Countdown to Gen Con Just 4 Days Left

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Aug 082014

Sorry I didn’t post Yesterday, I had a a ton of computer problems.

Anyway, with only four days left I was reminiscing about conventions I had been to in the past. one of the things that came to my mind was Mech Pods

These massive cockpits Are rolled off the trucks and made ready for players to ensue all kinds of Battletech carnage. Virtual World Entertainment has done a great job with the programming for all metal mashing mayhem. Any one can easily climb in and get lost piloting an Atlas. The only problem I have is I haven’t hear anything about the this year.

Gen Con News Paizo, Syrinscape, and Warpo

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Aug 072014

Paizo Inc. returns as a co-sponsor of Gen Con 2014 with a slew of new releases for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, Pathfinder Tales, and exciting new licensed products! Members of the design team are available for interviews, including Publisher Erik Mona, Creative Director James Jacobs, Editor in Chief Wes Schneider, and Senior Editor James Sutter.

6 Days and Counting to Gen Con

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Aug 062014

Well with only 6 days left I’m getting antsy. New announcements are rolling in everyday, ranging from new tournament software to the next new release. It is getting overwhelming, I’ve scheduled eighteen interviews, and I’m going to get some great games in their somewhere.

With that being said I’d like to share with you my thoughts on Munchkin! Steve Jackson Games will be there and they are releasing Munchkin Pathfinder deluxe. Munchkin is a great game that lends a role playing feel to a tabletop game. It brings spirit to the table that rings the tone of a drinking game with out drinking. Do you now what I mean? The suspense build up while the players concoct their scheme to win. Then the tension breaks and there is laughter and loud roars of joy that grow more deafening as the game goes on, drowning out the bar next door. At least that has been my experience, – fun exploding at every turn.

Beyond that I’m really looking forward to the Deluxe version of the game. It includes a board, standies and well great art.

I really don’t need to ramble on and on about Munchkin. It’s been around long enough that you should know. If not check it out.

Since that was so short I am really going to work my way into the Cryptozoic area and explore some of their games. They have done a lot in the last couple of years and I really need to catch up. I’m told that ROFL, The Hobbit, and the DC Comics Deck Building Game are all must haves. I’ll do my best to get you the skinny on that.

7 Days Left To Gen Con Today We Talk About Five Armies From Ares Games

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Aug 052014

Only one week left and I’m really working my rear end off to be ready for the show. Today I’m including an announcement from Ares Games. It’s below.

Ares Games pre-releases The Battle of Five Armies
at Gen Con Indy 2014

The game publisher will also present the upcoming family game Dino Race and the 4-engine bombers coming in the WW2 Wings of Glory line, and promote with events the new games released earlier this year Sails of Glory and Galaxy Defenders

Ares Games will attend Gen Con 2014 (Booth #459 August 14-17, Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis) presenting the awaited new game The Battle of Five Armies, with the first copies arriving for the show.

The Ares Games booth will also hold a preview of the upcoming family game Dino Race and of the WW2 Wings of Glory Special Packs featuring the 4-engine bombers B-17 and Avro Lancaster.

Demos and several events are planned for WW1 and WW2 Wings of Glory, Sails of Glory and Galaxy Defenders.

One of the authors of Galaxy Defenders, Nunzio Surace, will be present at the Ares booth through the show.

A special event is scheduled on August 14^th, at 10 am: the attempt to set the record for most players in a Sails of Glory game, with 50 people at the same table.

The Battle of Five Armies (releasing at the show) is a new game in the War of the Ring line. It’s a stand-alone board game for two players, which recreates the fierce struggle witnessed by Bilbo Baggins at the end of his quest for the Lonely Mountain, in “The Hobbit”, the world-renowned masterpiece by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Developed by the same designer team of the awarded War of the Ring board game (Francesco Nepitello, Marco Maggi and Roberto Di Meglio), The Battle of Five Armies is based on the mechanics first used in that game, merging action dice and event cards. The system has been further enhanced by the addition of the “Fate Track” mechanic, handling the arrival of the allies and the triggering of special events. All the key characters in the battle – Bilbo, Gandalf, Thorin, Dain, the Elven King, Bard, Beorn, Bolg – are featured with powerful special abilities and unique sculptures.

The first copies of the game will be available at the show, and it will be in distribution in the second half of August.

Dino Race(in preview, releasing Q4 this year) is a fun, simple and fast game, for two to four players, age 6 and up. In a crazy race, each player controls a couple of dinosaurs, running away from a raging volcano and a river of lava, toward safety. A precious dino egg must be carried out – and as precious as it is, it’s quite a burden to carry while you are running!

The dinos run through plains, swamps, woods and deserts, playing tricks upon his opponents and avoiding the nasty tricks of them. Players must bring their dinosaur duo to the end of the race track, scoring points when one of their dinos finishes the race. They also score points bringing the dino egg to safety. The player with the highest score wins the game.

Dino Race game includes 8 beautiful figures of pretty dinosaurs (two for each species) and one dino egg, sculpted by Michelangelo Ricci– a sculptor with a great experience of dinosaurs and prehistory. Dino Race is scheduled to pre-release at the Spiel 2014 show, in Essen.

The long-awaited WW2 4-engine bombers (releasing Q4 this year) in Wings of Glory will be also previewed at the show. In the Ares Games’ booth, attendees will see the four bombers to be featured in the Special Packs: B-17F “Memphis Belle,” B-17G “A Bit of Lace,” Avro Lancaster B.III “Grog’s the Shot,” and Mk.III Dambuster “Popsie”. Each pack will include a 1-200 scale miniature, a special base with gaming stats, a variable altitude flying stand, and a specific deck of maneuver cards, as well as specific rules and components necessary to use the airplane. These Special Packs will also include the Industrial Complex card and rules, and in the case of the Dambuster, a paper play mat representing a dam and the surrounding area, additional counters and specific rules.

More information about these games are available at Ares Games website – www.aresgames.eu. At Gen Con 2014, visit Ares Games at booth 459.

About Ares Games

Ares Games is an Italian board game publisher established in 2011 to create quality hobby products for the international audience. Ares Games is the publisher of the award-winning “War of the Ring” board game, of “Wings of Glory” range of airplane combat games and miniatures, recreating aerial warfare in WW1 and WW2, and more recently, of the tactical ship-to-ship miniature game “Sails of Glory” and the cooperative tactical Sci-Fi miniatures game “Galaxy Defenders”. Ares Games’ catalog also includes Family Games and Euro Games. For further information, visit the website www.aresgames.eu and the Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/AresGames.

It’s clear that Ares has it going on at Gen Con. I am super interested in the Battle of Five Armies. I have wanted to learn more about the game ever since I saw the pictures of th emini’s in Meeple magazine. I really don’t know much more than that … but I will.

See you at Gen Con!

Countdown to to Gen Con 8 Days Out; A look at Golem Arcana

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Aug 042014

Only 8 days left, are you excited yet? Well yesterday we discussed a Dropzone Commander. A game that when it came on the scene it hit the ground running and hasn’t stopped since. Today I’d like to talk about Golem Arcana from Hairbrained Schemes. Hairbrained Schemes is a small group of passionate game developers lead by Jordan Weisman, complete list here.

Golem Arcan is a new game that could potentially hold some keys to the future of gaming. Let’s start with the basics. Golem Arcana is a miniatures board game that is striving to incorporate the use of smart devices. I did get a look at the miniatures at Origins and the are excellent. Beautifully sculpted with dynamic poses and painted with vibrant colors, what you would expect from an average to an above average hobby painter. While the miniatures are an important part of the game I don’t believe they are the focus.

Countdown to Gen Con 9 Days Left Focus on Dropzone Commander

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Aug 032014

I have managed to get some rest. I hope that mu post yesterday made sense, because I was out of it. Anyway I’d like to chat today about Dropzone Commander from Hawk Wargames. Since I first saw the pictures of these minis nearly two years ago I have been drooling over this game. I know it has been out for two years, but I live in a smaller city where the game stores focus on a handful of board games and Magic the Gathering. So I really haven’t seen it yet. Yes there are a lot of pictures and on the internet, but I like to examine minis. I did manage to get my hands on the starter though and I’m extremely impressed.

The story takes place far in the future (2670) where humanity barley exists. The race is scattered across frontier planets and Earth has been lost to an alien race. But after being forgotten the humans have decided to start fighting back, thus the war begins! It has a great storyline.

The basic game has two small forces, UNC and Scourge. The starter also includes a great rulebook, and terrain. Oh I forgot to mention dice and a measuring tape.

As I said before the miniatures are gorgeous. There is four factions and resin scenery. My favorite faction, based on looks, is either the PHR or the Shaltari. The PHR are a small tribe of humans that have really cool looking walkers. While the Shaltari are a technologically advanced civilization with some well weird looking vehicles that look like a lot of fun to paint. The Scenry is absolutely phenomenal. I have to get some of these. I play a lot of games and these kits are universal. Check out the Monorail.

Hawk Wargames have been busy with this game in the last year, They have added the United States to their convention tour. I have recently learned that the game has box sets designed for tournament play. What a great idea. Sadly, that has made me realize that I know far less about Hawk Wargames and Dropzone Commander than I though t I did. I really am excited about interviewing them and checking out the new releases.

I am going to come back from Gen Con with a lot more knowledge about Dropzone Commander. Of course I will share everything I learn with you.

Til tomorrow have fun.

Matt

Countdown to Gen Con 10 days Left Adventure a Week

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Aug 022014

Another day gone only 10 days left. Where is the time going? Talk about an absolutely nuts day. It started at 4:45 in the morning. My boys had to march in the Football hall of Fame parade. Took the van in for repairs and I cooked dinner for my parents! I’m tired.

Today I’d like to chat about Adventure a Week. If you are a role player in the D20 world this might be worth your time. Every week they publish a new Pathfinder or D&D 3.5 adventure.I’m certainly going to look into it.

In March they finished the Rise of the Drow on Kickstarter. It puts the previous PDF’s into print. Plus the book puts some great people,like Owen K.C.Stephens, Jen Page, and Robert Gulver. to work on the stretch goals. I will admit I’ve never seen the PDF, but after seeing the art for the Kickstarter I really want to take an in depth look at the book. I mean it’s Drow and it has a mushroom forest. Something that I had started designing myself. I love the idea and maybe I’ll be lazy and use theirs.

They Currently have another Kikckstarter Snow White. An adventure for 6^th -8^th level characters in a fairy tale adventure. If it keeps climbing stretch goals we will see some great additions from Ed Greenwood, Wolfgang Bauer, and Jen Page. I would really like to see what Wolfang has planned for that deep and dark fairy tale magic.

Well it’s late and I’m exhausted. I fell a sleep three times typing this.

Til tomorrow take care

Matt

Countdown to Gen Con 11 Days Writer’s Symposium

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Aug 012014

The last 24 hours have been fun. I have been hard at work writing the frame work for our Through Gamer Goggles scavenger hunt. It was hard to get through all of that while thinking about all the cool things that the Writer’s Symposium will have going on for the 20th anniversary. Before I go any further I should really share some things with you about the symposium.

Let’s take a look at the program. It starts Thursday at 9:00 A.M. and runs until noon on Sunday, taking a break every night at 9:00 P.M. That is over 120 hours of events. The events come in a variety, panels, seminars, and hands on experience. I have found that they are all beneficial. There will be times when you come away with more knowledge than others. From my experience I believe the key is to participate – engage in discussion with the teachers and attendees. That is how you can get the most from the visit. I highly encourage you to participate in the critiques next year, they are probably sold out already this year. They are your chance to have face to face time with four editors, great elbow rubbing time!

If it were not for several of the friends I made at Gen Con in 2011 through the symposium, it is safe to say I wouldn’t be doing this today. I should also note that if it weren’t for Ryan Hale Through Gamer Goggles would not exist – that’s a different story though. When I first started attending Gen Con it was for the sole purpose of learning about the craft of writing. The symposium gave me so much more. It is a valuable community (most events are free), that gives well beyond the convention.

You meet these authors that are for the most part really easy to talk to and you find them on facebook and bam you get inspired. It works like this. The writers are all about self promotion so you see a great deal of what they accomplish. Which in turn is motivational, at least to me. I figure if they can do it I can too. As a result of the volunteer authors service, I’m currently working on a novel (have to develop the world first), a novella for a very cool game world, and some short fiction. After Gen Con I’m going to pitch some adventures to Adventure a Week and Kobold Press. Oh and because Elizabeth Vaughan suggested I get into a writer’s guild, I ended up as the vice president here in Canton. See what I mean it’s a community that doesn’t end at Gen Con.

I’m indebted to the Writer’s Symposium, out of all of my convention experiences it has proven to be the most valuable. I really can’t say enough about the symposium and how deep it goes. I can tell you it has changed me forever.

Until tomorrow take care.

Matt

Countdown to Gen Con 12 (part 2) All Things Alien

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Jul 312014

It occurred to me that my count might end up off. That isn’t because I can’t count, it’s much more likely that I might not have the time to make the posts once I arrive in Indy.

It has been a day since I shared my desire to explore The Amega Weapon. Today we will look at aliens. Is it a surprise that there will be aliens at Gen Con? I’m sure that I’m going to leave some out, but I’m really looking forward to checking Alien Uprising from Mr.B. Games, All quiet on the Martian Front, and Mars Attacks.

The Countdown to Gen Con 2014 Begins Now

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Jul 302014

13 …

Gen Con isn’t that far away and I can’t wait to start talking about it. We are getting to go and enjoy the show. This is largely because I was confused; I kind of thought I was nominated for an Ennie. When the reality of it was that they hadn’t started voting yet; we were only submitted. My ignorance got the better of me, and I plotted my path to Gen Con. Which, for brevity’s sake, included a Kickstarter to fund the media expedition. It was a long road.

But that is over and the time has come to start sharing with you why I’m truly looking forward to Gen Con this year. Because there are so many things going on at Gen Con I’m going to limit this list to one item a day and it is no way a complete list of what I intend on doing at Gen Con.

Today’s article might be little longer because it will include some tasks that will happen prior to the convention. I will be arriving Tuesday afternoon to get an early start on the convention. Wednesday I’ll be busy doing interviews and hanging with some friends. The beer tapping is going to be great, but all too short watch for the froth of Khan review on twitter while listening to Five Year Mission. Five Year Mission is the band trekking to write a song about every one of the Original Star Trek episodes. From there I’ll be heading over to the Diana Jones award.

The Diana Jones is very unique because it is awarded off of popularity. Voting is done by an anonymous committee, which prevents a manufacturer from influencing a vote. The award focuses on achievement, innovation, and anything that betters the hobby industry. At least that is how they describe “excellence in gaming”. Anyone or anything in the games industry is eligible to win. It’s even cooler that the secret society of voters doesn’t have to give the award. You can, and in my opinion should, check out the nominees here and be sure to thank the sponsors while at Gen Con this year.

Now that the pre-show stuff is out of the way, lets get down to business. These are games, or events that come to my mind frequently when I think of Gen Con this the year. We are going to start with The Amega Weapon from The Amega Weapon LLC. The Amega Weapon is a new board game that create a chaotic environment of change. Players attempt to gain complete control over the galaxy while stabbing each other in the back. It’s new, it’s different, and I want to look into it.

I have already talked with the game designer a couple of times about the game. It has an interesting story that starts nearly 30 years ago. Did I mention the art is by Greg Winters? You might not recognize his name but I bet you’ve seen his art, especially if you like Star Wars. You can find them in booth number 2928.

Well That is a lot longer than I thought it was going to be. For reading and I hope to see you at Gen Con. If you liked this please share or tweet it. Everyone in our community deserves to know about these awesome events.

Til tomorrow take care,

Matt

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