Dutch Resistance: Orange Shall Overcome!

US tariffs, production of the base game, playtesting the expansion, introducing the four new expansion characters, naming Civilian tokens

*** This is the same update that was just posted on Kickstarter as update 22 for the people who did not receive that update. I will try to do this with each new Kickstarter update from now on.*** 

Thank you all for your patience with this project. I finally received an updated timeline for the base game reprint from the factory today, which I can share with you. Coincidentally, the US tariffs were also lowered three days ago, making it a great time for another update.

In this update, I will talk about the US tariffs, production of the base game, playtesting of the expansion, and introduce the four new characters in the expansion. Lastly, we will have some fun as we collectively decide on the names for the new Civilians module tokens.

Much has changed with the US tariffs since the last update on Kickstarter in early April. The recent reduction of tariffs from China to the USA from 145% to 30% is both good and bad news. It is good since shipping to the USA will be possible again without too many extra costs from tariffs. But the prices for shipping containers are expected to skyrocket again. This is because most companies now want to ship the products they had stored in China since the tariffs were implemented.

I mentioned in the previous update that I would absorb the extra US tariff costs, based on 20% tariffs and the lower container prices of early April. Much has changed since then. A 10% increase in tariffs might not seem significant, but it is, especially considering that the other shipping costs are also expected to increase quickly.

I am currently still not entirely sure when I can start shipping, as you can read in the next section of this update. Additionally, because the tariffs could still fluctuate until then, I can only estimate the actual additional costs for US backers once production is complete. I currently expect them to be around $5, but they may be slightly more or less.

I want to be as transparent as possible with the production process, as it frustrates me just as much, if not more, than it likely does you that the base games are not delivered yet. But it is currently out of my hands, and I believe that the factory is working as quickly as they can.

The original deadline for production was around April 15th. This was based on the files I had sent in after receiving the sample copy in early February. Some changes had to be made, but the last files were sent in March.

However, the deadline was then moved up to the end of April. The most recently adjusted production deadline for the base game, which was the 5th of May, was also not reached. Everything else, except for the expansion that still needs to be fully produced, was finished then.

On May 7th, the factory informed me that printing all paper materials was complete, and they only needed to complete the punchboards and assembly.

Today, I received the new deadline of May 20th, next Tuesday. They mentioned that the large quantity of cards had cost more time and that they are working as fast as they can to complete the games. They luckily also said they prioritize the production of my game over other games, and I believe they are trying their best to get everything right. So, now I am just hoping I can send another update next week to tell you all that production is finished. But until then, this is all the info I have.

Another issue, besides the changed timeline for production, was a small color difference in the cards. This is only an issue for people who have a first print run base game copy and are also getting the expansion. Because those who receive /the 2nd edition will get both the base game and expansion from the same factory. For some types of cards, a color difference doesn’t matter at all, while for others, it may be a minor issue.

I've added two photos below to illustrate these color differences, so you can see for yourself. I think it's not easily noticeable in the photos. However, since I haven't received the cards physically yet, it's still difficult to see how noticeable this actually is. This means that until I receive them, I can’t really say if I need to create a card pack with just the cards where these color differences could be an issue. This would then only be for people who already have the base game.

As a result of this issue, even with the current delays at the factory, I don’t want to consider using another factory for the expansion, as there could be more color differences due to that.

However, I would like to conclude this section with some positive news. Below are photos I received from the factory showing products that are already fully finished: The extra Halt! cards, and the deluxe wooden components.

Much of the playtesting for the expansion is now complete, thanks to the valuable feedback provided by many people. The various new modules are either sufficiently tested or will continue to be tested in the next few weeks by those who already have them.

So far, it really helped to improve the modules and makes them even more interesting to add to your game. Thank you to all who are assisting with this. It really means a lot to me.

I am now trying these improved versions, as well as asked a few other people to do so, but I don’t expect much to change anymore in those modules.

Thus, there are currently two main things that have been tested already, but not yet enough for me to feel confident that they are as good as they can be. And I don’t want to print them yet and just hope they are good enough; I want, of course, to be sure. These two are:

- The 4 new Characters

- The 3 new Scenarios

If you want to try them out and let me know your thoughts too, just fill in the form using the QR code below. The left code is for English speakers, the right for Dutch-speaking people.

After some persistence to get in touch with the right people, I recently got confirmation from an organization for the fourth character I wanted to add to the expansion. So now, luckily, I managed to get in contact with family members or organizations for all four people I wanted to add, and they all said yes. Three out of the four images for these characters are already completed, and the last one is being made now.

The four new characters in the expansion will be:

- Joukje Smits, whose specialty is carrying Items

- Koen Limperg, whose specialty is Morale

- Jan Berend Vlam, whose specialty is the new Civilian tokens that are also mentioned below

- Bet van Beeren, whose specialty is the new Tip cards

In the next update, if the last image is done quickly enough, I will share the four new character images.

The Civilian tokens, one of the modules in the expansion and the specialty of a new character, have to be named. These tokens are one of the “grey” elements of resistance and collaboration that get added with the expansion. Most of these tokens give a small bonus; a few have a negative effect. They are placed on locations on the board in various ways, most of the time face-down, and you often get the effect when you spend an action point on a location with one or more of these tokens.

There are currently 15 male and 15 female tokens for a total of 30 Civilian tokens. They all have the same male or female back of the token that you can see in the header of this section, so you can’t easily know what the effect is on the other side. There are 12 of each type with a positive effect on them with an orange border, and 3 of each type have a negative effect and a black border. These numbers could still slightly change based on some last testing, although I don’t think they will.

There are a few ways the fronts of these tokens can be named. And I think it is a perfect opportunity to ask you, the backers, what it should be. I am contemplating a few options for this:

- Common names from that time, such as Jan, Sarah etc.

- Professions, such as Pastor, Nurse, Mailman, Housewife etc.

- General and family descriptions, such as Friend, Neighbor, Aunt, Brother etc.

- A mixture of the 3 options above.

See the image below for a few examples of these tokens.

For the three negative Civilian tokens for each type, the ones with a black border, I prefer not to use names, but rather descriptions, such as the ones shown in the image above. But even for those types I don't mind to hear your thoughts on how they could be named.

Please let me know by sending an e-mail to info@liberationgamedesign.com which names you prefer for these tokens, so I can take that into consideration.

Orange Shall Overcome!