London 27 January 2015 - Modiphius, publisher of award-winning roleplaying games like Achtung! Cthulhu and acclaimed board games like Thunderbirds the 50th Anniversary Board Game is pleased to announce some highlights of the games and Kickstarter projects that will be heading fans' way in 2016.
After a huge turkey and mince pie blow out at Christmas, January has soon seen us work off some of that excess weight with a raft of releases to start the year with a real bang. Wade Dyer's amazing sci-fi RPG Fragged Empire debuted with the release of the core book, first adventure Let Sleeping Gods Lie, GM Screen and Dice Set offering the perfect package to start your Fragged adventures. There were Achtung! Cthulhu Pathfinder Demonhunter and Badger's Commandos miniatures to enjoy, plus the fantastic super-powered supplement Elder Godlike, which saw Allied Talented commandos and Nazi super soldiers clash in titanic superpowered globe-spanning battles.
But by Crom! February kicks off with one of the most eagerly anticipated Kickstarters of the year with Robert E Howard's Conan Roleplaying Game: Adventures In An Age Undreamed Of which will launch on Tuesday 16th. Plunge into an age of high adventure, where you'll be able to thieve from towers of snake-haunted mystery, live by your wits and your sword and perhaps eventually tread the jewelled thrones of the earth beneath your sandals. Fantastic core books, heroic supplements and a wealth of superb art (with Brom on cover art duty) and Conan artefacts are in prospect, so make a date in your diaries.
In March, fans of epic sci-fi the Mutant Chronicles will be in for a treat, with a special themed week where we'll be releasing a whole wealth of books and new material for the major corporations in the game. Imperial, Capitol, Cybertronic, Brotherhood and Mishima, each get their own source book, which goes into enormous detail on the fascinating history and make up of these factions - an invaluable resource for Mutant Chronicles fans, and there'll be additional competitions and prizes to celebrate. We've always loved a bit of Lovecraft too at Modiphius (hence Achtung! Cthulhu) so keep an eye out for some special promotions and activities based around the anniversary of ol' HP's death day which falls on the 15th.
April starts with a massive event, with the release of Assault on the Mountains of Madness, the epic end game of Achtung! Cthulhu. As the second world war draws to a close, the Nazis retreat to their final sanctuary, an Elder Thing city ensconced in the snowy wastes of Antarctica from which they hope to strike back and reverse the tide of the war. Naturally the Allies launch an equally huge counter-invasion in a campaign that is as vast, brutal and epic as they come - a commendably fantastic conclusion to the Secret War - or is it? April also sees our Achtung! Cthulhu fiction anthology Dark Tales From the Secret War hit the shops. Edited by John Houlihan, it features 13 unhallowed tales from modern mythos masters including David J Roger, Patrick Garratt and Martin Korda.
What, you want more in April? Okay then, well prepare yourself for the first Mutant Chronicles campaign: Dark Symmetry, and the much anticipated Bauhaus supplement. The forces of resistance will be on the move with the launch of the Achtung! Cthulhu skirmish game, with a Core Rule Set, plus Black Sun, Allied Commando and Allied Investigator’s miniature sets featuring 10 x figures each to really help launch your table top battles. Beware the ides of Walpurgis Nacht on the 30th too - we'll most likely be cowering at home, safe under our beds.
As summer approaches, May will see further troop deployments for the Achtung! Cthulhu skirmish game arriving in the form of 10x packs of the super sinister Servitors of Nyarlathotep Horde and the aquatic Deep One War Party! Mutant Chronicles gets another dose of giant shoulder pads with the release of the Dark Legion Campaign and Whitestar supplement.
Acclaimed Swedish dark fantasy RPG Symbaroum will also make its debut with some intense encounters in the forest of Davokar and some of the most beautiful art you'll ever see.
Table top fans are in for an epic month in June, with the release of Airfix Battles, the fast paced table top combat game that lets you live out your wildest Airfix fantasies. Better start digging out those boxes of toy soldiers right now, as it certainly doesn't come more exciting than this. Oh wait, it does! You’ll witness the first expansion for the Thunderbirds the 50th Anniversary board game, with Tracey Island bringing to life the home base of those International Rescue boys. Before the month of May is out, we've also got even more skirmish reinforcements arriving in the form of the awesome 10 x Pathfinder Demonhunters set - watch out Black Sun, a Native American war party is on your tail! Finally, you will find new allies in the fight against the Dark Legion with the Luna & Freelancers and Cartel & Orbital supplements.
What else is happening this year?
Well there's even more Mutant Chronicles goodness on the horizon with Dark Soul & Apostles Guide, the Dark Eden Supplement and campaign, and the Mutants & Heretics supplement. Phew, that's a whole lot of mutant.
For Achtung! Cthulhu fans there's the arrival of a new GM Screen placing a handy set of rules and tables at your fingertips, plus Achtung! Cthulhu Adventure Series 1, a compilation of the very best of our existing RPG campaigns. Also keep an eye for an epic Black Sun & Nachtwolfe supplement with everything you need to know - and some things you rather wouldn't - about these dark forces of the Third Reich.
You can also expect the Kung Fu Panda Kickstarter in late spring following the launch of the new movie, as well as the retail launch of the Infinity RPG line. Two more expansions for Thunderbirds the 50th Anniversary board game are also on the horizon, with Above & Beyond which launches at Gen Con, and The Hood launching at Essen Spiele.
Phew, how do we fit it all in? We just don't know. After contemplating the that little lot, we think we need to disappear off for a little lie down. Perhaps Chris Birch, our esteemed publishing director, would like a word to explain it better?
Chris says: "We actually celebrated three years of Modiphius this month – I actually forgot it had come around so quickly, so it’s amazing to see how far we’ve come from a dream that started back in the 90’s when I first thought of building a gaming business.
"Seeing our own projects like Achtung! Cthulhu grow alongside licensed games like Mutant Chronicles, Infinity and Conan, it’s incredible to be involved in so many inspiring worlds. We’ve definitely made the mark on the RPG scene and now adding in excellent boardgames like Matt Leacock’s Thunderbirds Co-operative game, Airfix Battles, Kung Fu Panda and Siege of the Citadel with Richard Borg, Kevin Wilson and Eric Lang, we’re excited to see what else we can do.
"We're really looking forward to a cracking 2016, and we hope you will come and join us. Whether you're a tabletop aficionado, board game fan or RPG devotee, we think we've got you covered.
"Check out the latest releases at www.Modiphius.net and why not sign up for our newsletter, so you can keep track of all the latest news and releases? We look forward to bringing you all these and a while lot more, it should be an awesome year for Modiphius gaming."