Day two of Origins opened with a bang on Thursday, with the show starting up in full steam (word to GAMA – I like having the conference open a day longer, but make Wed. more worth our while!). All of the major events started today, including the TerrorWerks event (check out our coverage later for an overview of this Origins staple). With the exhibition hall open, Origins has a ton going on today, including:

• Medieval combat tutorials (using bopper LARP weapons of course)
• The Exhibit Hall itself – home to move vendors than you can shake a stick at, selling everything from new releases to old classics (I tool a pretty serious look at some early 80’s Games Workshop games I’d never heard of before…)
• New game releases, including
• • Dominion: Intrique – the standalone expansion to last year’s hit release (and current Spiel de Jahres nominee
  • Race for the Galaxy: Rebel vs. Imperium – the long awaited expansion to to RtfG that brings direct player conflict to the game
  • Formula D: Map Pack 2 – Bringing the streets of Valencia and the famed Hockenheim Ring tracks to the game
  • Steam – Martin Wallace’s sequel to Age of Steam
  • Starblazers the RPG – the massive epic RPG from Mongoose based on the classic British scifi property [edit for my own Japanimation bias!]
  • Tales of the Arabian Nights – Z Man Games’ massive storytelling game
  • Battletech Strategic Operations – the newest extension of the retooled Battletech rules
• The Dice Tower Dinner – Tom Vasel’s annual trip to Max & Erma’s open to boardgamers near and far
• The Board Room Wits & Wagers Tournament – a massive team game of Wits & Wagers held in the Board Room

All of this is of course in addition to open gaming with board games, miniature games, CCGs, CMGs, RPGs and LARPs!

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I personally started off this second day of Origins with my first trip through a TerrorWerks event. For those not familiar with it, TerrorWerks is a special event run by PST Productions, a group that runs scenario-based LARPs across the country, but is probably best known for their yearly event at Origins. This year’s event is set in a small town, where Humanatek (a Unatek company) has had a slight problem with one of their genetic experiments – apparently its turned the test subjects into marauding zombies – armed marauding zombies… Its your task as a group of up to 15 researchers, security guards and convicts (hoping for early release because of good behavior and their willingness to be test subjects) to figure out what has happened and escape the facility.   

Essentially, the event is a LARP using airsoft weapons and a 45 minute time limit. I was part of the first group to go through the new Homecoming event, so realize that there were a few bugs they were still working out. Our group was 13 strong, with 5 of guards, 4 convicts and 4 researchers (I played the role of biochemist). The event starts off fairly slowly as you enter the research facility with little to guide you as to the best route. Fortunately, you’re rapidly beset upon by zombies (who really did have nice costumes) who help to quickly establish roles – convicts are brutes who scavenge, security guards defend and researchers cower…I mean use their skills and wits. The puzzles are interesting without being too difficult for the situation and time involved, but some of them are based on finding items – not easy to do when you’ve got zombies constantly attacking and the lights set to 20%… Its worth noting that only one of the actors has a significant role, the synthetic main computer and the young lady handling our session did an outstanding job. I won’t spoil the ending, but the game’s ending seems overly scripted and time dependent, making for some very awkward moments in the last 10 minutes as the party just isn’t sure what they need to be doing.

Overall, TerrorWerks is an interesting experience. I found myself running for cover, being genuinely scared by the zombie who snuck up behind me and delivered one of my two points of damage during the session and having no problem getting into character and suspending disbelief. Some of the set work could be better and I’m nearly positive that latter sessions of the game will be better than the one I was in as the team will have the opportunity to work out some of the kinks and bugs that always a plague a first event. The entry price of $20 is a bit steep for a 45 minute play time, but its a unique experience that you’re not likely to get anywhere else.

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I had a chance to sit down with the folks from Bandai to talk about their new CCG, Battle Spirits and play out a demo game. Bandai starts out by explaining that Battle Spirits is a lot like Magic the Gathering – and they’re right, it really is a lot like Magic including familiar concepts like summoning sickness and tapping creatures for combat. Player begin with a small amount of core (mana) that they can use to cast spells and five life points. Spells come in two forms – basic spells that impact the game board and creature spells that remain on the field of play and do battle. Each creature has a single combat value used to determine the results of combat. On a player’s turn, they gain one core from their reserve, recover any reserve they spent last turn and may cast spells. Spells have a printed cost that can be paid, though this cost is reduced by one for each card of the same color the player currently has in play (down to a cost of zero). If the spell is creature, an extra core is required that is placed on the creature. Each creature has multiple levels that are attained when the creature gains a specific amount of core, with each level conferring different combat abilities and combat strength. After spells have been played, one core can be moved from the current pool to one or more creatures currently in play. Then, the current player nominate creatures to fight – the defender assigns blockers (who must be untapped at the start of combat). Combat values are compared with the highest value surviving and the losers going to the graveyard – one added bonus: winners of a combat get an extra core as a reward for winning combat.   

The game plays in about 30 minutes and has some interesting elements that really differentiate it from other CCGs on the market. In some ways, the depth of play may be a disadvantage, as I can see more finely tuned decks resulting in some very intense and long play times (those five hit points last quite a while even with the demo decks). The artwork on the game is gorgeous and the cards themselves are well laid out and easy to read. The colored factions in the game have very distinct styles of play (I seem to gravitate towards the purple Darkling faction which specializes in manipulating the battlefield) and are pretty different from what we’ve seen in other CCGs. I’ll be curious to see how the market reacts to this newest entry into the overcrowded CCG marketplace. Battle Spirits will be available nationwide in the US on August 14th and the first major tournament will take place at GenCon 2009.

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I need to level set with anyone – I’m a huge Battletech geek. I love nearly everything about this game – the fluff, the rules, the strategy, the art – you name it, I’m in love with it. So imagine my surprise when I found out that Catalyst Games Labs had released Strategic Operations at Origins! Now imagine my disappointment when I discovered that they had sold out by the time I got there… Regardless, I got a chance to look through the book and talk with the guys at Catalyst Games about the new release.

So what had me so excited about this new release? Easy:

• Reworked aerotech (both outer space and in-atmosphere rules)
• New campaign rules and options for extended operations, including salvaging, repairs and contracts
• Battleforce!

Yeah, that’s right. Battleforce – the large scale version of Battletech that never quite became as popular as its big brother. Battleforce is essentially Battletech’s version of Epic (the large scale version of 40K with 15mm miniatures). There are a ton of rules for running large scale Battleforce games in this book. I mentioned that I was surprised to see so much love for some of the older elements of Battletech that hadn’t received this level of attention in decades and they told me that it was an easy decision for them – its a set of great ideas that they felt could be updated and brought to a new audience in a way that got people excited. When asked about smaller scale miniatures (the old Battleforce used wargame style chits), the CLG didn’t have any hard information, but they knew that Iron Wind Metals had been playing around with some ideas in this space (I’ll be the guy on his knees begging later today). Strategic Operations is a massive book (at least 400 pages) retailing for $50 US and will be available more broadly later this year.

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Manila, Phillipines:  1 killed, 32 injured when grenade hurled at card players and karaoke bar in town plaza. (source)

Cincinnati, OH: 2 life terms for men who killed and robbed people a card game in a home over three years ago. (source)

Not criminal – International Falls, MN: Somebody wants the person who bought two old board games at their rummage sale to kindly return the vast sums of cash that were hidden inside. Please. (source)

Brighton, UK: Banker steals £411,000 to fund her gambling addiction. (source)

Trelawny, Jamaica: Three men arrested for enticing vicitms to play cards and then robbing them right afterwards. (source)

Benton Harbor, IN: Two men shot in argument over a dice game. One lost an eye. (source)

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(on eBay)

(on eBay; on Amazon)

(on Amazon; in addition to The Tonight Show, Ed McMahon emceed a number of television game shows, including Concentration in 1969).

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