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The next Talisman expansion is coming in the next few months. Frostmarch will introduce 4 characters and add more of all types of cards.
Official previews are here and here, but i would have preferred to see another board expansion rather than a non-board expansion.
I’ll withhold final judgment till I see more but my son is still upset that we have no centaur character yet.
The real question is what will the Big Bang Theory guys think of it?
I don’t know what is worse, the idea that a series of colored blocks is considered art or that someone decided it was worth copying?
I don’t see how this is worth a lot of debate but lets talk some basic facts:
1. Yes this is a copy of the first picture
2. The reason this is not brought up in polite company is the same reason why Professor Mary Lefkowitz needed to be attacked for her two books. Amazon reviews here and here.
3. The people who cry Racism at that suggestion are not to be taken seriously by intelligent people.
4. There is nothing insidious in the White House displaying this picture or putting it up to be seen
I think it is an indication of bad taste more than anything else, but the point of any kind of “art” is. “Does the person who possess is or view it like it?”
If you like it than who cares what anyone else says about these things?
Personally compare this:
With this
Just because I recently reviewed a book on Art history it doesn’t make me an expert but I’d take the 2nd over the first two combined.
In fact I’d take either of these two over the first pair:
I don’t know art but I know what I like.
(note the historical information comes primarily from Marvin Albert’s 1957 volume Broadsides and Boarders my review here)
William de la Marck’s or as he was known to his men “Longnail”, primary interest was revenge. Despite the Letter of Marque issued by the Prince of Orange he was driven by beheading of his cousin by the Spanish authorities that ruled the Netherlands and his oath to not cut his hair or nails till he was avenged. His favorite target were Catholics priests and Monks but any ally of Spain was fair game.
He was not planning to begin the fight for Dutch independence when he sailed into the City of Brielle on April 1st 1572, pressure on Elizabeth I of England caused her to order all Dutch privateers to lose their rights in English ports and the wind took them there. He was looking for supplies and booty, the plan was to get what they wanted and get out.
With the Spanish garrison temporarily gone his fleet took the town with ease. With their fellow dutchmen around them the men had a change of heart. Where else had they to go, this was Dutch soil and they were dutchmen, did they really want to give the first Dutch town liberated back to Spain?
De la Marck declared the town taken in the name of the Prince of Orange and raised his banner, he contented himself with the murder of Catholic priests but otherwise left the town alone. They successfully managed to defend the town from the Spanish with the help of the people who rallied behind them and a group of pirates pretending to be patriots were transformed into actual patriots…
…Except for William de la Marck although feeling what the others felt for a while it didn’t distract him from his quest for revenge and his blood lust for Catholic Clergy. His vendetta against Priests and religious was hurting the effort to gain allies against Spain and preventing Catholic Dutchmen from joining the Prince’s cause. He ignored orders from the Prince for religious tolotance and was eventually removed from his command.
He swore revenge and vengeance against his former allies who dared protect the hated Catholic faithful but died shortly afterward from the bite of a mad dog.
Although he had done great service in the past, the Dutch managed to get along without him.
Hmmm a person who sees an atrocity, fights strongly against those who perpetuates it, then puts personal vengeance and dislike of certain religious beliefs over the cause and turns on his allies. I can’t for the life of me see why the story of Charles Johnson William de la Marck would be on my mind these days.
One of the first games I remember playing was called Broadside
It was a game of the war of 1812 and had an unique game system for it’s time (1962).
First of all The players have unequal forces. Half of the British Fleet consist of Ships of the Line and Frigates only 40% of the American fleet consists of Frigates and they have no ships of the line and a further 40% can be sunk with a single broadside.
Next there are different advantages The Americans control shore batteries and know the locations of Shoals that can sink any ship, the British must attack through one of two harbor entrances both swept by guns.
Finally the victory conditions are different: The British must sink the 4 Merchant ships in the harbor. The Americans must sink the ENTIRE British fleet WITHOUT losing their entire merchant fleet. 
The game is a lot of fun and I still play it with my son once in a while. And it also came with a booklet on the Navel history of the War of 1812. This was the first history book I ever read and began a love affair with history that endures to this day and that my youngest has embraced to a lesser degree.
With the exception of Battle Cry (A simply AWFUL Civil war game, turned me off it for decades) all the games in the American Heritage series sparked my interest in history and led me on my path. (I never managed to get Hit the Beach but my Father served in the pacific in WW 2 so I didn’t need prompting there.)
So if you wonder why I’m constantly quoting historical events, now you know.
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