September 4, 2009
Don't ignore this game if you're not a Warhammer fan - it's that good. And if you happen to be a fan of the Warhammer universe, then rejoice.
Warhammer Chaos in the Old World [Amazon, Funagain] pits 4 players against each other, each player fulfilling the role of an old God. Blood, Pestilence, Change, Pleasure, all four gods try to spread their influence over the world to win the main game.
But as an added bonus, each God has their own separate alternative victory track, and each one is very well tied to their particular theme.
For instance, the Blood god try to conquer the world, or pursue his secondary victory track - the path of blood. His goal: kill as many baddies as he can. Fill his coffers with the blood of his smitten enemies, and he might just win the game without the use of all this willy nilly influence. Meanwhile the other Gods will try to play-off against what they believe the other Gods are doing. For instance, the Pestilences God may start running away from the Blood God (if the Blood God can't kill then there's no blood to be had), and leave behind a path of illness and refuses, corrupting the land with disease in his wake. And of course, this helps the Pestilence god reach his secondary Victory condition.
The whole game has some great combat rules, simple to play, and it's a very dynamic 1-2 hour session. Throughout the game players will reposition themselves to block the progress of one victory path for another player, thus opening up room for the a alternative victory path, or open up room for another God to make a push in another portion of the world, with other ulterior motives, etc. There's a lot of jockeying, reaction, and exploitation, and it's all so much chaotic fun. Plus, everyone gets to play as the baddies. There will be Blood!
Here are the game's official details:
In the Warhammer world, four Gods of Chaos battle for supremacy. Khorne, the Blood God, the Skulltaker, lusts for death and battle. Nurgle, the Plaguelord, the Father of Corruption, luxuriates in filth and disease.Tzeentch, the Changer of Ways, the Great Conspirator, plots the fate of the universe. Slaanesh, the Prince of Pleasure and Pain, the Lord of Temptations, lures even the most steadfast to his six deadly seductions.
In the Chaos in the Old World board game, each player takes the role of one of the malevolent Lords of Chaos. Each god's distinctive powers and legion of followers give the controlling player unique strengths and heretical abilities with which to corrupt and enslave the Old World. Yet, as the powers of Chaos seek domination by corruption and conquest, they must vie not only against each other, but also against the desperate denizens of the Old World who fight to banish the gods back to the maelstrom of the Realm of Chaos... for now.
Warhammer Chaos in the Old world is published by Fantasy Flight Games, and is now shipping from Amazon and Funagain Games.
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September 2, 2009
Just a quick heads up that the online gaming store Funagain Games has kicked off their seasonal blowout. 300 different titles are now on sale, and it seems that this particular Fall sale has a substantial list of good, high quality releases. Sure, some of them are a few years old -- but if you haven't played them then they're new to you!
Here are some ones that popped off the page to us, include the discount off the original price. Some other titles have sold out before we had a chance to write this story, so act fast!
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August 31, 2009
The September weather has capped-off the month of August earlier than the actual Calendar has. It's been downright cold, or rainy, or cold & rainy up here in Boston the last few days. While it may be a bit of a downer to think the weather is already turning its back on Summer, it's exciting to think we're heading straight on into prime board game playing season.
And the drum-up to the Holiday releases has started. Details have been 'printed' on the upcoming Warhammer Living Card Game, Ticket to Ride : Europa 1912 Expansion, Battlestar Galactica: Pegasus Expansion, and BattleLore Dragon Expansion have seriously made us start to drool. I mean, look at that lineup for the fall! Plus Middle-earth Quest and Axis & Allies 1942 are already out. Oh man, it's going to be one heck of a fall. Start playing the titles as they come out, 'cause there might not be enough months in the year to accommodate all the gaming goodness heading our way.
Here are our stories for August 2009, the year of the ox:
Board Games
Card Games
Cheap Deals & Sales
Gaming Culture
Gaming News
Party Games
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August 28, 2009
The BattleLore [Amazon, Funagain] war game system had a plan for its expansions since day one: start as a semi historic medieval era war game system and then roll in fantasy elements in the form of expansions. There have been some quality mini expansions here and there over the years, with a slow roll-out of fantasy creatures from Dwarfs to Goblins, and Trolls. But now there's something bigger on the horizon: Dragons.
The BattleLore Dragons expansion will include at least three different forms of the wyrms: Green (poisonous), Blue (frost) and most brutal Red (fire). Full details on the dragons and their abilities have been summarized in the feature preview article "Casting a Massive Shadow". Here's a snippet:
"As the battle draws to a close, the day in nearly won. Knights dismount, removing their battered helms and breathing in the smoking air. Suddenly, a shadow falls across the battlefield, accompanied by the deafening beat of massive wings... and the fight is far from over. This fall, all of Europe shall tremble before the might of three new creatures!
BattleLore: Dragons, the upcoming expansion for the beloved strategy game BattleLore, brings to bear the awesome power of one of the most iconic figures in the fantasy genre. These majestic creatures promise to lay waste to their foes as they fly unhindered about the battlefield."
We'll keep you apprised of any new interesting details as the expansion gets closer to release, including the release of the sculptures (we hope their huge) and of cousre news of an actual release date! So far.. we just don't know.
Have a good weekend folks.
Critical Gamers Staff at
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August 26, 2009
The critically acclaimed card game in a box Dominion [Amazon, Funagain] is one of our favorite new games on the block, and today lady luck is shining upon you because Dominion has been severely discounted at the online sales website Tanga. Check it out here.
As of 10:30 am this morning they're selling the original copy of the Dominion Card Game you've been reading so much about at 32.99 bucks. This is one of those short term 'while supplies last' sales so check it out sooner rather than later. The deal also includes gobs of card sleeves in case you want to get keep your decks safe and sound from random spills and wild flailing card tears due to high-richter earthquakes or drunken chair falls.
For more information about Dominion, check out our release story: Dominion - A Standalone Collectibe Card Game in a Box
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August 24, 2009
The next baseline Axis and Allies title A&A; 1942 Edition [Amazon, Funagain] has finally hit store shelves, and this might be a perfect pickup if you missed last years A&A; 50th Anniversary Edition. This installment is much smaller, and cheaper, but includes many of the cool new rules that made it into 50th Ann.
Cruisers are now on the scene, making naval combat far more interesting and vibrant. Additionally the notion of Damaging Factories (instead of destroying IPCs) during strategy bombing has been brought over, as have victory cities, artillery, and the new unit cost schemes.
Almost all naval forces prices have been slashed. Couple that to the fact that you'll need a flotilla of ships to protect your now defenseless transports and you should therefore expect to see some massive fleet actions. Let that sink in for a second - no more massive fleets of liberty ships off the English coast who's mere presence staves-off German aerial attacks. Nope: you'll need destroyers, cruisers, carriers and their planes, and / ore battleship escorts to keep your supply lines safe. This one move is a huge step for the better, and something that we loved in A&A; 50th Anniversary.
But unless you have 200-300 bucks to burn, then A&A; Anniversary is off the table. Now he's your chance to pickup its little brother for the cheap.
The game's downsides? It doesn't ship with IPC bills anymore, and asks you to track money on a sheet of paper, which is pretty lame. Additionally the game includes some of the support materials, like the attack board, on the main board itself - leaving less room for pieces. This makes Europe particularly cramped.
The money thing doesn't bother us - just grab your stack of bills from your older version, or use monopoly money. The cramped board is a bit more of a burden, but we can look past it. There are just so many great things that have been brought over from the 50th Anniversary that we can easily overlook the worst of the game's flaws.
Don't take our word for it though. You should check out these two user reviews on BGG.com: 25th Anniversary edition, a simpler, cheaper, easier edition and My 2 cents.
Here are the game's official details:
Spring 1942, The World is at War!
Five world powers struggle for supremacy: Germany and Japan are aligned against England, the Soviet Union, and the USA. You control the military and economic destiny of one of these countries in the titanic struggle that will decide the fate of the world. You will need the perseverance of Montgomery, the daring of Rommel, the courage of Patton, the timing of Yamamoto, and the steadfastness of Zhukov!
Axis & Allies celebrates it's 25th Anniversary in August of 2009 with a new and updated edition of it's original classic game. Axis & Allies 1942, designed and developed by Larry Harris, will utilize the updated rules established in A&A; Anniversary Edition. Cruiser class ships will make their debut in A&A; 1942, forever changing the naval line-up. Newly sculpted playing pieces and all new packaging will position this game as the cornerstone of the Axis & Allies game line for years to come. Decide the fate of a nation in a few short hours!
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August 20, 2009
The latest board game themed in the J.R.R. Tolkien's ultimate fantasy setting has just store shelves. The cooperative adventure board game Middle-earth Quest [Amazon, Funagain] puts players in control of heroes who help stave off Sauron from finding the ring during the 17 years immediately prior to the forming of the fellowship. Fans of the movies may remember the time Gandalf went galloping around to find information about the ring after Bilbo's birthday - that was actually 17 years.
The forces of good must therefore keep the ring safe long enough for Gandalf to figure out just-what-the-heck is going on. In the process they will embark on their own quests to halt the forces of Sauron, and to seek help and advice from many characters from the Lord of the Rings novels.
Facing them are a slew of baddies controlled by one player fulfilling the role of the Dark Lord himself. This player can win in a few ways, but mainly by increasing his evil influence on Middle-earth or finding the ring and its bearer before Frodo sets out on his epic trip.
The title is designed for 2-4 players to complete in about 3 hours time, which should give you some idea of its epicness and complexity. This is a pretty big game, so don't let it's 13+ age suggestion fool you.
Thankfully Middle-Earth quest isn't quite as mind numbing as the previous strategy game (as opposed to adventure styled ) War of the Ring. Instead this title is helmed by Corey Koniecka and Christian T Petersen who have both worked on previous smash-hit Fantasy Flight Game titles like Battlestar Galactica, A Game of Thrones and Twilight Imperium 3rd Edition. If you've played any of those then you can get a pretty good feel for the depth of game that we're talking about.
For more information on the title, checkout our previous coverage:
Middle-earth Quest is now shipping from Amazon and Funagain Games.
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August 18, 2009
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August 17, 2009
After a long string of previews the rules for Battlestar Galactica Pegasus - the expansion to last year's amazing Battlestar Galactica Board Game - have been posted to the Internets. You can check them out here.
Obviously we're really excited about this game. Most interesting to us were the rules aruond jettisoning players out of airlocks (and the different aftermaths of that character if he's a cylon or a human), the addition of Scar as a new Cylon Raider character, and the interesting notion that a Cylon Leader is randomly assigned a secret card that guides them to be either sympathetic to the human cause, or pushes them to help the cylon cause. Oh those cylons and their flip floppy ways.
It was also good to see details of the New Caprica rules. In this new addition to the end game, the humans scramble to prepare civilian ships to evacuate the temporary colony, and must defend the launched ships long enough to get enough resources airborne to avoid starvation, a loss of morale, and just general extinction. Meanwhile the Cylon Players lord over the colony and attempt to throw players in jail and blow up the Galactica (when are they not) to keep the humans right where they are. It also seems interesting enough, and is quite the cool twist, but we're currently iffy on how enjoyable it'll be, or if it'll be just a tad too complicated. Sometimes sessions of BS:G go on long enough, you know? Thankfully all of the New Caprica portion of the expansion is completely optional.
Battlestar Galactica: Pegasus is slated to ship later this fall, and we'll let you know as soon as it hits shelves.
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August 13, 2009
Fantasy Flight Games' prelease media machine has released a trailer for the board game Middle-earth Quest, which should be on store shelves presently (August 2009). The trailer doesn't have much info about the actual board game itself, but we're really digging the art style.
Middle-earth Quest is an upcoming cooperative board game release in which up to three players control heroes and join forces to defeat a fourth player who controls the forces of Sauron. The game takes places in the darkening days immediately prior to the Forming of the Fellowship.
For more information on Middle-earth Quest, please see our previous coverage Middle-earth Quest Details Emerge, or visit the game's official website. We'll let you know as soon as they appear on store shelves later this month.
Critical Gamers Staff at
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Warhammer Chaos in the Old World Board Game Released
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