World War II - Warships [In Development]

[alvinhy]

Hello UC! Some of you might know already that I am working on my next project. The World War II - Warships Playing cards.
I'd like to get some feedback from the community as always!

It's going to be an ambitious project creating 4 decks. Not just colour changes, but totally different decks.
It will be the Allies VS the Axis Powers. For those who do not know anything about WWII, Allies will be USA + Royal Navy and Axis will be Germany + Japan.

The court cards will be the captains / commanders of a certain noteworthy battleship/destroyer/aircraft carrier. There is a lot of history about these people and each ship has its own story. In the process of researching, (yes, I was reading everything about the individual ships and chose the noteworthy ones!) I've decided to create a little booklet as well.

I will be posting updates in this thread and hopefully some of you can give some valuable feedback to create a wonderful project!

The USA deck will consist of gold foiling, Royal Navy deck will have Silver foiling. I decided to have similar design for the same group (Allies / Axis) to tie them into the theme. I'm working with a custom box factory to create a nice collectors box for this set.

Screen Shot 2016-05-06 at 22.17.04.png (456.88 KiB) Viewed 3113 times

Court card featuring the captain of the ship at the time of the war and a silhouette of how the ship looked like.

Here is the suicide king. According to history, he actually died from suicide.

[DragonSoul]

Wow. Ambitious! I'll be looking forward to it.

My father served on a LST (Landing Ship, Tank) during WWII. They may not have been aircraft carriers or battleships but there were over a 1000 of them built and they served a vital role. Since they could get closer to shore they were able to transport and land troops and equipment quickly.

He would have loved to see these decks (he just passed away in April). If Jackson ever does a U.S. Navy/Coast Guard deck, I will definitely submit his photograph.

[pablo19]

Cool theme, I'll be very interested in how the court cards turn out. Will the ships be featured in the deck itself?

[alvinhy]

Cool theme, I'll be very interested in how the court cards turn out. Will the ships be featured in the deck itself?

Yes! Ive added an image of the court card featuring the captain and the ship itself. Maybe I can have the crew list in the booklet as well.

[pablo19]

Wow! That is very very nice work, you handled the ship being features very we'll. It seems like a lot is going on in the court cards so maybe i"d separate the indices a bit more from the frame of the court. Can't wait to see the rest!

[RichK]

Love the tucks and King. Having the ship a great detail. I don't like the 1888-1941 on the captain's shoulder. That info could easily go into the booklet containing the captains and boats details.

Looking forward to these.

[Sunz]

Really an awesome idea! That would be a really good collection set! Lookinf forward to theese, and keep it up!

[alvinhy]

Added the AOS and KOH. According to history, the captain in KOH has actually committed suicide so it fits to be the KOH.
Again, features gold metallic ink.

I removed the born - death numbers, as RichK suggested and looks a lot cleaner. Will add it to the booklet instead for the history.
What do you guys think!?

[alvinhy]

Here is the Number cards. Im not sure if I should have the watermark emblem at the back of the card. It makes it a one way card. If I remove it, it might be too plain.

[RichK]

Good change on removing born - death dates on courts.

The KoH uss indianapolis ca-35 almost looks mirrored left/right. I Googled it and she has many different looks to me. I know there is some kind of crane like boom on it.

Can you shrink and mirror the watermark? It does look one way and nothing would look plain. Great pips though!

[NCarter]

Oh and a UK designer, I will have to back these, looking forward to seeing them!

[jsantafe]

I like the watermark as it is now. I don't see a problem with one way design for number cards, as half of them already are one way (the odds).
My question: will you display the Swastika and Imperial flag for the axis decks? I don't really know the legal aspects but I encourage you to do so. It's a sensitive matter, but history wise, the project would really benefit from it.

[alvinhy]

I like the watermark as it is now. I don't see a problem with one way design for number cards, as half of them already are one way (the odds).
My question: will you display the Swastika and Imperial flag for the axis decks? I don't really know the legal aspects but I encourage you to do so. It's a sensitive matter, but history wise, the project would really benefit from it.

According to my research (hopefully someone can fill me in) it is not illegal to have it on memorabilia products. Its only illegal if you display it publicly. So i am 80% confident that I can have it on a historically accurate deck of cards. Rather than commemoration, it's a history deck.

I'll need to find someone with legal background to double check this for me if so I can be confident enough to put the swastika and the imperial mark on the axis deck.

[jsantafe]

That sounds good!

[RichK]

I was wondering about the Swastika too. Good luck and on with the Allies!

[alvinhy]

Shall I have the Axis deck as a stretch goal or just launch it all together.
First time doing a 4 deck series!

[jsantafe]

I can't remember a successful campaign with four decks from the start. Seven Seas failed the first time, Devastation were stretches and so.
I would rather have a mix of one ally and one axis deck (US an DE, maybe?) and the two others as a stretch, but it may be polemic which is paired with which

[RichK]

Shall I have the Axis deck as a stretch goal or just launch it all together.
First time doing a 4 deck series!

Work the numbers first. Who is printing, cost for 4 decks, KS fees, postage and packing supplies, etc. I fear a 4 deck KS might put people off depending on cost, I love the theme though so I' be in.

I'd hate to see the stretch goal not met too if you went that way. Look at how Don Quixote has stalled needing $6000 for the stretch Hildago deck. Maybe people don't like the gold on black Volume 1 deck but enough did to hit a lot of stretch goals. I don't see Hildago being made which is a shame.

I'm sure you're far from finished so there's time for more opinions. You could put your title World War II -Warships (Allies) and in the description your plan for the Axis set if Allies funds.

Those are my thoughts. Hope they help.

[alvinhy]

I agree, 4 decks might be a stretch too far. Maybe I'll have it as a stretch goal instead and if it doesn't reach, I can always release it as another campaign. All my projects so far are printed by LPCC and they have been doing a great job.

Maybe initial goal £6000 and a stretch goal at £12000 for the Axis decks?

[RichK]

I agree, 4 decks might be a stretch too far. Maybe I'll have it as a stretch goal instead and if it doesn't reach, I can always release it as another campaign. All my projects so far are printed by LPCC and they have been doing a great job.

Maybe initial goal £6000 and a stretch goal at £12000 for the Axis decks?

Seems low for initial goal but should be easily reachable I think. I don't know what you're thinking of for deck, pair, signature(?), pledges. Looking back at Diamonds you had initial goal of L6500 and got over L15000 so that stretch might work. I hope L12000 is enough to get 4 decks printed and mailed out. (I don't know how to type the "pound" sign )

[alvinhy]

I think ill do a stretch goal and if it doesnt reach to unlock the Axis decks, i'll most likely just release it in a new campaign?

[alvinhy]

Heres the King of Spades for the Royal Navy deck.
Featuring Admiral Wilfrid R. Patterson.

[Levent Suberk]

Very good work. It will be good seller.