New Releases : 6th January 2010

Hi,

I hope you had a great Christmas.

I also hope that the quality of games in 2010 is a good as the new releases in the first week of the year. The following are expected to arrive in the shop next Wednesday 6th January

‘World without End’ by Rieneck and Stadler (Cuba and Pillars of the Earth) is a game for 2 -4 players using Ken Follett’s novel as its theme. Early reports are that this is an outstanding game, and it looks to be setting a benchmark for Euro’s in 2010.

‘Descent : Sea of Blood’ is a campaign add on for Descent. The second Advanced Campaign add on for Descent, Sea of Blood uses the same system as ‘Road to Legend’ but adds islands and the adventurers get their own ship to explore the new world.

‘Assyria’ is Ystari’s 2009 Essen release, It has slipped under the radar since Essen and i am looking forward to trying it – it looks like it continues the Ystari line of intricate Euros that require careful planning.

‘Piece o’Cake’ is the English language (Rio Grande) release of Jeffrey Aller’s excellent ‘Aber bitte Mitte Sahne’. This is a rather unusual game in which players collect pieces of cake by splitting cakes into sections and then take what’s left after their opponents have selected the sections they want. I like this game a lot and defy you to play it without feeling hungry by the end!

‘Krysis’ is a sci-fi themed Euro in which players compete for precious artifacts

‘Kingpin’ is a 2 player game themed in a noir comic world where gangster factions fight for dominance.

‘Summoner Wars’ has received rave reviews since its release in the States. It’s a two player tactical game in which players use cards to summon units, move them or create magic. The beauty of the game i apparently it’s easy to learn rules combined with superb balance between the different cards. The initial release is in two starter sets (Dwarves v Goblins, Elves v Orcs) , and will be followed by many expansions.

‘Path of the Zealot’ is the second battle pack for the excellent Warhammer Invasion Living Card Game

GMT have released a mounted map board for ‘Command & Colors’ owners

Queen games 2009 Essen releases have a UK general release next week – i have them in stock already and they include Chicago Express expansion (excellent!), Granada, Sultan and Nelly

I am adding items to the Guru sale – i have had restocks of Arkadia, Municipium, Sherwood Forest and Giants. I have also added a few wargames. It will be worth checking the sale page throughout January as i will be adding items on a regular basis.

I will be gaming in sunny Stockport next weekend at the excellent Stabcon convention. If any of you are attending and would like me to bring some new releases up or you'd like to meetup for a game a beer please email me.

Have a great new year!

Move over trains i want some Elves!

As a hardened Eurogamer i am surprised to find myself recently drawn towards fantasy themed games. I can trace the origin to playing Middle Earth Quest in the summer and enjoying the evolving story of the game as much as the strategic gameplay.

And at Eastbourne last month (a bi-annual get together of Counter Magazine subscribers and writers - a veritable 'haj' for the Eurogamer) my highlights were a game of Dungeon Lords and then a five hour Descent Dungeon crawl. Now Dungeon Lords is a Eurogame camouflaged with fantasy colours. The fantasy theme adds humour and a story line to what would be an average game if it was about, say, defending a castle in medieval Italy. Thinking about it my geek rating of eight would go down to a seven or six without the Dungeon bit.

Descent though was a joy. Yes it is really a minatures game but it had just the right amount of fantasy and character development to keep me immersed for five hours without needing to take up role playing.

The conversion is now complete, i have just opened a copy of Tomb Ctyptmaster and can't wait to get it to table - and it looks like my first play of Last Train to Wensleydale is going to wait another week.

New Releases : 8th September

Fantasy Flight, game issuing behemoth of the last month, has more to offer us:-


The latest off the production line is Ad Astra. A game of exploration and colonisation, Ad Astra despite it’s Ameri-Trash looks is, according to co-designer Bruno Faidutti, a Euro Game. This game looks like another excellent release from FF, from a rule read through it promises to be a tight economic / development game with a innovative action sequence.


Also from Fantasy Flight comes the Descent Quest Compendium, 16 Adventures penned by the both the designers of the game and other luminaries of the gaming world.

There are also three new pewter miniatures for the Road to Legend Descent expansion, released this week.

Endeavor, officially, hits the UK next Tuesday. Two copies saw night long action at my weekly gaming group, with players queuing up to get in a game. It’s hot stuff.

For family gamers comes ‘Order up’ from Z Man, a family pick up pizzas and deliver game.

There is one new war game this week and it is a stand alone game in the Panzer Grenadier series. ‘Fall of France’ has fifty scenarios recreating the six weeks of blitzkrieg it took Germany to conquer France.

Other news

Fantasy Flight is going to publish English language versions of Planet Steam and Bushido Way of the Warrior. If you don’t want to wait I have both of these language independent games available in their in their original language versions, Bushido is a sale item.

Pandemic : On the brink is rumoured to be released on September 15th

I have booked my trip to Essen, a fun/business trip my, aim is to secure games for the import section that are not going to have an immediate English language version by one of the big American publishers, and other gems. The aim is to have the games available for sale within 10 days of Essen finishing. If there is anything you’d like me to try and secure, or and suggestions for things I should be looking at, please email me.