A few months ago one of my friends introduced me to a new post-nuclear apocalypse skirmish game called This is Not a Test (TNT). Written by Joseph McGuire and published by 
The 2016 edition of the 
CONGO - Teaser
hursday, July 14, 2016
CONGO - Adventures in the heart of Africa / Adventures in the heart of Africa
With the imminent release of our new game, it seemed that the time had come to paint a quick picture of Congo.
With the upcoming release of our new game, it seemed that the time had come to draw a quick picture of Congo.
Congo is a miniature game that offers you to follow the footsteps of great explorers like Stanley & Livingstone and head out to the heart of Black Africa, deep basin of the mighty Congo River, which gave its name to our game .
This new album is primarily an adventure game, for the use of intrepid players who have not cold eyes and ready to risk everything in a desperate quest for fame, wealth and knowledge.
The period covered by Congo is fascinating. Well before the massive arrival of westerners, the pioneers of the discovery of the African subcontinent were explorers, scientists or Arab merchants and traders. At the head of men of columns, they disappeared into the jungle or roamed the paths of the savannah, with various more or less worthy objectives. And throughout their journeys, their path crossed that of some indigenous tribes who have never seen white or oriental and their path took them through the realms of major African powers like the Azande.
In an era where a single click allows us to contemplate vast exotic landscapes or communicate with friends at several thousand kilometers, it is not easy to imagine the difficulties faced these explorers. Climate, environment, flora, fauna and local populations were so many obstacles and could transform the expedition fiasco. He had a good dose of courage, recklessness or greed to sink into the Congo Basin.
Congo is a miniature game that offers you to follow the footsteps of great explorers like Stanley and Livingstone and head out to the heart of Dark Africa, deep into the Bassin of the great Congo River, which gave its name to our game .
This new venture is primarily an adventure game, aimed at intrepid players, willing to risk everything in a desperate quest for fame, wealth and knowledge.
The period covered by Congo is fascinating. Well before the massive arrival of europeans, adventurers pioneered the exploration of the African subcontinent. They were explorers, scientists or Arab merchants and traders. At the head of columns of many men (most of them natives), they went into the jungle or followed the tracks of the savannah, with various objectives (some of them being less than moral). And throughout their journeys, their journey brought them into the lands of many indigenous tribes who have never seen white people and their path took them through the kingdoms of major African powers like the Azande.
Today, a mouse click allows us to contemplate vast exotic landscapes or communicate with remote friends living thousands of kilometers away, and it is hard to imagine the difficulties these explorers faced. The climate, environment, fauna, flora and local population were so many pitfalls that could transform the expedition into a terrible and deadly fiasco. And you really needed a good dose of courage, recklessness or greed to sink in the Congo Basin.
But our game is not just to move in the savannah in sweltering heat or painfully progress in the moist jungle infested with mosquitoes. For Congo also draws inspiration from contemporary accounts that mingled happily fantasies, embellishment and novelization of the stories of explorers like the penny dreadfuls that, rather than informed, were intended to distract the reader. Pulp novels before time!
Thus, Congo invites you to experience adventures, rather than play scenarios. These adventures are presented as newspaper articles on large format and are inserted in the rule book under the title " The Bulletin of the Geographical Society ."
But our game will not only about progressing in the savannah under sweltering heat or painfully advance in the moist jungle infested with mosquitoes. Congo also draws its inspiration from the contemporary accounts that mingled happily fantasies, embellishment and novelization of the stories of explorers (like the famous penny dreadfuls did with folklore). More than being informative, these papers were intended to distract the reader, kind of pulp novels of their time!
Thus, Congo invites you to experience adventures, rather than play scenarios. The adventures are the subject of separate sheets inserted in the book, and presented as a fictional articles published by « Le Bulletin de la Société Géographique » (ed. note : the Bulletin of the Geographical Society!).
Each adventure has a unique situation, which offers its share of adventures and tensions. Due to their nature, they have a large "replayability" and he will certainly be several parties prior to foresee all possible approaches and strategies for each adventure.
During these adventures, you will lead a column after a four crops proposed by the game: Shipments of whites, the Sultanate of Zanzibar, the tribes of Forestry and Kingdoms Warriors. Each culture has its own troops, colorful characters and special rules. Each column is generally composed of 20 to 30 figurines,
Adventures require only reduced playing surface (120 cm by 90 cm) to be played. The playing surface will accommodate several sets of elements that will enhance your gaming table without requiring a disproportionate investment due to the reduced size of the playing surface while allowing you to have a satisfactory setting for parties.
Congo is in the form of a book in hardback, 108 pages in color. Inserted in the book, you will find 8 adventures and a dangerous ground cardboard sheet. In addition, your dealer will give you a bag containing a pack of cards, a board precut studs and strips required to play. It will do you more than you get different kinds of dice (D6, D8 and D10), the figurines (available as columns of boxes for each crop) and some set pieces to get you fully in the adventure!
Each Adventure presents a unique situation, which will provide its share of incidents and tensions. Due to their nature, they have a great replayability, and you will certainly some game before getting a grasp on all possible approaches and strategies for each adventure.
During these Adventures, you will lead a column taken from on of the 4 cultures presented in the game: White Men Expedition, the Sultanate of Zanzibar, the Forest Tribes and the African Kingdoms. Each culture has its own troops, characters and special rules.
A column is generally made of 20-30 miniatures, and adventures only require a small gaming surface (120cm x 90cm) to be played. Thus, if the scenery items are an essential part of the fun of the game, the table surface will not require a disproportionate investment to provide a satisfactory framework for your games.
Congo takes the shape of a book (hardcover) 108 pages, full color. Inserted in the book you will find 8 Adventures and a dangerous terrain cardboard sheet. In addition to the book, your retailer will hand you a bag containing the deck of cards needed to play, and a punchboard with the tokens needed for the game and that also includes the measuring sticks. Not included in the game, you will need some dice (D6, D8 and D10) miniatures (available as Column boxes for each culture) and some scenery to start your adventure!
We will return very quickly to you to briefly explained the Congo game mechanics, and hope that our invitation to adventure will seduce you!
We will soon return to the game mechanics, and continue to introduce Congo, hoping that this invitation to adventure was interesting!
