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J. P. Kalonji wields a clean, street-informed style to deliver a tale that glistens with blood and drama, yet is ultimately uplifting. Nearly four hundred pages long, this graphic novel employs full-page panels to tell the story of an Edo-era swordsman’s quest for survival and enlightenment. When Ningen leaves his dojo at the request of his master -- to travel the world and grow as a swordsman -- he embarks on a journey that becomes a metaphor for the cycle of life and every human’s possibility for spiritual growth.

Collaborating with such international clients as Wyclef Jean, Amnesty International, Thrasher, and Burton snowboards, illustrator J. P. Kalonji has begun to enchant the world with his energetic art style. Now he’s ready to make a splash with his English-language graphic-novel debut!

This engaging, nearly 400-page tale draws comparisons to both Hiroaki Samura’s Blade of the Immortal and Jeff Smith’s Bone.

Format: B&W, 392 pages, TPB, 5" x 7"

Preview.

A glorious hardcover tome collecting concept art and creator commentary from the development of the newest entry in the Samurai Shodown saga.

Since 1993, SNK has rocked the fighting-game world with the visceral combat, iconic characters, and dynamic settings of Samurai Shodown! Now, The Art of Samurai Shodown offers unique insights into the making of the long-awaited revival of the classic fighting franchise. This large-format volume contains nearly 700 documents and illustrations that were used to create the blockbuster game, showcasing this latest episode in thrilling hyper-detail!

Dark Horse Books and SNK welcome you to explore this beautiful and dangerous world with this striking, in-depth look at the game that embodies the samurai spirit!

All original character designs, weapons, costumes, and backgrounds from Samurai Showdown!

HC, 11x10, 192pgs, FC

Five 1/72 (20mm) plastic figures.

Bushido: The Soul of the Samurai, first published in 1905, is the classic introduction to samurai culture. Written by Inazo Nitobe, one of the foremost Japanese authors and educators of the time, this was the first book to explain samurai culture to Westerners in a way that was relatable. Nitobe described characteristics or virtues that are associated with bushido — honor, courage, justice, loyalty, self-control — and explained the philosophy behind how samurai were educated and trained; the connection between the sword and the samurai; ritual suicide; and the position of women in samurai culture. To this day, it’s considered a must-read for understanding “the soul of Japan” and the samurai ethos. This graphic novel revitalizes this classic book, bringing this groundbreaking work to a new audience.

SC, 6x9, 128pgs, B&W

Introduction
Some of the best things in life come from those who are willing to ask the hard questions…

“Is there a more meaningful, entertaining and mentally healthy way of playing these games solo than the “dunce cap tango”? Is there a way to play CDGs in solitaire mode where the player will experience the story developing as they play along, while occasionally being surprised by unexpected events and forced to react to developing and changing situations, all while being unaware of all of the other side’s cards whenever playing one side? This is what the CDG Solo Method is all about.” - Stuka Joe, The Madness Behind a CDG Solo Method, Inside GMT, 2016

The CDG Solo System is a revised GMT Edition of Stuka Joe's CDG solo method, which streamlines two-handed solitaire gameplay by decreasing turn to turn overhead and maintenance. This method of play increases narrative immersion as the great battles of history unfold on your tabletop. The GMT edition of the CDG Solo System includes professionally printed components, a custom screen-printed die, an official ruleset, and Playsheets for seven of GMT’s most popular Card Driven Games.

Gameplay Overview
The CDG Solo System plays alongside your favorite CDG and is designed to enhance your solitaire experience by reintroducing many of the best parts of wargaming that fall apart in standard two-handed play, namely, as Stuka Joe mentioned above, the narrative flow and the fog of war. 

The CDG Solo System includes two Card Displays that are used to manage each side’s hand of strategy cards. At the beginning of each Side's turn, you will roll a Fate Die to determine which of the cards in one or more of the slots are available for play. Typically 2 or 3 cards are available at a time, but the final decision is ultimately yours. After a card is played, the marker on the Cards Remaining track slides one spot to the left, and then it’s time to roll the die for the other side’s turn.

Because the turn to turn maintenance level is so low, the rhythm of play quickly becomes second nature and allows for the game to shine. The combination play between the roll of the Fate Die and the layout of the Card Displays provides many great benefits for Solitaire CDG players. First, the singular die roll provides a nearly instantaneous result that limits the player’s options so a decision can be made quickly for each side. 

Second, because cards are only turned face-up when their lettered slot is rolled, the player doesn’t know all of the cards that will be available for each side. This combined with the Fate Die dictating which slots are available each turn effectively reinstates a reasonable degree of uncertainty and allows the player to focus on the options for the active side, instead of falling victim to the mental strain of trying to take every card into consideration while also pretending to not know what the other side is planning to do. 

Finally, the system allows for an element of surprise. Every once in a while, the perfect strategy hangs in the balance as the die rolls. Whether things look grim (until the die roll flips the perfect card) or everything feels like it's falling perfectly in line (until the card slot you need isn't rolled), the CDG Solo System reintroduces the fog of war to solitaire CDG wargaming. The moments that don't go as planned make for the best stories.

Playsheet Support
Along with a Rules Summary and the components we’ve talked about above, the system will launch with official Playsheet support for seven GMT games:

Caesar: Rome vs Gaul
Commands & Colors: Ancients
Commands & Colors: Samurai Battles
For The People
Illusions of Glory
Paths of Glory
Washington’s War

Playsheets are single sheets of rules, front and back, that contain all of the game-specific rules needed to use the system. These include a diagram of set-up, a listing of die result rulings, and modifications to the system that are necessary to meet the demands of unique game rules.

For those who are familiar with Stuka Joe’s original solo method, the Playsheets are based on the original “Tweak Sheets” and provide the same ease, simplicity, and clarity while aiding in the play experience. While the CDG Solo System is launching with support for the above-mentioned titles, the development team will continue to build more official Playsheets to support old and new CDGs in the GMT catalog.

Finally, we recognize that the CDG Solo System was a community effort and want to give back to the community that developed this system. So, GMT will make the rulebook, playsheets, and all needed files available as a free Print-and-Play download when the system is sent to the printer.

COMPONENTS:
* 2 Card Displays
* 1 Six-Sided Custom Die
* 4 Markers for the Cards Remaining Track 
* 1 Rules Summary
* 7 Playsheets (Caesar: Rome vs Gaul, Commands & Colors: Ancients, Commands & Colors: Samurai Battles, For The People, Illusions of Glory, Paths of Glory, Washington’s War)

Original Solo Method Design: Stuka Joe
Solo System Design: Ken Kuhn 
Developer: Ken Kuhn

Samurai Battles, from the game company Zvezda, premiered almost seven years ago. And although the game achieved some popularity for the most part the game flew under the radar of most gamers. Perhaps the blame was with the time required to assemble the 100 plus plastic Samurai figures before one could even play the game. And once assembled these plastic models, although truly fine figures, were very fragile, almost too fragile for game pieces. Finally when it was time to pack up after a game, it was extremely difficult to store them away safely.

Yet, the Samurai Battles game still gained a small following of very loyal fans. I tend to believe, many fans who were already familiar with one or more of other games that use the Commands & Colors system; Battle Cry, Memoir ’44, Commands & Colors Ancients, or Commands & Colors Napoleonics, actually brought them to the game. But after a couple of years of dwindling sales and the untimely death of Zvezda CEO Konstantin Krivenko, who was very supportive of the project, the game was phased out.

Which brings all of us, you, me and the fine folks at GMT, who also believe in Samurai Battles, to this P500 write-up for the new, improved and more robust version of Commands & Colors: Samurai Battles. Before getting into details why GMT’s Samurai Battles game is Great, first the standard overview text.

The Commands & Colors: Samurai Battles game rules allow players to portray important engagements of Japanese history. The battles, included in the scenario booklet, focus on the historical deployment of forces and important terrain features in scale with the game system. The scale of the game is flexible and varies from battle to battle. For some scenarios, an infantry unit may represent an entire clan of soldiers, while in other scenarios a unit may represent just a few brave warriors.

The Command cards drive movement and creates a “fog of war” and presents players with many interesting challenges and opportunities, while the battle dice resolve combat quickly and efficiently. The Honor & Fortune game mechanic will task players to maintain a balance between these two important game elements. The Dragon Cards add an element of suspense and surprise that can bend the rules and instantly change the course of a battle. The battlefield tactics you will need to execute to gain victory, however, conform remarkably well to the strengths and limitations of the various Japanese unit types, their weapons, battle terrain, and written history.

So what makes GMT’s Commands & Colors: Samurai Battles game Great? In a word, More! GMT’s C&C: Samurai Battles game has more scenarios, more units to deploy, additional types of Japanese units, a jammed-packed battlefield with more units and more terrain. And there are still more expansion materials already waiting in the wings.

First - there are more units and more unit types in the game. Yep, it will take some time to apply stickers to all the blocks, but doing so is a breeze, when compared to the time it took to assemble figures. When done, blocks are very durable and easy to store.

Second - the battlefield comes on a one-piece mounted map board. Not really any larger in that it still stands at 11 hexes deep by 12 hexes wide, but there are plenty of terrain tiles including new types of terrain, fences, ramparts, castle walls and more.

Third - more scenarios, which no doubt will be the most important feature for anyone who owns and enjoys the previous version of Samurai Battles from Zvezda. If all goes as planned, the game will have around 40 scenarios.

Truth be known, in regard to Zvezda’s Samurai Battles game... A few weeks before the game was to go to the printers, I was informed that the number of plastic figures originally planned for the game had been reduced. Therefore, the number of units in most of the Commands & Colors scenarios had to be reduced. After a few days of scrambling, the Commands & Colors scenarios were adjusted. So even if some of the battle scenarios titles in GMT’s scenario booklet are familiar, they are not exactly the same because they are now back to their original unit deployments, which means more units to command.

Much of what is written here is to give players that own an old version of the game enough information about GMT's enhanced game to provide them with reasons to support this project. But even if you have never played the Zvezda edition or any Commands & Colors game, there is plenty the game has to offer. For me personally, I never stopped believing in the game and I have always known that the Japanese Samurai period provides some very fascinating and interesting historical possibilities. GMT also believes in this and that is why they will make a Great game. Welcome and Enjoy!

-Richard Borg

Battles Included in Commands and Colors: Samurai Battles (Tentative):
* First Samurai Skirmish
* Fourth Kawanakajima 1561 (5 Scenarios)
* Domyoji 1615 (2 Scenarios)
* First Battle of Azukizaka 1542
* Second Battle of Azukizaka 1548
* Battle of Okehazama 1560 (2 Scenarios)
* Arita Castle 1517 (2 Scenarios)
* Koriyama Castle 1540-1541 (4 Scenarios)
* Mikata-Go-Hara 1572
* The Ravine Near Saigadake 1572
* Okehazama 1560 (2 Scenarios)
* Anegawa 1570 (2 Scenarios)
* Kizahikara 1572
* Nagashino 1572 (3 Scenarios)
* Mimigawa 1578
* Okitanawate 1584
* Hitadori 1585
* Suriagehara 1589
* Shiroishi 1600
* Sekigahara 1600 (3 Scenarios)
* Imafuku 1614
* Shigino 1614
* Tennoji 1615 (2 Scenarios)

COMPONENTS:
* 1 C&C Samurai Rulebook
* 1 Samurai Scenario Booklet (around 40 battle scenarios)
* 1 Mounted Battlefield Game Board (12 hexes by 11 hexes)
* 45 Terrain Tiles double-sided
* 30 Honor & Fortune Tokens double-sided
* 18 Victory Banner Counters double-sided
* 60 Samurai Command Cards
* 40 Dragon Cards
* 12 Battle Dice
* 2 Unit Summary Sheets
* 316 Blocks
* 5 Block and Dice Label Sheets

DESIGNER: Richard Borg
DEVELOPERS: Pat Kurivial, Roy Gridez, Brent Steeves, Brad Bell, Brian Sherry, Stephen Turnbull, and Brian Bradfrod
BOX/MAP/CARD/TOKEN/TILE ART: Terry Leeds
UNIT LABEL ART: Dariusz Buraczewski and Mark Simonitch
PRODUCERS: Mark Simonitch, Tony Curtis, Andy Lewis, Rodger MacGowan, Gene Billingsley

Described as “King of Tokyo meets Magic The Gathering”

Intense matchups & constant interesting decisions.

Stand-alone & cross-compatible: this is a complete game! The heroes in this box are compatible with all other dice throne heroes.

2 Players
20–40 Min
Age: 8+