A Wargamer´s Dilemma

[Inkpaduta]

Nope I would have no interest in that.

[scatterbrains]

Yes I would for some of them yes. If they are nice enough folks! Age of sigmar probably never.

*Edit*

Location (you never know):

China
Guangdong Province
Zhuhai City (next to Macau and across the bay from Hong Kong)

[armchairgeneral]

It might be an idea if you said which city you live in and what games you would ideally like to play? You never know there might be an as yet undiscovered opponent viewing this thread suited to your requirements rather than having to compromise with a GW game?

[fred]

It might be an idea if you said which city you live in and what games you would ideally like to play? You never know there might be an as yet undiscovered opponent viewing this thread suited to your requirements rather than having to compromise with a GW game?

This. I live in a fairly small town, but there are a good number of wargamers - when I moved here I found the group I still play with through a post on TMP.

Regarding GW games - I'm not generally a fan, even though lots of our group are. But I have enjoyed Kill Team, and it is dead easy to get into as a force is just a handful of troops. But generally I have found that if you aren't keen on a game / period then you want want to build troops for it. I was like that with Bolt Action, liked painting up some British Airborne, but once we played a game it just felt a silly set of rules, with weird ranges to unit footprints, since then that force has languished awaiting finishing off.

[Historiker]

I am currently based in beautiful Hamburg (Germany). Lovely City.

As to the games I am most interested in:

Narrative warband skirmish games (This is not a Test, Mortheim, Frostgrave)

Small-scale skirmish wargames akin to the old Warhammer Fantasy (though that wasn't even small-scale). This day it would most likely be Warlords of Erehwon (just ordered it) or Lord of the Rings.

I have other games and minis lying around, like most of us, but this is what I am most interested in right now.

Just today found a copy of Warhammer Fantasy 6th Edition at a "last day" event of a closing down shop (very sad as it was one of the last independent ones if not the last one left). Might even give that a try!

[Codsticker]

Yes, if I had to. I bought the Deathwatch Overkill boxed game for the minis a few years ago and, as a matter of fact, I am currently picking away at the Blackstone Fortress minis in anticipation of actually playing the game one day.

[Eoin OCnaimhsi]

Without seeming indecisive  I will add an addendum to my first reply post,

I do see merit in what others have said regarding G.Ws smaller or skirmish games. These seem popular, have a large player base or may be attractive to 40k players who you can convert to the particular game(kill team, Necromunda, Aeronautica etc).

I thoroughly enjoyed Necromunda 2nd edition in the 90s(played Ratskins) and I actually would play again today. An entire gang is about 25 euro/20GBP/30 USD which is very good value.

I suppose my aversion to GW is their corporate practices and I refuse to pay for a new codex and rulebook every 2 years.

[Historiker]

Thanks for the addendum!

I actually bought into New-Cromunda when it came out (totally going with the Hype cause I am a fan of Mortheim) and although there was some good ideas there I was appalled by the business practices regarding such a small, specialist-product:

Instead of one big book one needed to buy the supplements for all gangs (because they changed the core game-rules) and even those  books were quickly outdated / devalued.

And then there was the whole issue with the card-driven strategies (you effectively had to buy decks, like in Underworld...)

... I quickly became fed up with these very transparent grabs for my wallet and sold / gave away most of my New-Cromunda stuff.

I heard that they put all the supplements into one big book now, but then again they continue to release further supplements regarding the gangs (not, as it should be, the whole game!).

In my opinion either one should  keep supplements very gang specific or create whole-game supplements - this mix of the categories effectively made everything into a core product and seemed... unnecessary to say the least.

Still, new Necromunda has and probably deserves a lot of fans, it just wasn't for me.

Bottom line is: with GW I do tend to have a good hard look at the business-model behind the publications before I even consider buying. Which is also one the reasons for this thread   

[fastolfrus]

I'm sure there were some Hamburg based chaps on here in the past - have you considered a thread like "is there anywhere to play in/near Hamburg".

I'm in a small town on the Yorkshire coast, Scarborough, but (before lockdown at least) we have 4 local clubs that I'm aware of. If (when lockdown is over) you are in the area on a Monday or Thursday you are more than welcome to visit the one I generally go to. We have about 75 members, in the past year only 4 of them have played 40k. A few play Bloodbowl. A few play 40k epic (whatever it may be called). A few play a Necromunda variant based in the old west (El Necromundo). There are a few Burrows and Badgers players, also Bolt Action, By Fire and Sword, Heroquest, Sharp Practice, and Blood and Plunder. There are about a dozen boardgame players and a similar number of D&D players.
I'm spoilt for choice but I wouldn't give in to GW.
 

[fastolfrus]

I also run a local after-school club. before lockdown I had 15 participants aged 11-16. Not a single GW player amongst them. Actually, only 2 have actually heard of GW, and about half were complete non-gamers before they started. In the autumn term we played "Empire of the Dead" (Victorian vampire hunting), but in the spring term we were half-way through a French & Indian War campaign (complete with old-school hidden map movement) with tabletop actions using Osprey's Rebels & Patriots.

[Eric the Shed]

Given that Tactica happens every year in Hamburg I really doubt that there is a shortage of gamers in your area. Its one of the best shows in mainland Europe and is jam packed every year.

My recommendations for finding players

1. Tell folks you are looking for players and be open about location, genre, games etc - you can broadcast this here, via TMP (urgghhh) by a blog etc

2. Crucially and essential: VET every one you meet before introducing to your games group and on neutral ground - there are odd chaps out there  and I mean odder than the usual LAF visitors

3. Be prepared to do everything if you want to startt a new period/game ie terrain/figures etc

good luck


 

[Historiker]

Great advice here, thanks!

Yes, Tactica is a joy every year. This year I could not make it due to exams and then there came the Corona situation  Here's to hoping that next year's Tactica will be just as great as usual!

But yes, I have already started "building" and finding groups and I hope these will pick up speed once things turn back to normal. Unfortunately the current situation affects our hobby quite a bit (as it does everything... except maybe PC gaming, which I don't do).

The vetting advice actually made me smile as I have had some very memorable - yet under no circumstances to be repeated -  experiences in the past (other cities) 

[Mindenbrush]

There are plenty of non 40k gamers in Hamburg, I was there for 4 years and gamed with Grimm, Frank Bauer and some others - though not very often as work tended to clash with game nights.
You should be able to find them through the Tactica website.

[moiterei_1984]

@Historiker:
You should maybe consider opening a thread on the sweetwater forum. I know lots of folks on there from Hamburg.

[Patrice]

I would not play rules which do not interest me (I prefer not to mention names of rulesets it could sound derogatory) although I sometimes accept to try some rules that I do not know.

Otherwise my usual group of players is scattered at a maximum distance of 1h / 1h30 car drive from my home, we organise afternoon games easily enough... But we often play in local events and games festivals (where we can have very large tables), these have been cancelled in the last months. 

You should find other gamers in / around your town if you ask on forums? There may be local gaming groups pages on FB too?