Post #100 - Going Bigger for November!

November 2011 is Solo Tabletop Gaming Appreciation Month, and I've been encouraging soloists to GO BIG with their games of choice. Have I heeded my own advice? I don't think so. So, it's time I REALLY put my money where my blog is...

Even though I've already outlined the details of my massive solo Marvel Heroclix campaign, yesterday's release of the Superman-themed DC Heroclix set made me realize I CAN GO BIGGER!

So, as of this, my 100th post, I pledge to organize another massive Heroclix campaign for November, this time set in the DC Universe (the classic one, not the new 52). It will follow nearly the same structure as the Marvel campaign. I'll post the team line-ups in October.

Additionally, the surviving winners of the Marvel campaign will face off against the surviving members of the DC campaign for solo Heroclix campaign supremacy!

OK...that's going big. I feel better now.

New Scenario for Carsten's Solo Star Wars Minis Rules

This is so cool...

From Carsten from Germany:

Since you saw the solo Star Wars rules it's time to put it all together with a sample scenario. I put together a scenario to show how the rules can work in practice. This scenario pits rebel commandos against imperial troops and it can easily be played on Vassal, using the rules and stat lists from Dantooine Base. Just use the target markers as encounter tokens.

As with all things random, it can be a piece of cake, depending on your encounter rolls and when you get the quest encounter, or it can be tough. The key to success is to secure an area and search it while you have time, before the doom counter goes critical, to stock up on medpacs and equipment.

Enough talk....let's roll...

Data Recovery
A Star Wars Miniatures Solo Adventure

The Story

The Imperials have discovered a hidden rebel outpost and launched a devastating attack. The outpost was taken quickly, the rebel presence was eliminated or imprisoned. The ruins of the outpost are crawling with imperial troops searching for tactical data and information regarding the Rebel Alliance. The Rebel High Command has dispatched a team of elite commandos to infiltrate the base in order to recover the encryption codes before the Imperials find them and to erase all remaining tactical data. Together with members of the local resistance cell, the commandos set out to fulfill their dangerous mission.

Player's Squad:
1 Rebel Commando Strike Leader
2 Elite Rebel Commandos
2 Veteran Rebel Commandos
1 Defel Spy
1 Ishi Tib Scout
106 points total

You start the mission with five Medpacs 20 (replaces attacks, use once, remove 20 damage from self or adjacent ally). You don't need to keep track of who carries a medpac, just assume that whoever needs one has one.

Map:
Ravaged Base map from Attack on Endor scenario pack.

Player Setup:
The commandos set up at the eastern map edge outside the base.

Encounter Trigger Placement:
Place 15 encounter triggers (tokens) on the map, using the following set up:
1 encounter trigger per named room placed in the center of the room.
1 encounter trigger in every turbolift.
1 encounter trigger in every large hallway

If you have encounter triggers remaining, place additional triggers in the rooms and hallways.

As stated in the rules, encounter triggers are resolved at the end of every round if a player character has LOS to an encounter trigger AND is within 8 squares of the encounter trigger AND if no enemy models are active on the map (all conditions must be true).

If all of these conditions are met, roll one d20. On an result of 1-12 you trigger an encounter and remove the token. Place the random encounter at the token location.

On 13+ you remove the token and no encounter occurs.

Roll on the random encounter table to see what you have revealed and place the encounter as close to the token location as possible.

Mission Objective:
The commandos must obtain the encryption datacard from the quest encounter. Once the card is obtained, the commandos must reach the commanders office and one commando must erase the data at the console by standing adjacent to it and replacing his turn. The data can only be erased if no enemies are present on the map (see High Alert Rules at the quest encounter description below).

Search Result Table:
See the scenario rules for details on searching. If a character searches an area, roll 1d20 and consult the following search table:
01-05: We don't have all day! Take 1d6 and put it on the table reading 1. If you get this result again, turn the d6 to 2. Whenever you get this result again, keep turning the d6 (it's a doom counter). If the d6 reaches 6, the imperials have decrypted the codes and the mission is a failure.
06-10: nothing
11-12: Medpac 10, use once, replaces attacks, remove 10 damage from self or adjacent ally
13-14: Medpac 20, use once, replaces attacks, remove 20 damage as above
15: Medpac 30, as above, remove 30 damage as above
16: Blaster Scope, the searcher gains the Careful Shot +2 ability for the remainder of the mission.
17: Sniper Rifle, the searcher gains the Accurate Shot ability.
18: Armor, the searcher gets +2 Defense.
19: Thermal Detonators, the searcher gets the Grenades 40 ability.
20: Personal Deflector, the searcher gains the Shields 2 ability for the mission.

Random Encounter Table (1d10):
01: Stormtrooper Officer, 6x Stormtrooper
02: Felucian Stormtrooper Officer, 6x Stormtrooper
03: 4x Elite Stormtrooper
04: 4x Heavy Stormtrooper
05: Imperial Officer, 4x Elite Stormtrooper
06: Sandtrooper Officer, 5x Sandtrooper
07: Imperial Security Officer, 6x Stormtrooper
08: 5x 501st Legion Stormtrooper
09: Felucian Stormtrooper Officer, 4x Elite Stormtrooper
10: Quest Encounter: You find the dead body of the base commander and recover the encryption datacard from his body. The card enables you to gain access to the tactical information and erase it. This encounter can occur only once. If it comes up again, reroll. The last remaining token always reveals this encounter if it has not been revealed before. As you put away the card, a squad of imperials appears from around a corner: 1x Stormtrooper Officer, 6x Elite Stormtrooper.

After defeating this encounter, the Imperials go to high alert: IF no encounter token was resolved at the end of a round AND there are no enemies currently on the map, there is still a chance to encounter a patrol. Roll 1d20, on a roll of 1-4 a squad of 4 Stormtroopers appears 8 squares away from behind a door or corner or within a turbolift. Do not make this roll if you resolved a token but no encounter was triggered.

The enemies activate and act according to the Automated Opponent rules posted on the Solo Nexus blog. Remember that commandos with super stealth are not legal targets so the Stormtroopers will move to base them or move to a position where the commandos have no cover.

Awesome as ever, Carsten! Thanks!

Battle Quest

Last week, Shane from Crystal Star Games released Battle Quest, an adventure game for 1-4 players.

From the description:

Journey deep into dangerous lands in search of gold and glory, and compete with other players to be the first to complete the mission!

Take on the role of The Warrior, The Mage, The Thief or The Treasure Hunter in a quest to defeat the dragon and take it's treasure. Be the first of your friends to do so and you win!

Battle Quest can even be played solo, without need for a GM. It plays with only D6 needed, so it is simple to pick up and play.

I've been through the modest text of Battle Quest this weekend and even tried a few rounds, and I can say that Shane will probably have another winner on his hands, though this one might be best suited to a younger audience. The play style is stripped-down D&D dicing with a bent toward competitive play. Not sure if it scratches the solo itch as well as it could because it seems group play is much more fun, but, with more add-ons on the way, I'll keep my eye on the line.

Get the core rules of Battle Quest for FREE right HERE.

My solo heroclix rules WILL work with LotR clix

This week, Wizkids released specific design details and a few preview dials for their upcoming Lord of the Rings Heroclix line. I had been asked many weeks ago if my Solo Wargaming Rules for Heroclix would work with the LotR line. Now, having learned about the new  "Epic Actions," "Horde Tokens," and "Campaign Play," I'm certain they will...

From Wizkids:

Epic actions are a special kind of action forces get only in epic battles, and they can be given to characters only to make use of epic abilities. Epic battles are HeroClix battles with build totals between 400 and 1000 points.

Epic abilities are game-changers, with effects that can really help shape the course of a battle – the secret to how a little hobbit can play a critical part in the middle of a thousand soldiers. In fact, they’re so formidable that you only get one epic action per turn, so you can only use one epic ability per turn, no matter how many characters on your force might have them available.

If Wizkids is calling a game "with build totals between 400 and 1000 points" epic, then my huge superhero campaign for Solo Tabletop Gaming Appreciation Month may now most definitely use that adjective! Nevertheless, this new rule is easily incorporated into my solo rules of play because, despite being epic, it's still an action, and my solo rules merely alter the order and permissions for actions regardless of the type of actions they might be. For an example of an Epic Action, check out Sauron (note the ring on his finger).

Also, somewhat new to LotR Heroclix are the Horde Tokens, a new application of the old bystander tokens from Marvel and DC Heroclix.

From Wizkids:

Players have sometimes hesitated to play large groups of tokens in the past. They were too fragile, and just too darn unwieldy. Horde tokens solve that problem by stacking. Want to move a big group of horde tokens across the battlefield quickly? Stack them up, move them across the battlefield together, and then spread them out to surround their prey.

I always hated bystander tokens, and I doubt that I'll be fond of these horde tokens, either. Though Wizkids has taken a novel approach with this new "stacking" ability and pumped up the combat values on these sad, flat discs of cardboard, horde tokens will still follow the same rules for moving and attacking, and, thus, can be easily used with my solo rules.

Finally, there are the new Campaign Rules. From Wizkids:

Campaign battles are very story-driven, recreating specific moments from the Lord of the Rings, and as such have some requirements. You’ll have to include a couple particular characters in your force during each battle, play on a particular map, follow a couple scenario-specific rules. As always, victory in both individual battles and the campaign as a whole is determined by victory points.

No problem. Still can be played solo!

Only my wallet knows for sure whether I'll be adding the Fellowship and the Nazgul to my collection, but at least I can be certain that, if I do, lacking an opponent will not stop my battles for Middle Earth from taking place!

For more info and many more cool pics of preview characters from the Lord of the Rings Heroclix line, click HERE.

Carsten's Solo Star Wars Minis Rules, Part II

Here is the rest of Carsten's solo rules for Star Wars minis. Part I can be read HERE.

From Carsten:

I have been playing the Star Wars miniatures game from the day it came out till the day it was retired by Wizards. But since I come from an RPG background, the standard skirmishing was not really the thing for me. I couldn't get used to Boba Fett battling Boba Fett or 10.000 year old Sith Lords battling New Republic squads etc. So I started looking into scenario play with themed squads and stories. Then Wizards posted a solo adventure for their D&D miniatures game. I looked into it and that was the point I started playing solo Star Wars adventures, using the rules but modified them somewhat to account for the Star Wars differences. When I play solo, I prefer having complete control over one side and letting a ruleset play the other side

Star Wars Miniatures Solo Scenarios

Introduction
These solo scenario rules use rules created for the Dungeons & Dragons miniatures solo adventure “Reclamation: Mithril Mines”, modified somewhat to better fit the Star Wars Universe. The original rules can be found here: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/mi/20060126b . Credits go to Steve Winter for creating them.

First make yourself familiar with the original rules, than apply the following modifications made for Star Wars Miniatures:

• Star Wars focuses more on ranged combat, targeting rules and positioning, using abilities like Stealth, Cloaked, Accurate Shot etc. To account for that, only the LOS to encounter trigger tokens is limited to 8 squares. Line of Sight to already placed models on the map is unlimited. Models still appear at the trigger token location. The rules for concealment as stated in the D&D rules are not used, the entire LOS to models is clear.

• The distinction between Maneuver Rounds, Search Rounds and Combat Rounds is not used. You just use the normal round sequence of activations, phases and turns, regardless if there are enemies present on the map or not. If no enemies are present, you don't need to roll initiative. Every character activates and takes a normal turn. For information on searching see below.

• Your characters can search the area for equipment to use. You can search for equipment if a) no enemies are currently present on the map and b) you are within or adjacent to a section or square of low-objects (both conditions must be met). You can search every section of low-object squares as often as you want. Searching replaces the searching character's entire turn. If you search an area, you roll a d20 and find the result on the
search result table (no modifiers are applied to the roll). Create individual search result tables for the scenario you are creating. The search table should include some element of risk like booby traps or ambush encounters etc.

• To keep the number of models manageable by one player, to encourage movement and to ensure that you don't need to many models at once, only one encounter is active at a time. If you have triggered and placed an encounter, the remaining encounter triggers are inactive, as long as the models from the triggered encounter are present on the map. As soon as the last enemy from an encounter is defeated, all encounter triggers become active again.

• In order to maintain an organized round structure, encounter triggers are not resolved after every move action, they are resolved at the end of every round with enemies appearing at the end of the round before initiative is rolled for the next round. If you meet the trigger conditions for more than one encounter trigger, you start resolving them in order from nearest to farthest. You stop resolving them as soon as one trigger causes an encounter to be placed. Just like in the original rules, all resolved encounter triggers are removed from the map, whether they caused an encounter or not.

Thanks, Carsten!

Carsten's Solo Star Wars Minis Rules, Part I

Carsten from Germany - whose solo D&D rules were a hit - is back with his own solo treatment of WotC's Star Wars miniatures! Here's Part 1: Automated Opponents.

From Carsten:

For those of you interested in trying the game, google for the site Dantooine Base. There you will find the most up to date rulebook as PDF, together with faction lists with stats for all minis. Take those and set up the Vassal Star Wars Miniatures mod and you are set to play.

The Automated Opponent rules are not as complicated as they might look. Just follow these steps:
1. Determine which enemy activates
2. Check the type of the activating enemy (Shooter, Melee or Hybrid)
3. Follow the rules for the type of enemy, using the target rules to determine the target that is attacked.

Have fun!

Star Wars Miniatures

Enemy Actions in Solo Scenarios or during Cooperative Play

Activation Priorities:
• All adjacent enemies activate first. If more than one enemy is adjacent, the enemy with the fewest current HP activates first. If enemies are tied, the one with the fewest current HP and the highest effective attack bonus for the imminent attack activates first. If still tied, the enemy with the fewest current HP, the highest effective attack bonus and the highest potential damage output activates first. If still tied, the enemy from the tied enemies that is closest to the northern map edge activates first. If still tied, the one enemy closest to the
northern and eastern map edge activates first.
• All enemies within 6 squares activate second. If more than one enemy is within 6 squares, use the same tie breaking rules as for adjacent enemies (see above).
• All remaining enemies activate, following the tie breaking rules above.

Shooters (enemies without the Melee Attack special ability):
• Shooters move only if they don't have cover from within low-objects and/or if they don't have line of sight to a target.
• Shooters that do move, move into the nearest low-object square from which they have the best field of fire.
• Shooters keep their distance. If they don't have Double Attack or Triple Attack etc. they will move away from the player characters before or after attacking but try to stay in low-object squares for cover and keep their field of fire. They will use Mobile Attack to move into and out of line of sight before and after attacking.
• Special Abilities that provide bonuses for not moving, like Deadeye or Careful Shot, take priority and overrule the above movement rule. The same is true for Double Attack, Triple Attack, Extra Attack and Quadruple Attack.
• Shooters don't move if that would provoke an attack of opportunity.
• Shooters only take a double move if they can't attack a target by moving only six squares.

Melee Attackers:
• Melee characters try to close the distance to the player characters as soon as possible.
• They move towards the player character who is nearest to them at the start of their turn, trying to base the target and taking the shortest route. If more than one target is available, use the targeting rules to determine a target.
• If they can't reach the player character, they will end their movement in cover if possible and change the shortest route by up to three squares in order to take cover.
• If they can reach the player character with a double move, they will base him, even if they can't attack afterwards.
• Melee attackers don't move if that would provoke an attack of opportunity.

Hybrid Characters:
• Hybrid Characters are models that don't have the Melee Attack restriction but are actually more effective against adjacent enemies. Examples include the GenoHaradan Assassin with Poison Blade or models with Double Claw Attack or Mighty Swing etc.
• Hybrids use the same rules as Melee Attacker BUT they move only six squares toward their target, try to end their movement in cover and make a non-melee attack until they are adjacent to a target.
• If they can reach their target by taking a double move, they don't make a non-melee attack but take a double move instead to base the target.

Target Selection:
• The target selection rules apply to Shooters, Hybrids and Melee Attackers to determine the target for shooters or to serve as a tie breaker for Melee and Hybrids if several targets are equally distant to determine the direction of movement.
• Enemies target the legal target with the fewest current HP. If tied, the legal target with the fewest current HP and the lowest effective defense against the attack is choosen. If still tied, the target with the fewest current HP, the lowest effective defense and the highest base attack bonus is choosen. If still tied, choose randomly.

Area Attack Special Abilities and Force Powers:
• Enemies use special abilities like Grenades, Flamethrower, Missiles etc. if they can affect two or more targets with it but will not use them if allies would be affected.
• Enemies with Force Points use them whenever possible to reroll attacks or saves.
• Enemies with Force Points and defensive force powers (Illusion, Lightsaber Defense etc.) use the Force Points whenever possible to avoid taking damage.
• As a general guideline, enemies with Force Points try to spend those Force Points as fast as possible at every opportunity.

More tomorrow...

My Review of Elder Sign

I've been eagerly anticipating this one for a while, and, now, after a weekend of losing my sanity to unspeakable otherworldly beings, here's my mostly favorable solo-centric review of Fantasy Flight Games' Lovecraftian dice-away-the-Abyss diversion, Elder Sign by Richard Launius and Kevin Wilson.

From the publisher:

It is 1926, and the museum’s extensive collection of exotic curios and occult artifacts poses a threat to the barriers between our world and the elder evils lurking between dimensions. Gates to the beyond begin to leak open, and terrifying creatures of increasing strength steal through them. Only a handful of investigators race against time to locate the eldritch symbols necessary to seal the portals forever.

Elder Sign features 48 Adventure cards representing the supernatural events and places of intrigue in and around the museum the investigators must explore to stop the Ancient One. During game setup, players build the museum with six initial Adventure cards, chosen at random. The staggering number of possible museums means that investigators will almost never pursue the same sets of clues in two separate games. Additionally, all Adventure cards feature unique requirements, and many have powerful text that radically alter gameplay. 

Each of the 16 available investigators have individual talents and resources they bring to the search for the Elder Signs. Many investigators dedicate themselves to a specific research focus, allowing players to alter dice rolls or substitute one die result for another. Some focus on acquiring more resources. Others can restore sanity or stamina to investigators who have suffered the loss of either. 

In order to resolve an Adventure, you must match dice results against the requirements for each of the Adventure card’s tasks. If you fail to complete all of an Adventure’s tasks, your investigator suffers the consequences. Often this means a loss of sanity or stamina–or both. Investigators who have their sanity or stamina reduced to zero are devoured and removed from play.

My observations after 4 solo games (2 wins, 2 losses):

Physical Engagement: Fair
• A quick set-up is important to a solo player, and Elder Sign succeeds here. FFG included handy little plastic zipper bags for storage, so the cards get on the table in no time. The multitude of tiny counters takes a bit longer to sort out, but getting a game underway as soon as free time and the right mood align is not a problem.
• About a 3' x 2' area of table surface is all that's required to lay out all the components of the game, and that's ideal for my solo comfort.
• Playing the game requires reading teeny-tiny, dainty fonts on large- and (much worse) small-sized cards. Not fun. It's as if FFG put together a lovely product and then fired a shrink ray at it. Even with 20/20 eyesight, I was straining at times to make out the pertinent information, and nothing I did was "at a glance." Big disappointment.

The (very) fine print of damnation...

Solo Mechanics: Excellent
• Thanks to the game's turn structure, solo play is no different from cooperative multiplayer play, so very few significant cards and elements go without use when playing alone. Soloists get their money's worth.
• Randomized combos and irregular variables make predicting the twists and turns of Elder Sign completely impossible as the risk-to-reward ratio intensifies. This practically guarantees that the strategic profile of the second half of a game is never the same twice. [Great feature: monsters - in reality, they're Adventure Card plug-ins that make a site more challenging to resolve. I already hate the Witch.]
• Lots of options each turn with few obvious choices + the ever-present pressure of impending doom = many moments of steely-eyed brooding, something soloists crave.
• Everything comes down to the roll of the dice. The designers have included several ways to adjust, ammend, and do-over bad rolls. Yet, no matter how many safeguards your character puts into play, nothing makes success certain.
• In the four games I played thus far, victory and defeat ran neck-and-neck all the way to the very end. I hope that trend continues.

Good roll? Bad roll? It's different every time...

Immersive Aesthetic: Good
• Do I feel like my character is exploring the mysteries of a museum? Not quite. The random six-card layout might have been better served as an abstraction of a Lovecraftian New England. Still, each "location" does develop its own character, and that's cool.
• Elements of cheeky humor - especially the silly characters like "Monterey Jack" who is forever banned from my table - diminish the atmosphere of Lovecraftian dread.
• Characters can be played to their thematic strengths, and each (so far) has felt different in action. When one gets devoured, you WILL panic for a moment.
• The albeit recycled artwork on the cards would lend so much more to the weird horror experience of the game's major themes if a player didn't need a magnifying glass to see most of it.
• That clock...nice.

It didn't help that Yog is evil and hated The Sound of Music...

Replay Value: Good
• The dynamics between what a player SHOULD do and what a player COULD do in Elder Sign are strong enough to support new emergent strategies with every game. Launius and Wilson deserve high marks for making a game that gives a player every opportunity to win while making one feel eager to try again after a loss.
• Customization is important to solo players, but you won't find obvious opportunities for that in Elder Sign, nor would I bother to tinker with any of the elements to put my own touch on it. Instructions for creating your own balanced character could have been cool, but are far from necessary.

Get this if you dig Lovecraftian themes and dice and all the good I mentioned above.

Don't get this if your eyesight might be strained by teeny images and text. Seriously.

Mine!

Review pending...

Solitaire Print and Play Contest Winners

Last week, the competition over at BoardGameGeek run by Chris Hansen came to its conclusion with the announcement of the top vote-getters!

First Place: 

Inspector Moss 2: House Arrest by Rebekah Bissell and Jonathan Warren

Second Place: 

Shadows Upon Lassadar by Todd Sanders

Third Place: 

The Lord of the Rings: The Adventure Deck Card Game by Michele Esmanech

Congratulations to all of the winners!

For all of the details, go HERE.

For Newbies: The Solo Skirmishing Big Picture

Solo-newbie Ricardo over at Fantalonia recently posted his thoughts on solo skirmishing with minis. His post is a terrific articulation of the variety of levels of solo play, and it most definitely provides a valuable service to other new players who might be having trouble wrapping their heads around gaming without a flesh-and-blood opponent in the room.

Ricardo’s write-up got me thinking that it would be awfully nice if we blogging vets of the solo table could, from time to time, share our experiences with those who have never seriously played solo before but are eager to start. The articles would be noted “For Newbies” (like this one) and would be written with an awareness for that audience. Maybe we could even link around to one another’s postings of similar content to create a mini-network of newbie-friendly material!

With that in mind, here’s my contribution, linked to Ricardo’s. (Hopefully, someone will write another one soon and link back to this one.)

"Come on, newbie! Bring it!"

 

The Solo Skirmishing Big Picture

To me, there are two BROAD styles of tabletop solo skirmishing when two (or more) opposing sides are present on the battlefield. Here's a straightforward overview for the newbie:

STYLE 1: The player commands BOTH sides, but with “incomplete” control  

Aim: To play both sides to win during each force’s turn.

The Solo Element: During every turn, random factors will alter or inhibit what the player is allowed to do. Thus, the player is prevented from predicting his or her own actions in advance because they cannot be known until the next turn begins. 

Pros: Lots of unpredictability; emergent strategies will rarely follow an obvious path; narrative elements can be easily incorporated for more depth of play; converting a beloved non-solo game into this solo style isn’t difficult; it’s always your turn! 

Cons: Remaining objective at all times can be challenging; too many random limitations or hindrances can be frustrating and strategically unrealistic, diminishing the spirit of the game.

STYLE 2: The player completely controls ONE side, and auto-rules govern the other
Aim: To play one side to win against the other side run by a rules system.
The Solo Element: A pre-created or programmed system of actions controls the opposing side, taking its actions completely out of the solo player’s hands.
Pros: The player enjoys total freedom as if playing against a human opponent; one can almost fully indulge in the competitive me-vs.-you emotions of gaming.
Cons: Auto-rules can be tedious to create and even more time-consuming to execute during play; auto-rules rarely are capable of taking all strategic possibilities into consideration; the opposing side often behaves in a predictable manner due to limited choices.

Notes:

• The concept of a player who commands both sides AND has complete control on each turn is not, in my opinion, gaming. It's practice or a personal demo of the mechanics of a game, a worthwhile activity for learning, but not necessarily for entertainment (and, to me, gaming = entertainment).
• Of course, there are products that hybridize to varying degrees the above two broad categories, but their designs all start within one of these realms.
• There are solo games that are deliberately made with Style 2 in mind, while Style 1 is often the choice for adapting a non-solo game for solo purposes. I would caution, though, from searching for the Holy Grail of solo tabletop play, a game with Style 2's aims that feels EXACTLY like playing against a real person. No auto-rules will ever fully capture that experience.
• Whichever style is preferred, the quality in most demand is unpredictability. Whatever surprises also delights!

Khazad-dum goes too far for me...

Call me naive, but I really didn't expect a deluxe expansion this early for the Lord of the Rings card game, yet here it is - Khazad-dum, available at the end of the year.

From Fantasy Flight Games (with my bold emphasis on the wallet-cringing details):

Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce the upcoming release of Khazad-dûm, the first deluxe expansion for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game!

Khazad-dûm transports you to the ancient realm of the Dwarves with 165 new cards (with three copies each of its player cards), including new scenarios, encounter sets, heroes, allies, attachments, and events.

Khazad-dûm introduces nine all-new encounter sets! These unique sets, when combined into encounter decks (as instructed by the rules), make up Khazad-dûm’s three included scenarios.

It’s also important to note that you will need these new encounter sets to play the scenarios of the subsequent Dwarrowdelf Cycle of Adventure Packs.

This is where, as an investor in my own solo gaming, I think I drop out...

The teams have been chosen for November's huge Heroclix campaign

Since January, I've been developing my massive Heroclix campaign for Solo Tabletop Gaming Appreciation Month using my own Solo Wargaming Rules for Heroclix and the associated Campaign Rules. As of today, the teams have been chosen.

Yeah, I made the cut, baby!

Here is the line-up:

PHASE 1

300 points each, except Region 4

REGION 1

South Street Seaport - Young Avengers vs. Attuma and the Atlanteans

Federal Reserve Bank of NY - Heroes for Hire vs. The U-Foes

REGION 2

Baxter Building - Fantastic Four vs. Dr. Doom

Times Square - Spider-Man and the Outlaws vs. The Sinister Syndicate

REGION 3

Riker's Island - Police (Code Blue, Guardsmen, etc) vs. Serpent Society

LaGuardia Airport - Runaways vs. The Mindless Ones

REGION 4 

[500 points and will directly lead to Phase 3]

Xavier's Institute - X-Men vs. Brotherhood of Evil Mutants

*          *          *

PHASE 2

600 points each

REGION 1

Brooklyn Bridge - Avengers vs. The Masters of Evil, + Phase 1 survivors

REGION 2

Central Park Zoo - Thunderbolts vs. MODOK'S 11, + Phase 1 survivors

REGION 3

SHIELD Helicarrier - SHIELD vs. HYDRA, + Phase 1 survivors

*          *          *

PHASE 3

900 points

RAGNAROK 

Thor's Asgardians vs. Loki's Asgardians, + Phase 1, Region 4 Survivors & Phase 2 Survivors

Yes, Phase 3 indicates that the massive villain attack on NYC is a scheme by Loki to kick-start Ragnarok (a story Marvel did probably a billion times). Asgard will fall into the middle of Manhattan (again, something very similar to what Marvel has done), and the surviving heroes and villains will side with the appropriate Asgardians for the final battle!

I can't wait!

The Goblin Skullkeeps of Rendaria PDF available

Mytherian Adventure Setting: The Goblin Skullkeeps of Rendaria is now available in PDF form!

Get it HERE.