CMON News and Rumours - 2024 Annual Results

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**Mr Morden**

Sacredroach wrote:
Dothraki. I may need to get two boxes of them. And I really like the contents of the Baratheon box...Damn. And here I was thinking I was going to be able to save some money...

Yeah Dany and the Dothraki is pretty much a must buy for me.

**Tim the Biovore**

Baratheons seem a little too typecast to me. Every unit fights with hammers? Damn. Still going to pick them up, but I'm now particularly interested in what the Stannis specific units will look like.

The woman in resin must be Lady Melisandre though, and the boy is Edric Storm; Ser Loras is much older. Not sure who the rest could be.

**DaveC**

Tim the Biovore wrote:

The woman in resin must be Lady Melisandre though, and the boy is Edric Storm; Ser Loras is much older. Not sure who the rest could be.

Actually you're probably right I do forget sometimes that the TV show aged up some of characters and the CMON licence is for the books Margaery would be 14 and Loras 15 at this point in time.

**Gallahad**

Tim the Biovore wrote:
Baratheons seem a little too typecast to me. Every unit fights with hammers? Damn. Still going to pick them up, but I'm now particularly interested in what the Stannis specific units will look like.

The woman in resin must be Lady Melisandre though, and the boy is Edric Storm; Ser Loras is much older. Not sure who the rest could be.

Yeah, it is the "hammer team" aesthetic that really turns me off to them. I get that warhammers were used historically, but no bladed weapons just looks silly.

**DaveC**

Zombicide 2nd Edition from Gencon

confirms plastic dashboards which we knew are coming slightly different design again to BP/GH and Invaders.

There's 4 Abominations on show there.

New sculpts for the original 6 survivors on the left and the 6 new children survivors on the right. The new scuplt of the old survivors seem to match this artwork,

Spoiler:

Amy has a small change in her Orange abilities

+1 Free Combat Action
+1 Free Move Action

becomes

+1 Free Melee Action
+1 Free Ranged Action

**Aeneades**

Interesting that it says coming to Kickstarter in 2019 as I’m sure original announcement said 2020.

Not looked at my copy for a while but seems just a big visual change to the design of the cards.

**DaveC**

I didn't even spot the 2019 on the card the announcement definitely says KS in 2020. It's looks ready to go so I could see a Zc KS late this year. This would be first year since the initial game in 2012 that there hasn't been a Zc or a Zc rules spin off KS.

Zombicide Season 1 April/May 2012
Season 2 & TCM March/April 2013
Season 3 & Angry Neighbors June/July 2014
Black Plague June/July 2015
Massive Darkness June/July 2016
Green Horde May/June 2017
Invader April/May 2018

**highlord tamburlaine**

I wonder if we'll be skipping on on Zombie Survivors this time around.

My hope is they take a page from all the post Black Plague games to give us some crazier Abominations.

Then again there is something to say for the simplicity of keeping things streamlined instead of every model having its own variation on breaking the rules.

**LunarSol**

I jumped out at Black Plague despite it being a better game. I'd be thrilled to see its improvements ported back to the setting my group was interested in.

**OrlandotheTechnicoloured**

well Trudvang is still struggling and loosing backers

but that's pretty much what Solomon Kane did (which was also card driven, light on gameplay reveals and ok but similar to trudvang, not great on plastic content)

so while CMONs engagement on the KS has been poor, I'm not certain if it had been better (which mythic's was) whether the campaign would be doing any better,

could be there just isn't the market for this type of game compared to a more simple dice chucking thing on a simple set of tiles

**Alpharius**

Or this *is* what the market is for this type of game?

It only 'lost money' on one day, and sits at $1.1M with 12 days to go...

It'll beat Solomon Kane's funding amount by quite a bit, and I'm sure CMON, who absolutely could and should be handling this better, will be happy.

**OrlandotheTechnicoloured**

Oh absolutely, CMON has stronger pull (i'd guess Solomon Kane may be a bit better known than and Trudvang especially in the US market)

I wonder if Gencon is the reason CMON aren't even doing their normal minimal stuff in the comments, just the odd collaborator post?

although one would have thought that if you were running a KS during a big convention you might have planned for it in advance

**Alpharius**

OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:

although one would have thought that if you were running a KS during a big convention you might have planned for it in advance

You would think that, but this is CMON, which is a curious blend of arrogant/stupid/clever/insulting/idiotic/successful, so...who knows?

**DaveC**

Well the end of 2019 KS slot is filled

Final part of Eric Lang's Strategic Trilogy no less - Rising Sun and Blood Rage being the other parts.

https://cmon.com/news/cmon-announces-ankh-board-game

CMON ANNOUNCES ANKH BOARD GAME
Aug 02, 2019
CMON is pleased to announce Ankh, a new board game from the mind of Eric M. Lang, award-winning designer of the smash hits Blood Rage and Rising Sun. Play as a God of ancient Egypt, competing to survive as society begins to forget the old ways, so that only you and your followers remain.

Ankh, the symbol of life itself, that even the Gods must fight for.

Build caravans, summon monsters, and convert followers in your quest to reign supreme. With great artwork by Adrian Smith and miniatures art directed by Mike McVey, who both worked with Eric on Blood Rage and Rising Sun, Ankh is the final installment of Eric M. Lang’s strategic trilogy.

Deities, monsters, and the people of ancient Egypt have been lovingly reimagined and interpreted in beautiful illustrations and detailed miniatures, and players will truly feel like Gods as they shake the very foundations of Egypt. All gameplay in Ankh, including combat, is streamlined and non-random. Compete and win solely on your godly wits alone.

"It was amazing to ‘get the band back together’ for this game. It’s always great to work with such phenomenal talents like Adrian and Mike”, said Eric M. Lang. “We all really poured our heart and soul into this game. It’s the finale of our trilogy of sorts, and we wanted it to really be something special. I’m really proud of what we’ve come up with and can’t wait to see those grand figures battling on the beautiful game board.”

Ankh is a game for 2 to 5 players and will be coming to Kickstarter by the end of 2019.

Eric M. Lang Bio: Eric is an industry veteran, having created tabletop games for over 20 years. His history with CMON includes fan-favorite titles Blood Rage, Arcadia Quest, Bloodborne: The Card Game, and more. In 2016, Eric was the recipient of the Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming, and other accolades include multiple The Dice Tower Awards and five Origins Awards.

Adrian Smith Bio: Adrian’s career as an illustrator is prolific, spanning over 30 years. He was one the defining artists for Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000 line, and his work with Wizards of the Coast’s Magic: The Gathering is beloved by fans. He has illustrated popular CMON titles like Blood Rage, Zombicide Special Guest Artist boxes, The Others, and Rising Sun.

Mike McVey Bio: Mike is well known for his ability to produce some of the best miniatures around, with three decades of experience in the industry. His resume includes work for Games Workshop, Wizards of the Coast, and Privateer Press. Mike’s figures for CMON include the miniatures in Blood Rage, The Others, Rising Sun and more.

**Smokestack**

I haven't played regular Zombicide in 2 years. But I may be in?? Don't know.

Was hoping that the next Zombicide would be in the Black Plague setting. But was hoping we would get vampires/werewolves as a theme. Like Underworld, or even a WoK cross over...

Minion vampires, that you can kill in droves like Blade...

I do have too many CMON board games though. Maybe I have enough...

**skullking**

DaveC wrote:
Well the end of 2019 KS slot is filled

Final part of Eric Lang's Strategic Trilogy no less - Rising Sun and Blood Rage being the other parts.

https://cmon.com/news/cmon-announces-ankh-board-game

When I saw this, my first thought was, "Oh, they know that After the Greek, and Norse 'Patheon' games, Mythic will probably do Egyptian mythology too. So they're trying to get ahead of them." But yeah, I forgot they already had Blood Rage, and Rising Sun, so it's (probably...) not actually the case. I guess I'll have to see how cool their minis are for it. Hopefully they won't be too stingy with them.

Looks like that addition of plastic tokens as an extra has really boosted Trudvang. I think it's gone up 10k today. Maybe they got a lot of Gencon love for it?

I'm with others that would prefer the 'Black Plague' setting for Zombiecide. A Vampire/Werewolf, or even just a 'classic monsters' theme would be amazingly cool. Get some mummies, fish men, and other classic tropes in there for good measure.

**Ghool**

I'd be all over an Egyptian themed game for the models alone. I don't have high hopes though, as I'm not a fan of Adrian Smiths art style.

**Monkeysloth**

Alpharius wrote:
OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:

although one would have thought that if you were running a KS during a big convention you might have planned for it in advance

You would think that, but this is CMON, which is a curious blend of arrogant/stupid/clever/insulting/idiotic/successful, so...who knows?

Another issue with these types of games is you're automatically restricting yourself to english speakers as the cost of translation is quite high and not worth it unless it's a really popular game. So even though it ships to EU and Asia you're pulling in a fraction of what you would there with a less narrative game.

**OrlandotheTechnicoloured**

That's a good point (although Mythic would also have French since that's their home market)

**Gallahad**

Man, I am all over Ankh. Adrian Smith art will give it a great swords and Sorcery vibe.
I love the little we've seen.
I drop drippity dropped out of Trudvang. I really wanted to like it, but it is basically impossible for me to assess whether a game is fun or not so far in advance with so little information, so low mini count KS projects just feel too risky.

**Sacredroach**

Yes, I will definitely be on board for Ankh. My group loves Blood Rage and enjoys Rising Sun, so this is an automatic pledge for me.

**Ian Sturrock**

Same for me. Lang + Smith + CMON is almost a must-buy for me, but particularly any game in the Blood Rage spirit pushes over into definite must-buy turf.

**BobtheInquisitor**

Ghool wrote:
I'd be all over an Egyptian themed game for the models alone. I don't have high hopes though, as I'm not a fan of Adrian Smiths art style.

If it gives us similar quality and quantity of miniatures to Rising Sun, I'll be very happy.

If CMON expect me to ooh and ahh over cardboard components or game mechanics, I will wonder what they think people see in them.

**highlord tamburlaine**

If the inevitable Anubis model looks as nice as that box art, then yeah, I'm in. Which is funny as I don't actually own any of the Eric Lang strategy games CMON has done, despite having painted a fair amount from the first two games.

**frankelee**

I think Ankh goes in my maybe pile, do I need another Eric Lang dudes on a board game? Speaking of which, Trudvang has become depressing and I dropped it as well. Once the plastic tokens stretch goal dropped as an add-on (I jest CMON, I'm sure it was always planned as an add-on) it just felt like I'd seen enough and knew where the campaign was heading. If companies don't want to make their KS campaigns something significantly more than just a retail release, why not just do a retail release? (Free money is why.) But thanks to Ice & Fire CMON is already gearing up to get lots of my money anyway with a Baratheon Starter, and like 8 unit boxes.

**DaveC**

Close ups of the Baratheon, Targaryen Heroes and the Free Folk "Wargs"

Credit to On the Table Gaming for these - I screencapped them from their video

https://asoiafcc.com/2019/08/02/gencon-2019-asoiaf-bare-bones-review/

It looks like Margaery is in the second set of Baratheons along with Lady Olenna the Queen of Thorns and I think that's Brienne in Renly's Kingsguard form.

**DaveC**

and the Neutral Herores

**stonehorse**

Really excited to see the Thenn Warriors at long last, going to be hard not to add them to my Freefolk force. The Baratheon models are looking very tempting, if I could afford a second faction, they'd be picked up in heartbeat.

Thanks for the photos!

**DaveC**

Some of the Ankh minis on show at Gencon. I might have to get it just for the minis. I understand wanting to show this at Gencon but I wonder if it will have an adverse effect on Trudvang which is down nearly $5,000 today.

**Theophony**

If it I still another Kickstarter exclusive then I’m passing. I can’t afford constant all in KS, and I’d want some of the bigger models, but I really don’t need all the rest.