Welcome to this week’s PUNCHLIST, where we round up the biggest news in nerd culture. It might be from the MCU, board gaming, D&D, and more. But whatever the news is this week, you can bet it will eventually separate you from your money.
7. The OP Announces Warhammer 40K Risk
Risk: Warhammer 40K pits Ultramarines, Orks, Chaos Space Marines, Aeldari Craftworlds, and Genestealer Cults against one another for control of the planet Vigilus!
The classic Risk rules will see a few 40k-flavored additions that have us curious. We’re working on an interview with the game’s designer, so stay tuned!
+ More here: Risk: Warhammer 40k
6. UK Games Expo Joins the Long List of Cancelled Conventions
COVID-19’s threat and the uncertain timeline it has created has claimed another victim in the UK Games Expo. Other nerdy conventions that have fallen prey to the pandemic include E3, San Diego Comic Con, Emerald City Comic Con, Origins Game Fair, Anime Expo, WonderCon, and more.
PaizoCon, however, is taking place online since they can’t gather in person! You can catch the details for that here.
+ More here: UK Games Expo 2020 Cancelled: What’s Happening Next?
5. Marvel and Disney Employees Furloughed
Half of the editorial staff for Marvel Comics has been furloughed for the time being. Disney has also furloughed over 100,000 employees – most of whom are park employees, as the doors have closed on those parks across the world.
+ More here: Marvel Furloughs Employees
4. Indie RPG: Kids on Brooms Is Open for Pre-Order!
Fans of the rules-light, narrative-first Kids on Bikes will find much to love in the newly announced Kids on Brooms. This time you play as a witch or wizard at a magical school of your own creation as you embark upon magical and mysterious adventures!
You can pre-order the 100-page rulebook using the link below!
+ More here: Kids on Brooms
3. Comic Lovers: Diamond Is Eyeing Resuming Distribution in May
Diamond “set a target on-sale date of May 20.” This comes after DC’s announcement that they were bypassing Diamond for the time being and leveraging Lunar and UCS. You can read our full discussion of that move here.
+ More here: Diamond ‘Targets’ May 20 for Distribution Return
2. More Marvel Movie Delays (But Also One We Get Earlier!)
The pandemic has wreaked havoc on movie release schedules as well. Here is a quick list of the current Marvel movies’ release dates (not all are MCU):
- Black Widow: November 6, 2020
- The Eternals: February 12, 2021
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings: May 7, 2021
- The third Spider-Man movie: November 5, 2021.
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: March 25, 2022.
- The Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse sequel: October 7, 2022.
But Thor: Love and Thunder has moved up from February 18, 2022 to February 11! So there’s that. It was originally slated for a November 2021 release, so we’re not really getting it earlier, but we’ll take what we can get!
+ More here: Movie shifts
1. Board Gamers! Marvel Champions Gets a Red Skull Expansion
Fantasy Flight’s The Rise of the Red Skull expansion offers new player decks for Hawkeye and Spider-Woman along with five villains: Crossbones, Absorbing Man, Taskmaster, Zola, and Red Skull.
A campaign mode is also introduced in the set which takes you through each villain in turn in a connected story.
The silhouettes below tease future scenarios and heroes. Do you have any guesses on who they might be?
+ More here: The Rise of the Red Skull
Check back next Wednesday for more news for nerds. Better yet, scroll down just a few more inches and sign up for our newsletter, The Cable.
Tabletop Takeaways: Tips for Dungeon Masters with a Narrative Spin