First Print of Cards, Tokens and 3D Ships

I have had a busy week getting everything ready for the first print of the new game. I managed to get it all printed, stuck onto thin card, cut out, put into card sleeves, and even laminated a few pieces this evening.

The process has taken a while—getting the designs just right to match the gritty, steampunk atmosphere that I want for the game. From experimenting with colours to choosing the right textures, it’s been a fun, rewarding experience.

Even in this “first print,” the components will make playtesting easier and more enjoyable. I’m no longer relying on small scraps of paper or placeholders, and it’s exciting to see the game start to look and feel as I intended.

There’s still more work to do on these, as I found that the text is a bit small on some tokens, and the colours aren’t quite right on the sinking ship and mine tokens, and I need to take another look at the torpedo tokens.

But overall, they’re quite good for a first print!

Creating the ship data cards has been a fascinating challenge. Each card holds essential information for each vessel—basically everything players will need during the game. From the mighty Battleship to the stealthy Submersible, these cards hold all the information needed to play these ships in the game.

I still need to produce a few more Force and Ship cards though, but hopefully, that won’t take too long.

The Force cards add options that players can use to customize their fleets, such as the “Clockwork Bomb Drones,” which add a group of small explosive drones, or the “Gallant Pilots of the Crown,” which lets a flight of fighters perform an extra action, or the “Queen’s Naval Bombardment” to call in some support fire against enemy ships.

The Ship cards allow players to add unique abilities to individual ships. Options include “Self-Sealing Ironworks,” “Imperial Armour Plating,” and the “Monocle Targeting Array.” I probably need another half a dozen of each card type to round off the two sets.

Another big accomplishment for me this week was finishing the second fleet for the game! After some adjustments, the 3D models printed out just as I’d hoped. Now all I need to do is base and paint them.

First up, we have the Valtoris Imperium fleet with its six core vessels: a Battleship, Carrier, Cruiser, Destroyer, Frigate, and Submersible, along with the fighter stand and submersed Submersible. The Valtoris Imperium fleet, with its heavy, armour-clad vessels, already looks formidable on the table—even unpainted!

The second fleet is the Zephyros Coalition, featuring the same vessel types. In contrast though the Zephyros Coalition brings faster, more agile ships to the battle, offering a whole different tactical experience.

These will be the two starter fleets for the game, but I plan to expand with more factions and single add-on ships for each fleet to offer more customization.

Stay tuned for some painted ships soon, and, of course, battle reports as I delve deeper into playtesting.