project-image

The City of Kings: Ancient Allies and Vadoran Gardens

Created by Frank West

You and up to three friends must try to reclaim the realms. Explore, gather, trade and customise your hero to prepare for battle!

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Chapter 2 complete
about 5 years ago – Fri, Mar 01, 2019 at 01:40:08 AM

Hi everyone,

It is time for us to wrap up the campaign, by now everyone should have received their games and I want to thank you all for the incredible journey that has been Ancient Allies and Vadoran Gardens. I’m so pleased to see the next part of The City of Kings out in the world and I look forward to sharing more adventures with you in the years to come. 

Keeping in touch

I believe in keeping marketing, emails and, general communications to a minimum and as such I will not be sending out updates on this campaign when future projects launch.

If you wish to be kept in the loop, please sign up for the newsletter on our website (it’s at the bottom of the page).

Contact and Questions

If you have any questions about replacement parts, lost orders or other queries then please use our Contact Page  and select the appropriate method.

Buying the game, upgrades, accessories and expansions

If you are late to the campaign, or would like to upgrade your adventure then you can find all of the various items available on our store.  You can also find The City of Kings, World Packs, and Vadoran Gardens in your local retail store.

New Stories and Scenarios (Print & Play content)

This week I am releasing 15 new scenarios and 1 extra story for The City of Kings, these are all available for free and can be downloaded today. They introduce a variety of new objectives, new rules and some epic adventures!

This includes an extended story which will take you through every map tile, all 7 bosses and a variety of challenges in the base game over a 12 – 18 hour period.

You can see a full list of all the new content here.

Competition winners

For the past few weeks I have been running 3 competitions for The City of Kings and today I would like to announce the results.

Best painted miniature

This was incredibly hard to judge, there were over 100 entries in the end, and I can’t believe the quality of paintings submitted! Rather than just sharing the winner, I thought I would select my favourite for each character, and then provide 1st, 2nd and 3rd place.

The winner was Gary Sailor with an incredible looking Rapuil, I’ll be in touch soon to arrange your prize!

Best photo

The range of photos submitted was equally challenging, from game shots and setups, to scenic views and custom designs. This was tough to judge but in the end,  I decided this photo from Laurent Mottais provided a beautiful look into the world and had to take first place.

Best custom scenario

I would like to put a special thank you to those of you who took the time to design new scenarios and enter them into the competition. There have been loads of custom scenarios added to Board Game Geek over the last month (you can find them here) and I hope to see these continue to be made.

Some of my favourite ideas from the entries included expanding boards, time travel between green and orange tiles, burning wood to clear a frost covered board and spending resources to create maps of unexplored locations.

In the end though the winner was Kai Puolakanaho with City Under Siege, an incredible scenario where players defend against a siege of endless creatures, trying to defend towers and survive long enough for the enemy to retreat.

Unfortunately, this scenario isn’t yet on Board Game Geek, but hopefully it will be soon. Once it is, I will post a link in this thread so keep your eyes open and check back soon.

UK Games Expo

I am about to start looking for volunteers to help demo The City of Kings and Vadoran Gardens at the UK Games Expo. Ideally, I’m looking for people who are very familiar with either of the games and would like to spend time at the show demo’ing them. If this is something you would like to do, please use the general enquiry details here and let me know.

Thank you

That’s it, we are at the end and both Sara and I would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You’ve changed our lives, we look forward to seeing you at future shows or perhaps our next Kickstarter. Have a fantastic day, enjoy March and perhaps we’ll meet again before the end of 2019 ;)

- Frank

It's February and competition time!
about 5 years ago – Tue, Feb 05, 2019 at 01:12:15 AM

Shipping status: Complete

Hey everyone, happy February!

I think we did it? Just about everyone received their game in January and it’s been great to see so many photos, discussions and videos about the games. I hope you continue to enjoy them for years to come.

I know there are a few people who are still waiting on their package to arrive, and I apologise to those of you who’s pledge is taking longer to travel to your home than desired. Please know, your games are well on their way to you and you should receive a knock on the door at any moment.

I mentioned last week that the Print & Play content for The City of Kings will release at the end of February, so rather than go silent for 4 weeks I wanted to use this time to celebrate the new content.

It’s competition time!

Today I would like to announce 3 competitions which start now and will close on the 25th February at midnight GMT.

Each competition is designed to find “the best” of something and I hope you all have fun creating your entries.

Competition 1: The best painted miniature

Competition 2: The best photo

 Competition 3: The best custom scenario.

For more details on what to do and prizes, please follow the links.

The next update I send out will be at the end of February, this will contain the release information of the Print & Play files, announce the winners of these competitions and say good bye as we close off the project.

I hope you all have a fantastic February and best of luck in the competitions!

- Frank

Fulfilment update, replacement parts and our shop is live!
about 5 years ago – Thu, Jan 24, 2019 at 01:36:37 AM

Shipping Status: Complete!

Hey everyone,

How's your week going? Mine has been amazing so far, it's incredible to see so many people playing The City of Kings, Vadoran Gardens, painting miniatures and just generally talking about the games.

I've also been blown away by how many people voted for Rising Blades last week, we went from around 30th to 2nd place, Thank you!

Today I'm also pleased to announce our store is live, a place to buy upgrades, promos, limited edition prints, accessories and of course our games, but more on that further down the page.

Fulfilment Update

Fulfilment is complete and everyone's game has been shipped. It will still take some time for some of you to get your games but please be assured they are well on their way.

Today was the notification deadline, if you have not yet received a tracking notification then please feel free to email me using [email protected] .

Please do not leave comments, or message me on Kickstarter! For security reasons, I will only send tracking information to people who request it from the email address their order was placed under.

Replacement Parts

If you need to request replacement parts, please use the form on our website:

http://thecityofkings.com/contact-us/

I process these every 48 hours and will email you once your request has been checked.

Our Shop is Live

With fulfilment complete I have now closed BackerKit, removed our pre-order system and launched our store. For those asking, yes! You can now get the missing promo cards you have been waiting for.

You can also order any accessories or expansions you may now wish to buy, along with our limited edition art prints and the artbook.

Print & Play content

I am now working on getting the final files together for the P&P content unlocked via stretch goals during the Kickstarter. I'm a little further behind than I would have liked, mainly due to the shipping problems, but I am nearly there. I apologise to anyone who was hoping to see them sooner, they will all be released by the end of February and I will send out an update when you can get them.

Until Next Time

Well it looks like we are nearly done! There won't be too many more things to say in the coming weeks but I do have a few announcements I'll be sending out next week. So until then, have a great week and keep on adventuring!

- Frank

Fulfilment update and I have a favour to ask!
about 5 years ago – Sat, Jan 19, 2019 at 01:22:56 AM

Shipping update: AU/NZ to finish on 21st, everywhere else finished.

Happy Friday everyone!

I just finished a surprise phone call with Gamesquest where they informed me that fulfilment for the EU and Rest of the World is now complete, ahead of schedule!

They have done a fantastic job with this project and join VFI, Starlit and Quartermaster Logistics in completing fulfilment, leaving only Unicorn Games (AU/NZ) who have 23 more orders to ship out on Monday (our deadline day).

I’m very happy with how the fulfilment process has gone and incredibly pleased to see we are likely to get everything done worldwide within the window we original set.

I have not had a notification, or received my game?

Even though all the games have been shipped, the email notifications are still being processed and some of you won’t get them for a few more days. I’m currently setting the “notification deadline” as the 23rd, if you haven’t heard anything by then please let me know and I will investigate it. But rest assured, your items are on their way and will be with you soon.

I have a favour to ask

I don’t like to ask for favours, especially from those who have supported me so much over the past year (and more) but I’m hoping a few of you may have a minute to spare.

Later this year I’m hoping to release the next game in The City of Kings universe, Rising Blades, but currently not many people know about it. On Board Game Geek there’s a competition running for most anticipated game of the year and Rising Blades got through to the “best of the rest” final round. 

Now it needs some votes and if you could spare a few minutes it would help me no end to spread the word and help allow me to continue making more games.

All you need to do is scroll to the bottom of the list (it’s the last section) and vote for Rising Blades here:

https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/251319/20-most-anticipated-board-games-2019-final-voting

(You’ll find Vadoran Gardens on the short game section too).

Until next time

Anyway, regardless of whether you vote I am truly thankful for all your support during and since the last Kickstarter and I look forward to seeing you all on future campaigns.

I will send out another update next week to let you all know when it’s time to chase down any missing orders.

Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

Happy fulfilment week & important Canada / Australia / New Zealand update
about 5 years ago – Wed, Jan 09, 2019 at 08:38:56 PM

 Shipping Status: Shipping has started, estimated completion date 21st January 

  Hey everyone,

Happy fulfilment week!

I am pleased to let you all know that fulfilment is now well on its way with people starting to receive their games. At this point I am still confident all games will have been shipped by the 21st January, there is a full update further down the page.

Australia/New Zealand/Canada Update

Background

Last week I was contacted by our Australian based fulfilment company with an issue that they had noticed, after some investigation I managed to track down the cause of this and also discovered it impacts our Canadian backers as well. 

If you are from Australia, New Zealand or Canada and purchased the game with the Deluxe upgrade then please read this next section, if not, it wont impact you in any way.

The Deluxe Upgrade of the game comes in the same box as the standard version of the game, but contains the extra items. To identify the game as the Deluxe version we place a sticker on the plastic shrink wrap of the game. This sticker covers the barcode and contents, updating them with the Deluxe items.

Unfortunately, the games that were sent to Australia and Canada were missing these stickers, meaning they visually look identical to the standard version of the game, until you open the box.

What does this mean?

If you ordered the game with the Deluxe Upgrade and live in Australia, New Zealand, or Canada, then you will not have the sticker on the plastic shrink wrap indicating it is the deluxe version.

However, I can assure you it will be the deluxe version, so you will receive the correct item and should not worry.

How can you be sure?

There are two things that make me confident of this, firstly the games which include the deluxe upgrade were shipped by our manufacturers in different packaging to the normal games. So, it is easy to separate them in the fulfilment centres.

Secondly, to be sure, I requested Starlit and Unicorn Games weighed each game before packing them to make sure they had the right version (the 2 versions weigh different amounts). This was an additional paid process, but I wanted to make sure there were no doubts in anyone’s mind.

Final notes

I am very sorry to anyone who this impacts, of course it is not what I would have wanted and I hope it doesn’t cause anyone any confusion. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to message me.

Who is shipping my game?

America - Quartermaster Logistics
QML has now shipped the majority of games and the rest will go out shortly.

Once your game has been shipped, you will receive a tracking code from QML and it should take up to 6 working days (typically 2 - 3) for your game to arrive from the moment it has been dispatched.

Asia - VFI
VFI have now packed all their orders and are shipping the games out as we speak.

Once your game has been shipped, you will receive a tracking code from VFI and it should take up to 7 working days (typically 4 - 5) for your game to arrive from the moment it has been dispatched.

Australia/New Zealand - Unicorn Games
  Unicorn Games have started shipping games and most will be sent within the next week.

Once your game has been shipped, you will receive a tracking code from Unicorn Games and it should take up to 10 working days (typically 2 - 3) for your game to arrive from the moment it has been dispatched.

Canada - Starlit
Starlit have processed the games and are now starting to ship them.

Once your game has been shipped, you will receive a tracking code from Starlit and it should take up to 10 working days (typically 4 - 5) for your game to arrive from the moment it has been dispatched.

Europe and everyone else - Gamesquest
Gamesquest have started processing the games for packing and will start shipping on Friday.

Once your game has been shipped, you will receive a tracking code from Gamesquest.
 

Europe: It should take up to 10 working days (typically 3 - 4) for your game to arrive from the moment it has been dispatched.

Rest of the world: It should take up to 12 working days (typically 7 - 8) for your game to arrive from the moment it has been dispatched.

Replacements/damages

While we always do our best to make sure everyone receives their games with no problems, there are always some issues that arise. If you have a problem with your game, please contact us here:

http://thecityofkings.com/contact-us/

This is the best way to make sure we can manage your issue as quickly as possible.

Promo cards

A few people have been asking about how to get the convention promo cards, outside of conventions. The current plan is to launch our online store in February and these will be available there. I’ll send out an announcement once the store is live!

You will also be able to buy accessories, expansions and other items via the store once it has launched.

Print & Play content

I am still working on the print & play content from the stretch goals and will be releasing this as soon as it is ready. Unfortunately the shipping issues we had last month and the recent issues with Australia/Canada have put me a few weeks behind my schedule but they will be ready soon!

Until next time

I will send out an update next week as we get further into the fulfilment process, until then, I hope you all have a great week!

- Frank