"North West Arkansas (There goes the neighborhood...) " Topic

In August I will be turning rudder toward Philadelphia and heading west to the Bentonville-Rogers-Springdale-Fayetteville area in pursuit of Higher education.(alright who snickered back there? ) After searching the miniatures page member locator <sigh>, I would like to make contact with both or either of you about local gaming groups. (Wargamer1972 or Panfilon) If anyone else is in the area that could use extra rank and file at their game table let me know how to contact you.

Wingnut

Well if you have to live anywhere in ARK Fayetteville won't be so bad. The area is beautiful and good for mountain biking, hiking, canoeing, etc. If you do SCA stuff, you'll be at the border of 3 kingdoms so have your choice there. Some of my old SCA buddies from there were gamers also, but I've lost track of them. Good luck.
Mike D

There is a miniatures group, I forget the exact name but it uses HOGS or some other acronym (You will learn that everything around there uses "Hogs" or "Rzarobacks" or "Ozark" in front of its name. I am from the area originally and love it still, but is also rather humorous in that regard.) Because it is a university area, there are tons of college RPGers and such, and plenty of alumni who continue to play, but none of them sound terribly organized when I have looked into it (or at least organized in the way gaming groups in major metro areas are). There are also people in Ft Smith, which is just 55 minutes down the interstate in the Ark river valley, and people in Little Rock and also in Tulsa (about 1.5 hours from Fayetteville).

No need to sell me on the area. I've loved the Ozarks since my first float trip on the Current River three decades ago. I'm just moving there to finish my degree and to be closer to family. The trouble is, in the few times I've been there, gamers were sparse and for all practical purposes shops were non existent. The closest game stores I found were in Tulsa, Springfield MO., and Kansas City. All pleasant drives but considerable distances to move terrain, lead, and dice for an evening of gaming. The shopping isn't really a problem thanks to the internet, however finding someone else to push around some lead and recant armchair tactics can be a challenge.

DON'T DO IT!
I'm stuck (I bought real estate), but the one local gamer I found has disappeared, the sort of store (Comic's n Stuff) in Rogers folded the month I closed on the trailer….

The Store in Fayetteville (Gallery of Champions), all the staff seems to be fantasy oriented. For a while we played A&A MIniatures down there, but NONE of the gamers I got email addresses from EVER showed for other events.

Got to learn to download music from the web, so I can play Duelling Banjos in my house.

Never have heard from Wargamer1972 or the guys at JBU.

Karl (aka Panfilov, OzarkOrc on Fanaticus, or Oscardalibrarian)

Panfilov,

I have lived in worse places. My email is reconlance@gmail.com

Wingnut

The area is great if your interested in the Civil War. You can still follow most of the Confederates march route to Pea Ridge, (Some of it was still dirt road 3 years ago). Development will soon destroy what's left.

Yep, Judge, sad.

I will be up there in the beginning of June. besides Smallmouth catchin', I plan to hook up with Kyoteblue and game. Since y'all Fayettevillers have no PM function, email me at GoCanesBA@aol.com.

There is a few guys in bentonville/Rogers who game a lot as well.

Smokeyroan,
Have you been up on the Current or The Jack's Fork in MO. I Kayak there when I visit my Uncle in Van Buren. I hear the fly fishing is good. Unfortunately my idea of fishing involves a Guinness and a basket of chips but if you ever need a canoe guide let me know.
There are a lot of lost treasures in the area as the Judge has stated…
One of my favorites is at the bottom of Beaver lake near Monet. The underwater amphitheater and the foundation of an incomplete pyramid are a bit Lovecraftian:
link
link

Wingnut

I snorkeled the Jack's Fork. If you have never snorkeled a good whitewater stream, you should give it a shot. It is an A+ rush; a little like a bird in freeway traffic.

Been there, love it. Monet, BTW, was where our Ultimate Frisbee team used to recruit talent (we found hippies that had been doing nothing but throwing frisbees since the seventies). ;)

I think my favorite is where my house is, on the Illinois.

Not very clear water, but lots of smallmouth, catfish, and plenty of drunken hillbillys drifting down the river. (Gives it atmosophere, you KNOW your in the Ozarks when a bunch of empty "Stag Beer" cans drift by, followed by some guy in cutoffs passed out in an intertube!)

:)

Don't forget the underwater ghost town near Monte Ne! I dove it, but visibilty was zero.

Wingnut, I'm moving to Little Rock next month (Immigration service permitting), & will be looking for opponents – a bit of a slog from Fayetteville I know, but doable. Contact me on malthup@bp.com or firefall@live.com.

BTW there are gaming groups in Tulsa & Oklahoma City which you may regard as in reach. Not sure what the Tulsa guys do, but the Okies are into Field of Glory at the moment, if you fancy ancients.

Tulsa is an easy drive, just take the "Trail of Tears Highway", and look for the house on the Illinois River that says: "Go Canes" on the roof if you need a beer!

:)

Firefall,
Any Game shops left in the Tulsa area? I remember a place called "Starbase 21" and "The Game Shop" in a shopping center called "The Farm". I think they both closed up shop about two years ago. Of course the last time I was in Tulsa an ice storm had reduced it to a scene from a Romero film. Longest layover I have ever experienced and consequently the worst hangover.

Wingnut

THE (only) game shop in Tulsa was down to one corner of Miscelaneous historical stuff last year (June; Yikes!)
I was in there.

The only new material was Flames of War/Battlefront.

Mostly clicky, some cards and GW stuff.
But hey, they are still in business, AFAIK. The group sends out an email once a month with their plans, a couple of years ago they were doing rotating 15mm ACW/Napoleonics and HOTT variant, qwith one Saturday a month off (The one I visited, natch).