Well, it’s the end of the first week of December, and Total War hasn’t shipped yet despite all our efforts. We’ve another delay with getting the last components of the game (the rules and OBs) printed here in Denver.
Some background is necessary to understand what has happened. The lawsuit by Cory Manka against HMS and Gar and I personally–left the company with a very large debt and could have sunk us had Gar not arranged loans to keep us afloat. It has taken years to recover from this and accumulate the funds necessary to complete Total War. We had an opportunity to finally get Total War out this summer but to re-raise the last of the money needed to do this would have required us to tap into Gar’s retirement account.
Gar was willing to do this but I didn’t want him to take on another risk of this magnitude and convinced him to await the sale of the unfolded Total War maps. And the map sales brought in enough money to cover the remaining printing costs and all but cover the game shipping costs. However, it was close enough that we made arrangements for the last of the local printing to go to the printer in late October. Various problems with file formatting delayed the printing into mid-November.
Then an unexpected opportunity appeared from our printer. A very large firm approached our local print group with a massive order that required an immediate printing start to catch the holidays. The printer explained the lucrative opportunity they had been presented with and asked if we would accept a significant discount on our printing if we would allow our job to be moved after the large rush order. This discount would more than close our shipping costs ‘gap’ for Total War. And, given that even with the delay, it appeared we could still have the game shipped in time for Christmas, we accepted the offer. This turned out to be too optimistic, since printing problems and an expansion of the large print job has delayed our printing slot.
It now appears that our printing will be scheduled for the week of 19 December. This should certainly allow us to ship before the end of the year and may allow us to get some of the early preorders off before Christmas. We know how disappointing this situation is. We really wanted to have the game shipped in time for Christmas.
‘Total War’ has been a long and expensive process with many delays and setbacks but it is coming to a close. We appreciate the patience and support we have received from all or the gamers who kept us going. We will be sending out TEM (The Europa Magazine) #88 about 40 days after the last preorder is in the mail. This will be followed by #89 about 30 days after that. The magazines will be talking about our plans for the new year and some long range plans as well.
Words can’t express the appreciation I feel for the sacrifices you have made in order to keep this game in existence, which is fun and which continually raises interesting historical and strategic issues. Thank you Arthur and Gar.
My sentiments exactly, Mr. Brass! Thank you Arthur and Gar for your years of dedication and sacrifice! Don’t be discouraged about a few days delay–we’re very close to seeing the fruition of all your hard word!
Thanks Gar and Arthur,
Got my six trays to day! It seem the Swedish customs let this delivery through without any fee, which was nice!
The trays are exact as you promised so now it is just a matter of filling them with the appropriate content – counters from Total War!
Would it be possible for You to send the game minus OB-booklets and rules? The rules and the OB-booklet could at the same time be sent as PDF by e-mail to those who want to play the game during the winter holidays. I, for instance, would easily pay a few extra USD for the extra shipping of the OB-booklets and the rules once these have arrived from the printer during GT Jan I 12.
Very disappointing. Hopefully the printer will get the job done promptly allowing you to ship the games. Thank you for the update.
That’s OK, we feel your pain. We can wait.
Per Eric K. I would also be interested in his plan.
I would definitely like to have access to a pdf of the rules and OB, whether available early or not.
Eric’s proposal is a solid option that should be seriously considered. It would certainly satiate those who have waited many years for this game, particularly the more vocal critics.
Fellow Europa-ians; with all due respect to the “send me what is ready” crowd, this approach will prove to be cumbersome and problematic for HRS/GMD to administer. I admire the company’s communication threads and truly appreciate the background information on their encountered issues. I must admit they are managing them as best can be expected. I would not want to burden them with yet another round of distribution woes with customers. Tracking who got what and who is owed what is another process that does not balance (IMHO) the risk vs. reward scales.
I was not one of the early adopters of the originally announced release/production dates but let us all be patient and deserving of what is surely just around the corner.
Cheers everyone. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
The plan outlined above by Erik is positive and would give me time to at least push some cardboard around this summer. Having arranged for this summer off on leave last year, it is a pity that I have spent 7 weeks of it not playing this game. The counters and maps are the important stuff. I would use pdf copies and not be fussed when the real ones arrived- maybe this is an option for your international clientele? This system and its fans needs to have its flagship game available if the system is to survive. Merry Christmas to all :)
It’s been a long time in the works with many diversions, headaches and disappointments … this is close though! Probably be overly complicated & time consuming to coordinate partial shipments – especially when you don’t have much time to spare. Save your energy and money – ship mine together. This too shall pass. Enjoy the holidays all, for soon it will be campaigning season!
An update would be nice – I gather that once the printer delivers it’s collate and ship time?
I’ve been patiently waiting since 1998. Another setback doesn’t bother me in the least. Just shows how difficult it is to produce such a comprehensive game under trying circumstances. Hang in there, y’all!
So here we are december 30 2011 any update? Seems so close:} patiently waiting
Given that the game has not yet shipped, is it still orderable at the prepublication pricing, and with the “extras” that will not be included in the “retail” version?
Looking for an update please. Another proposed date come and past. Now January 6th.
Now Jan 10 and still no word from HMS. An update would be appreciated.