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NYT on Warhammer
Spoooon wrote in to mention a New York Times story on Warhammer, old skool table-top wargaming favorite. (registration required) From the article: "In a culture dominated by virtual diversions and mass marketing, Warhammer has acquired an ardent following by being tactile and mysterious, using no advertising at all. Games Workshop, the British company that makes it, has licensed two video-game versions, but it is usually played with three-dimensional figures by opponents who face each other across a real-life table." In related news, registration for GenCon Indy 2005 opened on Monday. Best four days of gaming, and all that.
I've been playing since around 2001, started right in the middle of the Game Store Crash (another topic). Games don't take 6 hours to play any more, typically 2 hours if both players are wanting to get done and not sitting around BSing (which is common in friendly games).
Tournament games typically have a 2 hour time limit, which includes setup/deployment.
Most important point: I've met exactly one player below the age of 23. Average age is 25-35, on a guess.
Anything is possible given time and money.
GW publishes a magazine, White Dwarf, which is pretty much one giant ad for their stuff. Oh, and the occasional interesting piece for the players.
But mostly, it's "Look, new cool models released this month!! And see, they beat this other army, wow!".
Anything is possible given time and money.
I'd recommend drafting your friends (I have the same problem as you, small town with torches and burning crosses for those dirty gamers).
A new twist to 40k is Combat Patrol. Small points games (400) that are fun and don't take a lot of models. Perfect for getting back in and taking someone with you.
See more here:
http://www.patrolclash.org.uk/index.htm
Anything is possible given time and money.
For those who might be wondering, "Gosh, what could GW have done that was so bad?" consider the following:
GW has set up a system whereby hobby-level shops (Mom-n-Pop type independently owned stores) can obtain virtually anything GW makes for 50% retail. That gives the stores a 100% markup, which is good for small stores. So far, so good.
However, when sales in any geographic region reach a certain saturation level, GW moves in, installing a Games Workshop store, undercutting the retail stores they supplied to by about 25%. If Warhammer was the primary source of income for the local Mom-n-Pop stores (which it probably was, if sales reached the saturation level), the Mom-n-Pop stores die. The local Warhammer market dries up, and the GW store moves out.
Add to that the fact that, in competitions, the paint job on your army counts more towards winning the tournament than winning a battle, and it's obvious why many are leery of the whole thing.
Myself, I don't trust any game you need a tape measure to play.
Happiness is relative, Based upon the way we live.