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Nov 20, 2024 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!).
  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.
  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.
  I also put in a new Archives section for pages that are no longer current or that are no longer maintained like the Price Monitoring or the Fan Locator.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.
  I quickly updated most of the pages to be sure that the content remained valid.
  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 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 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 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. 
  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 We just finalized the artwork for the OPPIDUM box!
  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 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 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 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 The Roman counter sheet for OPPIDUM is now completed. The other 2 should be finished by the end of the month.
Feb 12, 2024 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.