Battles Books!

Greetings from the Forbidden Zone!

Today I'm going to take a moment to talk about our new initiative and gaming policy involving our "Battles Books".  These tomes are weighty binders filled with presentation sheets and all sorts of material we might need while we visit each universe.  Pictured above are the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game, Warhammer 40,000, Warmachine and Warhammer Fantasy Battle books, though visitors to the Wargate know there are quite a few more than what I could grab in that photo!

We've had a lot of time to get our methods down and the confusion around the table is shrinking, but there's still room for improvements.  One of those improvements will be implemented during the next campaign season, and will require all player armies to be "listed" in the Battles Books.

Let me explain what this means.  Each player will work with me on each game to create a list of units and statistics that will contain all of your units for each army.  If you're in the club then you've played with a player whose had one of these lists in their hand - it has the costs and descriptions of your units on one side and a tailor made summary on the other side.  Best of all, they are conveniently located in easy reach of everyone in the Battles Book.

This isn't a straight-jacketing of your options during a battle.  Far from it...most of your opponents here are going to know your units by sight after a few campaigns, so if you're gambling on folks just forgetting your unit capabilities then you're in the wrong spot anyway.  The only other thing that keeping your lists and statistics in a book where you have to flip back and forth is that your opponent may not know everything that's in that codex or army book - and will be trusting you.  We're going to do away with the second guessing and just rule that every army that takes the field must be "listed" in the Battles Book.

These custom lists are going to help you and your opponents out during battles so that we'll get fewer instances where players are challenged on statistics, special rules or point values.  Most of us continually use the same units over and over again, and modifying an entry for a one-off game or special mission is no problem since your codex or army book is only a few shelves away from the Battles Book.

So, to summarize:  before each campaign begins, your army list will have to be entered into the Battles Books. Unlisted armies will not be allowed to enter a given campaign.  This isn't a terrible restriction, and your position as a general is NOT being compromised by allowing others to see your units listed like an actual army.  We have been very lenient in the past, but we're done with all that.  Most large tournaments require your army list to be judged before entry, but in the case of the Wargate all we're doing is noting units.

Another good thing about this is that you will be able to allow other players to take the field with your standby armies with much less hassle.  This is becoming an issue, so one more obstacle to expediency will be nullified by implementing this policy.  I'll be badgering people to get their armies listed, so be prepared to lay your forces out to the Inquisitor!

As a reminder, we had a council session this past Sunday and laid out the wargame schedule for 2012.  In order to help galvanize projects, backgrounds and army lists, here's a reminder of the order of battle for next year.

• Nov-Dec 2011 - Necromunda
• Jan-Mar 2012 - Warhammer 40,000 and Warmachine
• Apr-Jun 2012 - Mordheim and Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle
• July-Sep 2012 - Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Clan Strife
• Oct-Dec 2012 - Necromunda and Flames of War

That's all for now, so take a few moments and get your lists and models together.  Next time you visit the Wargate, a Praetor will probably be shaking you down for your army lists!!