AICN TABLETOP: D&D Arcane Power! Miniatures! 40K Planetstrike! And...mother #*$%ing VOLTRON??? Woah!

Hola all. Massawyrm here. Big week. LOTS of cool gaming news. Let’s get into it, shall we?
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ARCANE POWER The next in the series of power books brings us the arcane classes. But there’s something different about this book. It incorporates ALL the new arcane classes from the previous books. Not content to just update the Arcane classes from the Players Handbook (PHB), this book is all about also incorporating the PHB2 and Forgotten Realms Players Guide. Wizard, Sorcerer, bard, Swordmage and Warlock all get upgrades here, with scads of new powers, feats and builds to give even the brand spanking new classes room to grow. My single favorite aspect of the book is the new Sorcerer builds: The Storm Sorcerer and the Cosmic Sorcerer. I’ve always had a fondness for playing sorcerers, and what this does is set a precedent that rather than a hundred new classes that are like the sorcerer, all WotC needs to do to add more flavorful classes like this is add new builds to an already existing class. Most of the new spells available to the Sorcerer are themed to these builds – so they’re usable by the other builds, but themed and slanted towards these new builds. The craziest new Sorcerer spell is their lvl 29 Daily Spell WYRM FORM. Apparently once per day you can become a badass, epic level dork who loves fucking girlie movies, smokes like a chimney and is ranked the 2,431st worldwide in most profane twitters…wait, that’s not it. No, apparently you only turn into a huge sized chromatic dragon of your choosing. I guess that’s pretty cool too. Everybody gets lots of new toys. Bards are beginning to get really interesting and useful. Warlocks get a new Pact called Vestige. Swordmages get a new Aegis - the aegis of ensnarement – as well as a number of powers that fill in the blanks that were pretty weak midlevel abilities in their initial offering. They also teleport A LOT now. No. I mean A LOT. Much more than before. And wizards? Can you say Illusionist and Summoners? Sure you can….I knew you could. Lots of psychic damage and tons of little beasties to do your bidding – even at first level. Don’t forget plenty of paragon paths to go around for everybody! The REALLY big news? Say hello to your new familiar. That’s right, Familiars rear their head in 4E and I, for the first time in almost a decade, am considering getting one. For the most part, many people ignored Familiars in 3E because the rules for them were a bit weak. In fact they often proved more of a drawback than advantageous and many of us casters just left them at home. As soon as the game allowed us to trade them in for cool new abilities or feats, they were pretty much dumped by all but the most devoted of RP heavy players. But now they really are pretty cool – and their primary disadvantage, their frailty, is gone. They now share your essence. Once destroyed, they reappear next to you after the next short or extended rest. They come equipped with a few abilities, all of which can be improved through the expenditure of feats to beef them up, improving your connection with them. The coolest part about them though is that there are a number to choose from, especially the ever popular Dragonling, the bound demon, the book imp and all the usual suspects like ravens, owls, bats and cats. Finally there are 9 (!) new epic destinies, including the ability to become a Lich (or 8 other powerful caster archetypes), several pages of new rituals, a new magic item type (The tome) and new backgrounds if you are using that option from PHB2. This is officially my new favorite book, easily tied with OPEN GRAVE in terms of inspiration and execution. My next character will be a storm sorcerer. I’m just too in love with them not to play one. And I might even go so far as to get a familiar. Can’t wait to roll one up. This book is pretty much essential reading if you have arcanists in your campaign. It is an absolute MUST OWN. Pick this up ASAP.
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS MINIATURES: PLAYERS HANDBOOK HEROES Okay, these finally come out today as well and there’s not much to say but “FINALLY.” Sorted in to 3 packs, designated by the type of hero it is (Martial, Primal, Arcane and Divine) you get three heroes that you can see through the plastic window on the box. There is no randomization – you either like the heroes or you don’t. Each set has at least one reprint in it (for those of you who have been collecting D&D minis for years like I have), but each one is a complete repaint. The only one I actively dislike is the repaint of the Cleric who now has a Porn Star ‘Stache. Ron Jeremy, Cleric of Pelor and weilder of the 9 and ¼ inch serpent at your service, my liege. But aside from that the packs are pretty cool and perfect for players who want to pick up a hero without having to resort to randomized packs or ordering off of the internet. In addition, each box comes with power cards that give certain classes brand new powers not (yet?) available in a book. These cards are exactly the same as the power cards released last month and each is either a Lvl 1 At Will power or a new Lvl 6 or 10 Utility power. Definitely worth checking out.
WARHAMMER 40,000 PLANETSTRIKE! Right now many of your store have the new Imperial Guard book and IG players the world over are rejoicing as their armies are suddenly tournament viable again. Some are crying power creep (as we are so used to hearing by now) others are stating that it is on par with the new 5E power level. Either way, Guard will be a force to be reckoned with here within the next few weeks. But the BIG BIG BIG news is PLANETSTRIKE! This is GWs big game changing release this year. Essentially it is a set of scenarios and a new way to play. Rather than both armies existing on equal footing, one player plays the attacker and the other the defender. The defender gets to choose terrain and set up his army in defended positions with the opportunity to buy enhanced defenses – effectively holing up and preparing to defend his territory. He gets a new force organization chart that allows for 6 (COUNT ‘EM 6!) heavy support choices. The Attacker then gets special deep strike rules (depending on the Scenario I hear) and has NO MINIMUM REQUIRED TROOP CHOICES and can take up to 6 fast attack options. The idea is to foster more campaign based play that feels more like real planned attacks rather than just stumbling into your opponent on the battlefield. I might have to dig out my Blood Angels so I can finally run 3 Vindicators and 3 Baal Predators all in the same mission. More on this as it develops. Hopefully a little bird will find its way to my doorstep with a copy of this very shortly. I can’t wait to give this new style of play a shot. I’m hearing July on this with a number of new units and exciting new terrain kits to back it up.
MOTHER FUCKING VOLTRON! What? Yes. Voltron: Defender of the Universe. Monsterpocalypse has been doing well for parent company Privateer Press and now they’ve just signed their first big name. Check out last week’s sexy press release:

Privateer Press Announces VOLTRON: Defender of the universe Edition of MONSTERPOCALYPSE Seattle WA. April 13th, 2009—Privateer Press, Inc. and World Event Productions, Ltd. are proud to announce an agreement giving Privateer Press rights to license the widely popular Voltron Defender of the Universe for Privateer’s hit collectible miniatures game Monsterpocalypse. The new set is expected to release in early 2010 and will feature iconic characters from the classic Voltron animated series. Matt Wilson, Privateer Press’ Chief Creative Officer and Monsterpocalypse creator, said about the agreement, “Monsterpocalypse was created with the goal of being able to feature guest stars from our favorite films and TV shows that have done so much to inspire the creation of the game. Along with millions of other fans since Voltron hit our airwaves in the 80s, we at Privateer have all been in love with that indomitable Defender of the Universe, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to see Voltron as the very first media celebrity to be featured in Monsterpocalypse.” Tiffany Ilardi, Managing Director of World Events, added, “WEP is excited to bring fans of both Monsterpocalypse and Voltron together exclusively to further immerse themselves in the mythology and magic of Voltron. It’s a perfect fit.” Jeremy Corray, Creative Director for WEP and head geek, concluded, “Privateer Press’ passion for play and devotion to detail will deliver, for the first time ever, a Voltron-themed tabletop game that will allow anyone behind the Lion to ‘Form Blazing Sword’ on wild new Robeast creations that fit perfectly in the Monsterpocalypse world. We can’t wait!” The announcement comes as Voltron celebrates its 25th anniversary as a global animated icon and the brand builds towards new entertainment announcements, including a big-budget live-action movie on the scale of Transformers. Join the celebration at www.voltron.com. More information regarding pricing and release dates, as well as news regarding the Monsterpocalypse: Voltron set, will be announced as it becomes available on www.monsterpocalypse.com. ------------------ About the Monsterpocalypse Collectible Miniatures Game Monsterpocalypse, the collectible miniatures game (CMG), brings the giant-monster genre—a pop culture favorite—to the tabletop in the form of a fast-paced, action-packed game. Designed by Matt Wilson, the award-winning creator of WARMACHINE and HORDES, Monsterpocalypse leverages the critically acclaimed abilities of Privateer Press as a leading miniatures manufacturer to enter a new category of product with a property that appeals to a worldwide fan base of all ages. Players can visit www.monsterpocalypse.com for game previews and updates.

Hell yeah. Not only does this make me want to get into this game right now to be ready for the Voltorn release, it makes me giddy wondering what other licenses PP might be pursuing. What would happen if they got the TOHO license? Or some sideways Transformers license? Or Rampage? The mind boggles at the cool combinations that could happen if they work some serious mojo. REALLY looking forward to this one. 1st Quarter 2010 cannot come fast enough for this dork. Alright gang, that’s it for this week. Be back next week with a look at the latest from Star Wars Saga edition, the latest D&D module and whatever craziness comes up inbetween. Time for me to use my 29th lvl Daily: WYRM FORM!
Until next time friends, smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em. Massawyrm
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