Origins 2015 Awards Nominees

 Per ICV2:

Best Board Game

• Abyss - Asmodee, Designers:  Bruno Cathala & Charles Chevallier
• The Battle of Five Armies - Ares Games, Designers:  Roberto DiMeglio, Marco Maggi, & Francesco Nepitello
• Cash n Guns 2nd Edition - Repos Production Designer:  Ludovic Maublanc
• Dead of Winter:  A Crossroads Game - Plaid Hat Games Designers:  Jonathon Gilmour & Isaac Vega
• Sheriff of Nottingham - Arcane Wonders, Designers:  Sergio Halaban, Bryan Pope, & Andre Zatz

Best Card Game

• Among the Stars - Stronghold Games, Designers:  Antonis Papantoniou & Odysseas Stamoglou
• Linko! - Ravensburger Spieleverlag GmbH, Designers:  Michael Kiesling & Wolfgang Kramer
• Star Realms - White Wizard Games, Designers:  Robert Dougherty & Darwin Kastle
• Splendor - Asmodee, Designer:  Marc Andre
• Sushi Go! - Gamewright, Designers:  Nan Rangisma, Tobias Schweiger, & Phil Walker-Harding

Best Children’s, Family, & Party Game 

• Archer:  The Danger Zone! Board Game - Cryptozoic Entertainment, Designer:  Matt Hrya
• Gravwell: Escape from the 9th Dimension - Renegade Game Studios, Designer: Corey Young
• The Hare and the Tortoise - Iello, Designer:  Gary Kim

Best Collectible Card Game

• Magic: the Gathering Khans of Tarkir - Wizards of the Coast, Designer:  Wizards of the Coast R&D
• Pokemon XY Phantom Forces - The Pokemon Company Intl., Designer:  Creatures Inc.
• Siege: Heart of Darkness - AEG, Designer:  Bryan Rose
• The Spoils-The Spoils USA, Designers:  Ken Pilcher & Josh Lytle

Best Game Accessory

• Battletech Lance Pack:  Assault Lance - Catalyst Game Labs, Designers:  Arrastia & Randall N. Bills
• Counter Ring - Crit Success LLC., Designer:  Aaron Laniewicz
• Pathfinder Battles: Reign of Winter Standard Booster 8 Ct. Brick - WizKids Games, Designer:  WizKids Games
• Wings of Glory Mat - Ares Games, Designer:  Ares Games

Best Miniature Figure Line

• Archangel Raphael - Dark Age, Designer:  David Doust
• Dungeons & Dragons:  Attack Wing - WizKids, Designers:  Andre Parks & Manny O’Donnell
• Imperial Knight - Games Workshop, Designer:  Games Workshop Design Studio
• Kukulkani Cabrakan - Dark Age, Designer:  David Doust
• Nagash - Games Workshop, Designer:  Games Workshop Design Studio

Best Miniature Figure Rules

• Battletech:  Alpha Strike Companion - Catalyst Game Labs, Designers:  Ray Arrastia & Herbert A. Beas II
• A Fistful of Kung Fu - Osprey Publishing, Designer: Andrea Sfiligoi
• Golem Arcana - Harebrained Schemes, Designers:  Jordan Weisman, Mike Mulvihill, & Brian Poel
• Marvel HeroClix:  Guardians of the Galaxy Starter Set - WizKids, Designer:  WizKids Games
• Warhammer 40,000 - Games Workshop, Designer: Games Workshop Design Studio

Best Role Playing Game

• Atomic Robo:  The Roleplaying Game - Evil Hat Productions, LLC, Designers:  Mike Olson & Brian Clevinger
• Dungeons & Dragons Players Handbook - Wizards of the Coast, Designer:  Wizards of the Coast R&D
• Firefly Role-playing Game - Margaret Weiss Productions, Designers:  Margaret Weiss, Monica Valentinelli, Mark Diaz Truman, Brendan Conway, Jack Norris, & Dean Gilbert
• ICONS:  Superpowered Roleplaying:  The Assembled Edition - Green Ronin, Designer:  Steve Kenson
• The Strange - Monte Cook Games LLC, Designers:  Bruce R. Cordell & Monte Cook

Best Role Playing Supplement

• D&D Monster Manual - Wizards of the Coast, Designer:  Wizards of the Coast R&D
• Emerald City:  Mutants & Masterminds - Green Ronin, Designers:  Darren Bulmer, Walt Ciechanowski, Seth Johnson, Steve Kenson, Jon Leitheussr, Christopher McGlothlin, Jack Norris, & Aaron Sullivan
• Hobbit Tales:  From The Green Dragon Inn - Cubicle 7, Designer:  Francesco Nepitello
• Mummy The Curse:  Book of the Deceived - Onyx Path, Designer:  C.A. Suleiman
• The One Ring:  Darkening of Mirkwood - Cubicle 7, Designer:  Francesco Nepitello
• The Strange:  Bestiary - Monte Cook Games, LLC, Designers:  Monte Cook, Bruce R. Cordell, & Robert J. Schwalb

Best Historical Board Game

• Armada Invincible - Zvezda LLC, Designer:  Konstantin Krivenko
• Heroes of Normandie - Iello, Designers:  Yann and Clem
• Last Chance for Victory - Multi-Man Publishing, Designer:  Dean Essig
• 1066, Tears to Many Mothers - Tristan Hall, Designer:  Tristan Hall

Best Historical Miniature Figure/Line

• D-Day Firefight - Osprey Games/Warlord, Designer:  Osprey Games/Warlord
• Early Crusade & Outremer - Gripping Beast, Designer:  Gripping Beast
• Rorke’s Drift - Warlord Games, Designer:  Warlord Games
• Sails of Glory Series 2 - Ares Games, Designers:  Andrea Angiolino & Andrea Mainini
• 101st Airborne - Collectors Battlefield, Designer:  Collectors Showcase

Best Historical Miniature Rules

• Across A Deadly Field:  Regimental Rules for Civic War Battles - Osprey Publishing, Designer:  John Hill
• The Crescent & The Cross - Studio Tomahawk/Gripping Beast, Designers:  Alex Buchel & Andy Sherwell
• Lion Rampant:  Medieval Wargaming Rules - Osprey Publishing, Designer:  Daniel Mersey
• On the Seven Seas:  Wargaming Rules for the Age of Piracy and Adventure c. 1570-1730 - Osprey, Designer:  Osprey Games
• Sails of Glory - Ares Games, Designer:  Andrea Angiolino & Andrea Mainini

Best Historical Miniature Rules Supplement

• Battleground Europe - Osprey/Warlord, Designers:  Ryan Miller, Rick Priestley, & Alessio Cavatore
• Battlegroup Barbarossa - Ironfist Publishing, Designers:  Warwick Kinrade & Piers Brand
• D-Day:  Battle of Carentan - Collectors Battlefield, Designer:  Collectors Showcase
• Flames of War:  Barbarossa - Battlefront, Designer:  Battlefront Miniatures
• Bolt Action:  Tank War - Osprey Publishing, Designers:  Ryan Miller, Rick Priestley, and Alessio Cavatore

Galaxy Truckers

John W. introduced me to this game and we've played it twice in the last several days.

It's a amazing board game and I don't know that I've ever played anything like it.

Phase one has you building a spaceship, in the same vein as Tetris, in a certain amount of time.

Phase two has you mocking said spaceships (it's in the rules)!

Phase three has your spaceship enduring a hazardous journey through space facing meteors, alien predators, slavers, planets and who knows what else, just trying to survive the trip and hopefully make a profit.



I can't say enough positive about the game.  It does have a learning curve, or rather an "unlearning" curve as you have to forget nearly every other board game you've ever played.

Give it a try.

I've never seen a ship this well constructed!

Elder Signs

Last night, John W.'s friday group (sans John W.) began playing Pathfinder, but the table was pretty full and two players didn't have characters.  Both players asked about playing Elder Signs (which they'd learned to play earlier in the week), so I opted to join them to make the table a bit more manageable for the Pathfinder GM.  The result?  Both tables had a blast!

And best of all, I learned a new board game (I hate reading board game rules), and a Cthulhu Mythos inspired board game at that.  I'm a big fan of cooperative games and Elder Signs is squarely in that category.  It's quick to play (under an hour when your still new to the game) and easy to learn.

I even think my lovely wife might enjoy it, as the dice mechanic is similar to yahtzee.


I can't recommend the game enough, even if your not a huge Mythos fan, but like a cooperative game with elements of exploration, magic, adventuring and horror.

I chose to play Dexter Drake, Magician and truly dug it.

I hope you get a chance to give it a try!

D&D Boardgames ported to iOS

Playtdek and Wizards of the Coast have reached an agreement that will bring the recent Ravenloft, Wrath of Ashardalon and Legend of Drizzt boardgames to your iOS device.

You can read about it here.