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Retailers: Pre-order Your Spring 2015 Tournament Kits

Announcing New Tournament Kits for A Game of Thrones

The application window for our Spring 2015 Tournament Kits is now closed.

In the coming weeks, we will have more information about other upcoming opportunities for you to get involved with FFG Organized Play. Be sure to check our website for updates.

 

 

Featuring epic battles and countless plots of intrigue, cunning, and deceit,
 A Game of Thrones: The Card Game continues to expand and build new game communities around the world. The Spring 2015 A Game of Thrones: The Card Game Tournament Kit comes with an event guide and new promotional materials to help support tournaments, league play, or any other event you wish to run. The order deadline for these kits is December 29th, and the Spring season begins in March.

How Do I Use a Tournament Kit?

Tournament Kits are designed for use with our competitive games, such as
 A Game of Thrones: The Card Game, and they can be used in several ways. These kits include prize support and promotional material designed to support competitive or casual tournament play at local retailers. Run an eight-week tournament series or league, use the prizes to support a single, large tournament, or host a weekly casual game night. Tournament Kits also come with a guide that provides tips and ideas on how to run a great event.

What’s in the Spring 2015 A Game of Thrones: The Card Game Tournament Kit?

Each Spring 2015 A Game of Thrones: The Card Game Tournament Kit comes with exciting prizes and materials to help tournament organizers:

     
• One playmat featuring the Iron Throne
     
• Two copies of an alternate art An Empty Throne card
     
• Seventeen copies of an alternate art Robert Baratheon card
     
• Four Baratheon deck boxes depicting Renly Baratheon
     
• A promotional poster featuring the Iron Throne
     
• One informational pamphlet on running a tournament or league

Please note: The alternate art cards in this kit are produced through FFG's In-House Manufacturing, and as such, they may appear slightly different in color and texture from the game's other cards. To be tournament legal, these cards must be sleeved with opaque or art sleeves.

Are You a Retailer?

Winter is here, but it won’t last forever! Prepare for warmer months and order a Spring 2015 A Game of Thrones: The Card Game Tournament Kit through your distributor or through our B2B store. The deadline to order is December 29th, with the season starting in March.

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Source: Retailers: Pre-order Your Spring 2015 Tournament Kits

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Retailers: Pre-order Your Spring 2015 Tournament Kits

Build and Support Your Local Player Community with Nine New Tournament Kits

The application window for our Spring 2015 Tournament Kits is now closed.

In the coming weeks, we will have more information about other upcoming opportunities for you to get involved with FFG Organized Play. Be sure to check our website for updates.

 

Fantasy Flight Games is proud to add two more games that will be supported by Organized Play starting in 2015: Star Wars™: Armada and Imperial Assault! Get in on the ground floor and be the first store in your area to support the players of these two spectacular games.

Tournament Kits serve as the entry way to FFG’s Organized Play programs. Each kit contains prize support and helpful suggestions on how to best support your local community. With these tools, stores can host leagues, weekly game nights, or even a large-scale tournament to draw in players and build a thriving group of regular patrons.

What Games are Supported?

Whether you’re destroying your enemies in the Traxis Sector, writing vicious programs to punish pesky Runners infiltrating your servers, or leading a team of Rebel saboteurs into an Imperial TIE production facility—Tournament Kits can make your store the local hub of a thriving, global community connected by Fantasy Flight Organized Play. Visit the links below to learn more about each of the games supported by Organized Play; then pre-order your Tournament Kits today!

     
• A Game of Thrones: The Card Game
     
• Android: Netrunner
     
• Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game
     
• Star Wars™: Armada
     
• Imperial Assault
     
• Star Wars™: The Card Game
     
• Warhammer: Diskwars
     
• Warhammer 40,000: Conquest
     
• X-Wing™

Are You a Player?

If you’re a player, you can do your part to grow Organized Play by telling your favorite local game store about our Tournament Kits. If you’re interested in taking a more active role in bringing events to your community, here are some ways you can help promote Fantasy Flight Organized Play:

     
• Encourage your friends to join you and play at your favorite local game store
     
• Ask your favorite local game store if you can post a sign-up sheet for upcoming events
     
• Offer to run demos
     
• Volunteer your services as tournament organizer

The exclusive items and alternate art cards from these Spring 2015 Tournament Kits will be available for a limited period of time only, so be sure to talk with your local retailer about hosting tournaments for our Organized Play games.

Order Now

With the introduction of Star Wars™: Armada and Imperial Assault, as well as last year’s debut of Warhammer 40,000: Conquest, Organized Play support continues to expand. Don’t miss out on your chance to build a strong and healthy community in your store for the games your players enjoy, order before December 29th to receive your Tournament Kits!

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Source: Retailers: Pre-order Your Spring 2015 Tournament Kits

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Breaking the Ice

Mountains of Madness Is Now Available

For a second we gasped in vague admiration of the scene’s unearthly cosmic beauty, and then vague horror began to creep into our souls.
 –H.P. Lovecraft, At the Mountains of Madness

Mountains of Madness, the new side board expansion for Eldritch Horror, is now available at your local retailer!

A Misktaonic University expedition to Antarctica has discovered prehistoric ruins and encountered inhuman, bloodthirsty creatures. In Mountains of Madness, investigators follow that expedition's trail and search Antarctica’s icy expanses for the clues needed to save humanity from the awakening Ancient Ones. In addition to the side board depicting locations throughout Antarctica, this expansion features two Ancient Ones and eight investigators who are willing to sacrifice their lives and their sanity to save the human race. These brave souls are aided by plenty of new Assets, Spells, and Artifacts as they search for clues and battle not only monsters, but harsh and deadly conditions across the globe.

The Secrets of Antarctica

If you choose to brave Antarctica’s below-zero temperatures and isolated expanses, you’ll trace the path of a doomed Miskatonic University expedition, from the bustling Miskatonic Outpost over the snowy, uncanny Mountains of Madness to the magnificent, haunted City of the Elder Things. Our first preview provides a detailed look at the locations on the Antarctica side board, the encounters that you may have there, and the assets that could help you survive that frozen realm.

In Antarctica, investigators will likely encounter the star-shaped, winged, and vicious Elder Things that have inhabited that continent for eons. These sapient beings once ruthlessly ruled all life on Earth and yearn to retake dominion over the planet. The Rise of the Elder Things, discussed in our third preview, is one of the two Ancient Ones featured in this expansion. To defeat them you’ll have to solve four mysteries, more than for other Ancient Ones, and many of the answers can only be found in the ice surrounding the South Pole.

There are rewards for embarking on an Antarctic expedition no matter which Ancient One you're fighting. The Adventure cards (also discussed in the third preview) that guide your journey within Antarctica help you to complete mysteries more quickly if you successfully complete certain Antarctic encounters. Learning the history of the Elder Things and exploring the remnants of their civilization may make the difference between saving humanity or letting the Ancient Ones wreak havoc worldwide.

A Deadly Global Chill

As the Elder Things begin to stir in Antarctica, another horror is awakening in the northern hemisphere. Known as the Wind-Walker because he seems to travel on shrieking winds, the giant Ithaqua seeks to plunge the entire world into eternal winter. Our fourth preview introduced you to the quests you might undertake to stop Ithaqua and his minions, including a journey from Greenland deep into the mythical Other World of Hyperborea. As your team of investigators strives to prevent the Earth from freezing over, they’ll also have to fight off Ithaqua’s closest allies, hypothermia and insatiable hunger. These Conditions could not only diminish an investigator’s stamina and sanity, but might render an investigator dangerous for himself and for others.

Chosen Warriors

The investigators of Mountains of Madness are united in their determination to defeat the Ancient Ones, but each has been touched by the horror in a unique way. Four of these men and women were featured in our second preview: the waitress Agnes Baker who is haunted by memories of a past life, the bootlegger Finn Edwards who has unwittingly become involved in a supernatural conspiracy, the violinist Patrice Hathaway whose music forms a bridge between worlds, and the lawyer George Barnaby who seeks revenge for his wife’s murder. Joining this motley crew are the explorer Ursula Downs, the pragmatic handyman Wilson Richards, the rookie cop Tommy Muldoon, and the librarian Daisy Walker.

Their skills are as diverse as their backgrounds. Daisy and Agnes are specialists in arcane lore, but Agnes is more suited to an Antarctic expedition, while Daisy might travel Europe and North America collecting Artifacts and Spells. Patrice excels in gathering clues and possess a strong will that helps her withstand Other World encounters, while Wilson’s physical strength and stamina enable him to survive the most brutal attacks and harshest conditions. George’s legal career has endowed him with profound international influence and his years of life experience allow him to remain sane in the most bizarre circumstances. Tommy, Ursula, and Finn are jacks-of-all-trades, ready to fight monsters in the streets of Arkham, close gates in the Amazon, or sled across the Frozen Wastes of Antarctica in search of clues. With their abilities combined, these investigators can take on any Ancient One and rescue humanity from the most awful horrors.

Confront the Cold

A chill wind is blowing. There are rumors of cannibalism in the world’s northernmost countries and news about scientists cruelly mutilated in Antarctica fills the airwaves. Monsters are running rampant in city streets and Gates to Other Worlds are opening in the wilderness. Temperatures are plummeting across the globe, and things will only become worse unless you and your team of investigators can solve the mysteries necessary to vanquish these dire threats. Whether you explore the vastness of Antarctica, traverse the frozen northern regions of the world, or fight your battles in Arkham’s back alleys, it will take all your sanity and stamina to survive the ice and save humanity. The question is, are you prepared to confront the cold?

Experience the chills and horrors of Mountains of Madness today!

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Source: Breaking the Ice

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Here Comes the Imperial Raider

Introducing a New Huge Ship to X-Wing (TM) and the STAR WARS (TM) Galaxy!

Epic Play for the X-Wing™ miniatures game is about to get more epic…

Fantasy Flight Games is thrilled to bring you the all-new Raider-class corvette, a new Imperial ship for X-Wing Epic Play and a new addition to the Star Wars galaxy!

Designed in partnership with Lucasfilm Ltd. for use within the game’s Cinematic Play and Epic Play formats, the Raider-class corvette is the highlight of the upcoming Imperial Raider Expansion Pack.

The Raider-class corvette.

Kuat Drive Yards began manufacturing the Raider-class corvette in 6BBY as a dedicated anti-fighter vessel after it was successfully pitched by Lira Wessex, the designer of the Imperial-class Star Destroyer. She recognized that the Imperial Navy lacked a small, modern craft to reinforce the TIE fighter squadrons deployed by Star Destroyers, and she designed the Raider-class corvette as a durable, 150m vessel that featured multiple hardpoints and would excel at suppressing Rebel fighter attacks.

Like the Rebellion’s huge ships, the GR-75 medium transport and CR90 Corellian corvette, the Raider is too big for Standard Play and the game’s standard 1/270 scale. Accordingly, the expansion’s Raider miniature is presented at a relative scale that makes it playable, even as it dwarfs the game’s small- and large-base ships.

In addition to the Raider-class corvette, the Imperial Raider Expansion pack also contains one TIE Advanced miniature with a variant paint scheme, eight ship cards, thirty-four upgrade cards, and all the maneuver dials, damage decks, tokens, and game pieces that you need to fly your Raider and its TIE Advanced escort. Finally, the expansion introduces a new campaign, The Will of the Empire, in which you’ll command a Raider-class corvette and run a prototype TIE Advanced through its test flights in the wild, lawless sectors of the Outer Rim.

The Imperial Raider Expansion Pack comes with one Raider miniature, one TIE Advanced miniature, eight ship cards, thirty-four upgrades, a huge range ruler, and all the maneuver dials, damage decks, and tokens you need to launch your Imperial ships into Epic Play battles!

The Origins of the Raider-class Corvette

With its powerful primary weapon, Single Turbolasers, Ion Cannon Batteries, and multiple crew options, the Raider-class corvette is destined to make a massive impact in X-Wing Cinematic Play and Epic Play.

As a dedicated anti-fighter ship, the Raider offers a powerful counter to many of the Rebellion’s favored strategies. It also represents an exciting new addition to the Star Wars universe, and the development team offers insight into the ship’s origin:

“The impetus behind the Raider-class corvette came from a desire to produce an Imperial ship for X-Wing that was comparable in size and role to the Rebel corvette.

“Before we even announced the Tantive IV™ Expansion Pack, we knew Imperial players would need a comparable ship to lead their fleets in the game’s Epic Play battles. But none of the ships within the established IP and extended universe quite fit the bill. As we looked at ships that were larger than the VT-49 Decimator, the next possibility was the Lancer-class frigate at 250m; however, that was larger than we wanted for the scope of the game. Moreover, it didn’t quite fit the desired role, so we worked with Lucasfilm Ltd. and drew upon existing materials to create a new starship that fit seamlessly into the aesthetics and background of the Star Wars universe.

“The result was a cross between a Star Destroyer and a single-pilot fighter, something fast and aggressive.

“The Raider is a starship made specifically for anti-fighter warfare. Its six dual heavy laser cannons proved more accurate against snubfighters than the turbolaser batteries of its Star Destroyer cousins, and the disruptive effects of its ion cannon emplacements, along with the efficiency of its localized command, make it a powerful addition to small strike forces.

“It’s also a ship that’s particularly well-suited to fighting alongside a number of TIE Advanced. Both the Raider-class corvette and TIE Advanced are well-suited to quick assault missions. They are both equipped with hyperdrives and enough defenses to stand up to a wide range of threats. They can jump into a sector, launch a quick assault, and then jump away. Then, they can leave after the mission is complete. This makes them ideal vessels for use in the Outer Rim, and this is an idea that you’ll be able to explore even further within the context of the expansion’s campaign.”

    –Andrew Navaro, Frank Brooks, and Steve Kimball

Pushing the Limits of the TIE Advanced

   
       
           
       
   

The Imperial Raider Expansion Pack contains one TIE Advanced with an alternate paint scheme.

While the Raider, itself, is restricted to use in Cinematic Play and Epic Play, the Imperial Raider Expansion Pack also contains a new TIE Advanced miniature with an alternate paint scheme.

Originally touted as a replacement for the standard TIE fighter, the TIE Advanced offered a significant number of improvements over the TIE/ln, but it ultimately proved too expensive for mass production. Similarly, in X-Wing, the TIE Advanced is a more powerful and durable starfighter than the TIE fighter, but it comes with a higher squad point cost.

For the extra squad points, though, the TIE Advanced offers shielding, the target lock action, and the ability to wield missiles, making it a more versatile and resilient fighter for those talented pilots who can truly take advantage of all that it has to offer. Thus, just as the expansion’s new TIE Advanced is legal for use within the game’s Standard Play, its new pilots and upgrades promote the fighter’s strengths, allowing you to take better advantage of all that its technological enhancements can offer.

The Imperial Raider Expansion Pack comes with six ship cards for the TIE Advanced, including four new, unique pilots, and it also introduces two potent, TIE Advanced only upgrades – the TIE/x1 Title  and the Advanced Targeting Computer system upgrade.

Together, these upgrades greatly enhance the TIE Advanced’s existing strengths and give the Rebellion far more reason to fear such renowned Imperial pilots as Darth Vader and Maarek Stele. They also give you plenty of reasons to call upon the services of Commander Alozen and the other new ace pilots from the Imperial Raider Expansion Pack.

Crush the Rebellion

With its Raider-class corvette and TIE Advanced, as well as their many upgrades, the Imperial Raider Expansion Pack is a truly epic addition to any Imperial fleet!

You can expect to power up your Raider in the first quarter of 2015. Until then, keep your eyes open for more information about this huge new Imperial ship and its accompanying TIE Advanced.

Those Rebel scum won’t stand a chance!

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Source: Here Comes the Imperial Raider

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New Horizons

How Order and Chaos Is Helping the Weyland Consortium Save Humanity

“Progress demands sacrifice. Where would humanity be now if we’d refused to pay for all our advances in science and technology? If we refuse to pay more, how will we continue to move forward?”

    –Jack Weyland

How many barrels of fossil fuel still lie untapped beneath the ground and the oceans? How long have the world’s industries spewed their toxic exhaust into the atmosphere? How many humans can populate the earth before we exhaust the resources we need in order to survive?

As we draw closer to the release of Order and Chaos, the third deluxe expansion for Android: Netrunner, there are many Runners and rival corporate execs who still waste their time blaming the Weyland Consortium for all manner of Earth’s many woes.

   
• They like to cite Weyland’s continued support of its GRNDL division (Fear and Loathing, 97) and its use of Geothermal Fracking (Opening Moves, 17).

   
• They note that the Weyland Consortium has skewed the corporate landscape by playing hardball time and again, frequently gobbling up its competition in Hostile Takeovers (Core Set, 94) and then using its ties with various government officials to relax any inconvenient antitrust laws.

   
• Finally, they claim that the Weyland Consortium’s vast fortunes are tainted by the blood of those the megacorp has trampled under foot and buried under the foundations of its buildings. Some make these claims literally; some merely point at the economic disparity between those who live upon the Beanstalk’s royalties and those who live within its shadow.

However, the truth is that the world was broken long before Jack Weyland was born into it. Many generations of scientists and environmentalists had expressed their concerns about dwindling fuel reserves and overpopulation long before Weyland first broke ground for the New Angeles Space Elevator. And while others were looking at the countless families who had their homes obliterated to make room for the Beanstalk’s foundation – or the foundation of some other Weyland Consortium development – Jack Weyland was looking up, past the top of the Beanstalk, out to the stars, and toward the future of humanity.

Funding the Dream

In many ways, the Weyland half of Order and Chaos is about daring to dream. People like to think of Jinteki as the “mysterious” corporation with myriad inscrutable designs, and while Jinteki’s reputation is well-deserved, it’s not the only corporation with designs that aren’t immediately evident. After seeing various aspects of its multiple divisions, people often assume they understand the Weyland Consortium as a whole, but that’s the same as imagining that you know how a thousand-piece puzzle fits together after having seen only a handful of pieces.

One of the things we get out of Order and Chaos is a better understanding of what the Weyland Consortium is all about. And our glimpse of the larger puzzle begins with one of the key pieces, the new identity, Titan Transnational (Order and Chaos, 3).

As their motto boasts, the good people at Titan Transnational excel at “Investing in Your Future.” Of course, they’re also investing in their futures and that of the Weyland Consortium as a whole. The returns? You gain two influence and the ability to place an agenda counter upon any agenda you score.

Naturally, this means that Titan Transnational decks are likely to feature agendas that allow you to spend agenda counters for various rewards. Thus, your deck is likely to feature some combination of the three existing options – Geothermal Fracking, Project Atlas (What Lies Ahead, 18), and Executive Retreat (Trace Amount, 39) – and the two agendas from Order and Chaos that feature agenda counters, Firmware Updates (Order and Chaos, 4) and High-Risk Investment (Order and Chaos, 7).

As we look at what these agendas hold in common, we see that most of them give us money and access to our deck’s key cards. Then we see the ominous exception, Firmware Updates. While the other agendas give us things, this one enhances our ability to keep others from taking our things. In the midst of Weyland’s commercialism, we find a need for greater security.

Could it be that there’s more to the Weyland Consortium than the accumulation of wealth?

Securing the Dream

Of the twenty-four different Weyland cards (by title) in Order and Chaos, eight of them are ice. By far the largest percentage of the faction’s new cards by card type, nearly all of these ice can be advanced – or present the ability to advance other ice. And their prevalence in Order and Chaos points to the fact that Weyland is up to something truly massive and secret.

Weyland’s advanceable ice are one of the faction’s signature investments. Ideally, their advancement ensures they provide effective security from turn one through the late game. Some gain strength from being advanced; others gain subroutines. And, now, with Order and Chaos, some have their cost reduced for each advancement counter on them.

This new mechanic features prominently upon the expansion’s quartet of space-themed ice, Asteroid Belt (Order and Chaos, 12), Wormhole (Order and Chaos, 13), Nebula (Order and Chaos, 14), and Orion (Order and Chaos, 15).

Not only is it more efficient, per your standard click to credit ratio, to advance these ice than pay full cost for them, the mechanic plays into a number of other Weyland themes.

   
• For starters, these ice are strong; the lowest strength among them is the “5” of Nebula, which is still far above average for a sentry.

   
• You can further increase the efficiency of these ice by running Because We Built It (A Study in Static, 76) as your identity, using renewable credits to pay down on them early. Then, once they’re rezzed, you can use Constellation Protocol (Order and Chaos, 8) to move their advancement tokens to your other ice.

   
• Finally, Commercialization (Cyber Exodus, 58) ensures that the advancement tokens on your ice are never wasted.

With advanceable ice, you’re always able to build upon your existing defenses, so your security is limited only by your desire to invest. And it’s clear that with six new types of advanceable ice and a Builder (Order and Chaos, 16) to accelerate their advancement, Weyland is investing heavily in security.

The inclusion of the new identity, Argus Security (Order and Chaos, 1), is only further proof that the megacorp has something it wants safely hidden from the public. So it’s almost certain that the many people who think they know the Weyland Consortium will soon be surprised.

Dreams of the Infinite

Where is Jack Weyland leading the Weyland Consortium, and where is the Weyland Consortium taking humanity?

The answer: deep space.

No longer a member of Weyland’s board of directors, Jack Weyland has nonetheless been given the freedom and resources to pursue his personal ambitions. These ambitions are illustrated by the third of the expansion’s identities, Gagarin Deep Space (Order and Chaos, 2). They’re given further shape by the agendas, Glenn Station (Order and Chaos, 5) and the asset Space Camp (Order and Chaos, 10).

No one is entirely certain why Weyland has turned his attention so fully toward space, but a handful of the financial analysts following Weyland’s recent deals and interviews suggest that he has come to realize that all the world’s liberal bluster is immaterial. They say he believes it’s not a matter of whether or not the Earth will fail to support humanity; it’s a matter of when. No matter how many steps the world’s nations and leading megacorps may take to slow the pace of environmental degradation and overpopulation, they argue, the world is already a lost cause.

So they say that Jack Weyland and the Weyland Consortium are willing to break a few eggs to advance the cause of viable deep space exploration. If humanity is to survive, it needs to find a new home, maybe more than one.

It won’t be enough, either, to settle the moon or Mars. No, humanity’s new home will need to be free of its tethers to Earth, as well as its political baggage. It won’t be able to rely upon the resources of a planet whose environment is increasingly unstable, nor one in which an entrenched culture of clan-based hostilities. Humanity needs to find and terraform a virgin planet that can fully support its inhabitants.

Others speculate that, based upon the technologies his division is developing, Weyland’s true goal is to transform the human race into a spacefaring species tied to no planet at all, but free to roam the stars, marvel at their wonders, and search for sentient alien life. One can only imagine how humanity might potentially benefit from the discovery of alien technology, and those who support this interpretation of Weyland’s activities claim that he’s one of the few individuals alive who would dare to dream such a dream.

Both camps claim that Jack Weyland’s dreams of deep space exploration border on madness, but as they note, that’s a quality shared by the dreams that have inspired all of humanity’s greatest achievements. And they point out that it doesn’t matter if others don’t recognize Weyland’s true ambitions. Weyland left The Board (Order and Chaos, 11) for his dream; not even the company that he founded understands where he’s headed.

What matters to Weyland is that his dream survives the world’s petty political and economic turbulence. It needs to survive narrow-minded hackers and their violations of Weyland Consortium servers. And if it does, it can mean that the human race continues to have a future, even after the Earth no longer does.

How Will You Defend the Dream?

One of the most world’s most divisive figures, Jack Weyland has demonstrated over and over again that he’s willing to do whatever it takes to realize deep space exploration within his lifetime.

How will you defend the dream? With bluffs? With powerful ice? Or with retaliatory strikes against those who seek to steal your intellectual property? In Order and Chaos, Weyland execs gain a fantastic array of tools to win the cyberstruggles of Android: Netrunner, and it’s up to you to employ them effectively.

Will you help humanity explore new horizons, or will your efforts topple under the weight and scrutiny of a public that’s convinced you belong to a cold-hearted company with absolutely no regard for anything but its own bottom line?

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Source: New Horizons

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Smoke and Blood and Fire

The Antlered Crown Is Now Available for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game

“Death to the Forgoil! Death to the Strawheads! Death to the robbers of the North!”

    –J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers

War has come to the hills of Dunland. The Antlered Crown, the final Adventure Pack in The Ring-maker cycle for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, is now available at your local retailer and online through our webstore!

As a handful of Middle-earth’s greatest heroes return to Dunland from the ruins of Hollin, they find the region scarred by the battles raging between the different Dunlending clans. The Raven has risen against the Boar, the Wolf waits to choose its side, and their warriors fight and die all across the embattled lands. In The Antlered Crown, as the heroes seek to complete their journey to Isengard, they must ally with the Boar Clan and help defeat the Raven Chief.

In The Antlered Crown, these events are given shape by a challenging new scenario that depicts the brutal war that has erupted throughout the hills of Dunland. Amid fields littered with the bodies of the fallen, you must press a new assault deep into the territories held by the Raven Clan and its ferocious warriors.

At War with the Raven Clan

Throughout the scenario in The Antlered Crown, you find yourself racing into pitched battles with the Raven Clan. The scenario features unique rules for the creation of a “Raven deck,” and as you pursue the Raven Chief through the clan’s villages and war-camps, different encounter card effects will allow the enemies from this Raven deck to leap into the staging area and defend their leader.

Thus, you not only have to concern yourself with the Time X effects on each of the quest stages, you find yourself strongly encouraged to travel quickly from location to location. Each of the scenario’s locations also features the Time X keyword, and like the Raven War-camp (The Antlered Crown, 155) and Dunland Battlefield (The Antlered Crown, 157) they all introduce threats that weigh far more heavily than their Threat Strengths alone.

Of course, once you corner the Raven Chief (The Antlered Crown, 151), you then have to defeat him in order to end the war, and that’s no simple task. For starters, the Raven Chief cannot be damaged so long as the Raven Chief’s Camp (The Antlered Crown, 152) is in play, and even after it leaves play, he remains a fearsome warrior with an Attack Strength of five, a Defense Strength of five, and nine Hit Points. Plus, every time he attacks, he removes one time counter from the active location, meaning that he may continue to summon an unrelenting horde of Wild Men to his side.

Meanwhile, you gain the aid of the Boar Clan’s Chief Turch (The Antlered Crown, 150), but his aid is almost as much a burden as it is a blessing. Chief Turch is a great warrior in his own right, able to defend without exhausting, and able to attack with an Attack Strength of three. However, should Chief Turch be defeated, you lose the game. Thus, you have to weigh your options carefully any time you might want to use Chief Turch to defend an attack for you; he is “immune to player card effects” and cannot be healed by your cards.

Ride to War

“Erkenbrand!” the Riders shouted. “Erkenbrand!”

    –J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers

Beyond its new scenario, the sixty new cards in The Antlered Crown also include the new hero, Erkenbrand (The Antlered Crown, 137), and three copies each of nine new player cards that further develop the Rohan and Ent traits, as well as The Ring-maker cycle’s focus on the Doomed keyword.

With additional support from two unique, new Titles, Captain of Gondor (The Antlered Crown, 140) and The Day’s Rising (The Antlered Crown, 139), you’ll find both the Rohirrim and Ents ready to go to war, and they come not a moment too soon. The hills of Dunland are struck by smoke and blood and fire. Your heroes must play their part, and they’ll want all the help they can get.

March to war today! The Antlered Crown is now available at your local retailer and online through our webstore!

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Source: Smoke and Blood and Fire

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Cleared for Launch

The Stay on Target Ace Sourcebook Is Now Available

Take part in daring raids, thrilling dogfights, and incredible escapes. Stay on Target, an Ace career supplement for Star Wars®: Age of Rebellion™ is now available at your local retailer and in our online store.

Stay on Target provides fresh options for Ace characters, along with new vehicles, gear, and ships for your Age of Rebellion campaign. For GMs and non-Ace characters, it contains the material you need to stage a thrilling dogfight in an asteroid belt, send guerrilla troops riding Banthas across the desert, create the bravest Xexto pilot in the Rebel Alliance, or work with an astromech droid to survive an interplanetary battle.

Aces of the Rebellion

In our first preview, we looked at the three new species and Ace specializations featured in Stay on Target. You might join the Rebellion as a talkative, meddling Chadra-fan, a six-limbed, speed-addicted Xexto, or a stoic, brave, and soulful Dressellian. Aces with the Rigger specialization are talented engineers capable of modifying their vehicle even in the midst of battle.  Hotshots, at home in the pilot’s seat, rely on quick thinking, fast reflexes, and luck to get them out of the tricky situations thay they fearlessly plunge into. Beast Riders are unique among Aces for preferring the wilderness to the inside of a cockpit. Non-Ace characters can pick up Rigger, Beast Rider, and Hotshot as non-career specializations and create, for instance, a Diplomat with a Riggger’s intuitive mechanical know-how, or a Spy with the piloting skills and recklessness of a Hotshot.

Aces also get more options for backgrounds and duties. Your Beast Rider may be a former jockey who won fame and money in the Chandrila Equinoid Derby, or perhaps your Rigger worked for a starship manufacturer as a prototype tester and now strives to give the Rebellion technological superiority over the Empire. You might even play a veteran Pilot who flew during the Clone Wars and now travels the galaxy recruiting younger talent. Whatever your background, species, and mix of talents, there’s a role for you within the Rebel Alliance.

Starfighters and Fighting Beasts

Plenty of new gear, vehicles, starships, and animals are included in Stay on Target. Our second preview looked at a custom-built landspeeder, a heavily armed H-wing, and the durable V-wing. It also looked at two beast mounts: the vicious, feline narglatch and the graceful, avian ruping. A Beast Rider Ace might also choose a Cracian Thumper as a mount. These mammals are easily trained, inexpensive to acquire, and can endure a range of climates. Despite their name, Cracian Thumpers possess a natural stealth, allowing their rider to sneak up on the enemy unnoticed.

Any Hotshots, Pilots, or Riggers in your group may be interested in the speedy T-wing or the Heavy-95 multi-role starfighter. The R-60 “T-wing” interceptor is one of the fastest, lightest starfighters available, perfect for dodging asteroids or laser fire from enemy ships. The Heavy-95 is a revised version of the Z-95 Headhunter, rebuilt with faster engines, more firepower, and an astromech droid socket. Both the T-wing and the Heavy-95 have hyperdrive, allowing you to pursue an enemy across the galaxy if you need to.

Dogfighting in Difficult Terrain

Dogfights are where Ace characters truly shine, and an Age of Rebellion campaign is rarely without intense starship combat. Stay on Target expands the guidelines for dogfighting, introducing rules and combat result options for navigating asteroid fields and passing through nebulae of brightly colored, vision-obstructing dust. For example, nebulae have the special feature Where Are We?, which adds extra Setback dice to all Astrogation checks.

Guidelines are also provided for staging large space battles in which squadrons of smaller starfighters dart like insects among destroyers, carriers, and other capital ships. Any ship with a silhouette above four is treated as complicated, obstacle-filled terrain. With these guidelines, a full-scale battle involving dozens of ships becomes simple to stage, as long as you focus on the actions of your team of rebels within that battle.

Take the Controls

Stay on Target enables you to play a Hotshot eager to fly into your next dogfight or a Dressellian Soldier galloping across Hoth on the back of a Tauntaun. It provides GMs resources for integrating Ace characters into campaigns, managing astromech droid NPCs, and for staging the most impressive space battles that Age of Rebellion has known yet.

Become one of the Rebellion’s risings stars. Get your copy of Stay on Target today!

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Source: Cleared for Launch

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The End Is Nigh

Zombie Apocalypse Is Now Available

“I’ll never forget the first ghoul I saw. I was out driving at night and a deer stepped right in front of the car. I stopped to check the damage and I saw it lit up in the headlights. It was a deer alright, but it was rotten, putrid. It looked like it had been decaying for days. And then it got to its feet – and started coming right at me!”

   –Night of the Meteor, Zombie Apocalypse

The dead rise from mouldering graves, pushing aside soft earth and shambling out of morgue coolers and ancient mausoleums. The world as you know it is about to end. What lies before you will test you to the utmost… and it’s sure to be fun! Zombie Apocalypse is now available at your local retailer and online through our webstore.

Zombie Apocalypse is the first book in The End of the World roleplaying game line. Each book in the line challenges you to survive as the world ends in truly dramatic fashion. Ancient gods may exact their wrath on Earth, aliens from beyond our solar system may invade our atmosphere, or our own technology may develop sentience and turn on us. Naturally, Zombie Apocalypse focuses on the rise of the living dead, and even within that titular theme, there’s plenty of room for different scenarios and adventures.

Can You Survive?

Most roleplaying games begin when you and your fellow players create characters to play as in the game. In Zombie Apocalypse and the other books of The End of the World line, you receive the unique invitation to play as yourself in the midst of the world’s apocalypse! Rather than playing an invented character, you play an abstracted version of yourself, using your own skills and talents as you attempt to survive the end of the world. We gave an example of what this kind of character creation looks like in our first preview of Zombie Apocalypse.

Your skills and talents aren’t the only things drawn from your own life and experience. Your gear and weapons are limited to whatever you may have near you when you begin the roleplaying session. Venturing out of your home to find additional weapons or supplies may be one of the first expeditions you must make – and it may also be one of the most dangerous.

The daily struggle for survival offers dozens of possibilities for adventure and conflict at the end of the world. Grocery stores or restaurants may be an adequate food source at first, but looters and other survivors will quickly deplete their stockpiles. Even finding clean water can be a struggle as the structures of society shut down one by one. Succeeding at these tasks would test anyone’s skills, and as we explored in our second preview, these tasks are handled with an elegant, narrative system that keeps the focus on the story.

Experience the Apocalypse

Five different scenarios are featured in Zombie Apocalypse, each presenting a unique take on the zombies that end the world. You may battle infected rage zombies or parasite-ridden humans that hunt with all the cunning of uncontaminated humans. Dark voodoo rituals may provide the impetus for the zombies’ attacks or radiation from a meteor may cause dead humans and animals alike to rise.

Of course, the apocalypse doesn’t have to be the end. If you’re careful, you may survive long past the initial outbreak of the zombie apocalypse. Each scenario in the book is split into two parts: Apocalypse and Post-Apocalypse. In the Apocalypse section, Game Masters find information on what the players see and experience in the first hours and days of the zombie outbreak. The truth behind the origin of the apocalypse and details about the zombies are also included in this section, though the players may have to work very hard to discover this information.

The Post-Apocalypse section, on the other hand, deals with life after the initial panic and turmoil of the apocalypse have faded. In the Post-Apocalypse, a new “norm” emerges, where humans struggle to adapt to new dangers and eke out a living. In some cases, the Post-Apocalypse may be more dire than the circumstances of the Apocalypse. The land may burn with radiation after nuclear bombs eradicate the zombie plague. A new world order may arise, transforming the world into a dystopia ruled by one man. No matter what happens, both Apocalypse and Post-Apocalypse offer hundreds of possible adventures for you and other survivors! For more information on the scenarios in Zombie Apocalypse, read our third and fourth previews.

Shoot for the Head!

The end of the world has arrived. Zombies are everywhere, and they’re hungry for your brains. If you want to keep your gray matter intact, you’ll need every skill and talent, and you’ll also need the help of your fellow survivors. Can you survive the end of life as we know it? Gather your friends and enter the apocalypse!

Zombie Apocalypse is now available at your local retailer and through our webstore.

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Source: The End Is Nigh

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Prince of the Underworld

Preview a Scum and Villainy Objective Set from the Between the Shadows Expansion

“If you cannot afford to lose, you should not play the game.”

   –Prince Xizor

The shadows offer a perfect place to hide from Imperial attention, and those who dwell there might have the means to obtain illicit technology or favors. Between the Shadows brings new power to the Scum and Villainy and Jedi affiliations for Star Wars™: The Card Game. The Jedi work secretly for the galaxy’s good, while the Scum and Villainy work for the highest bidder.

By their very nature, the Scum and Villainy are often found working alone, with loyalties shifting at a moment’s notice. The exception is the massive Black Sun crime syndicate. Uniting pirates, spice runners, information brokers, bounty hunters, and mercenaries, Black Sun rose to unmatched prestige during the events of the Galactic Civil War, largely due to the actions of its leader: Prince Xizor.

In our last preview, we explored the power of a fully-trained Jedi with a new version of Luke Skywalker. Today, however, we visit the other side of the shadows to plunge into the darkness of Black Sun and Prince Xizor’s objective set!

A Black Sun Rises

Prince Xizor is a master of schemes and treachery, and his possible plots take life with the Masterful Manipulation (Between the Shadows, 670) objective. This objective has two resources and a Reaction that allows you to use both resources without qualms. Masterful Manipulation bears the text, “Reaction: After your opponent’s turn ends, shuffle this objective back into your objective deck to draw 1 card.” Under normal circumstances, focusing an objective for two resources means it won’t provide any resources on your next turn, but Masterful Manipulation offers you an easy way out. You can use both of this objective’s resources and replace it in your objective deck at the end of your opponent’s turn, granting you new, unfocused resources for your next deployment phase. In addition, if your opponent ever wants to destroy Masterful Manipulation, he’ll have to do it in one turn, before any sign of Xizor’s schemes vanishes into the shadows.

As the ruler of a criminal empire, Prince Xizor (Between the Shadows, 671) is a force to be reckoned with in the galaxy. Your opponent will surely learn to fear Prince Xizor and his massive spread of combat icons. Whether you need to eliminate enemy units, damage an objective, or befuddle your opponent with cunning tactics, Prince Xizor has a way to accomplish all his goals. Not only does he have the elite keyword, his Reaction allows him to capture a card from each opponent’s hand whenever an objective leaves play. Prince Xizor’s ability not only triggers when an objective is destroyed, but also when Masterful Manipulation is reshuffled into your deck, giving you even more access to capturing your opponent’s cards and fueling objectives such as The Findsman’s Intuition (Lure of the Dark Side, 537) or Jabba’s Reach (Edge of Darkness, 374).

You gain another method to trigger Xizor’s Reaction in Shadows of the Empire (Between the Shadows, 674). By playing this event during your turn, you may place a target enemy objective at the bottom of its owner’s objective deck. For just one resource, you can eliminate threatening objectives ranging from Against All Odds (Lure of the Dark Side, 524), to May the Force Be With You (Join Us or Die, 567), to The Defense of Yavin 4 (Core Set, 138), and trigger Xizor’s ability to boot.

A criminal organization like Black Sun has plenty of ways to get the resources you need, such as by hiring a Debt Collector (Between the Shadows, 673). A Debt Collector can prove useful for defending your objectives and provide the resources you need to pay for the best starfighters. Black Sun also gains a powerful attacker in the Black Sun Headhunter (Between the Shadows, 672). This Fighter is an amazing bargain for two resources, offering four damage capacity, shielding, and high potential blast damage. The best starfighters never come free, though, and you must spend a Scum resource after each deployment phase to maintain the services of the Black Sun Headhunter. With the help of your Debt Collector though, you’ll have the funds to retain the Black Sun Headhunter long-term.

This objective set concludes with a new fate card introduced in Between the Shadows: The Prince’s Scheme (Between the Shadows, 675). This fate card contributes only one Force icon to your side, but if you control a participating unique Scum and Villainy unit, you may take a non-fate card from your opponent’s edge stack and place it in your edge stack! Increasing your Force icon total while decreasing your opponent’s means certain victory in many edge battles.

Out of Darkness

The Between the Shadows deluxe expansion leads you into the shadows of the Star Wars universe to engage in hidden conferences and illicit dealing. Whether you pledge yourself to the Jedi, the Scum and Villainy, or to another affiliation with shadowy interests, you’ll find the cards you need in Between the Shadows.

Preorder this deluxe expansion at your local retailer, and check back for more previews!

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Source: Prince of the Underworld

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Assemble the Fleet

A Look at Fleet-building in STAR WARS (TM): Armada

“Hurry. The Alliance should be assembled by now.”

    –Leia Organa

The Star Wars galaxy is vast. Thousands of space-faring species inhabit millions of worlds. Their diversity is expressed in their technologies, philosophies, and attitudes, and in Star Wars™: Armada, rules for fleet-building allow you to bring a degree of this diversity to your strategies.

For starters, in Armada, a starship isn’t just a starship. It’s also a weapon that’s wielded by the pilot who flies it or the crew that operate it. It can be enhanced with weapon upgrades, reinforced hull plating, and better comm systems. You might improve your command ship by outfitting it with an expanded hangar bay, or you might simply improve its performance by hand-picking all your crew members from the most elite talent available.

The Armada Core Set contains ten squadrons, three capital ships, nearly one hundred cards, plus a maneuver tool, range ruler, and all the dice, tokens, and command dials that you need to start battling for the fate of the galaxy!

Ships, Crews, Commanders, and Weapons

In Armada, your fleet isn’t just the collection of miniature starships and fighter squadrons that you bring to the table; you also bring a collection of cards that define how your starships will function. These include ship, squadron, upgrade, and commander cards.

Each card has a fleet point cost, indicated by a number in its lower right corner, and in a standard game, you and your opponent can each spend up to a total of 300 fleet points. If you spend fewer fleet points than your opponent, however, you can determine who will have initiative as the first player.

Ship Cards

You need a ship card for each ship you bring to battle. Your choice of ship card for a given miniature will impact both its abilities and its weight in your fleet.

As an example, here we see the ship card for the Victory I-class Star Destroyer (left) presented alongside the ship card for the Victory II-class Star Destroyer (right). The Victory II costs eighty-five fleet points, as opposed to the seventy-five fleet points that you need to spend to add the Victory I to your fleet, and for the extra ten fleet points, you have five of your short-range black dice upgraded to medium-range blue dice, and your upgrade bar changes, losing the missile upgrade option in favor of an ion cannon upgrade slot.

Squadron Cards

As noted in our preview of the game’s fighter squadrons, each squadron can be fielded as a non-unique collection of starfighters, or as one led by an ace pilot. Your decision impacts the abilities, defense tokens (if any), and fleet cost of your squadron.

An X-wing squadron led by Luke Skywalker (left) is far more likely to make a major impact than your standard X-wing Squadron (right), but bringing Luke’s talents to your table will cost you an extra seven fleet points.

Upgrade Cards

Upgrade cards come in all forms. You have weapons upgrades, comms upgrades, and crew upgrades, and each ship in your fleet comes with an upgrade bar that indicates what sort of upgrades you can attach to it. For a modest investment of fleet points, each upgrade card introduces a new ability that allows you to customize a ship to better fit into your overall strategy.

Examples of upgrade cards include the crew member Leia Organa, Enhanced Armament, and the CR90 corvette title, Dodonna’s Pride.

Commander Cards

Each fleet needs a commander. Your commander is a special type of upgrade card, and you must assign one commander to one of your capital ships. This ship then becomes your flagship. You can only have one flagship in your fleet, but it can be any of your ships, regardless of the upgrade icons on its upgrade bar. Then, so long as your flagship remains intact, your commander bolsters your fleet with a powerful and unique ability that you’ll do well to incorporate into your strategy.

The Core Set comes with two commander cards. Grand Moff Tarkin bolsters an Imperial fleet by assigning an extra command token to each of its ships at the start of each Ship Phase. Rebel commander General Dodonna, on the other hand, ensures that the faceup damage you deal your enemies will be as impactful as possible.

As you select the specific ship and squadrons that you’ll add to your fleet, along with any upgrades that you intend to use, you begin to form the outline of a larger strategy. As you change your selections, this outline changes. Accordingly, even with a limited number of ship miniatures, you can field an impressively diverse assortment of fleets, each of which may pursue its own strategy in battle.

A Victory-class Star Destroyer heads to battle, flanked by six TIE fighter squadrons.

Define Your Objectives

Your selection of ships and fighters to fly into battle isn’t accompanied only by your decisions of how to upgrade them and who to assign as commander. There’s another, critical step to fleet-building in Armada.

Along with its ships, fighters, and upgrades, your fleet must include three objectives. These add variety to each battle by providing a narrative for why your fleets are fighting each other. Importantly, they also change how you score points, so you want to make sure that your choice of objectives fits into your overall strategy.

There are three categories of objectives:

   
       
           
           
       
       
           
           
       
       
           
           
       
   

	Assault: Assault objectives typically identify one or more ships that are worth extra fleet points when destroyed.
	Defense: Defense objectives encourage you to position your ships so that they control specific sections of the battlefield.
	Navigation: Navigation objectives reward you for maneuvering aggressively and with precision.

You have to bring one objective from each category. Then, at the beginning of the game, the first player chooses one of the second player’s three objectives to use throughout the game. All other objectives are set aside.

Like Most Wanted, each objective introduces additional rules to impact your setup, as well as a number of unique game effects that can shape the course of a game. Additionally, most objectives introduce ways for you to score points that aren’t based solely upon the costs of the ships and squadrons you destroy.

Expanded Fleet, Expanded Options

For those players who want to explore Armada and its battles beyond the Core Set, the game’s expansion packs increase your options considerably.

As you grow your collection with new expansions, their ships, upgrades, and commanders all offer you new options for fleet-building. Already, in our announcement of the first wave of Armada expansions, we’ve had an early look at the Gladiator-class Star Destroyer, the Assault Frigate Mark II, and the other starships that will arrive to retailers at the same time as the Core Set. Each comes with its own strengths, so that you can build the fleet that best suits your tactics.

Expansions for Armada allow you to incorporate new ships, squadrons, and upgrades into your fleet!

In our next couple previews, we’ll explore the different Wave I ships, as well as their new crews, commanders, and weapons, and we’ll look at how these ships offer different strategic options for your Rebel and Imperial fleets.

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Source: Assemble the Fleet

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Intercept and Destroy

A Preview of the M3-A Interceptor Expansion Pack for X-Wing (TM)

Our last preview of the sixth wave of X-Wing™ expansions focused on the Virago, a StarViper-class attack platform and one of the rarest and most technologically advanced of all fighters in the Star Wars galaxy. While the Virago is a truly lethal vessel, it is also unique. Only one Virago exists, and even the base StarViper-class attack platform is too expensive for most organizations to field very many of them in their fleets.

Thus, as we continue to explore what the Scum and Villainy faction will soon bring to X-Wing and its explosive space battles, we turn our attention toward another starfighter with much lower production costs, the M3-A “Scyk” interceptor. Like the StarViper-class attack platform, the Scyk was produced by MandalMotors, but it was the product of a very different design philosophy.

A 360-degree view of the M3-A “Scyk” interceptor.

The Scyk is a lightly armored and lightly shielded interceptor that features tremendous customizability, and its low cost made it a favorite of the Hutt Cartel and Car’das smugglers, who purchased it in large quantities. Accordingly, the ship enters X-Wing as an agile, but lightly armored, starship with two attack, three agility, two hull, and one shield. Piloted by a Cartel Spacer, the cheapest of these Scyk interceptors costs you only fourteen squad points.

This is the sort of efficiency that makes the Scyk a good fighter to form the backbone of your Scum fleet, but the other reason so many of the galaxy’s Scum found the ship so attractive is that it can easily be upgraded to a “Heavy Scyk” Interceptor, meaning the ship can easily be outfitted to perform an astonishingly wide variety of roles.

The “Heavy Scyk” Interceptor

For two squad points, the “Heavy Scyk” Interceptor Title allows you to add one of three possible upgrade icons to your upgrade bar: missile, torpedo, or cannon.

While the Scyk’s speed and agility give it a good chance of getting in close to its target to deliver a payload of Cluster Missiles or fire an Advanced Proton Torpedo, it’s the heavy Scyk’s ability to wield a cannon that really maximizes its versatility and buys it a unique place in your Scum squadrons.

Imagine, for just twenty-three squad points, your heavy Scyk could wield the Heavy Laser Cannon from the Slave I™ Expansion Pack and serve as a menacing flanker, capable of battering foes with attacks of four dice from Range 2–3.

However, that’s just the beginning, especially since the M3-A Interceptor Expansion Pack comes with three different cannons, two of which are new to the game.

   
       
           
           
       
       
           
           
       
       
           
           
       
   

	A heavy Scyk could equip an Ion Cannon for as few as nineteen squad points. This option increases the number of attack dice the ship rolls, from two to three. While the Ion Cannon can’t deal more than a single damage in one shot, it negates the defender’s bonus defense die at Range 3, and it adds an element of control to your ship and squad that very likely enhances the effectiveness of your remaining eighty-one squad points… especially if the rest of your squad includes ace HWK-290 pilot Dace Bonearm.
	Alternatively, the “Mangler” Cannon is an excellent option for any squad built to concentrate its fire on a single target, blast through its shields, and remove it from the battle. While the “Mangler” Cannon doesn’t increase your odds of scoring damage, directly, it does significantly increase your odds of ensuring that the damage you deal goes further toward crippling your foe, either with a Direct Hit or another devastating effect like Weapon Malfunction.
	Meanwhile, the Flechette Cannon offers an attack and effect comparable to that of the Ion Cannon, but it costs just two squad points and doesn’t deal an ion token to its target. Instead, any unstressed ship hit by a Flechette Cannon receives one stress token.

While the unmodified Scyk is a quick and efficient fighter capable of avoiding enemy fire long enough to make an impact in battle, the heavy Scyk’s ability to equip any of these cannons – or missiles, or a torpedo – ensures that you’ll be able to field your Scyk in whatever way best suits your squadron and strategy.

Better to Be Slippery Than Dead

While the heavy Scyk’s cannons, torpedoes, and missiles can greatly increase your Scum squadron’s firepower, the M3-A interceptor’s ace pilots can significantly bolster its defenses.

In our earlier previews, we’ve stressed how aggressive and selfish the Scum faction’s pilots are. We’ve looked at how some of them steal tokens from their rivals or deflect damage to their wingmates, and we’ve explored how many of their abilities work best when they fly out of formation.

However, as much as we’ve stressed how selfish these pilots are, we’ve also stressed how much they’re focused on self-preservation, and the M3-A interceptor’s aces stress this latter theme more than the others, as their unique pilot abilities do less to further boost the firepower their ship can gain through its upgrades and do more to ensure they can survive multiple rounds of combat in a fighter with no more combined hull and shielding than a TIE/ln.

For instance, elusive pilot Laetin A’shera gains one evade token each time he successfully evades an incoming attack. Accordingly, he excels in situations where your Scyks may be called upon to race toward a number of opposing ships flying in formation or in which he may have to whittle down the defenses of a ship like the Firespray-31 or YT-1300 that can call upon a Gunner to launch a secondary attack whenever its first attack fails to connect. Typically, these Gunner-enabled attacks catch ships after their defensive tokens have been stripped away, but that will never be the case for Laetin A’shera.

If you give him a Stealth Device, he may even prove so slippery that your opponent will simply focus his attacks elsewhere… even if Laetin A’shera is launching attacks of four dice each with his Heavy Laser Cannon.

Meanwhile, despite the fact that most Scum pilots look upon formation tactics with an attitude approaching disdain, Serissu encourages them. The most skilled of the Scyk pilots, Serissu spends most of her time training other pilots, so it’s only natural that she wants to help them survive, especially if it that increases her chances of survival, as well.

Since Serissu’s ability works for her allies, but not for herself, she benefits from making herself as small and slippery a target as possible. Give her a Stealth Device and flank her with wingmates that each present far more enticing targets; when you present your opponent with the choice of firing at a three-agility ship that can fire at you from Range 3 for four dice or a four-agility ship that only attacks for two dice, you ensure that there’s no satisfying outcome for your opponent’s attacks.

In X-Wing, you never want to overlook any means of forcing or luring your opponent into making suboptimal decisions in the heat of battle.

Whatever You Want It to Be

With its speed, agility, and heavily customizable firepower, the M3-A “Scyk” interceptor more than compensates for its minimal hull and shields. Moreover, there’s the fact that you can configure it to play very nearly any role within your squadron that you desire.

Remember, the Hutts were feared throughout the galaxy for a reason, and the starfighter that formed the spine of their fleet was a good part of that reason. The time is fast approaching when you’ll be able to field your own Scum fleet, and you’ll do well to follow the Hutts’ example and consider how the Scyk can play its part.

In the meantime, as you wait for the release of the M3-A Interceptor Expansion pack and the other X-Wing Wave VI expansions, join the other fans on our community forums and discuss how you plan to incorporate your Scyk into your Scum squadrons!

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Source: Intercept and Destroy

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What Little Is Known for Certain

An Overview of the Jinteki Corporation by Guest Writer El-ad David Amir

At the core of Android: Netrunner are its asymmetrical cyberstruggles, waged between Corp and Runner as they race to score agenda points. However, even though these battles play out primarily over the solar system’s omnipresent network, they aren’t without character.

Both Corp and Runner must identify with one of the game’s seven factions, and by coming to understand what you can expect from these factions, and by learning to identify their strengths and weaknesses, you can improve your deck-building and play. You can play to your faction’s strengths, and you can watch for your opponent’s likely next move.

In previous articles, we’ve presented overviews of the Anarchs, Shapers, and NBN. Today, guest writer El-ad David Amir explores the mysteries of Jinteki, the undisputed Corporate masters of the shell game.

Guest Writer El-ad David Amir on the Mysteries of Jinteki

Suspicions abound regarding Jinteki’s true corporate vision. Even on the inside, few individuals enjoy a full picture of the company’s larger ambitions. Yet, occasionally, a Runner may successfully escape Jinteki’s servers with a fragmented piece of the larger puzzle. So far as anyone can tell from putting these pieces together, the reality of Jinteki is both fascinating and mortifying: human cloning and the bioengineering of psychics stands alongside the development of groundbreaking drugs and medical techniques.

A leader in nearly every form of bioscience, Jinteki routinely brings the most esoteric realms of fantasy within the realm of science, and while the corp claims it’s working to lead humanity into a brighter future, critics worry that Jinteki’s goals are much more perverse. They fear that the corp may actually be working to completely obsolete the human race. Meanwhile, public opinion shifts daily, as the newscasts condemn Jinteki’s unethical treatment of clones on one day only to praise its advancements in medicine on the next.

In Android: Netrunner, a Jinteki player’s strategy mirrors the Corp’s duality. Jinteki’s cards support two complementary strategies and allow the Corp to shift between them effortlessly. Played properly, Jinteki can confuse even the most skilled runners… or leave them conveniently hospitalized in a Jinteki mental health clinic, their brains turned into mush.

Death by a Thousand Cuts

The first approach to Jinteki, symbolized by the black tree of Personal Evolution (Core Set, 67), is the death by a thousand cuts. As Runners explore your various servers, their hands are slowly eroded. Neural Katana (Core Set, 77), Data Mine (Core Set, 76), and House of Knives (Honor and Profit, 4) are just a few of the tools that the black tree uses.

If a Runner makes even a tiny misstep or a slight miscalculation, a chain of Neural EMPs (Core Set, 72) can easily end the game. If the Runner waits too long, Chairman Hiro (Honor and Profit, 8) and a Ronin (Future Proof, 112) can drop him into the negative.

Even when Runners take care to refill their hands, the ceaseless net damage may hit key components of their rigs, slowing them down and allowing you to win via the more traditional agenda victory.

The Mask of Benevolence

Through the looking-glass we find the white tree of Replicating Perfection (Trace Amount, 31), which offers another take on Jinteki based around the concept of work compression. To quote George Hollis, who first shared the idea with the Android: Netrunner community, work compression is “the ability to use clicks for actions across multiple turns, and then to force the runner to match you click-for-click within the space of a runner’s single turn.”

Instead of playing as efficiently as possible, you play to capitalize upon the crucial moment in which you can overflow the Runner. Nisei Mk II (Core Set, 68) and Caprice Nisei (Double Time, 114) are two keys to this approach as they force repeated runs on your remote in an attempt to steal the agenda.

Net damage remains an important weapon. Even if you’re not trying to flatline the Runner with the work compression deck type, a well-timed Snare! (Core Set, 70) will force the Runner to waste time on drawing up and removing the tag. This is wasted time that you can take advantage of by installing and advancing an agenda like NAPD Contract (Double Time, 119). Place it behind Chum (Core Set, 75), Komainu (Honor and Profit, 17), and a layer of mystery ice, and it should be quite safe.

The white tree’s chief deception is its apparent benevolence, but make no mistakes: It’s just as ruthless as its black twin.

Running the Shell Game

An important common thread through Jinteki’s various decks is the diversity of their agendas and their highly varied abilities. The Future Perfect (Honor and Profit, 7) is nigh untouchable. If you can chain the effects of Nisei Mk II and Unorthodox Predictions (Mala Tempora, 53), you can force the Runner into a perpetual time-out. Finally, Braintrust (What Lies Ahead, 14), Medical Breakthrough (Honor and Profit, 5), and Clone Retirement (Second Thoughts, 32) open a fast-advance option for the Corp, taking you from zero to seven in a flurry of turns.

Along with your array of potent ambushes and highly virulent agendas, these agendas and their abilities force Runners into all sorts of bad places. Runners can never ignore Jinteki’s install-advance-advance.

Let’s examine typical builds for each of Jinteki’s play styles. As its name implies, the “Cambridge Jin” is the deck played to victory at the 2014 Cambridge Regional Championship. It uses Mushin No Shin (Honor and Profit, 15) to set up either a Ronin or a Cerebral Overwriter (Creation and Control, 9).

As its remotes fill up with more and more assets, the “Cambridge Jin” forces the Runner into an unenviable dilemma: Run and risk massive brain damage, or stick to the relatively safe remotes and race the inevitable double-Ronin. This deck is a painful clock of tiny, never-ending cuts, with a core of several notable cards:

   
• 3x Ronin

   
• 3x Cerebral Overwriter

   
• 3x Mushin Nu Shin

   
• 3x Psychic Field (Honor and Profit, 10)

   
• 3x House of Knives

Next is the Replicating Perfection “Glacier” deck, a powerhouse that might just be the strongest Corp deck from the 2014 tournament season. “Glacier” takes its time to defend its central servers, relying on massive economy and self-defending agendas to block the runner at every turn. Eventually it sets up a nigh-impregnable remote, featuring Caprice Nisei, Ash 2X3ZB9CY (What Lies Ahead, 13), or both, and wins by advancing agendas in the span of the following three to four turns.

   
• 3x The Future Perfect

   
• 2x Caprice Nisei

   
• 3x Mental Health Clinic (Honor and Profit, 9)

   
• 3x Sundew (Mala Tempora, 54)

   
• 3x Eli 1.0 (Future Proof, 110)

Of course, as Jinteki excels at switching seamlessly from one approach to another, it is possible to create powerful decks that combine the two strategies. Using the slim, tight clock forced on the Runner by Harmony Medtech (Honor and Profit, 1), the following build utilizes cheap agendas, fast ice, a combination of ambushes, and Trick of Light (Trace Amount, 33). Combining these results in a lightning-fast deck that can steal the victory from under the most confident of Runners.

   
• 3x Braintrust

   
• 3x Trick of Light

   
• 3x Paper Wall (Mala Tempora, 59)

   
• 2x Plan B (Honor and Profit, 23)

   
• 2x Shi.Kyu (Honor and Profit, 11)

One Point of Clarity in a Fog of Uncertainty

Jinteki is one of the world’s most commonplace names. The megacorp’s stupefying array of technological advances touches on nearly every aspect of daily life, yet very little is known about the work it performs behind closed doors. Chairman Hiro has shared very little information about the company’s vision, and the jury is still out on the ethical implications of its practices. The situation in Android: Netrunner, however, is much clearer. Jinteki is a powerful force with which to be reckoned.

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Source: What Little Is Known for Certain

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Facing the Dragon

Preview Lord Hawthorne and the Crypt Dragons from Guardians of Deephall

The village of Deephall stands in dire need. Its dead rise as mindless zombies, animated by the magic of dark priests. Four heroes defend the city’s walls, but strength alone will not be enough to save Deephall. To put an end to this evil, the heroes must venture into the icy caverns high above the city and find a mysterious pendant that may hold the key to Deephall’s woes.

Like other Hero and Monster Collections for Descent: Journeys in the Dark Second Edition, Guardians of Deephall offers thirteen sculpted plastic figures previously available only through the first edition of Descent. Now, these figures have been brought in line with the aesthetics of the second edition with new sculpts and artwork. Within this expansion, you’ll find four heroes, two crypt dragons, three wendigos, and four dark priests, as well as two brand-new quests: Guardians of Deephall and The Curse of Iona.

In our last preview, we took a closer look at Silhouette and the wendigo monster group. Today, we turn to the martial prowess of Lord Hawthorne and the terrifying presence of the crypt dragons!

Sworn to Defend

Years ago, Lord Hawthorne and his men lay under siege in Seragart. When they poured from the city gates in a final sortie, few expected victory. But the throng of barbarians fell beneath Lord Hawthorne’s blade, leaving their sorcerous warlord scrambling to retreat. Lord Hawthorne pursued the rout and closed in on the dark mage, but only severed a corner of his cloak. Lord Hawthorne swore then that his opponents would never again escape his blade. He has never broken his oath, and now he has sworn to protect the city of Deephall or die in the attempt!

As a Warrior, Lord Hawthorne brings overwhelming strength to your quests, cutting down the deadly monsters of the overlord wherever they may stand. In combat, Lord Hawthorne is renowned for his mastery of greatswords and other enormous weapons. His hero ability grants Reach to all of his Melee weapon attacks, enabling you to attack foes up to two spaces away. This added range for Melee weapons makes Lord Hawthorne a powerful force, especially in the tight corridors and cramped confines of a dungeon.

Lord Hawthorne deals even more damage to monsters by using his heroic feat at the opportune moment. As an action, he may use his heroic feat to attack, move up to two spaces, and perform another attack against a different target! With two attacks and added mobility, Lord Hawthorne can cut through a variety of monsters. What’s more, Lord Hawthorne’s hero ability applies to these attacks, increasing the range of this heroic feat even more. As a cunning warrior and a deadly combatant, Lord Hawthorne’s blade could make the difference between victory and defeat in Deephall.

Hoarded in Darkness

Many of the overlord’s monsters join the assault on Deephall directly, but some lurk in the shadows instead, such as the fearsome crypt dragons. While other dragons hoard items for their great value or shining brilliance, crypt dragons are far more interested in items of great magic or fate. These powerful artifacts have been known to carry dreadful curses and terrorize settlements near the tombs and graveyards where these beasts build their hoards. The presence of crypt dragons in the caverns above the city may hold a clue to the source of Deephall’s woes.

Crypt dragons are formidable in battle, and when you play as the overlord, you can call upon their dread power to send the heroes fleeing in terror. All crypt dragons can attack at range, spending surges to deal extra damage. They can also spend a surge to grant Blast to their attacks, allowing every blast of black fire to affect large groups of figures. Crypt dragons also share a Horrifying visage. Every hero adjacent to a Horrifying monster suffers from reduced willpower, making him more susceptible to the overlord’s tricks and deception.

Master crypt dragons offer another option for taking advantage of the heroes’ compromised willpower. As an action, a master crypt dragon can Cause Fear, forcing an adjacent hero to test his willpower. If the hero fails, he must flee two spaces away from the monster and become immobilized. By keeping the heroes from moving closer to the quest’s objectives, your crypt dragons may become a crucial part of the overlord’s monstrous army.

Salvation or Ruin

The city of Deephall lies in your hands. Will you defend its walls as a hero, slaying foul monsters at every turn? Or will you command dark priests, wendigos, and crypt dragons in unceasing assault until Deephall is brought to ruin? The choice is yours in Guardians of Deephall, a new Hero and Monster Collection for Descent: Journeys in the Dark Second Edition!

Look for Guardians of Deephall at your local retailer soon!

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Source: Facing the Dragon

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Domain of the Master

Preview a Jedi Objective Set from the Between the Shadows Expansion

“Mudhole? Slimy? My home this is!”

   –Yoda, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back



Journey into the most secret parts of the Galactic Empire in the Between the Shadows deluxe expansion for Star Wars™: The Card Game. Among the cards of this expansion, you’ll find plenty of new cards for the Jedi and Scum and Villainy affiliations, as well as others who engage in shadowy operations. The Scum and Villainy of the galaxy thrive on their back-alley deals and secretive crimes, while the Jedi seek to keep their flame alive and undermine the servants of the dark side.

When we announced Between the Shadows, we previewed the most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy: Boba Fett. Then, in our first preview, we looked at a new version of Luke Skywalker – much more experienced in the ways of the Force. We delved into the Black Sun criminal empire and its leader, Prince Xizor, in our second preview. Today, however, we journey deep into the swamps of Dagobah to see the united power held by a group of Jedi in Yoda’s objective set.

Into the Swamp

Mixing two affiliations in one deck in Star Wars: The Card Game has a number of benefits, but under certain circumstances, an undiluted affiliation can prove the most powerful. In Between the Shadows, the Jedi can be strongest when facing the dark side as a single united force. Together, the Jedi seek victory by relying on their steadfast commitment to and their intimate knowledge of the Force.

Your path to gaining the benefits of a unified group of Jedi begins with the objective of this set, The Master’s Domain (Between the Shadows, 638). This objective produces resources equal to the number of Jedi objectives that you control. Because of this ability, if you have only Jedi objectives in play, you could potentially generate three resources from this one objective, greatly increasing your ability to pay for units and powerful events.

You’ll find more rewards for creating a deck using only Jedi objective sets with a new version of Yoda (Between the Shadows, 639). This Yoda possesses the elite keyword and a massive amount of Force icons, similar to his past incarnations. The true power of this unit, however, is that he gains an edge-enabled tactics icon for each Jedi objective you control. With that many tactics icons, Yoda rivals the power of Emperor Palpatine (Core Set, 51). The amount of Force icons within a pure Jedi deck makes winning the edge much easier, and cards like The Flight of the Crow (Knowledge and Defense, 543) help you further develop the edge prowess of your unique Jedi units.

The Bogwing (Between the Shadows, 640) is another card that only grows stronger with more Jedi objectives in play. This free Creature has a damage capacity of X, which is equal to the number of Jedi objectives in play. As an added bonus, a Bogwing gains a unit damage if you have three or more Jedi objectives, making it an inexpensive and efficient defender. To help you keep your units safe when defending or attacking, this objective set also includes a copy of Lightsaber Deflection (Between the Shadows, 89), a free event that deflects one point of damage onto another unit.

A group of Jedi sharing a united purpose are always a power to be reckoned with, and their commitment to the Force cannot be underestimated. You gain another tool to keep control of the Force struggle in Yoda’s Hut (Between the Shadows, 641). This enhancement provides a resource, but if you control at least three Jedi objectives, Yoda’s Hut also contributes two Force icons to your side during the Force struggle. This enhancement offers you an easy and inexpensive way to keep control of the Force, giving you time to control the game and deal extra damage from holding the Force.

The final card in this objective set is a brand-new fate card, The Jedi’s Resolve (Between the Shadows, 642). When played in an edge battle, this fate card contributes two Force icons, but its ability is even more potent. If you control a participating unique Jedi unit in the engagement, this card lets you set the Balance of the Force to the light side and skip the Force phase this turn. For the maximum effect, you should play this fate card while defending one of your opponent’s attacks. By skipping the Force phase on your opponent’s turn and depriving him of the chance to commit any of his units, you ensure that the Balance of the Force rests with you at the beginning of your next turn.

The Deepest Commitment

Whether you follow the way of the Jedi and defend the galaxy, or use your bounties and illicit practices to turn a profit, you’ll find plenty of new cards in Between the Shadows.

Enter the shadows of the Star Wars universe when Between the Shadows releases at retailers everywhere next week!

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Source: Domain of the Master

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A New Year of Gaming

Happy New Year from Fantasy Flight Games

Today marks the close of 2014, and Fantasy Flight Games is thrilled to see the end of another great year of games. We’re incredibly thankful to all of you for your support!

A new year is just around the corner, and as you play your old favorites, you can be sure there’s plenty of new games to be revealed in the coming year. The Fantasy Flight offices will be closed on New Year’s Day as our employees ring in the new year, but we’ll be back on January 2nd to enter a brand new year of gaming alongside you.

Thank you for an amazing 2014, and we're wishing all of you an even better 2015!

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Source: A New Year of Gaming