Unusual Dice – Elven and Call of Cthulhu dice sets from Q Workshop

Q Workshop's Call of Cthulhu Dice Set

Q Workshop's Elven Dice Set

 
I'm not a dice collector. I still have – and use – the blue set that came with my copy of “pink box” D&D basic back in 1983. While they continue to accumulate – anyone who went through a Storyteller phase has entirely too many ten-sided dice – they're not something I'd ever consider spending more than the minimum amount on. These are different. As the company name suggests, these are most definitely “Unusual Dice”.

I've reviewed two sets of the standard polyhedral dice (one four-sided, one six-sided, one eight-sided, two ten-sided – one marked in “tens” and the other in “units”, one twelve-sided and one twenty-sided). One set had a Middle Earth theme while the other has a Cthulhu theme. The font used for the numbers reflects the theme and the sides are decorated with Tengwar runes or eldritch scribblings respectively.

They're made from a plastic that feels harder and less slippery than whatever material cheap dice are made from. The markings are inlaid rather than printed so they won't wear off. After over twenty years of use, my original blue twenty-sider is practically smooth and I've had to retire it because the it just won't stop rolling. You won't have this problem with these dice.

If I was being pedantic, I'd say that the markings are a little unclear on both of the four-siders. The Cthulhu set replaces the maximum value on each die with an Elder Sign which is fine for the ten-sider, but might be a little confusing when someone rolls a six-sider and gets something that looks bit like a zero. You'd get used to this, however and it doesn't overshadow that these are two elegant, unusual and almost beautiful sets of dice. Any tabletop gamer who uses the traditional set of polyhedrals will appreciate one of these. Christmas present?
Review by Richard Fannon

FFG announce Space Hulk Card Game

A few days ago Fantasy Flight Games announced their next product licensed from Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 universe - a card game called Death Angel based on GW's acclaimed (and recently re-released) strategy board game Space Hulk.

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=1346

From the game summary on FFG's web site it would appear that the game is co-operative, with each player taking on a team of two marines infiltrating the nest of genstealer horde.

The few details regarding the game's mechanics indicate a system where actions are chosen in advance, and where you cannot choose the same action twice in a row.

It also appears that missions and their associated maps will be randomly generated from a deck of cards, ensuring variety and replyability.

It remains to be seen though how much this game will differ from the original Space Hulk, which already offers an excellently tense and claustrophobic game experience. Will Death Angel simply be Space-Hulk lite, or will it be something more?