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July 17 2024

The New Best “Big Group” Game is Here!

Most group board games are designed to play well at 3 – 4 players with a fifth leading to a combination of headaches, including needing an expansion, long-winded rounds, and the breakdown of mechanics.

This Game is KILLER: Alien on Board from Smirk & Dagger Games is here to save big group game nights with engaging games that play quick!

3 – 10 players are trapped on a cramped cargo spaceship with a deadly alien on the prowl. The object is simple: Try to survive at any cost – and remove the alien threat before it kills you all. Each round you will play just two cards, both a Position on the ship and an Action you will take.

Will your attempts to contain the alien put others at risk? The alien’s Location is then revealed, and players die. If you’re lucky, the alien is cornered & killed, with the surviving crew members winning the game.

If you die, no biggie! Games average 10-15 mins, so many sessions can be fired quickly as the party goes on!

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Copies are available at all Level Up Games locations in-store for only $14.99. Give us a call to hold a copy for you, and see you in for some games soon!

July 13 2024

Your First Spearhead Event and Your New Hobby Community

A New Battlefield

Warhammer: Age of Sigmar 4th Edition arrived with Skaventide — the two-player launch box containing two Spearhead forces. These armies are the perfect way to get into the hobby as Spearhead is deigned for new players. Spearhead armies come from premade beginner boxes (like Skaventide) and rules are more condensed than their larger AoS game counterparts.

You Are Not Alone

If you’re interested in the hobby but want more direction, our locations have a fantastic community that can show you the ropes in terms of gameplay and painting/building!

Any new player is welcome to swing by our weekly in-person meetups or hop in our Discord to ask any questions they may have, request a practice game, and enjoy simply chatting about their new hobby!

We also have specific Spearhead format events coming up. These events are designed to let new players try their hand at their first casual tournament on August 11th at our Duluth location and August 17th at our Athens location.

David (pictured above with one of his freshly painted models) is one of our stellar Age of Sigmar community members. Not only is he putting in the time and effort to run our Spearhead event in Athens, but he also is preparing multiple Spearhead armies for new players who want to try the game!

Leading up to the big release of 4th edition on July 13th, we asked him a few questions so that any new community members could get to know him and to let David offer some insight into what makes Age of Sigmar and the Spearhead format such a fantastic hobby to fall in love with.

And check out some of the Spearhead armies he has lovingly built for this event below!

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Interview with David

Tell us about your hobby journey

I began my hobby journey in 2016 with Warhammer: 40,000. I had purchased a second-hand Necron army and learned 7^th edition, but I wasn’t in a place in my life at the time to really delve into the hobby. Fast-forward to 2019, I got back into the hobby again, with 40k and again, Necrons. I learned how to play the game, and I was hooked; then, a friend taught me the basics of painting. I knew I had found something I would be passionate about for a lifetime.

What made you choose Warhammer: Age of Sigmar as the game you want to champion in the community?

I started with 40k, and I still love 40k — especially my Leagues of Votann. However, when I learned about Age of Sigmar and really started diving into it in 3^rd edition with Sylvaneth and then Nurgle, I realized that AoS felt like “home” to me. I love the world, the sculpts are incredible, and the rules are fantastic and seem to be only getting better with 4^th edition.

Simply put, I love this game, and I want you to love it too! I mean, come on, it has dinosaurs riding dinosaurs and walking magical trees that ride giant beetles! If that’s not fun, what is?

What excites you about Spearhead and 4th edition as a whole?

The new edition excites me because it seems that Games Workshop has learned a lot of lessons from years past and from their own games and other games on the market and really created a clean, concise, and, most importantly, FUN ruleset. 4^th edition, in my opinion, seems like it’ll be the best Warhammer game GW has made in a long time.

Regarding the new Spearhead format, I absolutely love how easy it is to pick up and play while retaining depth, tactics, and replayability. From the experiences I have seen and had with Spearhead so far, I think anyone can learn to play it and have a great time The barrier of entry is very low for anyone getting in for the first time or wanting to try a new army, just buy a box, build it, and paint it up (or don’t!) then roll dice with your friends or family!

Even more, I love the fact that the rules are essentially just the basic rules for AoS 4^th edition, so transitioning to higher point level games should be easier and not as daunting for new players (and old!)

Any advice for new players?

The best advice I could give to new players is play what you want and how you want. Do not ever feel shoehorned into an army or a way of playing the game that you don’t like. You don’t have to play the meta army or be a competitive tournament player to have fun with this hobby. Pick an army you love the look of and that you think looks rad! If you fall in love with an army, you’ll always enjoying painting or playing it — at the best of times and the worst.

How can people interested in the hobby start playing over at Level Up Games Athens?

First and foremost, if folks are interested in diving into the hobby, they should certainly join the Level Up Discord, I am on there as HauntedBagel, and I am happy to answer any questions and help in any way I can. Folks in the community there are incredibly helpful with answering questions and finding games! Beyond that, go into the store and just see if there is a game being played. If there is one being played, politely ask if you can observe and hang out and watch. When the games are over, the players will probably want to chat you up about what army you play and how long you’ve been in the hobby. New players are always welcome in this hobby, which is for EVERYONE.

In this hobby there is nothing more we love than getting new folks into the whole experience. More people lead to more games, and more games lead to more friends and people to share your passion with!

See You on the Tabletop!

Thank you, David, for lending us even more of your time. We hope to see you, dear reader, in some for Warhammer: Age of Sigmar soon!

David also wanted to let y’all know he is planning more sweet miniatures events like a narrative escalation league and 40k RTT later this year. He is also a member of an Athens-based gaming club, Swamp Hawk Gaming, whose Discord is welcoming to newcomers!

July 11 2024

Warcrow — Corvus Belli’s Midsized Fantasy Wargame with Precise Tactics

Corvus Belli is a renowned game publisher with many years in the miniature wargaming market through their sci-fi battler Infinity. However, they have set their sights on the fantasy wargame genre with the addition of Warcrow expected to release later this year.

What can players expect from the initial release wave and the greater world of Lindwurm?

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The game is launching with a two-player starter set designed to get players battling quickly with everything they need. Miniatures, terrain, playmat, dice, and more are included. Each faction represented in the box has 7 miniatures for a total of 14.

And boy…are these things amazingly detailed pieces of plastic!

Players will clash in a narrative scenario included in this set along with other standard scenarios.

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The launch box contains a force from the Nothern Tribes, a bloodthirsty alliance of naturally fearsome Orcs and Varank, nature magic-empowered warriors whom of their mightiest can skinchange into terrible beasts!

Marching towards the battlefield to face them are members of the Hegemony of Embersig’s army, The Black Legion, the world’s most well-trained and powerful army consisting of members of allied Dwarves, elves, and humans under one banner.

The other nations’ warriors will be arriving later. Check them out here.

Games are played on a 3’ x 3’ mat between small groups of models. The game’s feel will land somewhere between traditional and skirmish wargames, with full-scale battles averaging 10-15 models per player. Note that some units will comprise several individual models so players won’t be bogged down with 15 individual hero-type activations.

Corvus Belli has stated that Warcrow will be more scenario/objective play focused than Infinitiy. Scenarios will include things like typical “control areas of the map to score” and more dramatic ones like those that include a neutral monster or shifting fog of death repeatedly moving every 3 rounds.

Players take turns in an alternating activation style, which makes for great moments of tension. The battlefield shifts constantly, and both players must act and react constantly in a round. That’s the very basic overview of Warcrow; now we get to more specifics.

Firstly, the math rocks. Warcrow uses two separate dice types: offensive and defensive. They are all color-coded (Blue, green, and black for defense. Red, orange, and yellow for attack), 8-sided dice with various arrangements of:

1.) Success – On attack dice. Deals a hit to enemies.

2.) Block – On Defence dice. Negates a hit from attackers.

3.) Special “Switches” – On all dice. Allows special abilities to activate or other interactions.

4.) Hollow Success – On attack dice. Deals a hit to enemies under certain criteria.

5.) Hollow Block – On defense dice. Negates a hit from attackers under certain criteria.

6.) Hollow Special – On all dice. Allows special abilities to activate or other interactions under certain criteria.

This array of hollow faces, specials, and different types of attack and defense dice give the Warcrow designers a ton of balance levels to pull — ensuring future releases are given the best framework to be designed around.

How many of these dice you will roll when acting will be denoted on the game profiles of each unit.

Also marked here is a slew of other info, such as the movement, morale, willpower, and any bonuses the unit may get.

That was a lot of stuff I snuck in that one sentence, so let’s take it piece by piece.

Movement in Warcrow is done using a movement tool measured in a unique distance called strides. Each model will have 3 MOV numbers in an X+X (X) format. The first two numbers denote the two normal move maximum distances in stride lengths a unit can make. The (X) refers to the unit’s charge length.

This means a unit with a 1+2 (5) MOV attribute may make a 1 and 2 stride length move (in any order) and may move 5 strides when charging. The charge action takes a unit’s entire activation.

See, not that bad! No need to stress…UNTIL NOW!

Stress tokens are a major piece of the strategy puzzle that is Warcrow. To summarize, stress tokens make your unit “break” and lose effectiveness once the number placed on a unit exceeds its morale value. Stress is gained several ways, including losing a combat (taking more wounds than the opponent), using an ability or attack that causes stress, and activating twice in a round.

A willpower roll can stop a unit from breaking. Stress levels are reduced through end-of-round system mechanics and other abilities.

One very juicy decision with stress comes into play after a unit has been defeated in combat (takes more wounds than they give). A victorious attacking player may “Push Back” the defeated unit equal to the first MOV value of the losing unit – and the victorious player may move their unit to close the gap (and possibly re-engage the opponent).

This movement negates nasty penalties for movement like opportunity attacks from the opponent but can be halted by adding a stress token to the pushed unit.

Plenty of special command abilities and spells also shake things up on the battlefield. Command abilities have a command token cost. Tokens are generated at the top of the game by your units (typically your characters).

Spellscasting is enticing but dangerous. As your mages cast spells, they must battle “The Tinge” an affliction caused by harnessing such power. Mages will have to make a roll, increased in difficulty if they have altered the spell.

Tinge token stack as you cast your spells, possibly harming the caster. Enemy players may also attempt to counter their spells at the cost of stress and the chance at tinge tokens themselves.

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And that’s the basics of Warcrow!

Let us know if you are interested in any of the 3 items in the initial release wave with a call to any of our locations during store hours!

Also, check out the full rulebook here.

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Core book: $78.99

Winds of the North 2-Player Starter Set: $154.99

Frost Dice Set: $15.49

Ahlwardt Ice Bear Pre-Order Exclusive Edition: $29.99

July 8 2024

Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-Earth — Esteemed 7 Wonders Mechanics in a Beloved Setting

7 Wonders: Duel has been a mainstay of board game nights since its release in 2015. It still holds a top 20 spot on Board Game Geek’s overall rankings today.

Fans of 7 Wonders: Duel or newcomers looking for an exciting 2-player experience at game night can eagerly await Lord of the Rings: Duel For Middle-Earth, a new title set to arrive this Fall.

Publisher Repos Production has mainly kept a tight seal on details surrounding the title, but a few of their replies to comments on their Facebook post about the game hint at a few juicy details. This title will, of course, be set in the world so many know from The Lord of the Rings books and movies; however, it will NOT be a simple reskin of 7 Wonders: Duel.

After a quick auto-translation, one of their replies reads, “This is a real 7 Wonders Duel remake to tell this new story, with new effects (basically we didn’t just change the images, btw if you look at the image… There are some unpublished game elements).”

This is an imperfect translation, but the message is clear — new mechanics to test and excite veterans are coming with the title! What new mechanics the tokens and hint of a board/track imply in the post is up for debate, but our excitement is not! Plus, the gorgeous cover art by Vincent Dutrait is near enough reason for an admirer of Tolkien’s works to grab a copy!

Speaking of, you can guarantee you get a copy with a pre-order through our website right here! Copies can be shipped directly to you or picked up at one of our locations.

July 7 2024

Moonstone — Award Winning Whimsy and Warfare

Moonstone is a skirmish game played on a 3′ x 3′ board that took home the 2023 UK Games Expo “Best Miniatures Rules” & “Best Miniatures Range” Awards in the Judge’s Choice and Public Vote! Its world is a wonderful menagerie of fantasy classics and fairy tails with a focus on charming and whimsical elements.

As it oozes personality from each mechanic and miniature, you can’t help but be charmed by it!

Games consist of small-scale battles over the moonstones, 4-sided dice dropped over the playspace to determine their in-game location and how many actions it will take to harvest them.

Each player controls 4-6 miniatures, each with unique abilities and attributes. The gameplay follows an alternating activation style, with players taking turns using one of their miniatures to fight, harvest, move, and get up to all sorts of shenanigans — followed by their opponent.

Differentiating itself from the norm in wargaming, combat is resolved through decks of cards — one for melee combat and one for the arcana.

When an arcane or melee action is attempted, both players draw from and attempt to outwit the other through a mix of guessing and bluffing, playing cards face-down, and then revealing them.

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When using an arcane ability, a special deck is used, containing numbered and colored cards and special “Catastrophe” cards. The active player is trying to hit a determined number and/or color matching the ability they are attempting.

As the faeries would suggest…if you don’t pull the right card, you are more than welcome to fib! The opposing player must then play the mind game of whether the active player is telling the truth, call their bluff, or pass.

A correctly called or miscalled bluff will often have catastrophic consequences for one of the players!

Moonstone miniatures and rulebooks are available at our Duluth location. Stop by soon to start your journey in this enchanting skirmish game!

July 4 2024

Craft your Stories in the Mortal Realms with Soulbound

With Warhammer: Age of Sigmar 4th Edition arriving soon alongside the Skaventide two-player launch box, our miniatures communities are amped to spill blood for their respective Grand Orders on our tabletops using these exciting new rules and models!

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Welcome to the hobby if you’re deciding to start your minis journey with 4th edition! There’s never been a better time to pick up the dice and brush.

However, if the high-fantasy tales of Warhammer stories are what first drew you to the hobby, then the Soulbound RPG might be the perfect addition to your gamenights!

Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Soulbound is the definitive RPG system for weaving your own tales in the Mortal Realms.

Players will embody their soulbound heroes — god-chosen mortals who have undergone ancient and deadly rituals to empower each other as they answer the call to fight the forces of evil and death.

Play and story arcs lean into the over-the-top stakes and actions familiar to Warhammer lore enthusiasts. This is NOT the standard fantasy RPG where a plucky band of adventures saves a small fishing village and then moves on to become world-altering forces after many real-world sessions.

In Soulbound, your characters are already mighty warriors capable of unthinkable acts of bravery and battle. It is not a matter of “Will our party save the world?”. They MUST. Archaon and the forces of Chaos already claimed victory in The End Times, and Chaos is eager to bring down this new “Age of Sigmar” the forces of Order cling so tightly to.

The system’s actual gameplay and character creation are quick to move through, pick up, and get dice and the plot rolling on the table.

Players create their hero from a list of species and archetypes that will be familiar to Warhammer fans and delightful to those diving into the “turned up to 11” style of fantasy Age of Sigmar offers.

Three main stats, Body, Mind, and Soul, and your character’s skills and equipment determine how hard a task will be to complete using a d6 dice pool system.

The DM sets a difficulty of how many successes a player needs and what number constitutes a success. For example, swaying a nobleman may require 3 dice over 3 to succeed. Throwing him out his manor’s window after he refused may require only 1 dice over 3 from your musclebound Fyreslayer Berserker player.

Combat and the overall system have more complications to satisfy the strategist, such as rules for targeted “called shots” and battlefield zone-based combat, among other intricacies, but that’s the general flow of the d6 pool system.

In summary, as you paint up your new Warhammer: Age of Sigmar armies for 4th edition, pick out a mini to serve as your new Soulbound character as well! Both the full wargame and RPG systems offer you the chance to tell exciting fantasy stories in their endearingly extreme setting.

Pre-orders for the Skaventide Box Set can be found here on our website, and much of the Soulbound line can be found at our Duluth location in-store (25% off all July in-store). Happy adventuring in the Mortal Realms!

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June 27 2024

Arcs – Snappy Sci-fi Strategy with Leder Games Quality

Cole Wehrle and Kyle Ferrin, the team behind the beloved Root and Oath, have brought us Arcs, a new fast-paced sci-fi strategy game set in a silly yet dark universe brought to life by the famous art of Kyle Ferrin — perfectly blending the dark atmosphere of the setting with his renown color-rich style.

Arcs at its base is designed to take the pillars of Wehrle’s earlier titles and streamline them into an elegant gameplay experience. Fans can look forward to uncovering the bones of their favorites in the rulebook, like attacker-favored one-roll combat, but can get their tables playing an intriguing strategy game without the hurdle of explaining the near-complete asymmetric rules of the factions in Root.

Once players have a firm understanding of its mechanics, more complexity can be brought in by campaign play through The Blighted Reach Campaign Expansion.

Players take on the role of rival imperial regents of a decaying empire facing its end-of-days. They must choose how to save their people … and their own power utilizing their wit as strategic admirals, astute diplomats, or savvy business opportunists.

Whatever course you set, choose wisely. Or you doom us as our ancestors have.

The gameplay has foundations in the trick-taking genre, as players play cards to set what “ambitions” will score points in the current round of play or “chapter.” Playing cards that match the previous suit enables you to take more actions, but playing an off-suit card allows you to chase fresh opportunities or react to new threats.

Once the tricks are played, it’s time to battle and maneuver in The Rift. Players expand their empires by building cities and ships, sending agents to influence The Court (and acquire their cards), and directing their fleets.

Battles are resolved in a snap. Attackers roll dice equal to the number of attacking vessels against the defending player; however, risk must be taken in war. Each dice can be rolled using the raid, bombardment, or assault dice type — all with different probabilities of stealing resources, dealing damage to enemies, or backfiring.

As Level Up Games Kickstarted this title, you can reap the rewards and grab a copy of Arcs early! Order your copy here to be directly shipped to you or picked up at our Duluth location.

Orders of the Kickstarted base game come bundled with the Leaders and Lore Expansion ($74.99 for bundle).

Copies of The Blighted Reach Campaign Expansion are available in-store only at our Duluth location in a very limited amount while supplies last ($99.99).

Learn how to play here

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June 23 2024

Nekojima: Light as a Cat, but Heavy on Family Fun!

Take family game night to Nekojima this Summer, a Japanese island town with an Paw-er problem!

Players are tasked with stacking Denchuu (Electrical Poles) while taking care not to cause any catastrophes by knocking down the structure or any feline friends climbing along its cables.

With intuitive rules and tactile fun, Nekojima grabs the attention of your playgroup or family. Take turns placing or stacking the poles while managing the structure’s cables.

Move with cat’s grace or the whole thing topples over!

Compete or collaborate, both are supported by Nekojima’s rules!

Preorders are open now for its expected late Summer release here!

June 20 2024

Free RPG Day – June 22nd

Every year, our Level Up Games locations participate in Free RPG Day, a celebration of all things tabletop roleplaying with the backing of many beloved publishers.

These fine folks who craft the systems, worlds, and characters players use to tell their stories at game night have sneak previews of a handful of the exciting items participants can expect to find on June 22nd!

While supplies last, we will hand out RPG items to each visitor, and they can earn even more through themed “quests” around the store (a tracking card will be provided)! These include bringing in someone who has never been to Level Up Games, participating in one of our FRPG Day events at our Duluth, Athens, or Johns Creek locations, and more!

Check out a few of the items below (availability may vary based on location)!

With the upcoming release of the new Starfinder edition from Paizo, we expect many starfarers will enjoy the Starfinder: Second Contact item containing over a dozen iconic creatures fully compatible with the upcoming playtest and your existing campaigns!

You’ll find new friends and foes within, alongside a preview of spells, weapons, and even a squad companion to help you face extraterrestrial threats!

This item can be earned by simply visiting any of our locations.

Mutate your Marvel Multiverse RPG campaigns with this early look at a chapter from the upcoming X-Men Expansion. This preview features condensed rules, new character profiles, a map, and adventure hooks to get you started in your mutant campaign and can be earned by visting any location.

Dragonbane is a classic fantasy tabletop roleplaying game full of magic, mystery, and adventure. It is designed from the ground up to facilitate fast and furious play, with very little prep time and adventures that are a breeze to run. Dragonbane is a game with room for laughs at the table, while still offering brutal challenges for the adventurers.

Kickstart your foray into the system by completing any of our FRPG “side quests” and earning The Sinking Tower adventure! Complete with puzzles, battles, glittery treasure, pre-generated characters, and condensed rules for a 2-hour session, you’ll have everything you need!

Grab these items and more at our locations! We will also be holding a special “Buy 3 Get 1 Free” sale on ALL RPG ITEMS in our stores from June 22nd – June 23rd, so come on in and start a new adventure!

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June 14 2024

Necromolds: Breaking the Mold with Family Wargaming

Many people love miniature games like Warhammer: 40k, but they are often seen as too dense—certainly too dense for the kids play alongside their parents.

But worry not, fathers wanting to introduce their loved ones to the hobby and those looking to grab a gift for the upcoming Father’s Day this weekend, Necromolds makes for a perfect entrypoint for the hobby!

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Build your Army - Literally

Necromolds gets kids interested from the first moment of play. There are no point-buy systems to bog down setup — players use their “Spell Clay” and “Spell Books” to create their armies. When you’re out of clay, that’s your army!

Kids (and parents!) get to enjoy the tactile fun of creating their monsters while they are introduced to the basics of the hobby. You can only make so many guys after all —so players must decide how many big guys they want vs how many smaller monsters they could have swarming the battlefield.

These are the important choices in any wargamers life!

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Smashing Good Times

Not only does this clay mold mini design make army building easy… IT MAKES ARMY SMASHING BETTER! When a monster is defeated, players will smash it down with their “Caster Ring” to create new terrain players need to factor in to their future battleplans.

Teirs of Play and Game Length

Gameplay comes in 3 tiers of complexity to ensure you and your family get through games engaged and enjoy the battle no matter who’s playing!

Overall, you can expect an easy-to-learn gameplay system with all the fundamentals of wargaming that wraps up a battle in an hour or so.

Come by to Grab your Copy Today!

The two-player corebox is available at the Johns Creek, Duluth, and Athens Level Up Games locations now for $59.99 with expansions in Duluth!