"Swedish Translator For Rules Needed" Topic

Hi, I am working on an upcoming board game covering 6 battles of the Great Northern War. Publisher is already lined up but I am thinking about including some Swedish rules for possible sales to Sweden.

Low to moderate complexity. Played on 11" x 17" hex battle maps. The artwork will be very nice and the rules will include variants and special rules for each battle. Hopefully, this will be the first in a series of games on the musket period.
I wanted to start with GNW, while rather less known, it is one of my favorites.

Not a lot of money involved (not much in boardgaming period given the limited market – but fun to do) but I would be willing to pay. The rules are looking like 4 pages plus a few pages of scenario information for each battle. Thought I would ask here. Thanks for any help.

Keep us informed – I would like to buy one when you are done.

I could do it, if you want.

Not an expert on GNW, but good with rules and language.

Can't PM you, though, as I'm not a paying member.

If you live in the US, contact your county offices. I was in need of a Russian translator and ask them. At the time, they didn't have anyone on their list, but they did keep of list of individuals who speak different languages that could do translation work for them. I did find a Russian translator through someone from my Church.

If Henrix translates, I can proof-read it.
I'm also fairly good with language and rules.

If you want a professional and certified Swedish translator who games I can get you in contact with one.

I'm merely Swedish, not a pro.

Thanks a lot for the responses so far. I only have access to this site early in the morning or late in the evening.

It would be preferable to have someone familiar with war game terms – hexes, phases, terrain affecting movement, etc. and the history to limit mistakes. On the other hand, this is not exactly executive pay. It would be nice to have someone local too who could coordinate with the museums and other potential users in Sweden. We have had success selling bulk sales to museums and historical organizations in the past.

Let's see what kind of response I ultimately get. It may be that it makes sense to have Henrix and Lupulus proof it even if I find someone else to do the work. Fortunately the rules are not real lengthy.

If I knew how to paste to this site I could add the current box art. Hopefully, we will have something to look at soon on the publisher's website.

I reached out to the Swedish consulate here today and will see what they can offer. Also received another offer to proof. So thanks for all your offers so far. Maybe if I can get a local here to do the translation and run it by some of you to proof for military, war game terms, etc., that might work out well.

Don't want to over use TMP for this so fee free to email me at deadbee63105@yahoo.com. I could send you the preliminary box cover art for comment too.

One thing to consider is that Swedish is a very small language in terms of number of speakers (and readers). There are few miniatures game rules written in Swedish and the number of translated rule sets is practically zero. The only one I can think of is an old introductory booklet from GW.

I'm not trying to dissuade you – translated rules would be refreshing to see – but most swedish gamers are used to reading and playing rules written in English. A translation may prove to cost more than what you make from sales.

Thanks for the insight! We won't do it if it costs too much. Hoping to find someone who is interested enough to do it for a reasonable price or possibly for a free game. WE would stick a set of Swedish rules in any games sold in Sweden. We already know there is not a lot of money here, and the publisher and his developers with whom I normally work, we are mostly in it for the fun. It is not a permanent job for any of us – we would starve and I am not about to give up my day job any time soon. The sales generally average only about 100-500 games and the artists, publisher, printers, etc. all have to be paid. It is very rewarding though and there is a pretty loyal customer base already who appreciates games of this type that can be played in one sitting. We agonize and argue over rules, art, layouts, extras, etc. but it is all fun. BTW, how do you say "Swedish Rules Included" in Swedish?

If I knew how to paste to this site

If you have a picture somewhere else on the internet, right-click on the picture. On the sub-menu that appears will be "copy image URL". Click on that. Then paste that in your post here and the picture should appear.

I'd like to be informed when these games are for sale.

"BTW, how do you say "Swedish Rules Included" in Swedish?"

A direct translation would be "Svenska regler inkluderat" but I would prefer "innehåller regler på svenska" (= contains rules in Swedish).

"Svenska regler ingår" would also work.

Yes "Svenska regler ingår" would be the best translation as it is shorter.

My original suggestion is more unambigius and a result of my experience of Murphy's law when writing texts (if something can be misunderstood, then someone will misunderstand it!). But the risk of thinking that the game includes a special Swedish variant of rules rather than just rules written in Swedish has to be close to zero :)

Thanks for the translation guys. I heard back from the Swedish consulate here today and she is going to look around and see if she can find anyone local. May or may not pan with her.

The box cover image is not on a website yet so I am presuming that paste suggestion won't work?

Ok, put the current draft box cover on a blog:

historicalgameblog.blogspot.com

Comments welcome, you can reply here, leave a comment on the blog or send my a PM at

deadbee63105@yahoo.com.

Well, I have not heard back from the local Swedish Consulate. Not sure if that is bad news or not. I will keep you posted. The English language rules are done and I am working on the scenarios and finishing the maps. The counters are finished as well. All subject to proofing, of course. I am considering adding Holowczyn and Lesnaya. That would make 8 battles in the set. The publisher is giving me a little bit of a hard time about that and wants to break it into 2 offerings. I am not too keen about that plus it would have unnecessary duplication of counters, etc. I think we can print the maps on front and back and get some economy there.

All the Nordic gamers I know are used to using rules written in English with measurements in inches – largely thanks to the influence of GW, Warlord etc. I suspect :-)

Still, if you can do it cheaply enough…

Well, here is where I am. The Swedish community seems split on the benefit of a Swedish rules translation. I have pitched this idea on some other sites as well. The professional translators are cost prohibitive for the likely sales of the game. I am also hopeful to engage a local Swede to help with sales in Sweden who may have some ideas. The only other thought I had was to try Google translate and see if those who offered to help (Hendrix, Lupulus) could take a look and see if that is something they could use and clean up without too much trouble. I have used it to read one of the Swedish blogs and it seems to reasonable translate that blog into English. For example, I was able to easily translate and read Orjan Martinsson's blog discussion of how many Russians, particularly dragoons, were at Poltava very easily.

The game is coming along. The rules and scenarios are mostly done. I have been corresponding with Einar Lyth the author (and contributor) of some books in Swedish on the Poltava and Lesnaya battles. I acquired the books he suggested and am studying the maps he recommended for possible changes as I understand he is one of the leading experts. Orjan Martinsson and Bengt Nilsson have been nice enough to field some questions too. I need to be sure to get them all in the designer notes.

BTW, these rules should easily be playable with miniatures with either your own terrain hex board or blowing up the maps.

Well after obtaining further input on BGG and from some independent emails, the Swedish language translation of the rules is out. Most Swedes I spoke to said they weren't needed. A few said they actually preferred rules in English. So back to concentrating on finishing the game. I am not going to post on this thread any more but will start one on the game itself under the Swedish Wargaming message board so those who are interested can keep track of progress and release date. Thanks again for all your input.

One tip is to consult any large local university to find Swedish exchange students. I knew a Swedish student at my university (in the U.S.) who earned extra money translating catalogs into Swedish.

Just send a fax or note to the Germanic Languages Department, and they'll put up the notice or reach out to Swedish students (who are likely to be known by the Germanic Languages Department, even if they're not studying Germanic Languages).