If you haven't been watching our YouTube channel, we posted a new video this weekend. It's a developer interview with me talking about some of the features of Hegemony Gold and what makes it unique from some of the other strategy games out there. We're thinking about doing more of these in the future so leave us a comment if you think it's interesting or if you have any ideas for future topics.

We're also going to be heading to New York ComicCon next week for the last stop on this year's convention tour. There will be all the usual things at the show: free buttons, big Hegemony discounts, as well as a few new surprises so stayed tuned here for more information.

Armchair General just posted a review of Hegemony Gold and it seems they like it:

"Satisfying period battles with flexible unit formation, and a clever logistics systems make this a must-play for RTS and board gamers alike."

In other news, you may have noticed the new 'Newsletter' button in the menu on the right. With the official announcement of our next project rapidly approaching we've resurrected the old Longbow newsletter last seen around 2004. Signup to get the latest news on new releases, special offers, open betas, developer commentaries and more. If you like to get your news the second it's announced you can also check us out on Facebook or Twitter.

From the latest PC Gamer (Nov 2011):

"... This is emblematic of what Longbow gets so right with Hegemony: difficulty and depth can arise naturally as simple systems begin to operate on a larger scale, and the number of interactions multiplies. A no-brainer decision when you have one army and only two or three cities becomes Hamlet in five acts when you have an empire to run."

This is probably the first and only time Hegemony gets compared to Shakespeare so check out the preview here or if you've still got a bookstore nearby drop in and grab a copy.

You may recall we recently attended the FanExpo convention here in Toronto. You may even have seen the video we posted of our experience there. Well, we have even more for you now! During FanExpo, our 2D artist, Britt, painted a depiction of a pair of Spartan and Athenian hoplites in battle, which you can see to the right (click to enlarge).

She's also been kind enough to record the process of creating this painting, along with a commentary track explaining how she works, and you can see that on YouTube or Facebook. Remember to like, subscribe, favourite, and comment!

You might also have noticed that the Hegemony page has had a little bit of a touch-up, making it easier to browse through videos, screenshots, and reviews. Let us know what you think!

Fan Expo is over for another year and if you've been following the coverage or were lucky enough to attend in person (because you weren't at that other gaming show this weekend) you'll probably agree this may have been the best year yet. The show floor was huge and the crowds were enormous but I'll give props to the organizers that everything seemed to go very smoothly and I'm happy to say none of us got locked out by the fire marshall this time and it only took me 10 minutes to get my family in versus almost three hours last year.

As our friends over at Toronto Thumbs point out, the gaming presence at the show was far more impressive than previous years with huge booths by Ubisoft, Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo and more. And if Uncharted 3 or Assassings Creed: Revelations aren't your thing, Philippe also found some retro gaming goodness in one of the side rooms and caught up on some original Lemmings on an Amiga.

If you couldn't make it to the show we've got a short video (YouTube or Facebook) as well as some pics showing our booth and the awesome array of cosplay at the show. Britt was also working on a new painting demo (this time with full video capture) that we'll be posting soon and we gave a handful of interviews during the show which I'll post here as they come in.

Update #1: Weird Review just posted their coverage of Fan Expo along with a fairly detailed walkthough of Hegemony hosted by Rick.

Update #2: Our friends at Two Guys Talking just posted their interview with me from Fan Expo and if you missed it before the show, they also have a review posted on the original game.

Philippe also gave an interview during the show but unfortunately we didn't catch who they were so if anybody spots it on the web let us know and we'll get it posted. In somewhat unrelated news, the Syndey Morning Herald just posted a new review of what they call "... one of the neatest little strategy games to be released in the last 12 months."

Our next convention is just around the corner (literally) as Longbow is heading to Fan Expo Canada here in Toronto for the second year in a row. The huge crowds last year were a little overwhelming but they've extended the show to four days and moved into the larger South Hall so we're expecting a great time. As always there will be cool buttons, game stations to play and big discounts on the boxed version of Hegemony Gold. Whether you're there to see Kirk, C3PO, Starbuck, Troi, Draco or Faith, or just to grab some comics and other geek gear, come by and say hi. This year you can find us at booth 1348 near artist alley somewhere between DC Comics and Ubisoft.

Also, congrats to the winners of our social networking giveaway this weekend who won a free copy of Hegemony Gold. For those who missed out, you can still sign up to either our Twitter or Facebook pages so you'll be the first to hear about future promotions. We're also getting pretty close to the announcement of our next project and if you're interested in getting a front row seat on the development then join our LongbowDevs twitter feed for all the latest news.

Time to brush up on your French again. I mentioned last month the guys over at PC4War had sent us some interview questions and we've just heard they've been published in issue number 51. You can preview the issue here or order your own copy from their online store.

As promised, here is the result of Britt's painting demo at Gen Con. She also put together a video showing her work in progress which you can check out on YouTube or in HD.

The painting depicts the Theban Sacred Band following their defeat by Philip at the battle of Chaeronea in 338 BCE. They're Britt's favourite Greek dudes and you can read about them more here or of course you can always just try the game.

Continuing his podcast tour, Rick joined Stalin in the War Room last week to talk about Hegemony and life as an indie developer. You can listen to it here.

An in other news ... we're at Gen Con! I know we said we weren't going, but at the last minute a booth space opened up so here we are. We're a little harder to find this year but head towards the back of row 1200 and look for the big purple banner. We've got lots of free buttons and for the first time at a show we're offering upgrades ($10) as well as the full version ($30). Britt's also doing a live drawing demo which we'll post online after the show.

The guys over at Three Moves Ahead just posted the latest episode of their excellent podcast, and this one is very special to me, because it stars me! The guys also had some really nice things to say about Hegemony, like this:

"I really love how true it is to the period and how it understands the period."

And this:

"Hegemony is the only game that really captures Greek history really well, that really understands Greek history."

We'll also be giving away a couple copies to listeners, so go listen!