Essen SPIEL ’18 Live Blog – Friday

It’s time to get stuck into Day Two of Essen SPIEL ’18 where we’ve got plenty more games to get stuck into, loads of prizes and much more.

Watch out for more from Reichbusters in the near future as well as Justin and Sam got to sit down with Az to have a run through how a particular game turn would play out.

Remember that Reichbusters: Projekt Vril goes live on Kickstarter November 20th 2018.

We stopped in with Gordon from Gale Force Nine to talk about what they have been showing off here at the show and delving into the wealth of new goodies that you can get a hold of for their Dungeons & Dragons range.

Win Vault Of Dragons PLUS 2x D&D Paint Sets (Heroes & Monsters)

As well as the awesome range of unique Dungeons & Dragons characters from a variety of livestreams and the expanded universe they have also been working on some great stuff for historical gamers with TANKS.

This new version of TANKS is working its way onto shelves soon and we’ll be covering it over in the studio in the near future too.

Almost as soon as the doors opened here for SPIEL ’18 today people were flooding in to find themselves a demo to play and more to get stuck into.

Hopefully, we’re going to be getting some time to play some games for ourselves. We already managed to get stuck into Decrypto yesterday and Sam has brought himself a copy of Reef.

I think Justin and Coco also have some Lightseekers they’re planning to check out in more detail!

We got a chance to sit down and look through a game which is able to combine two of my favourite things, racing and betting in tabletop games!

Downforce is one of those awesome games which has been given a new lease of life by Restoration Games with IELLO as another of the publishers for it.

In the game you are playing as the people betting on the racing drivers, trying to work out what position they are going to finish in and also outwit the others at the table, locking racers in place and stopping their cards from having the desired effect!

It seems like a great mix of games like Camel Up and Formula D!

We stopped in with the folks behind Gorus Maximus to learn about this great game of gladiatorial combat.

Inside Up Games has been working through a Kickstarter for this game and now things have been developing into a pre-order system too.

Come and find out more about this game and maybe add this into the mix. We do love a bit of trick-taking in our games!

Horrible Games has been showing off Railroad Ink for a while now at shows like Gen Con and the like but now it has finally seen a release here at Essen SPIEL ’18 to the public.

It was the one game that I (Ben) was really looking to pick up at the show and I can’t wait to play it. The game is what’s called a Roll & Write and has you rolling dice then using pens to draw out the railroads that you want to create, hoping that it is all going to come together into a great network that banks you loads of points.

There has been a massive landslide of Roll & Write games recently and this is certainly one of them that stands out from the crowd…

…oh, and blue is best.

We managed to stop in with the folks from Micro Art Studio to find out what was new this year for them when it came to terrain.

Comment To Win An Aristeia Walls Terrain Set

We talk about some of the great terrain that they have designed for you to use in Star Wars: Legion as well as their utterly superb collection of terrain pieces which help bring the world of Infinity to life on the tabletop.

We got a chance to talk with Tez about what the plans are from WYSIWYG Games when it comes to bringing The Planet Of The Apes to the tabletop in the near future.

The game will be a cooperative experience where you play as the Apes from the popular movie franchise, trying to fight against the human forces that seek to hunt you down.

As well as a proper miniature-based skirmish clash on the tabletop between the two forces, where everyone has no real idea of what the capabilities of your foes are, you can also develop things with another side of the game that has you creating your village too.

Add into that the fact that they’re going to be working on an awesome look back at the old movies too and you’ve got a lot of ace things to look forward to here!

One of the best things about Essen Spiel is the sheer variety of games there are for people to play.

Lots of people like to try out games they’ve had there eye on, or just relax with their friends and take the chance to play some of the award winners from the year.

Which games do you wish you could play?

Justin got a chance to sit down with Az from Mythic Games and look at a sample of gameplay from their upcoming Kickstarter campaign, Reichbusters: Projekt Vril.

This game is coming to Kickstarter on November 20th and has you taking control of a group of Allied agents and soldiers trying to infiltrate Nazi facilities and then eliminate them with extreme prejudice!

The game is looking like a fantastic mix of stealth action and full on Hollywood firefights.

Lunchtime is approaching and there are loads of options for Essen Spiel attendees to feed their hunger.

There’s plenty of German food available, as well as selections of pastries, fruit, sweet stands and everything you need to fuel up for a day of gaming.

PSC Games have a lot of historically focused board games with them at Essen Spiel ’18 and have even more on their way.

Comment To Win A Copy Of Lincoln

We are big fans of their deck destruction game Lincoln, as well as Quartermaster General: The Cold War. However, it’s the two new games on their way that have us really excited.

Battle Ravens brings us into the bloody shield walls of Viking combat, while Blitzkrieg lets us experience the conflicts of WWII in a new way. Both of these games are coming to Kickstarter soon.

Which game are you most excited to see?

Big Potato Games are kings and queens of the party game. They have designed a lot of fantastic games which work as a great gateway for those who would normally never consider looking at a board game.

Win A Copy Of Don’t Get Got!

We stopped in with them to talk about some of the new games they have at their disposal and what they think might be a great shout for those of you who might have non-gamer friends.

One of the neat things to go and see here at Essen SPIEL ’18 is their collection of classic board games which have been put together into an awesome showcase here at the event.

I’m sure some of us have games like this hidden away in attics and the like and maybe now is the time to crack them open once more, find out if they still hold up mechanically…and see how much has changed between the old generation and the new.

Ryan stops off with Hub Games to talk to them about how things are going with them and Holding On: The Troubled Life of Billy Kerr.

Win A Copy Of Holding On

You can actually see a Let’s Play of this game that we did with them HERE and get a feel for how it plays on the tabletop but it is safe to say that it is quite the hit in the feels as you get stuck into it.

We stop in with the folks from Dicim to talk about their game and learn about how they managed to fit four distinctly interesting concepts within one box. If this game sounds good to you then you’re in luck as we have a copy to give away!

Win A Copy of Dicium

Dicium from Geek Attitude Games runs from between 1-4 players and provides you with four games that each try something different. You have Crazy Cup, Dungeon, Civilization and Shogun all of which you can find out more about in the video below.

Seb has been here over the last couple of days showing off his painting prowess. If you hadn’t guessed, he is the one behind the painting of all of the wonderful miniatures you see as part of Solomon Kane, Joan Of Arc and of course now Reichbusters.

You can see more of Seb’s work HERE.

So, if you’re here at Essen SPIEL ’18 or you bump into Mythic Games at any conventions see if Seb is about so he can teach you about some painting!

I am a big fan of HABA games and it is nice to see them expanding their reach beyond the simple kids games to something which can act as a branching product between those and more complex products.

Win A Copy Of Mountains

In this game, you are going to be working to try and match different sets of cards together to make sure that your packs are full of the right equipment as you head off to explore these masterful peaks.

Thundrgryph has brought their upcoming board game Tang Garden to SPIEL ’18, giving players a chance to try out and pre-order it.

Tang Garden is a beautiful game where players wander through a beautiful Asian garden and bring it to life with plantlife, ornaments and more which are then used to impress visitors who have travelled from afar.

As you can see there are plenty of people delving into this game and giving it a go here.

Paradox Interactive work on some amazing PC games and they are now working with a selection of different companies to make them into tabletop games.

You’d be surprised how many folks create their PC games based on initial concepts which existed in cardboard and plastic form.

This means that we’re going to be seeing the likes of City Skylines, Europa Universalis and more coming to the tabletop and Ryan has got the lowdown.