With all of the incredible news coming from the GAMA Trade Show this week, one of the more exciting announcements came from tabletop darlings Cool Mini Or Not.

Partnering with Dark Sword Miniatures, CMON is bringing the world of Westeros to the tabletop. A Song of Ice & Fire is a tabletop miniatures game based on the novels by George R.R. Martin.

As the game was just announced, there isn’t a lot known about how it will play but here is what we do know (though that is obviously subject to change, since the game is still being designed, like the miniatures and cards depicted in this feature.)

The game is headed to Kickstarter (a CMON game launch staple) in Q3 of 2017 and will hit retail stores in 2018. According to the presentation at GAMA this retail release is being targeted for March 2018, with additional expansions for the game being released every month. Obviously, these are just targets and things can change but I love the fact that this game is going to be supported well past the Kickstarter as there are some incredible houses in the universe (I really hope they release Dorne-led by Oberyn or even the Sand Vipers).

As a miniatures gamer who has assembled, and cut himself while assembling, thousands of miniatures, I’m very excited to hear that all of the miniatures for A Song of Ice & Fire will be pre-assembled. Having seen the pre-assembled miniatures CMON included with their game The Others, I’m definitely excited at being able to play games as soon as I crack open the box. They’re also promising a new material for the minis that resists swords and spears from looking bent and droopy.

We also know that the game is focused on armies set in the land of Westeros. CMON describes the game as being scalable so that you can play small skirmishes all the way up to large scale battles consisting of hundreds of miniatures.

Friend of Geek & Sundry, Rodney Smith of Watch it Played created this video which highlights CMON’s presentation at GAMA and provides even more context about what we can expect with this release.

For those of you who are familiar with miniatures games, there are going to be some familiar elements. CMON has confirmed alternating activations (my personal favourite style of turn sequence), and the use of movement trays to help organize units. Instead of having to manage each individual model, each player will activate a single unit/tray. Battlefield heroes like Robb Stark or Ser Jamie Lannister can be added to units by replacing one of the models from the tray. Each hero will confer special abilities to the unit they are a part of, as well as to your army as a whole.

In addition to these familiar elements, A Song of Ice & Fire is also bringing in some really unique aspects of the universe. Some well known characters, such as Cersei Lannister, are not active on the battlefield but can be added to the sidelines of your army. These characters interact with what is called “The Intrigue System” and will provide abilities that represent the machinations and political intrigue that makes up so much of Westeros.

There will be thematic, open and generated scenarios, giving you the freedom to recreate a battle from the books, generate your own in what CMON is calling a “fan-fic generator” or simply throw your models onto the table and play.

The game will initially release with the starter boxes for both the Lannister and Stark armies for those who do not wish to purchase the two-player starter box.

A special thank you to Rodney Smith for asking CMON questions about the game and providing a lot of the answers.

You can check out more preview photos, courtesy of Rodney, in the gallery below.

Which Westeros House are you most excited to see on the tabletop? Let us know in the comments!

Image Credits: Rodney Smith