Monday, February 18, 2013

Day of Days 2013- Final Countdown



 The weekend coming up I will be running my annual FoW event. I organised our first FoW event in February 2003, and we also formed the Timaru Armchair Generals (TAG) about the same time so this is our 10th anniversary even though it is only our 9th annuall gaming "event" as Day of Days 2011 was cancelled at the last minute due to the devastating CHCH earthquake- the second anniversary of which is this Friday.

It is a doubles event agai this year and we have 28 players (29 actually with one team of 3) coming from Invercargill (4) and Wellington (7) as well as those from Christchurch and Dunedin, making it the largest FoW event outside NATCON to be held in the South Island- not bad for a town of less than 30,000. Being half way between the South Island’s two main urban centres does make it a bit easier for players from both to get to and that tends to work in our favour. But I am especially pleased with the recent support from both Invercargill and Wellington as it is a major effort for players from both places to get here but also appreciate the travel involved from all our out of ton players.

I am very, very pleased with support we’ve received over the years. The weekends have been consistently well attended and  I hope that they continue to be so. The players have always bought into the (sometimes) crazy themes and ideas we've tried in our endevours to try and make DoD a unique experience and different from the other comps held here in the South Island, and more often than not the ideas have worked out in the end.  

I prefer to call the weekends "wargaming events" rather than competitions, the name is a small but subtle reminder of why we are gaming, not to win at all costs but to get together with like minded people, roll some dice, have fun and tell a few stories and hence the focus on it being an “event” first and foremost. My aim for the weekend is simple: to try to make it something different and fun and most importantly try to make it the best gaming experience that we can. Do we always succeed? Probably not but the key (IMO) is to listen to the participants, get their feedback as to what worked, what didn’t work, identify any issues that arose and try to fix them and make the following year better.

This year is by far the biggest turn out. A number of players (6 or 7) have been to all the events I’ve run over the years but we also have several for whom this will be their first Day of Days. As per normal it is strictly axis vs allies (Soviets in this case) and themed to a particular battle or campaign. The theme this year being the Battle of Stalingrad. As this month saw the 70th anniversary of the surrender of the Sixth Army it seemed only fitting to commemorate this epic struggle and those that died in a battle that truly was a turning point in World War Two.   


So the countdown is on, I’ve a couple of army lists to receive final confirmation on, lots of organisational stuff to take care of before it all kicks off next Friday evening.   I’m looking forward to catching up with everybody, rolling a few dice and hopefully having more than a few laughs.

Looks like I may even get to play, but alas will not be using my Cossacks, a fillin is needed on the Axis side instead.

Craig

10 comments:

  1. Great work and congrats on the 10 year anniversary!

    I have great respect for the people like you who pull together events like this. We're just thinking about doing a local Saga event in June and the first thought is "it's a lot of work!" That you have 29 people coming out is astonishing and a tribute to all your hard work in years past. I'm very much looking forward to your AARs!

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  2. Getting enough terrain used to be the main organisational headache but these days we've plenty of people to help out. The main headache now being last minute cancellations. In "singles" events only two people are affected with doubles 4 are so I try to have 1 or 2 back ups. The other issue with doubles is the need to gather players in multiples of 4.

    Tourneys are well worth it and not to much hassle to run. Our club for instance now take care of the food etc so that is one less headache for me.

    The key is trying to build player interest and a bit of a "buzz" but after awhile even that seems to be drive by the participants :)

    Give it a go Monty, I'm sure the effort will be worth it.

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  3. Hey Craig, best of luck with the event.
    Quick query - whats your game size?
    You mention Stalingrad so I am guessing this is a Midwar setting event.
    As its doubles what points level are you playing to?

    The difficulty I have always had when switching from LW to MW, is that most things in MidWar are more expensive in points than in LW, yet MW tends to play to a smaller army size (typically 1500pts vs 1750pts for LW, seems the norm).
    How do you guys play it?

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    1. Hi Scott

      We only ever play 1500 pts for MW- or smaller. Four our doubles last year we used 1200 pts per player, this year back to 1100 (our first LW comp in 2008 was 1000 per player IIRC) and limit to 1 Div support max per player. The aim is to make weapons platoons an attractive option (less of an issue in 3E)

      Time is 3 1/2 hrs max per game, and this year only 1 "infantry" company per pair to try and avoid games timing out- I also have added 1/2 an hours to make each rd 3 1/2 hrs- last year I trimmed it to 3 hrs to ensure people could get away early but time was a were a bit tight as there is usually lots of discussion as to what to do in each game.

      Yes, MW Stalingrad and only stuff that was present at Stalingrad and surrounding area can be fielded.

      Other changes are the inclusion of a 3rd objective in all missions (which the attacker places and the defender can then move one attacker objective- simply to avoid rugby scrums at one objective and ensure the defenders spread out- worked well in play tests.

      Finally we use 6x5 tables so plenty of depth or an extra 12” width which gives more room to manoeuvre.

      Even in LW per have always preferred 1500 pts to the 1750pt but in the last year or so we've played a bit of 1750 LW.
      Craig



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    2. All very interesting Craig, thanks for the detailed reply.

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  4. Congrats on ten years! I think the fact you're still going strong after a decade says it all really. Themed tournaments/events are my favourite.

    Cheers,

    Paul

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    1. Thanks Paul, it is a decent milestone to achieve in a game.


      Craig

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  5. Hi Craig - I love the theme and I am looking forward to some good reports from the participants. I wont be there but some of my stuff should be lol

    Go Red Team (even if I am supplying arms to the 'other side')!

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    1. It should be a blast- of course the results won't go as viral as your in seems to have done on the BF forums :)

      Xelee? Xelee who? :)

      Craig

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    2. Lol Jeff should be proud of that thread 9 pages and then nuked from orbit with a golden padlock. Xelee who? I was about to start reminiscing about when I first started Fow and how if I had read the forums then - with all the moaning about ROF1 T34s, I'd never have got my first ones and missed all the fun I've had with them. Anyway I am sure that much fun fun will be had by you guys this weekend, even of none of it really counts because no one will be bringing US TDs :p

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