Following are the news items I found while scanning the web today:

• The Smirk and Dagger site says that “After almost a year of the HEX HEX core set being out of stock, we are publishing a new version which I hope to have by July-Aug. HEX HEX XL will replace both the 1.5 base game and Hex Hex Next, becoming the new base set. As you might surmise from the title, the new, larger game will include a larger, but streamlined deck of 150 cards taking the ‘best of’ cards from both sets. In addition, the game will have 2 NEW variablts (with new cards and bits to support them). For more info, see the link above.
• Goodman Games reminds us that Free RPG Day is June 19, and is offering a free Age of Cthulu adventure to get people in the mood, as well as some Age of Cthulu Free RPG Day wallpaper.
• John Jenkins Designs is currently running a caption contest on the web site and is taking pre-orders for the JJ Designs Collectors’ Club 2010 Special Club Set #4 miniatures.
• Jolly Roger Games is listing 6 new products on its site: Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Essays on Role-playing, Fire Brigade: World War Two Miniatures, Swashbuckler! 2nd Edition, Blow! Bugles! Blow!, ROPE, and Last Man Standing.
• Pacific Rim Publishing is having a special sale to celebrate the coming publication of Across the Pacific. The sale will reportedly go through July 31, 2010, and will enable you to get Across the Pacific at the pre-publication price of $100.00 and most other Pacific Rim Publishing products at one third off.
• RPGNow.com lists two new products: Parker Shuttle Deckplans and Battlemaps: The Key of the Fey
• Steve Jackson Games says that Munchkin’s 19th printing is now available through your favorite game store.

Here are the interesting bits of news I found today:

• The Classic Battletech site says that some new BattleTech PDFs are now available, along with some new epub novels, and Total Warfare style record sheets for a variety of units.
• Critical Hit is now listing four new ASLComp AFRIKAKORPS titles: Combined Arms, Operation Torch, Second Time Around, and Bitter Enders.
• Fantasy Flight Games is looking to hire an Associate Living Card Game Designer.
• Flames Rising has posted a review of the Bogeyman RPG.
• Hex Games has released American Artifacts, a collection of American magical items for use in the QAGS RPG.
• Minden Games has announced that Panzer Digest #9, scheduled for Summer 2010, will include two wargames: Fall of the Philippines (a solitaire WW2 operational) and ‘NAM 68 (a two-player tactical game set in Vietnam).
• Precis Intermedia Games has released Disposable Heroes: Soldiers 3 – Planetary Militia, Warcosm Assault: Supplemental Edition, and Ancient Odysseys: Treasure Awaits! Pocket Softcover.
• Rattlehead Games has added new releases from Black Hat and Dark Realm to their product line.
• Wargamedownloads.com has added “Italy Awakes: The Birth of a Nation 1848-1859” to their product catalog.

That’s all I have for you.

Today’s gaming news that may interest you:

• 15mm.co.uk: From May 14-28, 2010, 15mm.co.uk is offering a free pack of their HOF43 Armoured Sentry Robot miniatures worth 3.50 GBP for free with any order, provided you pay shipping.
• 4th Street Software added the 2009-2010 season information to their 4th Street Hockey game.
• Aberrant Games has posted a call for Warlands and Rezolution Playtesting groups.
• Valve is offering the Portal game for Macintosh and Windows PCs for free on its Steam service.
• Amera Plastic Mouldings has added some new island and harbor terrain pieces to their catalog.
• Armorcast has secured the rights from Lance and Laser to produce HeroQuest miniatures.
• Artizan Designs currently has some special offers in place for its AD-03 Landsknecht Regiment, AD-WP5 British Airborne Platoon, and AD-04 Landsknecht Regiment Attacking miniatures. Discounts look to be in the 10% range.
• Askari Miniatures updated its web catalog in late April.
• Atlas Games has updated the Supplemental Spell Guidelines for Ars Magica 5th Edition and the errata file. They have reprinted The Broken Covenant of Calebais, a title that sold out after a year on the market.
• Australian Design Group has added Wif Blitz, Wif Master, Fatal Alliances III, Khaki in Flames, and Battle for Britain to its product line.
• BITS UK announced that Marc Miller has made Classic Traveller’s Starter Edition available as a free download at DriveThruRPG. The download includes the main book only, and is a great way to introduce someone to Traveller.
• Black Scorpion Miniatures has released several new figures recently, including a range of fantasy football minis, Navy Marines 3, Orc Pirates 2, Apaches 2, and Cowgirls for the Tombstone game.
• Blacksburg Tactical Research Center released its Fires of Heaven title in March.
• Clash of Arms announced on May 11 that The Fires of Midway is almost ready to be shipped, and that pre-orders are being taken for a new title – Persian Incursion.
• Catalyst Game Labs will be publishing a Battletech Historical: Operation Klondike on May 24, along with a reprint of Shadowrun Runner’s Companion (according to the Classic Battletech site).
• Company B has released several miniatures already this year, with several in casting right now, and several more planned.
• Crocodile Games is helping players get started with WarGods by offering a Warband Mega Deal promotion. Each deal includes a copy of the rulebook, a starter set, and an additional unit and character. Savings are around $30 and up.
• Crusader Miniatures has a deal on is Caledonian Army miniatures, a pre-release deal on Scots miniatures, and several other products.
• Days of Wonder has released Smallworld for the iPad.
• Fantasy Flight Games has announced Death Angel, a Space Hulk card game coming this summer.
• Fire and Fury Games announced that its Fire and Fury Regimental has been sent to the printer and is available for preorder by June 2010. A downloadable PDF with RF&F details is available on the site.
• The Flames of War site announced that the first batch of Dogs and Devils releases would be in shops on May 15.
• Flying Buffalo Games will be releasing Decision Dice at Origins. A few copies of Mike Stackpole’s “City of Terror” were located, two more Queen’s Blade books are available, a 40th Anniversary T-shirt is available, and other news has also been posted on the site.
• Gale Force Nine (GF9) will debut a series of Official Dungeons and Dragons Player’s Handbook Token Sets in July.
• GMT Games added an updated Cyberboard Module for Washington’s War, and updated Cyberboard Gamebox for The Halls of Montezuma, and an updated playbook for Elusive Victory is available.
• Green Ronin will release a new edition of Mutants & Masterminds in the fall of 2010.
• Hex Games has released The Pytheas Club, a game of Victorian adventure set in 1877. The adventure is designed for use with QAGS Second Edition rules. Waxman’s Warriors, a satirical adventure set in the afterlife, is also available.
• HPS Simulations has released Greek Wars and Mexican-American War v1.02.
• Iron Crown Enterprises has published a sneak peek at Spell Law II. This includes a compilation of professions, rules options, and spell lists from many of the issues of Express Additions as well as new content.
• Jeux Grenier Games is taking preorders for In The Trenches: Through Mud and Blood wargame at 15% off the release prices.
• JR Miniatures has recently added a number of terrain pieces in its “Damaged City” line, including cobblestone road sets. Also added are a Dutch Barn, Dutch Farm Complex, Dutch Cottage, Arnhem Roadhouse, Ruined Roadhouse, British HQ, Bridge Buttress, Arnhem Bridge sets, and others.
• Lone Wolf Development plans to add a Shadowrun data package to its Hero Lab product, in cooperation with Catalyst Game Labs.
• Matrix Games has recently released World War One Gold Edition, as well as sneak peeks and other info for Battles from the Bulge and Distant Worlds.
• Morrigan Press announced that the Talislantan Handbook is finally available.
• Outcast Games is looking for beta testers to sign up for their game, Pit of War.
• Pendraken Miniatures has released a large number of new miniatures and halved its shipping rates recently.
• The Phil Pritchard’s Lensman game web site says that the artwork disks would be shipped to the printer in March, with orders perhaps being accepted in late March and a product shipping in June 2010. However, there don’t appear to have been any updates to that information since earlier this year.
• Pinnacle Entertainment Group is releasing The Savage Foes of Solomon Kane on May 17. Solomon Kane Bennies are back in stock as well. They’re also working on adapting their books for the Apple iPad.
• Reaper Miniatures has a 2010 Convention Sophie miniature ready to sell at ReaperCon, GenCon, and Origins. The mini will be available only through direct convention sales.
• Scale Creep Miniatures is now taking preorders for 1866: Grand Tactical Rules for the Austro-Prussian War.
• Steve Jackson Games has released “Munchkin: Go Up A Level” – a card set intended to help those with older Munchkin sets update their games to the current release levels without having to re-buy them all.
• Twilight Creations expects to release Zombies!!! 9: Ashes to Ashes this month, an expansion to the popular zombie game series that lets you explore your local cemetery and see if you can stop the source of the zombie scourge.
• Udo Grebe Gamedesign has reduced its prices and shipping charges.
• Wizards of the Coast says that the second expansion for its XBox Live Arcade game for Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers will be released on May 12. 2010. They also plan to sponsor Gen Con in Indianapolis this year.

That’s all for now. I hope to be back within a week with another update.