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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The Terrasaurs

One could safely say that the world’s fascination with large monsters attacking cities began with a giant lizard attacking Tokyo way back in the 50’s. The kaiju genre just is not the same unless you have a giant lizard involved.

From where I stand, no other faction tells the kaiju story in Monsterpocalypse quite like the Terrasaurs.

When mankind pushes to hard on Mother Nature, Mother Nature has a habit of pushing back. Enter the Terrasaurs. These titanic beasts arose from the South American jungles to destroy what man has created. Pollution, nuclear power, and general disregard for the planet’s well being are the wrongs these beasts mean to set right. They aim to set the clock on man’s development back a few generations and restore nature’s longevity.

In game, many of the building feature abilities that benefit a specific faction or agenda. Most factions can count on two different buildings with abilities that specifically benefit them. The Terrasaurs have four such buildings, and all those abilities trigger off the building’s destruction. One of these abilities provides an additional Power Die, where the other restores Health to the Terrasaur monster. Thus Terrasaurs like to eat buildings.

Regenerating mid game is a huge benefit. Tacking on an extra Health at the right moment can buy you that one extra turn you need to win. In addition to the buildings that regenerate the Terrasaurs, Terra Khan’s Munch ability allows him to eat an enemy unit to regain Health. The option to regain Health from eating buildings or enemy units can make taking down Terra Khan a real challenge.

Most monsters do not have an option for dealing more than one damage with an attack in their Alpha form (power attacks being the exception). Terra Khan bucks that rule. As long as a friendly Terrasaur unit is adjacent to the enemy monster Terra Khan is attacking, his Feeding Frenzy ability lets him deal Super Damage (+1 damage) with his brawl attack. This again creates another great visual in your mind of Terra Khan ripping into the enemy monster while his surrounding units join in on the feast. There’s something very National Geographic about that.

Terra Khan does not travel alone; he comes with the mighty Armodax. Armodax is a stomping and smashing machine. If he is not sending an enemy monster through a row of buildings, then he is taking all of the surrounding buildings and units down with a thunderous stomp. Armodax deals extra damage with his Smash power attacks and gains extra Power Dice when he Stomps. His standard modus operandi is to Stomp everything around him into a pile of dust to gain a stack of Power Dice then run toward the enemy monster and hit it with a wicked Smash that sends it through three or four buildings. With Armodax, you can count on your city looking like a parking lot by the end of the game.

The Terrasaurs are built off of the story of the giant lizards that emerge from the costal waters to destroy the city and terrorize mankind. Their abilities encourage their players to play the part, and in doing so they recreate some of cinema’s great moments with awesome story elements that play out right inside your head.

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And Everything Else

This October, Monsterpocalypse debuts with the release of Starters, Unit Boosters and Monster Boosters, but we also have a whole collection of other goodies coming out that add a lot to your play experience!

The Accessory Pack
This pack has everything you need to take your game to the next level.

For those players that lose their dice or just want extras, this pack includes a set of dice just the set in the Starter. Getting four extra Boost Dice alone makes this purchase worth it. Sometimes combined attacks can stack up a lot of Boost Dice, and these extra dice help reduce the need to re-roll dice to get your result. Also, let’s be honest: The dice are small, and your cat could end up eating a couple of them. Having some extra dice on hand beats fishing through a box of sand to retrieve them.

The Accessory Pack also has another Health Tracker, which becomes important if you plan on playing multi-monster games. The Health Tracker is the best way of tracking your monster’s Health – with easy to read numbers, there will be no confusing the status of your monsters’ well-being. This saves you the hassle of having to keep track of your monster’s Health with archaic means from yesteryear.

Having trouble telling what figures belong to which player? The Monsterpocalypse Accessory Pack includes identification rings that easily slip on and off your figures but stay in place and declare to the world that those figures belong to you! The pack includes 15 small-base rings and 16 large-base rings. That’s enough rings to outfit your entire collection of figures for a multi-monster game (two monsters, two Hyper forms, 15 units, and 12 buildings). The rings even come in red or blue. Thirty-one rings to rule them all!

The Monsterpocalypse: Rise Map Pack
A map pack will also release with the Monsterpocalypse Launch Kit. This pack of three double-sided maps will change the game in a variety of ways. With differing numbers of foundations and a variety of configurations for those foundations and terrain features, just choosing a map can become as important as choosing your buildings. The player that goes second gets to choose the map, and he can offset the disadvantage of going second by selecting a map that suits his strategy. The map you choose to play with can provide you with that “home field advantage” just like the Green Monster provides a home field advantage to the Red Sox.

The map pack also includes the Government Building. We restricted the use of this building to one per player so that you would not feel the need to buy five copies of the map pack – you only need the one. This structure provides you with the Subsidize ability, which adds a Boost Die when you make your Power Up rolls to gain Power Dice. This improves your odds of successfully Powering Up by a lot and means you do not need to roll as many dice for your Power Up rolls, which leaves more dice for your monster to use.

The Monsterpocalypse: Rise Strategy Guide
The Strategy Guide features spoilers, tactical tips, and articles to help take your Monsterpocalypse experience to the next level. Inside you will find perspective and insight on competitive and casual play. We cover everything from each figure, to commentary on the abilities, to talking about all of the maps. Detailed in full color with diagrams and images, this beautiful offering will go miles toward enhance your game. This product even comes with a unique, double-sided map.

While none of these products are required to play Monsterpocalypse, you will find that they each have something to offer that makes your play experience more kick-ass. If you have any interest in the aforementioned items, you should speak with your local retailer to make sure that they bring in these products along with the Starters and Boosters.

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