Gamer Goggles

Para Bellum Wargames, the developer and publisher of the fantasy Regimental Miniature Wargame “Conquest: The Last Argument of Kings” and updated Skirmish system “Conquest: First Blood” releases a completely new Model for the Nords in April. The Einherjar defeated the Jotnar and earned their undying fealty when Angbjorn, the Bear, defeated Alvaldi, the Shaman King of the Ice Jotunn. While this saga has been told and retold, embellished by every generation to make the victor more glorious and the defeated more wretched, few understand just how close the duel was or how much was at stake.

“This model includes bonus pieces for our gamers to allow their creativity to unfold…” says Stavros Halkias, Founder and Creative Director. “Depicting the climax of that famous duel, Winter’s End lets you field Alvaldi (as an Ice Jotnar) and 2 Angjorns (as a Konungyr or Blooded) one may be used individually in battle and the other depicting him mid leap in the thick of the action!”

Sold as a set of 3 miniatures, fans can create this model in any number of ways, with pre-cut spaces for magnets for gamers to recreate the flying effect pictured, on their gaming table. Each box will include two separate head molds as well allowing for custom creation. The Winter’s End Founder’s Exclusive plays as an Ice Jotnar in game and is considered an alternate pose or upgraded model for in game action. This is a limited edition of 990 pieces, each sequentially numbered.

The Nords Winter’s End is available for Pre-Order now at an SRP of USD 175.99 /EU 159.99. This will be released on April 30th worldwide, while numbered supplies last. A very limited quantity will debut at Adepticon where we are launching this edition in booth 1202.

www.para-bellum.com www.facebook.com/ParaBellumWarGames

CATALYST GAME LABS’ BATTLETECH REFIT & REDEPLOYMENT 

Catalyst Game Labs refits the seminal BattleTech IP with two new box sets and a rulebook for redeployment in August, and available at the Gen Con Game Fair 2026. The same game and universe you’ve loved for four decades receives its best-yet presentation of art, fiction, miniatures and rules. 

For the first time in more than thirty years, a new BattleTech Starter Box, Core Box and Core Rulebook were developed simultaneously for a joint release in August 2026. In preparation for this refit, Catalyst ran the largest public playtest in BattleTech’s four-decade history, ensuring all revisions to our game of heavy metal mayhem were well-honed and battle-tested. 

While rules changes were made to improve the tabletop experience, this is not a new edition of BattleTech. As always, BattleTech remains remarkably the same as when it first appeared in 1985’s Second Edition boxed set.

Starter Box 

The Starter Box builds off of the success of the Beginner Box and Essentials, but ups the ante. As a starting point for new players, it eases novice MechWarriors into the BattleTech game as smoothly as ever. But now, the reverse of each half-page record sheet offers a taste of the exciting equipment and rules that the full BattleTech game brings to your table. The box includes two fan-favorite, ilClan-era BattleMechs: the dogged Hammerhead and the brutal Kontio!

Core Box 

Likewise, the new Core Box uses the bestselling A Game of Armored Combat boxed set as the foundation to construct an immersive, fun experience. A highlight of the new Core Box is the Sagas lore booklet. This brand-new primer opens the doors to the BattleTech universe with a series of gorgeous, all-new art pieces, but also guides players through choosing a faction, a style of play, and more. The eight high-quality, ready-to-play miniatures included in the box represent a cross-section of more than thirty years of beloved BattleTech lore. They include the Hollander and Rakshasa that first appeared in Technical Readout: 3055; the Solitaire from Technical Readout: 3067; the Uziel and Mad Cat Mk II that premiered in the MechWarrior 4: Vengeance computer game; the Vulture Mk IV Prime that first hit game tables as part of MechWarrior: Dark Age; and the Regent and Eris from the new ilClan Era Recognition Guides.

Core Rulebook 

Building on the critical and commercial success of the BattleMech Manual, a half-year of public playtesting brought forth the most cohesive, approachable, and dynamic set of rules for BattleTech ever: the new Core Rulebook. Thanks to the support of the Catalyst Demo Team Agents and the wider BattleTech community, the Core Rulebook also contains a comprehensive

Missions section: a shared, fundamental framework allowing players to easily create a huge variety of BattleTech games. This flexible toolbox allows for everything from quick pick-up games to epic clashes, and makes it easy for anyone—from the newest players to grizzled veterans—to build a force, choose a mission, grab some miniatures and start rolling dice!

Core Rules Changes

After six months, five playtest packets, and thousands of hours of playtesting, we’ve finalized the BattleTech Core Rules Changes document, which you can find here, alongside a review and reflection on this process from developer Keith Hann. We can’t thank our fabulous, worldwide community enough for their expertise, enthusiasm, and time as we developed this new rulebook and box sets. Thank you! 

As always, existing BattleTech mapsheets, Technical Readouts, and all models remain fully compatible with the new Core Rulebook. Additionally, of the thousands of ’Mech record sheet variants published over the past forty years, less than .05% required a small tweak (just those for units which have Watchdog CEWS or Bombast Lasers). Odds are that you’ll never see an existing record sheet that’s not fully compatible.

As usual, Catalyst is attending AdeptiCon 2026 in force! In addition to our plethora of games, we’ll have a diorama showing off the new BFM: Volcanic map, along with all of the new models found in the Starter Box and Core Box! We’ll also have samples of both boxes in our display cases, along with a complete sample of Aces: Snowblind, our next Alpha Strike cooperative campaign box, currently at the printers. Stop by the Grand Ballroom, snap photos, ask us questions and play some BattleTech! 

For those not attending, we’ll be livestreaming throughout the show. Be sure to catch our first segment, at 10 a.m. CST, where we’ll extensively cover the details of this announcement, answer questions, and more. Check out all of the excitement 

youtube.com/@catalyst-game-labs.

Leap into the Action! 

BattleTech remains one of the best-selling tabletop miniatures games in the hobby, with well over 10 million plastic miniatures sold in the last eight years. This refit and redeployment of the new Starter Box, Core Box, and Core Rulebook celebrates the seminal BattleTech universe, while making it easier than ever to leap into the action. Whether you’ve been here the whole time, you’re coming back to the game for the first time in decades, or picking it up for the very first time, fabulous, narrative-driven games await you on the battlefields of the Inner Sphere!

Traveller, the Most Influential Science Fiction RPG of All Time, is Coming to 5E

A landmark conversion brings nearly five decades of iconic science-fiction roleplaying to the world’s most popular tabletop system.

Traveller, first published in 1977, is officially being adapted in a new project led by veteran game designer Timothy Brown, in full coordination with Mongoose Publishing. The project aims to bring the depth, scope, and creative freedom of classic Traveller to a new generation of players.

Designed for groups interested in science-fiction storytelling using familiar tabletop mechanics, Traveller 5E preserves what made the original game legendary while making it accessible to a wider audience. The result is a complete science fiction roleplaying experience centered on interstellar travel, trade, jump space starships, and sector-level worldbuilding, allowing groups to create entire universes on their own.

“This 5E version introduces Traveller to an enormous new audience. Starships, strange worlds, exotic alien creatures … every aspect of the sci-fi classic is faithfully recreated using the new edition’s rules. Will the existing Imperium and all its sourcebooks be updated to the new rules? If there’s demand for that, then yes, of course, but the primary objective is to make a sandbox game that feeds the pent-up demand for whole new game universes. Equally exciting, we’re tracking some of our favorite sci-fi novels and series to license as whole new Traveller 5E settings … stay tuned!” – Timothy Brown

Traveller 5E supports a wide range of play styles and science-fiction themes, offering tools for:

? Iconic character creation

? Designing original worlds, sectors, and interstellar settings

? Building starships, vehicles, and alien creatures

? Campaign play focused on exploration, commerce, and discovery

The crowdfunding campaign for Traveller 5E will launch on March 31.

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About World’s Largest RPGs

World’s Largest RPGs is a tabletop roleplaying game publisher focused on bringing legendary games to modern audiences. The company works closely with creators and licensors to deliver excellent roleplaying experiences for players and game masters alike.

About Mongoose Publishing

Mongoose Publishing is a British manufacturer of roleplaying games, miniatures, and card games, publishing material since 2001. Its product lines include Traveller, Paranoia, 2300AD, and Shield Maidens.

Let Your Voice Be Heard! Submit Your Idea for the 2026 HotBox PizzaSubmit Your Pizza Idea

ADULT MIRAGE DRAGON
Directly inspired by the cover of the Pathfinder: GM Core book, the vain and egotistical Mirage Dragons use camouflaging scales, hallucinatory breath, and their mastery of illusion magic to mislead and confound their attackers. Featuring color-shift purple/green paint, this unique figure is made to impress! Want to try your own hand at color-shifting deception? Paint your own with the Deep Cuts model! ? PRE-ORDER NOW ? ? SO MANY TO CHOOSE FROM…
Pathfinder has hordes of dragons in the roost waiting to join your adventure! From the Diabolic Dragon to the Treerazer, and many many more, which one will you choose? ? VIEW PATHFINDER DRAGONS

? ? ? Greetings, Seeker, New Year, New Storms The calendar turns, but the Malediction does not rest, and now we step into 2026 with our first official tournament,  new Seekers who and more announcements on the horizon… Let’s see where the fog takes us. ? ? Epic Adepticon at 2026 Adepticon has become one of our most traditional events, so it is where we are launching our first full slate of structured Malediction events:Adepticon is no stranger to Malediction. For years now, our demo tables there have been where many Seekers first touched the cards, rolled their first dice, and felt the beat of the game for real. In 2026, we are going back to that same hall, but this time the storm is bigger. Alongside our now traditional learn-to-play demos, Adepticon will host our first full slate of structured events of Malediction 1v1 and2v2 Tournaments, Beat the Designer with Nicole Lobo, plus a dedicated Paint and Take! It is the same place where you once discovered the game, now turned into a proving ground where you can test lists, team up with allies, and even sit across from the people who design the cards.Registrations for all these events and activations open this Sunday, January 11. Keep an eye on our site, on @playmalediction, and on Adepticon’s official channels so you know exactly when you can claim your seat at the table. ? Griza: Beyond the Instagram Reveals You may have already seen them on Instagram, one card at a time. Here is a little more about what is really happening behind those frames. Griza fights like a wound that never closes. Their Legacy, Ihreniv, starts at 20 Echo and turns both your Spirits and your healing spells into weapons. Spirits that fall can still perform one last action before leaving the battlefield, and every spell that restores health can lash out and deal damage equal to its cost to an engaged enemy. Your Spirits die loudly, and your healing becomes a punishment. On the unit card, Griza, Lingering Wound pushes that theme further. Spirit Master lets nearby Spirit allies swing using Griza’s attack and abilities, and Soul Sacrifice lets you pay for spells with Griza’s own health instead of Echo during their activation. You bleed your Seeker now so your Echo can carry you later, chaining spells and Essence Bursts until the opponent runs out of answers. Griza is for Seekers who enjoy attrition, engines that hurt them as much as the opponent, and games where the last turn feels like an avalanche built on every sacrifice you made before.Revisit Griza’s reveals on Instagram: ? ? ? ? Something Stirs in the future, can you see it? There is one more thing we wanted to start the year with.In this Echo, you will find a single image. No title. No card frame. No explanation. Just a glimpse of something that does not quite belong to the world as you know it. What does it look like? What is this relic buried under ash? Do you recognize it as a place on Agnar? All I can say is that it is something we’ve never done before. A new announcement for our next edition! Look closely. Then tell us.Reply to this email with your guesses, drop them in our Discord, or share your theories on social tagging us @PlayMalediction. When the announcement lands, we will see who was closest to the mark. Study the image. Make your guess. Wait for the Echo on January 23rd. ? ? ? ? See you on the battlefield!
— Dan, from The Malediction

The Flowers of Algorab Campaign Boxed Set Coming February 3 – Now On Pre-Order The first expansion for Coriolis: The Great Dark – Free League’s original sci-fi RPG “Levon was a true explorer and a true friend. He went further and deeper than anyone before him. … As we pass him on to the Uncreated Spirit, we do so with gratitude. May the blessings of the Three guide him, and the Icons show him mercy.”

Hello!

Today, Free League Publishing announced that The Flowers of Algorab, the first expansion for its science-fiction tabletop roleplaying game Coriolis: The Great Dark, is now available for pre-order in the Free League webshop, with immediate access to a complimentary PDF, ahead of the February 3 release date.
 
This massive boxed campaign set invites Explorers to investigate the mysteries of Ship City, embark on dangerous expeditions, and travel along the Hammurabi Arm in search of long-lost secrets. The journey begins with the death of an old ruin delver and the disappearance of a mysterious stone tablet, setting off a strange chain of events deep within Ship City. The Flowers of Algorab
 Designed as a full campaign experience, The Flowers of Algorab expands the world of Coriolis: The Great Dark with new locations, stories, and tools for both players and Game Masters. The boxed set includes:Campaign book detailing characters, locations, and overarching plotsExpedition booklet with player-facing information on Greatships and the systems of the Hammurabi ArmLarge full-color map of the Lost Horizon and Ship CityMap of the Charted SphereDelve maps and handoutsBlueprints of the Greatships Akhander and RigelBlueprints of a Grasshopper shuttle and a Rhino roverNine base dice and three gear diceDeck of custom cards for initiative, gear, and discoveriesCardboard tokens for Blight, supply, and expeditionsNote that the campaign requires access to the Coriolis: The Great Dark Core Rules.

Gen Con Announces 2026 Registration Dates, Badge Prices

INDIANAPOLIS (January 13, 2026) — Gen Con, North America’s largest and longest-running tabletop gaming convention, announced badge registration information today for its upcoming 2026 convention. Gen Con 2026 will run from July 30 to August 2 at the Indiana Convention Center, Lucas Oil Stadium, and surrounding downtown hotels.

Badges for Gen Con 2026 will be available for purchase on Sunday, February 8, at noon Eastern on gencon.com. The convention will continue to feature thousands of ticketed in-person events, a sold-out Exhibit Hall, an outdoor Block Party with the Sun King Beer Garden, numerous food trucks, and live entertainment.

Badge Registration    

Gen Con 2026 4-day and single-day badges will be available for purchase beginning at noon Eastern on February 8.

Badge TypePrice4-Day$164Thursday$83Friday$83Saturday$112Sunday$41Trade Day$302

Hotel registration for discounted rooms in the Gen Con housing block will begin at noon Eastern on February 22, and event registration for ticketed events will open at noon Eastern on May 17.

Mark your calendars You don’t want to miss these dates.