In a departure from my regular post. A call to arms....
Last week saw the 'valiant few' of the Wyvern's Wargaming Club put on a multi-player Stargrave game - excellent fun, with the usual levels of skulduggery and good humour.
With only two games on offer that evening, It got me thinking about the future of club gaming and how as we return to normal, Covid and the past 12 months of locked down appears to have significantly impacted the gaming community, certainly in our local area. Instead of seeing people clamouring for face to face gaming players have gone to ground. the forum is quiet and the early banter and conversations of lockdown 1 & 2 have been replaced by radio silence.
- After long periods of isolation have players turned into modellers, painters and on-line gamers?
- Have we lost some of our newer players returning to the hobby after having young kids brought up on Games Workshop and now trying historical gaming - During the length periods of home working, have they now found new hobbies?
- Have we lost players to Covid given our demographic? Or has the recent loss of several stalwarts of the hobby left a significant gap, as we wait for newer characters to step forward?
- Have people built their own game space and now no longer think they need a club as they can game at home?
This conversation tends to come round every now and again - So why a club...?
Why do I need to keep lugging my terrain, figures around when I can simply play at home?
In no particular order, my reasoning for club gaming over remote/solo gaming.
- Room - Yes I can at a push roll out a 6x4 but every now and again, I want to go BIG, with more than two players, I want people (Generals) huddled in corners planning their next move, I want to push regiments across a large table, stretching to reach the middle.
- Inspiration, new ideas and new projects - some of the best projects have come from that cross table chat, the whole club painting Zulu's or now everyone digging out Stargrave Gangs - That would simply not happen at home.
- Hints and Tips - How do you get that effect? - Black or White under coat - Google and You Tube are fine but I want to see mini's close up and physically hold them to see how others do things.
- New Friends and simply getting out of the house. - We might not know the names of each others partners, kids, jobs, Birthdays - But we know people's favourite period, scale and tabletop tactics.
- Mental Health - With a head full of projects, terrain ideas, future gaming plans - who has time to worry about work or real life?
This is our club space...... Based in the village of Bishampton, we attract members from Evesham, Pershore, Worcester and Redditch, with a few even further out.
Wyvern Wargamers | Groups | Facebook
If you are in the area check us out, a friendly group playing most historical games and/or popular games on the market on the 1st & 3rd Sunday of the month. We have a long running Saga Tournament (hopefully back next year) and a number of all dayers.....
If your not local please share with your network, after all I suspect we are not alone in seeing a downturn in members and occasionally we all need reminding to make that extra effort.
Join the group and come and take part or like Woolworths, Debenhams or your local model store we might just be gone.
If I lived in your neck of the woods I definitely would.
ReplyDeleteMe too but I’m on the wrong continent.
DeleteWell I hope you members return Stu, as you do have a great club and a nice space in which to game. Based upon my limited social interaction as lockdown has eased, everyone in my age group (and even my daughter in her early 20's) still doesn't feel fully comfortable in settings such as pubs, restaurants etc. Maybe the same is true for clubs with their indoor setting and often limited space?
ReplyDeleteAs for being a member of a club, I stopped years ago for a variety of reasons, one of which was lugging my stuff across Bristol, which could be an hour plus each way, for maybe just a few hours of gaming. In the end we found it easier to play at home as and when we felt like it, which worked for us.
Whether gaming at home will return remains to be seen, as with one of my friends working from home means that he may not be in this area again, so my regular opponent will have 'gone'. I hope it does resume at some point, but we'll have to wait and see.
I am sure everyone will return at some point. I think people are still being very cautious at the minute. For me I did very little last year no events and unable to play games with other meant I couldn't be bothered painting stuff apart from the occasional painting urge.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of people are simply still being cautious. I know that most of the folk I know are now double vaccinated, but Delta doesn't seem to care, people around me are sill getting sick, people around me are still struggling with long Covid. So a club meet seems like an unnecessary luxury and risk at the moment.
ReplyDeleteI'm totally up for coming back down for a game soon!
ReplyDelete