Says Brashaw, "We totally restructured the rules, included feedback to FAQs from BGG fans, added more color diagrams, and made three small rules changes that bring in even more player interaction and make the game easier to finish. The changes are: The Luggage interacts with Dragons, players can now purchase attribute points, and on Final Spell roll, the first of the two successful rolls carries over until the second roll succeeds." Preorders can be placed via GuardsGuards.com, and Backspindle Games Ltd. will also be present at Spiel 2012.
• Dutch publisher White Goblin Games continues to roll out its Spiel 2012 line of game releases with Filip Miłuński's Vampire Empire, which bears the following brief description:
Vampire Empire is a card game of bluffing and deduction for two players. Will the vampires be successfully caught before they endanger the entire society, or will the castle and city fall forever into darkness?
• Designer Tony Boydell has posted preorder details for Snowdonia, which Surprised Stare Games and other publishing partners will debut at Spiel 2012. Boydell notes, "We are producing a number of promotional cards for the game, which will be available to those pre-ordering and/or attending Spiel (clue: top left-hand corner of Wales)!"
• In other Spiel 2012 rollout news, French publisher Funforge has posted English rules for Tokaido (PDF). To tie into an earlier BGGN post about using good grammar in rules (and in the interests of disclosure), Funforge hired me to edit the English-language rules. Let me know how I did!
• In convention news a little closer to now, Ares Games has announced that it will have Wings of Glory: WW1 Rules and Accessories Pack at Gen Con 2012 in mid-August, with the item reaching U.S. retail stores at about the same time. Wings of Glory: WW1 Airplane Packs will also be on hand at Gen Con, with the planes landing in U.S. stores on August 6, 2012.
In addition to these titles, Ares Games will have preview copies of Leo Colovini's Aztlán and Di Meglio, Maggi and Nepitello's War of the Ring: Lords of Middle-earth, with Aztlán being playable and Lords of Middle-earth being eyes-only. (Note that for now Lords of Middle-earth doesn't link to War of the Ring; we want to split the second edition of that game from the first, and while each day's delay makes that process more cumbersome, we intend to get that done at some point to make discussions about the versions easier for users to manage.)