Following on from the last thread, about planning what to do next year, I figured a more specific thread to discuss individual ideas might be good. (Ok, I just like starting new threads, I admit it).
The consensus so far is one day of organised 40K and one day of free play 40K alongside demos of other games and participation activities.
So, let's say you want to get involved in organising something, what should that entail?
First off, I'm not asking anyone to go out, buy 1000 minis and get them painted by the event. The onus is on you to provide everything necessary for whatever it is you are planning beyond the staples of a pile of d6's and a tape measure. This means you need to account for minis, terrain, rules, hand outs, odd sized dice, templates and the like. I will help out with whatever I can, my collection is wide open if folks want to use some of my minis. If it is a system/army I am interested in and you can source the minis (I'll pay for them, I just need help getting them past the security at my front door...), I will help out with assembling and painting some of it. (I average about 30-40 minis a month if I try). Same thing goes for terrain.
It will probably help to have a partner for what you are doing so that you can share the workload, playtest the mission and on the day, can take turns running things so that you can enjoy some gaming yourself. It also means that if one of you can't make it, your hard work doesn't go to waste.
It is your responsibility to know the rules and to be able to explain them (or fudge them) if need be. Reference sheets for players will be very helpful too.
What game should you organise?
Let's face it, there are a load of games available these days and we all have our favourites. Choose something you have a keen interest in. Maybe some people will try it, like it and pick it up. Maybe they won't. Either way, you can maybe play it again in the future. It doesn't matter if you want to run a game of something that everyone plays or that only you like at this stage.
Either you can run a demo game of a system that isn't so big around these parts (e.g. Infinity, Pike & Shotte, DZC etc), or you can run a participation game of something that people know how to play, based around a specific event (Battle for Macragge for 40K, Arnhem for BA, Borodino for Black Powder etc), or just a specific theme (Warbike racing in 40K, Jousting in FB etc). It's really up to you.
However, to ensure that attendees can enjoy themselves and so that you can do multiple sessions/play a few games yourself, games should follow a couple of guidelines:
- Playable in 2.5 - 3 hours.
- Easy to pick up if it's a new system.
- Victory conditions which allow both sides a fair chance to win. (Asymmetrical conditions are fine).
And that's about all I have for now.
Please discuss below. As before, nothing is set in stone (the event hall can't be booked for a couple of months yet), I just want to get the ball rolling and see if anyone has any ideas.
