Today's video is inspired by my recent call-to-arms and a flood of excellent subjects for future videos. Subscriber Mr__Blue asked, "What are the essential contents of the umpires demo box?" I've adapted this question sightly to look specifically at what you need to bring with you when running a Demo game, either at a club or a show. I've run several demo games at shows and am working on one right now for a show in June so I felt this was a subject I could speak with a little bit of authority on.
As usual, I ask readers/viewers for their views and experiences on this subject. So please leave your stories in the comments below or over on my channel Miniature Adventures.
Sounds all good advise to me Lee, one thing I'd add, is grub! You never know, when you'll get peckish!
ReplyDeletePostie the 'feeder' will no doubt be fuelling our imminent diabetes with his sack of chocolate bars.
DeleteI have never put on a demo game, though in 50+years of gaming I have put on many scenarios - both in club and at conventions. Your suggestions are spot on for participation games too, perhaps more so as most of the players in such a game know enough about it to realize that there are missing bits - Demo games , not so much! I would add bringing extra forces to be able to either accommodate an extra player or two or to add to one side or another who is being completely destroyed by their opponents to keep the game interesting. I subscribe to the idea that putting on a game is like a stage play. Putting on the game requires you to be both author and director, while the players are both the audience and the actors. So you must be prepared to keep the game interesting for everyone up until the last die is thrown. To that end, I am not ashamed to say that I have, from time-to-time, "modified the game in progress".
ReplyDeleteA man after my own heart. My 'origin story' is that I started out running role-playing games and they are all about 'theatre' so I try to inject a bit of that into the wargames I umpire as well. The ability to 'fudge' a dice roll or subtly bend the rules without anyone noticing is a key skill to keeping the game enjoyable and exciting for the players.
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