UK Scapers (The life and times of RichardD)

[DingoDarkly]

I'm more of a saver than a spender!
I only buy things when i really need to and the odd treat here and there, apart from that i'm a right tight git! Just ask my friends at work, they'd be lucky to get one coffee a year out of me!!!

[RichardD]

Re: Beer & Pretzels, the Heroscape pics are here:
http://www.spiritgames.co.uk/bnppics.php

About halfway down the page; I'm in two of the pics, butI refuse to say which two

How much for all the HS stuff? Hmmm; that's 5 waves at about $50 per wave, plus 6 large box expasions including the castle at (say) $25 each - that's $400. When youfactor in shipping (bound to be $150-ish) and the possibility of VAT and import duties (something like 22% combined) then £400 might not be too wide of the mark

OTOH, if you can get someone in the States who will both post it cheaply, and in a way that it looks like a personal gift rather than a business transaction, then it could be a fair bit cheaper - after all, $400 is actually £220. The figures themselves are going to cost you £220; the question is, how cheaply/reliably can you get them shipped?

Me, I'm a spender, not a saver (G Brown has seen to that - there are LOTS of ways to encourage me to save; taxing my pension fund was NOT one of them). I've enough equity in the house to make penury an unlikely future. I can't buy quite as much as I'd like (which would include 4 of each common), but so far I've been able to stretch to1 or each unique and 2 of each common, including the large expansions. At the expense of buying boardgames from Germany, mainly.

[robaula]

Originally Posted by RichardD

OTOH, if you can get someone in the States who will both post it cheaply, and in a way that it looks like a personal gift rather than a business transaction, then it could be a fair bit cheaper - after all, $400 is actually £220. The figures themselves are going to cost you £220; the question is, how cheaply/reliably can you get them shipped?

When you look at it like that, £220 is pretty darn good.
Thanks for the pix by the way - looks like a fun, varied event. Shame its a bit of a distance from me...

[RichardD]

We'll do it again next May, with an open invite to any UK Heroscapers, and a contracted hit taken out on anyone who *doesn't* attend

Burton's not that far from ANYWHERE, being pretty close to the middle of what is, in reality, a small country.

[robaula]

When you have kids, *everywhere* is further away than it used to be when you didnt have kids...

[RichardD]

Oh, there are number of solutions:

(i) Train the kids to play games. Mine's still a bit too young for real games, but has already been introduced to various goodies in the Haba catalogue. Pirate Pete is one favourite - though played by her own rules, that bear almost no resemblance to the ones in the box! Flosse Flotten (or something very much like it) is another good one.

(ii) Pack the kids off to grandparents. Which is what we've done for the last three Beer & Pretzels events. We've *tried* taking her to other gaming events, but ultimately me and the other half fall out over whose turn it is to mind the little one and miss out on the next game. This solution has the added advantage that we don't need to stuff the car full of travel seats, dollies and Flosse Flotten (a BIG advantage, as we drive a SMALL car).

[robaula]

Originally Posted by RichardD

Oh, there are number of solutions:

(i) Train the kids to play games.

Done that one! My 15 and 12 year olds really enjoy playing Heroscape. My 2 year old, whilst she doesnt "play by the rules", does like chasing us around the house with Grimnak, making a roaring noise like a lion

[DingoDarkly]

I don't drive so everywhere is far away from me!

[RichardD]

I do, and manage to clock up a fair few thouand miles each year.

As a result, if anyone hears about gaming evens/conventions/shows etc in their area, where we could put on a demonstration game of Heroscape for the public to participate in, could they please let me know? I'm not prepared to travel more than about 2 hours each way, but as I live in the middle that puts me in range of about 80% of the country.

I've already got a scenario prepped, simplified rules sheets printed, pre-selected Master Set armies tweaked and everthing fettled - what I'm short on is actual events, like Beer & Pretzels, and a helper local to the event.

When we put the game on at B&P, we had about twenty members of the public join in throughout the Saturday and on Sunday morning; Sunday afternoon my helper, two of the more enthused members of the public and I sat down for a couple of "proper" games, drafting 400 point armies from my collection. The only disappointed faces all weekend were the ones that missed out on playing, or got dragged away by a parent before they could play a second game.

FWIW, we tried a game using the Basic rules - they really do suck quite badly, don't they? After a series of "on the hoof" iterative changes, and some post-session autopsies each evening, we've worked out that the best way to introduce the game is to use the Master rules, but leave out some of the fiddlier bits - only give +1 for height, don't use double-based figures or flyers, stick to Master Set figures and leave the glyphs off the board. Doing that - combined with a scenario where the players have to reach and hold a high point in the centre of the board - meant that we could get a full game explained and played to a satisfactory conclusion to a bunch of new players in under an hour.

Oh, and with all those figures and a map made from almost 4 complete Master Sets, it looks pretty impressive too. Even the "serious gamers" (that should be an oxymoron; all too often it isn't) were stopping by and taking a look.

On the downside, that's about all the Heroscape I've managed to play this year, having had too much real life and a house move getting in the way of proper game playing. It's odd, but I found it easier to set aside a whole weekend for games, than the odd evening (because to get it played in an evening would require me to spend at least TWO weekends actually organising the new games rom).

[robaula]

About two years ago my place of work help a Games Workshop afternoon - they brought along a big playing area, and loads of the Lord Of The Rings figures. Loads of kids came in and were introduced to the game. Was fun! Unfortunately, it seems very unlikely that Games Workshop are going to grace our doors again. I'm wondering if I might be able to arrange a Heroscape afternoon or even a whole day. (or an overnighter!)
Could be fun if enough people were interested...

[RichardD]

Yes, it's not like GW actually need the help from a marketting point of view. They seem to be as successful as ever at fleecing 12-year old boys of their pocket money, and look to have weathered the Magic/YuGiOh storm pretty well.

Whereas Heroscape gets none of the attention that it deserves.

[robaula]

I must say I have no respect for GW at all at the moment - they overcharge, AND... they are not willing to put ANYTHING back into the community. I recently asked them if they would be willing to donate some books from their Black Library publications to a local community group that helps our Library out by raising funds, but they point blank refused. As if they cant spare a few books here or there??!!
On the other hand, Wizard Books, those who publish the excellent Fighting Fantasy series, donated an entire set.
With this in mind, I come to the conclusion that Games Workshop sucks big time.