‘Fury Of The Bear’ Expansion Announced For ‘Tide Of Iron’

Fantasy Flight Games announced their next expansion for Tide Of Iron. Here is the word from their website….

It is June 22, 1941…

Operation Barbarossa has commenced and the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union has begun. Employing over 4.5 million troops, Germany’s invasion spreads across an 1800 mile front. Pressing forward, the Germans seek to claim territory up to the Arkhangelsk-Astrakhan line. These two Soviet cities mark the proposed eastern border of the Reich. The Soviets, however, have no intention of going quietly.

Despite Soviet defenses, Germany continued to gain momentum from successes in other areas. Operation Typhoon began, targeting Moscow. But once again, Soviet defense forces pushed Germany back. A counter-attack would soon follow…

Fantasy Flight Games is pleased to announce Fury of the Bear, an upcoming expansion to Tide of Iron! Take command of the Germans or the Soviet forces as war on the Eastern Front begins.

The Fury of the Bear expansion for Tide of Iron builds on an already epic game experience by adding the forces of an entirely new nation, as well as new vehicles, winter terrain, scenarios, and more! Featuring nearly 100 plastic figures for the Soviet army, plus new German figures, tokens, cards, and 9 new Eastern Front map boards, the Fury of the Bear expansion will let you experience Tide of Iron in an entirely new way. Read more

Commands & Colors Napoleonics From GMT Games

Commands & Colors Napoleonics has just gone up on GMT’s P500 list.

Commands & Colors: Napoleonics allows you to re-fight epic battles of the Napoleonic era. In this core volume, the focus is on the French and the British, two bitter rivals in the struggle for European preeminence during the time of Napoleon.

As with other games in the Commands & Colors genre, units in both armies can only move and fight when ordered. The command playing cards supply those orders, providing an element of luck that creates a fog of war and presents players with both challenges and opportunities. You must maximize your opportunities by playing your command cards judiciously. How well you handle the diverse units, their weapons, and the terrain, will determine victory.

Core Game Contents:

·1 Mounted Battlefield Gameboard
·4 Sheets containing 56 double-sided Terrain Tiles and 2 Infantry in Square tracks
·70 Command cards
·8 Battle dice
·French, British and Portuguese Blocks and Label sheets
·3 National Unit Reference Cards
·1 Rule Book
·1 Scenario Booklet containing 15 battle scenarios Read more

Fantasy Flight Games Announces ‘Runewars’ Big Box Game

Runewars is an epic board game of conquest, adventure, and fantasy empires for two to four players. Designed by Corey Konieczka, Runewars pits players against each other in a strategic game of battles and area control, where they must gather resources, raise armies, and lay siege to heavily fortified cities.

Runewars takes place in the same popular fantasy universe as the best-selling board games Runebound and Descent: Journeys in the Dark, and dozens of fan-favorite heroes and monsters play their part. The wars for the dragon runes are beginning, and only one faction will emerge victorious. What would you do to claim the ultimate power?

Runewars includes:

•A thorough 40-page instruction guide
•Nearly two hundred highly-detailed plastic miniatures
•Over two hundred tokens
•Over two hundred cards, both small and standard sized
•13 map tiles, each composed of multiple hexes and including stunning three-dimensional mountain terrain!

Fantasy Flight Games

Valley Games’ ‘Republic Of Rome’ Is At The Printers

Valley Games’ reprint of Avalon Hill’s classic “Republic Of Rome” has headed off to the printers. No word yet on when shipping will take place, but this is positive news indeed…

Robert Haines’ and Richard Berthold’s classic game of political intrigue and diplomacy is back in full form! Republic of Rome is a distillation of 250 years of Roman history, from about 265 B.C., all in one evening!

In Republic of Rome, players are in a constant balancing act between personal advancement and the welfare of the state. Players build the empire from scratch and thus develop and change the political environment in which they are competing.

Players’ Senators vie for political power, military commands and economic advantages against the backdrop of a turbulent world. Deals and counter-offers abound. Short the necessary votes for Consul? Trade the Armaments Concession for a faction’s support. Spartacus has destroyed your villa? Send Pompey off with ten legions to crush him. But is that too much power to entrust to one man? What if Pompey rebels and marches on Rome?

The game contains three scenarios which divide the color-coded cards into decks simulating the Early, Middle, and Late Republic. Those wishing a larger game can combine them into a Campaign Game of truly epic proportions. A solitaire and two-player version are also included for those unable to muster more players.

This new version contains all new artwork by Mike Doyle and re-written rules meant to address and clarify all previous errata. This is a 1 - 6 player game with a playing time of approximately 3 – 5 hours.

See Valley Games’ listing of Republic Of Rome

‘Pegasus Expansion’ Announced For The Battlestar Galactica Board Game

This fall brings the first expansion for Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game. The Pegasus expansion adds two new supplemental game boards featuring the Battlestar Pegasus and the planet of New Caprica, seven new characters, a new Cylon Locations overlay, two plastic Basestars, as well as new Destination, Crisis, Loyalty, Quorum, Super Crisis, and Skill cards.

The new Pegasus board can be used by itself or together with the New Caprica board to create the game you desire - use the Pegasus alone for the additional firepower she provides, or add the New Caprica board to simulate the rebellion on the human colony, bringing the game to an epic level.

New rules introduce the ability to play as a new character type - the Cylon Leader, with a new Treachery Skill card type.

How will the crews of the Galactica and the Pegasus mesh when they join each other on your game table? Will the Cylons be able to subjugate the human rebellion on New Caprica? Will an open Cylon Leader be able to vent the last remaining humans into space, giving the toasters control over the galaxy?

Pegasus will be FTL jumping into your friendly local game store this Fall. Be on the lookout for previews leading up to the expansion’s release.

Ticket To Ride Online: 15 Million Games Played Since 2004

The online version of Ticket to Ride, launched in 2004, reached a new milestone earlier this year, with 15 million games played. The online game has both benefited from and helped grow the boardgame, with strong connections back and forth. Now the relationship between the online and meatspace games is changing, but both TTR games will still feed the other.

From launch until recently, players got full access to the online game either through a Web code included in the board games, or by buying six or twelve month subscriptions. “Guests” were allowed to play free, but couldn’t initiate their own games to track their history or ranking information.

The Web codes in the board games not only helped convert boardgame players to online players, they also allowed Days of Wonder to track the percentage of players that played the online game first who ended up buying boardgames. That percentage has been “in double digits,” according to DoW Vice President Mark Kaufman.

The company recently changed that system; the online subscriptions and related boardgame sales weren’t enough to pay for the number of players that were playing for free as Guests, according to Kaufman. DoW recently started selling one-time subscriptions to the main game for $9.99, and expansions for $4.99 each. Up to four free trial games are offered, but the ability to play on an ongoing basis as a Guest has been eliminated. The conversion from the old system to the new one did provide benefits to past boardgame or online subscription purchasers. Boardgame players do still receive benefits from their Web codes in the form of access to Community Tools and discount coupons.

The number of Ticket to Ride games played daily is now bigger than ever, according to Kaufman, both because of these changes and because the company recently launched upgraded versions of the online games. This unique interaction between the boardgame and online versions of the Ticket to Ride franchise seems poised to continue to build both.

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Fantasy Flight Games July ‘09 Releases Announced

Fantasy Flight Games’ July release schedule includes a number of expansions to its existing card and board game lines, including a new expansion for Kingsburg, new cards for A Game of Thrones TCG, and a book of scenarios for Descent, written by some of the top names in gaming.

Kingsburg: To Forge a Realm (MSRP $29.99) expands on the basic game by adding new territories and provinces, as well as governor cards to administer them and soldier tokens to help defend them. To Forge a Realm also adds more buildings, row overlays, and a destiny deck to the game. These new features can be added individually or all at once, allowing players to customize their Kingsburg experience.

Two expansions for A Game of Thrones: The Card Game are also scheduled for release in July. The Kings of the Sea (MSRP $29.99) contains 60 cards and adds House Greyjoy as a playable faction. It also comes with the Arms of the Kraken, a resin crafted house card and a multiplayer variant, “The Kingsmoot.” The Tower of the Hand (MSRP $9.99) is the third Chapter Pack in the King’s Landing series, focusing on the Shadow mechanic and characters and circumstances surrounding the Hand of the King.

The Descent: Quest Compendium, Volume 1 ($29.95) is a 96-page hardcover book containing 16 scenarios for the Descent dungeon-delving board game. Contributors to the book include such notables as Kenneth Hite (Where the Deep Ones Are), Keith Baker (Gloom, Eberron), and John Kovalic (Dork Tower). Each scenario includes notes from and a brief bio of the designer.

Anima: Shadow of Omega (MSRP $24.95) will see a reprint in July, incorporating more durable cards and an overall cleaner graphic design, while Anima: Beyond Good and Evil (MSRP $24.95) is a standalone card game for two to four players that can also be incorporated into Shadow of Omega. Three Anima Tactics figures – Grimorium (MSRP $34.99), Momiji ($9.99), and Empire Agent ($9.99) – will also come out in July.

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‘Age Of Conan’ Board Game - Video Promo

The Age of Conan is coming…

The war has begun, and every nation is sending forth armies. In Age of Conan, you take control of one of four mighty empires. Will you lead the military might of Aquilonia, crushing the forces allied against you? Will you adopt the mantle of the magical Stygians, and use your powers to lay waste to the peoples of the lands?

Each kingdom rules differently, and has unique powers to bring forth in the conquest of the world. In the midst of the war, Conan moves about the land, slaying monsters and claiming plunder. Many leaders have tried to control the awesome power of Conan, but no ruler is ever fully in control of the Cimmerian.

The latest video from Fantasy Flight gives you a glimpse into the world of the thief and reaver, the slayer and barbarian, Conan! Read more

Battletech’s 25th Anniversary - A FASA Legend

Twenty-five years after FASA published BattleDroids, a stand-alone box game recreating the giant robo/mecha science fiction action of the best anime, Catalyst Game Labs is set to celebrate the silver anniversary of this unique science fiction game that became BattleTech in its second year of existence. Since its origin in the mid-1980s BattleTech has spawned more than 100 novels, over a dozen computer games, comic books, toys, a cartoon series, and virtual world centers. In 2002 the appellation of “Classic” was attached to BattleTech, but in this anniversary year Catalyst Game Labs is reverting to the original unadorned “BattleTech” name for a host of celebratory products.

A key part of the celebration is the publication of BattleTech: 25 Years of Art and Fiction ($59.99) a deluxe oversize 160-page art book filled with a retrospective sample of 25 years of art, plus over a hundred thousand words of new original fiction from top BattleTech authors such as Thurston, Charrette, Milan, Gressman, Coleman, Keith, Long, Pardoe and Stackpole. The deluxe volume also will contain a universal timeline of the BattleTech universe as well as a definitive bibliography of all the published material relating to BattleTech from FASA to Fan Pro to WizKids to Catalyst.

Next fall Catalyst plans to launch a full novel publishing program with print editions of new novels such as A Bonfire of Worlds($7.99) by Stephen Mohan, Jr. and Shadows of Faith($7.99) by Loren L. Coleman as well as anniversary editions of some of the best BattleTech novels such as the Warrior Trilogy by Michael Stackpole.

In addition Catalyst plans to make out-of-print Battletech novels available in the Electronic Advanced Reader Copy (EARC) format via the BattleCorps.com Website. Paths of Glory by Randall N. Bills, which was first published in print in 2000, is available on the site now, and a new volume will be added every month. The EARC books can be purchased through the BattleShop by anyone, but they are free to BattleCorps members.

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Coming Soon: Memoir ‘44 Battle Map Volume 2

Days of Wonder has announced the May release of Memoir ’44 Battle Map Vol.2 ($18.00), which includes two WWII scenarios, Tigers in the Snow, which is set on the Eastern Front, and Operation Market Garden, which is based on Montgomery’s attempt to drop Allied forces behind German lines in the Netherlands.

The Battle Map series is designed to encourage team play and accommodates up to 8 players. The Memoir ’44 Battle Map Vol. 2 is an expansion—it requires 1 copy of the Memoir ’44 game and the Overlord Expansion or two full copies of Memoir ’44 to play.

The Market Garden scenario is fought on a unique 11-hex deep map designed by Memoir ’44 author Richard Borg. Both maps come ready-to-play with all terrain, obstacles and unit positions pre-printed, which makes set up a snap. Battle Map Vol. 2 comes with 6 new Tiger Tank miniatures and 2 additional bonus scenarios that are playable on the regular Memoir ’44 board, Villers-Bocage and St. Aignan de Cramesnil.

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