News - Magic: The Gathering 2018 Spring Announcement Day

By Dozer

edit: thanks to Wolf - we also added some other new about Magic the Gathering but not from Wizards - Dozer

Wow a huge dump of news just dropped and it's all very interesting.

I've put down some bullet points or you can watch the video at the end of the post.

We're back to Ravnica.

There will be a 3 set block: Guilds of Ravnica dropping 5 Oct 2018, Ravnica Allegiance due in Jan 2019, and an unknown titled set. Each set will also focus on five guilds and those will be featured by the follow on Guild Kits products to be released 2 Nov 2018 and Feb 2019 respectivly. Note that the guild kits will include cards from each of the previous Ravnica blocks. The first was Ravnica released in 2005-2006, which included Ravnica: City of Guilds, Guildpack, and Dissension. The last was Return to Ravnica released in 2012-2013, which was made up of  Return to Ravnica, Gatecrash, and the small expansion Dragon's Maze.

Guilds of Ravnica will focus on "the harmonious Selesnya (green-white), the militant Boros (red-white), the life-and-death-focused Golgari (black-green), the frazzled geniuses of the Izzet (blue-red), and the mystery of the Dimir (blue-black)". While Ravnica Allegiance will showcase "the orderly Azorius (white-blue), the chaotic Rakdos (black-red), the wild Gruul (red-green), the experimental Simic (green-blue), and the devious Orzhov (white-black)". The last unnamed set will focus on the end of the story arc that the gatewatch is currently caught up in rather than focus on the guilds.

For me this is big news. It's not surprising news as Ravnica is one of best known and more popular planes in Magic the Gathering. It was at the end of Dragon's Maze and the Magic 2014 when I returned to magic after last playing in Tenth Edition. It's also been expected that we'd be coming back to the plane of Guilds. As a loyal Dimir player this is great news for me.

One of the large changes to the set the updates to the guild styles and look. Dimir is getting an awesome looking update. Plenty of solid blacks and blue trimed colours reminding me of the video game series Dishonored - one of my all time favorite video game IPs.

New Dimir Guild style update
Images used without permission

Simic also gets a new fresh style. With lab coat with organic material look that makes them feel like magical scientists who's favorite movie would be Jurassic Park.

New SimicGuild style update
Images used without permission

Two-Headed Giant is Thing

Two-Headed Giant is one of my favorite formats. I prefer to play my pre-release events in the two-headed giant format. Well Wizards has announced a new set - Battlebond. A set where get get to first look at when the preview season kicks off on 22 May. It also looks to be released this time next month so suddenly there is a lot of new cards coming down range. This looks like it would fit well next to the Commander products and other alternate format styles.

Buy a Box Promos are here to stay

With the success of the last couple of buy a box promotions, Wizards has decided to keep it going. So if you see something you like, you may want to pre-order your box. Also you can now pick up your pre-ordered box at the pre-release instead of waiting that extra week. Sounds awesome!

Spellslinger is Back!

Day 9 and the folks from Geek and Sundry have brought back my favorite series about Magic the Gathering. If you're looking for a great youtube series to show off the game or get someone interested check out Spellslingers. It's back and I can't be more happy about it. Shows start up again for this 30 May.

So take a look at the video below and start hitting the net.

This is a good year for Magic the Gathering

- Cheers

Primer - Couples Boardgame

By: Dozer

Listed below are games that I’ve played more than once with my wife.

Each of the games below are great to play with small (1-2 players), mid (3-4 players), and with larger groups (5+) so they’ve seen play outside of just me and my wife. All games listed below are great games and are recommended for folks looking to expand on their collection of couple friendly games that can also be played quickly and with larger groups. Some can even be used to introduce your kids or other young humans you know into board games.

All of these games can be found at your local game shops. If you live in Ottawa, I recommend Fandom 2 if you're down town, Out of the Box and Wizards Tower if you live in the west end, and Kessel Run if you live in the east end. Otherwise Amazon or Meeplemart (based on Toronto) can ship free or at minimum cost.

Each game has won awards and in the case of some multiple game of year awards. Most of these games can be previewed on Youtube channels like Tabletop or Watch it Played, and reviewed by folks from Shut up and Sitdown.

Lets take a look after the break.

First Look - Charterstone

By: Dozer

Editor's Note: This post has been a yo-yo, going up and down over and over again. This may not be the first time you've seen this come up. Sorry for any confusion. - Dozer

I can now say that Stonemaier Games makes some of my favorite boardgames since I've played my first game of Charterstone. They are also the designers and makers of Scythe and the two expansions (with a third to drop soon).

Charterstone is a legacy style format village building game. Each game builds towards the completion of a campaign. Right now I am playing a two player campaign with Shonty. We've played our first game last weekend and it was awesome. I handle the various boxes while Shonty reads outloud the cards and new rules.

I want to blitz through the rules but that does two things. Firstly I fuck up the rules all the time. Plenty of folks have to correct my initial reading of the rules. Secondly Shonty is a visual learner and me reading through them quickly just gets her confused and lost. So I have to hold back and listen and it's a better experience for everyone involved.

To get a good idea of what the game is about without spoilers check out the video below. If you don't mind some minor hints of what's to come, the rest of the post on just the first game is after the break below the video.

Charterstone so far has been a great game and very interesting and I've just wanted to keep playing.

Some of the mechanics were a little wonky to understand at first but by slowing down and some help by the interactive FQA (which is broken down so they don't spoil the game) we were able to figure them out.

Last bit of advice before the break - Do Not Open the Re-Charge pack. It has spoilers and when I got the game, my brother Nate who bought both the game and a re-charge pack unwrapped both boxes. I took a look inside and I regret doing it. There is a single item that I won't mention and I wonder where it is in the game but I can't wait to find out why said random item is in the game.

Now lets talk about game one...

GENCON 2019 - Waiting

By: Dozer

Everyone is waiting for pages to reload as their wishlist for GENCON is being processed.

I'm with Luke, we have the smoker going. Our glasses are filled with spicy moss water. The wives are resting at the spa. This could be way more stressful.

So I write poetry as I wait:

smoker flavors fill the air
guitar plays numbers drop drink
spicy moss water

- better haiku

See you all at GENCON

- Dozer

Magic Set Preview: Dominaria

By: Dozer

Dominaria is 25 years of Magic the Gathering history returning, or in some cases haunting, to the long time players of the game. I've been playing since September 1994 when I was 14 years old and just entering into high school and the 9th grade. After a few years I lost touch with Magic the Gathering and fell behind in my lore as the crew of the Weatherlight had their most epic of adventures.

I've not been so excited to see a set since the last Innistrad sets.
So on the day of the pre-release I will go over some of the cards I am most looking forward to play and add to my current decks.

To start off I want to talk about this card first. The amount of flavour found in the sub text is awesome. "A new gathering for a new age." After 25 years the great ship the Weatherlight is back just in time to introduce another generation of players.

See you after the break.

Note that all images are owned by Wizards of the Coast and are used without permission. 

One Year Later

By: Dozer

This year has had plenty of ups and downs.

It's been one year since I started this and asked my friends to jump in and help every so often. I've been lucky to have traveled all across the country playing games and meeting folks.

I know we don't have many readers here, it's a small blog but I'm happy that this experiment is going well so far.

Let's try one more year.

- Cheers

Dozer

Magic Format: Brawl

By: Dozer

Brawl is a new Magic the Gathering format that was just released recently from the folks at Wizards of the Coast and I am very interested in the format.

First off this format is similar to Commander sharing a few similar rules. Except basic lands, you may only play with a single copy of any card in your deck. You will need 60 cards in your deck.

You need a commander who must be a Legendary Creature or a Planeswalker who will start in your Command Zone. Your commander is important as mana symbols that don't appear on your commander can't be in the deck, this includes the card's text box as well as its mana cost. When the commander is removed from the battlefield, you may place it in the command zone instead of anywhere else. For each additional time you cast your commander from the command zone, it will cost an additional two mana.

What is different with Brawl from Commander is very simple. You have 30 life and you can only use Standard legal cards. If the card has been banned from Standard is it banned form Brawl. This make you cycle cards in and out of your deck as Standard shifts, which is not as bad as it sounds.

You only need one copy of a card. Meaning those one off cards you picked up from a draft or sealed event (like a pre-release which is a favorite for the players in my crew) may be getting a home finally without having to complete a playset of four cards.

Secondly, Standard will be shifting in the fall of 2018 when Kaladesh, Aether Revolt, Welcome Deck 2017, Amonkhet, and Hour of Devastation will be cycled out. We'll be left with Ixalan, Rivals of Ixalan, and the yet to be released Dominaria and Core 2019.

Keeping a deck for a year doesn't sound so bad. My last Standard format deck was back in Theros block with a Minotaur Deck. When it cycled out I updated it with a few choice cards like Lord of Shatterskull Pass, Neheb, the Worthy, and Neheb, the Eternal. I added a few tribal bumps like Vanquisher's Banner. Mogis, God of Slaughter is my only non-Minotaur character in the deck. It's a favorite of mine that I still regularly play and my opponents know what's coming. What I'm trying to say is building a Standard legal deck is not bad because it doesn't have to cost you an arm and a leg. When it cycles out the deck is a foundation for more casual Modern or Legacy decks that we play around the kitchen table.

I can see Brawl starting to include Modern format restrictions and getting another name but Commander has the hold on the larger card selection that comes with eternal formats and the Modern restrictions may not fit it well. I'd like to see what folks would do.

What is really slick is you can take a starter deck like my starter with Angrath, Minotaur Pirate, and turn that into a Brawl deck. I think this could give these new Planeswalker led started decks to get some more life when they come out. I know that the Teferi, Timebender deck is calling my name. I was originally a Blue/White player and Teferi is one of my favorite Planeswalkers. So right away I'm looking at what I can do with each of those starters to make a Brawl deck.

With the released of Dominaria a set I've really been excited for, I've been getting that MTG itch that's been gone since the last Innistrad sets. Commander always gets my attention but new formats like Wizards Tower and Pauper are what keep me coming back. Shonty, Doc, Wolf, and I played with two other ladies at Emperor last friday and it was a great set of games.

- Will you be playing Brawl?

Dozer

LGS on the Road - Le Beginner

By: Dozer

I've always believed that our hobby needs the Local Game Shops (LGS) to keep our games healthy. We need to support the LGS to keep our games on the shelf. We need our games on the shelf to keep the games alive.

Canada has a healthy relationship with their game shop and I want to post about my experience about the many shops that dot Canada.

This year I am travelling all across Canada  for my day job. When I stop at a new city, I will be visiting and playing at as many LGS as I can. 

This was my third time back in Montreal since November and my last trip was so busy I didn't have time to link up with the local players so I made an effort to reach out this time since I would have some down time on this trip.

Le Beginner is a great joint on the east shore of Montreal in Longueuil. Coming off a main street I pulled onto the parallel side roads and parked across from the shop. In the dark I saw folks playing in the front play area with screens on the one wall showing movies and pairings for Magic the Gathering. I popped my trunk and walked up the short flight of stairs and entered into what I thought was going to be a small space but instead turned out to be a well lit, clean, and organized shop that had a dozen smiling faces of folks playing games.

Well stocked front cash with all the goods.

The shop also boasted a great selection of Manga that was well placed on the side with it's own dedicated area. Great selection of mangas that brought me back to my younger days working in a comic shop. The one owner has a great taste in older manga and we chatted for a bit about some of my favorites like Berserk, Gun Smith Cats, and Battle Angel Alita. 

Right away past some display cases and shelves I saw the dedicated table top game area where Martin and two brothers were setting up a table with one of the store owners Etienne. Passing the well stocked front cabinet I saw drinks, snacks, and plenty of cardboard crack and supplies. At first glace this place looks small, in reality it's much larger and the space is very well organized making products easy to access and create more space to play.

The dedicated play space past the comics and the front game area

The place space was so well put together. Three tables side by side with a fourth off to the side. Spare folding seats were available for players at longer games. Players were surrounded by displays of great selections of Infinity and Warmachine/Hordes. There were well labeled bins of terrain that we neatly placed for players to use. I was very impressed started to get excited for the night.

Well organized and clean play area. 

I had met Martin last year at Capital Conflict. On my first trip he showed me L'Abyss but this time I was free on the regular Friday night game at Le Beginner and boy was I happy to show up and see a familiar face. As we set up I told stories of Rumble and GENCON and we went on about how Infinity was evolving, excited about new factions and upcoming releases.

Martin introduced me to the two brothers, Alex and Richard and we split the sibblings pairing off against one each. I was paired with Richard. I recommended the ITS scenario Capture and Protect because it was so much fun as the last game at Rumble. The finished setting up the boards as I grabbed a snack and a Dr. Pepper. The candy selection was very large and their was plenty of different drinks. I was trying to avoid candy and sugar but my weak will was no match for a classic night of snacks, sodas, and dice rolling.

Two tables ready and set to play 

Capture and Protect is a very simple mission that can fall to pieces very quickly.

Each player has a beacon that sits centered along the edge of their deployment zone. You need to get any unit to beacon, pick up the beacon as a short skill (attack), and for extra points get it back to your designated datatracker and/or into your deployment zone. Their is one point for a classified objective adding a bit of a twist to the scenario.

Since I was packing up my hobbies getting ready for a move in less than two months time I had only packed up my Battlefoam Beta Bag and had one of my two Rumble Lists. I was sporting three camouflaged forward observers, my Lizard, an Interventor, my Mobile Brigada LT, and three remotes. It was a tight list representing the best that Nomads had, plenty of strong hacking options, plenty of dirty tricks, and some solid tech. Richard was playing a Yu-jing force with some Monks, Line Troopers, a Tiger Soldier that would pop in round 2 to ruin some fun, and a few other excellent reps to the Imperial Courts. He also added two Krakot Renegades to trip me up and slow me down.

He won the roll and took deployment and me to setup first. I wanted to try my list out in a more aggressive manner and decided to go first. At Rumble when I played this game I took second because I wanted to have my opponent waste orders going through my speed bumps while I kept the scoring units out of sight ready to run up and grab the Beacon once the way was clear.

Richard hid everything from my view so I walked Kipling, my Lizard TAG with Heavy Grenade Launcher up into the middle of the board and starting engaging with units. I followed up with Arthur my Seraph knifing Mobile Brigada going up the middle under cover. Richard followed up my advance with some careful but aggressive fire. My dice continued to roll high and Kipling was down to two wounds but with the last shot Arthur died crouched next to some stairs in the center of the board.

Kipling has 2 wounds and enemies surround it
Kipling is right where he needs to be

The second round was not looking good. My LT was down and I forgot to use a command token to call in my Hellcat that I had off board. I wasn't ready to reveal my camo tokens because Richard was still well in cover with little LOF for my Forward Observers. Using my irregular orders Kipling died from return fire. Z3RO tagged one of the Renegades twice earning my Classified Objective and I fired a guided missile to only see the Morat dodge it. My turn continued to go wrong when I moved my Interventor down the side street and suddenly seeing from the far end of the board Richard's Hsien with HMG. The dice rolled high but now it cost me my next LT, I was going to be in loss of LT on my last round.

Richard brought in a his Guilang and it killed Z3RO. His Tiger soldier dropped in but was stopped in his tracks with a Flash Pulse from my Zond. His turn quickly went south and he was left with off his guys on the back end with few orders left. It was getting late and we talked about how he could gain points. We were tied and he did not look like he could take my Beacon so in an effort to tie the game he took a long shot to medic one of his Morats Mercs.

My last turn was quick, using all my command tokens my Hellcat landed and we discovered that he would not be able to take the beacon. Richard had only two units outside of his deployment zone, the Tiger Soldier and Guilang but not enough orders to be able to rip through my scattered speed bumps of units. A quick count realised that it was over and the game came to an end. Richard and I shock hands on a tie and a great game against a great opponent.

Le Beginner is more than a game shop it's a gamer community. The name of the shop advertises the casual place space and welcoming atmosphere to new players. Etienne was really passionate about the attitude of the shop and the folks who play there. We agreed on fun and competitive are not exclusive to each other.

I stayed on a few more mins after we all cleaned up and chatted more about where Infinity was going and the excitement of the new Uprising books before heading back into the cold and driving back to our homes and hotels.

If you are new to the Montreal area and Longueuil hit this place up. Take up a table or join in one of the many regular events posted on the board.

- Cheers

Dozer

LGS on the Road - Everything Games

By: Dozer

This post is very late. I was here in January and it took me a long time to write this up because of things going on with me.

I've always believed that our hobby needs the Local Game Shops (LGS) to keep our games healthy. We need to support the LGS to keep our games on the shelf. We need our games on the shelf to keep the games alive.

Canada has a healthy relationship with their game shop and I want to post about my experience about the many shops that dot Canada.

This year I am travelling all across Canada  for my day job. When I stop at a new city, I will be visiting and playing at as many LGS as I can. 

When Yasha picked me up from downtown Victoria on Vancouver Island I was excited to see the place that allowed him to keep playing Infinity and giving him a sense of community since he moved to British Columbia. I was tired and I didn't have my minis but I was looking forward to catching a game if folks were able to lend me an army.

Everything Games is that local neighbourhood styled game shop. Small but packed with games and places to play with a great feeling the moment you walk in. You're welcomed with a smile by one of the two owners Rob and Kahzen while they plug away. Once you're in a for a few minutes and have taken some time to look at what they have, they will put down whatever card set they are organizing or finish with the customer at the counter and ask if they can help. It's very relaxed and when the games start up that does not change.

The father and son team of Rob and Kahzen have made a place easy to search for wares and even more so made it easy for folks to stop by, play a few games, and resupply. They start from the gamers point of view as they are both gamers themselves. Rob was playing a game of 40k with one of the locals while Kahzen was going through sales packing them up for shipping.

Games being played everywhere from D&D in the back to 40k, Firestorm, and Infinity.

The night I was there I saw a small group of gamers playing Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition in the corner. Up front three tables were set up, one for Firestorm Armada, one for Infinity, and one that Rob was playing Warhammer 40k on.

I spoke with the crew playing games and they were all friendly. Yasha was having game of Infinity while I scouted out the shop. I was able to borrow a force but there was only three Infinity players and Yasha had arranged this match before I had landed in town. So while waiting for a possible player to show up late I puttered in the shop.

I was really happy that I was able to talk to Rob and Kahzen. We chatted about Magic, 40k, and the current trends in their areas. After Yasha finished his game I chatted up the folks who we playing Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition, more specifically the recent Castle Ravenloft adventure module. The group was new and enjoyed playing there because no one in their group could host the game comfortably. This was their second campaign and I was really impressed with the minis, maps, and various props the team was using the make their game unique and more enjoyable.

When the shop started to close up, with a few purchases Yasha drove me back in Victoria and dropped me off at the hotel.

Great shop, great community, great place to show up and play games.

- Check this place out.

Dozer

Adepticon News - Tunguska

By: Dozer

Edit: New images replaced my original ones.

So it dropped go here if you haven't seen the video. I just start putting down posts and Corvus Belli does this to me.

Adepticon information has been released! We are going to see a few new minis but for me there is only one thing I have been waiting since Campaign: Paradiso, the Tunguska Jurisdictional Command sectorial army list.

Now we've been hit with a slew of new minis over the years since N3 that has been leading to this news. The most famous of the Tunguska units, the Interventor was redone to the new N3 standard. The box had two Interventors and two Fast Pandas. After that we got the Operation: Ice Storm that included the new Grenzer. Since then we got some updated Spektrs before last August when the new Kriza Borac was released with Beyond: Ice Storm and the update to the Szalamandra was seen.

I knew once the Securitate was updated it would be a new starter box and the release of my long awaited final sectorial to the Nomad nation.

So what did we find out and how did it compare to my guesses I made a few months back?

What I guessed would be in the box/army pack/army list

1. three (prob two) new Securitate
2. a new sculpt for the Grenzer
3. two new units for the sectorial
4. a second Kriza Borac
5. a new remote for Tunguska
6. an inject of Merc units similar to the Qapu Kalqi sectorial for Haqqislam

First off I was on the money with the Securitate. Full points! Looks like only two new sculpts for starter box but probably because of the large based Kriza Borac.

Secondly a new sculpt for the Grenzer in the box was off - way off but Carlos did mention that he is going to get a Fireteam. He also mentioned it's been wait to long since we saw a new Grenzer sculpt so that means it will have new weapon profile. It's not in the box but it will be coming down range so half score?

Next up we have exactly two new units - so far I'm winning this game. We get a second hacker unit with the Heckler hopefully a cheap alternative to the Interventor who will take up a Assault Hacking role in the sectorial or maybe we get a defensive hacker finally!

We also get the Hollowmen that we alluded to in the video to the folks at the Rumble on Route 66. Carlos explains that they will be "brains in jars" - think the Major from Ghost in the Shell, Alita in Battle Angel Alita, and even Cain from RoboCop 2. Now I'm not sure if these will count as a new REM (Remote) unit because that would also knock off guess number 5.

Next we were told of the new Kriza Borac so full point for me. 3.5 of 4 not bad for me so far. I expect the SWC box will fill it out and be used more often. 

A new remote is up in the air and yet to be finalised. Depending on how CB categorizes them I could be right. They could go the way of the Kamakuri Project and count as HI (Heavy Infantry) instead of REM (Remotes). No points but the score can't adjust once we know more. 

My last guess is for when we get info on the army listing and after Rumble. With the way NA2 was bumped it seems like Tunguska may not lean into the Mercs as I had predicted. Probable fail but we'll wait until more info comes down range. 

All of this is due in June as well. 

Oh yeah there is also a slew of JSA releases in the same months. 

- Cheers

Dozer

Confessions des disparus

By: Dozer

This has been a long time coming. This post has been drafted in my head everyday that I remember that I was trying to support a community of gamers with a tiny blog somewhere on the internet.

Being on the road as much as I have been has not been hard but it's not been easy. My relationship with my wife, my family, and my friends have adjusted well. Folks know when I'm in town and they try and help me take advantage of being home for a week before I leave again for the road. The time that I get to play games with those people I care about are one offs. No Campaigns, no weekly game with my mates, no regular work on my minis or terrain.

I also can't blame work and ignore the positives from all this travel. Where my hobbies have been a boon. Being able to play Magic the Gathering and Infinity across Canada is an opportunity that I would not have had if not for my job situation. I've played other board and card games with strangers and the familiar. I've met tons of other gamers across Canada and the shops they spend their money and time at. I've been very lucky but I've not felt lucky. It's hard to get excited for the next set from Wizards of the Coast or the next new surprise from Corvus Beli when I can't share that with those I love the most. I love my family and friends and I'm not afraid of the word but that same feeling has made certain aspects of my hobbies feel disconnected.

It got worse when I finally had the chance to be home for 6 days before heading off to Rumble on Route 66. Ontos and Burns were coming down with me and I was excited to rest, work on some minis, and head out but this time for fun. Instead my back blew out on me. I was unable to walk straight or stand for longer than 15 minutes the Saturday morning before Rumble. I was told to take a week off and see a chiropractor who helped a lot but I was still in pain. I got some drugs and I even thought about not going because I may not be able to suffer through the long trip from Ottawa to Albuquerque via Montreal and Denver.  I was a mess, no new painted minis. Physically unable to stand let along bend over a table for hours on end. I was burnt out and broken.

Pro tip: Don't break your back - ever. You may fail your niggling injury role eventually in a critical moment. Older edition sorry I'm dating myself, instead it just makes it easier to get hurt in the game now. I'm way behind on my Blood Bowl...

Lucky for me my wife is awesome and she pushed me to rest, ignore everything else and go anyways. I accepted my fate and prepped a list with all my painted minis. They were adjustments from my GENCON lists and I was pretty happy with the results. I was going to Rumble with a fully painted army. As Rumble loomed closer and my back started showing signs of being more kind to me folks started to reach out. Dan and Joy invited me to their place for a BBQ, but my flight was coming in too late so I couldn't go. As Rumble got closer I started feeling more and more connected with folks with my community.

Rumble was fantastic - I'll have another post about it later this week showing off everything that happened. It also recharged my hobby batteries in every aspect. When I got home all I wanted to do was paint and get ready for GENCON, Capital Conflict, and setting up the new gaming space in my new house come May. I came home happy. I needed a vacation but I also needed to feel connected to my hobby and the community around it.

Folks I've been away. So has everyone else. After christmas quite both Ontos, Molotov, and Forgotten Virtue have been on the road at one time of another before March. We've all had a hard time making time for everything let alone our hobbies and even submitting the to the blog.

The winter is over it's not time to get back to it with the promise of a new spring.

- Sorry for being away so long

Dozer

Rumble on Route 66

First off I'm typing this up on my old IPad2.

I've been away spent six out of seven weeks on the road doing odd hours.

I've got lots to post but I just havn't had time to draft and edit a post. This blog is important but there are more important things which will win out.

So I'm back at Rumble on Route 66. Ontos and Burns are with me and its going great.

There will be more but right now we're on vacation and having a blast enjoying a great gaming community. 

More to follow.

Dozer

Guessing the new Sectorials

By: Dozer

Sorry folks I've been busy in BC for work and being the lead contributor to the site makes it hard to update as often as I'd like. Recently I've visited a few local shops out here in Victoria and I have posts on them for the Local Game Stores series of posts. Two are in the breach ready to go but I need to clean them up and move the images over. 

Next on the docket are some updates with Infinity. Corvus Belli has just started their season of presentations that last until GENCON. As the year moves forward the presentation gets updated and we see more of what's to come. Last year the GENCON presentation was the surprise announcement of the new sculpts for the Avatar and the Szalamandra. This year the Los Vegas Open has the first round of new info and it's got some heavy information.

The big take away for many folks was the slide below.

When N3 was launched, two sectorial armies were cut until Corvus Belli re-worked them. The French themed Merovingiennesof Ariadna and the bug alien Shavastii of the Combined Army. The two sectorials were made compatible to play with N3 (aka Infinity 3rd Edition) but they did lack the same level of reworking that most of the unit listings received. You could play them but you were warned - major updates were coming down the pipe.

Since then we've seen two new sectorial armies land in the empty spaces; Onyx Contact Force and USAriadna Ranger Force. Infinity players have been waiting for the return of these two factions to get their full update into N3. This compounded the fact that players since N2 have been waiting for the long promised sectorials for each of the major factions. PanO players are waiting for two of the Hyperpower's colonial sectorials to be launched, Svalarheima and Veruna. Nomads have been waiting for Tunguska. Ariadna players have been hoping for the Kazaks to show up. There are some major sectorial injects that we've been waiting for since before N3 was even launched. It's even been mentioned by Carlos that launching N3 and the new direction has slowed down the released of these long awaited factions.

Last year at GENCON 50 we were given a heads up that new sectorials would not wait for the release of a new book but instead would be published in the same manner as the USAriadna Ranger Force and with some of the specific new releases folks have been guessing a new faction is due. Tunguska is my favorite to be released next with all the love it's gotten with the last set of releases for the Nomad faction. The Szalamandra was the last of the original TAGs to be resculpted and the new Kriza Boracs seem to make folks think the last of the Nomad ships will finally get it's due.

So when Corvus Belli says we're getting up five new factions one is allowed to wonder what is due to come out.

First on my list is Tunguska. I'm a Nomad player but as I've mentioned before with all the new minis I feel they will be the next sectorial with a box release. I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on some new Securitate sculpts and even an update to their rules.

Second on my list is the Veruna sectorial from PanO. It's the sectorial that most folks have been expecting and the one that Corvus Belli has been willing to talk about since N3 launched.

Third on my list is the Caliphate sectorial for Haqqislam. This is mostly thanks in part to the release of the Maghariba Guard and some other units like the Al Fasid (‘The Corrupted’) Regiment, who've been released over the last two years that have not fit in the current sectorial lists.

Fourth is a shot in the dark but I think it will be an easy release for Corvus Belli. I think they will generate a second NA2 faction similar to the release of the Druze Bayram Security. They only need to take from the already released minis and add in few new units. It's not a lot of work logistically to release another mercenary faction.

My last guess will be the Tohaa getting their first sectorial. There was some Tohaa art pushed out at the Los Vegas Open presentation and in doing so I'm going to take a shot at the second alien faction will be getting a bump that will finally give them that sectorial option.

With the five sectorials guessed at, I'm going to guess at the box set for my top pick. First off we're looking at three (probably two) new sculpts for the Securitate to fill in the obligatory line unit. Then I would follow it up with a new sculpt for the Grenzer. Right now all we have is the sniper sculpt and no other loadout represented. I'm also picking the Grenzer because they just re-packedge the two Spektrs and there is a third in the Nomads Starter Pack.

The Interventors are still too new to update the sculpt but I would not be surprised if Corvus Belli made a third mini. Instead I think they will come up with two new units for the sectorial. There are as of now only six specific units for Tunguska: Szalamandra, Interventor, Spektrs, Grenzer, Securitate, and new Kriza Borac. Expecting some new units is not a long shot.

Last is the extra stuff in the box. Using the USAriadna Army Pack as an example we can expect another three minis in the box.

A second Kriza Borac would be an easy thing for Corvus Belli to whip up it. After that I think we're in new unit territory. Again the sectorial is shy on individual minis and I think this would be a great time to drop a sectorial specific remote for Tunguska. This would be in flavor of the sectorial and I would not say no to another remote. Its really hard to guess what's next with the sectorial and what the Nomads will be getting next - you can't ignore the faction as a whole since everything Tunguska gets the Nomads get...unless you're talking Mercs.

I think Tunguska will have an inject of Merc units similar to the Qapu Kalqi sectorial for Haqqislam. Miranda Ashcroft is listed in the Nomad catalogue and she is not on the other two sectorial lists. It also feels like Tunguska would instead of forming up a slew of individual units for their missions, they have access to the Nomad faction as a whole for deployable assets. I feel if they were working independently they would rely on their massive wealth to buy the units on an ad hoc basis. Also NA2, or Merc units, are now something Corvus Belli is working on and adding Merc units to the sectorial would also save them time and effort and they could focus on balance.

I'm really looking forward to the next set of sectorials for Infinity and I really am looking forward to seeing what they have for Rumble and GENCON. 

- Cheers

First Look - Twilight Imperium

By: Dozer

This post is very late - the holiday season and the run up to a new calendar year of work have prevented me from putting anything up. 

So I was able to play some Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition, and it was awesome.

Doc, Ontos, Wolf, Longsword, and myself pulled into Doc's flat and started setting up. By the time everyone was in the room, it was 1020. Ontos has spilled Longsword's Tim Horton's coffee (a sin in Canada to some) and we slowly took our time setting up ensuring that we would not miss a step while building the game. We got into the first round by the time it was 1050. Passing out snacks, familiarising yourself to the pieces, and picking a race were the longest part of the setup. The game played very well. We could had finished the game around 1640.

I played a second game two weeks later. With Burns and three other awesome players. We were delayed with life and puppies but in the end we still played a five player game in about 6 and a half hours. Four of the five players had not yet played this edition of the game and two of them had never played any edition of Twilight Imperium, and we still had to pull pin early but by only a round.

First Impressions - 

The box is big and bright. The updated art is top shelf even though I miss some of the more iconic pieces from the last edition. The pieces look chintzy until you compare them to the older pieces and then you can see the augmented level of detail and quality per piece.

Full of detail as Burns looses his home system

Components -

The player boards and the accompanying technology cards are easy to navigate and plan your races development and advancement. Little details like the reference chart which also includes the rules for the various anomalies in space very handy. The tiles are clear and the different coloured backs are awesome for set up.

The player boards can be played left or right of the race board. A nice touch and a small one that few companies fail to think about. The sinister players will feel welcome here.

Rules -

I have to say this is Twilight Imperium but you spend more time within the game, playing it instead of hashing through the rules. The streamlined rules are all awesome and very well laid out. The new alphabetical heading format for larger rulesets is very well suited here.

I like small things where there is no longer any confusion on stages of combat and pre-combat abilities. I love the new Agenda Phase that only becomes available once a player takes Metacol Rex. I also love the feel of having to use influence instead of military might to unlock the former center of the Imperium.

The technology upgrades is the best change to the game. The new systems removes the flow chart of technology in favour of a simple prerequisite mechanic. It also seems to be easier to get technology in this edition.

The changes to the strategy cards are refreshing. Construction was a large change but it became quickly clear why building PDS and Space Docks are a strategic action and not part of a simple build. The Imperial card is a breath of fresh air and supports the new feel that surrounds the taking of Metacol Rex and claiming secret objectives.

L-R: Wolf, Longsword, Ontos, and Doc
Plotting my end

Lastly the new objective claiming rules are much simpler and very well designed. I found myself picking harder to claim objectives instead of working on the easy ones that I also qualified for because I had the number of required technology. 

Gameplay -


"One of my best games of Twilight Imperium and it was the first with this edition. This has set the bar high for future games. This edition was needed and it was well done."
- Burns

Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition has a new flow to it. I've had every player who's played the last edition summarise their feelings and they each give a similar answer; smoother.

The rules support this new flow of game. I spent more time playing the game instead of looking up rules and that even with the first game where we had to look up a lot of rules.

The gameplay makes sense and that common sense pushes rule questions aside and avoids stepping away from the game. I was never bored waiting for my turn.

I do miss the Distance Suns optional rules where you discover a thing at each planet. Yet my first game we all agreed that because it was missing we were playing a faster paced game without a turn or two to build up an exploration fleet. Turn one was gobble up those nearby systems. I hope it shows up with some changes in the next expansion. They can take a few examples from Scythe or Star Trek: Ascendancy regarding exploration and narrative cards that would bump Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition into something even better.

Final Thoughts - 

This is now my favorite game.

This felt more like a strategy game. It was without things like generals, admirals, and diplomats but I would like to see with this new look and feel to Twilight Imperium if those types of rules could be included. Some sort of racial tech that required an influence cost and gave passive racial abilities.

I would also like to see the races have a bit more diverse technology but I feel that this could be a slippery slope for some of the races. Each race was there and unique but I wanted more of a difference between each one. This feeling is a very minor one but it's still there and it's from years of living in this setting playing now three editions of this game.

Lastly I was familiar with many of the systems in the game and I found myself looking for some of the systems that came out in the last edition. I really hope they bring more of them out with the next expansion.

Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition is a great game. I'm looking forward to my next game.

- Cheers

My plans for 2018's Table - Dozer

By: Dozer

With the new year upon us I've asked the rest of the contributors about their plans for the table in 2018. 

For me 2018 will be a big year of change and working on things that worked out over the last couple of years. My job is changing, my other job is evolving, my family has grown with another nephew, and I still have about 3-4 months of travel due. I have a new house on the way and all the joy that comes with it. We also can't forget all the new games that will be released and played.

Makes 2018 a year of hope for a guy like me.

It will be busy but it also looks awesome.

Twilight Imperium - Unboxing

By: Dozer

Twilight Imperium has a new edition.

I was at GENCON 50 when they showed it off. Where they let people play it and later on buy it.

It looked awesome. I waited in line and by the time I got into the Fantasy Flight games booth proper someone had bought their last copy.

Yet I knew I would get it. Twilight Imperium has shaped all board game experiences since I played it. All great games are not just great by themselves. Instead they challenge the everyone. They challenge the industry to do better and go bigger, they demand more of their players, and the experience is so defining that it shapes all other game experiences.

So I picked it up when I got back from Toronto. I was sick all week and I stopped by Out of the Box and there it was. The owner offered me at no extra cost a poster and the deluxe rule book plus the 15% off from the Black Friday sales.

So I picked it up.

Now lets go look inside and see what's new with this beast.