ZombieSmith has announced the release of This Quar’s War, a 108-page softcover book providing a primer for proper behavior on the field of battle, allowing players to recreate the valiant deeds of their ancestors. Designed for casual play, the book offers straightforward yet challenging rules for the veteran miniatures player. It uses an open orders system and double blind activation, requiring players to use both a strategic vision and ability to improvise.
Privateer Press has announced Scrappers, a family board game for 2-4 players ages 9 and up. In Scrappers, players take on the role of lively goblin mechanics as they race around a factory floor trying to pull parts off a constantly moving conveyor belt to complete their contraptions. It features full-color artwork and is scheduled for release in September 2009.
“The game features fast, intuitive game play that takes only minutes to learn, but presents a strategic depth that will challenge both new young players and seasoned veterans alike,” said Privateer Press Chief Creative Officer Matt Wilson when asked about the new Bodgers game, “Add to that the maniacal and zany cast of the Bodgers goblin mechanics and Scrappers is a game everyone will want to play again and again.”
Gamewright has added three new titles to its product line recently:
Polar Derby
This game is for ages 8 and up, 2 to 4 players, and requires approximately 20 minutes to play. It contains 25 wooden polar bears, 2 custom dice, and rules of play. Polar Derby is described as “a game of quick decision-making” in which you collect points by collecting high-scoring roller skating polar bears from a rink.
Ring-O Flamingo
This game is for ages 6 and up, 2 to 4 players, and requires approximately 10 minutes to play. It contains 48 lifesavers, 7 flamingos, 4 lifeboats, 2 alligators, a game board, and rulebook. In Ring-O Flamingo players fling lifesavers to rescue innocent flamingos from harm.This Big!
This game is for ages 8 and up, 2 to 6 players, and can be played in 15 minutes. It contains 65 cards and rules of play. Using the game’s cards, players cast lures and try to catch fish, hoping to catch the most and the biggest fish.
The Eden Studios web site has announced that its “The Extraterrestrials Sourcebook” is now available in PDF form. This sourcebook is a supplement for the Conspiracy X 2.0 roleplaying game. It includes details on three alien races, rules for creating alien Cast Members, powerful alien technology, and more. It’s compatible with All Flesh Must Be Eaten, Armageddon, Terra Primate, CJ Carella’s Witchcraft, and other Unisystem games. The book is now available as a PDF and will be available in hardcopy form in July 2009.
The Crocodile Games web site has announced the beginning of its 2009 summer campaign, The Aten Heresy. This campaign is set during the time of the Akhenaten Heresy, and the events will help tell the story of this period in the history of Aegyptus. The outcomes of the games will have an impact on the overall course of the campaign and will help shape the history of Aegyptus. The campaign began at KublaCon in California last weekend and will have its grand finale at GenCon Indy in August 2009. Players who participate in the campaign will receive an exclusive miniature – The Mysterious Stranger. A PDF with special campaign rules and background is available for downloading.
The Avalanche Press web site has announced its Memorial Day sale running now through June 5, 2009. As part of the sale, you can buy two games and get a third free. Plus, with the coupon code “memorial” you can take an extra 10% off your order! See their online store for more details and current wargame pricing.
Adamant Entertainment has announced “Pact of Ghosts“, the newest entry in its Venture 4th series of warlock pacts for 4E. Warlocks forge a pact with ghosts, and can call upon their special nature to phase through solid objects, drain foes of energy, and torment the living with sounds and images. The pact features a full listing of powers from Levels 1 through 30, four new Feats exclusive to the pact, a paragon path, and three new magic items. It’s product number ADM2111 and is currently priced at $2.00 US.
0One Games has released “Battlemaps Lairs: Vampire’s Inner Crypt” in PDF format. This $2.99 product contains a referee map, four customizable battlemaps, and six customizable tiles. It provides a setting for a battle with Vardalak, a master vampire who was once lord of the countryside, now bound in his coffin by a powerful archmade.
From the press release posted on the Matrix Games web site:
Matrix Games (www.matrixgames.com) and Slitherine (www.slitherine.com) are thrilled to announce the release of Commander – Europe at War Gold! This is a fully updated version of the acclaimed WWII grand strategy game Commander – Europe at War and owners of the original release can download a free v1.12 update to bring their copies up to the Gold version.
David Heath, Director of Operations at Matrix Games, said “The Commander – Europe at War Gold release is a fantastic opportunity to pick up a great strategy game. With a system that is simple to learn but engaging for veteran gamers, Commander – Europe at War Gold will stay on your hard drive for a long time to come!”
Commander – Europe at War Gold includes a new Fast Play mode with six additional campaigns as well as a slew of other improvements and fixes since the original release. This brings the PC version of the game to the same level as the recent releases for the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP.
Commander – Europe at War Gold thrusts the player into the command of either the Axis or the Allies during World War II. With only two goals at hand, survive and conquer, the player is charged with building and commanding the combined air, land and sea forces of his side. Advance your research to the cutting edge of technology in order to best your opponents and either conquer or liberate Europe!
Commander – Europe at War Gold is easy to learn and elegant, but deep in strategy and hard to master. Players will find themselves glued to their chairs from the beginning when all mayhem breaks loose across the continent with the invasion of Poland in 1939. Research new technologies, manage your manpower reserves, improve your industry, husband your oil supply and manufacture armies, fleets, and bombers to use all available strategic and tactical might to bring about victory. Commander – Europe at War Gold includes realistic combat resolution that models supply morale, terrain, leadership, equipment, training, strategic weapons and fog of war. To capture the immense scope and distance of WWII, Commander – Europe at War Gold includes a Fast Play mode with 6 campaigns as well as 6 more epic campaigns with different starting points, including the famous Barbarossa campaign, D-Day, the battle for France, and finally the Grand Campaign that will let the player refight the entirety of the Second World War the way they see fit!
Gamers who already own Commander – Europe at War do not need to purchase Commander – Europe at War Gold. Instead, just download and install the free v1.12 update from the Matrix Games downloads page and you’ll be upgraded to the Gold level.
The Troll and Toad web site has announced a sale on Magic: The Gathering cards in celebration of Memorial Day. They’re also looking to purchase cards from the new Alara Reborn expansion. For more information, see their site.
Fantasy Flight Games has released the rules for the Innsmouth Horror Expansion for their H.P. Lovecraft-themed Arkham Horror game. This expansion adds the neighboring town of Innsmouth to the Arkham Horror game. It adds new investigators, new Ancient Ones, new monsters, and new cards that may be used with the base Arkham Horror game. It also features new elements including a new board, new heralds, personal story cards for each investigator, and the Deep Ones Rising track.
Dan Verssen Games is engaging in an interesting experiment for their upcoming Frontline game. As they develop the rulebook for the game, they’re posting information about it on their web site. Right now, you can see a partial outline of the rulebook in PDF form on their web site.
Your experience may vary relative to mine, but on my Windows PC I was unable to display the PDF file in either Firefox or Internet Explorer. On my Mac Mini with Safari, it displayed fine. It’s possible the problem had to do with the fact that I’m running Windows 7 Release Candidate rather than a production release of Vista or XP.
The Bone Games web site recently announced the beta testing of a new title, Marathon. Marathon is a race game for between 2 and 6 players. Players take the role of gods, secretly influencing six heroes as they strive to complete the mythical Marathon race. You must use subtlety when influencing your hero, because once a god’s favorite hero is known, the other gods will work to thwart him. The god whose favorite has moved the furthest wins the game at the end. The beta test is available as a PDF file.
According to a new post on the Avalanche Press web site, members of its Gold Club have “shown great support during the many changed we’ve seen this year” and in return for their support, Avalanche is increasing the Gold Club discount from 10 to 40 percent temporarily. The discount doesn’t apply to pre-orders, seasonal specials, or new games now shipping. The discount apparently ends this weekend, so if you’ve been putting off buying any Avalanche Press games and are a Gold Club members, this looks like a good time to place your order.
0One Games has released the latest installment in its Black & White line, Dungeon of Terror #2: Assassins’ Brotherhood” in PDF format. This $1.99 PDF product is part of their Dungeon of Terror line, reportedly the largest dungeon ever tiled. This product details the northwest part of the Dungeon of Terror, which is the hideout of the famed Brother of Assassins. It contains a Referee Map and 35 customizable tiles.
You can tell I’ve been off in my own little world when the great folks at Twilight Creations have released three new titles I hadn’t heard about yet… and they have. New for 2009 are:
Zombies!!! 8: Jailbreak
This expansion to the very-popular Zombies!!! board game starts you out in a mental ward, where it seems the rest of the inmates have developed a taste for brains. This expansion adds 15 new map times, 30 event cards, rules, and universal “Dodge” rules for use with any Zombies!!! set. The core Zombies!!! set is required to play. The product’s suggested price is $14.99 and it was scheduled to ship in April 2009, so it should be available at your favorite hobby games retailer.MidEvil Deluxe Edition
MidEvil is the first game to be based on, and an extension of, Zombies!!! Players have escaped the zombie horde only to find themselves transported back in time and faced with a new set of problems. It combines everything from the MidEvil base set, MidEvil 2, and MidEvil 3, and features updated packaging, improved art, and updated figures. According to the Twilight Creations site, it will be released in May 2009. (Perhaps it’s already out?)Martians!!!
This game drops you in the middle of the first wave of a large-scale alien invasion. It’s up to you to save mankind. The game is expected to be released in June 2009.
For more information about these and other Twilight Creations games, see their web site.
Reaper Miniatures announced the upcoming release of Warlord Second Edition. This streamlined version promises to be faster, more fun, and better than ever. The softcover edition is expected to ship on July 27, 2009. It uses the same RAGE combat system as the previous versions of the game, but features a completely re-invented magic system that allows spellcasters to choose their spells during the game. Streamlining reportedly includes getting rid of rules that didn’t get used or were too complex and a reduced number of damage tracks for faster play. It includes the same 10 core factions featured in the first core rulebook. Remaining factions will be featured in a follow-up book later in the year.
According to an April 27, 2009, post on the Blacksburg Tactical Research Center web site, on April 30 they published a title described as “fun, possibly educational and maybe controversial in some circles” called Footsteps of the Prophet(pbuh). It’s a card game about the Khalifate succession after the death of the Prophet(pbuh). The game is reportedly designed around historical figures and events, and predates the original Sunni/Shia split. The main game is in English with Arabic subtitles, and there is a separate Arabic version that has English subtitles. The game is available through RPGNow for $7.00 as of this writing.
The Old Glory 15s web site has announced a series of bulk discounts based on the size of a customer’s order:
Order Amount Bulk Discount Offered $50-$100 20% off $101-$400 30% off Over $401 40% off
According to the site, this discount applies to anything they manufacture. Free shipping is available for orders of $150 or more (after discount is applied). They accept PayPal, too.
