In November 2020, Steamforged Games launched another Kickstarter for a board game, this time with their own original IP, called Bardsung. They still got 10k backers and £1 million, but an original IP attracts less people than a licensed game, and Dark Souls shipping fiasco had hurt the brand of the company. Estimated delivery this time was May 2022. Nobody believed that. By this time, there had been a lot of other companies with a lot of other Kickstarter campaigns, and everybody knew that actual delivery was usually at least 6 months late, if you were lucky. In addition to that, there was a pandemic going on, and the first inklings of manufacturing and shipping problems in the board game industry. Manufacturing a big box board game with tons of miniatures for £75 and shipping it to customers within 18 months? Impossible! Can't be done! Especially not by a company with a bad track record on shipping.

Except ... sometimes a company that gets a lot of flak for having failed in something is then really, really motivated to do better. Plus, nothing teaches you the pitfalls of a process better than having gone through a failed process once.

Today, March 31 2022, my copy of Bardsung, including the stretch goals box "Bardsung Fables" arrived. Two months early. None of my other Kickstarter projects ever arrived early. Especially not the board game ones. And I only paid a total of £101 ($132) for the late pledge including the Forteller narration and shipping. For 10 kg of game and tons of miniatures, in today's market this is brilliant deal. Miniaturemarket.com has the game for $170 plus shipping, and that is just for preorder, and without the Fables box.

I am happy, and seriously impressed. Kudos to Steamforged Games for having learned how to deliver a Kickstarter board game on time. They went from a company that had shipping problems to a company that is first in class in shipping Kickstarter board games. That is an impressive feat!