The Giant Monster Series, part 18...

Giant monster tabletop systems have been around for years but they never quite got the following of the classic board games. I had talked about many of the systems on my older 1UP blog. One of the best games based on the genre was Monsters Menace America. It included a large map of the continental USA, featuring cities for players to take over as well as an assortment of plastic miniatures that represented the creatures in the game and military forces as well. Players could literally carve a path of destruction across the states and fight both the other monsters as well as the military in the process.



The title was published in 2005 by Avalon Hill and was actually a remake of an earlier game called Monsters Ravage America. Wizards of the Coast, creators of the wildly successful Magic: the Gathering series of collectible card games (CCG) bought up Avalon Hill and acquired the rights to all the systems they had developed. Hasbro acquired Wizards in 1998 and is the parent company that owns the various systems. Monsters Menace America was a decent introduction to the genre for kids over 12. The miniatures were pretty nice and the illustrations on the power up and attack cards were great. Even those too young to know anything about the classic B-films would appreciate the mix of humor and horror in the game. There were actually a couple of new board games introduced later that tried to put their own spin on the genre. The first was through the use of a big name star.



Godzilla was the featured monster in two separate titles by Toy Vault Inc. Godzilla Stomp was a CCG from 2011 that featured several Toho monsters. The game could be played by two to five players. In it participants chose from one of five monsters; Godzilla, Mechagodzilla, Battra, Destroyah and Mothera. They all took turns trying to take down as many buildings as possible as they were revealed. The more buildings that players destroyed the more points that could be won. Whoever had caused the most destruction had won the game. The other title by the studio was a bit more ambitious.

Kaiju World Wars was a tabletop system featuring a city game board, building models and four Toho monsters; Godzilla, Gigan, Rodan and King Ghidorah. It was also released in 2011 but targeted more towards die-hard Godzilla fans. The game was not far removed from the CCG, it had similar play mechanics and ability cards even. The miniatures combat system changed things considerably. Players set buildings and encounters on top of a highly detailed game board. The illustration printed on the board showed the damage left behind by multiple battles. There were impact craters, burn marks, rubble and gashes carved into the Earth by creatures that weighed several thousand tons. It helped create a sense that the game was taking place in the final moments of an all out monster war. I enjoyed studying the details when I first saw the game and could imagine that a younger fan would be completely absorbed by the atmosphere created by Toy Vault.



It turned out that Pipeworks wasn't the only studio having difficulty working with the license. The Godzilla name was popular but making a memorable game out of the character seemed impossible. Players knew what they wanted to see in the character and his opponents. Anything short of an amazing firefight between the monsters and military while causing massive collateral damage would be considered a failure. Toy Vault actually got close to a really good system that allowed for military strikes, monster combat and buildings that could be pulverized. The game suffered in its loose rules and small lineup of monsters. Even Monsters Menace America had six playable creatures to Kaiju's four. The goal from the company was to release expansion sets featuring new monsters, scenarios and military weapons. After more than a year since the debut it did not seem likely that the system would ever see any expansions. Game designer Richard H. Berg tried to answer any rule and scenario questions on gaming forums. BoardGameGeek member Scott Nixon consolidated the core rulebook, info cards and Mr. Berg's corrections into a streamlined rulebook for fans. Sadly most players wouldn't expect that they would have to search for some sort of unified rulebook online after picking up the game.

A second daikaiju themed game was also released in 2011. King of Tokyo was designed by gaming veteran Dr. Richard Garfield, he was best known for designing Magic: the Gathering, Star Wars and Battletech CCGs. Mr. Garfield came up with his own spin on the giant monster mythos, instead of focusing on big boards or detailed miniatures he wanted to focus on the combat and monster elements. He introduced gamers to six unique monsters, they were cardboard standees illustrated in a stylized cartoon format by Benjamin Raynal. The monsters were trying to claim Tokyo for themselves but in order to do that they had to defeat their opponents or simply survive an onslaught. Monsters could battle, destroy and even unlock unique mutations.



Up until the King of Tokyo the idea of a giant monster mutating and evolving new abilities was reserved for tabletop RPG systems like Monster Island or Giant Monster Rampage. Think of those systems as Dungeons & Dragons for the giant monster genre. Dr. Garfield introduced play elements into his series by allowing any of the monsters to gain new powers and even change shape right in the middle of the game through a couple of card turns. His time spent mastering the nuances of the CCG translated well into the tabletop genre. His game was actually published by the French company Iello Games. In 2012 they released an expansion called King of Tokyo Power Up featuring new cards and a new monster named Pandakai. The character was pulled from gaming zeitgeist thanks to the successful Kung-Fu Panda film series and World of Warcraft expansion Mists of Pandaria. In 2013 the system got a Halloween! expansion. In 2014 it got a stand-alone game called The King of New York. In 2016 they got the King of New York: Power Up expansion as well.



It was interesting how Dr. Garfield managed to breathe new life into the giant monster genre by presenting the basic elements from the films into an easy to enjoy system. He was so successful in his design that King of Tokyo became one of the highest rated board games according to the editors and visitors of Board Game Geek, the definitive tabletop editorial site. King of Tokyo was an exceptional game but there was only one system that could be considered as the ultimate giant monster tabletop game for hobbyists. We shall explore this game in the next blog.

The passing of a legend, remembering Wayne England.

It is with a heavy heart that I have to stop the Games Workshop series with some bad news. One of the artists that greatly influenced the look and design of the Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 universes and beyond has passed away. Wayne England was one of my artistic heroes. I spent many a day emulating his aesthetic and his fantastic sense of shape and color with my own projects. Wayne went on to produce art for many other game companies, not the least of which was Magic the Gathering. He is survived by his wife Victoria and his children. I offer them my deepest sympathies and pray that they can find some comfort in the gift that Wayne shared with the world. I actually wrote about him eight years ago on 1UP and would like to share it with you now...

This man has not only influenced my art but also the art and design of countless games and systems in and out of GW. He has a long list of accomplishments as a freelance artist, but his stamp on GW is undeniable.

Most people know him mostly as the guy that designed the iconic badges for the various races in the Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 universes. In fact it was hist first gig at the studio for which he thought he was being slighted. Art director  [EDIT: think of John as the Games Workshop equivalent of Alan Moore. He looked over England's portfolio and said that he'd be good to draw badges. Wayne misheard him and thought he said that all he was good for was drawing badgers. Wayne is a very proud artist and felt put-off by the insult until he learned that. Wayne was to design the heraldry for all of the races. Each badge that England created was an instant hit. The look of the races would be defined by these icons, some simple and some complex but all equally great. England's badges would become symbolic with GW for almost 20 years.

In that time Wayne painted some of the most amazing work that has ever been featured in White Dwarf and the various game books published by GW. Titles like Blood Bowl and Space Hulk would never have been as memorable without England's contribution. Featured here are mostly his black and white work, which by themselves stand head and shoulders above any other artist that has worked in two colors. Look at the amazing amount of detail for his characters, the illusions of texture and metal he is able to achieve with a solid pigment.

 

Wayne is a very outspoken artist that was the most influential in the bullpen. His techniques would be carefully studied by the younger artists working at GW. His advice was equally picked up by the new generation of artists entering GW in the late 80's. As Wayne was pushed by Blanche to work better and faster so too did he set up a friendly rivalry with all the other artists. The others at GW had their own styles and while some may have had better use of color or composition very few could keep up with Wayne when he was firing on all cylinders. When he wanted to he could inspire fear through his grimacing characters or embolden gamers with iconic heroes.

 

A few years into Wayne's tenure a new artist was finally allowed into the studio. Mark Gibbons had applied a few times at GW but had been turned down by Blanche time and again. Eventually his portfolio featured a very broad sample of styles and creativity that could no longer be ignored. Gibbons was taken under the wing of England and Blanche, then two titans of British fantasy art.

 

Mark became the heir-apparent to England, as his art was great and color but in black and white was simply amazing. His monochromatic work had its own appeal. His technique differed slightly from Wayne's, but the influence was there. Wayne used a sponge to create some of the amazing textured effects in his paintings, Gibbons never quite reached that level of detail but being taught new tools helped his technique.

 

Gibbons would grow into his spot on the art team and fill in pieces for White Dwarf and the game books as well. During his tenure he worked on Space Hulk and Warhammer 40k pices mostly. His fantasy work should never be under-appreciated. He gave life to the Skaven, twisted rat-men from the old world of Warhammer, his foul chaos beasts looked grizzly and unkempt, his Dark Elves regal and murderous. His science fiction work of course found no equal. The bold black and white pieces by England and Gibbons would burn themselves into my memory and forever change the way I approach my art.

 

Gibbons' tenure at GW wouldn't last forever. After a decade Mark moved on and eventually became a freelance artist. Like England's freelance work for Wizards of the Coast now too can Gibbons' work can be appreciated by a broader audience. As always if you enjoyed this blog and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!