Shadows Of Brimstone from Flying Frog Productions continues to be an impressive series of board games. With Forbidden Fortress they head off to the lands of Feudal Japan to battle demons and more from mythology. We also have an awesome fire-breathing exclusive!

So what's the game all about? Well, you will be playing as a number of different heroes including the Samurai, Ninja, Monk and Sorceress (in the core game at least) battling against the forces of darkness. You will fight through quests and battle massive boss monsters throughout a long campaign packed with awesomeness.

Some more on just what you get inside the box...

• Includes 27 beautifully detailed, multi-piece hard plastic, 32mm scale game miniatures for the Heroes and Enemies, each designed with dynamic poses and detail perfect for painting.
• Immersive adventures and story driven gameplay, using the expansive and popular Shadows of Brimstone™ Game Engine.
  • Fully Cooperative, with all of the players working together against the game itself
  • Dynamically generated adventures, 12 different Missions, and 4 unique Heroes with many options for customization, the game is designed for massive replayability.
  • Easy to learn with simple but fun gameplay and rewarding thematic story moments as you progress your Heroes.
  • Built-in Campaign system for keeping your Hero characters from game to game, finding new items on your adventures and gaining new skills and abilities as you go up in level.
  • Heroes can visit a Feudal Japanese Village between mission to re-stock and re-supply before the next adventure, having a mini-adventure in town.
  • Double-sided Map Tiles include a Forbidden Fortress of Feudal Japan on one side and the Belly of the Beast OtherWorld on the back side for the Heroes to explore; stepping through a shimmering portal and continuing their adventures in an alien world inside of a massive living creature.
  • Over 250 game cards, a full set of beautifully illustrated, double-sided Map Tiles, a host of dice and counters, and all of the large Hero and Enemy record sheets needed to play
  • Includes a CD Soundtrack of original Music, created to set the mood while playing.

...and all of that sounds very awesome indeed! The nod to older games with some fancy new mechanics thrown into the mix should make for an interesting experience.  One of those mechanics is the way in which tiles work. A regular tile is a relatively nice looking place...

...but you can head through portals and enter the Belly of the Beast and the OtherWorld to try and get your hands on more impressive treasures as you're saving the world.

We love the idea of stepping into a more alien world and finding yourself battling against the strange and the wonderful in equal measure.

Exclusive! The Dragon Sho-Riu

We mentioned we had a bit of a sneaky peek for you as Flying Frog dropped in a rather epic look at what's coming at the $1 Million mark. Here we have Sho-Riu in model/render form...

"Known as the Eater of Souls, Destroyer of Heaven, Three Claws of the Damned, the mighty Dragon King, Sho-Riu was vanquished 1,000 years ago by a sacred order of Yamabushi monks. Vowing his revenge for a millennium of torment, the dragon lord has regained much of his power and returned from exile to reign fiery death and destruction on all who would dare oppose him!"

According to the folks behind the game it is shown on a 90mm base and it stands approximately 188mm tall making it another of their massive bosses for the game. We think it looks superb!

Heroes, Monsters & Expansions

The main game comes with four different heroes for you to play as and we got to see some wonderful painted examples of them here with the Samurai and the Monk...

...plus the Sorceress and the Assassin.

Now those are some good looking figures for a board game! Not only do you get these heroes however as the Kickstarter Exclusives for the campaign include both the Sumo and the Daimyo.

But that's not all! If you want to expand your collection then the folks at Flying Frog Productions has also put together an expansion for the game called the Temple Of Shadows.

In this set, you get more heroes, more monsters, more tiles, and more adventures to undertake.

As a lover of heroes, you will be happy to know that four new heroes enter the mix here too.

We mentioned above about the monsters in the game and they truly are something to behold. We've seen some painted versions of the heroes but the team at Flying Frog has also painted up these monsters. Here we have the Oni and the Dishonoured Dead looking wonderful.

Oh, and we couldn't go without showing you the Shogun Boss from the Temple of Shadows expansion who just rocks!

This game is just looking superb and is packed with all manner of upgrade and add-on options for those that want to go crazy. It's also nice to see that we can delve into Japanese culture with a board game without resulting to chibi!

Will you be jumping onto this campaign?