» Miniatures Games
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Wizards not planning to renew Star Wars license
Earlier today, Wizards of the Coast made an announcement on the company’s message board confirming what has been rumored for a while now: when the Star Wars license comes up for renewal this May, Wizards will not seek to renew it. In the announcement, Greg Yahn, WotC’s Director of Marketing, states “We had a long and fantastic run, but with the economic downturn, we have made the tough decision to discontinue our Star Wars lines.” WotC products for the Star Wars Miniatures Game and Star Wars Roleplaying Game will be available through August, with multiple new releases scheduled through April. Wizards had first taken over the Star Wars license from Decipher back in 2002, starting with WotC’s version of the Star Wars CCG.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
OgreCave’s Christmas Gift Guide 2009, part 3
If you plan to give gifts this holiday season – or better yet, receive them – you’ve surely been perusing local stores and forming a list. The Cave dwellers have done the same, in the third section of our OgreCave Christmas Gift Guide 2009. This portion, the Twelve Boxes for Christmas, focuses on board games, in the hope of guiding some of your big-ticket expenses toward enjoyable gaming choices.
All that remains is our traditionally last-minute PDF/downloadable product list. We’ll be sure to drop it down your chimney when you’re least expecting it. … No, that’s not a euphemism for anything! Sheesh!
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Beware of lurking ninja
Today is the Day of the Ninja, December 5th, and we nearly failed our Spot check. We didn’t manage to get a Games of the Ninja mini-feature put together this year (feel free to check out last year’s page, though), partly because we couldn’t think of any new ninja-related games we’re dying to play. So, here’s the question: if you were to celebrate the stealthy assassins today – and who wouldn’t? – what game(s) would you be throwing down with?
Friday, December 4, 2009
Can Wormhole make papercraft gaming work in the box?
This might be really dumb or really smart: I honestly can’t tell. Wormhole is a complete starship-combat minis game for $25 MSRP. How has this amazing feat been accomplished, you ask? Well, the models are printed on paper, without so much as a single die cut. Gamers are to assemble and glue their fleets in the time-honored, or at least Boing Boing honored, tradition of papercraft, of which the ships they display are far from the most complex examples.
These cats are doing a bang-up job on their web presence; given the very thorough tutorial videos on the web site, assembling this stuff actually looks easier (but a lot more time-consuming) than some plastic card-model games I’ve messed with. The question is, will hobby gamers accept the “hobby” half of a papercraft game? From what little of the rules are in plain sight, it doesn’t look like Wormhole will draw the casual types, but the risk is there won’t be enough perceived table-candy payoff for hardcore minis fans… and it doesn’t seem as though people attracted to this sort of game are all that recession-conscious. (Me, I would pay $35 for something with a few die cuts.)
Monday, September 14, 2009
NECA Buys WizKids, Clix, and Pirates Properties
The National Entertainment Collectibles Association, Inc. (NECA) website reports that NECA has purchased the majority of the assets of WizKids, Inc. from The Topps Company, Inc., including the award-winning Clix family of games, which includes HeroClix, ActionClix, HorrorClix and SportsClix. NECA will also acquire the WizKids brand, the Pocketmodel Game family of games, including the Pirates of the Crimson Coast, Pirates of the Spanish Main and Pirates of the Cursed Seas games, and the Mage Knight line of games. NECA reports that it will continue the successful HeroClix product line with licensing agreements from DC Comics and Marvel.
Friday, September 11, 2009
PAX 2009: The Northwest really wants to kill you
It turns out that when you get 70,000 gamers together, a couple of them will be sick. It also seems Allan is a robot and therefore impervious to H1N1. Or else my car’s AC doesn’t work very much like an airplane’s.
If it seems like the PAX pox is the only news coming out of the show, that’s because it is – announcements on the digital front typically still happen at E3, and tabletop ones quite naturally happen at Gen Con. Now that I can once again move without groaning, however, I do want to point out some news that hasn’t gotten very big play and might change how some people feel about Arcane Legions.
This is a game that I’m pretty excited about, despite being demonstrably terrible at it and despite its mild but still vexing degree of collectibility. If random sorting is a deal stopper for you, consider these quanta: 1) boosters are sorted by faction, just like the fixed infantry and cavalry boxes. 2) Boosters are also being sold in “booster bundles” – sets of eight boosters that guarantee you one of everything in the faction. (This model was pioneered by our own Lee Valentine in PowerStorm, it should be pointed out.) A bundle isn’t exactly a cheap thrill, but it’s a way better deal than your average small-scale minis game.
Also their website is looking suave, although it still isn’t clear what the Centurion Club is or how to join it.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Preview of Catalyst’s Leviathans at TGN
For those of you whose ears perked up upon hearing of Catalyst Game Labs‘ steampunk airships game Leviathans, you should head over to Tabletop Gaming News for the first of three preview articles on the game. Some general development details and a few pieces of artwork are about it so far, but if they don’t whet your appetite for miniatures combat in the skies with huge battleships, we don’t know what will.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Space Hulk returns to print
Yep, rumors on the internets were true: Games Workshop is bringing beloved boxed game Space Hulk back as a $99 limited edition on September 5th. If you’re into it, you might wanna hop on that preorder.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Warmachine’s next big thing is a video game version under development
Privateer Press announced at a seminar today at Gen Con that developer WhiteMoon Dreams is underway on a digital version of Warmachine for… consoles? PCs? Both? Info is coming in via Twitter and is thus a little thin on the ground. Apparently the game will be first-person strategy of a sort – you’ll be in the warcaster’s perspective, issuing orders to your ‘jacks – and that’s about all I know. Unless the game has a confirmed publisher, this might not really even be an announced product so much as a really awesome plan. But there’s a nice, shiny coming-soon page!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Gamers: helping the forms exhaust their variety since 1971
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the exciting new tabletop miniatures game, Teddy Bears of the Caribbean.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Family Games 100 contributor list announced
Following in the footsteps of the excellent Hobby Games: The 100 Best – which we recommended in our 2007 Christmas Gift Guide – Green Ronin has been hard at work on its follow-up book, Family Games: The 100 Best. Edited once again by James Lowder, the 400 page paperback will offer essays on favorite games from a wide range of game industry luminaries. The contributing authors for the new book have been announced, and include Alan R. Moon (Ticket to Ride), Richard Garfield (Magic: The Gathering), Mike Selinker (Risk: Godstorm), Keith Baker (Eberron), James Ernest (Kill Dr Lucky), Kevin Wilson (Decent), Luke Crane (Mouse Guard), Fred Hicks (Don’t Rest Your Head), Stan!, Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson (co-founders of Games Workshop), a foreword by Senior Director of Product Acquisition for Hasbro Games Mike Gray, and an afterword by author and actor Wil Wheaton. Due to release later this summer, this is sure to be another must-read.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
NECA buys HeroClix, selling exclusive fig at SDCC 2009
Reports are trickling out of San Diego Comic Con of NECA Toys selling an exclusive HeroClix figure at the show. Yes, I said HeroClix – NECA is selling a Marvel HeroClix: Hammer of Thor figure called Thor’s Mighty Chariot, which depicts exactly that. NECA is also offering preorders of the figure through Amazon, where a shipping date of August 15 is listed. The convention exclusive itself isn’t particularly newsworthy – these sorts of big show releases serve to anger retailers on a regular basis – but the fact that NECA seems to have bought HeroClix and still hasn’t officially announced said purchase is certainly worth noting.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Get ready to count the 4E jokes: interview on card-based RPG in development
LivingDice is definitely a blog to keep in the ol’ aggregator – most recently, it’s brought Untold to our attention. It’s still under development – and maybe I’m cynical, but when I see someone developing a full color card-based roleplaying game, I take “coming soon” with a grain of salt – but the free primer PDF is at least an interesting read.
(Also at LivingDice at the moment is copious and depressing evidence of marketing-fail on the part of the upcoming minis-and-iPhone game Ex Illis. If I didn’t already know what it was, I’d look at those banners and think it was some kind of product for the disabled.)
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Privateer plans to Grind this fall
Privateer Press has plans for a new futuristic sports-ish board game called Grind, which at first glance seems like an offshoot of the WarMachine game. The new game will come “with several highly detailed plastic components, including six Runner steamjack figures, four Crusher steamjack figures, 32 interchangeable weapon arms, two spiked pillars, and the Grinder ball” (whatever that is). Along with a full-color gameboard and custom dice, Grind may become a rules-light entry point to the WarMachine universe. We’re promised more info from an official website launching this Friday.
Read More…
Sunday, June 28, 2009
2009 Origins Award winners
We’ve known the nominees for a while now, and resisted judging too harshly for having a t-shirt in the “Game Accessory” category. This year’s winners were awarded in a ceremony overseen by James Ernest last night at Origins. A notable winner was the Mouseguard RPG for Best RPG, despite being up against the Dungeons & Dragons Fourth Edition Player’s Handbook and Trail of Cthulhu. (I could say it “eeked” out a win, but then I’d feel ashamed.) Serenity Adventures won for Best RPG Supplement, and Magic: The Gathering – Shards of Alara was named Best CCG Supplement. As many expected, Dominion took the title as Best Card Game, while Pandemic got he nod as Best Board Game. Click below for the full list of nominees and winners.
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Friday, June 26, 2009
Upper Deck Signs Long-Term Deal with Marvel
Today Upper Deck Entertainment signed a multi-year licensing deal to use characters from the Marvel Universe. Covered products will include trading card games (TCGs), miniature games and trading cards. The agreement also includes rights to develop products based on Marvel’s upcoming films. The first products are expected to be released in January of 2010.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
BattleTech’s “Unseen” revealed by Catalyst
Catalyst Game Labs is continuing its quest to fulfill BattleTech fans’ every wish by bringing back the out-of-print illustrations for several mech models. The press release has more:
In 1996 numerous images originally licensed from several Japanese anime sources were retired from use within the BattleTech universe. Those illustrations formed the bedrock of the BattleTech 2nd Edition and BattleTech 3rd Edition Box Sets and were generally considered “fan favorites” across the board. These images—such as the Warhammer, Marauder, BattleMaster, Phoenix Hawk and so on—became known as the “unseen.”After much blood, sweat and tears, Catalyst Game Labs is exceptionally pleased to announce the return of these “unseen” images.
New versions of some of the “Unseen” mechs will show up in upcoming BattleTech books. The return of these image rights will be particularly useful for Catalyst’s BattleTech: 25 Years of Art and Fiction, which is already being previewed here.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Wizards rewarding customers this weekend
Perhaps as a warm-up to next week’s Free RPG Day, Wizards of the Coast is holding a Gift With Purchase Weekend starting tomorrow, June 12, and running through Sunday, June 14. At participating retail stores, gamers who buy WotC products totaling $15 or more will get to choose a free gift, selected from the following items:
- A pair of Magic:The Gathering Half Decks
- A D&D Miniatures: Demonweb booster pack
- A Star Wars Miniatures: The Clone Wars starter set
- The Orc King, a D&D hardcover novel by R.A. Salvatore
If there’s a WotC book or some miniatures you’ve been waiting to pick up, this may be your time. Just get there early, as it’s one gift per customer, while they last.
Monday, June 1, 2009
OgreCave Gaming News Update: Cornering folks at KublaCon ‘09
Another convention, another salvo of OgreCave Gaming News Update interviews! This time we made it out to KublaCon ‘09 in Burlingame, CA, just south of San Francisco. Four new interviews from the show are at your disposal:
- Harley Stroh (Goodman Games) on upcoming Age of Cthulhu and Dungeons & Dragons: Fourth Edition projects.
- Aldo Ghiozzi (Impressions) tells us what Free RPG Day ‘09 has in store.
- Josh Qualtieri (Zombiesmith) introduces his miniatures company and This Quar’s War.
- Keith Baker (creator of Eberron) talks of Eberron: Fourth Edition, of his Free RPG Day offering, and traveling the world telling stories.
Hear all the latest from this round of victims – er, interview subjects – and be sure to subscribe to make sure you get our next updates.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
GAMA Trade Show ‘09 interviews, and the Gaming News Update
We’ve had some delays here at OgreCave, largely due to a problem with the podcasts (and with finding enough time to fix it). However, it looks like our audio software glitch is identified and quarantined, so let’s move ahead with presenting not just some episodes, but a whole new podcast! OgreCave now presents the OgreCave Gaming News Update, a short (around 5 minutes) twice monthly podcast which gets straight to the news. Some of you will recognize the GNU as an evolution of how the OgreCave Audio Report starts, or from our initial experimental run on War Pig Radio. Well, now it’s official – get your dose of quick gaming news in podcast form right here. (Yes, we’ll have more Audio Report episodes up soon as well – more file rescuing is underway.)
You’ll find our initial run of shows listed as well, but right now I’ll just highlight the recordings from the GAMA Trade Show 2009 we finally managed to wrest from the jaws of malfunction. We’ve got five interviews from this year’s show, on a variety of subjects:
- Michelle Nephew of Atlas Games on her upcoming card game, Ren Faire.
- Scott Hill of Flying Frog Productions reveals Invasion from Outer Space, and more.
- Will Schoonover of Steve Jackson Games speaks of The Stars Are Right, Revolution, and more.
- Matt Wilson of Privateer Press, with the plans for Monsterpocalypse and WarMachine 2.0.
- Darren Watts of Hero Games, talking of Hero System: Sixth Edition and Champions Online.
Have a listen, let us know what you think, and check back for more Gaming News Updates in the weeks and months ahead. We’ll keep you as informed as we can!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Catalyst drops ‘Classic’ from Battletech for 25th Anniversary
Just to make sure no one gets confused, Catalyst Game Labs, which has steadily worked on the ShadowRun and Classic BattleTech game lines for the last few years, is dropping the “Classic” designation and just going with BattleTech, as it should be. This is part of Catalyst’s celebration of the 25th anniversary of BattleTech, and will also include BattleTech: 25 Years of Art and Fiction, a coffee table style full-color book retrospective, with plenty of new fiction to accompany the collected art prints. Catalyst will also be launching its line of BattleTech novels, which will bring back many fan favorite authors. Since the bid to purchase game properties from Topps, which shut down WizKids late last year, has stalled out, it seems that Catalyst is focusing all its efforts on publishing some great products. See the full release below for details.
Read More…
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Audio Report: Autumn madness
As it was held hostage for a time by real life woes and computer wackiness, we’re pleased to finally present this recently arrived refugee episode of the OgreCave Audio Report. Held over from just before the Christmas season, this episode hit right after the WizKids implosion, which Mike and I discuss along with the World of Warcraft Miniatures Game and numerous other subjects. We’ll have one more 2008 holdover episode before jumping into 2009 and a slightly revised show format, so watch this space over the next couple of days. Be sure to have a listen to all the stuff we’ve been saying, and tell us what you think of all this nonsense.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Scrye magazine shutting down
Collectible card and miniatures players might be interested to know that Scrye magazine, the self-proclaimed “Guide to Collectible Games”, will end its lengthy run with its April 2009 issue. Started in 1993 at the height of the Magic: The Gathering craze, Scrye was mainly known for its CCG price guides, which became the standard for many retailers. Scrye is owned by F&W Media, which shut down another of its publications, Comics & Games Retailer, in late 2007. Two difficult parts of the industry at once – collectible games, and magazines. Is anyone surprised by this announcement?
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Monday, December 1, 2008
State of the Mongoose 2008 report posted
Still a significant publisher in tabletop gaming, Mongoose Publishing has just given its fans a status update in the form of its annual State of the Mongoose report (also copied below). Points of interest include plans for Hammers Slammers, a full color Traveller-powered game based on David Drake’s classic sci-fi series; a 25th Anniversary edition of Paranoia; the end of the Babylon 5 line and license; new supplements for Wraith Recon; a multiplayer Lone Wolf gamebook; and plenty more. Add in an overview of what Mongoose went through in its (ultimately failed) attempt to set up its own printing facility, and I’d say the current state of the Mongoose is “surly and determined”.
Read More…
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