Game Caveman not smart enough for Power Grid.  Game Caveman CAN play First Sparks!

Okay, that’s enough of you Cavey. That’s right, though, folks, a new version of Power Grid, The First Sparks releases today!

A standalone edition, The First Sparks maintains most of the original game’s mechanics, but transports the gameplay to the first days of human existence. Keeping with the theme of early man, the game moves faster than the original, while also adding new elements of play. Players work to build better equipment for hunting and surviving in the wilderness while also attempting to keep the rest of their tribe alive. So, in the words of Game Caveman: Rrrrrgggghh, game good.

A bit of trivia for you folks out there, Clint Eastwood’s classic western, A Fistful of Dollars, was originally titled A Fistful of Penguins. Sergio Leone changed it, though, for fear that audiences wouldn’t get the inclusion of an Arctic animal in the desert. Luckily, the new A Fistful of Penguins game reclaims the title. Another dice game in a series of popular dice rolling games like Zombie Dice, BEARS!, and Martian Dice, this time around players are attempting to collect various animals for their zoo. Be forewarned, though, each animal comes with their own benefit and flaw. Having a fistful of penguin tokens, however, will always help you gain more dice. A fun, quick little game for the family, A Fistful of Penguins takes the best of dice games and Zooleretto, binds them together, and delivers a good time for all.

Captain’s log 4458. WizKids has yet again released an appealing miniatures game, this time based around the ships and battles of Star Trek. For the record, there are two ways to collect and acquire these prepainted ship miniatures. One, would be to pick up a Star Trek Heroclix Tactics box set, which comes with four key ships, including the Enterprise. Two, would be to beam up one or more of the individual Star Trek boosters, each coming a single, random ship. Both are perfect for use with any Star Trek miniature game, such as Expeditions or Fleet Captains.

And speaking of Expeditions, it should be noted that a new expansion set for the game also shipped today. Containing three new characters (Sulu, Scotty, and Chekov) and their character cards, when playing with this expansion the game will now be able to accommodate up to five players at once.

As the Apostasy Gambit reaches its climax, the third chapter in the Dark Heresy adventures RPG makes its entrance. This supplemental edition, Chaos Commandment, presents four new chapters for gameplay, all focusing on the Acolytes and their effort to save the Calixis Sector.

Anyone who doesn’t like pandas has no heart. It’s just a fact, people. So, if you have a heart, love pandas, and want to see them thrive, then Takenoko is your game. Players raise and care for bamboo crops, of various varieties, in an effort to feed and keep the emperor’s panda happy. Colorful game pieces, artwork, and miniatures combined with fun, easy to learn gameplay, make Takenoko quite the enjoyable experience. That and pandas.

Ecpecto gamtronum!

Though Wiz-War is indeed about wizards, they are not the cutesy, lovable kind from Harry Potter. These wizards are greedy and desperate to beat their opponents into the pavement. To do so, two to four players compete with spells of varying types across a segmented board. Updated from the classic game created by Tom Jolly, Wiz-War is the newest version of the classic wizard battle game.

Allow me to level with you all.

Tonight is a busy, busy night up here at Pulp Ficiton. There is what the Magic the Gathering addicted call a Pre-Release. To give you an idea of what these are like, imagine a horde of monkies with jetpacks high on cocaine. That will give you a slight idea of the insanity inherent in running a Magic Pre-Release.

For that reason, I’ll be cutting a few corners with tonight’s New Game Stuff Post. We’re going to play the back of the game box game tonight, so here we go.

Pathfinder Module: The Ruby Phoenix Tournament
An event-based adventure for 11th level characters…compatible with the 3.5 edition of the world’s oldest RPG. Set in the Dragon Empires of the Pathfinder campaign setting, the adventure serves as an ideal introduction to the folk and fighting styles of the lands encompassing the Eastern-inspired continent of Tian Xia, and contains a fully detailed island location and a brand-new monster sure to challenge players in any campaign setting.

Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Jade Regent Poster Map Folio
Within this map folio, you’ll find three huge 8-panel maps: one of the frozen reaches of the Crown of the World, one of Minkai’s capital city of Kasai, and one of the entire continent of Tian Xia, home of the Dragon Empires and site of the final chapters in the Jade Regent Adventure Path. Even if you aren’t running the Jade Regent Adventure Path, the maps inside can serve as the surroundings for all sorts of arctic adventures or urban mysteries, or an entire campaign setting for you to detail on your own! The spirit of exploration calls you – are you brave enough to answer?

Legend of the Five Rings RPG: Imperial Histories
*Ten eras in great detail, including The Dawn of the Empire, The Gozoku Era, The Clan Wars, The Thousand Years of Darkness, and more.
*In depth look at the Clans and personalities who shaped those eras.
*All new schools, spells, ancestors, techniques, and more, some thought lost to the ages.
*The 1000 Years of Darkness in great detail. Offering you an opportunity to fully explore this apocalyptic alternate history.

Nexus Ops
…is a board game of fierce sci-fi battles and fantastic alien creatures in which two to four players control factions of corporate troops and strange life forms on an alien moon. This updated edition of the classic title features detailed plastic figure, stunning new art, a clarified rulebook, as well as a host of optional rules and variants. Gather your troops, tame the aliens, and begin the harvest!

Call of Cthulhu the Card Game: Shadow of the Monolith
The sixth Asylum Pack in this cycle that centers on the South Pacific. This chain of islands has flora and fauna that can be found nowhere else on Earth. What else lies hidden and waiting?

Warhammer Invasion the Card Game: City of Winter
The Fifth Battle Pack installment of The Capital Cycle, a linked expansion series for Warhammer: Invasion, a card game of intense warfare, clever kingdom management, and epic questin. This 60 card pack contains 20 different never-before-seen cards designed to augment existing decks and add variety to the Warhammer: Invasion metagame.

PROCESSING….PROCESSING…

FIRST GAME IS POWER GRID: THE ROBOTS. IT IS 10110011! HAHA! ROBOT HUMOR!

THIS EXPANSION IS COMPATIBLE WITH TWO PLAYERS, BUT IF DESIRED, YOU MAY PLAY WITH UP TO 5. EACH ROBOT PIECE IS COMPRISED OF TILES. THESE TILES EXPLAIN THE RULES AND ACTIONS OF EACH ROBOT SO THAT PLAYERS MAY USE THEM AS INANIMATE OPPONENTS. DO NOT LAUGH AT ROBOT, THEY ARE SERIOUS OPPONENT. THEIR SPECIAL ABILITIES GIVE THEM BENEFITS THAT OUTWEIGH NORMAL PLAYERS. ALSO…

DESTROY ALL HUMANS! DESTROY! DESTROY! DES…***

Sorry about that. Some times he gets overworked.

So, anyway, back to just us humans.

Well, humans and hobbits and elves and orks, anyway. Releasing its second edition, War of the Ring finally returns to the shelves today. What used to be a scrictly two player game has now expanded up to four (don’t worry, though, you can still play one-on-one), but the gameplay of Free Peoples versus Sauron’s legions is still intact. One side plays the “good guys” attempting to battle Sauron and get the ring to Mordor, while the other side plays Sauron’s forces, searchig across the land for beings to slaughter. The 205 miniatures included along with the board have been updated with intricate detail and design.

But don’t kick yourself if you’ve already bought the first edition and are feeling left out. Ares Games has you in mind. In fact, they’ve created a special conversion kit just so you can keep using your copy of the first edition. Coming in a sturdy tin container the kit comes with all the good and evil forces cards you will need to update your game along with specially sized sleeves to protect all of them. Now that’s thinking ahead.

Well, guess that’s all…wait, no, don’t…Aaaagggghhh!

EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! GAME STUFF ROBOT WILL EXTERMINATE ALL HUMANS!

However, as a new expansion for the Lord of the Rings LCG card game, it’s just what the cleric ordered. Coming with three entirely new scenarios for players to battle through, you would alone consider this worth it, but add on top of that two additional dwarf heroes, encounter cards, and quest cards and all I got to say is…YOU SHALL NOT PASS…on buying it.

If we’re going to start with the grandaddy of all fantasy epics, may as well follow with some of its grandchildren.

Battle of Westros gains yet another expansion set this week, this time introducing a new ally faction to the game and dubbed Brotherhood Without Banners. As is the case with all the Westros expansion sets, this one includes all the essential to add the faction into play, including rules, battle plans, 36 new figures, tokens, and terrain overlays.

A second distant cousin, A Game of Thrones LCG, receives both a new expansion set and chapter pack this week. The expansion, Lions of the Rock, focuses on the new cards relating to the House of Lannister, providing 165 cards that help to build two separate theme decks. Where Loyalty Lies is the chapter pack in question, is the fourth addition to the Tales of Champions chapter. Jam packed with 60 cards, pick it up to keep your game progressing.

The, lets say, brother of Lord of the Rings, Dungeons & Dragons, today released one of its high-quality Map Packs, this time around depicting the ruins of a religious nature. Coming with three individual maps, the set includes materials for a crumbling cathedral, haunted chapel, and other currently out-of-print sources.

Finally, the stepbrother of the pack, Pathfinder, launches full bore into its miniature onslaught with their first Pathfinder Battles booster pack release. These individual, blind box boosters contain a single miniature, all of which are compatible with the roleplaying game. Bricks of figures are even said to contain a minimal amount of repeats, which seems to be a nice incentive to pick up figures that way. And if you need something bigger than you standard hero, you might want to go for one of the monster boosters, which includes a giant size creature figurine.

If you go all in and grab a case of figures, you should be aware that you then have the opportunity to purchase a mega-uber-super-crazy rare black dragon miniature. A small, small amount of these are available, so snag one before they vanish into myth.

Alright, family reunion over. Now to hop a train to further regions. Or, at least, if you have a Ticket to Ride.

That’s right, another new Ticket to Ride map expansion, this time to the far reaches of India and Switzerland. Like the recent Asia expansion, two maps and destination tickets are included in this set, both of which require one of the base editions to play. The Switzerland board is a reprint, but a pretty fantastic one, to be sure. Made for only 2-3 players, a bonus option of connecting countries is available in addition to the standard route building option. The India board, on the other hand, is entirely new, coming with new challenges and strategies.

Who doesn’t love a new deck building game? I do. Many customers do. And, apparently, so does Penny Arcade. In Penny Arcade the Game: Gamers vs. Evil, up to four players battle for deck dominence with by collecting cards emblazened with cast members of the popular web series. Oh, and you also get a D20, ’cause why not?

In that effort, we present the new Mage Knight board game from WizKids. Expanding on the original Mage Knight miniature game, this board game offering forms the adventure around the player as they choose what to attack, what spells to develop, and what dungeons to raid. Based on these actions players gain or lose fame, loot, and acclaim as the most praised Mage Knight in the land. Taking place over three rounds of night and day, players adventure with one of four knights, balancing their action deck with their adventure choices.

And what would that night be without a dragon or two?

The new Dungeon Petz (a stand alone spin-off of Dungeon Lords) can supply just those kind of creatures. At heart a worker placement game, Dungeon Petz involves opponents strategically positioning workers in hopes of breeding, feeding, and selling the most exotic assortment of fantasy beasties know to imp kind. Supplied with humorously cartoony artwork and finely crafted pieces from Z-Man games, Dungeon Petz should make every happy. Except PETA, those guys are never happy about anything involving animals.

If you’re one of the folks who favor Ascension over Dominion (or if you like both) you might prick your ears up to hear about the new Ascension: Storm of Souls expansion/game. That / is in the previous sentence because this bad boy does not need to be combined with the base game. So, when you pick up Storm of Souls (as I’m sure you all will), you’ll be getting a completlely stand-alone game filled with new mechnics previously unavailable in the other Ascension editions. Namely, these come in the form of new Event Cards which alter the rules of the game as you play. And if you’ve got up to six players, you may as well combine it with base Ascension for more god fighting action.

And we’re talking about Catan Scenarios Oil Springs. If you’re looking for a simple add-on to liven up your Settlers of Catan game, then the new Oil Springs expansion is that add-on. Adding oil to the mix of resources, players can use it to create any of the standard resources (wood, iron, etc.) as well as building up your cities into Metropolises. However, do this at your own (or other players’ peril) as drilling for the oiling and producing it can cause dramatic shifts in the weather while also polluting the region. Oil Springs is easily the cheapest way to freshen up your Catan game, so if you’ve got the need, do like the Beverly Hillbillies and dig for that bubbling crude.

Speaking of Catan, the two-player card game version, Rivals of Catan, received an expansion this week. Age of Darkness supplies three different theme decks to be incorporated into the base game. Focusing on battles between churches and temples, commercial harbors and merchant’s residences, and barbarians, each deck pits opponent versus opponent, with each receiving and playing different sets of cards.

I know you’ll be filling up on turkey, dressing, or whatever it may be you eat for the holidays, but get ready for a heaping helping of Pathfinder for your bellies.

First up are the shiny goodies. Packed full of the vibrant treasures of the Jade Regent, this new item deck for the setting contains fifty-four illustrated cards representing the sought after artifacts that may appear in a campaign. Game masters looking to add a bit of flare to their game pay heed.

Hailing from the same section of the Pathfinder world as the Jade Regent is the new Dragon Empires Gazetteer. This volume explores the Tian Xia continent, exploring its various regions, offering rule sets for five new character races, detailing the deities worshipped by the region’s residents, as well as countless other information that can add color and detail to a campaign.

In a similar vain, Mysthical Monsters Revisited supplies vast amounts of detail on classic mythical creatures like medusas, hydras, and harpies for game master’s to incorporate into their games.

And if you pick up the new Bestiary 3 along with it, you’ll have more monsters at your command than cans of Mountain Dew drank in the history of roleplaying. As with the previous Bestiary editions, this third volume includes 300 monsters as well as options for familiars, companions, races, and other varied methods of incorporating these legendary beings into your party’s adventure.

If you want to be a pirate, there’s no better pirate to be than a future space pirate! In an effort to aid you with that endeavor, the new Rogue Trader: Hostile Acquisitions hardcover lays out all the minute detail gamers will desire to build and background a crime-based character in the system. These include new career rankings, like swashbuckler and reaver, sections on arming and equipping your ships and yourself, as well as a nemesis orign path generator that can build a formidable foe for your party. Shiver your steampunk timbers, maties, it’s a Hostile Acquisition!

In the course of your skullduggary, maybe you will break into the king’s palace in an effort to storm his treasury. And if you’re going to do that, wouldn’t it be better to have a map to indicate where you’re stealing what? Well, Game Mastery comes to the rescue again with their newest Palace Map Pack. The pack including eighteen tiles that link together to form a throne room, reception chamber, and treasury.

Around this jolly time of year, with the weather crisp and the gifts flowing, there’s one thing you should be thinking about…the horrible tentacled grasp of the Eldar Gods. In that effort, give the give of a new Call of Cthulhu Asylum Pack this year with Into Tartarus. The 60 cards in this deck focus on the global influences of the Ancient Ones.

If that sounds a bit too effeminate for your grizzled uncle (or aunt; no judgement here), then maybe the new Memoir ’44 Campaign Book Volume 2 will light all the right fires. Picking up where the previous volume left off, volume 2 continues to create scenarios (forty six, in fact) that build off of each other, effecting the game during your next play. Along with the new scenarios the collection also includes 50 punchboard tokens, advanced campaign rules, and new special events that contain information for battles across the Pacific all the way to the frontlines of Germany. So, if you’ve got that wargame loving relative in your clan, put a big smile on their face this season with a new Campaign Book.

Still not dark and grizzled enough for you? Okay, then I’m afraid I’m going to have to pull out the big guns.

That’s right, the new Mansions of Madness: Forbidden Alchemy expansion. Adding on to the Lovecraftian exploration game that’s half-RPG, half-board game, Forbidden Alchemy expands on the dark twisted adventure with loads of new gruesome swag. Included within that heading are not just cards and tokens and things, but all new monster and investigator miniatures. As with the base game, they are beautifully detailed. But don’t let them take away from the over 150 new cards and tokens. That’s new mythos, trauma, and combat cards, folks, along with map tiles, horror tokens, and puzzle pieces. If you’ve survived the slithery, slimy things of the first Mansions of Madness and are ready for round two, Forbidden Alchemy shouldn’t stay forbidden for long.

More of a restock than a new item, but, by golly, it just needs mentioning. From the creator of Dominion (if you don’t know what that is, for shame!), Kingdom Builder brings a similar satisfaction as games like Carcassonne, Samarkand, and Small World, in that it’s a middle skill level game that the whole family can learn and master. Players compete against each other through the strategic building of settlements across a large, hex-filled board. Building adjacent to certain locations (i.e. lakes) gains a player more points. But the rub comes in that building is controlled by sets of cards that players hold in their hands and place on their turn. Each game is different, though, as players select random board pieces and cards at the start of a session. If you’ve played Ticket to Ride or Carcassonne to the breaking point, give Kingdom Builder a try.

Originally written in German (the headquarters of all things board game), The Settlers of Catan by Rebecca Gable takes the general premise of the game and expands it to a Lord of the Flies-style epic that follows Candamir and Osmund as they attempt to construct a society amid conflict with the locals on the island of Catan.

Heroclix has been branching out from the superhero genre this year, the newest edition of which just happens to be Lord of the Rings.  Making it simple to drop into the game, Heroclix has released an Epic Campaign Starter Set that gives prospective players everything they need to get into the game.  That means eight miniatures, maps, rules, tokens, dice, and character cards.  But if you want to continue on from there, you can expand your miniature forces by picking up individual blind booster boxes.  With 21 possibilities in all, you can find yourself being Lord of the Rings…cause Heroclix have ring bases…get it…huh?

Get your space jam on with Star Hero, the newest everything sci-fi edition of Hero System.  Within this volume you’ll find all the rules and structural elements to create the very best space, sci-fi, futuristic game you’ve ever taken part in.  That includes (as they say on the back) sections on creating characters, fleshing out your universe based off the latest real world discoveries, technology and weapons, and psionics and time travel.  You’ll be hunting down intergalactic smugglers in your Mark V star cruiser in no time.

It’s that time again.  Time for another Resident Evil Deck Building Game expansion.  This time Bandai has dubbed it Resident Evil: Nightmare.  Like previous expansions, Nightmare needs to be combined with the base game or Alliance for it to be played.  What it adds to either version of the game are new actions, characters, weapons, and infected cards.  This time around these include the Mine Thrower, Luis Serra, and the infected boss Osmund Saddler.  Along with the new cards, this expansion is contained within a box big enough to fit every previous edition of the game while also including dividers to separate your cards.

If you’re one of those Pathfinder players who wishes the GM would skip over all those boring story beats and, instead, get to the fighty fighty, then Conflict Games has granted your wish.  Completely compatible with the Pathfinder Core Rulebook and any 3.5 system, Conflict Roleplaying is a battle game that allows single players or teams to face off against each other in vicious combat.  This base edition includes maps pre-generated characters, maps, and rules for play.  Combine with the recently released Pathfinder miniature set for the complete package.

The trains are running on time thanks to the new expansion for Steam.  Steam Barons adds two new maps to the base game along with the ability to expand the game for five or six players.  More than that, the expansion adds a complete new set of rules that add a stock market element to the game where players can buy or sell shares in the railway companies.  On top of all this, the expansion also includes a mass of train miniatures.

Incorporating elements from video games, Risk Legacy introduces new elements to the game as you complete objectives, not over the course of one game, but every game you ever play.  That’s right, each time to play a game of Risk Legacy the rules alter, factions are removed or added, and the map is reshaped.  What you choose to do in one game may effect a future game.  Primarily, this comes into play with the LOCKED rules cards that stay sealed until you complete the objective written on the front.  A Risk game unlike any other, Risk Legacy gives the power to not just conquer the world, but reshape it.

Asara lets players explore their inner architect as everyone races to create the most awe inspiring towers in the  city.  Pull your building blocks from various rare materials in an effort to build the most embellished structure, thus gain prestige and the favor of the ruling class.  But construction isn’t your only concern as you can also thwart your fellow architects from completing their masterpieces.  A family game at heart, Asara should fall in with the likes of Samarkand, Settlers of Catan, and Carcassonne.

How about a little restock blurb to mix things up?  The first expansion to the base game, Okko Yakuza Hazu Akai offers nine new playable characters (mostly Yakuza mercenaries) to be played in the base game as well as their matching player stat cards.  Five new equipment cards are also included.

Wealth of Nations: Clouds of War is yet another expansion (kinda the trend tonight), this time for the original Wealth of Nations game.  Running off the second edition rule set, Clouds of War introduces a slew of new tiles among various rule options for faster play, two player games, and optional game alterations.

Want to know your fortune?  That’s what the new Harrow Deck for Pathfinder Chronicles will tell you.  Both a deck of cards for telling fortunes in any roleplaying setting as well as a gambling-based card game, the Harrow Deck includes 54 harrow cards and 5 divination reference cards.

The most recent deck expansion for the Legend of the Five Rings card game, Second City features three new clan decks.  These three include decks for the Scorpion, Dragon, and Mantis clans.

The Pathfinder Society will be braving the dangers of Golarion for fortune and glory!

Pathfinder Society is the worldwide orginized play program for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Visit paizo.com/pathfindersociety to register your character and click the link “Join the PathfinderSociety!” in the sidebar on the right. You’re going to want a copy of the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play (which is a free download from Paizo’s website). It will explain everything you need to know to put together a character for organized play. While you’re at it you’re going to want a copy of the Pathfinder Core Rulebook (which we have for sale in the store.)

The GM running the events for us is Seth and you can contact him by email at sbrummond@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Space for the first game is limited, so sign up ASAP!

Okay, fast and loose!

Sid Meier’s Civilization is not only a highly popular computer game, but a successful board game, as well.  For that reason, most will be rolling across the floors in fits and spells because of the new Civilization: Fame and Fortune expansion.  As usual the question becomes “What does it add?”.  How about new Great Person cards (like Hannibal and Joan of Arc) which can come to your assistance during the game?  How about culture event cards, tech cards, map tiles, and investment deck cards, all brand new?  How about the ability to add a fifth player?  Yup, it’s got all that!

Going boldly where few board game expansions have gone before, Space Alert: The New Frontier includes five separate expansion pieces that can be incorporated simultaneously or independently into the base game.  New foes pose new threats.  New red threat cards introduce intimidating obstacles for you to defeat.  New CD with new missions.  And much, much more.  Space rockets are in flight people, latch on!

The first chapter of the Lord of the Rings LCG comes to a close with the newest Adventure Pack, Return to Mirkwood.

As is the usual case, this booster includes sixty new cards to be added to the base game, continuing, and in this case finishing, the story.

A new edition to the respected line war games in the Fog of War series, Strike of the Eagle revolves around the Polish-Soviet War of 1920 between Lenin and Trotsky.  If you are looking for a strategic battle game that actually doesn’t take forever and a day to learn, the Fog of War series delivers.  Players face off in a game of deception where each opponent lays down their moves and actions secretly until they finally cross paths with their adversary.  The great part is a new player can learn the game in around ten minutes.  What war game do you know that can claim that?

Oh, look at that 11:30.  Only an hour late!