Category Archives: news

news

Adventuring in Ravnica is getting physical

For D&D players and MtG players, and especially fans of both (like me) there has been the chance to crossover and role player in the MtG universe using the FREE pdf Plane Shift files that WotC produced. As recent sets have been released we have been treated to an art book and Plane Shift pdf. So from the WotC site you can download Plane Shift files for Zendikar, Innistrad, Kaladesh, Amonkhet, and Ixalan. Sadly since the Dominaria art book was released there has been no sign of a Dominaria Plane Shift file. Which is sad really. I think there are a lot, ok one or two people who’d like to see this.

But with falling attendances, and various hints that WotC are trying to cut back on costs and squeeze every penny (cutting out direct sales to stores, increasing prices to distributors, decreasing prize support to stores) they can out of the product (yes this game we love playing is at the end of the day a product) the recent news in the last couple of days (I think a SDCC announcement) is that come 20th November they are releasing an actual physical product that by the sounds of it replaces this free shit they were giving us.

This new physical manifestation will be for what will be the then current set Ravnica, and called in typical D&D style The Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica.

Along side this source book, there are also 2 other products being released to support it.


The first is something every D&D player, or even gamer can’t get enough of, dice. This according to the product page for your $25 get you the pretty picture container, and One d20, one d12, two d10s, one d8, four d6s, one d4, and one guild die.

The other supporting product which there are no details currently at the time of writing for other than it’s name is The Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica Maps and Miscellany. Which I’m at $20 I’m assuming is “world” maps, general maps of key locations and stuff!

So in reality the MtG loving D&D player is going to have to shell out $95 in totally to explore and go adventuring in Ravnica. You can reduce it, but until release we won’t know how necessary that guild die is. It maybe able to map it across to an existing due to avoid the purchasing of it. Unless they sell it separately, but then why should they?

I like the idea of these Plane Shift being a physical product. However I feel that WotC should also still be doing the free pdf. It’s the fans who downloaded and are playing those that showed WotC there is a demand for this. Rewarding them by removing the free and charging them instead feels like a bit of a kick in the teeth.

Personally I’d love to see a farewell to the Plane Shift series with Dominaria released. It’s also not clear if the art books will continue. I’d like to think that these will continue, and I don’t see why they wouldn’t unless the sales don’t justify them being produced.

I’ll be pre-ordering this stuff no doubt. I’m an addict.


So here we are with yesterdays spoilers and the pick of the ones that I think could fit in one of my existing decks.

I think with Fury Storm I’m detecting a theme. Will we see one in each deck? Which colour will be left out from the theme?

Netrunner Apocalypse

Sad news for Netrunner players. FFG announced today that from 22nd October 2018 they will no longer be selling any Netrunner related products. So that’s the game itself, card sleeves, mats etc. It would appear that WotC have decided to not renew the licence with FFG.

I know it’s been over a year since I last played the game. But it still holds a fond place in my heart. It is a really nice game. According to friends who still played it, it was also in a good place game play/meta wise. Especially after the second edition core set.

Some of my favourite art in any game is in Netrunner, for example the card Day Job. The cards were super thematic, especially some of the flavour text. And I love the Android universe that it had been set in.

It’s a shame to see the game come to an end. The Netrunner podcasts, Facebook groups and reddit will be in uproar at the news, and shell shocked.

Read the full release here.

Let’s brawl

Last week WotC made some interesting announcements. Announcements that I’m pretty sure a few MtG podcasts whichever format they cover will discus, dissect, and over analyse with far superior insight than myself.

First up WotC announced a new format for MtG. A kind of Commander lite, called Brawl.

Brawl is meant to be an easier version of Commander for new players to get into. Here is a brief summary of the brawl specific rules:

  • 60 card Singleton (apart from basic lands there can only be a single copy of a card in the deck) decks
  • 30 starting life
  • Only legal cards in Standard can be used
  • Commanders can be legendary creatures or Planeswalkers
  • No commander damage

Otherwise it follows the Commander rules for everything not covered above.

I’m not sure how I feel about this new format. I’m definitely curious. But there is some doubt about do we really need it? Why not just play Commander? If you read the WotC articles that have gone up about the format and the announcements tied up with it, they argue it has a lower barrier to entry, easier to get into, than Commander especially for new players to the game with smaller collections (which may be just the current set released). It’s interesting to see that WotC see Brawl as an introduction to Commander and Standard. I thought the new Challenger decks were/would serve as that. The question I have is this just a format to sell more booster packs? If this takes off won’t it just push up the price of cards in standard, and thus making the barrier to entry to standard even more expensive? Which is something I thought they didn’t want to do.

I don’t see getting into Commander as that expensive or with the imminent arrival of Challenger decks Standard also. Buying a precon for Commander and upgrading it doesn’t have to be an expensive thing to do. Recently I under took that very exercise with the 2017 Arcane Wizardry precon. After putting my amazing google ninja skills to work I found an article that did a $20 upgrade for the deck (I’ve now ordered the cards from a sister post for the dragons precon). But there are a few articles/videos out there with tips for upgrading them. And I would imagine that not long after the Challenger decks hit, that a few articles will appear on how to upgrade them. Once you get a precon you start to get some of the Commander staples that are needed for building your own decks.

Naturally as a format this is going to have a changing card base. So for Commander players there are going to be a few challenges in building these Brawl decks because all of a sudden staples like Sol Ring are gone. How do you mana ramp in Standard? With that shifting card base decks will also need to change, and I can see certain styles of play coming and going. A deckbuilders paradise.

I think there will be some interesting decks built for Brawl. I’m working on 2 at the moment. Mainly because I want to at least try the format. So our MtG tournament over Easter will now be a Brawl tournament instead of a Commander tournament. I’m doing the 2 decks so that Dale can join in. One will be a Dino tribal deck which will be the one I’ll give to Dale to play. Whilst mine is probably going to be mono green, trying to use the etb effect to my advantage. I’d like to keep bouncing creatures to get multiple etb use from a card. But I need to solve how to do that in Standard.

Tied up with the new format is the poster child for it, the buy a box promo legendary creature, Firesong and Sunspeaker Minotaur Cleric.


This card will only be available as a promo and only when you buy a booster box while stocks last. I think it’s pre-orders only too. But I may be wrong on that front. So yes like many I’ll probably be building a deck with it as the commander. Although I gather there may be some complaints about this exclusivity.

The final announcement was that WPN authorised stores (ie your FLGS) are allowed to sell booster boxes a week early at the pre-release events! Great news for the FLGS (especially US ones that have to compete with the likes of massive chains like Walmart for your MtG money, UK FLGS don’t have that competition yet to my knowledge). Pre-release weekend is going to be massive for the FLGS. But is it only shifting sales from one weekend to another? Hopefully it will get more people taking part in the pre-release events.

What do you think about this news? If you haven’t commented before I need to approve your first comment then after that you can comment as often as you like without my approval. This was the least intrusive way to cut out on spam. So I hope it hasn’t put too many folks off from leaving comments.

Istanbul going digital


The tail end of last week saw the announcement that the board game Istanbul is going digital. No eta or pricing info in this initial press release apart from it will be available on all the usual suspects when it comes to platforms. The developer Acrum is responsible for the digital version of 8 Minute Empire (which to my shame I own but not fired up). But if my fading memory doesn’t fail me got good reviews at the time of its release. I’m hoping that it’s not just the base game we get but the expansions too. Or that they release an update with the expansions (at an extra cost naturally) not long after. Istanbul is a great game, which came in at number 7 in my Top 100 games last year. And I love the game with the expansions. In fact unless I’m introducing the game to a new player, I only want to play it with the expansions. They just take the base game to a new level.

Naturally it has the normal functionality you’d expect from a digital version of a board game. Although in the past one or two developers have released versions with some core features (as I would consider them) missing, and not always promised for a future update. So at the moment I’m giving the developer the benefit of doubt and assuming this following list is going to be there from day one.

• play with AI, with friends or both

• pass and play mode

• online multiplayer with asynchronous mode option

• modular board

• official rules plus extra additions

You can read the full unedited press release HERE, or sign up for email alerts HERE with the developer.

With Scythe hitting Steam soon (well this year) with hopefully the iOS version not far behind its a great time to be playing digital versions of board games.

The Perfect Accessory For TI4

This is last years news really, but I missed it when it was announced, and today my FLGS The Hobbit Hole have asked for if people want to pre-order it. Oh what am I wittering on about? Why the 20th Anniversary Twilight Imperium Galactic Gamemat, that’s what.

This is a 3′ x 3′ mat that looks pretty cool, and will “aid” in setting up the known universe for the game!


Let’s face it use TI4 owners have spent a lot of hard earned money on this edition of the game. So a little bit more to help protect it while playing isn’t much to ask really.

You can read the original post HERE.

Third and Final Scythe Expansion Announced

Scythe: The Rise of Fenris, the third and final expansion for Scythe has been announced. Arriving in Q3, I’m already excited about this news. Scythe was my game of 2016, in my first ever Top 100 this year, took the the number one slot. 11 new modules that you can mix and match in, plus a replayable campaign mode that introduces those modules as you progress through it. In away sounds a little like the Tuscany expansion that came out for Viticulture but with more thought put into the campaign side. If I remember correctly the suggestion was for Tuscany that the winner chooses the next module to add into the game. Well ok it’s really the module side that is similar. The campaign element is really new if we are being totally accurate. But still really looking forward to this coming out, and I’ll be preordering this as soon as I’m able to.

Read the full press release HERE.

Star Realms App Update Available 

New major update of the Star Realms app is out. Look at what they have added.

I’m really chuffed about the friends list. More cards is also good. Plus I can challenge a friend to a real time game also. I’m not really a campaign player. All of my play is against friends. 

£3.99 to get the new cards. Which sounds expensive but that includes unlocking the cards across all platforms. That’s the nice thing about the Star Realms app. No matter which platform I play the game on once I buy an expansion I have it available across everything.

Some much needed additions. A must update to download. I think a must buy expansion but your mileage may vary on that.

Modiphius Suck It

Like buses it seems Fallout games are coming along in pairs. 

Today FFG announced they will be releasing in the last quarter of 2017 a 1 – 4 player game based on the popular video game franchise Fallout.


Wait a game I won’t have to spend hours or even days assembling, one that I can buy and play straight away? Wow that’s ground breaking.

Modiphius can as the once WWE superstars Degeneration X said “Suck it!”

This is how you handle a popular IP that will appeal to non-gamers. This audience isn’t interested in spending hours cutting and gluing. They want to buy and play. Oh one or two might enjoy it but not the majority who this would appeal to. Let’s face it you don’t splash money out to buy an IP like this to appeal to your core market. You are trying to appeal to that wider audience that wouldn’t normally buy your stuff. How else are you going to make your money back on that expensive IP licence?

Let’s face it we have had a few popular IP licensed in recent years for miniature skirmish like games. Predator and Aliens, Terminator, and Walking Dead naming a few. How many do you see being played at your local FLGS or game club?

Look I can rant about this all night. At the end of the day I’ll vote like many others with my wallet. Which means my vote will be going to FFG, as I imagine the great majority of people’s votes. You can be certain of the fact the FFG game will outsell the Modiphius one by a big margin.

You can read the FFG announcement HERE

More than meets the eye…

well not in a Transformers movie there isn’t. They are as deep as a dry puddle. You don’t go to see a Transformers movie for it’s Oscar winning performances, or plot lines that examine the depths of human emotion or psyche. So yes my expectations last night when I saw the latest installment of the Michael Bay Transformers franchise Transformers: The Last Knight were pretty low.

Why did I go and see this movie if I think so little of them? Well like the Fast and Furious movies I’ve seen all the previous ones, I might as well stay and see the end of these train wrecks. Plus as a brain dead, don’t think too hard about the movie or you will see the gaping big holes in the plot, lots of over the top CGI action, paper thin characters,style movie, it’s a watchable film.

I do like to see which Hollywood stars have hit hard times, and had to swallow their artistic integrity and take that Michael Bay strap on he has made of money in their orifices. This time it would appear that Anthony Hopkins has fallen on hard times and had to prostitute himself, and allow Bay to humiliate him by putting him in front of the camera. Some actors like John Goodman and Steve Buscemi managed to hide behind the camera and provide voices for the CGI characters (but we know their hidden shame). CGI characters that to be fair displayed a wider emotional range on screen than Mark Wahlberg.  Ok I do think that the new love interest Laura Haddock given the fact she is meant to be eye candy to distract the intended male audience from the plot holes, and despite the script, did a good job.

The movie like so many others is filmed at Bourne Woods near Frensham Little Pond. It’s a very popular filming location. I’ve walked my dogs around that area many times over the years when I lived that way. I recognize the trees!!! Yes I’m that sad.

So in conclusion despite this rant, as a switch off, don’t have to think, just enjoy the CGI type experience then this is a watchable film.

Oh I’ve already got my Spider-Man ticket and War for the Planet of the Apes ticket booked. Well that’s how I ended up at Trasnformers really. I was online looking whats out, saw that I could pre-book these two films, and then thought “I have an unlimited ticket”, why not? Ok we know why not? But still…

The bestselling Legendary® Deck Building Game is coming to mobile and desktop devices. Experience Legendary with your friends like never before; same great game, a brand new fantasy. You will never play the same game twice as the game changes each time you play. Team up with other players and fight to the end but make sure you have collected enough victory points along the way to be victorious.

Would have been nice if it had been the actual Marvel characters. But I’ll take this. Maybe they can sort out the licencing to allow us to play in the Marvel universe, or even the Alien/Predator/Fire Fly/Buffy/Big Trouble in Little China universes.

You can sign up for the early access HERE.

And yes I did sign up.

Fantastic Four Return

While I was at the UK Games Expo this story hit that the out of print Fantastic Four expansion for Marvel Legendary will be back in print.

That’s huge news. This is an additional product to the Marvel Legendary plans for the year. It is also an exact reprint of the original expansion so no new content, and no first print promo card included (this was confirmed on their Facebook page iirc).

So expect a mad dash by those that have been holding on to their copy trying to sell it in hope of getting the inflated price it has been going for before the market totally disappears. It’s good news for fans of the game that wanted this expansion but couldn’t afford or justify the inflated prices being asked for it.

Now we need Days of Wonder to relent like Marvel (although things on the Marvel end were a bit complicated) and republish some of the out of print expansions for Memoir ’44. If Days of Wonder are unsure of demand, they could run a Kickstarter campaign for the expansions, and then just keep the supply topped up from time to time so that prices don’t get silly again and people who love playing the game can get the expansions and play them. Do Days of Wonder not like money or something?

Read the full icv2 article here.