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In this week's news round-up, the original Civilization returns while we resist the chance to make more dice jokes about Warhammer 40,000.
Mortarion and Roboute Guilliman come to 40k Dice Masters
More details have been released about the Warhammer 40,000 expansion of Dice Masters. The core set will be a box called Battle for Ultramar, which sounds similar to regular 40k Dice Masters releases, and will focus on two opposing forces: the Ultramarines, most sensible of the Space Marines, and the Death Guard, the chaos force who delight in disease.
If you’re into the fluff, yes, this will include Mortarian and Roboute Guilliman as characters. Two expansions (to the expansion) are already announced, bringing Space Wolves (sadly not actual wolves but hairy Space Marines) and Orks into the game.
One reason I’ve kept saying expansion is because 40k Dice Masters is compatible with other editions of Dice Masters. July 2018 is the release date, for the main set.
Civilization is being reskinned for the modern age
Last week we spoke about Mega Civilization, and your scribe has recently written a preview of Civilization: A New Dawn which was in turn inspired by video game Civilization. Well, the latter Civs were inspired by a board game: Francis Tresham’s Civilization from 1981.
The gameplay is now classic: Guide a nation across the millennia of history competing in not just warfare but culture and science too. However the game is going to be re-released, and we’re promised the same rules but a complete re-skin to “bring the style up to 21st Century expectations,” and that means a new look to the pieces as well as the physical rule book. It’ll be out February.
Downforce gets extra tracks and powers
Downforce excites people who love good racing games, and people who love gaming history, as it’s a reboot of a series which began with Wolfgang Kramer’s ‘70s Tempo and evolved both Top Race, Daytona 500 and Niki Lauda’s Formel 1. But what does everyone crave with racing games of any media? More cars and more tracks.
Well, the Danger Circuit expansion is coming with two extra tracks to test yourselves on, as well as extra powers for your drivers, including one that lets you get a jump on your rivals with some surprise movement. However, you’ll have to wait until summer to get it.
Esdevium rebands as Asmodee
Esdevium is Britain’s biggest board games distributor and since 2010 has been owned by the fast growing global gaming giant Asmodee. It’s perhaps surprising that it’s taken this long for a re-branding, as the Esdevium name is going in favour of Asmodee UK, which makes everything clearer for everyone. In practical terms this will mean nothing for consumers, but it’s nice to know.
Victorian Masterminds decloaks
If we’d been writing this column in 2015 we’d have told you about Victorian Masterminds, a Space Cowboys production which cast you as steampunk super villains trying to conquer the world while avoiding the secret service. However, the game went dark for a few years. The project is the work of two gaming greats - Antoine Bauza who did 7 Wonders and Eric Lang who did Blood Rage – and Lang recently signed up to CMON, so no surprises who’s announced Victorian Masterminds is back on. More details are coming next year.
Clank! In! Space! unleashes solo play
Do you like Clank! In! Space!? Or are you finding it difficult to ‘get it to the table’? Well fear not, because the companion app for the game has been updated with a solo campaign. Yep, if you download the free Android of iOS app you can now find five linked missions with the ultimate aim to get the best score, and probably save the universe, reorder depending on how into the fluff you are.