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(no subject) [Oct. 10th, 2009|05:13 pm]
New Releases 12 October 2009 )
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ROLEPLAYING 
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Rogue Trader RPG 
£35.00
Hardcover Core Rulebook from Fantasy Flight Games
 
Cthulhu Britannica 
£20.00
Softcover Call of Cthulhu Sourcebook from Cubicle 7
 
Tome of Secrets: Advanced Options 
£20.00
Pathfinder Supplement from Cubicle 7
Houses of the Blooded *reprint*
£30.00
Softcover Core Rulebook from Cubicle 7
 
Traveller - Civilian Vehicles 
£15.00
Softcover Traveller Supplement from Mongoose Publishing
 
Lankhmar Unleashed 
£20.00
Hardcover Runequest Setting from Mongoose Publishing
 
Realms of Cthulhu *Preorder*
£24.99
Hardcover Savage World setting from Reality Blurs
 
Chronica Feudalis RPG
£11.99
Core rulebook from Cellar Games Inc
 
Ganakagok RPG
£8.99
Core rulebook from Consensus Games
 
Ganakagok Tarot Cards
£9.99*
Accessory for Ganakagok RPG, from Consensus Games
 
Ribbon Drive (Booklet+Audio CD)
£19.99*
Core rulebook + CD from Buried Without Ceremony
 
Under my Skin
£8.99
Core rulebook from Black & Green Games
 
Vox
£21.99
Core rulebook from Aethereal Forge
 
Misery Bubblegum
£14.99
Card based RPG from Muse of Fire Games
 
Mist-Robed Gate  *Restock*
£13.99
From Two Scooters Press
 
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BOARD & CARD GAMES 
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Chaos Marauders 
£18.99*
Card Game from Fantasy Flight Games, players 2-4
 
Warhammer Invasion LCG Core Set
£27.99*
Card Game from Fantasy Flight Games, players 2
 
Call of Cthtulhu LCG Core Set *reprint*
£29.99*
Card Game from Fantasy Flight Games, players 2
 
MagBlast *reprint*
£19.99*
Card Game from Fantasy Flight Games
 
Runebound: Sands of Al-Kalim *reprint*
£32.99*
Card Game from Fantasy Flight Games
 
Alhambra *New Edition*
£24.99*
Boardgame from Queen Games, players 2-6 ages 8+
 
Corporate Espionage: Startup Deck
£14.99
Card game from NOBCD
Halloscream Board Game 
£26.99*
Murder Mystery Game, ages 8+
 
Swipe PDQ Dice Game 
£5.99*
Dice Game from Fundex, players 2-6 ages 8+
 
Sting PDQ Dice Game 
£5.99*
Dice Game from Fundex, players 2-6 ages 8+
 
Highrise Dominoes Game in a Tin
£19.99*
From Fundex, players 2-4 ages 8+
 
Premium Wood Chinese Checkers 
£14.99*
From Fundex, players 2-6 ages 6+
Premium Wood Solitaire
£11.99*
From Fundex, players 1 ages 6+
 
Shoot the Moon Card Game 
£5.99*
Card Game from Fundex, players 2-6 ages 8+
 
Heist Card Game
£5.99*
Card Game from Fundex, players 2-6 ages 8+
 
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HISTORICAL WARGAMES 
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Ici, c'est la France
£34.99*
Algerian War of Independence, 1954-1962, from Legion Wargames LLC
 
A Splendid Little War
£34.99*
Spanish-American War, Santiago Campaign, July 1-14, 1898, from Khyber Pass Games/Legion Wargames LLC
 
B-29 Superfortress *restock*
£33.99*
Bombers over Japan, 1944-5, from Khyber Pass Games
 
Conflict of Heroes: Storms of Steel: Kursk 1943
£59.99*
Wargame from Academy Games
 
 
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COLLECTIBLE GAMES 
*****************
 
Yu-Gi-Oh! Ancient Prophecy Special Edition
£8.99*
For Yu-Gi-Oh! CCG from Konami
 
 
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MINIATURES GAMES & MINIATURES 
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Arcane Legions: 2-Player Starter Set
£24.99*
Miniautures game from Wells Expeditions
 
Arcane Legions: Egyptian Booster Legion
£9.99*
Miniautures from Wells Expeditions
 
Arcane Legions: Han Booster Legion
£9.99*
Miniautures from Wells Expeditions
 
Arcane Legions: Roman Booster Legion
£9.99*
Miniautures from Wells Expeditions
 
Operations & Objectives
£6.00
For Rules of Engagement, from Great Escape Games
 
Imperium
£12.00
Roman supplement for Crusader Rules, by Crusader Miniatures
 
PLUS New release miniatures for the following games (see web site for details):
 
- Flames of War
- Wyrd Miniatures
- Warmachine
- Hordes
- AT43
- Infinity
- Secrets of the Third reich
- Victrix (Historical)
- Perry (Historical)
- Crusader (Historical)
- Mantic Games Fantasy Elves
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MISC
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Chibithulhu Plush Halloween
£16.99*
From Steve Jackson Games, includes special rule for Munchkin Cthulhu
 
Set of Orange & Black Polyhedral Elven Dice
£8.99*
From Q-Workshop
 
Set of Luminous Black Polyhedral Elven Dice
£18.99*
From Q-Workshop
 
Red Dragons Leather Dice Cup
£11.99*
From Q-Workshop
*Note: Leisure Games cannot guarantee that these are made from genuine Dragon Leather
 
Red Elvish Leather Dice Cup
£11.99*
From Q-Workshop
*Note: Leisure Games cannot guarantee that these are made from genuine Elvish Leather
 
Battle Bag - USA
£3.99*
Dice bag, from Q-Workshop
 
Battle Bag - United Kingdom
£3.99*
Dice bag, from Q-Workshop
 
Battle Bag - Soviet
£3.99*
Dice bag, from Q-Workshop
 
Battle Bag - Germany
£3.99*
Dice bag, from Q-Workshop
 
Leaf Bag (Colour)
£4.99*
Dice bag, from Q-Workshop
 
Japanese Bag
£3.99
Dice bag, from Q-Workshop
 
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MAGAZINES 
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Hearts in Glorantha #3: Undersea Adventures
£6.00
Gloranthan periodical from D101 Games
 
* = price includes VAT at 15%.</div> 
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(no subject) [Oct. 3rd, 2009|03:49 pm]
 
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(no subject) [Oct. 3rd, 2009|03:46 pm]
New Releases 29 September 2009 ) </p></div>
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(no subject) [Sep. 21st, 2009|11:29 am]
New Releases 21 September 2009 ) 
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(no subject) [Sep. 14th, 2009|04:31 pm]
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(no subject) [Sep. 5th, 2009|11:45 am]
 
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(no subject) [Sep. 5th, 2009|11:43 am]
 
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(no subject) [Aug. 19th, 2009|10:19 am]
New Releases - 17 August 2009 ) 
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GenCon Part 2 [Aug. 16th, 2009|06:40 am]
It's approaching 2am on Sunday morning, and sadly my first US GenCon experience is drawing to a close as  I have to be at the airport by midday tomorrow. My thanks to White Wolf Publishing for laying on another of their legendary parties tonight, although I will not be thanking them for the hangover tomorrow!

Tomorrow I am hoping to wake in time to stop by the convention centre one more time quickly as I heard Heliograph have a cool new book I need to see.

Since I last wrote I have tried a few new games. I have to say that nothing I have seen at the show really stands out, which is my only dissappointment. Chaos in the Old World, the Warhammer fantasy based boardgame by Fantasy Flight looks nice, but (and of course this is only my own view) seems like just another long game with complicated rules. Maybe fans of Arkham Horror etc will shout me down - I hope so. 

I was eager to try The Adventurers, a new board game from Alderac Entertainment, because it was clearly aimed at people with my own taste in board games - not too heavy on rules, and playable in less than three hours. Our game was actually over in probably around an hour and a half, and although the game was fun the strategy seemed easy to figure out and anyone who attempted anything radical paid dearly (died). A second game would have been interesting to try, but I have to say I think a third game would have been tedious.

For the roleplayers out there, no single product stood out. There are definately some interesting books on the horizon, but as with the board games we were struggling to find any product which was creating a buzz (outside of the D&D 4E or Pathfinder ranges).

On the miniatures front I headed straight for Wells Expeditions' "Arcane Legions". I have to say I approached their mass of demo tables with some scepticism, but I went away feeling more confident about the game. I first look for visual appeal in a miniatures game, and on that score Arcane Legions fails. It revolves around cumbersome trays of miniatures which immediately remove any air of realism from the game. However the game did recapture some of my interest due to the mechanics of the placement of miniatures within the horrendous trays, which allowed for re-allocation of points between movement, attack, and defense. My own feeling is that it would probably make a really good board game if done correctly. As a miniatures game to my mind it has no appeal, but I felt the same way about HeroClix' predecessor "Mage Knight", so who am I to say?

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GenCon, Indianapolis [Aug. 14th, 2009|04:47 pm]
 Here I am in Indianapolis for GenCon 2009. This is my first visit to a GenCon in the US, so it has all been a great adventure.

I arrived around 9pm local time on Wednesday, threw my bags into my hotel room, sploshed some cold water over my face and hit the town! Well not exactly hit the town, but I did manage to stay on my feet long enough to attend the Diana Jones award party.

I met up with Angus outside, who spent a few minutes intruducing me to people before we went inside and just had time to grab a drink before 'Dominion' was announced as the winner. Jay Tummelson of Rio Grande Games was present  to accept the award.

On Thursday morning I walked round to the convention centre, and it immediately struck me just what a major event GenCon is in the US. The city had laid on banners hanging from lamp posts reading things like 'Indianapolis welcomes GenCon', and 'Welcome Gamers', and several bars had banners welcoming gamers! In fact I was amused to see a number of restaurants offering fantasy themed menus! (I must try to get some photos of them this afternoon). The cinema had even laid on a special showing of Serenity, just because GenCon was in town.

The queue to enter was horrendous, stretching as far as I could see as I walked past, smugly clutching my Exhibitor's pass (thank you, you know who you are :D ) and once inside I was struck by the scale of everything. OK it doesn't come close to the scale of Essen's 'Spiele', but it certainly dwarves UK GenCon!

As the doors opened to the public a wave of eager gamers burst in. Most seemed intent on one thing ... Pathfinder. Within moments a huge line of people clutching copies of Paizo Publishing's new RPG core rulebook had formed all around the Paizo stand, and halfway down the trade hall. The other main attractions were Fantasy Flight's Rogue Trader, MiddleEarth Quest, and Chaos in the Old World.

It is now Friday, about mid-day over here. I intended on taking a few photos to show you all, but I forgot to charge the battery in my camera so it expired after about 5 shots. Hopefully by the time I have completed this it will be charged enough for me to get some more pictures this afternoon. So in the meantime here are some pics of small areas of the trade hall:



 
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(no subject) [Aug. 1st, 2009|03:04 pm]
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(no subject) [Jul. 28th, 2009|01:06 pm]
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ENnies 2009 Award Shortlist Announced [Jul. 14th, 2009|02:55 pm]
The ENnies 2009 Award Nominations were announced yesterday and we had a bunch of UK based nominations.

The full list can be found on http://www.ennie-awards.com/nominations/nominees.asp

Team UK features the below:

BEST COVER ART
* 3:16 Carnage Amongst The Stars by BoxNinja

BEST INTERIOR ART
* Dark Heresy Core Rulebook by Fantasy Flight Games/Black Industries (originally Black Industries with Mike Mason et al - so I'm including it in Team UK)

BEST WRITING
* The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen by Magnum Opus Press
* Hot War by Contested Ground Studios

BEST PRODUCTION VALUES
* Dark Heresy Core Rulebook by Fantasy Flight Games/Black Industries

BEST RULES
* Dark Heresy Core Rulebook by Fantasy Flight Games/Black Industries
* Starblazer Adventures by Cubicle 7 Entertainment

BEST ADVENTURE
* Dark Heresy: Purge The Unclean by Fantasy Flight Games/Black Industries

BEST MONSTER OR ADVERSARY
* Dark Heresy: Creature Anathema by Fantasy Flight Games

BEST SETTING
* Hot War by Contested Ground Studios
* Slipstream by Triple Ace Games/Studio 2 Publishing

BEST SUPPLEMENT
* Dark Heresy: Disciples of the Dark Gods by Fantasy Flight Games

BEST GAME
* Dark Heresy Core Rulebook by Fantasy Flight Games/Black Industries
* Starblazer Adventures by Cubicle 7 Entertainment

PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
* Dark Heresy: Disciples of the Dark Gods by Fantasy Flight Games
* Starblazer Adventures by Cubicle 7 Entertainment

The Fan Nominations for Best Publisher are currently open until the end of the week but a number of UK Publishers have already been nominated.

Congrats to all and fingers crossed for a number of Team UK Wins!
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New Releases - 13th July 2009 [Jul. 14th, 2009|02:44 pm]
New Releases - 13th July 2009 )
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New Releases - 6th July 2009 [Jul. 6th, 2009|04:33 pm]
New Releases - 6th July 2009 )
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New Releases - 22nd June 2009 [Jun. 20th, 2009|02:47 pm]
New Releases - 22nd June 2009 )
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New Releases - 15th June 2009 [Jun. 14th, 2009|11:34 am]
Arriving instore this week....


New Releases - 15th June 2009 )
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A Review of Field Commander: Alexander [May. 8th, 2009|06:22 pm]

With a recently released game on my shelves and a bank holiday in which to play it, I thought I would follow up on Kara's example and have a bash at writing a review for it. Ss here is Field Commander: Alexander, a solitaire historical wargame by Dan Verssen Games.





To begin with, a caveat: this was my first venture into counter wargames, and I’m in no way a history buff. However, this second game in the Field Commander line made a very convincing argument to be good addition to my (admittedly rather small) collection of solitaire games, and to me it didn’t disappoint.

First Impressions:

The price increase over the first game, Field Commander: Rommel, is significant but matched by a big increase in production values, which are always a selling point for me. The counters are nice and sturdy, the boards are mounted instead of being paper and the artwork overall is above what I understand as par for a game of this type. The boards do have a tendency to warp a little if left out, but are nicely finished and easily re-flattened when stored, which is definitely preferable to the slowly wearing fold lines and ridges you get on paper boards.

The game itself is a lot simpler and easier to learn than I had first expected, dispelling my impression that counter wargames are impenetrable and alien things, and it plays very fluidly. I got a very nice feeling of narrative as I led Alexander's army across Greece and Persia. The decisions you make seem limited at first, but both they and the small amount of randomisation in the game seemed very important every time they came up. There was a pleasant sense of overall importance and weight to the actions I chose and the choices I made, be it regarding the fulfillment of ancient prophesies (which essentially ‘level up’ your Alexander token) or my selection of battle plans (simply bonuses and die/damage modifiers in a given battle, but which shape the battles immensely). Also, having played the second scenario several times now the randomisation in each campaign also allows for more replayability than I first assumed, and again it is those small changes that seem to make a pleasant impact on the game.

Turn Summary:

Each turn of the game begins with a preparations round. Firstly the turn counter advances to the next month, season or year, slowly reducing the victory points you will receive for emerging victorious and eventually dooming you to (unlikely) failure. Secondly you get to spend gold to refit your troops and bring them back to full strength. Then lastly the enemy gets to work on their own operations against you (reserve troops and penalties that build up until a Go! token is drawn), and their strongholds get a chance to react and fortify themselves, based on a die roll and the position of Alexander’s army in relation to them. A city under imminent threat is more likely to fortify itself, while one at a safe distance will boost its commerce and prestige which you can later benefit from.

The second round is the conquest round, when Alexander’s army can act. First they must scout out the region they are moving into and either pay gold if their army is too large to support with foraging, or suffer damage if it is too small to fend off enemy ambushes (determined by a simple die roll compared to your troop strength). Then you must face any opponents there, battling them or possibly intimidating them into opposition if they are held up in a stronghold. Intimidation is again a simple die roll modified by Alexander’s army size, accumulated glory, and past decisions after conquering an area, while battle is played out on a separate sheet, pitting each troop of a given speed against each other simultaneously with a die roll, and moving down the speed lines in order. Each side gains battle plans, (those bonuses mentioned earlier) based on Alexander’s level and the enemy’s overall troop strength, and battle repeats until one side is victorious or Alexander flees. After that you can choose what to do with the region you’ve won, either razing it to the ground for instant gold or governing it for future income. Then once all of that is done you then get the chance to scout gain and repeat the round, assuming you an pay the cost in gold or troop damage to press on again.

If you don’t move round three begins, which is the re-supply. You gain gold for the troops you’ve defeated that turn and the conquered regions you govern, and can buy new troops and spend ‘glory’ (awarded for winning battles, having Alexander defeat enemy leaders and taking strongholds) to gain new advisors for Alexander (permanent bonuses to the campaign) or insights (powerful benefits for specific situations). Then the turn ends and you start the process again with your newly acquired income and troops.

The other major aspect to the game is the prophesies. These are acquired when you first enter specific regions, and can be taken or ignored as you choose. However, once you accept the prophesy it gives you a task to complete within a given number of turns. Most of these are simple enough, but often require spending resources you may not have or altering your plans for the later game to accommodate it. The benefit for succeeding is big though. Alexander will receive a ‘glorification’ replacing his counter with the next most powerful one, increasing his combat ability, speed and possibly the number of battle plans you can choose for each battle. They also add a lot more of the overt narrative to the game, tying the battles together with an extra level of story/history that I really liked.

My Verdict:

Ultimately this system plays simply and quickly, and I found very little referencing the rulebook was required after the first game. The only exception to this is the random prophesies which are detailed in the book, and a few battle plans that have more complicated effects. Surprisingly for me though I would have liked a bit *more* meat to the game. The campaign level of the planning lacked some of the personal drama of other solo capable games I own, but then I have come from the likes of Arkham Horror, Ghost Stories and Last Frontier: The Vesuvius Incident, which all pile on the grief at a personal level for each character or trooper, rather than at a management level as we get here. There was plenty to keep me entertained though, and it both plays in a reasonable time (between one and two hours), has little setup time and does not take up much table space, making it an easier game to just sit down and play than many other solitaire games I know.

Overall it was a risk buying into a genre that I've never explored before, but this has lived up to my hopes very capably, and the replayability seems high so far. It is also blessed with what are well above average components for a counter wargame, so bonus points there for DVG. If only more wargame companies did this. Overall a very entertaining and easily accessible solo game, whether you consider yourself a wargamer or not

David


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New Releases due to arrive with us on Wednesday 29th April [Apr. 27th, 2009|01:52 pm]

 

New Releases due to arrive with us on Wednesday 29th April (unless otherwise stated): )

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