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COVER STORY Table of Give the Gift of Game! CONTENTS by William Niebling FEATURES Reading the Spread Divination! Creative Director Rich Thomas offers a glimpse into the future of White Wolf Publishing. 62 by Zack Walkers PREVIEWS SNK Joins the UFS! Season’s Beatings! Combatants from Samurai Shodown 5 and The King of Fighters 2006 battle it out in Sabertooth Games’ Universal Fighting System! 12 by Sabertooth Games

Tragedy Without Angst Misery Loves Company! Walk the path of the tormented in the Promethean: The Created sourcebook, Strange Alchemies. 18 by Jess Hartley Street Fighter: The Dark Path Road to Victory! Akuma, Cammy, Dudley, and Fei-Long enter the Street Fighter arena with the UFS expansion, The Dark Path! 21 by Alexander Black

Sabertooth Games UFS Organized Play Team-up with Sabertooth Games for Universal Fighting System Organized Play! Games are the gifts that keep on giving, during the holidays 61 by Joshua Morris and all year long! The Rules of War 07 Warmongering! Kate Flack, Black Industries’ Brand Manager, explores the key prin- ciples of roleplaying in the Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy campaign setting. 64 by Kate Flack

Theophrastus: The Great Healer’s Secrets! Sample filePseudoscience! Luck, ingenuity, and determination are the prime ingredients to be an alchemist’s apprentice in Mayfair Games’ Theophrastus. 67 by P.R. Chase GIVEAWAY

Settlers of Catan 10th Anniversary 72 Limited Edition 3D Treasure Chest — Mayfair Games REVIEWS The Spoils Open Beta Tournament 62 Card Game - Tenacious Games 57 by Scott Gerhardt ORIGINAL FICTION The Tree of Swords Chapter 3: Direct Orders, More Deaths, and Wagonwheels. 09 Castlemourn Fiction by Ed Greenwood Dreamblade: Child’s Play 15 by Ken Troop PRE-ORDER SECTIONS 12 72 23 GAMES

Retailers: For wholesale inquiries, please contact Michael Webb 46 ANIME at (410) 602-8000, or email [email protected] 2 GAME TRADE MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2006 GTM81 01-22.qxd 10/6/2006 1:18 PM Page 3

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PUBLISHER All titles and Alliance Game artwork are Distributors trademarked and FOREword EDITOR/ DIRECTOR copyrighted of their OF ADVERTISING respective owners Phyllis Opolko Can you feel it? The subtle chill? Yes, autumn is surely on MANAGING EDITOR/ GAME TRADE MAGAZINE the horizon, and with the seasonal changing of the guard in ADVERTISING MANAGER 1966 Greenspring Dr., Suite 300 the forecast, can winter be far behind? Andrew Smith Timonium, MD 21093 ART DIRECTOR Which is why now is the perfect opportunity to plan Phone 410.560.7100 Matt Barham Fax 410.560.7589 for Old Man Winter’s blustery insurgence… to take stock PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR [email protected] on your reserves, dig out your wintry wardrobe, and Andrew Rayman WWW.GAMETRADEMAGAZINE.COM COPYWRITER prepare to hunker in for when the weather outside is Todd A. Kaylor Call for advertising Info: 410.560.7100 frightful. And, once you’ve settled in, there’s no better ADVERTISING ACCOUNT REPS way to while away the time than nestled by a cozy-warm Phyllis Opolko, Andrew Smith © 2006 Alliance Game Distributors hearth with good company, good cheer, and an engaging and respective copyright holders. Submissions should be No part of this publication may game (a splendid segue into this issue of Game Trade sent to Andrew Smith be reproduced without the Magazine, I might add!) written permission All Submissions become This month, GTM is filled to the brim with a host of games of Alliance Game the property of Distributors to delight and distract you from the pending pelting of sleet, Game Trade Magazine, unless a All rights reserved. hail and snow outside beginning with a selection of popular return request is in writing, including a self addressed Printed in Canada. board game favorites from Mayfair Games’ holiday cache including stamped envelope. Amazonas, Hey! That’s My Fish!, Mesopotamia, and Theophrastus (plus, check out the GTM giveaway for a copy of Settlers of Catan 10th Anniversary Limited Edition 3D Treasure Chest!). Things will be heating up as Sabertooth Games unveils World Championship and organized tournament play for the Universal Fighting System, while powerhouse combatants from SNK and Street Fighter battle it out in the UFS circuit! Plus, Black Industries fans the flames of war with Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy, White Wolf divines the future of the World of Darkness, and we get the skinny on Tenacious Games’ The Spoils CCG. And, if you’re all tuck- ered out from all this indoor excitement, you can plunge into your favorite reading chair as GTM conjures up an original Dreamblade yarn by Ken Troop and the third chapter in Ed Greenwood’s Castlemourn tale, “The Tree of Swords.” ‘Tis the season… to play games! [save the “jolly” for when the holiday’s are upon us]

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COVER STORY By William Niebling

You’ve got games. Here’s why you should share. matter what your lucky It’s that time of year again, and now you are looking for the gift-recipient is interested perfect gift. But you actually already know what that gift is. Because in, you can find a game you’ve been playing games for years. You love games. You delight that will tickle that partic- in games. Don’t you know that everybody else does too? ular itch. Is he a fanatic There are a lot of reasons why games are the perfect gift for any about the American Civil season. Here are a few that you might not have thought of: War? Instead of buying GAMES ARE GOOD FOR ALL AGES: yet another dry historical When I was growing book about the Battle of up, I always got a giggle Gettysburg, why not get when a game said “for a game like Battle Cry that will let him fill General Lee’s boots ages 9 to 99!” But the truth instead? Is she fascinated by dragons? What about a copy of Tom is that this is an artificial Wham’s Dancing Dragons? limit. Anyone of any age GAMES ARE ARTWORK: group can find a game that Usually, when you shop for a they will love to play. From game, you are most concerned about your youngest little cousin the game mechanics. But sometimes, (who probably wants some- you just want to be blown away by thing with bright colors and big wooden pieces) to your great-great the beauty of the game itself. This is grandma (who probably doesn’t), there is a game suitable for every- especially true when it’s a gift game. one. Games are great for kids because they can teach them valuable Cleopatra and the Society of skills like sportsmanship, counting, arithmetic, and how to interact Architects from Days of Wonder, or socially with others their age. Games like Pick Picknic from Rio Dread Pirate from Front Porch Grande Games, The Kids of Catan from Mayfair Games, or Rat-a- Classics just might be beautiful tat Cat from Gamewright are all great ways to teach these skills with- enough to put on your coffee table. Some of these high-end collec- out the young players even noticing that they’re learning anything! tor’s games, like The Settlers of Catan 10th Anniversary Edition or But let’s not forget that there are benefits for more venerable game even an occasional CCG like Upper Deck’s Vs. System are just as players too. Recent cognitive studies have suggested that peopleSample who much file fun to look at as they are to play. play games are less likely to suffer the effects of Alzheimer’s. Games GAMES ARE ETERNAL: are good for the mind the same way that exercise is good for the Sure, you might be blown away by the latest anime-inspired heart. If you don’t work your mental muscles, they will fade that much CCG. Or you might hold your breath when you open the hot new faster. So help out your favorite older relative with some great card collectible mini booster. But there are a lot of games that have been games such as the Sid Sackson classic Sleuth or Wizard from U.S. around for a long, long time, and are still loved by millions. There Games Systems. are chess sets of every type imaginable. Even a simple deck of play- GAMES BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER: ing cards and a copy of Hoyle can be an appreciated gift for a Of course, let’s not forget the would-be game enthusiast. purpose of giving gifts in the first GAMES ARE WHAT YOU KNOW: place. Especially during the holi- Perhaps the best thing about giving games as gifts is how easy it days, it’s a way to show people how is. After all, you already play games! You know a lot about it! You much you appreciate them, and are the expert, so you can find the perfect game for anybody on your gives you an excuse to get together list: not too simple, not too complex. Of course, if you aren’t certain, with friends and loved ones. But your local hobby store is the perfect place to go and get some top why stop there? After all, you can’t quality advice. And while you’re there asking for ideas, you can share a tie or a sweater. But you can knock a few items off your list at the same time. Your local game store share a rousing game of Amazonas is the best source for games, whether they’re gifts for your family, or or Carcassonne, or Risk. Long after gifts for yourself! the holidays, you’ll still be getting together to enjoy a great game or ✲✲✲ three. It’s like giving a gift over and over again. GAMES COVER EVERY INTEREST: William Niebling grew up in Wisconsin, in the shadow of TSR, Of course, not everybody is excited about the same topics. If they during the 1980's. He nurtured a love of games and gaming from were, then there would only be one new movie every year. But no a very early age, spending many wondrous rainy afternoons and bitter winter days playing games of every type and style.

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