It's November, and another Christmas season is upon us. This year's season brings us some great movies, some great gift-giving opportunities and a game to be wary of.

This year is going to be the year that the Fantasy genre gets a great boost. We have both Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Lord of the Rings coming out. I have to admit, that Christine and I had both decided not to believe all the hype and applause that was going around about Harry Potter. Then, about three weeks ago, we found the first three books on sale and decided to pick them up. We both read the three of them in four days. And loved them. Anyone who is reading this magazine should be reading these books. They are a very fast, very good read and will be enjoyed equally (if not more) by adults as by children.

I don't know what I can say about the Lord of the Rings movie. It definitely has the right look, even if I question some of the casting choices. And it will draw people to the theatres in record numbers.

If you're looking for some very good fantasy novels to read in anticipation of either of these, Sabledrake Enterprises offers the novels of Christine Morgan for sale. They really are good (I'm not just saying so because she's my wife) and we're having a special if you purchase a set of the three books in the MageLore Trilogy.

There are a couple of really excellent boardgames out this year that I would whole-heartedly recommend. The first is History of the World by Avalon Hill / Hasbro. It is a fun wargame with 700 plastic army pieces and a beautiful board. The game play is simple, yet maintains many strategic options. Plus, this is really the only game out there that lets you play through the history of the world, from the Summerians to the Romans to Napoleon to WWI.

I also really like Carcossonne, a German boardgame that came out late last year, but in such small numbers, few people could get it. The game consists of a hundred or so square tiles. Tiles contain roads, parts of cities, monastaries, and fields. Each player places a tile on his turn to build a map of a medieval country. Each player also has playing pieces that he places on the tile he just played. These markers allow him to score points when the game ends, or when the road or city is completed. A quick, fun game that can be played by adults or children.

I had the chance this week to see a sneak peak at the new edition of Third Reich, coming out from Avalanche Press. While the game looks very much like the original (except for the beautiful full color map boards and counters), the play has changed a bit. The combat resolution has gotten rid of the CRT and figuring attack vs. defense ratios and is more like Avalanche's other wargames. There are also now event chits that can completely alter the strategy of the game. A full game encompassing the entire war will still take 8-10 hours, but that's still a lot better than some other games. It's due to be released right around Thanksgiving, so be on the lookout for that.

One other game due to come out before the end of the year, is Game Workshop's Lord of the Rings miniatures battle game. Part of the licensing agreement between GW and the movie studio was that this game could not be confused with any of Games Workshop's existing games. So, it's not being sold by GW. Alliance and Diamond have the exclusive distribution rights. Also, the LotR miniatues will be "true 25mm", that is significantly smaller than all of GW's other minis (and most of the miniatures made today). While this won't bother many roleplayers looking to buy the minis to represent their RPG characters, it will be a pain in the butt for all the miniature gamers.

And, if you're planning on buying this as a Christmas gift, be careful! The release date is Dec. 19th, which is too close to Christmas for my taste

Happy holidays to all!

--Tim

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