My 2009 ENnie Awards picks

As I mentioned last post, I voted in this year's ENnies. I don't believe the selection was worse than last year, but there weren't as many products that I'm excited about this year. There are a few gems -- The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Mouse Guard, Dark Heresy, Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies, Starblazer Adventures, and the elephant in the room, D&D 4e.

In my choices, I generally went with the underdog small publishers and avoided the majors. That might include White Wolf, but I've read good things about Hunter: The Vigil. What follows is my semi-informed, obviously biased opinion.

Best Cover Art: Pathfinder #19, because I like Paizo's art in general.

Best Interior Art: Should probably go with Dark Heresy or CthulhuTech, but I chose Mouse Guard instead.

Best Writing: Has to be Baron Munchausen.

Best Production Values: How can I pick? They're all good.

Best Rules: Starblazer Adventures.

Best Monster or Adversary: Witch Hunter: Grand Tome of Adversaries. Love the setting.

Best Setting: Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies, because it's sky-pirates!

Best Supplement: Hunter: The Vigil

Best Accessory: Kobold Quarterly, because I miss Dragon Magazine.

Best Miniatures Product: E-Z Terrain: Cliffs and Mountains. Being able to print out cardboard mountains is hard to beat.

Best Regalia: Planet Stories: Infernal Sorceress, just to give both E. Gary and the Planet Stories series some recognition.

Best Free Product: Swords and Wizardry. Wouldn't it be great for totally old-school retro gaming to win an award?

Best Game: Starblazer Adventures, because Dark Heresy is just a bit too "crunchy".

Product of the Year: Mouse Guard, because it looks great, and it could be a terrific cross-over game and accessible to beginners.

Fan Award for Best Publisher: I had to give special recognition to two publishers in particular. Scratch Factory, for their great freebies (especially the True20 items) and Dino Pirates of Ninja Island; and One Monk Miniatures, for the fantastic paper miniatures.

I doubt that I'll make it to the awards ceremony, but I'll be checking all the post-awards commentary.