It’s time for our semi-weekly preview of awesomeness in gaming

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Chainmail Dice Bag (AlphaMailleChainmail)

$20 – available now

We’re breaking the rules slightly on GARPA here. Our first item this week isn’t a pre-order, but is actually already available. However, it happens to be on sale right now, so we’re pimping it a bit. After all, what self-respecting grog wouldn’t want a chainmail dice bag. You read that right: Chainmail. Dice. Bag. Let’s those words sink in a bit. Then cruise on over to the maker’s Etsy site and check out the medium sized chainmail dice bag for sale for only $20. Say it with me now: “oooooooh… aaahhhhhh…”

Next War: India-Pakistan (GMT Games)

p500 – not there yet

They’ve covered Korea, have Taiwan on their p500, and now GMT Games heads to the subcontinent for oh-God–lets-hope-it-doesn’t-go-nuclear showdown between India and Pakistan that also ropes in the Chinese and Americans.  With the conflict in Kashmir boiling over, shots get fired again, and yet another war breaks out between India and Pakistan.  Varying scenarios let players explore either side in the role of aggressor, and an intervention matrix determines what role other power play in the conflict.  It’s on GMT’s p500 program, but it hasn’t made the cut yet – and won’t if you don’t go pledge!

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Citadel of the Sky Pirates (Griggling Games, Inc.)

$220 of $15k, ends 15 Jun 2014

His one’s been out there for a few hours at this point, so it’s as new as ‘new’ gets. It’s a customizable deck-building game designed to support LARP and cosplay games, so you worry about the setting and let the game worry about, well, the game. There’s different sets of cards that are themed to particular character types, for a total of 9 pre-built characters. But of course you can also mix-and-match the cards to create whatever the heck you prefer. Stretch goals and bonus levels include custom characters and a chance to appear on your own card. Check out the new Kickstarter page and see what you think.

Pocket Odyssey (Anthony Sato)

$20k of $5k, ends 30 May 2014

Billed as a “the first tabletop micro-RPG ever”, Pocket Odyssey is, in fact, a small dungeon crawl in a box, and quite reminiscent of Dungeoneer, and that’s not a bad thing.   One key difference between Pocket Odyssey and other similar games (Battlecards, HeroCard, the aforementioned Dungeoneer) is the character customization available to players. Small cards define powers, bonuses, and drawbacks that help customize your characters and give them some personal depth. The maps resemble WotC’s DD4e adventure tile sets, and the wooden components are straight Euro-game meeples. The entire box looks like a pocket-sized mashup in which Runebound, Carcassonne, and the original Mage Knight were tossed in a blender, and that’s not really a bad thing. Go check out their Kickstarter page, and make sure you pledge at a high enough level to get all the stretch goals, since they’re numerous and ballooning.

Firefly: Pirates and Bounty Hunters Expansion (Gale Force Nine)

Pre-order price $50

It’s Firefly. You know you’re going to get it. Just get over to their page and place your order already.

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