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The Fan
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Nov 20, 2024 |
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I took advantage of the calm before the storm that will be
the marketing of OPPIDUM to refresh this Cry Havoc Fan
website in English (after having done it for Spanish,
Italian and French, and waiting to do German and Ukrainian,
while having created a Polish version!). This site was
created more than 20 years ago with tools that are no longer
supported (Microsoft Frontage and Impressions for those in
the know) and is no longer adapted to what visitors expect,
especially compatibility with phone screens). But there is
so much content that any attempt to transfer it to a modern
platform would be a very long and tedious project without
the result being much better, so I do not favor this
solution. We have already transferred the Shop because it
was essential, but the rest, which are mostly presentation
pages, will remain as is as long as I can update the site
(i.e. by modifying the HTML code!). |
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First important change: the terminology. When the site was
created in the early 2000s, I only made expansions with
maps, rules and scenarios. And so that is the name I used
for the section dealing with my productions, keeping the
name Series for the original games. After 6 (and soon 7)
boxed games, it was time to find another name. So I renamed
the 2 sections according to their release dates: -
"1981-1994" for Standard Games and Eurogames games, -
and "Since 2004" for what was created in the last 20 years. |
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The biggest problem I wanted to solve was the inconsistent
navigation from one page to another. These operations being
long and tedious, I often only updated the most viewed pages
while leaving others aside. This time, no more excuses and
all pages now have a unified navigation. |
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I also put in a new Archives section for pages that are no
longer current or that are no longer maintained like the
Price Monitoring or the
Fan Locator. More than 15 years
ago, when my time was not dedicated to the creation of
complete games, I had more time for these repetitive tasks,
but that is a bygone era. |
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I quickly updated most of the pages to be sure that the
content remained valid. |
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The only additions are a description of my technique for
creating maps
and counters,
because I have evolved a lot over the last ten years. |
Oct 28 2024 |
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Availability updates: - Good news, we just received the
counter sheet for Diex Aïe 2. So the game is available again
in all its variants. - Bad news, OPPIDUM won't be
released by the end of the year. We have selected a new
printer for the box, which will be sturdy like the one we
used for Sherwood (that's the good news). But his production
schedule is full until the end of the year and as we are a
new customer, we basically have to wait at the end of the
line. We are still waiting for a confirmation, but with
production in January, we won't be able to ship the finished
product until February. We will be opening the pre-orders in
November. |
Oct 22, 2024 |
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While we finish the fastidious (yet critical) proofreading
of all the elements of the game, I designed
3
additional Oppidum maps which can be assembled with the
Oppidum 1 map included in the boxed game to form a large
Celtic city. The 3 maps will be sold separately with a small
booklet including 2 scenarios. |
Sep 25, 2024 |
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Good news if you were looking to buy
Diex Aîe 2
which has been unavailable since the beginning of the year
as we ran out of counters. The game should be bak in stock
by mid-October. And it will feature the 2 Saxon thegn
counters which had been forgotten when we changed the format
of the counter sheets a few years back. |
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And if you already own Diex Aïe (1 or 2) and want these
counters, here is
a
high-resolution PDF file which you can print at home and
glue on thick cardboard to play with them. |
Sep 20, 2024 |
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We just finalized the
artwork for the OPPIDUM box! |
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And below a quick FAQ for OPPIDUM: - When will
it be released? We are working diligently to have
it on the shelves for the Holiday season at the end of the
year. - What will be the price? Still
unknown as we wait for the total cost from our various print
shops, but based on the abundant contents, I anticipate a
price similar to Guiscard 2. - When will I be
able to pre-order? When we will know the price (see
above) and will be sure of the availability date, so
typically one month max before release. - Will
it come in a sturdy box (like SHERWOOD) or a flimsy one
(like the other games)? Sturdy, but with the big
size of the other games: The best of both worlds! The only
drawback is that the weight will be higher (which might mean
higher shipping costs due to the mailing thresholds). I
anticipate the weight to be 1.25 Kg without trays and 1.4 Kg
with trays. - Will it come with trays?
Still to be defined... Trays add both cost and weight, so
it's always a difficult balance between affordability and
convenience (not to mention availability when we run out of
trays, as happened these last 2 months). - Will
you need additional maps to play the scenarios? No,
all 16 scenarios can be played with the 6 maps included in
the box. - Will there be additional maps to play
with the game? Yes, I already previewed the
Oppidum 2 map to this group, which will be released at
the same time as the boxed game. The idea is to have 2 more
Oppidum maps to be able to have a massive, fortified town
made of 4 maps at a later stage. - Will there be
extensions to OPPIDUM? If the game is commercially
successful, very likely. Remember that the scenarios only
cover the Gallic Wars. So Teutoburg Forest is not covered
(sorry Germany), nor Boudicca and the conquest of Britain
(sorry the UK), nor the civil war (sorry Italy), nor... etc.
The main reason is that the Roman legionaries in the game
are all shown wearing the Roman Republic mail shirt (known
as Lorica Hamata) and not yet the Imperial plate armour
known as Lorica Segmentata. So, I need to come up with more
counters for this. I envision one boxed game covering the
period 50 BC-75 CE with new scenarios, and the ability to
use maps from the other games as well (like the Village of
Outremer map to simulate an insurrection during the Jewish
Revolt of 66-73 CE). - Will there be a campaign
game? Not at this time, as the concept of a
campaign game to generate tactical encounters the way it's
been done with the other games of the Norman Saga can't
really be adapted to Ancient Times, where armies were much
more structured than during the Middle Ages. |
May 6, 2024 |
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Somebody reminded me that the
High Resolution counters for the Dragon-Noir-1's Creatures
(Dark Blades creatures) were missing. I had the counters
from Dark Blades, so I created a quick sheet to make them
available. Note that Lucifer and the Living Deads are not at
the same quality level: These ones were adiitions in Dragon
Noir 1 and I don't have a copy of them. If somebody have
them, please forward to me and I will update the file. |
Apr 10, 2024 |
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It's a wrap: The last OPPIDUM countersheet (the
back of the German counters) is now completed! It took
me 16 months to design these 3 countersheets, quite an
endeavor. I will now be able to focus on the simpler stuff:
Historical background, character descriptions, scenarios,
rules and many other things. |
Mar 20, 2024 |
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Done with the
Celt counter sheet! The last one will not be completed
by the end of the month as I will be on vacation next week,
but it will definitely be for early April. The end of the
tunnel is near! |
Mar 13, 2024 |
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The
Roman counter sheet for OPPIDUM is now completed. The
other 2 should be finished by the end of the month. |
Feb 12, 2024 |
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The Stun variants of the
counters for OPPIDUM are now completed. Drawing the
various tartan clothes added a definite level of difficulty
but I believe it was worth it. The Wounded and Dead variants
should go faster and I expect to be finished by the end of
March. |
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