Well it is officiall the christmas season here in Ohio. Thanksgiving has come and gone, leaving broken waist lines and cranberry sauce everywhere. We actually got our first snow thursday though it didn't stick around at all, and everyone is counting the days until the big event - the premier of the new Star Wars movie!!! Like there is anything else going on this month.
Dungeon Saga - the US shipping has been going slower than Mantic would have liked, and they have extended the date that everyone (well except for some dumb-ass yours truly who apparently managed to screw up his pledge manager some how) will get theirs until next friday, Dec 11th (the last boxes were said to have shipped on Dec 4th). If you have not recieved your pledge in full by then you can finally send them a message through kickstarter, and they will beging to go through those. And with that, Mantic has announced they have sold out of the game already.
If I actually had a copy of the game I could let you know how fantastic it was, and point you to my blog entry on all the cool components etc. But as I don't then I won't, and will talk about something else until Mantic can get back to me and get it straightened out (They have straightened all other issues I've had in the past, so I'm not really worried, just very, very impatient).
Something slightly less frustrating is, of course, Kings of War. The escalation league is just about to start with the first 'official' meeting on Monday, Dec 7th. There is plenty of room and still time to join in the fun. For the schedule, current standings and all details, go to http://www.puggimer.net/kowleague.htm . At this point the only demo army that is spoken for is Forces of Nature. Remember you don't have to play every session, just get in two games a month and paint up 500 points of your army.
Kings of War is continuing to release the results of the kickstarter to retail, as well as preparing to ship the kickstarter wave 2. The latest update says they should get in the final sprues next week, and then hope to be shipping out the Abyssal and Nature armies. They had delays with chinese customs with these, but are keeping their fingers crossed.
Meanwhile, the Uncharted Empires book is out and hitting the shelves. If your FLGS does not have a copy, it should arrive soon. Not only that, but I've heard there are sightings of Elvish Dragons and Abyssal Dwarf Great Winged Halfbreeds, Undead Zombie Trolls and Ogre Hunters seen in the wild. Check out my blog for pictures of the new goblin releases coming in February, and next week for the new Forces of the Abyss releases.
For those of you who use http://kow2.easyarmy.com to build your Kings of War army lists (and if you don't - why not - it is a great program and it is free (though donating a few dollars is always nice)) is in the process of being updated with the final versions of ALL the Uncharted Empires lists, including the Trident Realm of Neritica and the Night-Stalkers.
Registration for Adepticon opened last month - and within less than an hour the VIG (Very Important Gamer) upgrades were sold out, and a little later all the 'full swag bag' badges were gone as well (which accounts for 1200 badges folks). The initial allocation of tickets to the Clash of Kings (30) also sold out, and we opened up 10 more (and most of those are gone). If the event is sold out please go on the waiting list, so we will know how many more slots we need to open up. Tickets for the Dreadball tournament and Kings of War team tournament are also selling quite well. Looks like I will be playing in both of those, and running the big one. So if you are going to Adepticon come by and kick my butt, or just to say hi!
There are actually people out there who like to play games other than fantasy, and they get a little love coming up as well.
January will see the release of the Dreadball Challenge Cup - a campaign for Dreadball OR Dreadball Xtreme. Plus a new MVP set - the Hazard System Heroes - which include the Gemini Twins. These were the $600,000 stretch goal for the kickstarter, and while we may have briefly topped it, the ending amount was only $575,000. Mantic is making them anyway (out of metal) and this is a retailer exclusive pack (though you could have bought everything but the twins in the kickstarter).
They have released the latest beta version of the new Deadzone rules - and of course facebook is going nuts about it. Blaze away and the cards are gone and many people think that the world is ending (wait - that was another game system for another company) because their toy soldiers will play slightly differently. Mantic is very good at listening to feedback on their games (I know, having been on the secret playtest team for Uncharted Empires) so if you do or don't like the changes, please play some games with them and detail exactly what did or did not work for you. Feedback based on actual games is much more valued than just thoughts from looking at the rules. Who knows, you could be like our own Kara Brown, who was the person who suggested adding a base 18" shooting attack to the Kings of War rules (and thus was Firebolt born).
If the new rules aren't enough to upset some people, Mantic also announced that some of the models that were previously going to be made in metal will now be resin, and some of the resin will be plastic. The plastic models are being done by Dust Studios, who have a very good reputation for high quality miniatures.
The Deadzone:Infestation kickstarter is still planned to begin shipping at the beginning of the year, though it may not hit in January as originally estimated.
And that boys and girls is it for December. Take advantage of the holidays to spend some time with your friends, loved ones and family and play some games.
Because it is all fun and games . . . http://blog.untilsomebodylosesaneye.net/
Mike Carter
Your friendly local Mantic pathfinder
Dungeon Saga - the US shipping has been going slower than Mantic would have liked, and they have extended the date that everyone (well except for some dumb-ass yours truly who apparently managed to screw up his pledge manager some how) will get theirs until next friday, Dec 11th (the last boxes were said to have shipped on Dec 4th). If you have not recieved your pledge in full by then you can finally send them a message through kickstarter, and they will beging to go through those. And with that, Mantic has announced they have sold out of the game already.
If I actually had a copy of the game I could let you know how fantastic it was, and point you to my blog entry on all the cool components etc. But as I don't then I won't, and will talk about something else until Mantic can get back to me and get it straightened out (They have straightened all other issues I've had in the past, so I'm not really worried, just very, very impatient).
Something slightly less frustrating is, of course, Kings of War. The escalation league is just about to start with the first 'official' meeting on Monday, Dec 7th. There is plenty of room and still time to join in the fun. For the schedule, current standings and all details, go to http://www.puggimer.net/kowleague.htm . At this point the only demo army that is spoken for is Forces of Nature. Remember you don't have to play every session, just get in two games a month and paint up 500 points of your army.
Kings of War is continuing to release the results of the kickstarter to retail, as well as preparing to ship the kickstarter wave 2. The latest update says they should get in the final sprues next week, and then hope to be shipping out the Abyssal and Nature armies. They had delays with chinese customs with these, but are keeping their fingers crossed.
Meanwhile, the Uncharted Empires book is out and hitting the shelves. If your FLGS does not have a copy, it should arrive soon. Not only that, but I've heard there are sightings of Elvish Dragons and Abyssal Dwarf Great Winged Halfbreeds, Undead Zombie Trolls and Ogre Hunters seen in the wild. Check out my blog for pictures of the new goblin releases coming in February, and next week for the new Forces of the Abyss releases.
For those of you who use http://kow2.easyarmy.com to build your Kings of War army lists (and if you don't - why not - it is a great program and it is free (though donating a few dollars is always nice)) is in the process of being updated with the final versions of ALL the Uncharted Empires lists, including the Trident Realm of Neritica and the Night-Stalkers.
Registration for Adepticon opened last month - and within less than an hour the VIG (Very Important Gamer) upgrades were sold out, and a little later all the 'full swag bag' badges were gone as well (which accounts for 1200 badges folks). The initial allocation of tickets to the Clash of Kings (30) also sold out, and we opened up 10 more (and most of those are gone). If the event is sold out please go on the waiting list, so we will know how many more slots we need to open up. Tickets for the Dreadball tournament and Kings of War team tournament are also selling quite well. Looks like I will be playing in both of those, and running the big one. So if you are going to Adepticon come by and kick my butt, or just to say hi!
There are actually people out there who like to play games other than fantasy, and they get a little love coming up as well.
January will see the release of the Dreadball Challenge Cup - a campaign for Dreadball OR Dreadball Xtreme. Plus a new MVP set - the Hazard System Heroes - which include the Gemini Twins. These were the $600,000 stretch goal for the kickstarter, and while we may have briefly topped it, the ending amount was only $575,000. Mantic is making them anyway (out of metal) and this is a retailer exclusive pack (though you could have bought everything but the twins in the kickstarter).
They have released the latest beta version of the new Deadzone rules - and of course facebook is going nuts about it. Blaze away and the cards are gone and many people think that the world is ending (wait - that was another game system for another company) because their toy soldiers will play slightly differently. Mantic is very good at listening to feedback on their games (I know, having been on the secret playtest team for Uncharted Empires) so if you do or don't like the changes, please play some games with them and detail exactly what did or did not work for you. Feedback based on actual games is much more valued than just thoughts from looking at the rules. Who knows, you could be like our own Kara Brown, who was the person who suggested adding a base 18" shooting attack to the Kings of War rules (and thus was Firebolt born).
If the new rules aren't enough to upset some people, Mantic also announced that some of the models that were previously going to be made in metal will now be resin, and some of the resin will be plastic. The plastic models are being done by Dust Studios, who have a very good reputation for high quality miniatures.
The Deadzone:Infestation kickstarter is still planned to begin shipping at the beginning of the year, though it may not hit in January as originally estimated.
And that boys and girls is it for December. Take advantage of the holidays to spend some time with your friends, loved ones and family and play some games.
Because it is all fun and games . . . http://blog.untilsomebodylosesaneye.net/
Mike Carter
Your friendly local Mantic pathfinder
Sounds like a lot of good fun is coming from Mantic Games. :D
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