Many thanks to all that have backed DeepWars!. We were fortunate enough to meet our original goals but the game can grow more if more backers join in. There are additional stretch goals and rewards if we can raise more funding.

One change already in progress is the addition of one more miniature to the starter sets, a variant of one of the soldiers already being produced for each set. Other stretch goals are below.

Stretch Goal 1: $6000 - completed!

Reward: Each supporter from $25 on up gets a print of the cover art from the DeepWars book. This funding level allows AntiMatter Games to fully cover sculpting and mold making for the starter sets, as well as design and printing of rulebooks for distribution, and is an important milestone.

Stretch Goal 2: $8000 - completed!

Reward: Each supporter from $25 and up gets their choice of a print from new artwork in addition to the print of the cover. There will be different paintings for each of the main forces and the supporter may choose which they want. This stretch goal will also allow us to complete the fourth starter set of miniatures, the Scaly Horde, a motley group of different races of sea beings, including dagathonan fish-men, vicious draconids of the deep, amphibious garks, powerful marine reptiles, giant prehistoric arthropods and other creatures. Supporters from $35 and up may choose this force starter set instead of the other three. Supporters from $175 and up get a Scaly Horde starter set in addition to their other sets.

Stretch Goal 3: $10000 - completed!

Reward: This level of support will help cover production of new resin kits for seafloor artifacts, terrain, parts of wrecks, ruins and other scenic features for the seafloor. It will also cover the creation of full color fold-out maps of the different sea vessels of the forces, used in ship breaching scenarios. Supporters from $25 to $75 get a print of one of the gaming maps . Supporters from $100 and up get a terrain piece and their choice of printed gaming map in addition to the artwork prints.

Stretch Goal 4: $12500 - completed!

Reward: This will be a major milestone as it will cover all costs of production and for development of 2-3 new miniatures for each force to be sold individually. Supporters from $25 up to $75 get their choice of one of the new miniatures. Supporters from $100 and up get all of the new miniatures for one force. Supporters from $500 and up get all of the new miniatures. This is in addition to the other bonus rewards. (Note - Does not include painting of new figures)

Stretch Goal 5: $15000 - completed!

Reward:  This funding level covers website development and new music to be played during games. This was always something we wanted to have but could not get the time or funds to complete. Each supporter from $25 up to $100 gets to download the new music tracks (the goal is to have 40-60 minutes of music). Supporters from $175 and up get the music and a space on the website Hall of Generals where they can show their warband and/or have a story section describing their warband's exploits.

Stretch Goal 6: $18000

Reward: This will help develop heroes and and mounted characters for each force, cast in resin and metal. It will be a challenge to work these into the schedule but I think we can do it. There would be one miniature kit made per force, and supporters from $75 and up get their choice of one of the new miniatures. Supporters from $175 get two. Supporters from $500 and up get all four. This reward does not include shipping and may be ready by early 2013, or could be ready sooner. Shipping will be an extra $5 for USA and Canada and $10 international.

DeepWars is a 28mm scale tabletop wargame set in an alternate history of Earth in the late 17th century, where fortune seekers and conquerors have discovered a lost land with an underground sea miles beneath the frozen surface of the southernmost continent.

DeepWars is set in the world of our existing game, ShadowSea (visit the Flash website at www.antimatter-games.com/shadowsea), but is meant to be a stand-alone product and is focused on adventure and battle scenarios on the bottom of the Sunless Sea. The game will have multiple types of scenarios, including exploration of wrecks on the seafloor, adventures in ancient cities of cyclopean structures, battles among fields of geothermal chimneys, submarine boardings among others. Adventures within flooded tunnels inside wrecked ships or crumbing cities may be played with “tiles” to represent stretches of passage and chambers, while games in open environments are played with scenic terrain pieces on the tabletop.

This shadowy sea holds powerful artifacts from a long disappeared civilization, and the Fortune Hunters have staked their claim to these treasures, modifying some of the technology they have already recovered to design advanced diving suits and weapons for underwater defense. They are not alone in their quest though, as other forces compete for the same artifacts. 

The enigmatic Dark Mariners, remnants of the noble lost civilization, have completely devolved, mixing their bloodline with the foulest of undersea life and twisted ether technology to create vicious biomechanical creatures. These forces cruise the depths, carried within monstrous vessels that resemble gigantic sea creatures, gathering artifacts to help them prepare for an assault on the surface lands.

The Ancients of Atalán are the most advanced of all of the forces, for they are the last of the pure relatives of the lost civilization of the Ancients of the Shadow Sea. They are a small group, with a hidden undersea city many leagues away to the North, and have traveled under the ice to recover the technology of their lost kin follow them into the dimensional void.

Other forces will be included in the game, but the three main forces will be the focus of this Kickstarter project and will be the first ones to get miniatures.

- Intense combat in the abyssal depths of the Sea. Breach submarines, uncover undersea temples, and dodge torpedoes while recovering artifacts that hold the secrets of the ethereal void.

- Combination of 28mm scale miniature tabletop wargame with campaign advancement and a role-playing flavor. Players may customize their warband with different weapons and ether technology items as they become more experienced in battle.

- Miniature starter sets for each of three main forces, Fortune Hunters, Dark Mariners, and Ancients of Atalán will be produced. Sets will include five miniatures with stat cards and quickstart rules. Other forces are included in the rules and will be made into miniatures as funds permit.

- Rulebooks will be available printed in full color or as downloadable PDFs, and will include multiple game scenarios and a painting guide. There will be a softcover version of the printed book, meant for retail store sale, and a hardcover version with some additional content for direct sale. If project goals are exceeded, we will produce additional miniatures, terrain and supplements and continue growing the game.

Note on rewards: Shipping in included in all awards but does not include VAT or any other taxes for international awards.

Funding from Kickstarter will be used to produce the the miniatures for the starter sets and create additional artwork for the rulebook. It will also help cover printing and other production costs. Miniatures usually take from 2-4 weeks each to sculpt (repeat for four miniatures in the boxed set and add time for shipping and edits), then require master casting and then production casting before they can be painted and used in packaging art for the boxed sets another. All of this takes time, but if thing go well the final boxed sets should be ready by November 2012. That is the target date, but some rewards are set up for supporters to get castings as they are finished if the wait is too long. The printed book should be done near the end of the year as it will have photos from the painted miniatures and a painting guide.

The person running the show at AntiMatter Games (www.antimatter-games.com) is Eric Louchard, who handles the game design and art direction. He is the primary contact point for inquiries into the game. Painted miniatures by Eric can be viewed at www.lonebrushman.net.

The primary artist, website developer, and producer of the video is Marcelo Orsi Blanco, owner of the Hidden Workshop design studio http://www.hidden-workshop.com/.

Concept art is done by Eric, Marcelo, and Giovanni Castro. His work can be found here http://www.artflakes.com/en/shop/nigio. Additional concept art is being produced by Víctor P. Corbella at cargocollective.com/Corbella.

We are currently looking for sculptors, but have two already that are working from our concept art.

The first figure for the Fortune Hunters set, the Deep Soldier, is completed and masters are being cast now. Fortune Hunters are being sculpted by Igor, aka Brother Vinni.

The first of the Dark Mariners, the Vanguard Marine is in progress. Here is the "green". The Dark Mariners are being sculpted by Sergio Alonso Leon.