"If youi've hosted a con game, you've had sorrow..." Topic
12 Posts
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Current Poll
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Editor in Chief Bill | 10 May 2024 8:44 a.m. PST |
You were asked – TMP link When hosting a convention game, have you had anything pilfered or broken? 26% said "I have never hosted a con game" 25% said "yes, I have had something stolen or broken while hosting a con game" 21% said "no, I have not had something stolen or broken while hosting a con game" 20% said "yes, but only minor figure breakage" |
Stryderg | 10 May 2024 12:57 p.m. PST |
I hosted a game and no one signed up to play. Got the rules from someone who posted his home-brewed Lilliputian rules (Battling Big-uns). |
Yellow Admiral | 10 May 2024 4:10 p.m. PST |
I've never had anything stolen, but something breaks in almost every game, and usually something minor. Miniatures are fragile. It's not that big a deal. - Ix |
HMS Exeter | 10 May 2024 4:44 p.m. PST |
A wise man once observed that all GMs will one day face a watershed first, when some table item of theirs gets broken during a game. This watershed moment is then followed by another. The first time they fix a table item of theirs that got broken during a game. |
HMS Exeter | 10 May 2024 4:57 p.m. PST |
I've run maybe 20 games in my days at cons. Never had anything broken or pilfered. I played in a Harpoon game using GHQ 2400 scale Cold War ship models. Despite the diligent efforts of 2 friends and myself, every one of the models suffered some kind of damage to the super fiddly upper works. It was this that sold me on avoiding GHQ 2400s as much as possible, and ditching the provided masts in favor of pin wire when GHQ was the only option. |
cavcrazy | 11 May 2024 8:03 a.m. PST |
I run a wargame at a local toy soldier show for kids to play, and of course adults are welcome. I have never had a kid break anything or try to walk off with anything, but that's not the case with the adults, not only have things been broken but on more than one occasion I have stopped them before they "walk away" with something. |
kcabai | 11 May 2024 10:53 a.m. PST |
I have been running, games (usually big games), since the mid 80's. With over a thousand 28mm fig or over 200 15mm vehicles, on the table something gets broken. I usually have some intricate and detailed terrain that is also always not exempt from attrition. But I explain right from the start, that these are toys and meant to be played with. Treat them with respect and if something does break please tell me right away so I can fix it later. I have quite a few well painted mini armies that I would rather see on the gaming table to be enjoyed instead of locked away in plastic boxes. A little "battle damage" is a small price to pay for hours of fun they have generated. |
Der Alte Fritz | 20 May 2024 2:25 a.m. PST |
I always tell my players that minis can be fragile and there will be breakage in a game. I don't care if you break a figure as long as you don't intentionally throw it against the wall or floor. Then I might get slightly peeved, |
epturner | 20 May 2024 2:24 p.m. PST |
Well, it helps that I've been doing a lot of 54mm WW2 tank games… But so long as nothing is intentionally damaged, accidents happen and stuff can usually get fixed. Meh. Eric |
Grumble87106 | 29 May 2024 3:19 p.m. PST |
Once when playing in another guy's home, I had a combination motorcycle-sidecar carelessly knocked off the table and broken by his teenage daughter as she passed by (not playing). She was quite unconcerned, but he was furious! I fixed it. What the heck. For a North Africa game, I made some fragile cactuses that didn't survive the first game. I've since bought commercial models, and they're fine. No one -- child or adult -- has taken anything of mine at a convention. A local gamer asked to borrow a set of rules. Though I didn't know him well, I foolishly complied. Never saw him -- or the rules -- at another local event. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, I attribute it to laziness and lack of consideration rather that thievery. |
TSD101 | 29 May 2024 6:07 p.m. PST |
For a North Africa game, I made some fragile cactuses that didn't survive the first game Cactii are native to North America, they don't exist in Africa. Unless you made lots of Mistletoe Cactus, which doesn't look like a typical cactus. |
Grumble87106 | 22 Aug 2024 1:49 p.m. PST |
Cactii are native to North America, they don't exist in Africa. Unless you made lots of Mistletoe Cactus, which doesn't look like a typical cactus. TSD101, your information is (partly) erroneous. 1. Yes, cacti are native to North America. (I happen to know because I was born and raised in Mexico, in the thick of them, so to speak.) 2. They do exist in Africa (North and South) there they adapted very nicely as an invasive species, once they had stuck to the Spaniards, their clothing, and their possessions and thus obtained a free ride across the Atlantic. They spread rapidly in the parts of Spain that had a climate congenial to them. They crossed the Mediterranean and also established themselves in places such as Sicily. By the time WW2 came along, prickly pear cacti were very well-known in Tunisia, where the warring nations found them blocking lines of sight, providing cover, and generally making a (literal) pain of themselves. You can see them frequently in photos taken of the Tunisia WW2 campaign. Hence, as I wrote above, I needed cacti for a North Africa (Tunisia WW2) game in which the scenario specifically called for thick patches of prickly pear near Sened Station where, presumably, the infantry in the 1st and 2nd Radfahr Kompanien of the 334 Schnelle Abteilung would conceal themselves. The least expensive cactus set compatible with 20-22mm figures is made by Pegasus. It includes quite a few prickly pear plants of different sizes, as well as several cholla or senita cacti (hard to tell at 1/72 scale). This is the set that I use now -- quite durable, and with the added benefit that I can place them in both North African and Southwestern US settings (think Sibley's ACW invasion of New Mexico). |
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