Dune strategy, faction by faction

Note: This post is a consolidated listing of what was originally a series of posts in the previous version of this blog.

+++++

The following series of strategy articles are well worth a look for fans of the Dune boardgame. They are especially good for newcomers to the game, who often miss out on many of the subtleties each faction brings to the table.

1. Atreides
2. Bene Gesserit
3. Emperor
4. Fremen
5. Guild
6. Harkonnen

NEW COSMIC ENCOUNTER RULEBOOK IS LIVE!

Those tricksters at Fantasy Flight Games tried to get one by us by announcing the news on the afternoon of the day before Thanksgiving, but, by all that is holy in the cosmos, we are too quick for them.

Here's the scoop: the complete rulebook for the new edition of Cosmic Encounter is now available for download!

Hoody-hoo!

Jump back! New FFG.com is all up in your grill!

Holy mother of ... !

Fantasy Flight Games just improved its web presence from Old School Circa 1999 to Mega-Cool Eye Candy.

Words alone do not do it justice; check it out for yourself.

Zombie. Cosmic Encounter. I get it!

Okay, now here's a real zombie who enjoys Cosmic Encounter.

The image above is gleefully reproduced from Walking Dead #53, published by Image Comics. If you can't quite make out what all the fuss is about, click on the image for a bigger version.

Walking Dead is actually a pretty entertaining read. Head on over to the Image site and check it out.

From the archives: 1981's Space Gamer #37

They just don't make general-interest gaming magazines like this any longer, which is a pity. Back in early 1981, when this issue of Space Gamer appeared, a gaming fan had a wide range of periodicals — both professional and amateur — to choose from each and every month.

Anyway, the March 1981 issue of Space Gamer was a fun one for fans of Cosmic Encounter, which hogged the entire cover (bonus points for identifying all of the aliens; click the image to make it larger) and led the issue with a two-page review from publisher Steve Jackson. The verdict, essentially, came down to "I heart you a lot, Cosmic," and, in a testament to Stevie J.'s writing skills, it's a review that still reads well more than a quarter-century later.

Jackson would later visit the world of CE within the pages of Space Gamer for the obligatory "here's a bunch of new aliens" article ... but that's a tale for another day.

Spy shot! Cosmic Encounter on the Xbox!

Ah, there's nothing quite like using a bit of shaky Blair Witch-style footage to add verisimilitude to a blog post.

One of my Blogmic spies — I use Bothans; they're great — just checked in with a hidden-camera shot of the proposed Xbox Live Arcade version of Cosmic Encounter (click the image for a larger version). It looks great, and, better yet, it actually plays! I believe that's Macron getting set to attack Clone ... ah, you just can't beat the classics.

But let's not get too excited: the entire project is in a bit of a slowdown mode for now. I believe our friends in the movie industry refer to it as Development Hell. There is, for all intents and purposes, no real timetable at all for CE to be released into the Xbox wilds. That could change, but, for now, murky spy photos is the best we can do.

Cosmic Encounter Online 2007 champions

(Ported over from the old version of this site for historical purposes)

• January: AP
• February: AP
• March: AP
• April: Praxis
• May: Tmax
• June: AP
• July: IOexception
• August: Tmax
• September: NezMaster
• October: Tmax
• November: Tmax
• December: NezMaster

"You know you're a CE Online player when ..."

1. You've been yellow-boxed by Sarry;
2. You know what "tab through Dork" means;
3. You've had Peter call you a "swine";
4. You know that m-ric is a noun (bonus point: you know who that noun is named after);
5. You begin to play the CE boardgame, but realize you've forgotten how to move your ships yourself.

Anyone else got some good ones ... ?

League history: Misfit League

(Part of a series recording the history of league results at Cosmic Encounter Online)

Name: Misfit League
When: July-August, 2007
Sessions: 12
Format: Specially-built combos were used, each featuring an alien that would theoretically be at a disadvantage when facing the other three. A win with the "misfit" alien was worth 2 points; a standard win was worth 1.
Final standings: See image
Finalists: BigShidder, Franco, Greg, Praxis
Winner: [??] This information is currently missing