WoW TCG Magtheridon's Lair Raid Deck - January 8th, 2008

The WoW TCG Magtheridon's Lair Raid Deck has been released, and is now available from Amazon and Funagain Games. For more released information click here.

Boy howdy - it feels odd to start typing 2008, but it's just around the corner. And on just the other side of the new year comes the long awaited - and delayed - release of the WoW TCG Magtheridon's Lair Raid Deck [Amazon, Funagain].

We can't wait to get our hands on it and stomp our overachieving heroes into juicy bits of goo. With every expansion release our decks have become more lean and mean, violent (we love the Horde) and powerful. The Molten Core was a challenge, but we still tackled it with our 5 elite heroes built off the first two sets: Heroes of Azeroth and Through the Dark Portal. Since then our decks have become even more stack with powerful cards from the Fires of Outland and the latest March of the Legion expansion, which really takes the game to the next level. Hopefully Magtheridon's Lair can keep pace.

Here are the the official details :

"You’ve taken down the dreaded Onyxia, and you’ve taken Ragnaros’s mace from his dead grasp. But what are you going to do against a pit lord so powerful that Illidan has to keep him locked up? Well, you’re going to have to figure it out quickly, because on January 8, the third WoW TCG Raid deck is hitting shelves. Players will have to figure out how to deal with Channelers, Abyssals, Manticron Cubes, and one big, angry Demon. You’ll have to try new strategies and work around the exciting new mechanics if you’re hoping to take down Magtheridon to get your hands on some of the twenty exclusive new treasure pack cards. "

Critical Gamers Staff at Permalink

Galaxy Trucker Free Expansion for the Holidays

Christmas comes a little early for those lucky few who actually got their hands on the first run of Galaxy Trucker [Funagain]. According to this story on BoardGameNews.com, publisher Czech Games will release a free downloadable expansion on their website on Christmas Eve! Here are the details:

"This expansion is designed for experienced Truckers. If you routinely build ships that overcome every obstacle and arrive nearly unscathed, if you shed a nostalgic tear recalling your first flights when your ships were smashed to pieces and you arrived with only a few sad fragments, then this expansion is for you. This expansion puts the kick back into space travel, and it kicks so hard that the tears will be in your eyes once again." - Board Game News

For more information on Galaxy Trucker check our release story Galaxy Trucker - Hauling A' Your Way October 2007, and stay tuned to the Czech Games website.

Happy Holidays Everybody! See you on the other side.

Heroes of Might and Magic Kingdoms - Move over Travian

If you're addicted to Travian like we are then Ubisoft might have just the thing for you. Their classic strategy game series Heroes of Might and Magic is getting a next installment, and it's entirely browser based against 1,000 other players.

Sweet Mamma Jamma.

The game is slated for a early 2008 beta. Checking our calendar it seems that early 2008 is just a few weeks away. We'll keep you posted on when it launched. Until then check out the Heroes of Might and Magic Kingdoms Official Website which includes feature previews and visual tutorials of what you should expect from the game.

Originally written for our friends at MonkeyGames.org by CriticalGamers staff

Wired's Great Board Game Gifts for Geeks

A lot of us here at Critical Gamers are tech savvy so we pretty consistently hold Wired in high regard. When the posted their Board Game gift guide for the Holidays we jumped to see how our gaming collections lined up.

Our very own Critical Gamers' Holiday Gift Guide 2007 and Wried Magazine's Great Board Game Gifts for Geeks (use "next image" to move to the next game) both have quite a few games in common, including:

• Settlers of Catan - a no brainer as this title remains the gateway game of choice for introducing board games to a group. or the gateway game in the Eurogaming genre. It's also the best replacement for Monopoly, mimicking it's approachability and fun while trimming-off all the boring bits.
• Wits and Wagers - a slick trivia party game where players bet how close everyone's answers are to some really outlandish trivia questions. The party game genre has stagnated a bit, but this title definitely breaths new life into the genre for 2007.
• BattleLore - a tactical war game that made our list last year, but this ever expanding wargame system is still fresh and only getting stronger every month with new releases.

Not bad considering no New England breathing Critical Gamer has been in the same room as a Sunny San Franciscan Wired Employee, at least to our immediate recollection.

Wizards of the Coast Interview: D&D; 4th Ed, Magic Online, and Gleemax

We used to listen to Gaming Steve a lot for our PC Gaming industry news, but then he sort of feel off the edge of the Earth. Now he's back, and in his latest informative Podcast he speaks to Randy Buehler of Wizards of the Coast.

Yes his theme music is a bit.. over the top. But man - it sticks around in our head. The discussion covers topics such as:

1. Gleemax and it's upcoming Board Game Portal
   The online collaborative social networking site for games will have mostly Avalon Hill Titles at launch (Axis and Allies, Vegas Showdown, RoboRally, and Guillotine) but hopes to expand into a major hub of all gaming including other publishers as well.
2. Codename: "The Goblin Game" [link] Beta
   The upcoming web browser turn based multiplayer game which seems similar in vein to Travian, except games are designed to last about 2 months and will have varying end goals.
3. Magic Online v3.0 and the D&D; 4th Edition Online Initiative
   Wizards of the Coast has found found that most of the people who play online are those who've played the original titles in the past, but have aged and don't get to meet up with their friends to play games together all the time. Their goal is to create a place where all of these players can meet up once again to play not only old classics, but new games as they're released. The overall vision is to have an interactive gaming metaverse, where players can trade online collectibles from one game for items of another. Can't wait to see how this pans out.

You can find the entire Gaming Steve Podcast here, including the timestamps of all the Wizards of the Coast discussions - in case PC Gaming is not you're thing.

Combat Commander Volume 2: Mediterranean

GMT Games has released the second installment in the popular card-driven Combat Commander tactical WWII war game series: Combat Commander: Mediterranean [Funagain]. Aside from including 12 new maps and 12 Custom Scenarios for some Mediterranean slugfest, this second volume also includes new armies and decks of cards to breath character and life into each. The British Army & Commonewealth armies enter the scene with cards that provide marksmanship bonuses, for instance, while other armies include the Italians & Minor Axis Powers, and the French & Minor Allied Powers.

The game floats in the medium complexity scale and is meant for 2 players to play in sessions of 1-3 hours. More ifnformation can be found on the official Command Command Mediterranean website. Here are some of the official features

• 12 new historical scenarios, each one including at least one of the three new nationalities.
• An updated Random Scenario Generator incorporating the new nationalities and the twelve new maps, as well as allowing for the early years of fighting in 1939 and 1940. This random scenario system provides an almost unending variety of map configurations, force structures, and combat situations. Replayability value for Combat Commander gets even better with this new addition to the family.
• A complete manifest of all 432 Fate Cards included in CC:E and CC:M. Number crunchers rejoice!
• Assigned Point Values for all units, weapons, radios and fortifications in CC:E and CC:M, allowing players to easily create their own scenarios and Orders of Battle.
• Additional designer's notes and play hints.
• And more...

A Game of Thrones CCG - Winter Preview Trailer

Fantasy Flight games has setup a slick teaser trailer comprised of fantastic art stills for the upcoming Winter Expansion [Amazon] their strong running A Game of Thrones Collectible Card Game. The CCG is based on Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy books by author George R.R. Martin. And we like them a lot.

The trailer for Winter doesn't provide many details but definitely sets the theme for the upcoming release. We're a bit confused by a countdown timer on the trailer that's hinting that more details will come on the upcoming expansion on December 22nd, but many shops already claim the set has been released to stores. Go figure.

Here's the text of the trailer in case your lazy, formatted in poetic centered italicized text form. Unfortunately it's not a Haiku, but hey - they can't all be winners:

It has been five years Of ice and fire.

Now, a white silence
falls across Westeros

Something moves in the North
In the East
Soon all will be revealed

Winter Comes
December 22nd, 2007

Prepare yourself
Nothing will be the same.

Cranium WOW You're Good

Cranium hit the table a few years ago and quickly usurped Trivial Pursuit from the party game trivia thrown. With clay sclupting, sketches akin to Picktionary, and trivia and word games - Cranium seems like modern high-energy step forward that tunes into our bright and colorful pop culture blood pumping through our veins..

Now Cranium updates itself with Cranium: WOW [Amazon]. With 600 more questions and updated pieces that let you personify yourself like a parade of 1000 Nintendo Mii's, Cranium WoW is a a considerable update on your previous version. Plus a fresh injection of clay comes just in time to save the drying lump of purple sand barely hang-on in our current box.

Here's the official word:

"Cranium WOW is the newest version of the outrageously fun, smash-hit board game that brings friends and family together through a variety of activities that celebrate all of your interests and strengths. Whether you're an aspiring actor, artist, data hound, or wordsmith, Cranium gives you and your team a moment to shine.

You were born to play this game. Maybe you¿ve always wanted to use your best friend as a puppet to act out "milking a cow." Or you want to prove you can draw "bed head" with your eyes closed. Perhaps you¿re eager to show off your vast knowledge of "The Hoff," YouTube, and which came first, the toaster or sliced bread. If any of these are true -- and even if they're not -- you need to play Cranium WOW immediately. You shouldn¿t wait to show off your hidden talents when they're so impressive. Cranium WOW features 600 brand-new-we-swear-you¿ve-never-seen-them-before-unless-you-peeked-somehow cards and new movers so cool you might forget to actually play the game for a little while (but we hope you'll eventually remember).

Contains:

1. Game board
2. 600 new cards
3. 10-sided die
4. Tub of purple clay
5. Timer

WoW TCG 25% Off Sale at Upper Deck on Heroes Through the Dark Portal

Upper Deck is cleaning stock just in time for the Holidays. For today only all at the Upper Deck Entertainment store Heroes of Azeroth Starer Decks, and Booster Boxes are 25% off. Both the inaugural raid deck Onyxia's Lair, and the second in line the Molten Core Raid Deck are also discounted, as well as all sorts of Through the Dark Portal expansion sets including Starter Decks, Booster Boxes, and even the slick Through the Dark Portal Playmat. All products can be found on sale here.

This is all due to the 12 Days of Christmas Sale across the Upper Decks store, which has snaked through and discounted all of Upper Deck products for the last 11 days. Today is day 12, and with the final day of Christmas Upper Deck focuses on the Wolrd of Warcraft Trading Card Game sale which ends today!

BattleLore Expansion The Scottish Wars Announced

BattleLore the Scottish Wars is out! For more information and links please see our release story.

Days of Wonder has announced the latest installment to their BattleLore franchise: The Scottish Wars [Amazon, Fuangain] slated to ship December 2007, just in time for the Holidays.

The Scottish Wars brings the historical / fantasy themed Command and Colors war gaming system BattleLore to the Scottish Highlands where players can experience historic battles seasoned with some fantasy elements of Dwarven troops.

Here are the expansions official details:

Introducing the latest BattleLore Expansion - The Scottish Wars - A Dwarven Perspective

The new Scottish Wars expansion will take BattleLore players to the highlands in these battles for the right to rule Scotland. You'll also be introduced to some of the stalwart Dwarven warriors who inhabit these lands! The Scottish Wars feature 42 new figures including: 6 Iron Dwarves Cattle Riders, 8 Iron Dwarves Clan Chiefs, 12 Mounted Knights, and 16 Iron Dwarves Spear Bearers; plus a rules booklet with 5 new adventures - Stirling Bridge, Falkirk, Bannockburn, Dupplin Moor and Neville's Cross. Suggested Retail Price: $30. Available in late December 2007.