Archive for February, 2007
Kings Court 016: Iliad
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Jeremiah reviews Iliad. Its a card game about the legends surrounding the Trojan war. Through a series of sieges you battle for victory points, carefully choosing what armies to apply and when. This game has an interesting blend of mechanics than even achieves a bit of a poker feel but is clearly about war. |
| Iliad Publisher: ASMODEE editions Designed By: Dominique Ehrhard Players: 2-6 Ages: 10+ Play Time: 45 minutes MSRP: $21.99 |
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Out of Character 016: Furry Time
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Our show opens with a tragedy. This week, our thoughts are with Irene McGee of the No One’s Listening podcast who recently lost her home and pet cat in a fire. Please join us in support Irene as she puts her life back together. |
Reiner Knizia was in Los Angeles this weekend for OrcCon and found himself at our microphone. Be looking for that interview to be posted very soon. We had a great time at OrcCon and were also able to meet up with podcasting friends Paul Tevis and Eric Burgess and get a number of games in. The con was very well attended, full of energy, and packed with games all weekend.
Our next trip will take us to Las Vegas for Games Expo 2007 where 200 of the top game publishers will premier their new games for the year. We will be talking many of them as we cover the show. Be expecting a release from us that week and for some time after.
When we return we will begin preparing ourselves for Anizona in Phoenix. We will be taking games, t-shirts, and our jovial selves to further spread the good word of gaming. We are likely to get an education ourselves. As closely as anime and gaming cultures mix we are certainly not going to be as versed as the new friends we are expecting to make here.
Jeremiah finds an article about a particular clueless date, at least when it comes to geekdom. When we find that article again we hope to link it for you, but we were able to find some information on furies for you. I am sure you will not need our help on the other topics touched in this segment.
| Jeremiah starts our weekly For Dummies installments with Vampire: The Requiem For Dummies. This dummies guide gives a clear and well organized look at the role-playing game and the story behind it. This For Dummies guide was written by Justin Achilli and Ken Cliffe. This books is certain to find an audience in those just wanting to quickly get their hands around the fun and intriguing game of Vampire: The Requiem. |  |
Today’s promo is for Villain Talk with Dewaine Haroldson. Villian talk is a home for villains to receive tips for putting together evil plots and working through other problems villains share.
Inside Track 012: Chris Pramas and Green Ronin
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We are joined today by Chirs Pramas. Chris has been writing and designing since the 90s and has worked on projects such as Warhammer Fantasy, Feng Sui, Underground, Chainmail, AD&D’s Guide to Hell, Dragonfist, and Death in Freeport. He founded Green Ronin and now has a long list of credits we are barely able to put a dent in today. |
| Chris started as a freelance writer but very quickly started his own partnership, Ronin Publishing. His experience with Ronin helped him land a job at Wizards of the Coast where he eventually found himself as Creative Director for Miniatures R&D. Green Ronin Publishing was born as a side venture but grew to the success it is today. |  |
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Green Ronin has published a number of d20 products, many of which has grown into their own strength. They have entertained us with such products as The Black Company RPG, Blue Rose, Freeport, and Thieves World. |
| Green Ronin has streamlined the popular role-playing systems even further to create True20. True20 does away with the point accounting of other systems to better facilitate the fast moving action adventure you are often striving for in your game. It still maintains however the similarities you are already used to, making it easy to pick up and run with. |  |
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When you find Mutants and Masterminds on the shelf it is easy to be drawn to. It has incredibly attractive art and a great system to release your inner superhero. It has won many awards and a spot on our game shelf. Heroes and Villains alike are built in a classless, point based system or taken for the ready-to-use archetypes so you can start playing right way. |
During today’s show, we play a promo today for Domain of Apokolipz, a role-playing podcast that covers some RPG news and preforms a skit from a 1940s town in Massachusetts. Also played was a promo for Fist Full of Comics and Games. They talk about a variety of pop culture topics to include comics, moves, and games.
Inside Track 011: Tracy Hickman part 2
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We continue this week spending time with Tracy Hickman. We had such a great time and just didn’t stop. At first, it was beginning to look like a bonus show but before we knew it we had enough to release another entire show. Be sure also to listen to the first part. |
| Before the Tracy we knew, Tracy had a variety of jobs. Some of these included a drill press operator, a glass worker, a movie projectionist, and a supermaket stockboy. He approached TSR in 1981 and found himself with a new job; one which would lead him to work with Margaret Weis on the Dragonlance Chronicles. He now lives in St. George, Utah with his wife Laura and continues to entertain us with his work. |  |
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The world of Ravenloft was born of a single adventure. Tracy first built the castle to have some authenticity and to make a reasonable setting for a vampire. After a few iterations and over a few Halloween game sessions, Ravenloft made its way to print. |
| Pharaoh is but one example of the integration of moral fiber Tracy instills in his work. It is an adventure and a story about a pharaoh that hoarded treasure and enslaved his people to build a theft proof tome and found himself cursed to walk the earth until the tome was broken into. |  |
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One of the more recent projects is the podcast production of The Immortals, a future story of United States Internment Camps. This best selling novel was written by Tracy Hickman and preformed by both Tracy and Laura Hickman. |
Be sure to join Tracy and Laura Hickman at the Dragonhearth; a home for creative minds to discuss speculative fiction. They have a great podcast. Tracy invites us to listen to all of them of course but points out the Halloween episode in particular where he reads Stephen Leacock’s “Buggham Grange: A Good Old Ghost Story”.
Kings Court 015: Catan Histories Struggle for Rome
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Derek reviews Catan Histories Struggle for Rome. It is a board game that brings the Settlers of Catan feel to the historical fall of the Rome. Instead of placing tiles, the European map is already laid out in traditional Catan hexes. Struggle against your opponents to sack Roman cities and start building your new civilization from what little is left of the old empire. |
| Ave Caesar Publisher: Mayfair Games, Kosmos Designed By: Klaus Teuber Players: 3-4 Ages: 12+ Play Time: 90 - 120 minutes MSRP: $49.00 |
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Today’s promo is for Does My Geek Look Big in This? It is an absolutely fun blend of role-playing and beer. Does My Geek was named the official podcast of Gen Con UK. |
Out of Character 015: Free Money
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Happy Valentines Day! We are busy maneuvering around the holiday to get our game in and our podcast released. Our friends at Eye-Level Entertainment have put together some Nature of the Beast Valentines for you to send a message of love to your geek. Feedback has led us to a number of other topics to include again the rating system on BoardGameGeek. |
| Edward Douglas (Midnight Syndicate) has officially announced he will be directing The Dead Matter. The Dead Matter tells the story of a vampire relic with occult powers that falls into the hands of a grief-stricken young woman who will do anything to contact her dead brother. We love your music, Ed, and are really looking forward to the movie. We’ll be watching for more news! |  |
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John Morgan sends us the first game by Ship of Fools Games, Treasure Fleet. We have just opened it and have already had some fun with it. You play a pirate captain competing for the best takes on the open sea. It has an interesting trump mechanic that we are eager to explore further. |
We have been covering a number of Mayfair games for some time now. Italia is going to be in a coming review. We mentioned the Mesopotamia expansion cards that have now been released. They have also recently released two Tenki games, Snakelake and Krumble.
We have a lot of news on Wizards of the Coast. The highlight is the grant money they have set aside for a program called Expand Your Role. If you have a D&D club recognized by a college or university you may find yourself with some extra cash to support it with. We also touched on a few topics about a Hasbro Quarterly Report and a recent press release on the subject.
Wiz Kids has announced it will be producing a Star Wars pocket model trading card game. This launches a small tangent about game component material. Jeremiah’s daughter helps him notice also the material quality of Great American Puzzle Factory games.
Today’s promo is for our All Games Considered. Mark and the gang produce a fun and informative podcast on a wide variety of games and have been for quite some time now. Fear the Boot is another favorite podcast of ours that was also mentioned. If you like our show you will also enjoy these podcasts.
Kings Court 014: Ave Caesar
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Derek Reviews Ave Caesar; a chariot racing board game. This game is less about speed and more about positioning and cutting off your opponent. This game is easy to learn and play. We found this to be a great choice for company of mixed maturity. |
| Ave Caesar Publisher: ASMODEE editions Designed By: Wolfgang Riedesser Players: 3-6 Ages: 12+ Play Time: 30 - 60 minutes MSRP: $44.99 |
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Out of Character 014: Connecting
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Things keep moving quickly. We just returned from Phoenix Catcus Comicon and will now be heading to OrcCon. We are not going to be exhibiting this time but shouldn’t be to hard to find. Other news includes the closure of GenCon So Cal, further expounded upon by this open letter from Peter Atkinson. All of this excitement is unfortunately missed by Jeremiah. He is instead away with guard duty for the weekend. |
| Boyan Radakovich joins us as a special guest host. We met Bo at DarkCon and invited him to join us at Phoenix Comicon to work with us in our exhibit and promote his game. He introduces his first design to be released, High School Drama. It is a light hearted card game about the politics of high school. Bo founded Shifting Skies Games just on the other side of Tucson making himself an easy target when we need some help. |  |
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Derek, Bo, and Don met up with a group of Arizona podcasters to speak geek and drink coffee. We keep meeting more great people the the podcasting arena and these folks are no exception. We had a great time and want to thank all of you for letting us tag along. |
- Dan and Cj (The Love Long and Prosper Podcast)
- Ken (The Mac Update) and Becky
- Aaron and Jenny (The Big Show)
| Speaking of great folks in podcasting, we want to also say hello to Derek and Swoopy from one of our favorite podcasts, Skepticality. We brought up their recent interview with Micheal Stackpole and played their promo during the break. |  |
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You have heard us talk about Lonnie Ezel’s podcast novel, Daughter of the Sun. We have the pleasure of reading “The Story So Far” for one of the segments. Thanks for including us Lonnie! We had a lot of fun with it. And now, Daughter of the Sun… |
| A long time friend and listener send us two “Get Out of Hell Free” cards. Jeremiah, I guess you are on your own. The card parodies a community chest card from Monopoly and directs us to check out This is True, a column by Colorado humorist Randy Cassingham. |  |
Also included during our feedback and helping to shape our theme for today’s show is a short reading from nailscars. We are really pleased when we can connect with people and touch their lives with the good word of gaming. It is truly healthy food for the brain and a great way to bring us all together.
We met more fine folks from Fantasy Book Spot, a very attractive web site that reviews fantasy and science fiction books. They said nice things about Pulp Gamer and High School Drama in an article reviewing DarkCon. Thanks guys and gals!
Inside Track 010: Tracy Hickman
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It is an absolute delight talk to Tracy Hickman. He is a master storyteller and treats us with tales of himself from many aspects of his life including Tracy as an author, a gamer, and a game designer. |
| Tracy and his wife Laura Hickman are actively involved with their fans. They produce a fun high quality podcast and moderate their own forums at dragonhearthproductions.com where they visit and explore creative fiction and games. |  |
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The big news everyone is talking about is the coming movie based on the Dragonlance novel Dragons of Autumn Twilight, the first book he wrote with Margaret Weis. Both have an animated appearance in the film. |
Tracy helped Micheal Mennenga (Slice of SciFi) and Mur Lafferty launch a whole slew of podcasting events at last years Dragon*Con. We are very grateful to so many people that put work into that project and help promote podcasts and allow us that additional opportunity to connect.
Of course we talked about Dungeons and Dragons, but a few board games were mentioned as well. These include Settlers of Catan, BattleLore, and Ticket to Ride.
| You will also hear a promo for a recent podcast release of the New York Times best selling novel, The Immortals. It is a future story of United States Internment Camps written by Tracy Hickman and preformed by himself and his wife, Laura Hickman. | |