Osprey at GAMA 2012

Osprey is a very interesting company.  They make and distribute historically accurate books from ancient times to today.  They have been used as reference books for many different games, from miniature, to even role playing.  For the most part their books are loaded with information, but they are now in the miniature games business... not the actual minis, but the rules!  I was very excited to go to their session at GAMA to learn more about the product, and now I want it in the store!

Force on Force

This is a modern era miniatures game made by Ambush Alley Games.  They have gone with a fire team approach, not a gigantic scale battle.  It is also playable in any scale, so try out those plastic army men you may have.  They are now bring out a new game, which is the first non historic, called Tomorrow's War.  This one will be similar to Force on Force, but set in the future.

Field of Glory

This is the older time line miniatures games by Slitherine.  In this game you can play with ancients and medieval miniatures.  As with Force on Force, it is playable in any scale!  They have done a great job keeping historically accurate and created a point system for force building.  They then added in Fields of Glory Renaissance.  This new add-on to the game allows you to play in a new time which includes GUNS... which adds a very different feel to the game.  Finally to round out the list, they have Field of Glory Napoleonic, which will release very soon.  This book will set the miniature game on a division scale.  To get you started, her are the Quick Start rules for the Napoleonic!  These rules will cover a 25 year time span.

Other Products

Osprey brings out books all the time.  Some of these are Raid books that focus on a very specific event in history, Essential history books, Duel books between two different specifics, and so much more!  These books run from ancient times to modern and everything in between! 

Some cool books to look out for from Osprey would be their Civil War books, as we close out the 150th Anniversary of this war.  Another set of books would be the War of 1812, as it is the 200th Anniversary of this war. 

If you are a gamer, or just really love history, these books are for you!  The depth of information, as well as the fantastic graphics make these books a must have!  Stop in the store and check out some of the Field of Glory titles I we have right now!

Sean "Striderlotr" Banks   

Unpacking the Dragon's Den

So many people who do not live local have asked us what the store looks like and what type of product we carry. So not wanting to keep everyone in the dark, here is an unpacking of the Dragon's Den!

As you walk down the hall of the Poughkeepsie Plaza, we are located at the end of the hallway at the North end of the plaza. 

When you look into the store, you will find many great items located on our island.  You are also presented with a choice, left or right...

If you walk straight in and look in the front two cases you will find some interesting items, including bumper stickers and ...

and CANDY! Notice that most of the candy is branded!

So I decided to turn to the right and make my way along the comic book wall.  We have a nice lite display for the comic books, all sorted alphabetically from left to right with tabs behind all the new books.At the end of the rows of comic books, there is a lite display with all the comic glasses, banks, and pop fun figures.  We carry Marvel, DC, Image, Dark Horse, and more.  If you are looking for comic books, then you might want to browse our wall.

Opposite the comic wall, and inside the island you find all the collectible card games (CCG) and sports cards.  This is where all the boosters, starters, and singles for the different CCGs.  This is also where you will find the card sleeves, deck boxes, and play mats.  With games like Magic, Yu-Gi-Oh, and World of Warcraft we have plenty of CCGs for the players to enjoy.

Rounding the corner by the BCW spinning rack which houses top loaders, penny sleeves, and binders, you see the gaming area. We can set the area up in multiple configurations for card games, miniature games, or role playing games.  Across the back wall of the gaming area is a wall of board games and card games as well as Yoda above one of our demo video game systems.

Right in the corner of the gaming area is our role playing games (RPG) section, which usually has a table set up for RPG games. We keep our boosters of miniatures, RPG books (New and Used), and maps.  We carry many different RPG titles like D&D, Pathfinder, Legend of the Five Rings, Eclipse Phase, and so much more!

At the back of the island, facing into the gaming area you find our miniature paints, dice, CCG binders, some play mats, and darts.  Oh, yes DARTS!  So many people play in leagues in the area, but there are so few places to find flights, shafts, tips, and other dart accessories.

The wall opposite the comics and around the other side of the island you find miniatures and video games.  Starting at the back of the store, you run into the miniature section of the wall.  We carry game companies such as Games Workshop (Warhammer and Warhammer 40K), Privateer Press (Warmachine and Hordes), Spartan Miniatures (Uncharted Seas, Dystopian Wars, and Firestorm Armada), and some other titles like Battletech, Malifaux, and Infinity.

As you move down the wall, you will see all the video games, and video game systems.  We carry new games as well as retro.  Looking for Nintendo (Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Gamecube, and Wii), X-box, X-Box 360, PlayStation (1, 2, and 3), Sega (Master System, Genesis, CD, Saturn, and Dreamcast), or even Atari... we've got it!  We also have a tech in the store who can fix most problems with current and older systems.  In the island across from the wall we keep the hand held games.  These range from the original Nintendo Gameboy to the 3DS.  We also have PSPs, Sega Game Gears, and even a Nomad!

Right next to the register we have some more snacks.  Here we keep some of the really cool imports from Japan and Ireland!  Drinks, candies, chips, and cookies! We also have energy drinks in this case, as well as in the mini fridge right behind the counter if you want one cold.

So now you have had the grand tour.  I did not have space to put in all the pictures of the store or all the cases, but I wanted to leave some mystery or intrigue so that you are enticed into stopping by and checking us out.  And if you are curious, we run events on those tables every night of the week, and you should check out our calendar for more information.

Sean "Striderlotr" Banks

New Wizkids & Pathfinder Miniatures

It is official: the new miniatures for the Pathfinder RPG are out, and they are awesome.
The rumors of a new line of plastic miniatures were well-known before Gen Con 2011, and we were treated to a view of 6 preview minis when a coworker & myself stopped by the Wizkids booth. While they were fairly good looking, I was dubious that the entire line would be treated the same.

Needless to say, I had nothing to fear.  As I found when the cases of product showed up on Jan. 11th, ALL the miniatures are great, and the product is packaged quite nicely, both as a counter top display or for the serious collector.

An entire display has 19 boosters in it; 16 small boosters and 3 large boosters.  The MSRP for the large are $5.99 and the smalls are $3.99.  Each booster, regardless of size has one figure in it, unless you count the goblins. As they are easily the smallest minis in the set, there are 2 goblins per booster.

We opened up 3 displays for the store, and got 31 of the 40 miniatures in the set, with only a few being duplicates. (Not that we minded, as they all went in our 8 ft. long glass minis case for sale!) If you're curious, here's the ones we pulled along with their names underneath each picture.

Half-Elf Cleric, Orc Brute, Orc Warrior, Skeleton

Elf Wizard, Medusa, Lizardfolk Champion, Dwarf Fighter 

Half-Orc Barbarian, Seelah-Human Paladin, Human Ranger, Zombie

Lich, Vampire, Human Druid, Venomous Snake

Mummy, Werewolf, Giant Spider, Human Rogue

Gargoyle, Troll, Wolf

Giant Caveweaver Spider, Minotaur

Ettin, Chimera

Goblin Warrior 1, Goblin Hero 2, Goblin Hero 1, Goblin Warrior 2

And, of course, what would any set be without the limited edition collector's piece? 

In this case, that means the ultra-desirable Huge Black Dragon, (only available to retailers who bought 4 displays!) which is conveniently labelled as "Promo 1" on the bottom of the base.  Hopefully this will mean they'll continue to put out more sets, and more promos!

Personally, I think these miniatures are one of the best ideas that Wizkids/Pathfinder could've had.  With the loss of D&D miniatures (both as a product AND game), it is quite refreshing to see a company recognize that;

A) players want minis to represent their characters/enemies and

B) that all RPGers are, in essence, like addicted magpies with ADHD when it comes to collecting needless bits of colorful plastic.

Ok, reason B might be just me...

But seriously, I truly like this set, and the fact that it has only 40 minis as opposed to the 60 that Wizards formerly put out means it is that much easier to complete your collection.  In a way, this is a plus for DMs too: If you desperately need wolves, goblins and zombies, you have a great chance of pulling what you need.  Also, the bottom of each base has not only the name but also the number of the mini you're currently holding, printed in bright white paint. D&D minis essentially had the same, but theirs wasn't as easy to read as it was simply stamped on.

Would I have picked some other minis to make for the first set? Yes.

Do I want to see more of the unique characters from the books made next time? Certainly.

Will I still buy the last dribble of D&D minis boosters from my job? Of course!

But am I now also hopelessly addicted to these new minis, and will I tell all my role-playing customers to buy them? 

Do you even have to ask?

Stasi "Dengirl" King

Eclipse Phase RPG

Eclipse Phase Role Playing Game

I've started to run a group of players through Eclipse Phase.  Part of this was to try and play a new game, new setting, and a new rules mechanic.  I've had a chance to run the core book and to gather a group of experienced and novice players to really get a good feel of the game.  I'm hoping to cover some about the game, a little about the rules, and more about how the players took to the system, both players who are experienced and new to role playing games.

The Game:

 Eclipse Phase is produced by Posthuman Studios and has been published by both Posthuman and with Catalyst Games. The game was designed as a paper and pencil role playing game.  The game is a science fiction based game which is heavily influenced by horror and conspiracy. 

The Setting:

In the not so distant future humanity has been transformed into a Transhuman state.  There are more then humans though. Animals have been uplifted to a much higher intelligence level.You can be an uplifted Dolphin, Gorilla, or even a parrot.  In the future the TITANs, Seed AI, have been infected with a virus and turned on Transhumanity. Most of Earth is now inhospitable to live on, so Transhumanity has moved to the stars, or more planets.

The Rules:

The game only involves the use of 2 dice, both of which are D10s.  Most of the time you are rolling as a D100, but some times a single D10 is needed.  There are also a much high amount of "Role" playing instead of "Roll" playing. The game allows for a tremendous amount of interaction between the players and the Game Master.

The Players:

GM: Sean "Striderlotr" Banks
1. Dave Steltenkamp
2. Stan Tyler
3. Sara Tyler
4. Stasi "Dengirl" King
5. Brittani "dndprincessaria" MacFadden
6. Amanda Cowen

As we get a few more games under our belts, we will post some comments about how the game actually plays out especially with combat and skill challenges.  Check back to see what everyone thought of the game!
 
Sean "Striderlotr" Banks

Gen Con 2011 The Best 4 Days of Gaming

Welcome back from the "BEST 4 DAYS OF GAMING" also know as Gen Con!

So we got back from Gen Con last night, and it was a fantastic show! We had a chance to try many different games, check out product that is not released just yet, and see all the greatest product that could be seen.  We are going to share some pictures, share some stories, and give some insight into some games.  To make life easy, I'm breaking it down by vendor so you can see the different areas you'd like more info about.  So if you are ready to read on and want to learn more, continue through the trip to Gen Con 2011!

Wizards of the Coast:

There is a lot to talk about with WotC. They had a great booth set up as a ruined castle, and a live action D&D event behind it.  The booth was amazing as was the D&D Mega Adventure that was set up through out Gen Con with QR Codes.  The players got into trying to find the codes and earn points for their faction.  All of this was for the soon to be released Neverwinter campaign setting.  Away from the booth you show the two locations for all the events: The Sagamore Ball Room and the TCG Hall.  At the TCG hall you had so many Magic events, it was almost overwhelming, with the highlight being Nationals!  So many players going in and between events, it was incredible to see.  Upstairs in the Sagamore there was Dungeons and Dragons. It was not just the RPG though, they also had 3 Dragon Ante, all the board games, and the D&D National event as well.A big announcement was for the Lords of Waterdeep board game which is a Euro style board game set in the Dungeons and Dragons world.

Wizkids:

What can I say about Wizkids other then WOW! The new Star Trek game that involves fleets of Federation and Klingon ships looks amazing.  The price point at first looked a bit high, until you started to count up all the ships you got in the base game.  We would love to get a copy of this game a give it a try to get the Trek fans into a great looking ship to ship minis game.  Another game that they had out was Quarriors! Quarriors is a fantastic game involving dice that is similar to the deck building games.  We had such a blast playing this game, that I had to buy a copy for myself then and there.  It played fast and had the option of adding new abilities to the dice without having to make all new dice.  We will be demoing this game soon and getting players excited to try a new type of game.  I really can't talk about Wizkids without mentioning the Heroclix.  They had a number of great items out for sale including Heroclix, Street Fight, and Gears of War... BUT the items that had people looking were the painted pieces (not on bases) of The Lord of the Rings and Pathfinder.  They all looked great!  Check back as more information becomes available we will be writing more.

AEG:

We had the opportunity to go over and talk with the people at AEG as well as attending their Big Game Night.  I would have liked a little more structure to the big game night and maybe in an area that was a little quieter so that we could really check out the games.  We did have a chance to play Ninja, which is a very secretive board game involving Ninjas and guards set in the L5R world..  It was a blast! We will have a copy in this week and will be running some demo games to give players a chance to check it out.  We also got a chance to see Thunderstone, Parthenon, and Legend of the 5 Rings CCG.  AEG has a bunch of really great games out now and if you are looking to give something new a try, they would make a great choice.

Gary Games:

Gary Games is the publisher of the game Ascension.  This is a great deck building game that was created by a number of Magic players who were looking for another game to play between Magic.  The same design group also created Redakai, but we can talk about that later.  I had a chance to play in a tournament for Ascension, but sadly came in second in my pod, so did not advance.  They also had a number of great promo cards that you could pick up at their booth.  We also had a chance to discuss the Dragon's Den becoming a part of the Game Day program that they run, so hopefully we will be a part of the next one which is coming up soon.  

Fantasy Flight Games: 

Well the big announcement here was that Fantasy Flight Games picked up the rights for Star Wars.  To show case this, they had several games on display and were running demo games of several of them.  Star Wars X-Wing looked fantastic! It is a miniatures ship to ship combat game that takes a few elements from Wings of War.  Instead of a deck of cards for movement, each ship has a disk that you pick your movement from and place face down next to the ship (for that hidden movement similar to Wings of War).  They used different templates then for movement and attacks.  They kept some of the flavor with the weapons and abilities on the different star fighters, but we only got to see the X-Wing and Tie Fighter.  They also did a new card game for the Star Wars universe, but we did not get a chance to demo that game.  Some other items of note at the booth would be their release of the Gears of War board game and the new revised edition of Dust Tactics. 

Plaid Hat:

Plaid Hat is the maker of Summoner Wars.They have a new starter box that will be coming out in a month or so... or maybe we will have several copies in a few days! We had the chance to demo the game with them at Gen Con, and they allowed us to get a few copies while we were there.  The new starter has new factions, which if I remember correctly is an addition 6 new factions.  It also has a double board so that it is a little easier to play on and see your side of the board.


I hope that you have found some new information or got to experience some of the Gen Con trip from the write up.  We will be adding more information over the week and get some other impressions so you can hear about some other games and events.  There will always be more to add about Gen Con, but I think this is long enough, so watch for the next post soon.

Sean "Striderlotr" Banks

Free RPG Day

FREE RPG Day is coming up quickly, Saturday June 18th, 2011! We will be running many different events during the day so if you are looking to try a new RPG or maybe play an old favorite, check out all the events we will be running... well more info will be coming soon with times...

 Here is the list of FREE stuff that will here that day.  We will be trying to run events for about 8 different games as well as some super secret stuff as well! Some items may not be available as supplies are very limited.

• Amarillo Design Bureau
  Sample (1 per box), Prime Directive Adventure "Starship Aldo" (both d20 & GURPS)
  
• BlackWyrm Games
  Sample (1 per box), XDM Adventure: "Laser Squid Nemesis"
• Eden Studios
  Silver (5 per box), All Flesh Must Be Eaten Quickstart & Adventure
• Exile Game Studios
  Bronze (3 per box) ,Hollow Earth Expedition Quickstart & Adventure
• Fantasy Flight Games
  Gold (10 per box), Black Crusade Quickstart and Adventure
• Flying Buffalo
  Sample (1 per box), Tunnels & Trolls Solo Adventure, "Rescue Mission"
• Goodman Games
  Silver (5 per box), DCC RPG Quickstart
• Green Ronin
  Gold (10 per box), DragonAge Quickstart
• Paizo
  Platinum (15 per box), "We Be Goblins!" Pathfinder Adventure
• Paradigm Concepts
  Bronze (3 per box), Arcanis RPG Quickstart & Adventure
• Pinnacle
  Bronze (3 per box), Savage Worlds Quickstart & Adventure, titled "The Wild Hunt"
• Stone Tablet Games
  Bronze (3 per box), Aspect Quickstart Adventure
• Troll Lord Games
  Bronze (3 per box), Amazing Adventures Quickstart
• Valkyrie Games
  Sample (1 per box), Stellar Horizons Quickstart
• White Wolf Publishing
  Gold (10 per box), World of Darkness Quickstart
• Wizards of the Coast
  Platinum (15 per box), "Domain of Dread: Histhaven" D&D 4th Edition Supplement to the box set "The Shadowfell: Gloomwrought and Beyond"

Free Events at the Dragon's Den

So we run several different FREE events at the Dragon's Den. Several of these events are run every week and can be found on our calendar of events, but others events run once a year and fall about the same time every year.  Here are some of the BIG once a year FREE events we host here at the Dragon's Den:


FREE Comic Book Day: Diamond comics offers to stores a chances to be a part of FREE Comic Book Day. We can offer many different comic books for FREE that day including Mavel, DC, Dark Horse, and many of the other independent publishers.  There are also some other give aways that stores can get including Heroclix minis, grading guides, and so much more.  We have also had several different artists and authors who have come in to do signings during the event.  This lists includes:
Herb Trimpe - Artist for the Hulk, and many more Marvel Comics
Mark Texeria - Artist for Ghost Rider, Moon Knight, and more
JM Dematteis - comic book and TV writer (Kraven's Last Hunt!) 
Nick Tapalansky - Writer Awakening
Alex Eckman-Lawn - Artist Awakening 

We are hoping to make this years FREE Comic Book Day even better then ever! We have a few great ideas to make this year memorable and exciting... but I'm not going to ruin the surprise and tell you about them now! You will need to come back in the future and read the blog or check our website!

FREE RPG Day: Impressions Advertising and Marketing has created this fantastic event and gets some of the best FREE RPGs for players to check out and play.  We used to just have some of the RPGs for handing out, but last year we started running some of the adventures during the event for players to try a new game! Over the past several years Pathfinder (Piazo), and Dungeons & Dragons (Wizards of the Coast) have offered up some fantastic FREE suppliments or adventures. Here is a list of some of the fantastic games or companies that had product for FREE RPG Day:
Dungeons & Dragons (Wizards of the Coast)
Pathfinder (Piazo)
Hollow Earth
Call of Cthulhu
Chessex

This years sponsors for the event are:

• BlackWyrm Games
  Sample HERO Adventure
• Blue Panther
  Sample Card Tower
• Eden Studios
  Silver, All Flesh Quickstart & Adventure
• Fantasy Flight Games
  Gold, TBA
• Goodman Games
  Silver, DCC RPG Quickstart
• Green Ronin
  TBD, DragonAge Quickstart
• Guild of Blades Publishing
• Paizo Platinum
  TBA
• Pelgrane Press
  TBD, Trail of Cthulhu Adventure
• Pinnacle
  TBD, TBA
• Troll Lord Games
  Bronze, C&C Quickstart and Adventure
• Valkyrie Games
  Sample, Stellar Horizons Quickstart
• White Wolf Publishing
  Gold (10 per box), TBA
• Wizards of the Coast
  Platinum (15 per box), D&D Adventure 

 Sean "Striderlotr" Banks

FREE RPGs and More

There are many free Role Playing Games (RPG) around the internet.  Many of these games are online MMORPGs, but there are some that are traditional paper and pencil RPGs that have been created by players that have an interest in gaming and making games. Some of these games do involve other peoples copyrighted material, so remember that as you look around at all the interesting free games.  Below I'll list some of the sites that have FREE RPGs, online and print.

Online:

http://www.bestonlinerpggames.com/ - This site is loaded with free games. These range from MMORPGs, Fantasy RPGs, Adventure RPGs, Horror RPGs, Action RPGs, and Sci-Fi RPGs. Great for finding a whole bunch of different games to give a try.  Many of the games are not traditional RPGs, but they do offer some fun.

http://www.kabam.com/ - These are Facebook games, but maybe worth a mention. Facebook offers many different games to distract and entertain. Kabam offers several RPG type games with Atlantis, Ancient Rome, and Camelot as themes.

http://www.rpggames4free.com/ - This is another online RPG site.  They break down their list of RPGs into different catagories, including fantasy, adventure, browser, flash, and text.

Print: 

http://www.1km1kt.net/ - This is a massive site filled with FREE RPGs games.  They have some that MMORPGs listed as well, but many are paper and pencil downloads.  They have over 500 FREE RPGs listed in the free catagory.

http://www.thefreerpgblog.com/ - This blog offers posts and discussions about FREE RPG games.  They link to Delicious (a social bookmarking site) so to have all the links to all the games in one place.

http://www.homebrew.net/games/ - This site is dedicated to only paper/pencil download RPGs. They have a nice sized list and the author has been searching for these RPGs for over 10 years.

Other:

Brikwars: http://www.brikwars.com/downloads/BW2005.pdf Ever wonder what to do with all those extra lego and mega-blok? Well Mike Rayhawk created a game that uses those little minifigs to play some fun miniature games with! This is a link to the PDF rule book.  Here is a link to the suppliments which include other minifigs, and blank minifig cards: http://www.brikwars.com/supplements.htm. If you want to see the website that has all the information... here you go: http://www.brikwars.com/.

There are so many more RPG games out there, and as we have time we will continue to add more.  For now, enjoy the list and find a new game to try out... oh and by the way, we will be giving Brickwars a try at the Dragon's Den.

Gamma World Game Day: Trouble in Freesboro

This past weekend was the Gamma World Game Day adventure called Trouble in Freesboro. Players had a chance to create characters using the new random method character generator. It was fantastic to see everyone excited about how their character might look or how they might interact. We had everything from the telekinetic hyper-cognitive, to the pyrokinetic rat swarm! Trying to figure out what the pyrokinetic rat swarm did with night vision goggles and a riding horse... but that added to the fun! As always the maps were fantastic, but not a surprise as they were created by Jason Engle.

The adventure was well written and the players really had fun. Facing off against Genghis Tangh and his group of Porkers added to the jokes that were flying. One of the coolest aspects that Wizards worked into the adventure was the active links to see play handouts virtually. We had a player with a laptop who pulled up the 3 links that the players found as they explored. The email and evacuation plan were nice touches, but the security camera video was the best!  They went back and watched it multiple times after the session.

The promo cards that everyone received were Alpha Power: Power Mimic, and Omega Power: Dehydrated Man. They both should be in a deck you create, as they really are powerful. There is something about a Powdered Scientist that can be helpful... but can leave to pursue its own goals is hysterical!

D&D Essentials Game Day: Sunderpeak Temple

To celebrate the release of D&D Essentials and the new D&D Red Box, Wizards of the Coast (WotC) went old school and really brought some great memories back for an old time RPGer. Here is a break down of some of the interesting RETRO things they did to make this such an interesting event.

1. A Classic look on the cover of the adventure: The fighter taking on the Red Dragon! This is such an iconic image that players who played in the 80s will remember this image and think fondly of Keep on the Borderlands... which interestingly enough is the next Wednesday Night Encounters.
2. The Goldenrod character sheets reminded me of the old school blank character sheets that you could buy to make your PC look official. The images they used for the characters all looked very retro as well.
3. The "hand-drawn" map was classic! I loved the triangles that were not all the way closed at the bottom, it really gave it a feel of being drawn that day for the players. The one thing that would have really made it was if the maps on the inside cover had been printed in blue not black.

Now for how it played out! We ran several sections for this event. Some went better then others! We had one DM who almost TPKed in the first encounter! It was rough, but the players managed to survive... only to die 2 encounters later. They had fun and played it out to the bitter end. Another group made it to the final fight and found out that the Dragon was not as tough as the Orcs and Rage Drakes! The fighters both beat the Dragon on initiative and used their daily... then action pointed!

Just as a reminder, we run many sessions of D&D here at the Den. Come in on a Wednesday night to play D&D Encounters. This week will be the last session for the Dark Sun Encounter: Fury of the Wastewalker. Next week we start the new Encounter Keep on the Borderlands!