I won't lose a second of sleep.
I usually like to try and make posts of substance here on The Wargamer but the buzz of three cups of coffee and a slew of new releases from my favorite gaming companies makes this kind of post seem like a good idea.
Here's what's going in my shopping basket this weekend:
1. Dark Age: Devastation
Lordy-lordy I've been waiting for this since GenCon. I prefer to buy all my stuff from my local game shop, so I had to stare at the "add to cart" button on CoolMiniOrNot's website until they finally shipped to distributors. Now, it will soon be mine, and with it, all the cool new Core army list entries to drool over. Now I hope there's more to this book than just the Core and the Cult of Mutilation, because as cool as they are, I'm not currently working on either of those factions, and I'd like an excuse to pull the book out during a game of Dark Age and use something out of there. I also hope I'm still listed as a playtester. I did do a ton of playtesting during the first round of playtests, but since then, Dark Age has undergone a management change, and I might've gotten lost in the shuffle.
2. SAGA: The Raven's Shadow
This supplement to SAGA (an instant hit with my game group) introduces four more nations/tribes/empires to SAGA (Franks, Irish, North Gael, and Strathclyde Welsh), and some new scenarios and rules including some with the use of banners! Never did I think I'd ever get as excited about banners as I am now (+1 to combat resolution is great, but what would Vikings do with them?)
3. Pathfinder NPC Codex
Pathfinder is my favorite version of D&D, but it may surprise you to know that I view D&D4 as a worthy game system in its own right. For example, one of the things I love about D&D4 is that I don't have to spend hours before the gaming session making NPCs. Ugh! Who cares? My players are just going to kill them or interact with them through role-playing anyway. But what if they need to fight a bunch of palace guards, or they need (or want) to take out a bartender? The Gamemastery Guide had some good NPCs in there, but this one has 300 NPCs in it. If I need a town guard captain, I can just turn to one of the pages, add a name and mannerism(s) and BAM! I've got a new punching bag for my players.
4. Warhammer 40,000: Crusade of Fire
Now I've gone on the record as saying that GW's new hardcover codices and army books are top notch! As someone who's been playing GW games for ~16 years (and who's also a collector of the older games and as such am familiar with the rules of previous editions), I can safely say that these are the most balanced army rules they've ever put out. I'm also a huge fan of Warhammer's Blood in the Badlands. I think I can say that this book will be as good as that one, and as such I'm excited to see it. It claims to have new flier rules, which I think are just going to be the stats for the Fliers they released rules for in White Dwarf but not anywhere else. Either way, I'm stoked for the campaign.
5. Baldur's Gate
Now, I don't normally talk about video/computer games, 'cause I don't really play them. They're fun, and cool; I just decided years ago that my gaming time (and budget) is limited and that board/card/miniatures/role-playing games are my real passion. However, Baldur's Gate is still my favorite video game of all time, and the release of the "enhanced edition" is about a week away. I have to wait until the Mac version is available, which will be later than the Nov. 30th release date for the PC, but you can bet your boots, I'll be glued to my iMac until this game is finished twice-over (once with my original human thief, and once with my half-elf wizard)
Alright, the coffee's wearing off, I'm gonna split, and I also need to figure out where I'm going to get the money to buy all this stuff. You only need one kidney, right?
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