Cardboard Children: Boardgame News
overlapping units
It is (not) midnight (due to snoozing, sorry - Ed) and hello youse.
While the Midnight Table is away getting some woodworm seen to, I thought I would drop in to the old homestead to update you on some cool board game news. Yeah, it's that Gencon time of year, which means I'm at home reading about Gencon while lucky people are actually at Gencon, and I want to cry. But at least there's exciting BOARD GAME DRAMA dropping all over the place, right?
Shall I tell you what has caught my eye?
NEW LOVECRAFTIAN FANTASY FLIGHT SHIT
Yeah, this was actually revealed a week or so ago, but there's a new game in the Arkham Horror line on the way. Actually, no, it isn't in the Arkham Horror line. But it just looks and sounds as if it is. It's called Eldritch Horror, and it turns the hunt for Lovecraftian artifacts into a globe-trotting adventure game. Not too much is known about it right now, but it looks like it's something that might be a tad lighter and shorter than Arkham Horror, while retaining a lot of the story richness of that game. Here's hoping anyway. There's a big long video about it, and you can watch it right here below.
I dunno. I'm looking forward to it, but even a Cthulhumaniac like me is starting to feel a bit of fatigue, or P'hatigue, with all these similarly themed games. I dunno. The story stuff looks nice. Hm. What do y'all think?
BATTLELORE IS BACK
Yeah, also from Fantasy Flight, Battlelore is back. Remember the whole Battlelore saga? Fantasy Flight bought the rights to the game from Days of Wonder, then realised they couldn't actually afford to make it, with the rising cost of plastic and all, and the fact that the original game has about a million things in the box. It was pretty funny. Gamers were crying and tearing all their clothes off and stuff. “Give us our Battlelore, you baddies!” The first edition of Battlelore is a great game, if a little confused thematically. (It's like history and fantasy meeting. It's weird and super-geeky.) It's based on the brilliant Command and Colors system, which has now featured in about 700 games, sandwiches and porn films. This new official Second Edition rolls it into Fantasy Flight's Terrinoth setting, and shrinks the amount of plastic in the box. It looks like it makes some smart changes too, giving all the units a little bit of extra-spicy special sauce. I'm on board for this. I bet it's mad expensive when it launches.
WARHAMMER: DISKWARS (Wait, WHATwars?)
Haha! Yeah. DISK wars. Diskwars. DISKWARS. This is the game I'm most excited about, and not just because it has a Warhammer theme.
Check this out. Diskwars was an early Fantasy Flight game, and its main feature is that it allows you to move units across a battlefield by flipping a disk over end-to-end. You can “pin” rival units by flipping onto them, and then overlapping units battle it out. It's a brilliant little system, and the Warhammer theme is just a perfect fit for it. I think that -
WAIT! This just happened, just as I write this!
Let me calm myself down.
Okay, sorry. Yes. Diskwars.
I've always liked the idea of Diskwars, as gimmicky as it is. I like any game that plays around with the standard notions of unit movement. And as someone who loves Warhammer, but struggles to get Fantasy Battle onto the table, I'll take any attempt at a skirmish game with that setting, even one with funny little disks. I mean, look at this...
There's terrain, line of sight, dice for ranged attacks, and units on little disks you'll be tumbling across the map. How can this fail to be good? And it fills a little niche too, doesn't it? Warhammer Fantasy Battle is expensive to get into. If this gives you a miniatures game feel at a fraction of the cost, everybody benefits. Hoorah. We'll see how it pans out.
I NEED TO CALM DOWN...
...after seeing those giant X-Wing Miniatures Game spaceships. What else was I going to tell you about? Ah yes.
The expansion for Lords of Waterdeep is out very soon. LoW is one of my favourite games – it's a worker placement game that manages to squeeze a lot out of its thin wash of theme. I don't know how it manages to sell the “this cube is a wizard” thing so well, but it does. It's just a really pleasant game to play, and is really elegant too. I hear that it's coming to iOS soon. Just putting that information out there in case you are a creature of pure electronics with a hatred of wooden cubes and cardboard. Anyway, the expansion is called Scoundrels of Skullport, and it brings a lot more “stuff” into the game, with the promise that it doesn't clutter the game up.
The game is arriving with some lucky people NOW, Canadians apparently, and so I detest those people and every other living soul in Canada. I think it hits Europe towards the end of the month, and I would imagine it's an autobuy for anybody who likes Lords of Waterdeep – and that's most likely anyone who's tried it.
Look at that fucking illustration on that box. GIMME THEM CUBES.
FAREWELL
Well, folks, I just wanted to drop in and highlight a few exciting things. I hope the table's been looking after you in my absence. What have I been doing? I've been working on my own game design, and I'm glad to say it's finally getting somewhere. I've also been -
WAIT! ALMOST FORGOT!
I'm a bit bored of zombies, but I know you (my darling reader) love the suckers. This game looks interesting. It's called Zombie 15, and each game lasts 15 minutes. The characters are all 15 years old, and there are 15 scenarios. It's being demoed at Gencon, and I will be contacting my sources* to find out how it looks. I will bring that info to you as soon as I can. Looks nice, though, right? A time-limit zombie “panic” game sounds like a great idea.
Been nice seeing you. Stay dicey!
*Checking Twitter.
OH – ONE MORE THING – I'm being sent a review copy of the Bioshock Infinite Board Game, so you'll see me soon for that. I loved the PC game, so I have high high hopes. Later!