Dune: More than just CE on steroids

There's been many times, both here and over at the old blog site, where I wished I could figure out a way to include more Dune content. It's such a fantastic game on a number of levels: faithfulness to the source material, unique and interesting mechanics, and — not least — entertainment value. And, of course, it bears some striking similarities to Cosmic Encounter, which is not a huge surprise when you really think about it.

I was reminded of all of this today when I finished an absolutely spectacular game of Dune that featured more twists and turns than the old Space Mountain ride. It probably helped that I ended up winning, too** — those are my black Harkonnen pieces on the map, poised to control Arrakis with their faithful Fremen sidekicks. Mere moments after that map image was posted, it was game-over-thank-you-for-playing-drive-home-safely. As The Man said: "Veni, vidi, vici, Dune-i."

In all seriousness, any Cosmic Encounter fan who just hasn't gotten around to checking out Dune yet would be doing themselves a favor if they rectified that oversight. Good places to start are here, here, and here. Tell them Baron Vladimir sent you.

**There was also some goofy-ass Bene Gesserit thing at the very end. I'm scoring it as a three-way win.

FINALLY, there's multiple CE listings at BGG

In a move that's at least three years overdue, the powers-what-is at BoardGameGeek have deigned to give Cosmic Encounter multiple entries in their database. The new Fantasy Flight Games edition has been split off into its own listing, although every other edition of CE ever produced — Eon, Mayfair, West End, all of the foreign editions, you name it — are still lumped together in one area. This means, among other things, that about half of the CE discussion regarding the "all-in-one" CE revolves around which edition is better.

This is a site that thinks nothing of having about 10,000 entries for Monopoly — even though 99 percent of those are exactly the same game with only the names of the spaces changed. It's also a site that didn't blink twice before immediately creating separate entries for new editions to games such as Britannia, Arkham Horror, and Fury of Dracula, to name just three (all of which are FFG properties now, interestingly enough).

This being BGG we're talking about, there is, of course, no guarantee that the various editions of CE will remain split. From the main page of the new CE listing:

This is the new entry for the Fantasy Flight printing of Cosmic Encounter. As the new game changes several mechanisms of the original, and is available in a much wider release, the two games should be regarded as separate entities. This is a tentative determination based on prospective information; If the games are deemed the same after release, then they will be merged.

Whatever, clowns. Go back to your Agricola-worship.

Video provides first look at the new Cosmic

The always-fun Scott Nicholson just updated his "Boardgames With Scott" series with a quick look at the new Cosmic Encounter boardgame. As usual, he does an excellent job of covering the basics in an engaging and enthusiastic manner.

This is just a teaser, though, according to Scott. He promises a full-length CE video in the near-future.

For those who have never visited, the BWS site is definitely worth a visit.

"The Galaxy Is Yours For The Taking"

It says so right there on the FFG.com page officially announcing Cosmic Encounter is for sale.

December 9, 2008. Remember that date, CE fans. It's when a new era began.

Cosmic Encounter listed as "in stock" at FFG.com

I'm really not sure what I can add to that, other than this handy link.

Oh, yeah:

w00t!

Cosmic Encounter is fifth-bestest game ever!

... at least according to well-known game reviewer, internet personality, and website-runner Tom Vasel, who is clearly a scholar and a gentleman when it comes to variable-power space-themed games. Or something.

The best part comes at about the 5:00 mark, when one of Tom's daughters starts popping pieces in her mouth. And, for those looking to scrub ahead to just the CE stuff, the words "Cosmic Encounter" are first mentioned at about the 4:40 mark.

Spy shots reveal some Cosmic goodies

Apparently, some guy in New Zealand stumbled over a copy of the new Cosmic Encounter the other day and has become, like, the first person in the world to see it. And he's posting images in very, very public settings— including some stuff that hasn't been officially announced yet by Fantasy Flight Games.

Don't hit that second link if you absolutely, positively want your CE box-opening experience to be totally spoiler-free. For everyone else, there's some interesting eye candy to look at while taking breaks from the hourly "Is it here yet?" calls to your local retailer.

Cosmic Encounter strategy: Cudgel

I'm hoping this will be the first of a series of articles detailing possible strategies for playing the various alien races in Cosmic Encounter.

I'll start with an alien making his big-league debut in the upcoming Fantasy Flight Games edition. Here's how to play Cudgel:

That pretty much covers it.

Be sure to tune in next time, where I'll discuss the intricacies of playing Zombie.

Alien artwork spotlight: Felicia Cano

From the very first days that Cosmic Encounter developer Kevin Wilson began sending me the raw files for the new Fantasy Flight Games edition of the game, I was immediately struck by the wonderful (proposed) artwork for the alien cards. I think it's pretty safe to say that CE is receiving its best treatment ever in terms of art (although I'll always have a soft spot for Dean Morrissey and the other Eon-era artists).

I've had CE artist Felicia Cano's website bookmarked ever since Kevin told me she was working on the game, and it gives me great pleasure to finally be able to link to her site publicly. She's very talented, and she was a great pick for the new edition of Cosmic.