Miniatures Games News – 07/26/2010

Today’s Miniatures Games News:

  • The Age of Eagles web site has released the “Age of Honor” scenario book for Fire & Fury.
  • Alternative Armies posted images of its limited edition 1st Moldsk Guard miniatures unit containined sixteen Undead Bog Orc Zombies.
  • Ambush Alley Games says that Force on Force and Ambush Alley rulebooks, supplements, and card decks will not be available for purchase after September 30, 2010. They will be taking them off the market pending the release of a new Force on Force omnibus edition to be released in April 2011.
  • Arcane Legions has posted its August scenarios and notes on the Roman Ballista figures.
  • Baccus 6mm has posted images of its Celts miniatures and Casualty markers.
  • Catalyst Game Labs says that its “Hexpack: Lakes and Rivers” product has a “Street Date” of August 4, 2010. This is a flexible map system aid for the BattleTech game system.
  • Dream Pod 9‘s official magazine “Gear Up” has just released issue 2 for free. You can download it from DriveThruRPG.
  • The Flames of War site announced a price increase on the range starting August 9, 2010.
  • Furidion Games posted information about the status of its beta testing for Unbridled Fury 2010 Edition.
  • Mantic Games is having a prize drawing for White Dwarf miniatures, and recently announced the renaming of the Ironbeard miniatures to Ironguard.
  • Pulp City has added several new miniatures to the product line, including Skyline, Jade Hawk, Silverager, Le Murtiple, Vector, Kitty Cheshire, Supreme Zed, and more.
  • Redbrick has posted a coupon code that will reduce the price of their Earthdawn novel “Scars” in hardcover form by 15%. The offer ends August 15, 2010.
  • WizKids Games has posted a GenCon Update and Web of Spider-Man Preview recently.

PC and Online Games News – 07/26/2010

Today’s PC and Online game news:

  • Paradox Interactive has released an update to Mount & Blade Warband.
  • THQ announced that its upcoming third person shooter Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine will be shipping for Windows PCs, the XBox 360, and the PlayStation 3 in early 2011.
  • Racingspider Games Development posted information about a new expedition to be included in the next release of Expedition: Beyond the Walls.
  • Electronic Arts believes its Madden NFL 11 game will have a soundtrack that provides the “ultimate gameday experience”, featuring 23 tracks from a collection of “crowd favorites, stadium classics, and official NFL team fight songs”. They also added some new titles to their online store, including The Sims 3: World Adventures, The Sims 2: Best of Business, Stygian Abyss, SPORE Galatic Adventures, and more for download.
  • The World of Tanks MMO has launched a “Best Screenshot Contest” on their site.
  • GamersGate has added several new titles to their catalog, including Way of the Warrior, Gods Lands of Infinity Special Edition, Perimeter 2 New Earth, Nexagon Deathmatch, Hover Ace, Bigfoot 4×4 Challenge, and Sky Track.

Wargame News – 07/26/2010

Today’s Wargame news:

  • Dan Verssen Games has updated the rulebook for Hornet Leader, including a sample game. The sample game for Phantom Leader has been modified to “smooth out” some “bumps” in it.
  • GMT Games has added the final rulebook for Normandy ’44 to their site, and updated the VASSAL modules for Commands & Colors: Ancients and Twilight Struggle Deluxe. They’ve also apparently signed a deal with the Cold War era spy movie Farewell that will include promotion for the Twilight Struggle game.
  • Lost Battalion Games is promoting Sergeants on the Eastern Front ($29.95) and Sergeants Repple Depple 1 ($34.95) on their home page.
  • Imagine Image Multimedia is promoting a new game table design that they claim makes 15mm miniature gaming “FAR easier to play”.
  • Multiman Publishing says that ASL Journal #7 is sold out.
  • The Society of 20th Century Wargamers has published issue 70 of their journal, featuring articles about the Iran-Iraq War in 1980, modeling a German River Convoy from 1944, a few wargame scenarios, and more.
  • Two Hour Wargames says that Clash of Titans – NUTS Eastern Front is out.
  • Wargame Vault is listing several new products, including Radioactive Press’ “Giant Monster Rampage Subkingdoms: Aliens”, Lightworker’s “All Magical Book Cover”, Lord Zsezse Works’ Ground Set #5, and more.
  • The Junior General web site lists a new miniature battle game named “Korean War – Inchon Landing (1950)” by Brian Irish. They’ve also posted 33 new paper soldier pages.
  • Valley Games has posted an image of the new board for the Liberte game.

PC and Online Games News – 07/24/2010

PC and Online game news for today:

PC and Online Games News – 07/22/2010

Today’s computer and console based games news:

Miniatures News – 07/22/2010

Today’s Miniatures News:

Gamer Hotsheet News – 07/22/2010

I’m looking forward to GenCon in a couple of weeks, if my work responsibilities don’t require me to cancel my hotel reservation and stay home.

Hopefully you like how the site’s working now. For those who are new here, I scan the web sites of literally thousands of game-related companies for news items. When I find something that seems interesting, funny, useful, etc., I post a short blurb linking back to that item. Hopefully, the blurb is short enough that you can read it quickly and detailed enough that you can decide whether or not it interests you. I post the blurbs by general category: Game Accessories, Board Games, Card Games, Miniatures and Miniatures Games, PC and Online Games, Role-Playing Games, and Wargames. If you subscribe to my RSS feed, you can easily get the information of interest to you.

I also have a “Game Deals” category. When I find a discount or deal on a game-related item, I’ll make sure the post containing that news item gets flagged to be part of this category on the site. If you monitor that RSS feed, you’ll be aware of the latest deals I’ve seen on games on the web.

How many game related sites and pages do I monitor for news? Here’s a rough estimate (for some sites I monitor multiple pages, so the actual figures are probably a little less than quoted here):

  • Game Accessories: 85
  • Board Games: 825
  • Card Games: 117
  • Miniatures: 490
  • Miniatures Games: 156
  • PC and Online Games: 92
  • Game Retailers: 101
  • Role-Playing Games: 156
  • Wargames: 151
  • Game News Sites and Blogs: 34

That works out to around 2,200 sites and/or pages that I’m monitoring. I won’t list them all here, but here are a few examples from each of the above categories, to give you an idea of where I’ve placed them in the list:

  • Game Accessories: Active Minds Solutions, BradyGames, Chessex, Crystal Caste, Dragon Forge Design, Dwarven Forge
  • Board Games: 4th Street Software, Acorn Games, Alderac Entertainment Group, Asmodee Games, Phalanx Games, Strat-O-Matic
  • Card Games: Archetype Games, Bandai, Gozer Games, Ship of Fools Games, Upper Deck Entertainment, Wizards of the Coast
  • Miniatures: Acheson Creations, Bend Sinister Miniatures, Copplestone Castings, Naloomi’s Workshop, Thunderbolt Mountain
  • Miniatures Games: Aberrant, Eureka Miniatures, Games Workshop, Rackham Games, Starfleet Universe, Urban Mammoth
  • PC and Online Games: 2K Games, Activision, Codemasters Software, Interplay, Matrix Games, Shrapnel Games, THQ
  • Game Retailers: Alternative Armies, Alliance Game Distributors, Funagain Games, Ravenstone Games, Warpath Games
  • Role-Playing Games: 0One Games, Chaosium, Exile Game Studio, Goodman Games, Paizo Publishing, Studio 2 Publishing
  • Wargames: Ad Astra Games, BayonetGames, Columbia Games, Multiman Publishing, Omega Games, Two Hour Wargames
  • Game News Sites and Blogs: About.com Games, Board Game Central, Game Publishers Association, Wargames Illustrated, Web-Grognards

Depending on the time available to me each evening, I scan one of the above groups of sites to see who’s posted something new. Then I read each of the updated sites to build the news items for that particular group for that evening.

As I become aware of interesting new sites or find that a site I’ve been monitoring goes offline, I update the list.

When I go to game conventions, I’ll post what I’ve seen, heard, played, and enjoyed.

When I play a new game and have a particularly good or bad experience, I’ll tell you about that also. Where possible, I’ll do full reviews.

Periodically, I’ll post updates like this to let you know what I’m thinking about the site, changes I’m planning on making, etc.

Thanks for dropping by!

Game Accessories News – 07/22/2010

News for today:

  • Dragon Forge is having a Christmas in July Sale until 12am EST Sunday July 25, 2010.
  • Gale Force Nine (GF9) posted a preview of the Warlord Player Character Token Set and Jungle Temple Game Mat.
  • Jon Brazer Enterprises is offering four new d66 lists. The new lists are: Mercenary Company Names 2, Planet Names 2, Planet’s Main Industry 2, and Space Station Names 2. The new lists are available at DriveThruRPG.com.
  • Under the Mango Tree (a.k.a. The Journal Guy) added a new journal design to the site, called “The Roughian“.

Board Games News – 07/22/2010

Today’s News:

  • Minion Games‘ web store says that print versions of several of their titles are not available for sale, and the “Print & Play” versions are on sale.
  • Twilight Creations will have pre-release copies of Forever Young at Gen Con.
  • Pressman Toy is launching games based on “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”, “The Vampire Diaries”, “NCIS”, “The Office”, “Let’s Make a Deal”, Dinosaur Train, Scooby Doo, and Looney Tunes.
  • Days of Wonder says Small World Tales & Legends is now available worldwide. They’re also taking preorders for Fictionaire, a bluffing game based on the dictionary definitions of words.
  • Flying Buffalo Game Company says The Nuclear War card game will be back in print by the end of the month. Hobby Japan has printed four of the popular Queens Blade books in English, and Flying Buffalo has them available for order. Two more Queen’s Blade books are available. The Decision Die is also available now.
  • Eagle Games says on its web site that Defenders of the Realm is available now, En Garde is in stock, and Railways of the World The Card Game is available for pre-order.
  • Interformic Games says that you can buy handmade copies of their print and play games from Print & Play Productions.
  • Spectrum Games says that a deluxe version of its Slasher Flick game (Slasher Flick: The Director’s Cut) will be available in August, featuring full-color interiors, a completely revamped layout, with new material and an all-new introductory flick.
  • Fantasy Flight Games announced Redemption of a Mage, a Warhammer: Invasion Battle Pack, the availability for download of The Winds of Magic (a supplement for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay), and some errors in unit cards for Battles of Napoleon (corrected cards are available).
  • Replay Sports is having a special sale for owners of the original DD Yearbook. Through August 15, 2010, Deadball Decades cards are $12 off. See their site for more information.
  • Strat-O-Matic is offering a downloadable Football Ratings Guide, similar to the one they produce for baseball.

Wargame News – 07/22/2010

Today’s News:

  • I-94 Enterprises has posted photos of their new 6mm terrain items.
  • Avalanche Press posted its July Special. For a limited time, buy two, get a third free wargame. See their site for instructions.
  • Decision Games posted information about World At War #13. They’re also looking for playtesters for S&T games.
  • GMT Games posted the updated rulebook and example of play for Hellenes. They also added an Illustrated AAR of the Red Winter First Day Scenario and an updated Playtest Rulebook.
  • Wargamedownloads.com added Hearts & Minds: ISAF in Afghanistan and Songs of Our Ancestors to their catalog. Both are Flying Lead related games.
  • Wargame Vault has added new items from Lord Zsezse Works, Historic Imagination, Dream Pod, and others.
  • Comsimpress posted lessons learned about their BEDA FOMM game based on some playtesting.
  • HMS/GRD has updated the look of their web site and added searching.
  • DDH Games has put its Antietam game on sale for a limited time at a substantial discount. Gettysburg, the second game in the Orders of Battle series, is currently in playtesting.
  • AGEOD games are available at a 50% discount between July 20 and 27.

PC and Online Game News – 07/21/2010

Today’s News:

  • Matrix Games, in coordination with AGEOD, has announced a limited time sale on the new World War One Gold release. Until July 27, 2010, the game will be available at 50% off its normal download price. The sale price is $19.99. They’ve also announced that a Demo is available for Command Ops: Battles from the Bulge.
  • Paradox Interactive is offering nearly all of its titles for 50% until July 27. The titles are available on Steam, GamersGate, and Direct2Drive. The sale does not apply to Hearts of Iron 3: Semper Fi or Commander: Quest of the Americas or pre-sale content.
  • Electronic Arts announced six new titles for the summer, including Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Sims 3: Late Night, Darkspore, Dead Space: Ignition, Alice: Madness Returns.
  • Activision will have a midnight launch event for StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty at Fry’s Electronics in Fountain Valley, CA, on July 26. They’ve also announced a partnership for Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock with the rock band Rush.
  • SEGA plans to bring Thor: The Video Game to the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, PSP, and Nintendo DS.
  • THQ and Syfy announced a deal to debut Red Faction: Origins, a two hour live action movie, on the Syfy Channel in March 2011.
  • GamersGate posted the addition of many new titles to their online catalog, including: Fishdom 2, SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition, MegaDrive Genesis Series 2 Complete Pack, Rainblood Town of Death, Eternal Champions, Columns, Galaxy Force 2, Sonic Spinball, Ristar, Kid Chameleon, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, Super Thunder Blade, Bonanza Bros, Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle, and more.

Wargame News – 07/17/2010

Wargame news:

  • The League of Augsburg web site says that they’ll be running an 1812 game for Republic to Empire at the Lundin Links Hotel on August 21-22, 2010. This is a bonus game for anyone who can make it.
  • Legion Wargames says it’s received the boxes for Saipan and Tinian.
  • Wargame Vault has added Lord Zsezse Works’ Ground Set #3, Runestone Entertainment’s Desert Village, and Ganesha Games’ Songs of Our Ancestors to its store.

RPG News – 07/16/2010

Today’s News:

  • Interaction Point Games has added two new adventures for the Pathfinder RPG: The Hidden Threat and World Guide.
  • Paizo Publishing has posted information about the latest Pathfinder module: Strangers Among Us.
  • RPGNow is listing several new releases, including Avalon Design Elements Parchment Set 4 and Stone Set 4, The Kerberos Club (Savage Worlds Edition), The Genius Guide to Arcane Archetypes, Desert Village, Malleus Monstrorum, 100 Towns, and more.
  • Tabletop Adventures is celebrating its sixth anniversary, offering its electronic products at 15% off the usual prices. Their one page Dungeon Codex 2009 product is available through July 18. Information about their Gen Con plans is also posted.
  • Thoughtful Games says that a French edition of Montsegur 1244 is underway for a fall 2010 release.

Miniatures and Miniatures Games News – 07/16/2010

Today’s Miniatures and Miniatures Games News:

  • Battlescape Military Books and Miniatures’ web site lists a bunch of new products for July, including a variety of tank miniatures.
  • Black Cat Bases lists some new dark blue, purple, orangel, red, light green, dark green, black, yellow, and clear bases for sale.
  • Byzantium Models lists three new small houses in their German range, all with lift-off roofs and a white metal chimney.
  • Conteco is offering a Flying Zulu miniature and base collection, a Rome Winter Games, and Civil War miniatures.
  • CP Models Miniatures is listing three new “War Hog” fantasy miniatures.
  • Curtey’s Miniatures is listing four new products for July, including Crossbowmen in mail, Archers in mail, Archers in Aketon/Gambeson, and Command 2 figures.
  • Ebbles Miniatures has released a large M3619 FUSS (Folding Unit Structure System) paper model.
  • Elhiem Figures has added some new miniatures to their catalog, including some Operation Iraqi Freedom miniatures.
  • Empress Miniatures has added five new head-sets to their Spanish Civil War range.
  • Essex Miniatures has added some new 15mm Northern and Southern Dynasties Chinese miniatures.
  • Fiddlers Green paper models is offering a free 60-year storage folder subscription, and bonus bucks for subscribing to Magic Keys.
  • First Legion says that its Gordon Highlander, Continental Militia, Soviet 45mm AT Gun and crew, and Panzer III Ausf J (Late) minis are in stock.
  • Forge World has added the Ork Kommando Conversion Set and Raven Guard Transfer Sheet products to its web site.
  • Foundry Miniatures has added news items about Early Napoleonic Russians, Medieval Longbowmen, Fantasy Regiments, and War Orc Regiments.
  • Four A Miniatures lists new Sea Demon Hag and Sea Demon Warrior 1 miniatures on the site.
  • GrayHawk Studios lists new miniatures, including: Heavy Hover Tank “Four Aces”, Heavy Hover Tank “Fray Bentos”, Light Grav Tank, and Sci-Fi Heavy Assault Vehicle.
  • Irregular Miniatures says it’s finished off its 15mm Crimean Russian range. They’re listing several minis, including infantry, riflemen, and more.
  • Khurasan Miniatures added Lhurgg alien tribesmen to their 15mm Sci-Fi range.
  • Knuckleduster provided a link to this model train site with inexpensive 40mm plastic buildings.
  • Little Big Men Studios now offers a sheet of Celtic transfers for the 15mm Xyston miniatures.
  • Long Range Logistics has posted information and images comprising a Workbench Preview of the 15mm Norman Plank Bailey Series of terrain pieces.
  • Magister Militum added a 10mm wooly rhino miniature, Battles of Napoleon gaming system, and Napoleon’s War – The Hundred Days board game to their product line.
  • Micro Art Studio has added six new Canal sets to their Battlefield Hardfoam Terrain series.
  • MIG Productions has added a 1/72 Russian T-28 Tank, Africa Korps figures, US 5 gallon steel jerry can, and other miniatures.
  • Mirliton has added Saladin Army, Ayyubid Egyptian, and Seljuk – Turk miniatures to its product list.
  • Mithril Miniatures has added the Unexpected Party Vignette miniature product to its site.
  • P.T. Dockyard has added some new miniatures including a Small armed tug, “Kakston” Bolshevik Dvina gunboat, White armored monitor, “Volga Volunteer” Bolshevik Diesel tug, and some others to their line.
  • Pico Armor added five new plane miniatures to their line, including the Fulmar, Kfir, Folgore, Swordfish Mk. I, and Skua.
  • Redoubt Enterprises has new releases in its Napoleonic, Engineers, and Pontoon and Wagon ranges.
  • Rolljordan Miniatures has added a Chaos Minotaur to its product line.
  • Scibor Miniatures has added a 28mm Celtic SF Warrior, 28/30mm War Bear, and 28mm Templar SF Knight to its product line.
  • Soda Pop Miniatures is looking for bloggers and web site pros to help them get the word out about their products.
  • Studio Bergstrom has added Future Frontier Models, SST Earth Fleet, and The Retroverse miniature lines to its catalog.
  • Deal Alert: TinMan Miniatures is having a clearance sale, with all of their minis at 30-50% off normal prices.
  • Vexilia Limited says their 15mm Medieval Polish range and Mirliton Muslim Range are ready for advance order.
  • Wargames South is listing three new products: SMS Seydlitz, HMS Lion, and BL10 Home Guard.
  • Wyrd Games has posted information about its plans for GenCon and its upcoming August 2010 releases.

Miniatures Rules News:

  • ZombieSmith has released a completely new skirmish ruleset based on Flying Lead by Ganesha Games called “Songs of Our Ancestors”.
  • Two Hour Wargames has released NUTS! Clash of Titans (Eastern Front 1941-1945), an Eastern Front sourcebook.
  • Emperor’s Choice Games and Miniatures has added Arduin Eternal Cultural Influences in a PDF to their site. They’ve also added Beasts/Monsters and Items for use while the Beastiary is being completed.
  • Hawgleg Publishing has released the Final Showdowns and Shootouts Adventure, “Judge, Jury, and Executioner“.
  • Mongoose Publishing says that its Mongoose Living Campaigns covering Traveller and Glorantha, are live and available for download.
  • TooFatLardies has added two titles “Surf’s Up” and “Charlie Don’t Surf” to the site.

Card Game News – 07/16/2010

The Spoils web site includes an article about the building of theme decks within The Spoils.

Board Games News – 07/16/2010

Today’s News:

Game Accessories News – 07/16/2010

Offworld Designs has posted several new T-shirt designs, including: AvaKitty, Bat-Thulu, Deady Bear, Empire Builder, Serenity Flag, Vampires Suck, and several others.

I bought the ones below from them at Origins.

Miniatures Games News – 07/15/2010

Today’s news:

  • The Arcane Legions web site says it is bringing back the Arcane Legions League. Everyone who plays in a league event gets a free, special-edition Arcane Legions faction die each week. Additional dice will be awarded to the winners. Each month will feature three new scenarios. See the web site for more information.
  • Catalyst’s Classic Battletech web site says that three new PDFs have been released. Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, XTRO Technical Readout, and Historical Turning Points: Misery.
  • Emperor’s Choice Games and Miniatures Corp. says that they’ve corrected the links for the 10-part download of the Arduin Eternal Culture and Index book which was released on the 13th.
  • The Flames of War web site lists some new miniatures due out on July 17 and other news.
  • Games Workshop’s web site posted an article on what the new Warhammer rules mean for Ogres.
  • Majestic Twelve Games announced the first release of their newest game system, Grand Admiral: Flashpoint Orange. This is a fleet combat game in the Age of the Battleship. This large-scale board game simulates naval combat, and emphasizes simple game mechanics and fast gameplay without sacrificing historical accuracy. It can also be adapted to tabletop miniature play if desired.

RPG News – 07/15/2010

Today’s news:

  • RPGObjects announced “Abandon All Hope“, a new RPG from the creator of Darwin’s World (Dominic Covey). There is no ETA yet on the release date, but GenCon attendees will have the opportunity to playtest the game on August 5 and 7.
  • According to Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG), there will be an Exclusive L5R Honor Event at GenCon 2010 on August 7. According to the announcement “AEG will offer the Clans and their representatives at GenCon the chance to match their skills through a Live Performance Contest.”
  • Amarillo Design Bureau’s web site posted an article today saying that “some people don’t realize that you can download what amounts to a free copy of the Federation Commander game (well, enough of the game to play a few battles).” It also says “But that’s just a start. If you join the Commander’s Circle, which is free, you can download the monthly Communique which includes scenarios, tactics, and new ships. You can also access a database of Federation Commander players looking for new opponents.”
  • Goodman Games has posted an official errata document for Amethyst.
  • Mongoose Publishing announced Races of Glorantha Volume One and Nations of Barsaive 2: Serpent River this week.
  • Morrigan Press’ Talislanta web page announced that new materials have been added to the “Magic, Spells, and Grimoires” page and the “Fan Materials” page.
  • Paradigm Concepts announced that a Shattered Empires Action Dial is now available. A limited edition Shattered Empires T-shirt is also available.
  • Skirmisher Publishing has added an online game store.
  • Triple Ace Games announced that they’ve received a 2010 Ennie Award nomination for the Best Monster or Adversary book category, for their Hellfrost Bestiary.

Wargame News – 07/15/2010

Today’s news:

PC and Online Games News – 07/15/2010

Today’s news:

Miniatures and Miniatures Games News – 07/13/2010

Today’s News:

  • Ninja Magic is taking orders for several new releases including the long-awaited fighter drones. There are also accessories such as Multi-use Flight Stands and a line of Counters and Markers.
  • Alternative Armies announced the release of “VLE09 Foul Mouth Freddy” a very limited edition miniature pack.
  • Baccus 6mm has been working on Polemos English Civil War rules and a resculpted Ancient Celts range. Baccus Open Day will be Saturday July 17, 2010.
  • Privateer Press relased information and an image for an upcoming miniature, Captain Gunnbjorn, a member of the Cygnaran military.
  • Games Workshop posted images and information about some advance order items, including the Daemon Prince, Changeling, and more.
  • Mongoose Publishing posted information about “a very special book hitting the shelves of your local gaming store this week – Sex, Dice and Gamer Chicks“. It reportedly “casts an introspective and irreverent eye onto gamers themselves”.
  • Rackham Studio has posted Aarklash rules in Spanish and Italian.

Card Games News – 07/13/2010

Today’s news:

Board Game News – 07/13/2010

Today’s News:

  • Family Games Inc. announced that “Conniption” is coming soon. The game looks to be a variant of Connect Four, with the added twist of flipping the board around periodically and rearranging the playing pieces within it.
  • Blue Panther is having its 2010 Game Design Contest. See their site for details.
  • Eagle Games’ web site says that Railways of the World, Defenders of the Realm, and SWAT! are available now.
  • Fantasy Flight Games has posted information about “Mountains of the Moon”, a chapter pack for A Game of Thrones. They have also posted an FAQ for Horus Heresy. Anima: Beyond Fantasy supplement Gaia is also available.

PC and Online Games News – 07/13/2010

Today’s News: