Westeros
The 'A Song of Ice and Fire' Domain
News
Miniature gaming fans will be excited by this: Game publisher CMON Limited and Dark Sword Miniatures have teamed up to produce an A Song of Ice and Fire tabletop miniatures game.
Per CMON Limited’s press release, the game will be funded in part through Kickstarter starting Q3, with retail expansions following the publication of the game. We’ll share the full press release below, but we did some digging around on gaming forums and came across two very useful videos from the GAMA trade show where enthusiasts learned more about the game directly from CMON Limited’s team… as well as getting some glimpses of some of the pretty great-looking artwork and sculptures that the game will include.
First, here’s The Dice Tower talking about the game with some of the team from CMON Limited, and previewing a couple of the figures. The discussion of the A Song of Ice and Fire game begins at the 2 hour, 34 minute mark:
Second, here’s Watch It Played discussing the game’s release schedule as well showing a number of images from a slide presentation that CMON Limited made showing yet more sculptures, artwork, and game details. Best of all, at the end they share a trailer for the game:
Now, we’re going to guess that the partnership with Dark Sword Miniatures means that this is sort of a sub-license of their own license to produce A Song of Ice and Fire-related miniatures, and would have no impact on other companies (most notably Fantasy Flight Games) from producing other kinds of games (such as the card game and board games FFG has produced under license from George R.R. Martin and, separately, from HBO to produce Game of Thrones-branded games). What this means for the future of FFG’s own miniatures game based on the A Song of Ice and Fire license, Battles of Westeros, we’re less certain… but so far as we know, FFG has not produced additional material for that game in well over a year, so that question may be rather moot.
All that said, here’s the full press release from CMON Limited:
CMON Limited is proud to announce its exciting new project A Song of Ice and Fire: Tabletop Miniatures Game based on the beloved novels by George R.R. Martin in cooperation with Dark Sword Miniatures, Inc. Heading to Kickstarter in Q3 of 2017 and retail stores in 2018, this new miniatures wargame allows fans to enter the world of the novels and control units of troops and heroes with easy to pick-up rules and fast-paced, brutal gameplay.â`¨
CMON Limited Announces A Song of Ice and Fire: Tabletop Miniatures Game
Since the A Song of Ice and Fire series was first published in 1996, fans from around the world have fallen in love with the amazing lands of Westeros and Essos and the iconic characters that inhabit them. CMON’s new tabletop miniatures game brings the conflicts set in those lands and the beloved characters to life with gorgeous, pre-assembled miniatures that make picking up and playing the game a breeze right out of the box. Gameplay is strategic yet easy to learn, meaning players will get to the battles as quickly as possible.â`¨
Jim Ludwig, Founder and President of Dark Sword Miniatures, Inc., commented on the partnership leading to the creation of the game: “I have been a big fan of what CMON has done in the tabletop miniatures space since 2004. Their expertise in plastic miniature production and their extensive body of work with both board games and tabletop miniatures games, that not only look amazing but are actually fun to play, made it an easy choice on who to collaborate with on this project.”â`¨
CMON’s Founder and President, David Doust, explains, “CMON’s relationship with Dark Sword dates back over a decade, and we have contemplated a more serious collaboration for a very long time. This project allows us to dig deep into George R.R. Martin’s mind and recreate the iconic battles from his award-winning novels on the tabletop.”â`¨
The A Song of Ice and Fire: Tabletop Miniatures Game lets players take control of their favorite Houses from the novels, represented by trays of high-quality, pre-assembled miniatures, and lead them into battle against their opponents. Players can recreate their favorite moments from the series or create their own stories. What if the Red Wedding never happened, and Robb Stark assaulted King’s Landing? Now fans can find out!â`¨
Battles can range from large-scale wars with hundreds of miniatures, to simple skirmishes between a few units without complicating the elegantly designed rules. The game features several unique systems, including alternating activations that keep the players engaged; a Rank System that changes a unit’s capabilities as the battle rages on; a Tactics System that provides strategic powers fueled by a finite resource each round; and, most importantly, the iconic Heroes, such as Robb Stark and Jaime Lannister, that can change the course of war both on and off the battlefield.
CMON will have even more information before the launch of the A Song of Ice and Fire: Tabletop Miniatures Game: Stark vs Lannister Starter Set on Kickstarter later in 2017, with a healthy lineup of regular retail releases and support to follow.â`¨