Boards & Swords

BackerKit has a huge selection of great RPG campaigns this month, speaking of crowdfunding, CMON might be back? And also, time to get dangerous in your D&D games! Plus, we have Alex Kimerling from Hootenanny Games on the show to talk about one of their newest board games, Sneaky Scallywags!

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Mega Dungeon Month (via BackerKit)

BackerKit is doing something really cool and innovative in the TTRPG crowdfunding space - a “Themed” month of campaigns, this time surrounding Megadungeons. If you go back at least 2 of the larger campaigns during this month, you will get a free bonus PDF with content from all of the companies participating! What a great way to foster some good campaigns and cross-support from all of the awesome companies participating.

Fantasy Flight calls time on Descent: Legends of the Dark, saying rising costs mean it was selling at a loss (via BoardGameWire)

FFG, apparently deciding that only LCGs and CCGs are worth their time, has pulled the plug on Descent: Legends of the Dark. According to them, they state that the costs of the game were rising too fast and that they were selling at a loss. However, we discuss how that can’t be the entire story, as if they really wanted to sell the game, there are other ways to go about this while still making a great product.

CMON eyes crowdfunding return after annual losses spiral to almost $20m (via BoardGameWire)

Even though CMON’s financials show them having a $20m loss last year, the company has announced that it will be rejoining the crowdfunding space later this year (or maybe, because of the loss??). The real question is, who is going to be backing any of their new campaigns? They still have multiple campaigns unfulfilled and several preorders of games that haven’t been delivered yet - not exactly the best situation to be in to when you go to launch a new crowdfunding campaign.

Fentasy Games looks to help complex game publishers avoid ‘strangulation’ of trad distribution with P500-style platform launch (via BoardGameWire)

More innovating options in the board gaming space! Fentasy Games, a French publisher, has launched the website “Board Game Commerce”, where people can pre-order upcoming games in a style similar to the “P500” method that GMT Games does with their wargames. Once a game has reached a certain threshold of pre-orders, Fentasy Games will put the game into production. The company claims that due to the niche nature of more complex board games, this type of system will allow more of these games to get put into production without companies having to worry about only focusing on games that will be super successes.

Villainous Options (via D&D Beyond)

Shiny, let’s roll some bad guys? Wizards of the Coast, on their “Unearthed Arcana” column, has thrown up a PDF of new D&D5.5 content surrounding creating evil characters. Unearthed Arcana is official 1st party content, but typically is what WotC uses to demo out new content before it becomes published in a sourcebook at a later time. So if you have ever wanted to make a lich, or a demonic summoner, or a death knight, now is your chance!

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Renegade Games Studios: https://boardsandswords.com/renegade

Monument Hobbies: 5% off using code "boardsandswords" at their checkout: https://monumenthobbies.com/

Email us your comments and questions at [email protected]. We're on social media! You can find us on Facebook & Instagram @boardsandorswords! You can also help support the show and get extra bonus content by pledging just $1/month at https://patreon.com/boardsandswords. Thank you for listening to the show. Until next time, remember that every gamer has a story…..what's yours?

Lots of great announcements at Adepticon - you know, like that BattleTech new lineup of products? That’s what has the internet abuzz, definitely not the 11th edition of a certain Games Workshop game. Plus, Cyberpunk TCG is raising all the cash on Kickstarter, and we’ve also got our first “official” Ask a Dirtbag GM segment!

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Pokémon-inspired D&D books add hundreds of cute critter companions to your game (via Wargamer)

You got your Pokemon in my D&D! You got your D&D in my Pokemon! Roll 4 Combat has released a new crowdfunding campaign for their sourcebooks that let you add Pokemon-style critters into your Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition games. All of the big mechanics you come to expect from Pokemon seem to be here - like having “types” that are good/bad against others, fighting, not to mention collecting them all!

Cult Star Wars board game returns after 25 years with a Lord of the Rings reskin (via Wargamer)

If a board gamer has been in the hobby long enough, there’s a good chance that one of their “Grail Games” that they’d always love to try out someday is “Star Wars: The Queen’s Gambit”, a game from Avalon Hill that came out around Star Wars: Episode 1 and is no longer in print. Now, Restoration Games has announced that they are bringing back the game in a new form - “The King’s Gambit”, using many of the same mechanics as the original game, but this time themed around “The Lord of the Rings”.

Awaken Realms vows “no AI art” for Concordia: Special Edition after BGG review bombing (via Board Game Wire)

Gamers have been blasting the BoardGameGeek page for Concordia: Special Edition , an upcoming Awaken Realms remake of the 2014 hit board game. When Awaken Realms revealed a cover image of the game, people saw hints of AI artwork and thus spammed ratings of “1” for the game, which hasn’t even been released yet. This was followed by a splurge of “10” ratings, as fans of the series attempted to correct this. Awaken Realms has since come out and said that the image was a placeholder, not the actual cover and that the real game will contain no actual AI art.

BattleTech: Two New Boxed Sets Coming In August (via Bell of Lost Souls)

This August, Catalyst Game Labs will be releasing new versions of its BattleTech boxed sets. “BattleTech: Starter Box” contains 2 minis and a smaller set of rules that teach you the basics of the game and get you playing as fast as possible. “BattleTech: Core Box” contains 8 miniatures, some of which (like the Mad Cat MKII) have not seen a plastic release yet from Catalyst. This core box contains everything you need to play the “full” version of the game.

The ‘Cyberpunk TCG’ Kickstarter Is Breaking All Kinds Of Records (via Bell of Lost Souls)

A Cyberpunk TCG has now set the all time record for tabletop gaming on Kickstarter. Since the podcast was recorded, the campaign has now shot up to $18 million in funding. Centered around the scifi franchise from CD Projekt Red, the TCG has players put together decks and fight to become the best Edgerunner in town. There definitely seems to be a lot of money and resources involved in this game, but will the game even be around a year later?

Link to all the announcements: https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articles/dhufmbsz/all-the-reveals-from-the-warhammer-preview-show-at-adepticon-2026/

“Players complaining that it's 'unfair' the bad guys are getting stronger as the party levels up.” (via reddit.com/r/DMAcademy)

As players level up, they might not be aware that they are basically becoming superheroes. So what do you do when the players start complaining that the people they are coming across are always tougher and tougher? How can you address this without just always throwing them easy fights, or always taking easy enemies and scaling them up to the party’s level?

“What's a common piece of DM advice you completely disagree with?” (via reddit.com/r/DMAcademy)

We all hear about those things that “Everyone Knows” about DM’ing, but which of those common knowledge/tips do we actually avoid in our games? Which rules are actually guidelines, and which ones do we straight up break?

Amazon: https://boardsandswords.com/amazon

Renegade Games Studios: https://boardsandswords.com/renegade

Monument Hobbies: 5% off using code "boardsandswords" at their checkout: https://monumenthobbies.com/

Email us your comments and questions at [email protected]. We're on social media! You can find us on Facebook & Instagram @boardsandorswords! You can also help support the show and get extra bonus content by pledging just $1/month at https://patreon.com/boardsandswords. Thank you for listening to the show. Until next time, remember that every gamer has a story…..what's yours?

Gundam Assemble details are here! Drama in the board game sphere appears to heat up, and the Neopets TTRPG gets cancelled! Plus, we've got an interview with Alberto & Andrea, part of the team behind the Isekai anime TTRPG “Gates of Krystalia” that just recently finished a Kickstarter for an expansion to the game. Lastly, we had on the CEO of Rollacrit talking about their Bag of Holding, but what do we think?

Gates of Krystalia Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gatesofkrystalia-rpg/gates-of-krystalia-lumina-the-card-based-anime-ttjrpg

Join us on Discord! https://boardsandswords.com/discord

Interested in getting a Bag of Holding? (not an affiliate link): https://www.rollacrit.com/products/rollacrit-messenger-bag-of-holding

$400k Neopets TTRPG Kickstarter canceled after playtest backlash, and fans are demanding refunds
(via Wargamer)

Did you remember that a company was doing a Neopets TTRPG? Well, apparently said company put out a look at the still in progress game, and it did NOT go over well with fans. Not only that, but the company released the document without getting approval from the official Neopets company, so said company pulled their license. With no official license to make a Neopets game, the TTRPG has been cancelled, with fans just left in the ruins with nothing to show for it.

Board game YouTuber Game Night Picks fires back at "misinformed" fraud allegations by Watch It Played

(via Wargamer)

We didn’t cover the original story here, but the YouTube channel “Game Night Picks” was accused by Rodney Smith of “Watch it Played” of using YouTube’s promote features to bump up the viewer count on their videos so that companies advertising on GNP would pay more money. Now, GNP has released a response video, where they many accuse Rodney of showing behind the scenes data? When even with some of the freely available tools out there, you can still see something fishy is going on….
Gundam Assemble Miniatures Game Starter Sets & More Revealed!
(via OnTableTop)

Gundam fans, ASSEMBLE! At least, that’s what Bandai hopes people will do, as they revealed the starting lineup for the Gundam Assemble miniatures game. Coming out in Fall of this year, there will be a $35 entry level starter pack that has 2 teams of 3 minis in it from various popular Gundam shows, along with a $100 deluxe starter with 13 minis centered around the original Mobile Suit Gundam show. Will we be getting this game? Will you?

The Warhammer 40k Apocalypse mega-game mode is back with new rules
(via Wargamer)

As Games Workshop trickles out products to tease us until they release the Warhammer 40k 11th edition, one of the latest Campaign boxes announced is bringing back the “Apocalypse” format. This version of the game is designed to support very large sizes of 40k games, from double to even 5 times the size of a normal 40k game. Will the game be any good and/or not take a whole weekend to run? We’ll have to wait and see…

D&D 2026 Lineup Revealed At Last – Beginning With A Return To Ravenloft

(via Bell of Lost Souls)

Wizards of the Coast has finally revealed their 2026 product line for Dungeons & Dragons. These products will be centered around “Seasons” of content, starting with the first book which takes us back to the plane of Ravenloft in the “Season of Horror”. The rather interesting fact is that these seasons end with the launching of the official sourcebook, not begin with the launch. Some think this is pretty dumb, but I think I see the thinking behind this…

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Renegade Games Studios: https://boardsandswords.com/renegade

Monument Hobbies: 5% off using code "boardsandswords" at their checkout: https://monumenthobbies.com/

Email us your comments and questions at [email protected]. We're on social media! You can find us on Facebook & Instagram @boardsandorswords! You can also help support the show and get extra bonus content by pledging just $1/month at https://patreon.com/boardsandswords. Thank you for listening to the show. Until next time, remember that every gamer has a story…..what's yours?

AEG guy learns his actions have consequences, Hasbro trying to mess with D&D again, and goodbye Star Wars Shatterpoint? We barely knew thee. Also! We’ve got an interview with Grant Howitt to talk about their newest game “Royal Blood” (https://rowanrookanddecard.com/product/royal-blood-rpg/)!

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Tabletop industry veteran Ryan Dancey loses Alderac COO job after saying AI can generate game ideas as good as some of his company’s designs (via Rascal/BoardGameWire)

The COO of AEG (Alderac Entertainment Group) was asked to resign after making comments online that board games are the results of a bunch of churning of the same ideas and making the comment that generative AI could be used to make similar games to some of AEG’s recent hits. Clearly, he hadn’t read the room on the opinions of AI in the tabletop gaming space. Plus, to paraphrase Jurassic Park - doesn’t matter if it could do that, we should be asking if we should be doing that (the answer is no btw).

Halo: Flashpoint – ‘Noble Team’ On Deck And Dropping In April (via Bell of Lost Souls)

“How can Halo: Flashpoint be a long lasting game? There aren’t that many things to make minis off of?” Mantic Games is showing us how they can support this game by putting out MORE Spartan minis to complement the 20+ Spartans you already have painted. This time, its the Noble Team from Halo: Reach. Plus, they are releasing some of the figures that were previously limited to organized play kits. How would you like to get all those figures on the battlefield at once? The Noble Team box also includes rules for double-sized boards for “Big Team Battle” play.

Atomic Mass Games cuts back on Star Wars Shatterpoint, in favor of "flagship" wargames Legion and MCP (via Wargamer)

Atomic Mass Announce Marvel: Crisis Protocol Alliances! (via OnTableTop)

Atomic Mass Games (AMG), convincing me I was right to not buy any of their games, has put out a press release recently stating that they are moving their focus to their “core games”: Star Wars Legion and Marvel Crisis Protocol. Star Wars Shatterpoint, their newest game, will be considered a “specialist game”, which many people online are taking to mean that they will not be supporting Shatterpoint any more. Given the company’s history with Star Wars X-Wing & Armada, this isn’t a baseless opinion.

At the same time, AMG announced that Marvel Crisis Protocol will be getting board game box releases dubbed “Marvel: Crisis Protocol Alliances”. These games will be co-op experiences that give me “Zombicide” vibes. The first one, Night of the Goblin, features Spider-Man and his friends up against the Green Goblin. If they use the core ruleset from MCP, I see this as a good way to get people into that minis game - and get me to buy a box since I wont have to worry about them cancelling a stand-alone box.

‘D&D Beyond’ To Be Rebuilt From The Ground Up (via Bell of Lost Souls)

Hasbro, once again not comfortable with D&D making a lot of money when they could milk it for billions, has announced a roadmap for D&D Beyond. The company plans to rebuild the website “from the ground up”, giving it a more powerful game engine. From the features described on the roadmap, it seems they want to turn D&D Beyond into the kind of Virtual Tabletop that other places like Roll20 and Foundry are already doing. Probably to squeeze even more microtransactions out of players. But the good news? They also finally did away with the 2024 moniker and official called the new rulebooks “D&D 5.5e”.

Fist your friends with this new Warhammer 40k plushie (via Wargamer)

That headline is journalism at its peak. Games Workshop teased some upcoming plush toys with its partner TOMY based in GW’s popular Warhammer 40,000 franchise. The coolest one by far was a wearable plush Power Fist themed around the Ultramarines space marine chapter. This thing looks super cool, and it just makes me want to buy multiples of them and have power fist fights with my friends. Also, I come up with a great fundraising opportunity for the show using one of these. (Get your head out of the gutter!!)

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Renegade Games Studios: https://boardsandswords.com/renegade

Monument Hobbies: 5% off using code "boardsandswords" at their checkout: https://monumenthobbies.com/

Email us your comments and questions at [email protected]. We're on social media! You can find us on Facebook & Instagram @boardsandorswords! You can also help support the show and get extra bonus content by pledging just $1/month at https://patreon.com/boardsandswords. Thank you for listening to the show. Until next time, remember that every gamer has a story…..what's yours?

Some free (but delayed) bonus bits talking about last year and what we want to do this upcoming year!

Where won’t they put a Pokemon vending machine next? Also, Female custodes are coming along with new Starcraft minis. Plus, we’ve got Ulianov from the website Spraygunner (https://spraygunner.com) to talk about Airbrushes and how to go about getting started and/or next steps in airbrushing!

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Cole Wehrle & Kyle Ferrin leave Leder Games

https://boardgamewire.com/index.php/2026/01/14/root-and-arcs-designer-cole-wehrle-style-defining-artist-kyle-ferrin-lead-staff-exodus-from-leder-games-to-form-new-board-game-studio/

Starcraft wargame minis revealed!

https://www.beastsofwar.com/scifi/archon-founders-edition-set-starcraft-wargame/

Philip already backed this...

https://www.wargamer.com/munchkin/second-edition-backerkit

Pokemon vending machines at airports/military installations?

https://www.wargamer.com/pokemon-trading-card-game/vending-machines-expensive

The female custodes are coming...

https://www.belloflostsouls.net/2026/01/warhammer-40k-new-gw-2026-preview-minis-are-awesome.html

Amazon: https://boardsandswords.com/amazon

Renegade Games Studios: https://boardsandswords.com/renegade

Monument Hobbies: 5% off using code "boardsandswords" at their checkout: https://monumenthobbies.com/

Email us your comments and questions at [email protected]. We're on social media! Facebook.com/boardsandswordspod is our official Facebook page. Chris is @boardsandswordschris on instagram, @boardsandswords on X/Twitter while Philip is @PhilTheDirtbag on X/Twitter. Thank you for listening to the show. Until next time, remember that every gamer has a story…..what's yours?

I just love it when CEO’s bless us with their “wisdom”, Warcrow is about to get more mechanical, and a Total War is coming to 40k. Plus, we never talked about Pax Unplugged, so join us for this double sized episode of goodness.

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Guild Ball now 3d printablehttps://www.wargamer.com/guild-ball/my-mini-factory

Mechs coming to Warcrow??

https://www.fpvfaster.com/products/warcrow-hegemony-war-rig?variant=42131158368338

Dire Wolf buys Tabletop Playground

https://www.wargamer.com/board-games/dire-wolf-tabletop-playground

Total War: Warhammer 40k is coming

https://www.wargamer.com/total-war-warhammer-40k/total-war-warhammer-40k-revealed-for-the-emperor

Warhammer World coming to DC!

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/61364/games-workshop-announces-plans-second-warhammer-world-flagship-venue

D&D Die Hard?

https://www.wargamer.com/dnd/one-shot-to-die-hard

New D&D Artificer is pretty cool

https://www.belloflostsouls.net/2025/12/dd-eberron-forge-of-the-artificer-artifice-activated.html

D&D making a romantasy novel?

https://www.wargamer.com/dnd/romantasy-novel

More CEO Wisdom

https://boardgamewire.com/index.php/2025/11/24/board-gamers-in-tough-us-market-turning-to-lower-priced-games-asmodee-ceo-says-as-company-unveils-another-quarter-of-soaring-sales/

Asmodee buying Exploding Kittens

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/61301/asmodee-acquiring-remainder-exploding-kittens

Amazon: https://boardsandswords.com/amazon

Renegade Games Studios: https://boardsandswords.com/renegade

Monument Hobbies: 5% off using code "boardsandswords" at their checkout: https://monumenthobbies.com/

Email us your comments and questions at [email protected]. We're on social media! Facebook.com/boardsandorswords is our official Facebook page. Chris is @boardsandorswords on instagram. Thank you for listening to the show. Until next time, remember that every gamer has a story…..what's yours?

Halloween might be over, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still get our horror gaming in! This week, we’ve got Chris Spivey from Darker Hue Studios (https://www.darkerhuestudios.com/) with us to talk about the great TTRPGs he’s been making. Also: more daggerheart stuff, a couple of companies not doing so well, and FFG crowdfunding??

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Altered TCG apparently funds but doesn't fund?

https://boardgamewire.com/index.php/2025/11/04/record-breaking-altered-tcg-needs-another-e2m-to-save-latest-expansion-despite-having-already-raised-over-10x-its-crowdfunding-goal/

More daggerheart stuff coming...

https://www.wargamer.com/daggerheart/hope-and-fear-expansion-announcement

Embracer Group still isn't doing so well.

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/61024/dark-horse-middle-earth-parent-shows-loss

FFG doing crowdfunding?

https://hallofheroeslcg.com/2025/11/22/ffg-fantasy-flight-games-inflight-report-recap-2025/

No one wants to buy CMON shares.

https://boardgamewire.com/index.php/2025/11/11/cmon-share-sale-to-raise-company-funds-falls-through-for-the-second-time-this-year/

Amazon: https://boardsandswords.com/amazon

Renegade Games Studios: https://boardsandswords.com/renegade

Monument Hobbies: 5% off using code "boardsandswords" at their checkout: https://monumenthobbies.com/

Email us your comments and questions at [email protected]. We're on social media! Facebook.com/boardsandswordspod is our official Facebook page. Chris is @boardsandswordschris on instagram, @boardsandswords on X/Twitter while Philip is @PhilTheDirtbag on X/Twitter. Thank you for listening to the show. Until next time, remember that every gamer has a story…..what's yours?

What world am I living in? Munchkin second edition? Catan sponsoring basketball? The Dice Tower saying something inappropriate? Actually, that last one tracks. Plus, there was a BUNCH of new GW releases announced, so you know we’ll talk about that as we get excited for Pax Unplugged!

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Looking pretty smug from the top of that Tower...

https://www.rascal.news/tom-vasel-wants-indie-designers-to-stop-guilt-tripping-him/

Get in Philip, we're going to Arundel Mills... (Toys 'R Us store openings)

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/60898/big-increase-toys-r-us-stores

Dang it FFG! (New Arkham Horror LCG Core Set)

https://www.belloflostsouls.net/2025/11/arkham-horror-the-card-game-new-core-set-announced.html

This had to go in the news as soon as I saw it (Munchkin Second Edition Announced)

https://www.rascal.news/steve-jackson-games-announces-munchkin-second-edition/

Huh? Catan sponsors....a basketball team?

https://www.wargamer.com/catan/timberwolves-board-game-sponsorship

Amazon: https://boardsandswords.com/amazon

Renegade Games Studios: https://boardsandswords.com/renegade

Monument Hobbies: 5% off using code "boardsandswords" at their checkout: https://monumenthobbies.com/

Email us your comments and questions at [email protected]. We're on social media! Facebook.com/boardsandswordspod is our official Facebook page. Chris is @boardsandswordschris on instagram, @boardsandswords on X/Twitter while Philip is @PhilTheDirtbag on X/Twitter. Thank you for listening to the show. Until next time, remember that every gamer has a story…..what's yours?

Remember the ThinkGeek Bag of Holding? Meet the crew that brought it back! (Surprise, its actually some of the same people!) Also, more info on the Starcraft minis game, plastic minis for Trench Crusade, and a Catan movie now?

Join us on Discord! https://boardsandswords.com/discord

Plastic Minis for Trench Crusade!

https://www.wargamer.com/trench-crusade/plastic-miniatures-prussians-reveal

Starcraft Minis Game reveals

https://www.wargamer.com/starcraft-tabletop-miniatures-game/wave-one-revealed

DC Comics Legendary?

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/60838/dc-universe-goes-legendary

Now we're getting a Catan Netflix movie?

https://www.wargamer.com/catan/netflix-deal

40k Social Deduction game - was bound to happen eventually...

https://www.wargamer.com/warhammer-40k/roleplay-day-of-ascension

Amazon: https://boardsandswords.com/amazon

Renegade Games Studios: https://boardsandswords.com/renegade

Monument Hobbies: 5% off using code "boardsandswords" at their checkout: https://monumenthobbies.com/

Email us your comments and questions at [email protected]. We're on social media! Facebook.com/boardsandswordspod is our official Facebook page. Chris is @boardsandswordschris on instagram, @boardsandswords on X/Twitter while Philip is @PhilTheDirtbag on X/Twitter. Thank you for listening to the show. Until next time, remember that every gamer has a story…..what's yours?