Cards & Boards

Looks like them Cryptozoic folks continue to keep busy: time for a new World of Warcraft (WoW) TCG expansion, this time, Tomb of the Forgotten!

First bunch of previews have been running on the official WoW TCG website for close to a week now, and man it looks sweet. Okay, so that’s probably the inner WoW fanboy in me speaking, but I’m quaking in my boots looking at the spoilers for this new set!

There are new keywords, such as Sentinel – “When this ally exhausts for the first time each turn, you may ready it.” Just plain wow! If you look at what General Husam does, it’s pretty sick. Yeah, sucks to be attacking anyone with that guy, really.

By the way, the General guy, plus a host of other allies and Heroes, are Tol’vir. Not too clear on who these guys are, except that they look a lot like them ancient Egyptian deity and mummy guys. And I like mummies!

Crikey, mummies, in the WoW universe? Brokenly awesome new cards? Spankingly good artwork? Take my money please!

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So how many boardgames have you bought, that ended up seeing very little play in your gaming group?

What were those games?

When I see a list such as this on Boardgamegeek.com, I’m reminded of the diverse and really rich options we have, gaming-wise, and how hype can cripple promising titles.

In my group for example, trading card games (TCGs) have fallen down the pecking order, not only due to cost reasons (well, Magic: the Gathering booster packs did go up in price recently too), but primarily because of time.

With everyone having less and less time to customise decks, boardgames such as Blood Bowl: Team Manager Card Game become more bankable and agreeable to everyone.

But being cautious on games that market themselves as the “next  best thing”, we’ve not strayed very far off the beaten track, admittedly.

In the list above for instance, I have played Battleship Galaxies: The Saturn Offensive, for several weekends in a row. But there was little attachment to it, as the self-contained game ultimately did not have enough legs in it to carry on very far.

I was hoping for at least additional downloadable scenarios, more optional rules and what-not, but alas, Hasbro did not deliver in the end. Disappointing “end” to what had promising beginnings.

I don’t think Hasbro is the only gaming company guilty of this to be honest. My favorite gaming company Fantasy Flight Games has scores of different titles under its stable of games, but can only put out so many expansions per game. Some get neglected, while others continue to get strong support.

Unfortunately I’m still waiting for an official Blood Bowl Team Manager Card Game expansion. The wait proved to be too long, so, my own playgroup proceeded to make our own custom teams.

So, which games are overhyped? Why did they disappoint you?

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Fantasy Flight Games is fast turning out to be my favourite gaming company, as it announces the return of another classic game. Android: Netrunner is an LCG (living card game) that is based on Netrunner, an old card game first conceived and released back in 1996, by Richard Garfield (yeap, the designer for Magic: the Gathering).

Set in the cyberpunk futuristic world of Android, the game pits a megacorporation and its massive resources against the subversive talents of lone runners.

Corporation players try to score points by advancing their agendas (we’ll have to see what that really means in game terms), and netrunners try to score points by breaking through the corporation’s defenses and stealing valuable data. The first player to seven points wins the game, but not likely before he suffers some brain damage or bad publicity.

I never caught on with the Netrunner fad, but it was pretty big when the game first landed here in the 1990s. There was a regular playgroup, which more or less left the game when it went south after only one expansion. It even had a “virtual expansion” (these were popular for a while, for games that were discontinued), and was ranked by many as one of the more underrated card games of the 1990s.

FFG is proving to be a force to be reckoned with, and cleverly picking on classic gems of nostalgia. Well, let’s wait till year-end when this game lands, and see how it is. Now, where’s the (official) Blood Bowl expansion dammit?

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Listen up boys and girls, we gonna see our very own comic and games convention from Friday, 18 May to Sunday, 20 May. That’s when the Malaysian Games and Comics Convention 2012 will be held in Kolej Damansara Utama (Damansara Jaya)!

The doors will open from 10am till 6pm daily, with comics, games, cosplay sessions, “24-hour comic” marathons and “24-hour games DevThons”, workshops, masterclasses, and even performances, all on the event’s agenda.

Other highlights include the “Anugerah Pekomik 2012” awards as well as a Jay Tablante Cosplay Photo Exhibition.

Well, this event is sure shaping up to be a geek’s wet dream! You can find out more on their Facebook page as well as their official website. Check out the event trailer as well, it’s cool beans!

The Malaysian Games and Comics Convention 2012 is organised by the Persatuan Penggiat Komik Malaysia (Pekomik) and the International Game Developers Association (Malaysian Chapter), and co-sponsored by Borders, KDU, Banshee Creative, Tourism Selangor, Animation Xpress Asia-Pacific, Gaming Xpress, Zicco Tees and Pixaworks. So make a note of this event in your calendar and see you guys and gals there and then, okay?

So what do you guys think? Do tweet me at www.twitter.com/arcturus_mengsk or leave me feedback below.

The expansions just keep coming for Fantasy Flight Games boardgame titles.

And the latest to check in, is for Cadwallon: City of Thieves. King of Ashes. The add-on will have new adventures, characters, equipment, Arcana, and a new catacombs board for the guilds to explore and loot!

In case you missed out, Cadwallon: City of Thieves is a fast-paced game of cunning thievery and ruthless skullduggery in a fantasy city steeped in magic and intrigue.

Two to four players each control their own gang of four thieves, competing to amass the greatest haul of loot from the many carefully locked chests scattered around the board.

The most successful players are as likely to claim their loot from the other gangs as they are to do the time-consuming legwork themselves.

Adding to the randomness and fun are the Guild, who direct the thieves from the shadows, as well as the lawmen themselves (the militia), who will sound the alarm and stop you – eventually!

Anyway, the gist is that the King of Ashes expansion will feature four new adventures, four new mercenaries, the monstrous Cyclops of Mid-Nor, and dozens of new Arcana, equipment, and intrigue cards. Release date is the third quarter of this year, so buckle up!

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What does a cash-strapped card flipper do when he wants most bang from his hard-earned buck?

Why, shop online of course! Let’s face it, whether it’s Magic: the Gathering or the World of Warcraft TCG, the random distribution of cards mean that it’s the best and worst thing, at the same time.

You might buy a box of booster packs, and still be short of quite a few rares, and occasionally, even uncommons.

There’s trading and all that, but what happens when everyone wants the same epic Monster / mythic Planeswalker?

Well, this is where web stores such as MTGMintcard.com and TrollandToad.com come in. Auction websites such as eBay can be handy as well, but sometimes, you just want to buy the cards straight, rather than wait for auctions to end.

I used to rely on MTGMintcard.com a lot when I played Magic and WoW actively a year ago. The Hong Kong-based web store ships pretty fast, with a pricing that is okay – not too cheap, but not exorbitant.

Best part is, they sure save me the hassle of ploughing through box after box for particular rare or epic cards!

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It’s that time of the year again when a new World of Warcraft Trading Card Game (WoW TCG) set comes a-calling.

Tomb of the Forgotten, will check in worldwide by June 12, with more monsters, loot and other good stuff, then!

Very few preview cards for now, but the good news is, the previews will kick off on WoWTCG.com by May 26. The bad news? Well, we got around three and a half more weeks to wait it out, so, let’s keep on waiting shall we?

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