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It's a rented hall and six other dedicated gamers with nothing but free time, what could it take Michael, a weekend?
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Sep 21, 2023 19:14
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That's basically the Perry Brothers. "What, not everybody has a bunker full of 28mm figures and a 10x16 foot table to play a small game on?"
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Sep 21, 2023 19:21
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Don't forget the referee!
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Sep 21, 2023 20:03
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Y'all need to up your hustle. Spacious places I've wargamed: church, rec center, corporate boardroom, library, VFW hall, lodge hall, detached sheds, all kinds of university spaces. Probably more I can't recall off hand. I really, truly, don't think it's some kind of bourgeoisie extravagance to be able to set aside all day Saturday once a month and gather up a half dozen friends to play a big long expansive wargame. And if it is, we need to setup up a fundraiser or something for y'all.
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Sep 21, 2023 20:22
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my experience is that it isn't the expense - it's being able to get everyone free at the same times. I go out to wargame... basically not at all these days, but it was an issue when I did, and as someone who GMs, finding good time slots is a nightmare because fuckin' everyone is on some kind of shift/gig system now (myself wholly included).
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Sep 21, 2023 20:24
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Another 48 little men done - there is a little touching up to do on these, but my goal is to get all the units on the table to play a game or two and it’s starting to become a case of diminishing returns: These are the Glenwood and Havenfleet fusiliers, of the army of the Margrave of Cantica - details here
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Sep 21, 2023 20:49
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Slyphic posted:Y'all need to up your hustle. Spacious places I've wargamed: church, rec center, corporate boardroom, library, VFW hall, lodge hall, detached sheds, all kinds of university spaces. Probably more I can't recall off hand. finding the space and getting people together isn't necessarily a luxury, just very lucky.
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Sep 21, 2023 21:04
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Active wargaming clubs are a lot more prevalent in the UK than in the US. It's a small subculture, but they've been at it since the 70s.
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Sep 21, 2023 21:33
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I mean, before covid killed it, we had one of those, and tournaments were nonetheless a nightmare - I think our one-day seven-hour one got rescheduled like four times?
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Sep 21, 2023 21:37
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Slyphic posted:Y'all need to up your hustle. Spacious places I've wargamed: church, rec center, corporate boardroom, library, VFW hall, lodge hall, detached sheds, all kinds of university spaces. Probably more I can't recall off hand. At this point in time, in the town where I live in the US, there is zero wargaming scene whatsoever. The one local gaming store even stopped selling GW stuff a few years back. They sell paints and minis, but they're mostly for people who use them in D&D or Pathfinder (mainly the Wizkids line, with a few Reaper packs thrown in for good measure). I asked one of the guys who works there and he said straight out that there was zero interest from their customers in games like 40k, never mind an indie skirmish game, let alone historical wargames. And you have to drive at least an hour either north or south to one of the bigger college towns to get your GW fix on (and I do mean drive, as there's zero trains or buses available to make the journey in either direction). Pretty much, if it's not Magic or Pokemon or a TTRPG, there's practically zero interest in it around here. So it's all down to who you know that wants to play, and around here that's a pretty small number of people.
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Sep 21, 2023 22:41
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mllaneza posted:Active wargaming clubs are a lot more prevalent in the UK than in the US. It's a small subculture, but they've been at it since the 70s. Yeap, there's something like 3 active historical gaming clubs in Southern California for a population of 24 million people.
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Sep 21, 2023 23:29
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mllaneza posted:Active wargaming clubs are a lot more prevalent in the UK than in the US. It's a small subculture, but they've been at it since the 70s.
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Sep 21, 2023 23:35
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mllaneza posted:Active wargaming clubs are a lot more prevalent in the UK than in the US. It's a small subculture, but they've been at it since the 70s. I checked, and you could fit the entire UK into eleven different US states. It's amazing Americans get to play anything.
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Sep 22, 2023 01:55
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mllaneza posted:Active wargaming clubs are a lot more prevalent in the UK than in the US. It's a small subculture, but they've been at it since the 70s. Yeah, in my area in the UK, there are three clubs in a half an hours drive of me - a historical one, a 40k one and the one I attend whats rapidly becoming Mantic Games/Legion/anything else. Their not mutually exclusive of course, but it does seem to be moving that way! This is Oxfordshire, near Nottingham it looks like every village has a club 
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Sep 22, 2023 08:54
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moths posted:I checked, and you could fit the entire UK into eleven different US states. It's amazing Americans get to play anything. It honestly depends on where you live. If you're in or fairly near to one of the major cities, it's a lot easier. I lived in central Florida for a few years and there were pretty healthy wargaming scenes in both Tampa and Orlando for a wide variety of games, with Warmahordes, Infinity, and Guild Ball all being pretty popular games (along with the ubiquitous 40k, of course). In terms of historicals, I remember that Bolt Action was starting to take off, or at least it was before I had to move back up north. And of course if you live somewhere like NYC or Chicago, or in a town with a large college or university population, chances are you'll also have no problems finding people to play. Unfortunately, most of us here in the US don't always have the luxury of having a large city or college town near to us. And that's also not taking into consideration the fact that a lot of people on the other side of the pond often have halfway decent public transport; as long as they can fit their armies into one or two travel cases, they can hop on a train or bus and be at their gaming destination. In the US that's not necessarily an option a lot of people have, so if they can't drive or find someone to drive them, they're kind of limited in terms of when and where they can get their game on.
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Sep 22, 2023 09:21
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Grey Hunter posted:This is Oxfordshire, near Nottingham it looks like every village has a club What's more popular in clubs the wargaming capital of the world- 40K or Bolt Action?
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Sep 22, 2023 09:54
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I know we are probably. It representative of the wider world but is BA generally considered better than CoC? Or is it that it’s just more widely available and more 40k-alike?
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Sep 24, 2023 18:07
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So thanks to the goonhammer review I've seen the rules for ESR, and the concept of a game at that scale interests me a lot. How much do you need to play, basewise? Is it adaptable to 19th century generally?Southern Heel posted:I know we are probably. It representative of the wider world but is BA generally considered better than CoC? Or is it that it’s just more widely available and more 40k-alike? Probably the latter. Anecdotally most people who've played it seem to prefer CoC, but a lot of people just haven't heard of it.
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Sep 24, 2023 18:12
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BA is an excellent gateway historicals game, and still a great "don't wanna think, pick up and play" game night ruleset. Best part is a platoon in BA is essentially a platoon in CoC so if you want to add more depth later on you always could.
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Sep 24, 2023 18:15
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I don’t want this to sound needlessly contrarian, and I have only actually played CoC - but coming back to the hobby. I definitely felt that BA was significantly more complex in terms of rules and references than you might think from first glance to the extent they really wasn’t much in it… That said I still have my 20mm Germans waiting for opponent! Southern Heel fucked around with this message at 18:38 on Sep 24, 2023 |
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Sep 24, 2023 18:31
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Southern Heel posted:is BA generally considered better than CoC? Or is it that it’s just more widely available and more 40k-alike? I think it really depends on what you're looking for. BA easily supports tournaments and pickup games. With CoC it's more difficult and you're kinda limited to scenario play.
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Sep 24, 2023 18:42
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Just play both! That's the magic of historicals.
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Sep 24, 2023 18:48
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BA also draws 40k players more easily since it is designed by the same people and 'feels' the same gameplay wise.
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Sep 24, 2023 20:23
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BA is great in that it operates roughly like 40K, including how you build lists. That makes the barrier of entry, if you’re already experienced with 40K, much lower. I lost count of how often new CoC players get stuck on the idea that you play a historical platoon. And that means, well, just fielding the platoon. I’m not a BA player, but afaik the main con of BA is that the gameplay is less representable of period tactics than CoC. How LMGs work is an example. For the germans, the LMG was truly the core tactical tool of a section for example, where from what I’ve read of BA lists it’s just not an integral part of your sections, and so on. The main con imho of CoC is that the rules are badly edited and assumes you’re working with them, clearing out grey areas in good faith with your opponent. That makes lt a good ruleset for a small group of recurring players, but a bad tournament/pick-up game. So it’s not that one is better or worse, they just have very different strengths. If you’re a 40K player and aim for pick up games and like list building, BA is probably a better game for you. If you play with a small group of friends and likes tinkering with rulesets and want your game to at least attempt to reward period tactics, CoC is probably a better game for you. If you ask grogs (including me), coc is often touted as a better game overall, as in core gameplay mechanics and historical accuracy. If I was running a game store and wanted to get a group of new players into historicals, probably the opposite. Also while I believe the core mechanics of coc to be better/more interesting, I’m the first to point out that the polish is much worse, again not helping with introducing new players. lilljonas fucked around with this message at 20:50 on Sep 24, 2023 |
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Sep 24, 2023 20:32
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Probably best not to underestimate the marketing that Warlord do as well. They seem to have a (fairly sizeable) stall at all gaming things in the UK and most stores will sell it, whereas you have to go looking for CoC.
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Sep 24, 2023 21:37
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INinja132 posted:Probably best not to underestimate the marketing that Warlord do as well. They seem to have a (fairly sizeable) stall at all gaming things in the UK and most stores will sell it, whereas you have to go looking for CoC. Yeah Warlord is one of the bigger companies in an admittedly niche hobby. Lardies is the epitome of a garage operation. A popular garage operation for sure (repeatedly winning best game in voter based stuff like Wargames Illustrated awards, usually one place above said Bolt Action), but Warlord has like, departments, even if they are small. lilljonas fucked around with this message at 21:49 on Sep 24, 2023 |
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Sep 24, 2023 21:47
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Also if it matters to you, the Ladies are almost assuredly gammons who voted for Brexit etc they largely keep their mouths shut and the chief of Warlord games is on record saying woke will be the death knell of the hobby lol
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Sep 24, 2023 22:25
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CoC barely has anything to sell you, so of course it having a presence in stores isn't to be expected.
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Sep 24, 2023 22:47
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Playing through the first week of my 18th Century Campaign. This is the result of the first ~6 days: The goal of the Cantware (off on the east of this map space) is to seize the right hand side of this map, establishing a new border which benefits them with greater mineral resources/etc. The Red (Weald) is outnumbered 1:2 until their 3rd Army (currently in the sea afloat above) lands, at which point it's almost even. Right now, the Wealden forces have garrisoned the towns along the north-south line down the middle of the map, with a hope that light cavalry action, jägers and the 3rd Army can cut down behind the main lines and isolate the Cantware forces. After a few days, there is news on the ground: Wealden Dragoons from Hurst Manor have come into contact with Cantware light cavalry on the Pass Road - neither side is likely to be baited into the other's clutches but presages movement there. The Wealden Hussars, acting as scouts out of Brighthelm have encountered the leading edge of a large Cantware army. So, what do they do? The answer can still very much be to sit in Brighthelm, but there may also be opportunity for a baited flank attack by moving into the orange hills south of the road - the choice is yours! Incidentally, the Wealden 1st Army manages to get to Hardingley one day before the Cantware 3rd does - a bit of a coup but that's on April 6th so we need to figure out the rest first! ps. a much more detailed overview of the background is here, the strategic situation is here and the initial mobilisation is here Southern Heel fucked around with this message at 07:00 on Sep 25, 2023 |
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Sep 24, 2023 22:57
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alg posted:Also if it matters to you, the Ladies are almost assuredly gammons who voted for Brexit etc they largely keep their mouths shut and the chief of Warlord games is on record saying woke will be the death knell of the hobby lol Historicals is… not a community famous for their awesome takes on politics. There are exceptions, but this is gammon country.
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Sep 24, 2023 23:51
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Didn't know that about John Stallard. Ah well, one less company to throw my money at now (especially since I already have a zillion WW2 era STLs I can 3D print).
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Sep 25, 2023 01:24
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The Lardies do seem pretty vocally supportive of lgbt players and are vocally welcome of them.
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Sep 25, 2023 06:47
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alg posted:Also if it matters to you, the Ladies are almost assuredly gammons who voted for Brexit etc they largely keep their mouths shut and the chief of Warlord games is on record saying woke will be the death knell of the hobby lol Having lived in Nottingham for a couple of years before I got back into miniature wargaming, I am not surprised in the slightest. Some of the most blatant racism I've ever witnessed as a white person I encountered there. quote:Historicals is… not a community famous for their awesome takes on politics. There are exceptions, but this is gammon country. One of my colleagues is a crotchety historicals grog who regularly spouts "kids these days"-style monologues, so I was greatly surprised to learn that he is ardently anti-Brexit, pro-Palestinian, etc. They are out there, but they are a minority. It doesn't help that, as I've discovered, the core of many historicals groups around the country tends to be ex-military personnel. MeinPanzer fucked around with this message at 07:30 on Sep 25, 2023 |
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Sep 25, 2023 07:27
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spectralent posted:So thanks to the goonhammer review I've seen the rules for ESR, and the concept of a game at that scale interests me a lot. How much do you need to play, basewise? Is it adaptable to 19th century generally? I really liked the command phase, but even more really hated the combat resolution. The most about-face change of opinion I've ever had with a ruleset. Just went from having a great time to when will this slog end precisely when the bayonets met. From my notes on the game: quote:I loved the first 2 of 4 hours of this game. It has a great system for issuing and resolving commands that gives you the feel of organizing such large armies with little more than voice and paper and horse and flag. Friction without feeling arbitrary. And logistics! I really enjoyed the maneuver period, the skirmishing fire, the falling back and rallying... and then we made CQ contact and the game ground to a halt in minutiae and pointless busy work. I know there's a 3rd edition, and I'd love to hear if any of that has changed. It's a ruleset I have flagged for fixing because the good bits are really worth saving. Slyphic fucked around with this message at 15:32 on Sep 25, 2023 |
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Sep 25, 2023 14:51
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MeinPanzer posted:Having lived in Nottingham for a couple of years before I got back into miniature wargaming, I am not surprised in the slightest. Some of the most blatant racism I've ever witnessed as a white person I encountered there. Hey, I'm ex-military and I'm a pinko! We aren't all bad, but yeah, there is a trend. Warlord does good marketing for sure. Just a week or two back they came to my lgs which is in the absolute middle of nowhere, Canada. They ran demo games all day, even Pike & Shotte!
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Sep 25, 2023 16:54
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Virtual Russian posted:Hey, I'm ex-military and I'm a pinko! We aren't all bad, but yeah, there is a trend. Same, leftist ex-jarhead. Was the demo game regular Pike & Shotte or the tiny scale version?
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Sep 25, 2023 17:06
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Virtual Russian posted:Hey, I'm ex-military and I'm a pinko! We aren't all bad, but yeah, there is a trend. Cessna posted:Same, leftist ex-jarhead. Same as you two, I half-joke sometimes that my time in the USAF made me more left-leaning 
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Sep 25, 2023 17:17
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Cessna posted:Same, leftist ex-jarhead. Tiny scale! I'm very tempted by that big box set, but am saving right now and promised my partner no new game systems. They also did BA demos of course, that is what a lot of people around here play. Sydney Bottocks posted:Same as you two, I half-joke sometimes that my time in the USAF made me more left-leaning I went in with very confused right-leaning politics, and then came out very left. Virtual Russian fucked around with this message at 17:24 on Sep 25, 2023 |
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Sep 25, 2023 17:20
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Sorry, didn't mean to imply that all ex-military personnel are right-wingers--I've known a few ardent leftist veterans in my day. It's just that most unfortunately seem to be right-of-centre, in my experience.
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Sep 25, 2023 18:17
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MeinPanzer posted:Sorry, didn't mean to imply that all ex-military personnel are right-wingers--I've known a few ardent leftist veterans in my day. It's just that most unfortunately seem to be right-of-centre, in my experience. Oh shoot, I wasn't really mad or anything, we are less common, but not uncommon. I think the issue is we are way less visible, because when is the news going to interview the troop with an understanding of Marx? Another big part is that a lot of the folks that make it their entire identity joined because they perceive the military to be a bastion of the far-right, and they want in. Where a ton of people join just as a way to escape poverty, those of us that took that path seem to usually follow the same path: get in, get paid, then get out and get educated. Most people I work with are surprised I'm ex-military, where someone that drapes themselves in the right-wing soldier identitarian stuff will never ever stop talking about it.
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Sep 25, 2023 18:28
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