Here they are. The Spiel des Jahres 2018 nominees. 

The winners are...

Mice and Mystics Announced, Available for Preorder

The new website brings with it the official unveiling of Mice and Mystics, Plaid Hat’s new storytelling adventure game.The oversized box comes packed with miniatures, tiles, cards, dice, and a storybook with 11 exciting chapters.Players take the roles of mousey loyalists fighting to free their kingdom from the clutches of a vile sorceress.The game’s announcement comes with a hefty 33% discount and 2 promotional cards for those who preorder the game from the Plaid Hat Website.

Star Trek: Alliance - Dominion War Campaign, is an exciting starship battle game set in the Star Trek universe.

Build your farm, grow crops, and explore Stardew Valley.

Hobby game entrepreneur, game media personality, and game industry veteran Stephen Buonocore will be stepping down from his role as President of Stronghold Games, effective on August 1, 2020.  Buonocore, 59, founded Stronghold Games in 2009 and served as its President for most of that time.

The Cold War. A dangerous time for the world. A dangerous time to be a spy… but that is exactly what being a spy is all about. As the shadowy clouds of intrigue and subterfuge settle across the globe you have been called upon by your country to obtain the Top Secret information that will ensure your country’s safety and supremacy. But not all is as it seems; your spies are difficult to control on a global scale, and even worse, there’s a Double Agent in your midst who threatens the entire mission!

Maker of fine board games, Stronghold Games LLC is graciously giving away one copy of their new deduction and area control board game “Confusion: Espionage and Deception in the Cold War” to one member of Boardgameinfo.com. The game is currently open for pre-order on their website. Anyone can enter the contest here.

Stronghold Games has announced that they will be reprinting Richard Hamblen's Merchant of Venus.They expect to release it in 2012, possibly as early as the 2nd quarter. As Stronghold Games has done with other reprints of classic games, Merchant of Venus will include a straight reprint of the original game with enhanced, high quality components, and also include some optional new ways to play. The new additions may come from the many fan variants that have been posted and published over the years.

Additionally Stronghold Games has hinted that there may be a re-print of another Richard Hamblen game in the future.

Shortly after Stronghold Game's announcement, Fantasy Flight Games announced that they had signed an exclusive licensing contract with Wizards of the Coast, LLC, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. more than a year ago to reprint Merchant of Venus. They are taking pre-orders and expect to release Merchant of Venusthe 1st quarter of 2012.

Stronghold Games Announces Opening of Preorders for Code 777 on July 8

New Jersey, USA and Ontario, Canada -- July 7, 2010

Stronghold Games is proud to announce the opening of the preorder program for Code 777, the highly-regarded deduction game, being produced in a 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition.

Preorder customers will receive a discount of 35% off MSRP as well a guarantee that preordered games will ship before retail games are shipped.

In an important change from traditional preorder programs, Stronghold Games only opens a preorder once the game itself has been produced and shipped from the production facility. In this way, it is much easier to control for delays as the game is already on its way to the warehouse for processing and shipping to preorder customers. Stronghold Games is proud to pioneer this important change in the game industry.

Customers interested in placing a preorder for Code 777 should act quickly, as preorders are limited to just 500 copies before preordering closes. Preorders will be accepted starting on July 8 and will end after 4-6 weeks, at which time we will ship Code 777 to our preorder customers. Shipments to distributors and retailers will only begin after shipment of games to our preorder customers.

Preorders for Code 777 can be placed at www.stronghold-games.com starting on July 8th.

About Code 777

Crack your code first! You can see your opponents' codes but not your own. Using questions and logic, try to deduce which three numbers are hidden in front of you. Once you're reasonably sure, then you can take a guess. But if you're wrong, you have to start over with a fresh set of tiles...

This deluxe edition of Code 777 has been expanded to allow for up to 5 players (from the previous 4 player editions). All of the components have been upgraded to the highest-quality levels. And our Code 777 is also the first edition to be colorblind friendly! Stronghold Games is proud to bring this great deduction game back into print by popular demand after being unavailable for over 10 years worldwide.

About Stronghold Games LLC:

Stronghold Games LLC is a publisher of high-quality board games and card games within the designer game industry. Stronghold Games is scheduled to releaseCode 777 andConfusion: Espionage and Deception in the Cold War,and Survive: Escape from Atlantis! in Q3 and Q4 of 2010. Stronghold Games LLC is a Limited Liability Company formed in the State of Delaware, USA.

Stephen Buonocore, Managing Director

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Kevin Nesbitt, Managing Director

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Website: http://www.Stronghold-Games.com

Stronghold Games is pleased to announce the licensing of the North American release of David Ausloos' Panic Station.

Fans of Stronghold Games will recognize David's name from his previous artwork on our releases of Survive: Escape from Atlantisand Confusion: Espionage and Deception in the Cold War.

Launching As A Kickstarter Project,
Featuring As Many As 100 Plastic Miniatures,
With Free Worldwide Shipping For Early Adopters

New Jersey, USA and Ontario, Canada -- October 11th, 2010

Stronghold Games is pleased to announce the licensing of the classic game Outpost previously printed only in limited quantity by TimJim Games in 1991.

Indie Boards & Cards and Stronghold Games are proud to announce the pending merger of these two great publishers, and the formation of a new force in the hobby game industry: Indie Game Studios. Action Phase Games, previously acquired by Indie Boards and Cards in 2016, will also be folded into the new entity and the three distinct brands will be maintained moving forward.

Stronghold Games is proud to declare 2014 as “The Year of Space Cadets” as it announces 3 new game titles for their award-winning and best-selling Space Cadets line of games.

Stronghold Games is set to publish Friedman Friese's "504", a game system offering a staggering 504 games in one box.  The game's release is scheduled for November 2015 with it's debut taking place at Essen Spiel in Germany.

Stronghold Games is proud to announce the publication of “504”, a game designed by the renowned game designer Friedemann Friese, co-published with 2F-Spiele.

504 is a revolutionary concept in game design. 504 offers the game enthusiast 504 different games in a single box, achieving this via the use of nine game modules, which can be merged together to form 504 unique play experiences. The nine modules are Pick-up & Deliver, Race, Privileges, Military, Exploring, Roads, Majorities, Production, and Shares.

In 504, players use the spiral bound “Book of 504 Worlds”, selecting three different modules in any order from the nine available, and thereby creating a unique “World”. For example, the selection of three modules for a World may create a game that is:

• A racing game that expands through exploration with technology improving the racing or exploration (World “253”).
• An 18XX-style stock game with network building for income and production sites to provide workers for the road building (World “968”).
• A wargame with a pick-up and deliver economy and bonus scoring from majorities (“World 417”).

Thematically in 504, scientists in the future are able to build small alternate Earths. Exactly 504 such Earths have thus far been built. The scientists have programmed each of these Worlds with an individual set of laws and rules, which the inhabitants strictly follow and consider most important for their lives. These may be exploration, consumption, economics, military, etc., and each is unique. You can visit all of these 504 alternate Earths to experience how the people are living, and decide which of these worlds harbours the best civilization. On which World do you want to live? Explore them all and decide!

Stronghold Games will release 504 as the second game in its new “The Great Designer Series”, which will highlight games from the best game designers in the world. 504 is designed by the renowned game designer Friedemann Friese, whose previous works include the acclaimed games Power Grid plus its many expansions, Friday, Fauna, Fearsome Floors, and many others.

The release of 504 continues the commitment of Stronghold Games to partner with publishers globally, bringing their great games to North America and the rest of the world, as well as to continue to publish great euro-game designs. 504 follows the success of two smash-hit 2014 euro-games from Stronghold Games, Panamax and Kanban: Automotive Revolution. Stronghold Games recently announced Porta Nigra, by renowned game design team Wolfgang Kramer & Michael Kiesling, as the first game in its new “The Great Designer Series”, scheduled to be released later this year.

Stronghold Games will print 504 at Ludofact Germany, the leading printer of hobby games in the world. 504has a tentative release date of November 2015. The MSRP for this game has not been set at this time.Stronghold Games will debut its English edition of 504 in October 2015 at the Essen Spiel in Germany. Co-publishing partners for other language editions of 504 will be announced imminently by 2F-Spiele.

“This is a revolutionary game design for the hobby game industry,“ said Stephen Buonocore, President of Stronghold Games. “It is an honor to be working with Friedemann Friese and his great company, 2F-Spiele, on such an ambitious and game-changing project.”

 Hey gang,, we've reached a point where we're ready to jump into the next level of Grindhouse development and need cash! It's been a great year so far and it's time to move forward. For the next two weeks, terminating on October 2, 2010, were offering Stupid Good Deal numbers one and two.

Today is a dark day for FortressAT.com. Here I was thinking that we represented the best and brightest community in all of hobby gaming and in our first contest, not a single F:ATtie has won a prize. I am so ashamed of you. Where were your awesome SUMMONER WARS mercenary ideas? I had high hopes that a couple of registered F:AT member would be the one to get their names in lights, but apparently all those years of rolling that D20 in games of RUNEBOUND has taken its toll among some of our members.

That being said, I am very pleased and honored to present the winners of the SUMMONER WARS design-a-mercenary contest with their due accolades and I'd like to offer each and every one of them a FREE membership to F:AT. Don't worry, the hazing is over before you know it.

Now, I think we need to take a moment to give Colby Dauch (ScreamingTruth) a hand here. He's done something that I think is pretty awesome. There's not going to be a first place price, second place prize, and so on. Everybody that won gets the deluxe first place prize package. So all of these designs are going into production and each of the designers gets five copies of whatever product it appears in to share with friends and family. They'll also receive two copies of each of the Starter Sets and two copies of each of the upcoming Vanguards Faction Pack and Fallen Kingdom Faction Pack (upon release). That's like a million dollars in prizes. See what you missed out on, F:AT members?

So on with it then, here are your contest winners:

Naan’nashi

Champion of the Mercenaries

Attack Value: 2

Summon Cost: 4

Range Symbol: Bow

Disguised

Instead of summoning Naan’nashi normally, you may choose any common unit you control. Replace the chosen unit with Naan’nashi, transfer any wounds from the chosen unit to Naan’nashi, and then discard the chosen unit.

Image: Naan’nashi is a tall, wiry human with wild eyes and a mouth transfixed by mad laughter. In one hand, he holds a blue mask bearing the tusked face of a tundra orc. In the other hand, he holds a knife, which glows with arcane energy. More masks hang from his belt—the eyeless, wooden faces of goblins, dwarves, and elves.

Flavor Text: Few individuals in Itharia are as feared as the sorcerer-assassin Naan’nashi. He roves unnoticed across the lands, concealed behind his mysterious masks. By the time Naan’nashi discards his disguise, it is usually too late for his prey.

Design by:

Nate Parkes ("Eldil" on the SW forums)

Grubs

Champion of the Mercenaries,

Attack Value: 2

Life Points: 5

Summon Cost: 5

Range Symbol: Sword

Bodyguard- At the end of your turn, if Grubs is within 2 spaces of your Summoner, Grubs may move up to 2 spaces and make an attack. If Grubs is not within 2 spaces of your Summoner when you begin your turn, Grubs takes 2 wounds. If Grubs is destroyed as a result of these wounds, place him in your Discard Pile.

Image: Grubs is a mace wielding Ogre.

Design by:

Michael Faciane

Owl Familiar

Common of the Mercenaries
Attack Value: 1
Life Points: 2
Summon Cost: 2

Range Symbol: Sword
Mental Clarity - At the end of your turn, you may look at the top 3 cards of your deck, put any number of them on the bottom of your deck in any order, and put the rest on top of your deck in any order.

Image: The name pretty much says it all. It's an owl familiar, maybe a bit larger than a normal owl. I think some glowing eyes would look cool.

Design by:
Dan Moldaschel

Stonecloak Brawler
Common of the Mercenaries
Attack Value: 1

Life Points: 3
Summon Cost: 0
Range Symbol: Sword

Stolen Armor - When Stonecloak Brawler enters play, add 3 wound markers to the wall that Stonecloak Brawler was summoned from. If these wounds will destroy that wall, it is discarded instead of destroyed.

Image: The Stonecloak Brawler is a stout, brawny and imposing human warrior that looks eager for battle. The model has no traditional armor, or even a shirt and only wears tattered pants and a belt. There are large, jagged rocks jutting from the skin on his back, over his shoulders, and on the back of his arms and covering his fists like crude gauntlets.

Designed by:
Tommy Barnes

Wait, "Tommy Barnes"? It's not me, I swear! I don't know this guy!

Sound like some fun ones that will add some neat powers to the game- I like the owl the best because, well, I just love owls.

Thanks to everyone who participated- we had over 60 entries, so I'd say that this was a success. Unless you're an F:AT member, which means you have failed us all. Congratulation to the winners!

“I just said you were a fair pilot. I didn’t know they were lookin’ for somebody to lead this crazy attack.”

    –Han Solo

Our last preview of Star Wars™: Armada focused on the Victory-class Star Destroyer and the Gladiator-class Star Destroyer, the two Imperial starships coming out in the game’s first wave of expansions. Today, we continue our exploration of the game, its ships, and its expansions with a look at the three different capital ships with which the Rebellion will soon be able to confront these Star Destroyers.

The 80’s Horror Board Game Experience.

Six adventurers, one goal - to go down in history as the greatest hero of all time. You can achieve fame through adventure, treasure, or direct confrontation, but the trick is to not lose it again. Magic talismans can make the way to fame easier, but these powerful artifacts are quickly lost again, then heroes who were on everyone's lips are soon forgotten...