Games Workshops classic Realms of Chaos ‘Slaves to darkness’ to be re-printed and released
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Matt Adlard

Games Workshops classic Realms of Chaos ‘Slaves to darkness’ to be re-printed and released

One is aware one does not usually do GW partly out of the fact they have a massive PR engine and usually what one catches is in a private concept, journalism arguments aside. However, this one came via other sources so running with it. (please don’t sue)

See image of RoC SD bottom left

Games Workshop it seems is again moving in interesting times and the new CEO is certainly showing that the company can be moved both forward in new and dynamic ways, yet still keep an emotional hand in the past and never more so that with the surprise reprint of the classic Rogue Trader WH40k, yet it seems that this was just the start and in what is expected to be very exciting news will soon join it the ever darkly exquisitely written Realms of Chaos ‘Slave to darkness.’ The book that brought Chaos to the minds of impressionable 80’s teenagers and to be thought of as a game changer in how tabletop gaming could be away from the historical crowds. It less set the stage and more set the stage on fire in being one of a pair of books that grognards now everywhere felt were the most interesting books that GW ever produced. (And bemoaning the sudden price drop and value of their copies, .Ed)

Slaves to Darkness featured extensive detailed descriptions of the gods Khorne and Slaanesh, complete with a pantheon of their Daemons, rules and background for including these in tabletop battles as demonic armies. It also started to encourage people to not just buy an army but make it your own, to buy other miniatures so you could take them apart and create custom conversions, and provide what was many a teenagers life for many moons the basic idea of Chaos warbands and build your own adventures and backgrounds with them.

Realm of Chaos ‘Slaves to Darkness’

It also introduced the Imperium’s Daemonhunters of the Ordo Malleus and their associated Space Marine chapter – the Grey Knights. The book provided a nice balance in what it offered.

The volume is also notable for its having a solid coherant narriative foundation for the Horus Heresy, an event which while mentioned in Rogue Trader was as then more of a background flavour to the epic galaxy-spanning battles taking place. RoC explained what that flavour was, it locked the Horus Heresy firmly into the midns of the gamers and established the role of Chaos and the demon influence in the GW40k – SF universe

And provides the link between the Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 worlds; which is explicitly stated in the first pages of the book.

‘It also features rules on the creation of Chaos Champions and their warbands, Daemon weapons, demonic possession and the Horus Heresy of WH40K. To give a flavour of the background and attributes of followers of Chaos it contained material such as a list of over 120 “Chaos Attributes” – mutations that the followers of Chaos were often afflicted by. This included some mutations that were advantageous, such as those that made the mutant extra strong or taller and those that confer a disadvantage, such as ones that made the mutant small, weak or stupid. Other mutations were purely cosmetic, such as giving the mutant brightly coloured skin or eyes on stalks, whilst some mutations were clearly comical, such as one that gave the mutant a silly walk (possibly inspired by the Monty Python sketch The Ministry of Silly Walks) and even a mutation that bestowed the “gift” of uncontrollable flatulence.’ Quote Wikipedia 

written by Rick Priestley, Bryan Ansell,‎ Mike Brunton,‎ Simon Forrest, who were already venerable figures in the gaming industry and GW. They were harmonists who took the art of writing by deftly mixing humour with horror as they tackled the big questions of Galaxy spanning concepts and battles, factions and wars, and lay down the groundwork for what is now a major part of many peoples lives. What the writers brought was an analytical mind, combined with raw creativity and a collection of artists with keen aesthetic insights and an ability to understand the writers’ analytical minds and transcribe them into art that was both raw and somehow right for the book.

It is good to see such older works being released and providing a newer generation with a taste of what was a mind altering experience for those dark and early days of gaming, and one can only hope that they continue with the release of Realms of Chaos – ‘Lost and the Dammed.’

Mantic Games Sets sights on New game with to Launch Hellboy Board Game
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Matt Adlard

Mantic Games Sets sights on New game with to Launch Hellboy Board Game

 

So Mantic has finally announced its new project with James Hewitt of Needy Cat Games and Partners Dark Horse Comics, which will see the The Hellboy Universe is Coming to the Board Game Scene after a licensing partnership deal.

“Dark Horse is excited to work with Mantic Games on a game set in Mike Mignola’s inspirational Hellboy comic book universe.,” said Dark Horse Comics’ Chief Business Development Officer Nick McWhorter. “Mantic is not only a leader in the Miniatures Board Game category, but also have a thorough understanding of Hellboy and the BPRD storylines and how to integrate them into a game. We’re confident they can deliver a board game that fans of Hellboy and miniatures games alike can appreciate!”

The game is set to make its Kickstarter debut in April 2018; The Hellboy board game will be a cooperative play experience where players face off against some of the comic’s most iconic foes, and feature stunning, pre-assembled plastic (Same as with Walking Dead) miniatures that accurately capture the style and feel of Mike Mignola’s comic series. And allow up to four people take control of iconic BRPD members, such as Hellboy, Abe Sapien and Roger the Homunculus, before exploring gothic locations and uncovering ancient artefacts. However with it being Kickstarter the Characters of the Comics  Abraham Sapien, Elizabeth Sherman, Roger, Trevor Bruttenholm, Thomas Manning, and Kate Corrigan will no doubt be available with each stretch goals along with all the various monsters and boards to make this an interesting and fun game. 1500x1500_51308d83846bd6ad61f93884db8f8daa7a00174c19d282ffc7013a8f
“Hellboy has a great cast of characters, diverse locations and legendary monsters from the pages of folklore and myth,” said Ronnie Renton, Mantic CEO. “The comics provide a fantastic foundation on which to build an immersive, fun and fast-paced co-operative board game that will let players experience some of their favourite moments from the series.”Interesting in the recent output from both mantic and Dark Horse was the ‘The Hellboy board game will be a cooperative play experience where players face off against some of the comic’s most iconic foes.’ That statement and Mantic recent success with both the Walking Dead and Star Saga, would suggest that this game could be something of a hybrid maybe taking the best aspects of the games and bringing a more board game dungeon- esq crawler to the market while engaging in the search and investigation aspects of the Stories.

A well-meaning half-demon whose true name is Anung Un Rama (Translation: “and upon his brow is set a crown of flame”), Hellboy was summoned from Hell to Earth as a baby on October 5th by Nazi occultists. He was discovered by the Allied Forces; amongst them, Professor Trevor Bruttenholm, who formed the United States Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defence (B.P.R.D.). In time, Hellboy grew to be a large, red-skinned adult with a tail, horns which he cuts off, leaving behind circular stumps on his forehead, cloven hooves for feet, and an oversized right hand made of stone “Right Hand of Doom”. He has been described as smelling of dry-roasted peanuts. Although gruff, he shows none of the malevolence thought to be intrinsic to classical demons, and has an darlky comic and ironic sense of humour. This is said to be because of his upbringing under Professor Bruttenholm, who raised him as a normal boy. Hellboy works for the B.P.R.D, an international non-governmental agency, and for himself against dark forces including Nazis and witches, in a series of tales that have their roots in folklore, pulp magazines, vintage adventure, Lovecraftian horror and horror fiction. In earlier stories, he is identified as the “World’s Greatest Paranormal Investigator.”

It also makes for a good fit for both Dark Horse following Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm, publisher Dark Horse Comics lost the Star Wars license after two decades, which was then given to Disney’s Marvel Entertainment, becoming one of the publisher’s most successful franchises. So no doubt they are looking to expand their existing lines with new revenue and tie a board game in with the new film release, ‘Neil Marshall’s forthcoming Hellboy film is currently in pre-production, starring David Harbour, Sasha Lane, Ian McShane, Penelope Mitchell, and Milla Jovovich.’ While in the last nine years since its inception, Mantic Games has released several complete tabletop gaming systems including Kings of War®, DeadZone®, Mars Attacks® and DreadBall™. The Mantic team’s obsession for making detailed miniatures, simple yet challenging games has seen Mantic become a global presence in the tabletop gaming arena. Mantic Games has developed very strong relationship with its community, and crowd funding has raised extra development money for recent product launches, which in turn has developed bigger ranges in plastics for the retail launch. And to date, backers have pledged over $5m to fund new projects come to life, making Mantic one of Europe’s most funded companies on Kickstarter. Mantic has sales offices in the USA and UK, supplies 20 countries, has a complete design studio team, a global supply chain with production facilities based in Nottingham, England.

Hellboy™ © Mike Mignola.