Its September! Its nearly half way through September!! Who’s stealing my time, it was only July last week. Ignoring my tenuous grip on the space time continuum lets push on.
New Game Releases.
OK so its that post Gen Con time of year, which basically means that gamer’s are broke, there will be on average at least two really great games released a week between now and Christmas and already my wallet has hidden beneath the sofa and won’t come out, its sat there rocking like a Hamster at a Pet Shop Boys after-show party.
My picks of releases this week are
Diamonds from Stronghold Games. Designed by Mike Fitzgerald. Its a simple trick taking game, but gathered a lot of buzz at Gen Con. It looks like a great filler game that can be played by anyone. Love these style of games and got my order in as soon as it went up for sale. Expect a review to follow soon. And at around £16 a punt its a steal.
Doomtown:Reloaded from AEG. A buffed up reissue of the old DoomTowen CCG but now reincarnated as a LCG. It’s had some strong word of mouth and looks great. Personally I’m holding out for Fantasy Flights Warhammer Conquest, but if your a fan of the steam punk western theme then this is supposed to be a pretty deep and enthralling game. And there’s also a really cool collectors edition, but that’s really expensive.
Heroes Wanted – Its a superhero board game with Euro overtones and an entertaining party game all rolled into one. We’ve played this and it’s a whole lot of fun. Loads of combinations of heroes to create and numerous scenarios to play in, this has a bat cave full of replayability and comes recommended. Look for a review soon.
Pathfinder Card Game:Skull & Shackles – Its the second campaign following last years Runelords. I was late to the party and have been holding out for this to be released and it has Pirates yaar! Its on my list and will certainly be nabbing this at some point.
Phew and that’s just this week. Upcoming over the rest of September are: four more Netrunner Data Packs, Dead Of Winter, King Of New York,Machi Koro,Uncanny X-Men-Dicemasters, More Smash Up, Warhammer Conquest,Firefly:Blue Sun. And there just some of the big titles. Man its going to be an expensive and busy few months.
Gaming News
So what gems have we unearthed this week.
To commemorate the 5th birthday of Castle Panic Fireside Games will be holding a goggle hangout with the games designer Justin De Witt on September 13.Justin will be sharing early artwork and design concepts for Castle Panic, as well as talking about his future plans for expansions to the game. Click the link for more info
In related news Queen Games have just launched a Kickstarter for Orcs Orcs Orcs why you may ask is this in any way linked to the Castle Panic news. Well take a look at the two photo’s below.
Orcs Orcs Orcs I think
Castle Panic.
Hmm So Queen games looks like a pimped up version of Castle Panic, it has some great looking components, but in all honesty I can’t see a lot of major differences other than that. There hasn’t been any official statements yet from either party, but if I was Fireside games I’d be knocking on Queen Games wizards tower like a hoard of angry Goblins asking what the snoogins they are playing at. We’re be keeping an eye on this and let you know of any further developments.
CGE have just announced that they are splitting from Z-Man and Rio-Grande current distribution partners for a heap of their titles and going it alone. First up is a planned re-issue of the Vlaada Chvatil’s Tash Kalar with a much lower price point, released at last years Essen it’s seen disappointing sales following a ridiculous RRP set by Z-man. We’re also be getting an Ice themed expansion at Spiel this year. Its all good news for us over in the UK, we should see more OOP titles available and hopefully with much lower price points.
Days Of Wonder have announced a new expansion for Small World. A Spiders Web – This will include 3 news races and 3 new powers to add to this fun and light game of genocide. We’re also be getting a reprint of the long OOP Leaders expansion, so that’s all gravy.
These will be available at Essen in October.
Well if all of that wasn’t enough there are some exciting happenings over on Kickstarter. First up and a bit of an exclusive launching today is King Down coming from Saar Shai the designer of last years excellent The Agents.
King Down is a strategic game incorporating miniatures for 2-4 players. Described as ‘the prequel to Chess’, King Down incorporates age-old, intricate and fascinating mechanics from ‘the Game of Kings’ but breaks all the rules by re-imagining the classic pieces, introducing brand new characters, and including new spell cards, strategies, tactics and win conditions. King Down is a brand new game that will stand the test of time and last the ages.
OK so its a Chess variation and usually I’d be get outta my face with this nonsense. But take a look at the miniatures that are shipping with this game.
How cool do they look? And there are 40 of them??
I’ve been playing around with a beta-release of the rules and its a neat variation of chess with more than a little of Summoner Wars and other skirmish games. This i’m sure is set to be huge so don’t delay as I expect this to suddenly rise to the top of the BGG hotness faster than a chilli pepper in a rocket launcher. We’re be covering more on this and getting and hopefully snagging an interview over the course of the project.
There are a bunch of add-ons and stretch goals including options to get polystone casts of the figures head on over to the Kickstater page for the project and take a look for yourself. HERE
But there’s more.
Storyception Games have just launched Apocalypse:Galactic Arena its a fast paced tactical battle BOARD GAME. Players choose a Hero or Heroes and take on the role of galactic gladiators. Your Heroes battle in the GALACTIC ARENA: an organized spectacle that is broadcast for the entertainment of the populace all over the galaxy. Whats very cool about this aside from the whole, i’m Spartacus in space (which is cool) is that this is the first game in a series that will be set within the Apocalypse Universe. The intention is to hold tournaments of Galactic Arena and the winners will have a direct effect upon the universe and future releases in this series. That sounds pretty cool.
We will shortly be getting our hands on a copy of the game and you can expect a review and playthough in the coming weeks.
Skyway Robbery – Don’t forget that Skyway Robbery is still looking for funding on Kickstarter right now. This is a stunningly designed and illustrated steam punk game of daring crime capers and mischief aboard a vast airship. It looks incredible. I was lucky to get a chat with Philip duBarry about this game which you can find HERE. This is really something special and as Phil has said if this doesn’t reach its funding goal, we’re never see the game on a shelf, and they’ll sell of the art for other games, that my friends would be a crying shame.
Here’s something that totally captured my interest Spirit Of 77.
Spirit of 77 is an over-the-top, pedal-to-the-metal, nitro-burning, action adventure role playing game about an alternate history 1977. Richard Nixon has made a deal with aliens, and is still in the White House; renegade rock gods from another galaxy have shared with us the power of Glam; kung-fu bad-asses wander the city streets righting wrongs, and everyone is trying to stick it to The Man.
Spirit of 77 is about recreating all the classic action and adventure TV shows, Movies, and Comic Books of the 1970s. It draws inspiration from movies like Shaft, Smokey and the Bandit, The Warriors, Barbarella, Rocky, and Enter the Dragon; TV shows like The Dukes of Hazard, The Bionic Man, The Rockford Files, and Charlies Angels; and music like James Brown, KISS, David Bowie, Jerry Reed, and Issac Hayes.
Man I’m F’king sold. I want want to kick some righteous ass in flares and sunglasses, what sane person wouldn’t.
And then there is this…
Welcome to Bonerwood! A pen and paper game about radioactive mutant adult stars with super powers!
I think I’m just going to leave this here and walk quietly away..
On that lube encrusted bombshell I’m spent. Have a great week, Who Dares Rolls Podcast Episode 11 hits this week and we’re discussing Dead Of Winter – so keep an eye out for that. And I’m hoping to get some more reviews done. And we also have some more interviews to go up. Busy busy busy.
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Stay Frosty..