SchoolActivity

[Husaria]

Hi All,

Next year, the School I work at in Ipswich will be holding an activities week, whereby students can sign up for extra curricula activities run by staff, who may have a particular interest/hobby outside of their subject expertise.

I have been approached to supervise the 'War Hammer' activity group, given my expressed interest in miniature gaming. Now, I'm more than happy/prepared to supervise lots of students shoving their 28mm Fantasy/Sci Fi minis across some  tables, but I see the day as an opportunity to offer the students an alternative vision of what miniature gaming can be about-namely the historical perspective. I also see this day as a means to expand students horizons about miniature gaming and ,hopefully, it could be a spring board for something more at the school or make a longer impact for those involved.

Anyway, after all the above preamble, I would welcome some suggestions on a participation game I could put on, which would offer something alternative to what the kids might bring along. Clearly, I'm a bit restricted in what I can offer, as I'm limited by my own collections and rule familiarity, but here's what I've got and rules I think I could use:

1.   Ancients in 15mm (Sword and Spear)
2.   ECW 6mm (Polemos)-great to tie in with History lessons.
3.   WSS (Polemos )-Possibly  too obscure, but a great spectacle offering in scale.
4.   Renaissance 10mm (Italian Wars)-A project I've worked on with Pendraken/Warmaster stuff
5.   Napoleonic 15mm and 6mm (Black Powder/Polemos)
6.   WW2 6mm (BKC)-Again, relates to curriculum and students may 'get it' more.
7.   ACW 6mm (Polemos )
8.   Warmaster Fantasy-last resort, as trying to offer the historical options, but does offer alternative scale concept.

My initial thought about the above is that, although I could Umpire any game and so explain rules (as we go along ?), the reality is that everything might be just too complicated to get any game going in the time available and could just put people off i.e  becoming bogged down in just another 'lesson' and lacking fun.
Also, the scale of the figures (e.g 6mm) could be a bit of a culture shock for some and alienate them from even having a go. I see the importance of trying to avoid a dry experience and instead creating something engaging and multiplayer, so as to avoid anyone just being a hanging on.

Clearly, lots to consider and maybe I've bitten off more than I can chew (with no previous experience of this), but up for the challenge. Seeking to inspire and avoid being zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Well, over to you guys. What do you suggest ? What would you do if organising this day ? Should I just take the easy route and 'supervise' their games ?
Help requested from fellow missionaries of the hobby,
Tim

[Fenton]

What age group are the children going to be?

If younger children maybe something in 28mm like LOTR

Might be worth looking at something that uses squares or hexes  like Square bashing  or some of the rules Kallistra put out,to simplify movement etc

[Subedai]

Personally, I would start off with something they an relate to i e Warhammer, WD40K, D&D or even as Fenton suggested, LoTR. Once you've got them then you introduce other stuff slowly. If it ties in with the current curriculum then even better, they can read the history of what they are doing ie ECW and learning more about the topic because they want to rather than they would if they had to as homework. Sneaky but effective.

[Ithoriel]

I'm assuming these are secondary school age?

I'd say this would be an ideal opportunity to take up a theme from elsewhere on this forum. Bolt Action WW2 uses the same basic mechanisms as Warhammer/ WH40K. Historical gaming without the major disruption of a whole new set of rule mechanisms. Assuming you can beg, buy, borrow or steal a copy of the rules and spring for a couple of plastic forces?

I love 6mm but I'd guess they'd be a bit of a culture shock for the GW crowd, initially at least.

Similarly, Polemos is a rule set I really like but not one I'd try as a starter.

I did snare a bunch of teenagers away from exclusively GW and into occasional historical gaming by the simple tactic of supervising the club, turning up with a 600mm x 600mm board, a lazy susan, some basic terrain and a pair of 15mm DBA New Kingdom Egyptian armies. In between settling disputes and expressing suitable admiration for armies and tactics I sat in a corner playing DBA solo, spinning the board round on the turntable to play each side. It was a rare week we didn't have at least one set of DBA games running. Small armies and simple rules made it an easy sell.

Just some thoughts. Hope that helps.

[fsn]

Something linked to local history? Boudicca or the Saxons?

[Subedai]

I did snare a bunch of teenagers away from exclusively GW and into occasional historical gaming by the simple tactic of supervising the club, turning up with a 600mm x 600mm board, a lazy susan, some basic terrain and a pair of 15mm DBA New Kingdom Egyptian armies.

What's a 'lazy susan'? Can't say as I've come across that term before. (Note the school reference there.)

[Ithoriel]

Lazy Susan



"A lazy Susan is a turntable (rotating tray) placed on a table or countertop to aid in moving food. Lazy Susans may be made from a variety of materials but are usually glass, wood, or plastic. They are usually circular and placed in the center of a circular table to share dishes easily among the diners. Owing to the nature of Chinese cuisine, especially dim sum, they are especially common at formal Chinese restaurants both on the mainland and abroad." - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Never occurred to me it was an uncommon term, sorry.

[Matt J]

Ask Lemmey...

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Hi,
Sounds great.
War hammer Ancients is a good set if you have many who know war hammer.
Black Powder and Hail Caesar for 19th Century and Ancients can be picked up by kids in about half an hour (if you keep it basic).
DBA with 12 elements and a ladder (left moves up, right moves down) 12 elements each, everyone gets five or six games in a night.
Have fun.

[Last Hussar]

Sunjester is your man - he does this professionally

[Orcs]

Sunjester is your man - he does this professionally

LH - are you suggesting the Sunjester is a wargames prostitute? 

No seriously Hussaria talk to Sunjester

[Last Hussar]

Well he frequently screws me over.

[Subedai]

Lazy Susan

"A lazy Susan is a turntable (rotating tray) placed on a table or countertop to aid in moving food. Lazy Susans may be made from a variety of materials but are usually glass, wood, or plastic. They are usually circular and placed in the center of a circular table to share dishes easily among the diners. Owing to the nature of Chinese cuisine, especially dim sum, they are especially common at formal Chinese restaurants both on the mainland and abroad." - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Never occurred to me it was an uncommon term, sorry.

No probs. I've seen them before but never realised they had a name, I've always called them a rotating coaster.

[Nosher]

Hi Tim

I'm based in ipswich, am a former youth worker and now work for the ambulance service so have my CRB/DBS clearance. I have lots of minis and terrain etc from the list you suggest so happy to help if you need a spare set of hands

PM me if you'd like to chat through some options

cheers

Paul

[Hertsblue]

Our club used to put on an annual participation game at the National Army Museum in London for kids from 7- 8 to teenagers. The games frequently accommodated six or seven players a side and were predominately either ancients or WW2. Whatever period you choose, I would recommend doing without rules completely. Issue each player with a sheet giving move-distances and ranges and then free-kriegspeil (i.e. make it up as you go along) as the situation requires. The trick when making any decision is to roll a pair of dice and refer to a sheet of paper (any old piece of paper). Players will accept any result so long as they think it was arrived at randomly.

Where younger players were involved we used to practise what became known as "the great no-lose pile-up", in which the game finally finally petered out in a bloody draw, so that we could declare that honour was satisfied and retire to the pub.

I would say, though, that the more umpires you can co-opt the easier it becomes.

Whatever you choose to do I wish you the very best of luck.