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Axis and Allies 1940 Pacific
I have returned this product to the distributors as it is sub standard. It is billed by Avalon Hill as a premium product with De luxe components, however upon opening the box it became apparant thst the components are sub standard for even a medium priced game. Moreover it does not have all the pieces neccessary to play the game out of the box. This is not a moral judgement on my part, but a commercial one as i would anticipate a huge number of returns.
New Releases : 15th December
This week’s UK new releases are:
‘Axis & Allies Pacific 1940 Anniversary Edition’ – it’s big and it’s clever and it’s in limited supply.
‘Ren Faire’ is a card game about dressing up, like ‘Gloom’ it is printed on super quality see through plastic.
‘Alhambra Big Box’ has the base game and all five expansions contained in one monster sized box.
‘Hammer of the Scots’ is released in a 3rd Edition – this has a nice ‘proper’ board.
and
Arkham Horror Dice
Some more Essen releases have arrived:
‘Filipino Fruit Market’, from Bambus Spiel – the masters of trick taking game design have created two games about life in a fruit market
‘Santa Timea’ - Argentum’s other Essen release (the first Hansa Teutonica is back in stock) is a trick taking filler
‘Strada Romana’ – from Games from Italy is a game about collecting and delivering goods between Rome and its principal port.
‘Climate Poker’ – It’s a trick taking game with a ‘Top Trumps’ like mechanism. Quite topical
‘Kazaam Dice’ – a follow up to last year’s acclaimed ‘Kazaam’ from Polish publisher Wolf Fang
‘Macao (German version)’ . It’s brilliant and with a translation of the cards (i will provide) easy to play
And ‘Bamboleo Pizza’ – which could be described as Jenga for adults.
I have had some juicy restocks just in time for Christmas: -
Long ships, Ubongo, Ubongo Extreme, Ubongo - The duel, Hansa Teutonica, Galaxy Trucker, Galaxy Trucker – Big Expansion, Bausack, Uruk and Trans Europa
I am hoping to get the Imperial to Imperial 2030 upgrade kit next week along with restocks of Imperial, Hamburgum and Le Havre. I will put them on the site when they arrive so keep checking back.
News
Dungeon Lords is looking like it might be released before Christmas but too late to be posted to arrive before Christmas, and in an limited initial run (with a wider releases in February)
Please email me if you would like to reserve a copy, and if you have already reserved a copy please could you confirm that you still want a copy.
Infinite City and Thunderstone are now looking like February 2010 (at earliest) releases
Christmas last posts
For DHL UK please order no later than the 19th December
For First Class please order no later than the 20th December
For Standard UK delivery please order no later than the 17th December
For Europe please email me, airmail (items under 2 Kilos) the last order date is the 10th December, for larger items or multiple game orders the last order date is the 14th December
I have been so busy over the last week that the only game i have played is Sorry Sliders! (and i found that mentally challenging)
‘Axis & Allies Pacific 1940 Anniversary Edition’ – it’s big and it’s clever and it’s in limited supply.
‘Ren Faire’ is a card game about dressing up, like ‘Gloom’ it is printed on super quality see through plastic.
‘Alhambra Big Box’ has the base game and all five expansions contained in one monster sized box.
‘Hammer of the Scots’ is released in a 3rd Edition – this has a nice ‘proper’ board.
and
Arkham Horror Dice
Some more Essen releases have arrived:
‘Filipino Fruit Market’, from Bambus Spiel – the masters of trick taking game design have created two games about life in a fruit market
‘Santa Timea’ - Argentum’s other Essen release (the first Hansa Teutonica is back in stock) is a trick taking filler
‘Strada Romana’ – from Games from Italy is a game about collecting and delivering goods between Rome and its principal port.
‘Climate Poker’ – It’s a trick taking game with a ‘Top Trumps’ like mechanism. Quite topical
‘Kazaam Dice’ – a follow up to last year’s acclaimed ‘Kazaam’ from Polish publisher Wolf Fang
‘Macao (German version)’ . It’s brilliant and with a translation of the cards (i will provide) easy to play
And ‘Bamboleo Pizza’ – which could be described as Jenga for adults.
I have had some juicy restocks just in time for Christmas: -
Long ships, Ubongo, Ubongo Extreme, Ubongo - The duel, Hansa Teutonica, Galaxy Trucker, Galaxy Trucker – Big Expansion, Bausack, Uruk and Trans Europa
I am hoping to get the Imperial to Imperial 2030 upgrade kit next week along with restocks of Imperial, Hamburgum and Le Havre. I will put them on the site when they arrive so keep checking back.
News
Dungeon Lords is looking like it might be released before Christmas but too late to be posted to arrive before Christmas, and in an limited initial run (with a wider releases in February)
Please email me if you would like to reserve a copy, and if you have already reserved a copy please could you confirm that you still want a copy.
Infinite City and Thunderstone are now looking like February 2010 (at earliest) releases
Christmas last posts
For DHL UK please order no later than the 19th December
For First Class please order no later than the 20th December
For Standard UK delivery please order no later than the 17th December
For Europe please email me, airmail (items under 2 Kilos) the last order date is the 10th December, for larger items or multiple game orders the last order date is the 14th December
I have been so busy over the last week that the only game i have played is Sorry Sliders! (and i found that mentally challenging)
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.
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 : 28th November 2009
There are loads of new releases this week, some arrived yesterday and the rest will arrive on Tuesday 1st December
I’ll start with what has arrived now (and not on general releases in the UK)
‘Pony Express’ – A race game of dice rolling and bluffing from Funforge. Very attractive to look at and has received favourable reports.
‘Horsefever’ – is an Essen 2009 release, takes betting on horses in 30’s America as it’s subject and can be played as a family game or as a more serious affair.
‘Valdora Extra’ – An expansion for Valdora, it includes a two player ‘Duel’ Variant
‘1853’ – Lookout Games revamp of Francis Tresham’s classic
‘Seidenstrasse ‘– This is the first big box game from the creators of ‘Uruk’ and it looks like an elegant set collection game. This is a German game, I will provide English rules
‘Campanile’ – also from DDD Verlag, this is a reprint of a classic filler, This is a German game, i will provide English rules
‘Maria’ – Histogames follow up to the award winning ‘Friedrich’ is a cracking game, which (i am told) fixes some of the loose ends in ‘Friedrich’. I played this last weekend and despite being trounced by two grizzled grognards I loved the game. This is in very limited supply!
More ‘Hansa Teutonica’ have arrived – having just read Ted Alspach’s review here I am going to keep a copy for myself.
I have one copy of the Ystari Box – first person to reply gets it for £18 including postage. I will try and get some more next week.
New releases due on Tuesday 1st December
‘Letter of Marque’ is a pirate ‘n bluffing game from Brune Faidutti and Fantasy Flight
‘Skavinblight Threat’ is the first Battle pack for Warhammer Invasion LCG
‘Abandon Ship’ from Alderac Entertainment and Reiner Knizia is a family game in which players herd their rats off a sinking ship.
‘Tomb : Cryptmaster’ is both a standalone game and an expansion for ‘Tomb’
‘Steel Driver’ is a 2nd edition version of Martin Wallace’s 2008 hit train game. If you missed the Treefrog edition this is worth picking up.
‘Skyline 3000’ is a remake of ‘Capitol’ – this time set in the future and with the usual Zman gorgeous production
‘Start Player’ sorts out that age old problem – how to determine the start player. It’s quite amusing as well.
‘Steam Locomotive set’ is deluxe set of wooden trains you can use in ‘Steam :Rails to riches’
Notable restocks includes Richard III, Pandemic, Uruk, Loyang.
I played quite a few games last week and highlights were Greed Inc (i hope to restock next week), Dungeon Lords and Descent
However the best of the bunch was 'A brief history of the World' - it's a brilliant stream lining of the original game and is the best empire game i have played this year (hat includes Rise of Empires). It might not be quite so brief (at three hours) but in thr game i played we had a mixture of grizzled gaming vets and one player for whom this was only their third boardgame they have ever played.all loved it - and two orderd a copy on the spot. I can't reccomend it highly enough.
I’ll start with what has arrived now (and not on general releases in the UK)
‘Pony Express’ – A race game of dice rolling and bluffing from Funforge. Very attractive to look at and has received favourable reports.
‘Horsefever’ – is an Essen 2009 release, takes betting on horses in 30’s America as it’s subject and can be played as a family game or as a more serious affair.
‘Valdora Extra’ – An expansion for Valdora, it includes a two player ‘Duel’ Variant
‘1853’ – Lookout Games revamp of Francis Tresham’s classic
‘Seidenstrasse ‘– This is the first big box game from the creators of ‘Uruk’ and it looks like an elegant set collection game. This is a German game, I will provide English rules
‘Campanile’ – also from DDD Verlag, this is a reprint of a classic filler, This is a German game, i will provide English rules
‘Maria’ – Histogames follow up to the award winning ‘Friedrich’ is a cracking game, which (i am told) fixes some of the loose ends in ‘Friedrich’. I played this last weekend and despite being trounced by two grizzled grognards I loved the game. This is in very limited supply!
More ‘Hansa Teutonica’ have arrived – having just read Ted Alspach’s review here I am going to keep a copy for myself.
I have one copy of the Ystari Box – first person to reply gets it for £18 including postage. I will try and get some more next week.
New releases due on Tuesday 1st December
‘Letter of Marque’ is a pirate ‘n bluffing game from Brune Faidutti and Fantasy Flight
‘Skavinblight Threat’ is the first Battle pack for Warhammer Invasion LCG
‘Abandon Ship’ from Alderac Entertainment and Reiner Knizia is a family game in which players herd their rats off a sinking ship.
‘Tomb : Cryptmaster’ is both a standalone game and an expansion for ‘Tomb’
‘Steel Driver’ is a 2nd edition version of Martin Wallace’s 2008 hit train game. If you missed the Treefrog edition this is worth picking up.
‘Skyline 3000’ is a remake of ‘Capitol’ – this time set in the future and with the usual Zman gorgeous production
‘Start Player’ sorts out that age old problem – how to determine the start player. It’s quite amusing as well.
‘Steam Locomotive set’ is deluxe set of wooden trains you can use in ‘Steam :Rails to riches’
Notable restocks includes Richard III, Pandemic, Uruk, Loyang.
I played quite a few games last week and highlights were Greed Inc (i hope to restock next week), Dungeon Lords and Descent
However the best of the bunch was 'A brief history of the World' - it's a brilliant stream lining of the original game and is the best empire game i have played this year (hat includes Rise of Empires). It might not be quite so brief (at three hours) but in thr game i played we had a mixture of grizzled gaming vets and one player for whom this was only their third boardgame they have ever played.all loved it - and two orderd a copy on the spot. I can't reccomend it highly enough.
New Releases : 3rd November 2009
The first of Rio Grande’s Essen releases hit the UK on Tuesday 3rd November
Tobago gets an official UK release from Rio Grande this week. Its top of my family game picks.
Carcassonne Wheel of Fortune is a standalone Carcassonne game, with a .. Wheel of Fortune
Jambo expansion 2 adds three new games elements to the base game
I was impressed by the description and look of ‘Longships’ (a Viking plunder and trading game) at Essen so i am importing some. They should arrive by the end of the week. If you would like to know more about this game there is an excellent review here.
There are three new releases from GMT
Command and Colors Ancients: Expansion four takes the action into the later Roman Empire
Command and Colors Ancients : Expansion five adds more players and new game play to the base set
Hellenes : The Peloponnesian War is a block game, recreating the struggle between the Greek city states.
Erosion from Sierra Madre games is back in stock. This is a quirky card game in which players attempt to build up mountain ranges, erode them and claim victory points by collecting the resulting debris. Highly recommended and in a way reminiscent of ‘Glory to Rome’
I have managed to play a few more Essen releases. ‘At the gates of Loyang’ (which i’m expecting next week) is a great game, a lot more tactical and quicker to play than the other games in Ewe Rosenberg’s ‘Harvesting’ cycle. ‘Dungeon Lords’ is fantastic, a hard core Euro with a fun theme. This is rather difficult to get hold of and i don’t expect to get any copies until its official UK release later this year. ‘Colonia 1322AD’ from Queen is a resource management game, with the twist that you have to vote on edicts during the different phases of the game. Quite intricate, this is for gamers who like long term planning. I’m expecting this to arrive in a few weeks.
Stronghold will be with me at latest by Thursday, i’m afraid my distributor has dragged their heels on getting this to me when promised (i.e before the official UK release on Tuesday). I will make sure that those of you who have pre-ordered a copy get it by the end of the week.
I am hoping that some copies of Carson City will arrive next week, along with quite a few other Essen releases. I will send out another newsletter when they arrive.
Tobago gets an official UK release from Rio Grande this week. Its top of my family game picks.
Carcassonne Wheel of Fortune is a standalone Carcassonne game, with a .. Wheel of Fortune
Jambo expansion 2 adds three new games elements to the base game
I was impressed by the description and look of ‘Longships’ (a Viking plunder and trading game) at Essen so i am importing some. They should arrive by the end of the week. If you would like to know more about this game there is an excellent review here.
There are three new releases from GMT
Command and Colors Ancients: Expansion four takes the action into the later Roman Empire
Command and Colors Ancients : Expansion five adds more players and new game play to the base set
Hellenes : The Peloponnesian War is a block game, recreating the struggle between the Greek city states.
Erosion from Sierra Madre games is back in stock. This is a quirky card game in which players attempt to build up mountain ranges, erode them and claim victory points by collecting the resulting debris. Highly recommended and in a way reminiscent of ‘Glory to Rome’
I have managed to play a few more Essen releases. ‘At the gates of Loyang’ (which i’m expecting next week) is a great game, a lot more tactical and quicker to play than the other games in Ewe Rosenberg’s ‘Harvesting’ cycle. ‘Dungeon Lords’ is fantastic, a hard core Euro with a fun theme. This is rather difficult to get hold of and i don’t expect to get any copies until its official UK release later this year. ‘Colonia 1322AD’ from Queen is a resource management game, with the twist that you have to vote on edicts during the different phases of the game. Quite intricate, this is for gamers who like long term planning. I’m expecting this to arrive in a few weeks.
Stronghold will be with me at latest by Thursday, i’m afraid my distributor has dragged their heels on getting this to me when promised (i.e before the official UK release on Tuesday). I will make sure that those of you who have pre-ordered a copy get it by the end of the week.
I am hoping that some copies of Carson City will arrive next week, along with quite a few other Essen releases. I will send out another newsletter when they arrive.
New Releases 27 October 2009
‘Battlelore : Heroes’ is the first expansion for Battlelore since Fantasy Flight bought the system from Days of Wonder.
‘Witch of Salem’ is a co-operative game based Wolfgang Hohlbein’s Cthulhu novels. I played the German version of this some months ago and think it is a terrific game. It has an Arkham Horror feel to it, but plays in side an hour. The only comparable game of this length is Pandemic and Witch of Salem has a far more immersive theme. Highly recommended.
‘A Brief History of the World‘is the first Essen release to hit the UK. This is a revamp of the classic ‘History of the World’, the Ragnars have updated and streamlined the game play and added lovely new art work. If you are fan of the 1991 original or like sweeping games of map domination then this is an essential purchase.
‘Richard the III : Wars of the Roses’ from Columbia games is also released this week.
'In Memory of Day' is the latest Asylum pack for Call of Cthuhu LCG>
The Vixentor dice towers are back in stock Including some new designs) , these are the ‘Rolls Royces of dice towers; beautiful, handmade and sturdy designs.
I had a great time meeting gamers, designers and publishers at Essen. Over the coming months the Import section is going to have a lot of interesting games added to it. ‘Stronghold’ should be here later this week with others very close behind. I managed to play a few games and was blown away by ‘Shipyard’ from Czech Boardgames Edition. This is being released by Rio Grande in November. I also played Dungeon Lords and thoroughly enjoyed it, very different from Vlaada’s last two releases it is a complex Euro with a fun theme. Cwali’s ‘Basket Boss’ is a worthy follow up to ‘Powerboats’. I will be trying other releases over the coming days.
Edit : I played At the Gates of Loyang yesterday and it's fantastic, different from Agricola and Le Havre, pared down and faster but a great game.
Best wishes
Paul
‘Witch of Salem’ is a co-operative game based Wolfgang Hohlbein’s Cthulhu novels. I played the German version of this some months ago and think it is a terrific game. It has an Arkham Horror feel to it, but plays in side an hour. The only comparable game of this length is Pandemic and Witch of Salem has a far more immersive theme. Highly recommended.
‘A Brief History of the World‘is the first Essen release to hit the UK. This is a revamp of the classic ‘History of the World’, the Ragnars have updated and streamlined the game play and added lovely new art work. If you are fan of the 1991 original or like sweeping games of map domination then this is an essential purchase.
‘Richard the III : Wars of the Roses’ from Columbia games is also released this week.
'In Memory of Day' is the latest Asylum pack for Call of Cthuhu LCG>
The Vixentor dice towers are back in stock Including some new designs) , these are the ‘Rolls Royces of dice towers; beautiful, handmade and sturdy designs.
I had a great time meeting gamers, designers and publishers at Essen. Over the coming months the Import section is going to have a lot of interesting games added to it. ‘Stronghold’ should be here later this week with others very close behind. I managed to play a few games and was blown away by ‘Shipyard’ from Czech Boardgames Edition. This is being released by Rio Grande in November. I also played Dungeon Lords and thoroughly enjoyed it, very different from Vlaada’s last two releases it is a complex Euro with a fun theme. Cwali’s ‘Basket Boss’ is a worthy follow up to ‘Powerboats’. I will be trying other releases over the coming days.
Edit : I played At the Gates of Loyang yesterday and it's fantastic, different from Agricola and Le Havre, pared down and faster but a great game.
Best wishes
Paul
New Releases : 6th October
It’s a rare pleasure to be able to report that some games are actually being released ahead of schedule. Some of Alderac Entertainment Group’s Essen releases are out on Tuesday the 6th.
The most eagerly awaited is ‘The Adventurers’ – a hit at Gencon 09, this game gives you a ‘Indiana Jones’ adventure as you rush around a temple collecting treasure and avoiding traps.
‘Monkey Lab’ is for younger gamers who play monkeys trying to release fellow monkeys from the lab.
‘Arcana’ is a trick taking, bluffing diplomatic game set in a fantasy world.
Other Tuesday 6th releases include:-
‘Dungeon Twister 2’. It contains lots of miniatures, a new set of rules and backward compatibility with the original game and expansions
‘Samurai the card game’ is the third in the series of Knizia’s abridged versions of his classics.
‘Twilight Horror' is the first Asylum Pack in the Dreamlands expansion for the Call of Cthulhu Living Card Game
‘Scrappers’ from Privateer press is the last of the new releases.
Exciting imports arriving this week.
‘Rise of Empires’ will definitely be with me on Tuesday. It’s the Phalanx German version but is language independent and I will provide English rules and laminated player aids. The Mayfair English language version has been delayed to November at the earliest. Being a Martin Wallace fan I can’t wait to get this to table.
‘Tobago’ is arriving at the same time. A deduction game with gorgeous components Bruno Faidutti has talked of this being an early candidate for the 2010 SdJ. It is language independent and I will provide English rules.
‘Peloponnes’ is an auction /civilisation game from Bernd Eisenstein (half of the design team behind 2009’s best dice game ‘Alea Iacta Est’). The game will come bundled with it’s expansion and should be in the shop on Friday.
Special Offers
4 fab games added to the ‘offers’ section :- ‘Warrior Knights’ , ‘Garibaldi’ , ‘Dust’ and ‘Chicago Express’
Other news
If anyone bought Middle Earth quest from me and they need replacement figures please email me with the figures needed, FF have sent me some replacements.
Bucephalus games have released a host ot f new games this week. I don’t stock anything by this publisher because their games have received terrible reviews. However if there is any thing from their range you would like I would be more than happy to get hold of a copy at a very small mark up.
The postal strike is still causing havoc with royal mail delivery times. If you need a game in a hurry then choose DHL at the delivery method.
Warhammer Invasion Living Card game looks like it might be out in 10 days time.
‘Kursk’ the follow up to ‘Conflict of Heroes’ is shipping pre-orders soi hoping it will hit the UK soon. The same applies to the reprint of Command and Colours Ancients and its new expansions, four and five.
‘The War of the Roses’ from Columbia games should be no longer than a month away
The most eagerly awaited is ‘The Adventurers’ – a hit at Gencon 09, this game gives you a ‘Indiana Jones’ adventure as you rush around a temple collecting treasure and avoiding traps.
‘Monkey Lab’ is for younger gamers who play monkeys trying to release fellow monkeys from the lab.
‘Arcana’ is a trick taking, bluffing diplomatic game set in a fantasy world.
Other Tuesday 6th releases include:-
‘Dungeon Twister 2’. It contains lots of miniatures, a new set of rules and backward compatibility with the original game and expansions
‘Samurai the card game’ is the third in the series of Knizia’s abridged versions of his classics.
‘Twilight Horror' is the first Asylum Pack in the Dreamlands expansion for the Call of Cthulhu Living Card Game
‘Scrappers’ from Privateer press is the last of the new releases.
Exciting imports arriving this week.
‘Rise of Empires’ will definitely be with me on Tuesday. It’s the Phalanx German version but is language independent and I will provide English rules and laminated player aids. The Mayfair English language version has been delayed to November at the earliest. Being a Martin Wallace fan I can’t wait to get this to table.
‘Tobago’ is arriving at the same time. A deduction game with gorgeous components Bruno Faidutti has talked of this being an early candidate for the 2010 SdJ. It is language independent and I will provide English rules.
‘Peloponnes’ is an auction /civilisation game from Bernd Eisenstein (half of the design team behind 2009’s best dice game ‘Alea Iacta Est’). The game will come bundled with it’s expansion and should be in the shop on Friday.
Special Offers
4 fab games added to the ‘offers’ section :- ‘Warrior Knights’ , ‘Garibaldi’ , ‘Dust’ and ‘Chicago Express’
Other news
If anyone bought Middle Earth quest from me and they need replacement figures please email me with the figures needed, FF have sent me some replacements.
Bucephalus games have released a host ot f new games this week. I don’t stock anything by this publisher because their games have received terrible reviews. However if there is any thing from their range you would like I would be more than happy to get hold of a copy at a very small mark up.
The postal strike is still causing havoc with royal mail delivery times. If you need a game in a hurry then choose DHL at the delivery method.
Warhammer Invasion Living Card game looks like it might be out in 10 days time.
‘Kursk’ the follow up to ‘Conflict of Heroes’ is shipping pre-orders soi hoping it will hit the UK soon. The same applies to the reprint of Command and Colours Ancients and its new expansions, four and five.
‘The War of the Roses’ from Columbia games should be no longer than a month away
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