Studio Foglio
Release Date: March, 2000
Set Size: 12 Buttons, 1 Winslow, 2 Rares
Publisher: Studio Foglio
Designer: James Ernest
Artists: Phil and Kaja Foglio
New Rules: Twin Dice, W Swing, The Winslow
Rares: The James Beast, Jorgi, Tess, Alternate Art Agatha
Studio Foglio produced several sets of Button Men in the Spring of 2000. There is one tri-pack of What’s New buttons (Phil, Dixie, and Growf), one two-Pack from Buck Godot (Buck and the Winslow), one two-pack of XXXenophile buttons (the same pair Cheapass Games produced in the previous year) and three two-packs from Girl Genius.
Buttons[edit | edit source]
Dixie
(4) (6) (10) (12,12) (X)
Growf
(4,4) (6) (8) (12) (X)
Phil
(8) (8) (10,10) (20) (X)
Agatha Heterodyne
(4) (6) (8,8) (20) (X)
Bangladesh Dupree
p(4,4) (6) (12) (12) (X)
Gilglamesh Wulfenbach
(8) (8) p(8,8) (20) (X)
Jorgi
(4) (6) (8) (20) p(X)
Klaus Wulfenbach
(4) p(10,10) (20) (20) (W)
Krosp
(4) (6,6) (12) (12) (X)
Von Pinn
(4) p(6,6) (10) (20) (W)
Buck Godot
(6,6) (10) (12) (20) (W,W)
The James Beast
(4) (8,8) (10,10) (12) (W,W)
Brigid the Witch
(8) (8) (X) (X) (X)
O-lass
(6) (12) (X) (X) (X)
Tess
n(4) (8) (12) n(20) (X)
Later Releases[edit | edit source]
As an incentive to pledge to the Girl Genius volume 12 Reprint Bonanza, a printable .pdf of the Girl Genius characters was teased. When released, there were three alternative artwork buttons for Agatha, Gil, and Bang.
In 2018, an alternate art Agatha button was released in conjunction with the Kickstarter for the second edition of the Girl Genius collectible deck game.
In 2019, a set of six XXXenophile buttons appeared very briefly on DriveThruCards, featuring the two XXXenophile characters and four new characters from the XXXenophile graphic novels. This set can be seen on the Partially Created Fan Sets page.
Design Notes[edit | edit source]
Twin Dice were created for Studio Foglio. The W Swing, more restricted than any Swing Die which preceeded it, was used to keep Twin Swing Dice from growing larger than 24 total sides. The XXXenophile buttons were originally printed at the same time as the second edition of Soldiers, and were sold as novelties by Cheapass Games and Studio Foglio. They later became part of the full set of characters in early 2000. When they were released for general purchase by Studio Foglio, they became tournament legal.
Also new in these sets was The Winslow Button, not a Button Man itself but a fixed 30-sided die which always shows a “1” and moves back and forth between both players’ live dice. The Winslow has given rise to more rules questions than any other Button Man in history, and Cheapass Games usually disavows any knowledge of it. Only The Winslow can properly use The Winslow, as it is possible for two players to continue capturing The Winslow in a never ending stalemate.
The most important thing to remember about the Winslow, not that he exists mind you, is that he doesn’t take on the characteristics of the Swing Die he replaces. Someone using Dunkirk with Winslow in place of his Shadow Swing does not have a Shadow Winslow. That’s just too ugly for words.[1]
Tess is included in the list above, which some players might feel is a little controversial. Tess is typically considered as part of the BRAWL Button Man set, even though she has no Speed Dice (as all other BRAWL Button Men do). The Button is based on the character (deck) "Tess" in the BRAWL real-time card game, a deck that includes three "Null" cards.
Rules Comic[edit | edit source]
The What's New three-pack came with a short comic by Phil Foglio under the What's New comic banner.
Featured in it is the second appearance of "The James Beast," a creature representing James Ernest that first made its appearance in the rules comic for the XXXenophile Collectible Card Game.
What's New was a long-running gaming-centric comic which initially appeared in Dragon Magazine for multiple years, satirizing game trends and board gaming culture. It also appeared in the second issue of The Duelist, running until the next-to-last issue of the Magic: The Gathering-centric magazine.