Last night we had a special guest host in the form of Game Stuff Robot, but tonight we will be talking about his extended family. Who also, as it goes, have the ability to speak.

That’s right, if you think genocidal trash cans who want to conquer the universe are just the cutest thing around, then you’re going to love snuggling with the Red Dalek Plush. Not only is he/she/it(?) lovable as hell, but also quite vocal. With familiar phrases such as “EXTERMINATE!”, “YOU ARE AN ENEMY OF THE DALEKS, YOU MUST BE DESTROYED!”, and other exclamatory phrases such as that. Share your love with an plunger-handed alien today!

IDW really needs to contact an exterminator, because they are infested again. If you read the first series (Infestation) where a number of IDW‘s famous characters faced off against zombies, then you’ll be prepared for this go around where they battle Cthulhu and his minions. But who are the “they” this time around? Well, the Transformers and G.I. Joes return (this time from the famous Heart of Steel universe), but are joined by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Danger Girls, characters from the Dungeons & Dragons universe, and 30 Days of Night. Not sure about you, but I can’t even imagine the epicness of all these characters crossing over with one another!  You’ll just have to pick up Infestation II #1 to prove to your brain it’s real.

Speaking of epic awesomeness, the new hardcover collection of Geoff Johns and James Robinson’s oft forgot Hawkman run hits shelves Wednesday. Though the book doesn’t get mentioned in the same breath as JSA or Green Lantern or Justice League, it should be. Johns and Robinson both delve into Hawkman‘s backstory, streamlining it, and setting him against ancient evils and buried baddies. With artwork from Rags Morales (New 52′s Action Comics), Hawkman pops with violent, emotive visuals along with the Indiana Jones-esque story lines. If you’ve enjoyed what Johns has been doing on Justice League or Aquaman currently, then you should check the origin of his writing style in the Hawkman Omnibus.

Finally, tonight, possibly the book I’m more excited about than any other this year, the first volume of the new ongoing Avatar the Last Airbender comic. Dark Horse is choosing an unusual, yet fitting, format for this book by releasing them as thick digest volumes over the next couple of months. This first volume is called The Promise (Part 1 of a trilogy) and it catalogs events that occur after the end of the series involving Aang, Katara, Sakka, and Zuko working to keep political unrest at a minimum for fear of starting another war. These stories will all bridge the gap between the old series and the new Legend of Korra sequel to premiere on Nickelodean this year. If you’re a fan of the show like me, then you’ll just be happy to feed your addiction for Avatar material, no matter the format.

 

Let me tell you something about Khazad-Dum. Not the place you want to go for a wedding reception. Just terrible ambience.

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?

 

Pssst.  You guys over there.  You want to see something cool?

Okay, that could be construed in a creepy way.

Skipping that, here’s some totally sweet, exclusive Munchkin product.  Emphasize exclusive there, because Pulp is the only store IN THE COUNTRY to carry these items currently.

The first of these oh-so-special items are two Munchkin Dice Bags.  Both bags have a special game rule printed on their sides (“When you take a Munchkin D6 out of [this bag] and roll it, the Munchkin head counts as a 7, not a 1″), in classic Munchkin style.  One is pink, one is tan; the tan one also comes with the benefit of two promo cards, Blind Chance and Bag of Hoarding.  The second Munchkin goodie is this year’s Christmas booster pack, Reindeer Games.  Like the previous Christmas booster expansions, this one includes 15 new cards to be played with the base Munchkin game.  And we have it waaaaay before anyone else.

Another member of the exclusive Pulp Fiction VIP super club of awesome (named it myself), the Steve Jackson Zombie Dice Dice Bag.  Carry the most addictive dice game known to man in style with this matching dice bag.

Another two-fer shout out, this time from Dungeons & Dragons, Heroes of the Feywild and the Dragon Miniature Collector’s Set.  The first has a unicorn on the cover.

Oh, you needed to know more?  What more could you want to know?  Okay, okay, the Feywild is a wonderous, luminous setting that suits happy-go-lucky gamers who desire less doom and gloom in their campaigns.  This hardcover entails every detail DMs and players will need to know about character creation (races, classes, powers, feats, etc.) as well as numerous details about the inhabitants of the world.

And if horned ponies ain’t your thing, turn your gaze to the Dragon Miniature Collector’s Set.  As the D&D Miniature series has been discontinued, the only way to grab hold of any miniature offerings these days is with a collection such as this.  As the title declares, this set comes packed with five of the famous dragon colors (green, blue, red, white, black) and their coordinating stat cards.

The Necrons have risen from their slumber.  You’ve been waiting for it, bidding your time with Space Marines and Imperial Guard, counting the seconds.  Well, wait no more.  Tomorrow the new Necron miniatures are here.  That means the Codex, the Necron Warriors, the Necron Immortals, the Doomsday Ark/Ghost Ark, C’tan Shard of the Nightbringer and C’tan Shard of the Deceiver, plus a whole Monolith more.  They’ve got a new look, a new rule set, and a new bag.

Stare at you own peril.

Seriously, dangerous.

Another of Terry Pratchett‘s beloved stories has been transferred to the world of the board game.  This time around it’s Discworld:  Ankh-Morpork.  Players battle over control of the titled city, minus its former ruler, Lord Vetinari.  No one knows what the other players are attempting to do to win, so everything is in chaos as players slap down cards to decide where their minions are placed and where buildings are erected.  Cards and characters are pulled directly from Pratchett‘s popular series of humorous novels, so fans of the series will surely get some joy out of the cameos and references.

Gambling?

I’m in!

As is the new Red Dragon Inn expansion of the same name (Gambling?  I’m In!).  Famous for its adaptability as a drinking game, Red Dragon Inn can now become even more scandalous with the nine different mini-games included in this expansion.  All nine games can be played stand-alone, if desired, or combined with the base game to replace the Rounds of Gambling.  The box also includes all the Rogues and Warriors cards that will be required to play these games of chance.

Flagons up!

 

With Innistrad Game Day only a day away, people may be grasping for a deck to play.  Well, look no further than the brand spanking new Innistrad Event Decks.

Always released two at a time, the Event Decks are made for competitive tournament play coming completely built (60 cards, 15 card sideboard) and ready to squash opponents.

This time around the decks are Hold the Line and Deathfed.  The former being white-centric and the latter being blue, black, and green-centric.  Both contain desired cards, as well, for the player who just needs a quick and easy way to obtain what they’re looking for.  For instance, Oblivion Ring, Champion of the Parish, Elite Inquisitor, and Hinterland Harbor.

And also, since these are the catch all of Magic products, they work perfectly for players who are just getting into the game and/or are needing a deck for their first constructed experience. 

You’ve played the Last Night on Earths, the Zombies!, and the Zombie Dices of the world, but here’s the zombie tale to show them how it’s done.  Yes, fellow survivors, The Walking Dead has become a board game.  Specifically The Walking Dead television show (the comic game comes later this year), this game is about survival.  You play characters from the show (represented by detailed character cards) on the search for supplies and safe haven, but beware, you can become a walker!  Proclaimed as a unique blend of cooperative and competitive play (as players can choose to team up or back stab), the game challenges people to make the tough decisions of who lives and who dies as supplies diminish while demand increases.

A little like Monopoly 1880′s, Homesteaders second edition is about building a boom town.  From Tasty Minstrel Games (the birthers of the popular Martian Dice), players spend resources to construct buildings, which, in turn, will provide their owner with money, special abilities, and points.  The player who has built the largest portion of the town by the end of ten rounds finds themselves the winner.  

Yee-haw, get’ter buildin’, pardner!

Never have dice caused such destruction!  Dark Minions is a game that encompasses those scenes in Lord of the Rings where that massive hoard of orks, goblins, and, I don’t know, accountants maybe, descend upon a castle or some such stony fortress.  Gamers control an assortment of 50 dice, each representing a slimy ransacker of towns.  And that, no surprise, is what you will be doing.  Choosing between storming a town, demolishing a tower, or bringing the dead back to life.  And if that ain’t enough, the game also includes an advanced mode that includes overlords who deal insane damage when they are called into play.

Like a treasure chest hidden deep in a dragon-guarded cavern, the new Pathfinder Beginner Box has everything you could ever want.  Borrowing the Red Box concept from D&D, Pathfinder has created a simple, one-stop product that can introduce and teach players about the Pathfinder system.  This little gem has within its sturdy confines a Hero’s Handbook (describing all the essentials of play), a Game Master’s Guide (basics of running an adventure), a complete set of dice, a map, character markers, and pre-built character sheets with hints in the margins about what each stat and section represents.  If you want to take a sneak peek into all these wonderfully helpful contents, stop by the store and examine our demo copy.

Speaking of Pathfinder goodness, it’s worth mentioning that two new books shipped this week, one a campaign setting, the other a player companion.  First is Lands of Linnorm Kings which details all the essential elements of the the viking’s home world.  Second would be Faiths of Corruption, a guide to the evil-aligned religions and faiths of the universe along with their adjoining rules and abilities.

Always a good night when you can end on familial murder and deceit.

And so we come to the Tourney for the Hand Chapter Pack, the start of a new chapter in the Game of Thrones LCG.  If you’re unfamiliar, Fantasy Flight‘s assortment of Living Card Games begin with a base game then expand through individual, non-random chapter packs.  These packs are then grouped into assortments of five or six, representing a “book”.  Thus, you can see why Game of Thrones would be a perfect property to attach such a mechanic to.  Anyway, Tourney for the Hand begins the Tales of Champions “book”, giving players sixty new cards to incorporate into their game.

 

City folk don’t know how ta tussle with vampires, no sir.  Y’all best come on down to Blood Country, learn yo’self how ta stake’em and bake’em.

That right there is the idea behind the newest expansion for the popular deck building game, Nighfall.  Nightfall: Blood Country contains 168 blood-soaked cards (note: cards are not actually drenched in blood; the aforementioned statement was for effect only) that introduce new vampires, werewolves, hunters, ghouls, and special powers for all your scratching and staking needs.  Plus, the quaint little box they come in has a set of tidy, decorated dividers that allow the game’s owner to separate all of their cards into one, easy-to-transfer box.  Y’all come bite now, ya hear?

Serious question time:  how long have you wanted to play dwarfs as a primary force in Battlelore?  Part two of that question:  how long have you wanted to play dwarfs that can ride on bears, in general?  Whether the amount is a day to twelve years, the newest Battlelore expansion set allows players to do both.  Bearded Brave is a Dwarven Army Pack that contains 40 dwarf figures that can be used in conjunction with units from the core to give players the ability of running a Dwarven army.  Now to the part about the bears.  Not only to these figures add the new Mighty Bolt Throwing units, but also the Dwarven Bear Riders.  Dwarfs.  On bears.  All over it.

You wouldn’t walk out of a riveting movie during the final act, would you?  Okay, maybe if there’s a fire.  Or an obnoxious jerk on their cell phone.  Or an obnoxious fire on their cell phone.  Whatever the case, Thunderstone:  Heart of Doom has no fires or cellphones (or, at least, no real ones anyway), but is most definitely the final act of the Thunderstone saga.  Capitalizing on the roleplaying allusions present in the game, this expansion is the culmination of the “campaign” that has been building since the beginning of the game series.  As such, Heart of Doom expands on the base game with new hero, village, and monster cards to aid players in working through the final, unique scenario to defeat the ultimate evil known only as Doom.

MERCS goes nuclear today!  Literally.  That level of atomic insanity is due to the new Keizai Waza faction.  These advance play style figurines come equipped with a tiny nuclear device embedded in their armor, which makes them a difficult faction to master.  If you haven’t picked up on it yet, the Keizai Waza are not made for players just getting into MERCS.  Not only does it take some careful timing and coordination to activate the nuke, but you also have to have your accuracy down to a careful degree once you do activate it.  If you’ve been looking to add a new level of challenge to your MERCS experience, level up and try the Keizai Waza.

So, the monkey has a knife, the room is filled with hornets, and you’re being covered in chocolate syrup while your buddy loads a bazooka next to you.  Most would consider this scenario a Fiasco, which is exactly why these are the kind of insane combinations that arise in the newest RPG from Jason Morningstar.  From personal experience, I can safely say this is a brilliant recipe for a good time!  Fiasco is constructed in such a way that whatever your players’ level of experience, they will be able to devour this game and end with a happy belly.  Basically, everyone involved picks a particular “world” to play in (these can include 30′s New York, the old west, gangsta London, etc.), assigns a name to their character, then picks random-ish elements that tie characters together and give them goals.  The rest of the game progresses as a movie, with players trading off “scenes” until they reach the climax.  I dare you to play through a game of Fiasco and not collapse to the ground in a fit of laughter.

Continuing with the RPG-centric falling action of this post, lets move on to Part-Time Gods.  A new setting from designer Eloy Lasanta, Part-Time Gods creates a mystical world of fantasy and adventure for the philosophical D&D player.  Player’s search for various relics and artifacts on their mystical quest to balance their soul.  Sounds deep, right?  That’s ’cause it is.  Each character begins as a normal being who is granted the abilities of a god.  As the adage goes, absolute power corrupts absolutely.  Or maybe it doesn’t, that is the choice you have to make.  Which way will you go?

Halloween’s on the horizon so the creepy, crawly campaign settings are coming out of the Lovecraftian woodwork.  This particular Cthulhuian booklet is called Realms of Crawling Chaos.  A campaign supplement for Labyrinth Lord and the Advanced Edition Companion, this booklet introduces new races, from Lovecraft’s sordid universe, such as white apes, sea blood, and subhumans, along with new spells, monsters, artifacts (plus a system for designing artifacts), and rules for psionics.  Now you know what you’re doing for Halloween (unless you want to play in our Call of Cthulhu game).

And now to round out this riveting romp, here’s a little segment we’ll be calling Restock Roundup!

These include:

-Arcana Revised card game

-Lord of the Rings LCG Adventure Packs (ALL OF THEM!!!!)

-Rare Earth Magnets

-Family Business

-Quarriors! (sweet, sweet Quarriors!)

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