Archive for the ‘Miniature Games’ Category

Fantasy Flight Games Announces ‘Blood Bowl’ Expansion

Photo courtesy of ICv2.com.

 

Reported late last week via ICv2.com, Fantasy Flight Games is preparing the Blood Bowl: Team Manager Foul Play Expansion for a Q3, 2014 release.  Foul Play is a lowdown, cheating expansion that adds three new teams from the Putrid Players Guild in a new subdivision of the Team Managers’ Union.  The newcomers include the disease-spreading Nurgle’s Rotters, the anarchic Chaos Dwarves of the Zharr-Naggrund Ziggurats, and the cheating Goblins of The Lowdown Rats. 
 



Nurgle’s Rotter Cards. Photo courtesy of ICv2.com.

 

The Foul Play Expansion also adds some sterner penalties for cheating players in the rough and tumble world of Blood Bowl: Team Manager.  Players can draw a penalty card, or receive one for losing one of the new in-game Goblin Tribal Leeg tournaments.  But if players can find a corrupt official, it is possible to lessen the effects of the penalty cards, which add a whole new dimension to the Blood Bowl: Team Manager game.

 

 

Stadium Cards. Photo courtesy of ICv2.com.

Another addition to the BBTM game provided by the Foul Play Expansion is the introduction of stadiums, which provide the right treacherous environment for this most corrupt of all sports.  Venues like the Nehekara Death Dome, The Ogham Stonefield, and Castle Waldenhof, not only present entirely different playing surfaces, but also different rules, since certain skills are outlawed in some venues.


 
The Foul Play Expansion comes in a colorful box that contains 10 stadium cards, 65 Bridge-size card for players and Spike/Magazine cards, 58 small cards split between Staff Upgrades, Team Upgrades, and Penalty cards, 23 cardboard tokens, and 1 rulesheet.

 

 

 

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About Battleground Games & Hobbies

Battleground is one of New England’s premier game stores with two convenient locations. We are fully stocked in all the major product lines for the serious gamer and we specialize in card games, board games, miniature games and role-playing games. Our deep stock, great events and friendly, knowledgeable staff make Battleground the top choice for your one-stop, friendly local game store!
ABINGTON LOCATION
Battleground Games & Hobbies

1423 Bedford Street
Abington MA, 02351
781.261.9669
PLAINVILLE LOCATION
Battleground Games & Hobbies

25 Taunton Street
Plainville MA, 02762
508.316.1195
Join Our Mailing List!Like us on Facebook  Follow us on Twitter  View our videos on YouTube

 

 

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This week in gaming: An open casting call, GPTs, Weiss, and M15

 

preacher
 

 

Calling all writers

 

If you’ve been reading my blog posts, articles, whatever you want to call them for a while now, then you may have noticed that they are centered around “Magic: The Gathering.” Now there is a perfectly good explanation for this. The main reason being is that is my area of gaming expertise.

 

I don’t think there is anything wrong with this, but it makes things a little boring if you’re not into “Magic.” That’s where you come in. Consider this an open casting call for writers of all backgrounds. One of the goals I am trying to accomplish is to help get different content on the site. That’s where you come in.

 

Is there something related to gaming that your very passionate about?Is there an awesome Dungeons and Dragons sessions you want to tell people about? Do you have experience in table top wargaming like Warmachine or Warhammer 40K? Are you really good at painting miniatures or scenery? Something that would be great is content with tips and tricks for beginner miniature players.

 

Don’t worry, I’m always open to others writing about “Magic.” Having multiple perspectives is a great thing to have. It really helps to diversify the writing on the website. So, if you’re interested in giving writing a shot, then let me know. Pitch me your ideas at Simeon.Cortezano@hotmail.com. Please include your name and keep your pitch to around 200 words.

 

If you’re idea sounds good, we’ll contact you and move from there. These writing opportunities are strictly voluntary. That should be the last thing on your mind, though. The idea is to have fun and help spread your knowledge.

 

Modern at this Friday’s FNM

 

This Friday will be the third Friday of the month. You know what that means. Modern will be offered at this Friday’s FNM in addition to Standard and Draft.

 

This would be a great time to try out any ideas you may have for the Modern season that’s now in session. In case you missed it, Battleground Games & Hobbies hosted a Grand Prix Trial on June 14. Several of the Top 8 competetors included some of the usual players from the Abington store: Ken Briscoe, James Costello, and Chris Alexander. Also in the Top 8 was Devin Malko who plays at the Plainville store. The eventual winner was Nicholas Blake who also plays at the Plainville store.

 

The deck lists for the entire Top 8 can be found by clicking on this link.

 

If you missed out on the GPT on June 14, then don’t worry. There will be another GPT hosted at the Abington store. That GPT will be held on June 29. The format is Modern and the winner will also receive a box of Modern Masters in addition to the 2-round byes. This should be a big turnout. Everyone will be gunning for that box of Modern Masters. This could be your chance to open a foil Tarmogoyf!

 

Do you play Weiss Schwarz?

 

 

weizz schwarz logo
 

If you play Weiss Schwarz, rumor has it that the store will be getting some visitors from out of town looking for some pick-up games. So if you’re tired of the usual competition and are looking for some new action and new opponents, this is your opportunity to do so.

 

The usual time for Weiss Schwarz actions is 2:00 PM on Saturday. Be there or be a four-sided object.

 

M15 prerelease dates have been set

 

Can you believe it’s time for another “Magic: The Gathering” set to be released out into the wild? The Magic 2015 core set prerelease has been scheduled for both the Abington and Plainville stores.

 

All of the information you need to know can be read here, but if you’re too lazy to click on the link then keep reading.

 

The prerelease packs will once again make their presence known. It is important to know that if you’d like to be guaranteed a specific color of your choice you’ll need to preregister for the event you want to participate in.

 

Regarding preregistration, there were some issues with the Journey Into Nyx prerelease where some people couldn’t get the color they wanted to when they showed up to the store. Unfortunately, the colors they wanted had all been spoken for through the preregistration process. If you don’t want to be denied a color, please, I urge you to preregister ahead of time so you don’t miss out on the color you want.

 

Oh yeah, I was talking about the prerelease. The event will be held the weekend of July 12-13. Here is a quick rundown of what’s happening:

 

Magic 2015 - Hunt Bigger Game resize
 

Format: Sealed Deck*

Date: July 12th Friday night / Saturday morning

Time: 12:00am (midnight)

Entrance Fee: $25.00 per person

This event will run 4 rounds.

 

Format: Sealed Deck*

Date: July 12th Saturday afternoon

Time: 12:00pm

Entrance Fee: $25.00 per person

This event will run 4 rounds.

 

Format: Sealed Deck*

Date: July 12th Saturday night

Time: 6:00pm

Entrance Fee: $25.00 per person

This event will run 4 rounds.

 

Format: Two-Headed Giant Sealed Deck**

Date: July 13th Sunday afternoon

Time: 12:00pm in PLAINVILLE, 6:00pm in ABINGTON

Entrance Fee: $20.00 per person

This event will run 4 rounds.

 

Format: Sealed Deck*

Date: July 13th Sunday night

Time: 6:00pm in PLAINVILLE, 12:00pm in ABINGTON

Entrance Fee: $25.00 per person

This event will run 4 rounds.

 

*Sealed Deck: Each player receives one Core Set 2015 Prerelease Pack corresponding to the color of their choice.

 

**Two-Headed Giant Sealed Deck:  Each TEAM will receive 2 Core Set 2015 Prerelease Packs with which to build two 40 card decks.

 

Here is also a breakdown of what you’ll get when you enter the prerelease:

 

Each Player will receive one Core Set 2015 Prerelease Pack that contains:

 

5 Core Set 2015 booster packs

1 Seeded booster pack*

1 Premium promo card

1 Activity card

1 Spindown life counter

1 Welcome Letter

For this event, players may use the promo card included with the Prerelease Pack in their tournament deck.

 

*Contains cards from the Core Set that are or have synergy with the color you chose.

 

Well that’s it for now. I hope you enjoyed this week’s version of “This week in gaming.” If you liked what you read then help us out by spreading the word. Hit the social media buttons down below and tell all your friends about this article and the store!

 

About the author

 

Simeon is now the Community Manager for Battleground Games & Hobbies. He is also an avid gamer who loves to play board games and video games. He graduated college with a degree in Political Science, and now serves the public by writing about games. You can check that out here. Don’t forget to “like” him on Facebook as well. It’ll update you on all of his newest content. Best of all, you can follow Simeon on Twitter (@SimeonCortezano) for some real time hilarity. Thanks for reading!

 

Donate to the Extra-Life fundraiser!

 

1170
 

 

Join the Battleground Games & Hobbies community forums!

Please don’t forget to check us out on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @battleground_gh!

 

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This week in Magic: Pick a deck, and stick with it

Thassa god of the sea
 

This past weekend, I tried my luck at the SCG Open Series in Providence. The format: Standard. How did I do? I did terrible. However, like all my failures, I learned a lot, and maybe you can learn from them as well.

 

Lesson one: Pick a deck

 

Pick a deck and learn it. Days leading up to the event, I had decided to play Mono-Black with a splash of Green for SCG Providence. However, also, leading up to the day of the tournament, I couldn’t make up my mind and stick with a deck. I was able to play test a few decks to “run the gauntlet.” While playing those decks, they seemed more and more appealing to play. Sadly, I didn’t realize I was headed for a rabbit hole I would never find myself climbing out of in time.

 

Some of the other decks I played around with included RW Burn, and a form of GB Constellation. I would eventually end up on Esper Control. It’s a deck I, technically, have been playing since the beginning of the Theros block. The early incarnations of the deck even helped me get second place at the Massachusetts TCG States tournament last fall. So, by default it was a deck I had the most experience with.

 

Unfortunately this decision had come a little too late, as it was made the night before the event. This was the one thing that I wanted to avoid the most, and it still happened. I guess I was doomed all the way through.

 

Lesson two: Play something you’re most comfortable with

 

I’ve had equal success with all the decks I previously mentioned. I’ve also had equal amounts of failure with them as well. However, I don’t think playing Esper Control was a terrible decision. Out of all the decks, it may have been the one I was most comfortable with. Well, it was probably a toss-up between that deck and RW Burn.

 

I’m not a very strong Pack Rat player, and thus why Mono-Black would have been a bad choice for me. I know I put on the early work, but I’m sure I would have been worse off with that deck. In retrospect, I think I should have gone with RW Burn. I know I talked about having the most experience with Esper, though. So, which is more important? Comfort level or experience level. I think they go hand-in-hand. Given the situation though, Esper is a much more complicated deck. At least, it’s more complicated than RW Burn.

 

Final verdict: it should have been RW Burn from the very beginning. I’ve always had a knack for that deck ever since I started playing it. However, I got discouraged after one poor FNM performance. I gave up too easily, and that’s my fault. I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned it in the blogs, but I know I’ve probably said it to other people. I wanted to play it at the Boxborough 5K a couple of months ago, and I joked about making an audible to it the night before SCG Providence. Next time I have a gut feeling, maybe I should go with it, especially if it comes to playing RW Burn.

 

I’ve been having the same inclination in modern as well. I’ve been wanting to play Mono Red Burn. However, I’m worried about how it will do in the later rounds. I guess I’ll never know until I take it to a tournament and run with it.

 

Looking back at SCG Providence

 

If the results of last week could speak, they would say that the state of the Standard format is very alive and healthy. Remember the days of Caw Blade?  Out of the Top 8 decks, only two were the same. In the end, Ross Merriam and his Mono-Blue Devotion deck took the top prize.

 

Some people say that Mono-Blue was well positioned to win, but who even remembered that this was a deck? I didn’t. In fact, it wasn’t even part of the “gauntlet” I had put together in my failed play testing sessions.

 

For those of you who are interested, Ross has written a wonderful primer on the deck based on his run at this past SCG Open. In the article he wonderfully states, “Sometimes, you just have to accept your limitations and play to your strengths.” Here he’s referring to the fact that a lot of his success has come from only playing “cheap blue creatures and mana elves.”

 

I remember looking at the results and thinking to myself how great of an example Ross is to the lessons I wrote about above. Now, I don’t know what his play testing was like or his preparations were heading in the SCG Open in Providence. Just from the first two paragraphs he wrote in his article, it’s obvious he went with a deck he knows best and not a deck he thought would be the best out there. “I tried playing Sphinx’s Revelation once in Theros Standard and turned a 4-0 performance in Legacy into a 4-4 day 1 at the Indianapolis Invitational and a pile of frustration.”

 

A small announcement

 

If you know me personally, you’d know that I’m pretty much glued to Twitter and Facebook, and all other sorts of social media. Well, since I’m always online, I figured I’d do Battleground Games a solid and offer some of my social media services. For whatever reason, they were crazy enough to accept my offer. So, I guess this is my little formal announcement letting you all know that I’ll be taking on the role of “Community Manager.”

 

What does this mean? Aside from “word-of-mouth,” social media is a huge means of communication. So, if you’re not on Facebook or Twitter, or anything else, you may want to consider getting on board. One of the things I’m hoping to improve upon is getting the word out about in-store events. For example, did you know that this Saturday, June 14th, there is a Grand Prix Trial for GP Worcester/Boston? It’ll be held at the Plainville location. It’ll be a Modern format event, and the top prize will be a two-round bye at GP Worcester/Boston in July. Other prizes will include store credit based on attendance. For more information make sure to click here.

 

See? That wasn’t too bad right? I’m going to try my best to make sure that people know what’s going on at both stores. I’m not talking just about “Magic: The Gathering” either (although, forgive me if you see a focus there). I’m going to do my best to get the word out about Warhammer 40K, Warmachine, DnD, Weiss Schwarz, Board Game Night, etc.

 

Hopefully I’ll eventually become a centralized point where you can ask me something and I can get you an answer. That way you’re not chasing numerous people down to get a single question answered. So, if you haven’t already, make sure you follow Battleground Games & Hobbies on Twitter (@Battleground_GH) and on Facebook (click here for a link to their page).

 

That’s it for now. Let me know what you think of this post, of my new role, or what’s on your mind. If you want, you can also follow me on Twitter @SimeonCortezano. Make sure you say hello!

 

About the author

 

Simeon is now the Community Manager for Battleground Games & Hobbies. He is also an avid gamer who loves to play board games and video games. He graduated college with a degree in Political Science, and now serves the public by writing about games. You can check that out here. Don’t forget to “like” him on Facebook as well. It’ll update you on all of his newest content. Best of all, you can follow Simeon on Twitter (@SimeonCortezano) for some real time hilarity. Thanks for reading!

 

Donate to the Extra-Life fundraiser!

 

1170
 

 

Join the Battleground Games & Hobbies community forums!

Please don’t forget to check us out on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @battleground_gh!

 

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WizKids Announces ‘DC HeroClix: War of Light’

WizKids has announced it will release DC HeroClix: War of Light–Alternate Color Lantern Packs for its collectible miniatures game HeroClix on September 24th, according to hobby industry news website ICv2.com.


 
The DC HeroClix: War of Light is part of the summer storyline event organized play, which begins in June. All the SKUs, with the exception of the Sinestro Corps War Scenario Packs which released in May, were OP exclusives, not for retail sale.  The new Alternate Color Lantern Packs are a for-sale retail product. 




The Lantern Packs come in an assortment case, which has six Lantern Packs total.  The three packs are Red and VioletOrange and Indigo, and Yellow and Blue.  Each pack contains two Central Power Battery Resource Object (one of each color), and two sets of corresponding-colored Construct Special Objects.

 

 

If you’re a HeroClix fan and wish to see this and products like it in your local Battleground Games & Hobbies, let us know in the comments below!

 

 

 

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About Battleground Games & Hobbies

Battleground is one of New England’s premier game stores with two convenient locations. We are fully stocked in all the major product lines for the serious gamer and we specialize in card games, board games, miniature games and role-playing games. Our deep stock, great events and friendly, knowledgeable staff make Battleground the top choice for your one-stop, friendly local game store!
ABINGTON LOCATION
Battleground Games & Hobbies

1423 Bedford Street
Abington MA, 02351
781.261.9669
PLAINVILLE LOCATION
Battleground Games & Hobbies

25 Taunton Street
Plainville MA, 02762
508.316.1195
Join Our Mailing List!

Like us on Facebook  Follow us on Twitter  View our videos on YouTube

 

 

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WizKids Releases Details for ‘D&D Fantasy’ Miniatures

 

Earlier this week, WizKids has released details for the products in its collectible Dungeons & Dragons Fantasy Miniatures line, created for use with the new D&D RPG.  The first products will be the Starter Set Heroes in July, and Set Oneboosters in August.  The line was announced in February and WizKids CEO Justin Ziran explained more details at Toy Fair.  Boosters will employ blind packaging. 
 


The Starter Set Heroes will include six miniatures of iconic heroes, for use with the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing game Starter Set
 


In August, the Set One Standard Booster will arrive.  The set will contain more than 50 miniatures of humans, elves, dwarves, halfings, orcs, goblins, and other characters from the Forgotten Realms universe of Dungeons & Dragons.  The blind-boxed boosters will contain four figures each, with an MSRP of $15.99.  Each Booster Brick contains eight boosters (32 figures), and cases contain four bricks (32 boosters/128 figures).


 
There is also a purchase-with-purchase Case Incentive Promotional Figure, which will be available on a one-to-one basis with cases of the Set One Standard Booster, while supplies last. While there was no name or picture available, the figure is described as an adversary for adventurers, standing several inches tall, and towering over the other miniatures in the set.  The figure will release August 13th. First reported by hobby industry news source ICv2.com.

 

What do you think of this exciting new product? Are you looking forward to it’s release? Let us know in the comments below! Talk to the friendly staff at Battleground Games & Hobbies and reserve your starter set today!

 

 

 

Join the Battleground Games & Hobbies community forums!

Please don’t forget to check us out on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @battleground_gh!

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Paizo Announces ‘Pathfinder Battles: The Lost Coast’

 

Paizo announced details on its next set of Pathfinder Battles miniatures, according to hobby industry news website ICv2.com.  The Lost Coast set will release in November.


 
The Lost Coast set will contain 45 figures, and unlike previous sets, will not be based on characters from a specific Pathfinder Adventure Path, as previous sets Reign of Winter and Wrath of Righteous were.  Instead, this release will be a broad-based set based on multiple Pathfinder RPG products, but with a specific focus on the popular region of Varisia, which has been the setting for previous Adventure Paths and other releases.  


 
The set will include monsters, heroes and humanoids inspired by previous releases, as well as new monster types not yet released in this figure line.  The case incentive figure will be the “Gargantuan Shemhazian Demon,” which is also the largest figure produced to date.


 
Each Lost Coast booster contains 1 large figure and 3 medium/small figures.  The Lost Coast Standard Brick contains 8boosters (32 total figures.) The Lost Coast Standard Case contains 4 Standard Bricks (32 boosters, 128 figures).

 

 

 

Join the Battleground Games & Hobbies community forums!

Please don’t forget to check us out on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @battleground_gh!

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