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Hi, here is our latest newsletter!
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Dear friends, supporters and grognards!
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I hope you all do well and enjoy autumn, the long evenings around a table with family and friend playing board games.
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Designing Neither King Nor God: The Story Behind Its Creation and the Pilot Edition
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First and foremost, I’m a gamer - and have been since I was a kid. Some of my favorite moments are when fellow gamers reach out or when we meet at conventions to talk about games, history, and those wonderful cardboard boxes that bring the two together.
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I had been keeping an eye on Europa Universalis for ages. Back in the early days of Sound of Drums, I even reached out to AEGIR about possibly doing a German edition. But since AEGIR, like us, is a small and passionate team, they were understandably swamped getting the project off the ground, so our contact remained casual.
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For years I kept going back and forth, asking myself, “Should I back it? Shouldn’t I?” Each time I decided, “No, Here I Stand is already on the shelf, and let’s be honest, you’ll probably never play EU anyway.” That internal debate lasted far longer than I’d like to admit.
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At heart, I’m a wargamer, mostly drawn to the Napoleonic era. But the Renaissance, with its politics, intrigue, and shifting alliances, has always fascinated me.
So, while I was busy dithering between Europa Universalis and Here I Stand, my desire to play an epic game set in that period only grew stronger. Then, after reading a historical novel that captured the era’s drama and complexity, I thought: why not design one myself? And that’s when the idea was born: a game built on the design philosophy of Sound of Drums.
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The important thing was that it had to be accessible, and yet epic. Or perhaps better said: epic, as the theme deserves, but still accessible. In other words, the exact opposite of Europa Universalis and Here I Stand in that regard.
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The novel also sparked the idea for the game’s core mechanism - one that would ensure a high level of player interaction, something I consider absolutely indispensable in any design.
How can I bring the game to a wider audience? And how can I reach the full potential of the player base that might love it?
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We’re gradually making a name for ourselves, but the market - and the competition - is brutal. I know from experience how much my beloved series History of the Ancient Seas has flown under the radar. I’m thrilled that it’s now slowly finding a wider audience, but it takes time and persistence.
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With our rhythm at Sound of Drums and the way we work, I can’t simply produce eight or nine advanced prototypes, send them out to reviewers, and launch a massive marketing campaign. That’s not realistic for a small studio.
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We do, however, have a loyal base of players who appreciate the quality, artwork, and game design we deliver. But the market moves fast. Players rush from one novelty to the next. And I always remind myself, with every project: we only get one chance to do this theme. One bullet in the chamber. It has to be right, because we won’t revisit the Renaissance or Mediterranean civ-building theme a second time. It has to be the ultimate game.
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That’s when the idea came to me: what if we created a “light” version, focused on the core mechanism - the Courtiers? I asked my friend and fellow gamer Chris Synatzschke to lead the development and Andrew James to take on the role of editor. Both had very little time to work with, and the challenge was enormous.
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The goal was to scale down the original design: only four factions, a smaller map, and just 300 wooden pieces. We’re producing this Pilot Edition in a very limited quantity - once they’re gone, they’re gone.
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It will be available from October 11 to 31, 2025, priced at EUR 29 instead of EUR 69. Production finishes on October 14, just in time for Essen. We don’t expect to sell out instantly; some retailers have already shown interest in taking remaining copies. We’ll also be generous with YouTube reviewers and influencers.
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The goal of this limited edition is simple: to showcase the unique, intelligent Courtiers mechanism and to build anticipation for the epic version. I hope many players will say, “For 29 euros, I’ll give it a try,” and later, “Wow! That Courtiers mechanism is brilliant.”
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The full epic version will offer much more: a rich diplomatic subsystem, a non-player Ottoman Empire, deeply asymmetrical factions, additional courtier types, and plenty more. Yet it will still remain accessible - far more so than Europa Universalis or Here I Stand, both incredible games that are admired more often than they’re played.
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My plan is to reach those same players through this Pilot Edition campaign. And thanks to our talented graphic designer Marc von Martial, along with our signature wooden components, I’m confident we can achieve a production quality that truly justifies the effort.
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We’re also expanding thematically. We’re about to sign another historical title alongside Neither King Nor God: The Collapse, designed by Daniel Iniesta Hernández, set during the Thirty Years’ War.
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The epic edition of Neither King Nor God will be released in German as Kein Gott, Kein König, and in French as Ni Dieu, Ni Roi!
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As you might know, I’m German (Swabian, to be precise) and I absolutely love how the German title sounds! I can’t quite say if it carries the same impact in English. Our translators and editors didn’t seem particularly moved, but maybe that’s just a difference in personality.
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Expect over 600 custom wooden pieces, double-layered faction sheets, and a massive double-layered map measuring 86 x 112 cm, all produced with the same high quality you’ve come to expect from us, and at a fair price.
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P.S. Speaking of our players, who I hope are, for the most part, satisfied with our communication and service, here’s a quick status update on current projects. (More detailed updates will follow in the individual campaign pages.)
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- Battle Commander Vol. 1 - Printing is underway and the game is almost ready to ship.
- Primosole Bridge - Also currently being printed and nearly ready to set sail.
- Battles of Napoleon Vol. 2 - All the “hardware” is ready; we’re now finalizing the rulebook. I promise, the Wartenburg scenario will be a pleasant surprise!
- Assault Sicily ’43 and 1793 Patriots & Traitors - The books and limited-edition boxes have arrived in the U.S. and are finally ready to be shipped to players. My apologies for the long delay — the logistics were more complex than expected.
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The good news: Sound of Drums now has its own business registration in the United States, which will make shipping and distribution much smoother going forward.
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BTW: we were working on our website the last weeks, to optimize a couple of things. PLEASE accept our applogies if you subscribed OR unsubscribed and you still get newletters or blog notifications.
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1793: Patriots & Traitors, The French Revolution Year II
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1793: Patriots & Traitors recreates the chaos that tore up France in the years 1792-1794 as it has never been done before! Relive the bloody years of the French Revolution in this thrilling and highly communicative CTG!
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Designer: Jason St. Just
Artist(s): Marc von Martial
Developer: Uwe Walentin
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Hist. period: French Revolution
Game length: 30 – 120 minutes+
Players: 1 – 5 players
Age: 14+ years
Complexity: 5 / 10
Solitaire: yes 10 / 10
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€79.00
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Assault - Sicily '43 - Gela Beachhead
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Assault is a tactical game system which leads you into the allied landings at Gela Beachhead in 1943. The game comes with 40 scenarios. Play a single battle OR Dive into an extensive dynamic campaign. This game simulates two days of Allied landings at southern Sicily.
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Assault - Sicily '43 offers you tactical battles and a lot of historical units. Thanks to formation card decks, no game will be similar. The replay value goes to infinity. The unique dice system ensures action-packed gameplay. Know the strengths and weaknesses of your units and use them to decide the battle in your favour.
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€130.00
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Battles of Napoleon Vol. I - Eylau 1807
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Battles of Napoleon is an epic game series that simulates the most famous battles of Napoleon on a tactical scale sharing an elegant and cohesive ruleset. The series portrays the most important aspects of battles of the Napoleonic era with easy to learn and remember rules, intuitive mechanics and procedures.
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€89.00
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Lots of news at the end of 2024 by Sound of Drums Games
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I hope you do well! Creating a company and getting things moved is very exiting, time and energy consuming! Please let me thank all of you for your support. You find me in the last hours of 2024 exhausted but happy. This year we have been moving the company many steps into the direction I want to see Sound of …
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Background story for Aspern-Essling! Playtests started!
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Dear friends what do we do while "Battles of Napoleon Vol. 2 - Quatre Bras 1815 / Wartenburg 1813" is at the printer? Well, we have been starting to work on "Battles of Napoleon Vol. 3 - Aspern-Essling 1809". Matt Brown designed a great Vassal module and play tests started a week ago. Find more information about the battle and …
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by: Uwe Walentin
in: Battles of Napoleon Series, Sound of Drums
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