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5 February Update
That Was the Fortnight That Was
Convention – All Wisdom
As the 2012 calendar turns from January to February, we have been busy looking at this year’s VPG “road show” – that is, those game conventions around the United States where we plan to meet many of you. Our first show, on 18-19 February, will be ORCCON in Los Angeles (over President’s Day weekend). We will be attending
that Saturday and Sunday, and even bringing the founder of both the Los Angeles area game conventions (i.e., Strategicon) and Victory Point Games, Alan Emrich himself. It’s always a bit nostalgic for Alan to see another ORCCON convention, as he founded this show during his High School days and he’s very glad that they’re still going strong some 35 years later. Several stalwarts from The Little Game Company That Could are planning to attend, including business manager Joshua Gottesman, boardgames producer Nathan Hansen, game designers Joseph Miranda and Steve Carey. Even Terry Coleman thinks he might be able to fly in for a reunion and some gaming!The following weekend, Alan and Nathan will be taking The Little Game Company on the road to Phoenix, Arizona, for Vul-Con. This will be our first time at this convention, but if our friend Jeff McAleer at The Gaming Gang say we need to attend, then we need to attend, and we’ll be there flying the crimson banner of Victory Point Games. Of course, we’ll be back out that way again for ConsimWorld Expo at the end of June (where we pull out all the stops) and hang out with VPG stalwarts like Frank Chadwick, Hermann Luttmann and Lance McMillan (plus others whom we’re still getting confirmations for).
In addition to several other US Western Regional Conventions (Gamex, Gateway, Pacificon, GMT West, and Comikaze), we are planning once again to set up shop at the World Board Championships (WBC) this year, led by our own business manager, Joshua Gottesman. Finally, our annual “new convention” that we want to try this year is Boardgame Geek Con, assuming we can get a table in the exhibitor area at that convention’s new facility. For now, what you need to know is that VPG is getting its act together and we’re taking it on the road in 2012.
A Moving Update
If you want to find out about our latest news and product releases, click on the link below:
Waterloo 20 2nd edition released!
New and improved!
Waterloo 20 is the first title in a series of games featuring low unit density on the map (20 pieces or less), modest complexity and dramatic, fast playing turns. With Napoleon’s escape from exile and return to France, his Grande Armee is once again on the march. Can the Anglo-Allied forces under Wellington and the Prussian army under Blücher stop him?
What's New in 2nd Edition:
Improvements and enhancements to this new edition of Waterloo 20 touch every component, and so it is a complete rebirth. The map has seen a fresh look at the critical terrain that affects these series’ games, and so the addition of several smaller rivers and streams now flow across the landscape. So, too, were some other geographical features more properly placed, and the set up locations of a few units adjusted. The cards have seen many substitutions to improve the game’s narrative, as well as graphics enhancements, to bring them up to the latest series standards.
The counters have seen the addition of the French “Grand Battery” artillery Reserve unit, the Prussian Advanced Guard cavalry unit (which begins the game eliminated and awaiting an opportunity to rally, as it was broken earlier slowing down the French approach to Ligny), and a “Good Ground” marker to reflect the strong position Blucher defended at Ligny and Wellington found near Waterloo. The rules include historical and variable weather, and a an 18 June scenario (i.e., the third day) where the pieces begin ready to commence the battles at Wavre and Waterloo. There is even a historical card-draw variant for that scenario, for those desiring a more scripted battle of Waterloo.
Click here for all the details and to order Waterloo 20 2nd edition.
120122 Update
That Was the Fortnight That Was
Weather: Cold. Games: Hot.
We love this indoor time of year in the Northern Hemisphere. While people hunker down indoors during these short days and fight off Winter’s chill, nothing goes better than a large cup of your favorite hot beverage and a small game from The Little Game Company to joyously pass the time and relax between life’s pressures. There have been some record cold-fronts moving across the United States, but your desire for the latest offerings from Victory Point Games has been a pleasant warm breeze filling our sails as we bring you plenty of new games for the New Year.
Although there has been a lot of playtesting (and no shortage of design) on the game tables of late here at VPG, we’re remaining cognizant of the fact that those very tables are about to moved out from under the very games we have set up on them. That is because The Little Game Company that Could is moving to a new office/warehouse location about 200 feet across the parking lot here at 3303 Harbor Boulevard in Costa Mesa, California. It’s a larger space that provides us room to meet our needs over the next few years for planned growth of key staff and the acquisition of new equipment to improve the quality of our myriad board and computer game products going forward. Spring commences on March 20th and our move to the new facility should follow very quickly thereafter. It will be a short-term disruption for The Slightly Larger Game Company that Still Can, but after enduring that disruption we should be in a great position to bring you “more better games.” Watch this column for details as they are announced.
Table Talk Playtest Reports
Paul Koenig's Market Garden: Eindhoven Bridge released!
Eindhoven Bridge: September 17-19, 1944
Paul Koenig’s Market Garden is a series of small-format, competitive introductory-level wargames covering the critical first three days of Operation Market-Garden, where the Allies attempted to seize a series of bridges in Holland and end WWII before Christmas. Each game in the series covers a separate bridge: Arnhem, Nijmegen, and Eindhoven.
Eindhoven Bridge is the second game in the Market Garden series, covering the events happening at this vital fiver crossing from September 17th-19th, 1944. Each player commands their German or American forces so as to capture key objectives on the board while keeping your casualties down (and your opponent’s casualties up).
With plenty of decision making and Optional Rules to extend gameplay and realism, the very collapse of Germany is at stake as you make your stand and bring your enemies down at Eindhoven Bridge!
Click here for all the details and to order Paul Koenig's Market Garden: Eindhoven Bridge.
120108 Update
That Was the Fortnight That Was
The Ghosts of Games Past, Present and Yet to Come
There is no doubt that 2011 was a serious year of growth at The Little Game Company That Could. We began the year still settling into our new Harbor Boulevard address and closed it with many friends coming and going around Victory Point Games. Through it all, however, we did manage to release some 30 new products last year, a
staggering record that we hope to maintain and will try to beat in the year ahead. During this past year, we published TC Tennis and its first expansion kit, but lost TC to another game studio. We saw our fastest-selling new release in Hermann Luttmann’s Gettysburg: The Wheatfield as Hermann dominated 2011 by also seeing his Dawn of the Zeds and High & Tight games strike out for glory. Steve Carey’s We Must Tell The Emperor won a Charles S. Roberts Award, while his second game, Malta Besieged, has shot up to the top of the VPG sales charts and is already garnering great reviews. We also released our first app game in 2011, Chris Taylor’s Loot and Scoot.There has been a lot of rapid evolution at Victory Point Games in 2011, and the Ghost of Gaming Yet to Come has some very large plans for The Little Game Company in 2012, beginning with a move across the parking lot to a larger office/warehouse. We will be releasing more information about these changes in future updates (and even faster if you subscribe to our free VPG Company email newsletter, The Crimson Courier), but for now we will turn things over to the Ghost of Gaming Present and take you on a tour of our playtesting tables, which have been quite busy over the holidays…
Latest Releases
Why?! is now available!
VPG's first children's game!
For years we've pondered the question: "Why did the chicken cross the road?" Well, never fear, because our very own VPG designer, Nathan Hansen, has the answer! Presenting our first kid's game, WHY?! is a 1 to 5 player game featuring the perfectly normal, seemingly sane chickens, running headlong into traffic, causing a massive 42 car pileup!
Parents and kids can play together in this quick, easy to learn game that is fun and challenging for all players!
Click here for all the details and to order Why?!
Objective: Odessa released!
Romania's contribution to operation barbarossa: June-August, 1941
As part of Army Group South’s effort in Operation Barbarossa, the Romanian 3rd and 4th Armies were tasked with covering the right flank of the offensive, clearing the area between the Dniester and Bug Rivers, and occupying the port city of Odessa. Axis planners hoped the badly outnumbered Soviet garrison in this area would collapse quickly, but the hastily assembled Independent Coastal Army managed to withstand 73 days of siege before being evacuated to the Crimea by the Black Sea Fleet, effectively gutting the cream of the pre-war Romanian Army in the process.
The Objective: Odessa expansion kit includes a map extension and additional units to cover the added area and forces that participated in this region during the campaign.
Note, Objective: Odessa is not a ‘stand alone’ game. You must own a copy of Objective: Kiev to use this expansion kit.
Click here for all the details and to order Objective: Odessa.
Malta Besieged released!
"That Scorpion of the Sea"
From designer Steve Carey, “That Scorpion of the Sea,” Malta Besieged:1940 - 1942 is a solitaire game covering the pivotal World War II years of the mid-1940 through 1942 period in the often overlooked Battle for the Mediterranean. You are placed in the role of the Commonwealth Commander in the theatre, and must utilize every resource at your disposal to fend off unrelenting Axis attacks in order to ensure the survival of the island of Malta.
Built upon the States of SiegeTM engine, Malta Besieged features both familiar and innovative gameplay. Players must safely shepherd vulnerable convoys - and their valuable cargoes - in order to effectively wage war. With the ability to trade Supply for extra Actions at the most crucial moments, there is additional emphasis on that precious resource and it also creates extremely tense convoy battles which are resolved as the game progresses.
With various events and important decisions to make, will you have the wisdom, leadership, fortitude, and luck to save the island of Malta and win the North African Campaign?
Click here for all the details and to order Malta Besieged.
Loot and Scoot app now available!
VPG's first Digital Game!
At long last, Loot and Scoot: The Digital Game is available on the App Store and Android Market! Based off of Chris Taylor's design of the board game, Loot and Scoot, this is a fast-playing game of dungeons, dragons and running faster than the hirelings when the going gets too tough.
In this push-your-luck dungeon crawler game of 1-4 players, you will be able to construct dungeons, recruit adventuring groups, and loot the most treasure before the Dungeon Boss is found... and killed.
Note: This game requires you to have Adobe Air installed on your device.
Iphone/Ipad requirements: iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation) and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.
Android requirements: Android 2.2 and up. Requires Adobe Air installed.
Click here for all the details and to order the Loot and Scoot application!
Playtesters Wanted!
PARSEC Expansion #2: Nebulas and Nanotechs
Blast off with Sean Young's latest game, Parsec Expansion Kit #2: Nebulas and Nanotechs. Adding several new and exciting features such as new hexes to explore space, Nebulas, deadly Pulsars, a new Nanotech, Faction cards, and much more! Mysterious derelict spaceships from a long forgotten alien race can also be discovered, allowing players to get both Research tokens and Credits for exploring them.
The Homeworld Expansion Council is looking for brave new volunteer Robots (you!) to head out into this new area of space!
Note: You must have the PARSEC base game in order to playtest this expansion.
If you are interested in becoming a Victory Point Games playtester for any of these games, you need to read this article and follow its directions about contacting us. Thanks for your consideration!
Assault on Galactus Prime expansion kit 1 on sale!
The Empire Shoots Back.jpg)
As the Empire stood and witnessed the surprise assault on their beloved Galactus Prime, they plotted revenge. Now, they're rebuilding and retaliating in full force! The first expansion for Tom Decker's Assault on Galactus Prime, The Empire Shoots Back, broadens your options and promotes wilder gameplay in this deck-building, push-your-luck game. Now it's time for you to fight back before it's too late!
Note, the Assault on Galactus Prime Expansion Kit 1: The Empire Shoots Back is not a ‘stand alone’ game. You must own a copy of Assault on Galactus Prime to use this expansion kit.
Click here for all the details and to order Assault on Galactus Prime Expansion #1: The Empire Shoots Back.
Leipzig 20 released!
The Crown jewel of the Germany 20 series!
What began at the Battle of Dresden and continued to unfold on battlefieds across the German States including Kulm, Dennewitz, Grossbeeren, Gorlitz, and the Katzbach River, have all led up to this. Four Allied nations, and their four armies are converging on Napoleon’s Grande Armée as it falls back to its supply base at Leipzig. More than a half-million soldiers will stand and face eather other over these fateful days, which are now yours to command in this epic installment of VPG's venerable Napoleonic 20 series. The Battle of Nations awaits!
Featuring a strategic scale with corps-sized units and mult-hour game turns, play moves smartly across this, the largest single game map in this series. This tense-and-ever-growing meeting engagement will require skill and strategic sense to master!
Click here for all the details and to order Leipzig 20.
For the Crown expansion 1 now available!
Cover of Night
The war for the crown has not yet ceased ... not even when the sun goes down. Neither side is safe even in the darkness, but both warring princes are well prepared - they've gone through lengths to recruit special units to surprise their enemy, including a Phantom to cloak itself and hopefully use the darkness to its advantage in order to capture the rival King and Heirs.
From our popular deck-building game, For the Crown, comes the first expansion, Cover of Night, introducing a new range of units, and an additional Sovereign, to pit against your opponent. Can you strategize your units wisely on the dark battlefield? Find out if you have what it takes to effectively conquer the kingdom under the Cover of Night!
Note, the For the Crown Expansion Kit 1: Cover of Night is not a ‘stand alone’ game. You must own a copy of For the Crown to use this expansion kit.
Click here for all the details and to order For the Crown Expansion #1: Cover of Night.
ABD 5.1: Way of the Samurai available!
Battles of the Sengoku Period
From designer Mike Nagel comes the special ABD 5.1: Way of the Samurai.
Experience the Sengoku Jidai battles of two opposing Eastern and Western forces, with 15 glorious custom scenarios!
Notice: This Expansion Kit is not a ‘stand alone’ game. To use it, you must own a copy of:
• Ancient Battles Deluxe
• Ancient Battles Deluxe Expansion Kit 5: Design Your Own
Click here for all the details and to order ABD #5.1: Way of the Samurai.
High & Tight: The Game of Baseball Strategy released!
Let's Play Ball!
It is said that every baseball team will win one-third of its games and lose one-third of its games. Now, step onto the field and find out what it takes to win “that other one-third”!A favorite pastime has finally found its way into the ballpark of VPG's Sports Series. High & Tight, from designer Hermann Luttmann, is a simple, two-player game of baseball strategy for two players, utilizing teams to the fullest and going head to head in the field, anywhere from spring training to the intensity of the World Series.
Focus on how to best form your team line-up, and battle inning by inning in an effort to emerge victorious! Think you have what it takes to efficiently manage your players, maximizing their specific talents as well as utilize Strategy cards to subtly increase the odds of scoring and preventing runs? Manage your team’s assets, take advantage of the opportunities, and knock it out of the ballpark on the “field of dreams.” Step up to the plate with High & Tight ... And let’s play ball!
Click here for all the details and to order High & Tight
G*M*S Magazine Podcast
Featuring the man (Alan Emrich) himself!
G*M*S Magazine has featured a podcast interview with Alan Emrich, talking all about himself and Victory Point Games!Listen here now!
Make a VPG 01: Introduction
Introduction
If you’re interested in trying your hand at designing a game, then this Making a Victory Point Game series of articles is written for you. It provides more information on specific subjects about designing games for VPG. By reading them, you should be well on your way to reaching your goal of becoming a published VPG game designer!