Can't get OCTGN to work on my Mac, so I thought I'd try out Academy on Tabletopia, but the link from the AW site takes me to a login page. Is it now necessary to take a out a paid subscription to try out Academy on Tabletopia?

The Academy description makes me think it is an unfinished version (e.g. no spell books, etc) so I don't want to part with cold hard cash for something that is still a trial.

The Sword & Sorcery KS allowed me to try out the game via Tabletopia without payment. Granted I HAD KS'd that game, but hey, I saw an Academy-shaped box under the Christmas tree...

What do you recommend?

Played quite a bit on my old PC a few years back, and the chaps at Arcane Duels have inspired me to get back into Mage Wars. Academy coming for Christmas, but I fancy removing the rustiness in the arena on OCTGN.

My old PC is now dead. Can I run OCTGN on a nice new Mac? I am completely non technical so don't fancy setting up emulators and so on.

All help appreciated.

Everything seems eerily quiet regarding Academy availability in the UK. None of my usual sources have any idea when it will arrive.

Help me Arcane Wonders. You're my only hope...

There are a few posts running here and on the Geek regarding how we increase the player pool.

My overwhelming recommendation would be to launch an on-line play platform (cf Memoir 44, Small World, Ticket to Ride, Pandemic, etc., etc.). OCTGN does a cracking job of allowing one to actually play the game, but is a little difficult to set up initially. Nowadays, for 'a little difficult to set up initially' read 'dead in the mainstream'.

There is another suggestion, however, which may help to extend the player base. Advertise to specific groups beyond  CCG or LCG players. I am not really a CCG or LCG player, but I understand that such games are short (30 min?) and somewhat strongly affected by the card draw. Players who are looking for 30 min battles may get fed up with Mage Wars.

For me, Mage Wars is much more akin to Warhammer, Hordes, and other various miniatures games. Players spend hours in advance designing armies (spellbooks), choosing upgardes (enchants, equips) which are all available during play (not a card draw),  involve tactical positioning (we have a map!),  and the occasional special effects (attack spells?). These games take from an hour to maybe 3 hours typically. The players who enjoy these games might be a great target audience for Mage Wars.

Now the elephant in the room here is the MINIATURES themselves. Many people play Warhammer (et al) for the painting and spectacle. I personally hate painting but love gaming, so Mage Wars is a dream for me. I reckon there will be a decent market for players who feel like this, or who no longer have the time to paint hundreds of minis. Those guys are probably a bit older and more affluent now. Again, a GOOD THING for Mage Wars.

In addition to the tired Warhammer (et al) players, there is a market of Wargamers who I KNOW would love Mage Wars if they could get beyond the fantasy trappings. Even with the dripping theme, I believe that if grognards were to give the game a go, we would generate many converts. The complexity of MW is NOTHING compared to the stuff that grognards put up with. There might be an argument to say this market is too small, but recent releases such as I-pad Battle of the Bulge are driving interest in this level of game.

In summary...Mage Wars is a cracking game. OCTGN does a valiant job of allowing on-line play, but an official platform would be even better.  Targetted approaches to miniatures and board wargamers might be worthwhile.

You know those moments when you have been playing a game a hundred times, pulling all sorts of wild combo's thinking hard about the ultimate Assassin/Big Few/Forge/Control/Free Action/Banana/Mountain Dew/Tractor/Umvavu stratetactics, and suddenly doubt your basic rules understanding?

Tanglevine: a creature with this card acting on it can melee attack a creature in its zone, right? It DOES NOT have to target the Tanglevine, right? Tanglevine causes the Restrained trait, which stops movement, but does not affect target selection, right?

Please help this doubting Thomas.

Here is a brief sketch of an idea. No more as I am both on holiday and slightly tipsy on fine wine...

A Mage class which focuses on buffing him/herself and creatures with POTIONS. Probably Arcane and Nature focus. Opposite would be War.

Potions are a new type of card. A picture of a bottle. The Alchemist can bind an INCANTATION to a POTION. The potion is ATTACHED to a creature. The incantation can then be cast as a FREE ACTION by the creature to which the potion is attached. This destroys the potion, and allows the CREATURE to cast the INCANTATION, FOR FREE.

I can't quite believe that I don't know the absolute answer to this...

Does Nullify trigger when an opponent attaches a face down enchantment on the Nullify-protected mage, or when it is revealed?

I thought it was on attach as Nullify uses the word 'target' and the mage is targetted by the face down enchant, but I met a counter view last night so I may well be wrong.

How important are tourneys to Arcane Wonders? I am a big boardgamer, but only with a few friends FTF and on-line via Vassal (and now OCTGN). As far as I can see, there is a very small boardgame tournament scene in general in the UK, though there may be a larger Magic scene. I have no real interest in Magic so I couldn't say.

Several posts in these forums are focussed on AW utilising the tournament world to drive business. Is that a BIG THING in the USA? How important are tourneys to AW? It seems as though MW can be a relatively long game to play in a tourney, multiround manner. I know that it gets quicker and is variable, but it's a very meaty game, which for me is a good thing.

Anyway, just wondering if the general approach will be tourney focussed or 'sitting at home with a couple of glasses of fine ale of an evening' focussed. Or preferably BOTH.