Back from Gen Con

I have worked something like the last 9 or 10 Gen Cons. Each one had a story, memory, or event that made it special, but this year really set itself apart from previous shows. Never before in all my years of making and selling games have I been able to say that I was a part of THE GAME at Gen Con.

For almost all of the show, I was tucked away in the events hall showing people the ins and outs of Monsterpocalypse, but from what I hear, the line to the Privateer Press booth was something like 300 people long! By 11am on Saturday we had sold out of every single starter set that we brought to Gen Con. For the rest of the show, we had people asking to buy more Monsterpocalypse.

The few times I was able to sneak away from the events hall I saw numerous people squatting on the floor examining, trading, and playing Monsterpocalypse. IT WAS EVERYWHERE! Seeing people enjoy a game that you worked on is always something special. Seeing it take place everywhere you go is freaking fantastic! It makes those late nights playtesting and revising rules all worth it.

A lot of work went into refining this product for publication, and it was rewarding to see our effort appreciated. Numerous people commented on how easy the rules were to understand, and I noticed quite a few expressions of enlightenment as people looked over their figures and discovered their abilities on the reference sheet.

One of my favorite things about running the event room for Monsterpocalypse was watching faces light up when I would explain some of the more in depth strategy of the game. For instance, when I explained to a player how he could slowly bleed his Monster Dice Pool in order to take multiple back-to-back monster activations, I noticed a series of reactions. First a puzzled look came over his face as the new revelation sank in. Then the look turned to joy as he realized there is another level of strategy beyond simply smashing his opponent upside the head with a building. Finally a look I could only describe as PURE EVIL washed over him as he planned for competitive play against his friends back home. It was a scenario that played out over and over again, and it was quite a thing to see.

By the end of the show I turned in over 400 event tickets – more than I have ever turned in before for one game. In addition to the starters, we sold nearly every booster we brought. On top of all those great things, I also met a bunch of great people that I am sure I will see when we run the Monsterpocalypse events next year!

Gen Con ’08 was one of those experiences that made me feel bigger than Gorghadra after “snackin’ down” on a major metropolitan city.

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The G.U.A.R.D.

G.U.A.R.D. (Globally United Advanced Research & Defense) is humanity’s answer to the slew of invading monsters from other dimensions, galaxies, planets, and forgotten regions of the Earth. The finest scientists and military leaders came together to develop the greatest fighting force mankind has ever known. Every piece of G.U.A.R.D.’s hardware represents the pinnacle of human military technology reconceived and redeveloped from scratch to meet the world’s new challenges. With all new tanks, choppers, and giant mechanized robots, G.U.A.R.D. stands strong to defend the inhabitants of Earth against the invading threat.

Of the two debut G.U.A.R.D. monsters, Defender X may be the most straightforward. He has the Safeguard ability that rewards him with an additional Power Die when he Powers Up if his units are securing at least one building. With proper placement of your units and buildings, you can tip your unit to Power Die ratio well beyond 1:1 in your favor. Most of your units should commit to securing buildings and holding objectives. This allows you to build a Power Dice reserve to supplement your Action Dice and makes it easier to take multiple consecutive Monster Activations. This means you can put a lot of damage on your opponent while he tries to refill his monster’s Action Dice pool.

When Defender X enters his Ultra form, he gets to use his rocket fists. Launching his fists lets Defender X keep his distance while knocking enemy monsters into adjacent buildings and hazards for extra damage. Defender X can essentially reap the benefits of performing a power attack from several squares away.

Sky Sentinel requires a bit of love from your units to perform at his maximum potential. He loves his Rocket Chopper buddies by granting them the Wing Commander and Ground Control abilities anywhere on the board and then granting the Radar ability to units adjacent to him. Wing Commander gives Flying units like Rocket Choppers a Boost Die on blast attacks, and Ground Control allows flyers to hold objectives (something they cannot normally do).

With the large stacks of Boost Dice that Sky Sentinel’s Rocket Choppers can bring to bear on combined attacks, you want those Rocket Choppers ganging up on the enemy monster every chance you get. This extra damage adds up rather quickly.

Sky Sentinel is not the most robust monster in Monsterpocalypse, so keep some units close to prevent enemy monsters from getting too close. This also allows Sky Sentinel to make the most of his blast attack, which is his specialty.

While Rocket Choppers are great, G-Tanks form the backbone of G.U.A.R.D. forces. Sporting a Guass cannon on top of a chassis with reinforced, cutting edge armor, these resilient units can lay down some serious fire. Some players may quickly disregard this unit because it lacks Boost Dice or any ability other than All Terrain, but the G-Tank’s Defense 4 means you can run these guys into the middle of a hot spot to hold an objective or secure a building with a reasonable chance of them surviving. They also have long range, which means that with Radar (from Sky Sentinel or a Radar Array) they can make blast attacks across nearly half the map!

G.U.A.R.D. commanders round out their arsenal with two specialized support vehicles, the Mobile Ops Center and the Repair Vehicle. The Repair Vehicle has an ability that allows you to restore Health to your monster, which can extend his life well beyond the Health printed on the stat card. The Mobile Ops Center provides extra range to adjacent figures making blast attacks as well as an additional Boost Die to combined attacks.

All in all, G.U.A.R.D. really function under the banner of teamwork and multi-tasking. You need your monster and your units to stay aggressively focused on the enemy while some of your units secure buildings, hold objectives, and run interference for your monster. It seems wrong to call G.U.A.R.D. a finesse faction, but its equally wrong to call them a beat stick faction. They fall neatly between the two extremes, which actually lends them and you a lot of flexibility in how to approach the game.

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The Comic is Coming

Monsterpocalypse is coming to a comic book shop near you!

A few weekends ago, a team of Privateer Press employees headed to Comic-Con International 2008. Those of us that who been around the block a few times call it San Diego Comic Con. There, Privateer distributed free copies of the Monsterpocalypse comic book issue 0 produced by Across the Pond Studios and published by Desperado. The response was overwhelmingly positive! If you did not make it to that show, fret not. You still have a chance to experience the world of Monsterpocalypse in comic form.

Starting this week, stores can preorder the first issue of the Monsterpocalypse comic book. If you want this chance to look into the world of Monsterpocalypse, you need to tell your local game store or comic book shop manager to order you a copy of this comic. Better yet, tell them you would like to preorder the comic! Speaking as one that spent a good portion of his early years behind a register, I can tell you that retailers really appreciate it when you let them know what products you are looking forward to. Even more, they appreciate preorders!

The comic itself centers around the international crew of Sky Sentinel and their personal stories in between giant monster action as they do all they can to deal with the attacks of inter-dimensional beings, cosmic monsters, invading aliens, and giant lizards from the remote regions of South America! The action is hard hitting, edge of your seat excitement that you do not want to miss.

Further, if you buy the first three issues, you can send away for a free Mega Sky Sentinel! That’s a gift from Privateer to you as our way of saying thanks for your support of Monsterpocalypse.

Don’t miss out. Go to your local game or comic retailer today and preorder the Monsterpocalypse comic book!

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