Yesterday I received some news on the printing progress, and I have some other exciting
news about my games, and finally, another Tech Card Highlight. Let's
get to it!
NEWS
An email I received yesterday indicated that Panda Game Manufacturing has finished printing Eminent Domain, Belfort, & Homesteaders, and that they are
now just waiting for the wood components to arrive at their factory before they can finish assembly! The wood components are due at the factory on Monday, so we're looking at the games getting on a boat within a week or 2 at this point!
In other news, there was an announcement yesterday on FaceBook that another game of mine, Brain Freeze, has hit the app store for iPad! An iOS version of that game has been in the works since December, and now it's finally available - FOR FREE. So if you have an iPad, please check it out! It's a simple game - match shape OR color... and don't run out of time before the other guy. Feel free to bluff (i.e. cheat), but if your opponent notices then you'll be penalized! You can play single player too - and if you catch the computer bluffing, you can get some time back! Don't try to pull one over on the AI though, it'll always catch you.
A few reminders:
CHANGE OF ADDRESS
We know it's been a while since you pledged, and some of you have had a change of address since then. Please be sure to email michael@tastyminstrelgames.com
if your address has changed so that Mike can update your info and your
game will be mailed to the right location! Sending email to the above
address will work, leaving your new address in the comments MIGHT work
(and also might result in stalkers at your new home), and posting a
comment or emailing simply to say that you've moved but not telling us
your new address will NOT work.
PREVIEW NIGHTS
I believe it's too late for stores to sign up for the Eminent Domain Preview Nights, but it's not to late to find a participating store and show up to see the game in action! Check with your local retailers to see if they are hosting a preview night.
playTMG.com Launch Specials
There are still package deals available at playTMG.com ... get Homesteaders (2nd Edition), Belfort, and either JAB or Train of Thought all for $70 (shipped)! Or just order Belfort ($20 discount) or Homesteaders ($10 discount) by themselves. Tell your friends, these launch specials won't last long!
TECH CARD HIGHLIGHT:
MOBILIZATION & SCORCHED EARTH POLICY
The focus of this week's Tech Card Highlight is Warfare strategies! There are a number of technology cards that support using Warfare rather than Colonize, however you only start with 1 warfare card in your deck. As a result of that, I often see new players largely ignoring Warfare and instead gravitating toward the Colonize role as a way to flip their planets. These 2 cards illustrate some ways to take advantage of the power of Warfare:
Mobilization is kinda like eating your cake (playing a regular Warfare card as an action) and having it too (getting both effects). It allows a player to both collect Fighters AND THEN attack a planet. Furthermore, it allows you to attack that planet AFTER choosing your role, which could be a Survey role to get a planet into play, or a Warfare role to collect even more Fighters, or even an unrelated role that gives you some other benefit. This card is very flexible, and can really turbo-charge a turn in which you draw it!
As a piece of history, the card text for Mobilization originally said "You may attack a planet after choosing the Survey role this turn" - no Fighters, and only useful if choosing Survey. The intent was to allow you to attack a planet you didn't have yet, but it turned out the card was too narrow and not powerful enough, so in a last minute edit it got an upgrade! Now the card is a very tempting buy!
Scorched Earth Policy is a Permanent technology, meaning it does not clutter up your deck. Its ability is fairly straightforward - reducing the Warfare costs of all your planets by 2. What a ganga! On the down side, planets attacked with this in play cannot store resources, which removes an entire strategic avenue from play for you... but if you're plan is to just bulldog planets (and maybe do some Research) then maybe you don't care!
Originally this card only reduced warfare costs by 1, but that didn't seem worth it so fairly soon after it came into existence, Scorched Earth Policy got an upgrade. Also, it used to only take out 1 resource slot from a planet, but in a last minute edit (mostly for easier rules, but also because of the upgraded power) it was changed to "that planet cannot hold resources at all."
These 2 technologies are very useful for a player investing heavily into Warfare. Give them a try!
