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Wow, what a holiday season. Most of the companies delivered on their promises, and there are reams of new stuff in the marketplace. Let’s start with the season favorites:

From FASA, Crimson Skies finally hit the shelves. This is a 1930s-like wargame where the players fly planes that have apparently been designed by a madman. Physics notwithstanding, this game is excellent. Easy to play, fun to learn, and having a history that nicely sets the mood, it is worth checking out. Also, for all of you Renegade Legion fans, Crimson Skies uses the old damage template system.


ICE finally released The Balrog expansion for the MECCG. However, the delay is due to Carta Mundi not understanding how boxes work than any fault on ICE’s part. In this set, you play the Balrog, and recruit things from the underdeeps to aid you in your quest for power. The cards are nice, but the best part is that is really isn’t in a CCG format. You buy the two decks, and you have the complete set! A full set of cards for under $40. However, you may want to buy several copies of deck 2 (the blue box), for it contains 1 copy of Sauron, which all Ringwraith decks should have 3 in.


AEG released the Crab Clan for its Clan War game, and the minis, as usual, are fantastic! The army box has tons of new rules and characters, and the Hida House Guard minis are great! Check out Hida Kisada, only one figure, but easily the size of an ogre. Also from AEG is Way of the Phoenix, last of the major clan books. Next up: Ninjas!


Side note from WOTC: Urza’s Saga is selling well, Urza’s Legacy is due soon, and their new card price guide is laughable. For more info, drop on by the store.


Five Rings Publishing has released Hidden Emperor Vol. 6, which is cool, but the big news is the Storming Morikage Castle event in January. Yes, on Jan. 16, Games Nation, one of the few Stronghold Stores in Texas, will be hosting the tournament. The grand prize will be a tanto, but the entry fee is still TBA. We think it will be $6 per person.

Rio Grande Games just keeps putting out cool games from Germany. The most recent additions to the line are Samurai by Reiner Knizia (of Durch die Wuste fame) and Samarkand, a trading game. Samurai is the favorite, and all I can say about it is come by the store for a free demo!

From the makers of the B5 CCG comes the new expansion, Great War. Yes, now you too can have the Vorlon and Shadow on your side, and unleash the planet killer or Shadow Cloud. This expansion rocks, and wait till you see the First Ones cards.

Palladium finally released Mystic Russia, and as with most of their books, the final product was well worth the wait. The book is a nice compliment to the Rifts: Russia books, and adds so much to the history, real and ficticious, of Russia. The Russian gods are due to appear in an issue of the Rifter.

In Warhammer news, the Blood Angels have been re-released, with the codex hitting this week. The Baal is due in January, and the Death Company is on the shelves. The new Dark Eldar minis rock, and the Raider is incredible. The Battleforce is still the best bet, though, for for the price of 5 jetbikes and 20 troops, you get a Raider and some trees for free. Imagine, something free from GW!

In the Fantasy world, the last of the Dogs of War have hit the shelves, and plans are already afoot for DOW2, as this is apparently the best selling line of Fantasy stuff they have had for a while.

Well, that pretty much sums up December and a glance at January, but as a happy sidenote, I was recently able to acquire some Shadowfist cards for the store at a good price, and so I lowered the regular retail prices for our customers. Even though it is out of print, I have secured a good distributor for them, so we will not be running out anytime soon.

See you at the store!!!

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Copyright © 1999 Craig Gaddis

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