28. Dispatch of the games themselves will begin within the following two weeks.

Australia/New Zealand

Aetherworks reports that they’re scheduling to start shipments the week of May 8. We had hoped the date would be sooner, but they cited a “sudden and heavy staff shortage” that caused delays in their schedule.

Canada

Unfortunately, our current shipment partner is not meeting our expectations, so we are transitioning to a new partner in order to distribute Raid efficiently and as soon as possible. The good news is that the first order of business for this new partner is to focus on fulfilling Raid for Kickstarter backers.

Rest of the World

For backers not in the countries and territories listed above, we’re currently in the process of making more fulfillment arrangements. These games will ship to backers in various parts of the world from our United Kingdom warehouse, where the inventory is already waiting. We will provide an update with a more concrete timeline for these backers as soon as we have the necessary information.

So there you have it. Maybe we can start making Hot Viking Spring a thing? Anybody know how to get that trending?

Until next time!

— Ryan & the Modern Games team

Raid Is Arriving!
about 1 year ago – Fri, Feb 17, 2023 at 08:27:54 AM

Hello, Viking Warriors!

This is just a quick update to confirm that Raid is now arriving on doorsteps in the US.

You see, I'm not just some guy who writes tales and timelines. I'm also a backer! So I was delighted to get an email just after midnight yesterday, telling me that my copy of Raid had shipped. I was even more delighted—and quite surprised—when my dog started barking her head off later that afternoon, indicating that a dreaded delivery person had broached our perimeter and was trying (in her mind) to kill the family.

As usual, that brave soul in brown shorts was not an evil assassin, but was merely dropping off a package. When I opened the box, there was a beautiful Raid Kickstarter Exclusive and Asgard Expansion tucked inside! If you (like me) are in California, you should be getting a similar package of your own soon, with more regions to follow.

In the US, backers in California, Oregon, Colorado, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico and Texas should have their games on the way. The rest of the states are being processed in the coming days. 

NOTE: pledges with T-shirts have not shipped yet, but will in the next week or so.

Canada/UK/EU/Australia/New Zealand/Asia/ROTW backers should expect orders to begin shipping in the next couple weeks. We're working to get all of those flowing as well!

Let us know as your own copies arrive!

Until next time!

— Ryan & the Modern Games team

It’s Time to Talk Shipping!
about 1 year ago – Sat, Jan 28, 2023 at 09:45:18 AM

Hello, Viking Warriors!

You know the drill: Greetings. Viking story. Update.

Well, hold on to your Helmuts, because this one’s big. We’ll be talking about global fulfillment details for the Raid Core Game, Kickstarter Exclusive, and Asgard Expansion—plus T-shirts—so feel free to skip to the part that explains what you need to know for your specific region or item of interest. You can also read it all to get a more worldly, global perspective.

But first...

Gratitude

To everyone who backed Raid, we are eternally grateful to each of you for taking a chance with us on our first analog card game. We thought we were ready to go to production when we ran the campaign, but we weren't and it took us a lot longer to get through manufacturing than we expected. Every step of the process has taken longer than expected. We encountered some challenges in pre-production and during mass production. We made some mistakes along the way which slowed things down as well. We realized we needed to get an expert rules writer involved and take another pass at the rules. At times, we had to prioritize other aspects of the studio in order to grow and ensure we are around to produce games like Raid, Beasts of Balance and other unannounced titles long into the future. 

Some of you have been frustrated at the time it has taken us to deliver Raid or the time between updates on progress—rightfully so. We are sorry for the frustrations along the way and we are sorry that it has taken us as long as it has to deliver Raid to you. Now that we are shifting into global fulfillment, we hope that the years of effort that went into the design and play testing of Raid prior to the campaign and the years it has taken post campaign to get it into your hands were worth it and that you love playing Raid as much as we do. Thank you for your support and for pushing us to do a better job communicating.

This being our first Kickstarter campaign, we have learned so much about what it takes to not only launch and fund a successful campaign, but expectations backers have in terms of regular communication and, of course, their excitement and desire to play the game they were excited enough to back in the first place in a timely manner. 

To everyone who backed Raid and joined us for this journey—thank you! We can't wait for you to play Raid with your friends and family in the coming weeks. :)  

United States/Canada

The ship carrying the Raid-filled container is currently en route to Port Oakland with an ETA of Jan. 29. We have already cleared U.S. Customs for the container, but still need to clear some Consumer Product Safety Commission red tape once it arrives. Keep in mind that we have seen items get delayed at Port Oakland for up to three weeks, so there’s potentially still some time to go, but as soon as it clears and is delivered to our warehouse, we will begin fulfilling orders for U.S. Kickstarter backers.

Once the games arrive at our U.S. warehouse, we will pack up the Canadian inventory and ship it north for processing and fulfillment.

United Kingdom

Raid inventory arrived at Spiral Galaxy this week. We have already collected the VAT for UK backers through BackerKit and are working to get fulfillment going.

European Union

Although Raid arrived at Spiral Galaxy in the UK this week (as mentioned above), rules for backer shipments into the EU were different when we ran the campaign and when we launched the pledge manager than they are today. EU law has changed, and we've been advised that we either need to ship DDP (Delivery Duty Paid) or DDU (Delivered Duty Unpaid) into the EU. Local VAT is required to be paid by law. Collecting it directly and remitting through Spiral Galaxy is going to save backers a lot of money (as opposed to making everyone pay it + extra processing fees upon delivery), so that’s how we’re leaning.

We are working with BackerKit to send out EU backer emails after we update them with the EU country-specific VAT percentage early next week. Each email will link to the backer’s pledge manager and show the updated VAT fees. We will then automatically collect payment on those fees through BackerKit next week.

Once the VAT fees are paid, Spiral Galaxy will fulfill the EU shipments.

Spiral Galaxy has indicated a preference for fulfilling the entire campaign at once—in both the UK and EU. This could impact when all backers in the region get their rewards, but we are talking with Spiral Galaxy to prioritize fulfillment for backers who are already fully paid, including VAT.

Australia/New Zealand

DHL shows that Raid inventory for Australia and New Zealand backers was delivered to Aetherworks on Jan. 25. Aertherworks has not confirmed this yet, but we are confident DHL tracking is accurate.

Aetherworks will begin fulfilling backer orders in Australia and New Zealand as soon as they can based on their current project commitments.

Asia

A land shipment to VFI Asia was sent out before Chinese New Year, but we currently aren't sure where it’s at in the journey due to the holiday. We expect VFI Asia will receive it soon and fulfill Asia backers once received.

Rest of the World

For countries and regions not specifically mentioned, we will be working with the most appropriate fulfillment partner mentioned above, depending on best available rates—and will ship ASAP.

"Wear" in the World

Don’t forget about T-shirts! Production is complete, and the shirts are en route to the various regions and fulfillment partners around the world. If you included a T-shirt in your pledge, it’s on the way along with your game.

Address Updates

To any backer who has requested an address update: We will be processing these requests prior to fulfilling pledges. You will receive a confirmation message in response to your request through Kickstarter messages—or email, if you sent your request directly via email.

So … that’s it for now. You can let go of any Helmuts you may have grabbed. Svens, too. Unless you want to keep holding on. Vikings are great at hugging.

Until next time!

— Ryan & the Modern Games team