Hey Crew!

Let us start today's update by reacting to some of the comments after the last update and the small character add-on we have added. While we feel a lot of you have enjoyed what our team has prepared, there is also a big group of people who were very critical of it.

We want to give you a full, transparent explanation so that, hopefully, you can better understand our reasoning.

Why are add-ons not added for free as Stretch Goals?

Because the budget is limited and we have a margin that we need to operate within. There is a big graveyard of campaigns that over-promised and then never delivered.

We have always delivered our games and never asked for extra funds, even during the biggest shipping price crisis. We also want to provide you with the best quality - and we believe we are quite good at calculating that. We believe that the current offering of Nemesis: Retaliation has some fantastic value - with around 175 USD savings!

And our team worked really hard on making it happen.

But this campaign funded over 6 million!

That's true, but unfortunately, the economy of scale for production will get you only to some point. After 10,000 copies, any gains for increasing quantity are quite marginal.

So yes, this campaign is a WILD success, and we are extremely happy with your support! But with this money, we need to produce everything, ship, pay taxes, pay our crew, and cover many other costs.

But why are you deceptive and not showing all the add-ons at the start?

There are multiple reasons for that, with deception not being a part of all. For us, it is a normal campaign dynamic - with some add-ons, we have NO IDEA if we will be able to make them happen.

For example, if the campaign had less support, some add-ons would not be economically feasible.

Additionally, we are actively monitoring your comments, looking for what you guys would like to have more, and working on it DURING the campaign.

We cultivate and love this typical dynamic - going back and forth with the community and including your ideas in the design.

Is it just a cash grab?

Um… Well, this is a weird definition for us. Our business is making and selling games.

We always try to make very creative and good expansions. And we spend quite a lot of time, effort, and resources on them. In the end, if you feel they are not priced well or not good enough, there is absolutely no need to purchase them.

We are making A LOT of effort to make the base game as affordable as possible. In this campaign, we even made a non-miniature version to ensure people can get it as cheaply as possible.

As we always highlight very strongly, add-ons are absolutely not necessary to have a great gameplay experience. They are expansions and editions that will change the game / offer more variety.

We also try to price our gameplay add-ons very reasonably.

There are no new SGs!

Well, this time, at the start of the campaign, we announced what you will be getting extra and full value offering. There is a whole new alien race (50+ models!), 2 new characters, a special Insider expansion, and a few other extras that we have thrown in like the special burst die or more equipment.

We feel like we were very transparent about it from the beginning. Still, we take into account that we could work better on the presentation of that idea.

Original Nemesis had more Stretch Goals!

We must start by saying that the original Nemesis was crowdfunded at very different times - prices have changed drastically worldwide. But this is also like comparing apples to oranges - the new SG race in Retaliation provides more content than the new race in OG Nemesis.

Anyway, we just wanted to leave our four cents and provide you with this explanation. We do not mind feedback or criticism, but we also ask for it to be respectful - please remember that there are a bunch of people who work super hard on making this game, and those expansions happen.

Having said that, we have before us the last, but quite a bit of gameplay add-on in this campaign that we are quite excited about!

But before that, we have, as always, a new shiny Stretch Goal reveal that you will be able to vote on!

And when it comes to voting, just a quick sum up of the Medical Support character vote. Again, you provided us with some crazy numbers! +13k votes and almost 7k for the winner - design #3! Thank you very much for your participation, and we kindly ask for more! :)

Stretch Goal reveal - Neoflesh Delver Melee

We had quite a lot of reveals from Neoflesh Cult - and we are super excited to see the direction we have created together. This will be one of the most interesting races in the Nemesis series history, and we love both their aesthetics and gameplay direction.

Today, we want to speak about Delvers - Neoflesh equivalent of Adults. The horde that your Marines will have to face. BUT it will have one super exciting twist. There will be 4 different types of Delvers, each doing a bit different things.

We will spoil the whole bunch today and then host some subsequent votes in upcoming updates - these will be our final SGs reveals!

Each type will have 9 high-quality models/standees - so this will be quite a big race to fight with!

What is also super fun is that since Delvers are minions created by the Queen/Motherboard AI - they will have various forms created out of flesh and mechanisms. Each type can be vastly different from the other, and we can't wait to get some of those designs together with you all!

There will be 4 types: Melee flesh-cutter, Ranged shooter, Suicide exploder, and Shield robot.

Today, we are voting for Melee flesh-cutter! This Delver is your typical close-combat enemy but with a small extra function. If he finds a colonist body token, he can cut it and bring it to the Queen to make her stronger.

OK! It's time for the vote - and as always, we are more than OK with all the concepts!

Final gameplay-addon - Sangrevores race!

Time for a FINAL gameplay add-on! We really wanted to prepare something very special, and we definitely think this very last race, designed for Retaliation, will be pretty special for multiple reasons.

First of all, let us start with the inspirations. Once again, we wanted to make something very different regarding all the other races we had previously seen in the Nemesis series. We took a few other concepts from sci-fi horrors and combined them into one race - more sinister and demonic.

There is no Queen this time - but a mighty "King", an ancient being awakened from a long slumber. Mining scavengers found a mysterious-looking "capsule" created out of non-human bones stacked together as if multiple beings had created this tomb from their own bodies. It was quickly transported to the closest human base for further investigation. This is how it all started. Check out the Crimson Despot!

While his history is a mystery, you can easily tell that he feeds himself on life energy and fully dominates will, making his victims mindless puppets serving his wishes.

He will be one of the most dangerous faction leaders, with a terrifying physical presence - he will also get stronger with every player he will eliminate.

By his side, he will have Blood Spectres - engineered, in a way, to master humans and drain their life force. Not only can they harm your mind, but they are also quite an opponent to face.

On top of that, you will have to face hordes of Ghoules - who are drained previous station residents. While not very smart, their numbers will be vast - so exploring the station will be a real challenge.

You might spot that there are no larvae in this race. This is entirely by intent - first, it fits the thematic way of how this race "reproduces" (by contact with Crimson Despot). It is also essential for the mechanics, as you can read below!

In this expansion, we will also introduce a totally new mechanic that can drastically change the semi-co-op experience. During the contact with the King or Blood Spectres, your character might become converted! This can entirely change your secret objective mid-game without other players not being sure about it.

With some of the attacks, you will get special infection cards (added next to your special objective face down) that only you can see. Most of the time, they will be neutral - but sometimes, they can transform you into Hemodyne yourself and shift your objective into, for example, killing all other players or turning off all life-support.

On top of that, we will be changing the concept of contamination cards. Instead of a standard contamination card that will take a slot - you will actually get some unique ability representing your character getting mutated. This will happen only with contact with Crimson Despot or Blood Spectres.

Those abilities will work as regular cards - you can use either effect on the card or use it to pay for other actions. BUT you always will have to pay the price while using it, i.e., gain one light wound or some other nice stuff ;)

On top of it, those cards will be very… suspicious. Sometimes, you will be able to heal yourself by dealing wounds to other players. Sometimes, you will be able to control a group of Ghoules. Or make yourself invisible to all other Sangraverous for just a few moments.

Those cards will give a toolset for players to increase negative interactions - only if they wish for it. But combined with the possibility of them being turned, it will add new layers of paranoia to the game.

Since it will be a significantly different race, we decided to bring some fresh perspective! Together with Adam Kwapiński and our development team, we have invited Ignacy Trzewiczek - one of the best Polish Board Game designers, responsible for games such as Robinson Crusoe, Imperial Settlers, Detective, 51st State, Prêt-à-Porter, Stronghold, and many others!

Here are a few words from Ignacy!

My name is Ignacy Trzewiczek, and Awaken Realms has asked me to write a few words to you about the Sangrevores.

Are they kidding me? Just a few words? Where do I even start? Should I begin with the story of how I played Nemesis for the first time? That game night on my birthday when my friends chose Nemesis as my surprise gift, and we spent some of the best moments in gaming ever trying to survive on this bloody ship?

Should I start with the statement that both Adam Kwapiński, the designer of Nemesis, and Michał Oracz, who is the game developer, are my lifelong friends, and working with them on this expansion is a dream come true for me? I could obviously start by telling you about the horror sci-fi RPG campaign I ran to show you how much I love the theme and how much time my friends and I spend on wrecked ships and abandoned space stations.

But AR said, "Ignacy, just a few words, it's just the first announcement, cool down." So, OK, a few words it is: "The Sangrevores will kick your freakin' ass. You will hate them wholeheartedly. I promise you that wholeheartedly.

As they say, pardon for Ignacy's french ;) But if you are interested in this new optional breed, check out the Sangrevores in our Retaliation add-ons section. Or just simply click HERE and add them to your pledge.

However…

New pledge levels

Since this will be the final gameplay add-on of this campaign, we have prepared 3 new pledge levels for you!

First, we have the Nemesis Retaliation Military Pledge that involves all the Retaliation gameplay content that has been offered during this crowdfunding campaign together with the Nemesis Retaliation Terrain Pack!

Secondly, we bring you the Retaliation Veteran Pledge. This level provides all the Retaliation stuff we offer during this crowdfunding campaign!

Last but not least, we bring you the Nemesis Master Collection. This one brings you all the must-have stuff from the whole trilogy available during this campaign. If you are new to the franchise and are looking for the ultimate Nemesis experience, this is definitely the one you are looking for ;)

More acrylic add-ons are available

We also want to announce the addition of acrylic add-ons for the original Nemesis, Lockdown, and Retaliation Stretch Goals and add-ons, including the Xyrians & Sangrevores tokens. You can explore the add-ons section on the campaign's main page for more details on each pack. For those of you looking to elevate your entire Nemesis collection, we have a special Acrylic Bundle Pack. This set includes all available acrylic tokens at a nice discount. Check out the details below!

Remember, these acrylic tokens are not essential for gameplay. They offer an extra layer of immersion and table presence, enhancing your Nemesis experience.

And that wraps up today's update! As mentioned, this was the last one with any add-ons or new pledge levels. In the following days, we will focus on revealing more about the Neflesh Cult-related SGs. We will do our best to keep this campaign's momentum going. Thanks for being here with us, and we look forward to your feedback!

Till Saturday!