• Berserk: War of the Realms, from designers Maxim Istomin and Ivan Popov and publisher Hobby World, is the second English-language edition of the Berserk trading card game. That first edition – Berserk: Tactical Card Game - War of Realms – included only two decks of fixed cards, whereas this new edition of the game includes six decks, one for each of the six realms in the Berserk world. (KS link) Not many KS projects that include an axe as a reward, but this one does. More importantly for gameplay, however, are the additional neutral card and multielement cards in the deluxe version of the game. The game description on BGG is minimal:
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In the distant world of Laar, wandering armies led by powerful magicians live a life of battle. For eons they fought for survival in this world, once scorched by fires of the Cataclysm. Now you have the chance to gather your own army and become the maker of your own fate. Perhaps your path will shape the fate of Laar as well...
In fierce battles in Berserk: War of Realms, your life and the lives of your trusted armies will depend on your skill as a strategist and a warlord. And then, when in the heat of battle you forget about your wounds, forget about the future and about the past, you will understand why this is not simply a game. It is Berserk.
Full rules are available for download on the KS page, allowing with users comparing the game to Summoner Wars, although the original version of Berserk appeared years earlier.
• With its Archon crowdfunding project still underway, Greek publisher Artipia Games has started a second campaign for Among the Stars: The Ambassadors through LudiCreations. (KS link) Here's an overview of what those ambassadors do and what's in the box:
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In order to assist in the construction of their space stations, each race has formed a team of ambassadors to visit other space stations in need. These ambassadors are willing to offer their services and strengthen the bonds of the newly-formed alliance.
These ambassadors are introduced in the game with the addition of a fourth action that allows the players to invite them to their station and make them part of their Council. Each ambassador comes with a different ability, based on his race's strengths and capabilities. However, there is limited space in each player's Council so they have to choose wisely who they are going to invite.
Among the Stars: The Ambassadors is a boxed expansion for
Among the Stars featuring more than 150 new cards. Apart from the Ambassador cards, it includes more than twenty different new Locations, new Objectives, and a new Alien race.
• Designer Michele Quondam's Romolo o Remo? from his own Giochix.it has already reached its basic funding goal on German crowdfunding site Spieleschmiede, but as noted in a press release the game didn't actually need funding in the first place: "Romolo o Remo will be produced by Giochix whatever may happen". (Spieleschmiede link) So why the open hand? Because Quondam wants to replace generic meeples and other wooden bits with customized pieces and a regular d6 with a custom die showing combat modifiers, in addition to getting a better sense of how many copies to produce for Spiel 2013, which is where this game will debut. As for what you're doing in the game, here's an overview:
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Central Italy in the year 753 B.C.: Many new villages have been founded in the region of Latium. This land is prosperous and a strong city here can easily control the trades between the Etruscan cities of the North and the Greek colonies of the South. The region is also rich in salt ponds, and the salt in this period is worth more than gold. There doesn't exist a better place for a new city!
The two grandsons of the King of Albalonga – the twins Romolo and Remo, descendants of Enea of Troy – don't want to miss an opportunity to dominate the region and, acting against each other, try to establish two cities close to the Tiber river. Their enterprise is not easy as the King of Antemnae and the King of Crustumerium will also fight to dominate this area! Who will prevail?
In Romolo o Remo?, players act as Kings of the new cities in the Latium and have to compete with each other in order to gain control of the whole Region. Players must manage their kingdom and their growing settlement. Two aspects are crucial: the citizens, as players act with citizens to take many different actions, and the territory, as players can act only in the territories they are able to control – excluding when they go to war, of course! If the population grows, they can take more actions, but they must feed all of them as well. Money, resources, trades, city buildings, and specialized characters increase a player's possibilites, and soldiers, mercenaries, and war declarations can change the game's storyline at any moment. Who will able to build the strongest city? Who will be the founder of a new civilization – or perhaps even an Empire?
• Fred MacKenzie's long-in-the-works Princes of the Dragon Throne has hit Kickstarter, with publisher Clever Mojo Games mentioning that it expects the final package to bear a $125 MSRP. (KS link) Oof! Can a miniature-laden Eurogame find the same level of support as titles like Zombicide and Kingdom Death: Monster?
• BGG user Sebastian Wenzel has a crowdfunding project on Startnext to fund a German YouTube-style show about board games. (Startnext link) In his GeekList about German crowdfunding projects, Daniel Denzer describes Wenzel and his project as follows:
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Sebastain Wenzel has an outstanding website/blog going deeper than the usual "review" sites. He is a journalist writing articles for online and print magazines about games, designers, trends, politics, culture, backgrounds – you name it. Now he wants to start a regular internet video show with similar topics. Visiting designers at home, interviewing people from the business, whatever.
• Filming at the UK Games Expo in late May 2013, the Ragnar Brothers have put together an introductory video for Promised Land: 1250-587 BC. (KS link)