X-Men on Colt Express to Japan

May 15, 2014

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You had me at X-Men

I am going to start this week’s post off with the new hotness, Marvel Dice Masters. Wizkids has confirmed that the first standalone “expansion,” Marvel Dice Masters: Uncanny X-Men, will hit your local FLGS in September 2014. The description on BoardGameGeek’s game page states that Wolverine, Magneto, Cyclops, Iceman, Psylocke and the Sentinels will be included. To be honest, all you would have to say is the X-Men are included to have me hooked.

Also, BoardGameGeek News previewed two new Action Cards, Teamwork and Rally!, that will be given as participation prizes (noted by the blue rarity line) to those players involved in the first two month’s Organized Play storyline events. Teamwork looks to enhance the benefits of playing with characters from similar teams, while Rally! is something I would definitely like to explore with my main man, Green Goblin. I cannot wait to see what Wizkids has in store for these OP storylines!

Bauza + Japan = Swoon

For those of you who know me, you’ll know that I have a huge man-crush on designer Antoine Bauza. The thought of his games brings joy to my heart, and needless to say I have been closely following the development of his latest projects. First up this week from publisher Funforge is Samurai Spirit, a game which I have tweeted about in the past but it looks to finally have an official BoardGameGeek page with additional details on the game play.

Samurai Spirit is a co-operative game in which each player is a fierce samurai defending a village surrounded by a horde of bandits. The game plays out over three turns during which each player takes turns drawing bandit cards, then choosing whether they want to fight the bandit, defend the village, or let the bandit pass in order to help the other samurai.

The challenge of the game consists of balancing your choices: Should you fight each enemy to quickly reach your beast capacities, while also coming closer to the death and risking further loss by not defending the village sufficiently? Should you mainly defend or help the other samurai, taking the risk of remaining human too long and therefore weaker, when you know that weakness will be a major problem when facing the lieutenant and the villain bosses? Each enemy presents a tough choice to you, your team, and ultimately the whole village! Each turn ends with farms and fences being destroyed, and since those aren’t unlimited, you must do what’s necessary to end the game with at least one undamaged farm and enough farmers to tend it. Do you have what it takes to stand against evil and become a true hero?

Fight with courage, smartly assist your teammates, defend the poor villagers, turn into a savage beast, and wreck havoc on the enemy lines — all of this is up to you! Ultimately it would be your honor to choose to die in a ultimate sacrifice in order to save the village. All of this is what makes the true samurai spirit!

Both Funforge and Mr. Bauza have stated that a Gencon 2014 (August) release is the goal for this one, however, it may slide to September. Either way, I will be waiting with cash in hand to pick this one up.

In other Antoine Bauza news, he was spotted tweeting a picture of his 7 Wonders Duel prototype during a recent playtest. A lot can be assumed by the picture, but very few details have been given about this one to date. We do know that it is a standalone game and strictly for 2 players. We will keep you posted as more details surface

Summoners are people too

In an attempt to show that Summoners can be friends, Plaid Hat Games has announced the release of the Summoner Wars: Alliances Master Set. Alliances will feature 8 new faction decks, each comprising a hybrid of 2 of the 16 existing factions, blending the themes of the 2 factions and expanding the deck-building pic2018178_md possibilities. The new factions are:

Fallen Phoenix: Phoenix Elves/Fallen Kingdom
Cave Filth: Filth/Cave Goblins
Tundra Guild: Guild Dwarves/Tundra Orcs
Swamp Mercenaries: Swamp Orcs/Mercs
Vargath Vanguard: Vanguard/Vargath
Sand Cloaks: Cloaks/Sand Goblin
Deep Benders: Deep Dwarves/Benders
Jungle Shadows: Shadow Elves/Jungle Elves

For more details on Alliances from the Plaid Hat guys themselves, including many of the lead playtesters, check out their May 2nd podcast. Look for Summoner Wars: Alliance Master Set to be available at or around Gencon 2014.

Come on Ride the 3D Train

Ludonaute has announced the U.S. release of Colt Express, a game in which I almost soiled myself with excitement after reading the description on BoardGameGeek. In Colt Express, players take the role of bandits attempting to rob the innocent passengers aboard the Union Pacific Express. And have I mentioned yet, that the game takes place on a 3D train!?

In Colt Express, you play a bandit robbing a train. Your goal is to become the richest outlaw of the Old West. The game consists of five rounds, and each round has two phases:

Phase 1: Programming Each player plays 2-5 action cards on a common pile, face up or face down depending on the type of the round.

Phase 2: Action The action cards are performed in the order they have been played. Then comes confusion as a player’s best laid plans may not pan out due to mistakes and oversights!

The game takes place in a 3D train in which the bandits can move from one car to another, run on the roof, punch the other bandits, shoot them, rob the passengers, or draw the Marshal out of position.

The game reminds me of a boardgame version of Under Siege 2. Actually, now that I think of it, the only thing they have in common is probably a train. But you should watch the movie either way; cinematic gold. Colt Express will hit U.S. shelves in October 2014.

Ninjas…nuff said

And last on our list this week is Jurgen Mayer’s Shinobi Clans, a game that I would buy on art alone. For real, this one is beautiful. This deduction card game has players leading their team of ninjas on secret missions in an attempt to outwit their opponents and lead their clan to victory. The tactical card drafting and stacking mechanisms are very intriguing. As described on the BoardGameGeek game page:

As a ruthless and cunning shinobi clan master, you lead your team of ninjas on secret missions that decide between life and death for dangerous ronin, noble daimyos and powerful shoguns. Recruit the most skilled assassins, arm them with the deadliest weapons, and devise plans that will outwit your rivals on your way to becoming the most feared and prosperous ninja clan of them all!

Shinobi Clans is a strategic card game for 3-5 players. As ninja clan leaders, players must master all facets of ninja warfare: Secretly select missions on targets that promise the biggest rewards with the least opposition. Muster the most suitable ninjas and weapons by card drafting. Position them tactically through a card stack mechanism that can disrupt your enemy’s plans. Use secret unit deployment to your advantage and hope the other clans’ spies don’t uncover your strategy…

Released on a limited basis at Gencon 2013, Posthuman Studios will widely release Shinobi Clans to retailers towards the end of Q2 2014. You can never have enough ninja in your life!

Until next time, stay classy and keep your game(s) tight!

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/PODCAST CO-HOST : Allow myself, to introduce myself. Boardgaming since the womb, I have an unsound infatuation with buying, playing, discussing, photographing, and writing about boardgames. As a boardgame aesthetics enthusiast (say that 5 times fast) you'll typically find that I spend a large majority of the game examining the design, art, and components. I prefer strategic eurogames but will play just about anything these days (except Arkham Horror). And I love Pearl Jam.