Reaper is running a miniatures painting contest with entries accepted through the end of July. Suggested themes are Ain’t No Cure for the Summertime Blues or Born on the Fourth of July but any Reaper figure will do. Reaper staff will choose contest finalists, but the actual winners will be chosen by public vote. The top prize is a $50 gift certificate, and of course the adulation of the masses.

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We brought word to you about the third Monsterpocalypse set a while back (All Your Base) and there was a small teaser about the fourth set – Monsterpocalypse Now! Word has finally leaked out about this expansion and its enough to make my kaiju-lovin’ heart skip a beat. Monsterpocalypse Now! will be the second starter block of the Monsterpocalypse line and will feature six new factions:

• Elemental Champions
• Empire of the Apes
• Subterran Uprising
• Savage Swarm
• Tritons
• UberCorp International

This new block is expected to serve as a jumping on point for new players and provide a greater number of options for existing players. Monsterpocalypse Now! will ship in starter sets, monster packs and unit packs like those used in the original Rise! series. Players willing to shell out the big bucks for a case of monsters and units will receive the extremely rare King Kondo figure (we’re guessing this one is part of the Empire of the Apes). Monsterpocalypse Now! will hit store shelves in October 2009!

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Upper Deck canceled the Vs System superhero TCG in January, citing its inability to “move forward with the original version of the game”. The Vs System included superheroes from both Marvel and DC universes.

So now I’m a tad confused as to the “big news” that Upper Deck has just secured a multi-year licensing partnership with Marvel. I understand that the world needs superhero TCGs to be marketed simultaneously with those upcoming superhero movies, but will these TCGs be compatible with Vs System?

And what does this fortell for Heroclix?

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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 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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If you live near Amherst, MA, you might consider joining the Pioneer Valley Gamer Collective.

The Collective is a non-profit that operates a game store called Worlds Apart Games. WAG is like any other game store, with games, dice, etc, as well as place to play games, but it’s worker managed and worker owned. They also make themselves available to do game outreach, non-profit fund raising, education, and so on.

Anyone can join to get discounts and a say in what goes on.

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BattleTech 2nd and 3rd edition box sets were illustrated with a popular collection of anime licenses – Warhammer, Marauder, BattleMaster, Phoenix Hawk and so on. These were retired in 1996.

Randall Bills, Managing Developer of Catalyst Game Labs says that he’s finally managed to reacquire the rights to these lines of illustration and they will be returning on upcoming and future Battletech products. I’m guessing that this also means that Battletech rights are securely in CGL’s hands at the moment, although I don’t recall hearing that.

You can see a preview of the book “BattleTech: 25 Years of Art and Fiction” at source (above link).

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Dave and I are at Origins this year and thought we’d give you a rundown of what’s going on this year. The Exhibition Hall isn’t open today (opens tomorrow) which means that its mostly open gaming and scheduled events (though the Battletech Simulators were open and had no lines). That said, it was a great time to meet a few of hobby gaming’s most notable names (including Tom Vasel and his former co-host, Joe Steadman – and yes, Joe, Dominion really is that good). Crowds were fairly light, though it was still easy to get in a game at both open gaming and the well known “Board Room” and “War Room”. So if you’re at Origins, what are the things you should be looking out for today?

• Tickets and registration – lines at registration were somewhat long, but they’re moving quickly and are likely smaller than they will be tomorrow
• Dice Tower ribbons – the folks at the Dice Tower have seeded Dice Tower ribbons around the show floor (I found piles at the tables behind the pre-registration kiosk and on the tables in front of the Board and War rooms
• Virtual Battletech – no lines means no waiting this is the perfect time to get your Mechwarrior on
• Finding your way – there’s been a bit of construction in Columbus over the past year, so they layout your familiar with may have changed (I personally spent way too much time walking up and down the halls as even the event staff aren’t fully briefed on the layout changes)

We’ll be posting to our Flickr stream and YouTube channel throughout the conference, so stay tuned (and if you’re at Origins, track us down)!

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Toronto-based Spin Master has started a North American Bakugan promotional tour, Bakugan Ultimate Battle Tour, starting in – no surprise – Toronto.

Admission is free, and the event includes introduction to the game, prizes, etc.

Scenes from Toronto give you an idea as to the age of most of the participants.

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Foundry, the British miniatures company, has released a new book for Napoleonic battles. Full color and over 200 pages, Napoleon covers both the combat side—including rules for pontoon bridges, grand battery fire, ground conditions, setting fire to buildings, friendly fire, and ambulances—as well as the army assembly side—with articles on historical uniforms, unit composition, painting, and other aspects.

[Hat Tip]

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