A Shot from the Guntower: 24-3-26

Ahoy Crewmates — what a month.

We hit our funding goal for Pirates & Salvage on Day 1, thanks entirely to you lovely people, and sailed past the finish line at over 250% funded. The Pirates are officially coming!

Print files are already approved with DoFine and we are currently evaluating the sample copy - more on that in our Gamefound updates next week. Once that's done, we’re on track to deliver in May, ahead of UK Games Expo.

LATE PLEDGE NOW OPEN

If you missed the campaign or have a friend who’s been dithering, now’s the moment to pounce - we’re keeping the Expansion price the same for Late Pledge, though we’ve had to increase the price for the Core Game and All-Ins.

We're still working on getting shipping rates as low as we can for you, so the Pledge Manager won't be open for a few more weeks as we put that in place.

Lynn has been busily applying all the Loyalty Discounts for Pirates & Salvage:

• £2 for returning backers

• £1 for anyone who Followed the project on Gamefound before launch

Gamefound makes this… let’s say… “an artisanal, handcrafted process”, so if you think you’re missing a discount, drop us a line at info@guntowergames.com and we’ll sort you out.

GOVER JOKE COMPETITION — THE GROANS WERE OFF THE CHARTS

Airecon welcomed us with bright lights, warm crowds and Gover’s weapon‑grade jokes. Positioned right at the entrance, we greeted every newcomer with our signature welcome: “Can I test out some bad jokes on you?” Most people braced themselves for impact and accepted their fate with good humour.

The competition was fierce. Groans echoed across the hall, laughter occasionally squeaked through, and - just as planned - the ratio of groans to laughs hit record highs. 😅😬🤯

Three jokes clawed their way to the top of the compost heap, along with one honourable mention:

Honourable Mention – Cyclecommuter: “Why is the Captain’s Cryo‑Pod set to Absolute Zero? To make sure he’s O‑K.”  Scientists chuckled. Everyone else Googled ‘Kelvin scale’

3rd Place – 19 laughs, 48 groans: “What is ET short for?

So he can fit in his spaceship.”

2nd Place – 19 laughs, 51 groans: “What do you call a Space Pirate with 10 eyes?

A P‑i‑i‑i‑i‑i‑i‑i‑i‑i‑rate!”

1st Place – 26 laughs, 54 groans: “Why did the astronaut split up with his girlfriend?

Because he needed the space, Man! And honestly, there was no atmosphere in the relationship.”

The crowd was impressed by the ‘follow through’ on that joke – though if rolling your eyes and groaning is the new standard for being dazzled, then we’ve truly reached the lows we were aiming for. Congratulations (and condolences) to Richard Hooper, now officially our Honorary Gover. His joke was so potent the compost bin asked for noseplugs.

RULES REVISIONS

Our poll came back with a clear 2:1 majority in favour of a Revisions & Clarifications Leaflet rather than a full Rules 2.0 (which is a bit of a relief tbh, because reprinting the entire rulebook would have been a major operation). Mike will be working on that over the next couple of months.

But as always, remember the Movie Rule: If something’s unclear, play it the way you think it would work in the movies. The rules exist to enhance the cinematic feel of the game — not to get in the way of it.

CARTA IMPERIA PROTOTYPE – AND THE SENATE WENT WILD

Look what arrived just before Airecon!

The prototypes for Carta Imperia landed just in time for Airecon, and we wasted no time showing them off. This is our deal‑making, mini‑4X political brawl set during the rise of the Roman Republic — where players charm, bargain, threaten, and outright swindle their way to the top while carving out an empire along the way.

And people loved it!

Not just the gameplay — the table‑talk. The whispered alliances. The “I’ll back you if you back me” bargains that bounced back and forth across the table. Deals within deals within deals. It was glorious!

One tactic in particular had players cackling like scheming senators: the Vote & Switch.

Here’s how it works:

If the Lex Sacrata Reform is Enacted, a Tribune of the Plebs can Veto the winner of any single election. So you sidle up to the frontrunner, play the loyal powerbroker, help push him into the lead… and then, when the votes are in, quietly nudge his enemies to Veto him straight out of office!

Cue gasps. Cue betrayal. Cue you, the ‘humble’ second‑place candidate, sweeping the re‑run. It’s deliciously underhanded — and requires the charm of a snake‑oil salesman to pull off.

Mike, ever the fun‑police (and probably correct), has decided the Lex Sacrata might be a touch too powerful in its current form. He’s muttering about adding a Dignitas Cost to the Veto. He’s probably right — but watching players’ heads explode as they tried to untangle the electoral maths was priceless:

“If you vote for me, he’ll have to use the veto, then I can vote for you in the run‑off…”

“…But he knows that, so he’ll vote for Them, and when we veto Them, he’ll still win the run‑off…”

“…Unless we bribe them not to stand — how much do you think it’ll take…?”

🤯 The Senate floor has never been so chaotic.

The prototype itself looks gorgeous, with its acrylic Governor Busts, double-sided Map Tiles and cards designed to look like marble tablets. We can’t wait to show it off again at UKGE, ahead of the Carta Imperia Crowdfunder in June.

The Republic is rising — and it’s messy, political, and utterly brilliant.

That's it for now.

Once we've evaluated the P&S print sample and have a clearer idea of the timeline, we'll put that in a Gamefound Update. In the meantime, we're off to Hereford after Easter to chill with our friends at the Here For Games Convention. Come say 'hi' if you're there 😁

And as always, watch those dark corners! 👀