Where do you stand on a table?

Two gaming events happened over the weekend that got a fair amount of coverage in the nerdy social media world. One was a tournament and one was a games show. They are obviously different things to us 'in the hobby' but to the general pleb in the street they both involve a load of people in a big room with toy soldiers on the tables. If you take a look at both events from that point of view then the difference in outcome is horribly alarming. What also made me think was about what kind of gamer I am, which event would I want to attend and therefore what kind of game would I prefer to play. I think the juxtaposition of these two events makes for an interesting point of conversation. So here goes.

First off we need to recap on these two events so that the slow-coaches and foreigners no what we are talking about. Then we need to loop this back into the 'Oldhammer' scene as that is where a fair majority of readers come from (I check me stats!).



So the two events were The 40k Grand Tournament in London and the Partizan Games show in Newark. Straight off the bat i'm aware that directly comparing these two events is a little unfair. The number of tables at the GT was in the hundreds and therefore a small organising team was responsible for all of them whereas at Partizan each table was the responsibility of a group of gamers. The GT is a tournament and therefore it's a bout competitive gaming rather than showing off a spectacle on the table like at Partizan. Finally the GT was a 40K tournament and the Partizan show is pretty much focused on historical mini's. I'm sure there are other areas that could be discussed as differences but it should be suffice it to say that i'm aware that the two events are different in many ways and that's kind of the point i'm trying to make. But more of that later.....

As you can see the London Event was billed as the Largest GT in London and events were being run for AoS, 40K, Necromunda and Narrative events as well. The event seems to be run by a reputable set of organisers who have been featured on the GW community pages and is in fact advertised on their pages as 'The Glastonbury Music Festival for Warhammer'.

The photos of the GT were bouncing around on social media all weekend and although their were photos of some nicer looking tables it was the 40K tournament tables that were garnering all the attention. The above photo was the image that sums up the gossip round the event. Row upon row of mats (i think their may have been a sponsor involved) with identical piles of polystyrene foam scenery, some painted, some not. Now, the reason the are identical is to avoid giving any one and advantage because of terrain features. I think the look on the guys face says more than a million of my words could.

It was obvious from some tables that the terrain builders had made an attempt at texturing some of the terrain before either getting bored or running out of time (more likely the latter).

The problem is that the terrain wasn't the only feature of the tournament that makes me sad. Look for instance at the car park on the top right in the above photo. So many things about that makes me sad. Oh my poor rogue trader heart.

In addition to the dullest terrain in the world there was next to no room for anybody to play. There is so little room between tables that it would be impossible to move around the table without having to negotiate passage with your neighbour. Now do you go bum to bum, bum to front or front to front?

As we all know, a room full of gamers on a sweltering hot day is going to produce a lovely hum and having all those lovely hairy men in such close proximity is bound to have produced a lovely bouquet.

Your other choice for the weekend was Partizan at Newark. Partizan is a long running games show and is a pretty relaxed affair. There is plenty of room and the vibe is generally of the grey haired gamer wandering around taking in the sight in an unhurried manner. 

Partizan, even more so than salute, has gathered a reputation for having games that are visually stunning and quick look at some of the pics that I again pulled of social media (mostly twitter) and you can see the sort of thing that is on display.

A Very British Civil War Forum

James Morris/ Lenton Gamers Crete 1941

Adrian Deacon (and friends) Earlswood War-games group - Stalingrad Chain of Command

Dave Andrews and Aly Morrison/ Great War Miniatures - La Gorgue Airfield

Barry Hilton/ League of Augsburg

You've got a bit of drool on your chin. Fair play to all the guys for making all these amazing tables congratulations. 

So the two events are ostensibly parts of the same hobby and were on in the same weekend. Which would you rather be playing? And more importantly, which one of these would you want to be producing?

I, like many of you, would feel like we have a foot on both camps. We are, after all Warhammer players and in the photos of the GT event we recognise the figures, the game an even the tournament mentality that so many players feel is the main attraction of the game. We all have a huge amount invested in Warhammer and the background and figures are something that we enjoy and want to stay part of. Some of us may be historical gamers as well and feel the pull towards the spectacle of a game. The idea that the gaming board is equally (if not more) important than the figures you put on it  should really be self explanatory.

So where do we sit as a gaming community? The focus for a long time as been on the need to make sure that you use painted figures, that you are seen to be making the effort to have an army that is attractive and unique. And many gamers will still see that as the main effort of the hobby as producing such an army. The problem is, by only seeing your army as 'the hobby' thats all you end up with. A fully painted army ready to fight on whatever surface you are presented with. This is the life of a Tournament gamer. The immersion in the spectacle is secondary to having a game that can be won. The game is not a story telling exercise but simply reduced to a competitive maths contest. With a view of the game like that, you can see that painting your figures is actually a bit of a pain in the arse. A hurdle to be climbed in order to get in to a tournament. This tournament attitude has become the prevalent view of the Warhammer wargame over the last 20 years. Age of Sigmar only really took off when the Generals Handbook came out and gave players points to go with their army lists. They wanted to compete.

The games that are on show at Partizan come at the hobby from an entirely different point of view. Obviously some of these games have figure lines or rulesets connected to them and so the boards you see are almost like advertisements but that is not the case for all of them. Many of the boards are the results of a years worth of effort from individuals and clubs. The point is to produce a 'whole game' experience. Not just a nice army but a board and scenery that is a delight to play on. That people stop and look at and study. That they take pictures of and share them on the internet. I'd like to think that the folks in the Oldhammer community feel that that is the ideal. Rather than this.

So. We are older guys, not quite as old as the Partizan regulars but getting there. We are still fantasy and sci-fi gamers for the most part (though we are dabbling in Historicals) so we should be the guys that put on amazing games on amazing tables. That show off that the Fantasy/Sci-fi gamers can do it as well as the Historical guys. We can produce amazing stuff, we just need to show it off.

Let's not just be boring old guys playing with crappy scenery and unpainted figures.

Let's be the top of the Fantasy and Sci-fi game. 

Your challenge starts now. You've got till BOYL 18. GO!

(well, ok Maybe BOYL 19 is more realistic but you know what I mean.)