Crocodile Games Previews War Gods of Olympus!
Well sometimes it pays to complain. Actually it pays to attend GENCON! At this past GENCON, Crocodile Games released some of the first miniatures for its "War Gods of Olympus Game!" Unfortunately most of them had sold out before I even arrived but what I saw was "awesome". To get a good feel for this game and the accompanying miniatures see Crocodile Game's Mount Olympus web page. Click here for Crocodile Games

Reaper Releases Beta for Warlord!
Reaper Miniatures has released the beta version of their new rules for their Warlord game. You can download the beta rules here. Beta Rules! I had an opportunity to playtest these rules at GENCON and they are a nice skirmish set. We didn't really use any of the skills or special abilities so I can't comment on the full version but the basic game leans somewhat toward your powerful characters and leaders and combat definitely requires "support" in the form of many basic troops teaming up against one other basic troop or character. Unfortunately no set release date yet.

New Bretonnia Miniatures Coming for GW!
For those of you who don't check the GW site, you will be pleased to know that the long awaited (at least by me) Bretonnia miniatures are coming. Check It Out Here! Pictured above is the new King Louen Leoncouer

We're Back!!!!!!
Well, it has been a long summer! Many of you may notice that I stopped updating this site sometime in May. Well to make a long story short I was sworn in as an attorney in the State of Michigan in May after waiting many months for my license to be approved.

As a result I have been extremely busy setting up a new practice and getting familiar with the court system.

Now that summer has passed however I have regained a little more consistency to my schedule hope to begin regular updates again starting today!

Editorial: Time Is Money!
One of the big problems we have in this hobby/industry is the loose and unreliable way many publishers and manufacturers play with "release dates". It is not only common but expected that when a manufacturer or publisher tells you an item will be released in 'June XXXX' for most gamers to automatically build several months into that estimate.

The question then becomes, why is this necessary? An industry old adage in every industry is that "time is money" and this is probably more true in the hobby industry where gamers often save scarce funds in anticipation of a much anticipated release. However, after already holding your money for four to six months to be put off another three to six months is almost too much for most gamers to bear. So inevitably that small pub that would have gotten that $50.00 purchase from you on its new army loses out to the Mega Shop that actually released its 9th Edition in September 2003 as promised.

I don't mean to single out any individual manufacturers but some illustrations are called: First of all, I have anxiously been awaiting two products from West Wind Productions. The first is its Antagonist line of miniatures for its Vampire Wars game which was announced for release in "Easter 2003", well not only has Our Lord Risen, but we just celebrated his Ascension this past week. The next is their new Dwarf Wars miniature game by Frank Chadwick scheduled for release in June 2003 (I know it's not June yet). Who wants to bet that will be out on time? Finally as a real topper, check out the article on Crocodile Games and the release schedule included with it from their official website. War Gods of Olympus was scheduled for release in December 2002 (almost six months ago) and I am hearing now that it won't be "previewed" until GENCON 2003 in late July!

Meanwhile one new company deserves high marks for actually "exceeding" its release schedule. When I met the folks at Black Orc Games last year at GENCON and asked them about how often new armies would be released for Hundred Kingdoms I was honestly told about "two" per year or one new army every six months. Well, in less than a year Black Orc Games has released over four new armies for Hundred Kingdoms and a new boxed skirmish battle game called Warband. This is on top of the special characters they have continued to release for existing armies and updates and revisions to the official rules. No wonder out of all the new games I previewed at GENCON last year Hundred Kingdoms has gotten more of my money than the rest combined.

Time is money and for all those manufacturers and publishers who non-chalantly ignore release dates as they fly by without so much as a "We're sorry" until you respect our "time" then don't expect to see much of our "money"!

Deano C. Ware
Miniature Gaming News

Check Out Our Archives!
If you are wondering what all the dates to the top right are, well they are links to our archived pages. They are definitely worth checking out especially if you are new to the page. Even if you are not don't be lazy and do so now as some of our links to pages like GW are updated with images of new releases whenever GW updates its page! That way we save you an extra trip of having to go over there! Besides you never know what you may have missed!

The Little Grenadier Magazine!
I've added a new link to Gary Chalk's The Little Grenadier Shop and Magazine. . This looks like a great, fun site and already has some interesting items up like flags for "Darkest Africa" and a new WWII card driven game!

New Kingdom Maps for Hundred Kingdoms
Black Orc Games has updated all of the maps for their Hundred Kingdoms game. They have also redone all of the artwork on their blisters to match that displayed on the Warband Boxed Game. As for miniatures, they appear ready to release some supplements for the Panthera Tribe which you can check out concept art for at their Scheduled Release Page.

War Gods of Olympus to Debut at GENCON 2003!
I don't have much on this yet but it is being rumored that Crocodile Games' long awaited War Gods of Olympus is to debut at GENCON 2003! .

As a result I thought I would reprint the initial press release by Crocodile Games announcing this game for release in December 2002!

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"War Gods of Olympus"

Crocodile Games is pleased to announce "War Gods of Olympus", the second installment in the "War Gods" series of miniature games, due for release in December, 2002.

"War Gods of Olympus" is based on the rich mythology of ancient Greece. The game will detail the war between the Demigods and the Titans, and the men and monsters that swear allegiance to them. Olympus is being designed by the creative team of Chris FitzPatrick & J. Allen Thomas. Once again, the pages of the book will be illuminated by the amazing artwork of Des Hanley & Paul Jeacock. And as always, the game will feature more stunning miniatures by the Crocodile Games sculpting team, including Todd Harris, Ben Siens, and Fitz -- of course!

War Gods of Olympus will be the second in a series of 5 games, each based on separate mythologies, but compatible on the table-top. Each game uses the Crocodile Games' innovative Command Counter System, but with new armies, spells, powers, and possibilities! Thus, players will be able to play all of the forces of the Antediluvian Age in battle... a Harbinger of Anubis against a Demigod of Ares, and so on!

The games will be released in the following order:

War Gods of Olympus -- December, 2002
War Gods of Valhalla -- 2003
War Gods of Atlantis -- 2004
War Gods of Hyperborea -- 2005

D&D Pre-Painted Game to Replace Chainmail!
I ran this story before when I was editing the Wargames Weekly miniature page. But for those of you who haven't heard. WotC is planning to release a new D&D game to replace Chainmail with pre-painted, randomly packaged miniatures like those featured in Mage Knight. There is a good preview page of these at Fantization. Check It Out Here!