First off, C&C is on sale now at www.thenewgameintown.com for only $39.95 (plus applicable taxes and shipping).

Secondly, and this is big news, Crusade & Conquer will be available at Zellers throughout Canada starting in August 2010. So now people who haven’t had the chance to see and feel a game of Crusade & Conquer in person will be able to do so by simply going to the local Zellers store. And hopefully this will help create a little context for all of Don’s Facebook friends still wondering about the true identity of their favorite dragon. Don keeps telling people that there is no man behind the mask but some people insist they must find the truth… Donny’s got the truth right here: Don Dragon is Don Dragon, the official mascot/spokes-dragon for Crusade & Conquer.

Third on the news list: Crusade & Conquer will be attending the 2010 GAMA (Game Manufacturer’s Association) trade show in Las Vegas next week. C&C inventor, Martin Maheux, will be flying down to Vegas with his good pal Don Dragon for a week of meeting industry players and demonstrating C&C. There will also be a very special unveiling in Vegas but Don ain’t here to spill the beans on that just yet so check back in on the next post to see what the buzz is about. Hint: it’s a new C&C product!

In preparation for his week in Vegas, Donny Drags has also been working with a very talented tattoo artist and will look a little different next time you see him. Don will definitely have some photos to share with everybody for his next post. Don is also looking forward to the Calgary Games Convention (CalCon) coming up on March 26th… so much going on…

Don hopes people are enjoying the spring-time weather and getting ready for a great summer. Crusade & Conquer is fantastic game to play outdoors.

All the best,

DD

Don is sorry that he hasn’t found the time to post in the last couple of weeks. The life of Crusade & Conquer’s only spokesdragon is an exciting one and keeping up with all of Don’s Facebook friends really makes the time fly… then again, dragons always find a way to fly!

Crusade & Conquer has been on the toy fair circuit the last few weeks and a buzz is really starting to grow around the game. Don Dragon was able to join the fun in Toronto and had a great time checking out all sorts of new toys, gadgets and games. Don was even able to get a few seconds of airtime on Space TV… here’s the link: http://watch.spacecast.com/#clip263990

And just this past week, Crusade & Conquer got to be a part of one of the greatest toy fairs in the world. The New York Toy Fair is one of the largest gatherings the game industry knows and C&C got noticed by a lot of international buyers. This is great news as it means Crusade & Conquer will be coming to more stores near you… throughout Canada and the United States.

You can visit the Toy Industry Association’s website to find out more about the Toy Fair 2010: www.toyassociation.org

Coming up in about a month is CalCon, the Calgary Games Convention: http://www.cal-con.ca/ and Donny will surely be out in full force! More on CalCon in a later post.

Don hopes this post finds everyone doing well and promises to write soon…

All the best,
DD

As most of you already know, Don Dragon has been busy trying to grow his Facebook and social media networks the last few months. By far, the most common inquiry sent his way is some sort of question about Don’s true identity. This blog post is dedicated to setting the record straight.

Don’s modern existence started with Crusade & Conquer, an insanely fun and addicting new board game. If you have never heard of C&C you should really check it out. Don has yet to meet someone who has not enjoyed Crusade & Conquer… no exaggeration, no joke… even chess haters feel the C&C love!

“But Don, what if I don’t like board games? Why should I become friends with a dragon?”

Donny Drags recognizes that board games aren’t for everyone. That’s cool… Don Dragon offers more than just tips and info about Crusade & Conquer. Don is a spokesdragon and spokesdragons are infinitely positive, incapable of hate, anger, jealousy, and most other nasty emotions. Why wouldn’t you want Donny D on your friend list? Don promises to send you good wishes on your birthday and to share all his dragon family recipes (see Don’s last post for his tasty meatball recipe).

Thanks for the support. More dragon love to come in future posts and in ways you probably aren’t expecting… Don likes to surprise.

All the best,

DD

Don hopes readers will find stories about a dragon’s life in the real world to be entertaining and inspiring.

For no particular reason other than that it is fresh on his mind, this first post is dedicated to Don Dragon’s homemade meatballs. After recently catching Julia & Julia – starring the delightful Meryl Streep, J&J is a charming movie about blogging recipes - on a plane ride to some irrelevant destination, it occurred to Donny that recipe sharing would make for a good reoccurring blog feature. But don’t worry, Don Dragon is no Julia Child and this blog will be about much more than cooking. A dragon does need to eat, however, and Don has been enjoying some tasty meatballs all week.

Home with his parents over the holidays, Donny had the pleasure of sampling the meatballs of Dragon family matriarch, Delia Dragon… ingredients and tips were shared. Back at home, far away from mother’s judging gaze, Don decided to add his own twists and magic to the Dragon family meatball recipe. Don doesn’t like to cook with exact measurements so the following ingredients were all haphazardly mixed together.

The meat: equal amounts of ground beef & pork (ground veal is another well-suited ball meat)

The extras: egg(s), breadcrumbs, worcestershire sauce, minced garlic, your choice of dry spices (Don used basil and cayenne pepper… dragons like it spicy)

The secret (don’t tell Delia D): a pouch of onion soup mix

The preparation: beat egg(s) in a large bowl, add all other ingredients except the breadcrumbs and meat, use hands to mix in the meat (gloves are optional but Don likes to get personal with his cooking), keep mixing, pretend you’re giving the mixture a massage, add breadcrumbs, mix some more, make mixture into balls… size of ball is totally up to the chef… Don sized them out to be slightly larger than golf balls.

The cooking: place balls a finger’s width apart on a baking sheet or in a lasagna pan and cover with foil, bake in oven at 375F for 45 minutes… no need to grease the pan… remember that leaner meat will produce less fat, less mess, and make for an easier clean-up.

The enjoyment: add meatballs to any type of sauce or eat cold with a favorite dip… Don dipped cold balls in ketchup and added others to a delicious tomato-based, Italian gravy… mmmmmmmmm!

That’s it for this post, Don Dragon signing out… see you on the tail end of the next tale.

Peace & love,

DD

Visit www.thenewgameintown.com to find out more about Don Dragon

The C&C board with pieces arranged

Welcome to the Crusade & Conquer Community.  It’s your forum to learn more about the game that’s reinvigorated chessmasters and drawn legions of new players to the realm’s splendid scenery, new rules and strategic twists, characters, and castles. It’s a place where all crusaders can chat with fellow gamers, or talk to game inventor Martin Maheux about the game and find out what people are saying during his most recent promotional tour.

Occasionally, there may even be a dragon siting.  Check YouTube frequently because you never know where he might turn up.  And yes… the rumours are true… the dragon loves his fans, so he’s taking English lessons so that he can talk to you on his new Facebook page… become friends with Don Dragon  on Facebook here or become a Facebook fan of Crusade and Conquer here.

C&C pieces arranged in the box

But it doesn’t stop there.  This is the realm of Crusade & Conquer after all.  From time to time King Ulric may appear before his loyal supporters with a message from his Kingdom on the C&C Facebook Community. Sometimes he just needs to vent about his arch enemy King Montfort. And watch for Tweets about what’s new at C&C too.   We all need to stay on top of what’s happening in our C&C Community.