The Dragon’s Breath #24

21 January 2004

What's in store for 2004?

by James Bell

Well, it’s good to be back.  After spending a half-year re-organizing and planning, Fiery Dragon Productions is back in full swing, and ready to unleash a slew of new products and accessories in 2004.

ELEMENT # 50

The first major introduction in the FDP schedule is Sn, the 50^th element, also known as "tin".  FDP has "upgraded" the production values of our products for this year, and many will be contained in these useful and durable tin cases.  We’ve found these to be an excellent transportation and organizational tool, and think they’re very cool.

JOIN THE COUNTER CULTURE

We’ve got two prestige additions to our d20 Counter series coming out early in the year, starting with the SUMMONED CREATURES collection and continuing with COUNTER COLLECTION GOLD.  The first features a case of critters, containing 3.5-sized versions of just about every monster and ally that can be called forth with a Summon Monster or Summon Nature’s Ally spell. 

Counter Collection Gold is the natural progression from Counter Collection I and II, taking all the creatures from the SRD and updating them to their 3.5 sizing.  In addition, the majority of the counters in CC:Gold will be die-cut for easy removal, and include special dungeon tiles from award-winning cartographer Ed Bourelle.  Both collections will come in a collector tin, and will be printed on 14-pt. cardstock, which is 20% thicker than previous releases.  Expect to see these products available in your local game store in March 2004.

Following up in the d20 Counter area are three other interesting releases: CC: DIGITAL, CHARACTER COLLECTION, and the MUTANTS & SPACE ADVENTURES collection.  The Digital collection will be released in June, and will contain an entire CD of print-quality images featured in all previously released counter sets.  If you ever wanted to print out pages and pages of orcs, this is the product for you! The Mutants & Space collection will be the perfect accessory for the upcoming d20 Future book or other sci-fi settings.  Expect to see that in October.  Debuting a month earlier in September, the Character Collection is a new product type, featuring a stack of distinct and detailed NPCs, designed specifically for out-of-the-box action and instant use.  Each NPC contains enough personality to spark a campaign or just highlight an excellent gaming session.  Every character will also feature a full-color counter, of course!  

COUNTER STRIKE!

FDP will be releasing a new line of products in 2004: the Counter Strike mini-games.  Each game is designed to offer an evening of gaming with great replay value!  Each product will feature a self-contained game complete with everything needed to play, including dice!  Featuring award-winning authors such as Brian Train and boards by Ed Bourelle, the first five Counter Strike Releases are:

¡ARRIBA ESPANA!: a simulation game on the Spanish Civil War of 1936-9. The game is for two players, one representing the left-wing coalition government of the Spanish Republic (the Government Player), and the other the alliance of right-wing forces that rose in revolt against it (the Rebel Player). This game is packaged in a protective metal tin and includes a full color map, 280 color die-cut counters, two 6-sided dice, a rulebook and reference cards.  Available in April.

THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE: a simulation game of the German last-ditch offensive through the Ardennes forest in December 1944.  This game is packaged in a protective metal tin and includes a full color map, 280 color die-cut counters, two 6-sided dice, a rulebook and reference cards.  Coming in May.

BATTLE FOR CHINA is a boardgame simulation of the "War of Resistance Against Japan" from the initial Japanese invasion in July, 1937, to the end of 1941. The game is for two players, one directing the military forces acting to defend China against the Japanese invader (the Chinese Player), and the other the forces of Imperial Japan (the Japanese Player). The game can also be played with a third player taking the Chinese Communist forces.  This game is packaged in a protective metal tin and includes a full color map, 280 color die-cut counters, two 6-sided dice, a rulebook and reference cards.  Available in June.

FREIKORPS: a simulation game of a hypothetical invasion of Germany by the Soviet Union's "Red Army of Workers and Peasants" in 1920.  The game is for two players, one representing the irresistible forces of proletarian revolution (the Red Player), and the other the impervious alliance of anti-Bolshevist forces that would have been arrayed to oppose such an invasion (the White Player).  This game is packaged in a protective metal tin and includes a full color map, 280 color die-cut counters, two 6-sided dice, a rulebook and reference cards.  Available in July.

ATOMIC CITY: a cardstock game of four-color combat, featuring superheroes and villains created by Jay "Tutenstein" Stephens and hot artwork from comic all-stars, including Darwyn Cooke, J. Bone, Nick Derington, Paul Pope and more!  A game for 2 to 8 players, each taking on the role of a hero or villain in the near-future setting of Atomic City.  This game is packaged in a protective metal tin and includes two full color maps, 24 color die-cut counters, 24 Atomic City character cards, two 6-sided dice, a rulebook and reference cards.  Available in August.

AND MORE...

These are just some of the exciting and varied releases that we have in store for 2004.  Of course, we’ve also got Karathis updates (including new PDFs on Hollobrae and the long-awaited Murder in Hollobrae adventure), plus 3.5 versions of the six Runeswords, some revised versions of previous adventures, and some new stuff too...

We’ve taken a deep breath, and now we’re ready to unleash the results of the past several months’ worth of work.  Stay tuned for more exciting announcements and developments from Fiery Dragon Productions.

Next Week: While still making great products, we'll manage to share a few words with you! Trust us!

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