Hi folks.
Twice a year there is a games festival in the small town of Theix, near Vannes, in Brittany (France). Some friends and me often take part to do some 28 mm wargame battles. The next one will be 29th-30th October.
Some of us wanted to organize a c.1700 (actually WoSS and pirates) battle between ourselves, and some others said it would be better to welcome members of the public who want to play. So after some discussion we decided to set up three tables. Troops will be able to go from one table to another during the game.
The first table will be an initiation for all newcomers : an ocean with a few islands and a small Spanish fort. Newbies will be given a small ship (merchantman or privateer or pirate) and will learn to play for half an hour or more.
The 2nd and 3rd table will welcome players who sailed through the first table and who wish to spend more time to play "seriously". The 2nd table will be coastline and a coastal town under British control. The 3rd table will be some mysterious inland territory and a French plantation.
...The historical explanation of this situation (...if someone asks for it!) is that in the early 18th century the English would have seized this Spanish port, but the island fort is still Spanish, and the colonial plantation is French because the Spanish did give this part of Hispaniola / Haiti to the French a few years earlier in 1697.
...The actual explanation is that we hope to welcome newcomers on the first table, and to play more interesting scenarios on the two other tables
A pic of a previous event: