Incorporating New Game Systems Into the Routine

"We must plan ahead for these large, incandescent explosions."

So, we've started up some games of Warmachine.  This is in addition to our normal dose of Warhammer at the time, be it either flavor.  We have been talking about playing several other games for a while and a few of us have already created armies for a few of the Specialist Games.  However, there seems to be an issue - not everyone is going to be playing every game, and at times this might cut into time they feel is reserved for their game.

We've had to split the RPG schedule up into two specific game days, but Sunday is going to remain the heavy miniature day at the Wargate.  Oh, sure - once every couple of weeks campaign games get played on Monday or Tuesday, but that's not as often as we'd like it to be, what with real life and all.  Even for those of us who don't really do much else, the strains of family, romance or other hobbies and activities keeps us from battling for three hours every single night.

Sometimes, a given campaign can be held up by the absence of certain players.  Players will stand around wanting to play, but we've largely abandoned the concept of non-campaign games.  Not that we discourage one-off games, but it's always better when it's part of a campaign.  We want to make sure there is a great variety of games being played, and that the tables are always full.  So, at any given time, there will be two wargames campaigns just as there are two RPG campaigns.

Players could generally take a look at the games we plan on incorporating into the campaign schedule and decide where they want to get in on the action.  Since wargaming is such an intensive hobby, requiring hours of dedication to collecting and painting, it's worth saying that attempting to take part in all these games would be daunting.  However, take a look at the games that are coming up and see if you can't make sure you have a campaign game on the schedule during each interval!

Wargames Campaign Schedule for the Wargate

• Warhammer 40,000 and Warmachine (Summer: June, July & August)
• Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game and Mordheim (Autumn: September, October & November)
• Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Necromunda (Winter: December, January & February)
• Flames of War and Clan Strife (Spring: March, April & May)            

This will persist seasonally until further notice.  This also addresses another notion:  some of the members of the club feel that if a game goes past 6pm it's cutting into RPG time, or that one of the wargames is not, somehow, correct if it's on the board.

If the seasonal time frame matches, and these games are on the board, then it's the "correct" game to be on the board.  The game on the board is not interfering with your gaming, I assure you.  YOU are interfering with your gaming for not taking part in a Wargate campaign!

It's all rather easy to get into a new system.  Most of the time these rulesets are very simple, not like learning an entire new RPG.  40-80 pages of rules, tops - and it's never that many since there are so many huge pictures and diagrams in each manual.  Learning new rules then, according to me, is a non argument.  The biggest worry then is new miniatures and all the things that means, specifically there are three things that have to be addressed.

Everyone has to somehow acquire their models, and for most of us that means spending cold, hard cash.  Kudos to you if you have a back door to a distributor and get all your stuff for free, but the generally accepted reality is that each new army will cost somewhere between $100 and $200 for an introductory force.

Yikes.  Does that sound bad?  When some people say this aloud, they almost say it in a tone that compares it to crack cocaine.  "OMG that new army would cost me almost two bills!!"  or my favorite "How much did this cost?! OMG you spent that much?!"

Well, this is a problem that can be easily circumvented with some very simple advice - don't buy the whole army all at once.  Each new unit costs only a fraction of that price, usually in the neighborhood of $20 to $25.  Even if you're living hand to mouth, and you can generally afford a 20-pack of whatever swill you're drinking every paycheck.  So unless you really need that extra beer, you can grab a unit once a month and be perfectly safe.

The second issue is painting and assembling models.  Well, that just kinda happens.  I love to assemble models, but never seem to have time to paint them.  Jerry, on the other hand, makes loads of painted models appear but has confided in me several times that he finds it tedious to actually construct them.  We're thinking of forming Voltron.

The last issue would be making sure your models have a home.  Guys please - buy something nice to put models in.  If you're worried about space - remember that most of the armies get stored here.  You can always leave it with all the others.

I have a separate article dealing with cases.

There is, however, one more issue - and that is time.  For those of you interested in joining the Flames of War and Clan Strife campaigns, make sure you're getting your forces together now.  It won't be long until those campaigns launch - and that's when you'll need your army!