Clarifying Collectors Information

The four preset units and two building are the same figures in each starter, no matter what random monster is included in the starter. These were preset to illustrate in the Game Walkthrough how certain abilities work. The four units are all from different factions.

If you bought a case of Unit Boosters and a case of Monster Boosters, your odds of getting a complete set of Monsterpocalypse: Rise would be extremely high (although it should be noted that since these are sold in a blind buy method, no guarantees by myself or Privateer Press are made regarding the contents of a booster or case of boosters in any way).

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Collectors Information

We know a lot of you have some questions about the upcoming Monsterpocalypse game and how it will be presented. I hope this blog has answered a number of those questions, but it occurred to me that we had not yet addressed some of the most basic information, like when we’re scheduled to release. Here, then, is some information that we think you will find useful:

The game is set to launch at the beginning of October and expansions should follow about every four months, give or take a couple of weeks here and there.

Starter Boxes ($24.99) contain one random monster with one corresponding Hyper form, two preset buildings, and four preset Units. All preset figures will appear in the set as well. Additionally, you will get one two-sided map, one 64-page rulebook, one Handy Reference Guide, four Boost Dice, 10 Action Dice, and 10 Power Dice.

Monster Boosters ($12.99) contain one random monster and one corresponding Hyper form. Each monster in the set has one corresponding Hyper form that comes with it in the booster each time. There are 12 monsters total in the first set, and all monsters have the same rarity. You may only use one of any monster when you play – even with the Multi-Monster rules. Monsters are labeled “***” for their rarity.

Unit Boosters ($12.99) contain one random building and four random units. There are nine buildings total, all with the same rarity (although two of those buildings will be preset in the starter). Buildings are labeled “**” for their rarity. There are 36 units total (six per faction). Fourteen of the Units are labeled “*”, which is the most frequent, 10 are labeled “**” (a bit less frequent), and 12 are labeled “***”, which are the hardest to acquire. You get one “***”, one “**”, and two “*” per booster. You may play with up to five of any one type of unit or building when you play.

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Just FYI

Monsterpocalypse: Cataclysm Event and CMG launch at Gen Con Indy

Seattle WA, June 20th, 2008
The Monsterpocalypse is upon us!
Join Privateer Press (booth 1201) and celebrate the world premiere of the Monsterpocalypse collectible miniatures game. A limited amount of sneak preview starters and boosters will go on sale for the first time ever on Thursday, August 14th. The sneak preview contains a sampling of the figures in Series 1: Rise. The figures are not limited edition and are identical in all respects to the figures in Rise due out October 2008. Be among the very first to play Monsterpocalypse in its debut event at Gen Con Indy! Purchase your product at the Privateer Press booth, grab a ticket to play, bring a desire to level cities, and join us in rooms 105/106 for this participation event! This is not a sealed box event, so boosters are allowed and encouraged. You can participate in as many of the approximately hour-long matches as you like during this all-day event. Players who participate in TWO or more games will walk away with a limited edition figure, Mega Zor-Raiden!
Don’t miss out on the world premiere of Monsterpocalypse on the gaming world’s largest stage at Gen Con Indy.
For more information visit www.monsterpocalypsegame.com or register for the event at www.gencon.com/2008/indy and click “Register Now.”
(Information subject to change, visit www.privateerpress.com for the latest updates.)

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About the Monsterpocalypse Collectible Miniatures Game
The Monsterpocalypse Collectible Miniatures Game (CMG) brings the giant monster genre – a pop culture favorite – to the tabletop in the form of a fast-paced, action-packed game. Designed by Matt Wilson, the award-winning creator of WARMACHINE and HORDES, Monsterpocalypse leverages the critically acclaimed abilities of Privateer Press as a leading miniatures manufacturer to enter a new category of product with a property that appeals to a worldwide fan base of all ages. Planned for release in October 2008, visit www.monsterpocalypsegame.com for previews and updates about the game.

About Privateer Press, Inc.
Privateer Press, Inc. is a privately held, Seattle-based producer of entertainment and hobby brands such as the newly-announced Monsterpocalypse collectible miniatures game, the award-winning hobby miniatures games WARMACHINE and HORDES, the award-winning Iron Kingdoms property, and the Formula P3 hobby line.

To learn more about Privateer Press, visit http://www.privateerpress.com or contact the president of Privateer Press, Sherry Yeary, at (425) 643-5900 or sherry@privateerpress.com.

All contents copyright 2001 - 2008 Privateer Press, Inc. WARMACHINE®, HORDES, Iron Kingdoms, Formula P3, Monsterpocalypse are trademarks of Privateer Press, Inc.

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Talking Maps Here!

The last couple of weeks we have been playtesting a few new maps that will release in a map pack shortly after the starters and boosters. I figured a little education regarding the map could be in order this week.

Games of Monsterpocalypse are played on battle map. The map allows for placement of buildings and provides a variety of features that drive the game in different ways, including spawn points, neutral spawn points, Negative Zones, and Power Zones. Placement of these features along with the placement of the buildings really shapes the way the game develops and gives certain monsters or play styles an advantage.
At the beginning of the game, players roll to see who places the first building and takes the first turn. This can be a valuable roll to win. However, the player that does not win this roll chooses the map for the game. If that player chooses the right map, he can mitigate the difference between going first and going second, which is small, but still an advantage.

Foundation placement can play a vital role in the game. Buildings separated by only a couple of spaces are easier to secure with fewer units. If you place three units between two buildings and end up adjacent to both, you secure them both. That means more Power Dice when you Power Up, which means more potent attacks and power attacks for your monster to perform. Having buildings adjacent to one another also creates potential damage-boosting hot spots. If you can drop a monster on two buildings at once, you can deal two to four damage in one attack, depending on whether or not those buildings create hazards. Remember to pay attention to where you leave your monster. Don’t get baited into moving to a place where you can get thrown into a pair of buildings.

Spawn points are locations on the map where your units come into play. At the beginning of the game you are designated as the Red player or the Blue player and use the spawn points and monster starting locations based on that designation. The number of spawn points on the map can drive the speed of the game. A map with four spawn points per player means fewer units can come into play each turn and thus you can secure fewer buildings and hold fewer objectives early on. Further, attacking your opponent’s units can have a greater impact, on a percentage basis, since the number of units that can come into play each turn has been reduced. Obviously a map with six spawn points per player means more units will come into play each turn. The downside to spawning six units is that you cannot do as much with those figures each turn, since you spent at least one Action Die to put each figure on the board. (Remember you only have 10 Action Dice in your Unit Pool, and moving and attacking each cost one die per unit). Units that cost you two or more Action Dice to spawn will more likely see play earlier in games on maps with fewer spawn points.

Neutral spawn points usually lie toward the center of the map. By dedicating a unit to hold the activator, you gain access to another spawn point. However, after you pass the threshold of five spawn points, the law of diminishing returns kicks in. Having access to spawn points deeper into the map, however, can provide your units with further tactical options when playing aggressively against your opponent, such as spawning units away from areas of conflict or spawning, moving, and attacking with a unit in the same turn.

Negative Zones ding your opponent for Power Dice when you Power Up. If you destroy the buildings on your opponent’s side of the map, suppress his units, and prevent him from taking Power Zones, you can greatly reduce his ability to gain Power Dice. When he does gain a few Power Dice from destroying your units or taking down buildings, you can hamper him further by holding Negative Zones and then Powering Up. Your opponent will lose one Power Die for each Negative Zone your units hold, and this can keep the balance of Power Dice tipped in your favor.

Power Zones are the best locations on the table for gaining Power Dice. One non-flying unit sitting on a Power Zone gets you one Power Die every time you Power Up, a better ratio of figures to Power Dice than you get anywhere else on the table. We tend to place them in locations that drive conflict in the game. Two aggressive players can spark an all-out war in certain parts of the map as they engage one another to hold these valuable objectives.

Additionally some spaces feature terrain like water, trees, or rubble that affects the game in a different way. Placement of one rough terrain space (like rubble) or one impassible terrain space (like water) near an objective can really make you wish you had some hover or jumping units (which ignore features like that) so you can get to that Power Zone quicker. Some terrain spaces offer cover, which increase a unit’s defense against blast attacks. This can provide a place to plant your units to allow a little more protection or to counterattack anything trying to drive you off an objective.

The map you choose to play on can have as much effect on the game as your monster, units, and buildings. Choose your maps carefully and customize your force to the map you play on. It’s like baseball in that regard: You play half of your games on your home field, so make sure your team is equipped to win those home games!

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Summer Convention Season

While in my humble opinion the summer convention season really kicks off with Memorial Day weekend, the big national conventions actually start in June and July. Local summer conventions happen every weekend, however, and I thought I would share some of my convention thoughts with you.

I started attending local “Strategicon” conventions at a tender 16 years of age. I had just discovered the world of adventure gaming, and a local comic book retailer told my friend and me about the convention on President’s Day weekend. John and I scraped some cash together, mostly by begging our parents, and made our way there. That weekend proved more important to my career than any other weekend, I think. Walking through the convention in my letterman’s jacket, I met an alumnus of the high school I attended, Marcelo. Through Marc I found the game store that later became my first job, All Star Games, and would later still lead me to two of the three jobs I have since held in the game industry. By the next year I was volunteering at the local conventions either running games or helping with registration.

Fast forward to 1993. GAMA used to hold their Origins Convention in different cities across the nation each year. A group of us from the game store went to Origins – which in 1993 set up shop in San Jose California – to play in the first ever MTG national championships. My friend Jim and I got bumped from the event in the third or forth round and spent some time in the dealers’ room. This was probably the first exposure I had to an exhibit hall at a national convention. I remember being in awe that all of these publishers located in one place, and while All Star Games was a well-stocked store, we discovered a lot of stuff that we had not seen before. We spent a lot of time taking demos and talking to companies. Bo, one of my co-workers, actually won the National Championship along with a trip to Gen Con to compete for the first ever MTG World Championship. I decided to go with him.

Bo, as well as storeowners Carol and Dave, went to Milwaukee Wisconsin that year for Gen Con. Some of us did not have hotel reservations. That resulted in shuffling from room to room every night until Saturday, but it was worth it. Gen Con had a lot to take in for a kid only a couple of years new to the game industry. I actually spent the majority of my free time walking the convention hall, checking out each exhibitor’s booth, and talking to all kinds of people. I played in the qualifiers for that MTG World Championship, got bumped rather early, and spent the rest of the time playing in events and going back to the exhibit hall. I came home with so much game stuff I needed another bag. All in all, those four days were pretty awesome.

Fast forward to 2000. I was out of college and the lead developer on a CCG. A well-known Erik fact: Erik does not like to fly in airplanes. (I have seen too many of those airplane movies from the ‘70s, and I am too big to fit in an airplane comfortably.) So my employer at that time rented a van, loaded it with product, and had myself and three other employees make the trip from Southern California to Gen Con (still in Milwaukee Wisconsin at the time). If you have never taken a multi-day road trip on the way to a convention, I recommend you try it at least once. The shared pain of the experience actually creates a bond with those your companions that can last a lifetime (or at least until those fellow travels quit and move on to other jobs). I think I ate country fried steak in every state between CA and WI, some good and some not so good. Since 2000, I have been to every Gen Con and almost every Origins as an employee. I have met a lot of people and remember all of their faces and try my best to remember all of their names. Some of those people that I met at those shows have become long-time friends, and some have become people that I have hired.

That memory of the 1993 is something I try to hold on to when planning convention events, releases, and demos. I think it important to hold awesome and memorable events for people new to the convention as well as the convention veterans. You want an exciting new product releases to bring people to your booth to celebrate the product with you, and you want to give memorable and pleasurable demos so that others can enjoy those aspects of the game that you enjoy.

Conventions, whether local or national, are pretty special. They are a place where you can meet others that share your interest in whatever games you play. Conventions also make a great place to find the new games that will entertain you for years to come. The people that I met at conventions have lead to three full-time jobs in the game industry and introduced me to all sorts of different types of games, which is important because every game you play is something else you can draw on when you design your own products. Had I not attended those first conventions, RPGs probably would have been something that John and I played in high school, and we would never have found the world of gaming that existed beyond that. I certainly would not be where I am today. Besides all of that, the conventions – whether local or national – are places where I have met people that I still call friends to this day. I think that has been the greatest find – at least until Monsterpocalypse debuts at this year’s Gen Con Indy.

On a professional level, cons play an important role for manufacturers. They present great opportunities for us to show our games and products to people that may not have seen them before. It’s also a celebration of our existing products and a place for our play environments to come together and for players to meet one another in person. That’s why we try and make our events not just bigger and better than anything else you may have played in, we also try and provide an experience unlike anything else with special event exclusive to conventions. Just having the chance to talk with our fans and players gives us endless miles of useful information that we can take home to make our next product that much better!

So get out there and play at your local convention. Walk up to people and ask what they are playing. Even better, volunteer to run something, and make the convention one person stronger. The people you meet and the games you play will stick with you a lot longer than any pre-season football games on that weekend. Make your reservations today. Join Privateer in Indiana for Gen Con or in Columbus for Origins or get out to a local con and volunteer to run something (preferably some Privateer Press events). I promise, you will have a good time.

This year at Gen Con Indy we will feature tons of demos for all of our games, the highlight of course being the demos of Monsterpocalypse. You will even get a sneak peak at the Monsterpocalypse figures sculpted, painted, and mounted on their bases. Every person that demos Monsterpocalypse will get a FREE Mega Terra Khan figure (remember those promotional Hyper forms I mentioned?). Starting with the San Diego Comic-Con, we will also hand out free copies of issue 0 of the Monsterpocalypse comic book. You do not want to miss out on all of the excitement, free swag, and special events that Privateer Press will bring to the conventions this summer. Make your plans to join us today!