Origins Award Winners

Miniatures Rules of the Year
Presented by Rick Loomis

Classic Battletech
Published by Catalyst Game Labs
Created by Jordan Weisman
Edited by Michelle Lyons, Diane Piron-Gelman

Saganami Island Tactical Simulator, Second Edition
Published by Ad Astra Games
Created by Ken Burnside and Thomas Pope

Forces of WARMACHINE: Pirates of the Broken Coast
Published by Privateer Press
Created by Brian Snoddy and Matt Wilson

AT-43
Published by Rackham
Created by Arnaud Cuidet, Jean-Baptiste Lullien, Nicolas Raoult, and
Jerome Rigal

Song of Blades and Heroes
Published by Andrea Sfiligoi
Created by Andrea Sfiligoi

WINNER: Classic Battletech



Miniature or Miniature Line of the Year
Presented by Mike Noe

Skarrd Raze #2
by Dark Age Games

George R.R. Martin Masterworks - Premium Miniature Line
by Dark Sword Miniatures, Inc.

Titania’s Fury
by Dragonfire Laser Crafts Inc.

Bronzeback Titan, HORDES: Evolution Miniatures Line
by Privateer Press

Dark Heaven Legends Fantasy Miniatures
by Reaper Miniatures

WINNER: Titania’s Fury

Collectible Card Game of the Year
Presented by Marcelo Figueroa

Bleach
Published by Score Entertainment
Aik Tongtharadol (lead designer), William Harper (rules editor)

Legend of the Five Rings
Published by Alderac Entertainment Group
Mark Wootton (lead designer), Charles Urbach (cover artist)

The Spoils
by Tenacious Games, Inc.
Josh Lytle (lead designer), Patrick Meehan (lead artist)

WINNER: Legend of the Five Rings

Historical Miniature Game of the Year
Presented by Pete Panzeri and Frank Chadwick

Axis & Allies Naval Miniatures
Published by WotC

Benghazi Handicap
Published by Test of Battle Games

“Check your 6!”
Published by Skirmish Campaigns

D-Day Campaigns for Normandy
Published by Battlefront Games

Might & Reason
Published by Caliver Books

WINNER: “Check your 6!”

Historical Miniatures Line of the Year
Presented by Frank Chadwick

British 7th Armored Division 15mm
Published by Battlefront Miniatures

British Napoleonic 40mm
Published by Sash & Saber Castings

Romano-British 15mm
Published by Splintered Light Miniatures

Buccaneers, Pirates and Privateers 28mm
Published by Brigade Games

Seminole Wars 28mm
Published by Old Glory Corporation

WINNER: Romano-Brit 15mm

Historical Board Game of the Year
Presented by Pete Panzeri and Frank Chadwick

Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery
Published by Tropical Games

Asia Engulfed
Published by GMT Games

Athens and Sparta
Published by Columbia Games

Duel in the Dark
Published by Pilot Games and Z-Man Games

Struggle for Rome, Cataan Historical Series
Published by Mayfair Games

Tide of Iron
Published by Fantasy Flight Games

WINNER: Age of Empires 3: Age of Discovery

Origins Hall of Fame Inductees
Presented by Anthony Gallela
WINNER: R.A. Salvatore
WINNER: Vampire: The Masquerade
WINNER: Paranoia
(Accepting on behalf of the Paranoia designers: THE COMPUTER)

Non-Fiction Publication of the Year
Presented by Mike Stackpole

40 Years of Gen Con
Published by Atlas Games
Written by Robin D. Laws

Confessions of a Part-Time Sorceress: A Girl’s Guide to the Dungeons &
Dragons Game
Published by Wizards of the Coast
Written by Shelly Mazzanoble

Grand History of the Realms
Published by Wizards of the Coast
Written by Brian R. James and Ed Greenwood

Hobby Games: The 100 Best
Published by Green Ronin
Edited by James Lowder

No Quarter Magazine
Published by Privateer Press
Nathan Letsinger, editor-in-chief; Eric Cagle, editor; Josh
Manderville, art director

WINNER: Hobby Games: The 100 Best

Fiction Publication of the Year
Presented by Ed Greenwood

Astounding Hero Tales
Published by Hero Games
Edited by James Lowder

Dragons of the Highlord Skies
Published by Wizards of the Coast
Written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

Frontier Cthulhu
Published by Chaosium
Edited by William Jones

The Orc King
Published by Wizards of the Coast
Written by R.A. Salvatore

The Time Curse
Published by Margaret Weis Productions
Written by James M. Ward

WINNER: Astounding Hero Tales

Game Support Product of the Year
Presented by Ken Hite

Dungeon Life: Bendy Walls



Published by by Z-Man Publishing

Gamemastery Flip Mat: Tavern
Published by Paizo Publishing

Crystalline Counters
Published by Three Sages Games

Hollow Earth Expedition GM Screen
Published by Exile Game Studio

Dr. Wizard’s Patented Elevation Indicator
Published by Stratus Artworks

Call Of Cthulhu Dice Set
Published by Q-Workshop

WINNER: Call of Cthulhu Dice Set

Tributes
Robert Lynn Aspirin
Bob Bledsaw
Charles B. Crain III
James Perham
Erick Wujick
E. Gary Gygax

Roleplaying Game Supplement of the Year
Presented by Dr. Michelle Nephew

Legend of the Five Rings: Emerald Empire
Published by Alderac Entertainment Group
Written by Shawn Carman, Richard Farrese, Douglas Sun and Brian Yoon

Pirate’s Guide to Freeport
Published by Green Ronin
Written by Chris Pramas, Robert J. Schwalb, and Patrick O’Duffy

Delta Green: Eyes Only
Published by Pagan Publishing
Written by Dennis Detwiller, Adam Scott Glancy and Shane Ivey

Pathfinder: Rise of the Runelords
Published by Paizo Publishing
Edited by James Jacobs, Art by Wayne Reynolds

Ruins of the Wild: Dungeon Tiles 4
Published by Wizards of the Coast
Written by Bruce R. Cordell

Codex Arcanis
Published by Paradigm Concepts
Written by Team Paradigm

WINNER: Codex Arcanis

Roleplaying Game of the Year
Presented by Erik Mona

Grimm
Published by Fantasy Flight Games
Written by Robert Vaughn and Christian T. Petersen

The Savage World of Solomon Kane
Published by Great White Games/Pinnacle Entertainment Group
Written by Paul “Wiggy” Wade-Williams (with Shane Lacy Hensley)

CthulhuTech
Published by Mongoose Publishing
Written by Matthew Grau and Fraser McKay

Battlestar Galactica
Published by Margaret Weis Productions
Written by Jamie Chambers

Faery’s Tale Deluxe
Published by Firefly Games
Written by Patrick Sweeney, Sandy Antunes, Christina Stiles, and Robin
D. Laws

Aces & Eights
Published by Kenzer & Co.
Written by Jolly R. Blackburn, Brian Jelke, Steve Johansson, Dave
Kenzer, Jennifer Kenzer and Mark Plemmons

WINNER: Aces & Eights

Traditional Card Game of the Year
Presented by Cayle Shovan

Lifeboat
Published by Gorilla Games
Created by Jeff Siadek

Cutthroat Caverns
Published by Smirk and Dagger Games
Created by Curt Covert and Justin Brunetto

Bankruptcy
Published by Tangent Games
Created by Geoff Habiger and Coy Kissee

Zombie Fluxx
Published by Looney Labs
Created by Andrew Looney

Infernal Contraption
Published by Privateer Press
Created by Matt Wilson, Jason Soles, Kevin Clark, Erik Breidenstein

Race for the Galaxy
Published by Rio Grande Games
Created by Thomas Lehmann

WINNER: Zombie Fluxx

Board Game or Expansion of the Year
Presented by Mike Selinnker

Pillars of the Earth
Published by Mayfair Games
Created by Michael Rieneck and Stefan Stadler

Kingsburg
Published by Elfin Werks
Created by Andrea Chiarvesio and Luca Iennaco

StarCraft: The Board Game
Published by Fantasy Flight Games
Created by Corey Konieczka and Christian Petersen

Last Night on Earth, The Zombie Game
Published by Flying Frog Productions
Created by Jason Hill

Battue: Storm of the Horse Lords
Published by Red Juggernaut
Created by Jim Long

WINNER: Starcraft: The Board Game

Hello From Origins!

Hello everyone! Today brings us to the tail end of the "second" day of Origins. The Exhibition Hall didn't open until today, and a lot of the gamers did not open today but there were people and events that started last night, and I have to so that so far this Origins has shaped up to be better than last years.

Here are some random Origins-related notes:
1. A lot of women with blue hair. I'm not sure about the relationship, just something to mention.
2. Talked today for a little while with Shane Ivey of Arc Dream Publishing. We talked about the past and upcoming future of Delta Green. Good Stuff!! Plus, it was great to put a face to the name that I've seen posting both on the DG list and over at RPG.net.
3. Talked for a while with Jeff Combos and a couple of other guys at Exile Game Studio about Hollow Earth Expeditions. At Battlefield Press we are really looking forward to our HEX-powered conversion of Pulp Fantasy and after talking with Jeff I can see why. His enthusiasm is great and infectious for his games. Might be meeting up at Big Bar a little later.
4. Picked up True20 Revised edition from the folks at Green Ronin. What's a great thing about conventions? Steve Kenson (the designer of True20 and an all-around great guy) ran up our order! How cool is that?
5. Picked up a few odds and ends. There really wasn't a lot that I wanted to buy and the only thing that I am really still looking for is a cheap copy of Mongoose's new edition of Traveller. I got the quick start at Free RPG Day, and it just confirmed that this is a game that I want to have. A copy of Runequest Deluxe would be nice too but I haven't seen that either.

Aren and Aaron have had pretty full schedules so far. Aaron had a great session of Stargate SG-1 last night and Aren had a fun game of HEX that featured death rays and baby seals. Who doesn't enjoy role-playing like that?

I didn't get to take so many pictures yet. Hopefully I will get around to some more over the weekend. This badge will actually update itself as I load more photos into this set so one link is all that you will need:

www.flickr.com Cleveland Desolation's Origins 2008 photoset

Internet access will be limited but I will try to post more tomorrow (or Saturday before we leave and I will definitely get more photos.

If you are around Origins tonight, stop by the Big Bar and say hello!

Edit: Just a note, for some reason Blogger isn't liking the code for the Flickr badge, but that clicks on the link of all the pictures that I took at the con.

New Blogger.

Please welcome Chris Helton to our blogging crew. He attended our game night and volunteered to blog Origins for us this year.

Thank You!

We want to thank everyone that came out to our first game night. We're in talks to get the same room at the same place sometime next month so keep checking back! Also, you'll find some pictures from the event on a slideshow on the sidebar along with a link to our photo album on Picasa.

Dungeons, Dragons, and Draughts

"To all ye wandering outcasts, brave warriors, and would-be heroes: Welcome home."

These are the words inscribed above the entrance way of the sturdy granite keep that houses the Victus Adventurers Union. Rising high upon the cliffs overseeing the harbor in the trade city of Blackbridge, it is within these great halls that eager young adventurers from far and wide congregate to embark upon journeys to dangerous and exotic lands; righting wrongs and slaying foul beasts and corrupt warriors alike - all for the right price, of course. It is also within these halls that we'll be beginning our D&D campaign this coming Wednesday at the inaugural Cleveland Game Night.

And I, your humble Dungeon-Master-to-be, wanted to take this opportunity to outline just what kind of game I'll be running so that you can come to the table with an idea of just what those lucky dice of yours will be rolling for.

Since we're only meeting once a month, at this point, this campaign will be episodic in nature. What I mean by that is that on a typical game night we'll start an adventure and hopefully finish it by the end of the play session. This might not always happen, but at least that is the goal. This way it is easy for players to hop in and out of the game from session to session. And what better setting to allow for something like this than that of the contracted adventurer's guild? As members of the Victus Adventurers Union, your characters will be assigned all manner of missions from the simple "go kill some stuff" quests to more complex investigative, rescue, or even diplomatic missions.

We're going to use the 3.5 edition rule set for now, as (in case you haven't yet heard) 4th edition is crazy and I wouldn't feel comfortable running a campaign without a better grasp of the rules than I have right now. I'm sure we'll jump to that at some point, but for now we're going to stick with what we all know. I am fine with any kind of character and class from any official D&D product, with the exception of all of that Unearthed Arcana bullshit. Gestalt characters? Really? Beyond that, again, anything is fine. Beguilers, Goliaths, Peerless Archers.. it's all fine by me.

We're going to start things off at 2nd level, because first level is for suckers; so think about what kind of character you want to run, so that we can get started as soon as possible! We'll be rolling characters at the bar, so no need to do that ahead of time. But it would be a good idea to at least know what you'd like to make in advance! In fact, if anyone out who is planning on showing up has an idea of what they'll be playing, leave a comment on this post so that your fellow players and I have an idea of what the group will be like!

My campaigns are a pretty good blend of action and role playing. Oh yeah, role playing. Since this is the original RPG, after all, actually getting in character is a requirement! I mean, you don't have to use a voice or wear a hat or anything; but character interactions will be played out for the most part.

As for myself, I've been running campaigns for about six years now and I like to think I do a pretty good job of it. It's my favorite hobby and pastime, and I hope to run a great game that everyone can enjoy playing! So bring those dice and books and get ready for some sweet, sweet dungeon delving this Wednesday night!

Oh, and in case no one heard.. there's a rumor (and it is just a rumor): Word is that Bar Cento just might be tapping their last keg of Christmas Ale that night. That is a critical hit, right there, ladies and gents.

Until then, as the elves say: Sweet water and light laughter until next we meet!


Jim Bradford is a dad and a secretary and a huge dork. Just don't tell the ladies that. Seriously.

Where in the Hell is Bar Cento?

Just in case anyone is too lazy to look it up themselves:

See that little A right there? That's the place.

Origins and D&D 4th Edition.

The Cleveland Victus would like to know if there's anybody out there that would want to be our blogger at Origins this year. We're looking for at least 2 - 3 blog posts about the entire event, or one a day if you're feeling ambitious. Unfortunately, we're just a poor fledgling game group so you'd be doing this just as a way of posting your opinion to some fellow Cleveland gamers and letting us know what's going down there. Shoot an email to ClevelandVictus@gmail.com if your interested.

A few members of the Victus (John, Jim, James, and Logan) are kicking off their D&D 4th Edition campaign this week and we're dying to play a few sessions and let you know how it is. The medium that we deliver it is being debated. We might podcast it or keep in in traditional type. If you've played it, looked through the books, or have an opinion of 4th Edition... leave a comment!

My Game List.

We're only 2 days away from our first game night and I figured I'd throw out a list of stuff that Laurel and myself will be bringing. Any questions on the games just shoot me a comment and I'd be glad to explain them more.

• 2 World of Warcraft Starter Decks
• Set
• Blink
• Aquarius
• Are You a Werewolf
• Poison
• Chess
• Carcassone
• Abalone
• Frag Deadlands
• Unspeakable Words
• Arkham Horror
• Settlers of Catan
• Monopoly
• Portobello Market

No knowledge of how to play these games is necessary, we will be able to teach each one painlessly. I will be trying to run an Arkham Horror game if I can get the interest in it and maybe seeing if somebody will teach me how to play the World of Warcraft CCG. We'll also be bringing a couple decks of cards for Euchre or any other card games. Please feel free to comment with any games you plan on bringing.

One More Week!

One more week till The Victus' first game night at Bar Cento and our poll on the edition of D&D we'll be running is closed. It ended in a tie and it looks like due to some of us not getting the 4E books until a couple days ago, we'll be running 3.5 this month. The game will be run by Jim Bradford and I'm most certain we can get him to post a little bit about the setting for you guys that are planning on playing. It will start around 6:30 and we'll have some pregenerated characters for you. If you want to roll your own, please show up as close to 6:00 pm as possibe so the start of the game isn't delayed. We are only planning on running one now due to not hearing from more than four or five people but we'll have someone on standby if needed to run another game.

In addition to Jim running the D&D game, there will be four other Victus running games and hoping to keep this event going smoothly. There's James Jones (xMidnightxEyesx on the blog), John Haynik, Logan Persons, and Laurel Miltner. You'll notice us greeting people, running games, and having a few drinks.

Speaking of games, big ups to Laurel for the post about this not just being one giant D&D game. We have a diverse interest in games and a profound love of board and card games. We're trying to dig up some traditional games to supplement the games we have that are a lot of fun, but not as well known. We'll try to get a list up in the next couple of days!

See you on the 18th!

Gaming: Not Just for Geeks Anymore

(This post is written by Laurel, girlfriend of James, the mastermind behind The Cleveland Victus.)

Quick note about the June 18 game night at Bar Cento - you don't have to be a hard-core gamer to attend. Anyone is welcome. In addition to D&D, we will also have some cool board games and cards. (If three other euchre-lovers show up, I am totally down.)

If you want to bring your favorite board game or card game along, too, feel free -- just make sure you feel comfortable teaching it to people who might not know how to play. (Although unfortunately, anything crazy like Twister probably won't fly.) We're pretty much up for anything, and mostly, games we play will just be determined by who wants to play what.

This whole Cleveland Victus thing is about having fun and bringing people together through games. So come. Bring a friend if you have one, or come alone and make some new ones. It will be most excellent.

Oh, and if you have any questions, you can contact us at ClevelandVictus@gmail.com.

D&D Poll

I know in a previous post we said we'd only be running D&D of the 3.5 flavor, but a few of us are getting the fourth edition books about a week before the event and wanted to possibly run either one or both games with the new rules. Since we're all about giving you guys what you want and we're really here for you, the gamers... we would like to leave it up to you! Please feel free to vote and let us know what you'd like to see there!

More Info on June 18th Event

I have a few more bits of info about our first event. It is an all ages bar/restaurant, but as we'll be there late, I wouldn't recommend anyone under the age of 16. Also, we're planning on running two D&D games if we have interested people. If you'd like to sign up, shoot an email to ClevelandVictus@gmail.com or comment here. Space is limited for both the d&d games and any other games we're running. We for sure have the back room which seats 30 roughly (10 -12 for D&D alone). If you would like to attend, please shoot an e-mail out or comment here.