Tea and Biscuits with Lauby and Frontline Gamer: Starting the Hobby, part 3

Here we are with part three of the conversation Frontline Gamer and I are having while we sub in for the delightfully bearded Von.  Last week we ended things up on a discussion of the the perfect gateway product - the trashy novel!  But you can read all of that here.

FG: I think we’ve pretty much covered the whole gateway product haven’t we? I think we agree that it’s certainly not just the product itself, but more that the industry needs to do more in general to engage with potential new customers. Is that about where we are at? The idea that perhaps simply preaching to the converted isn’t going to rope that many new people in. It seems to this observer that many games companies are willing to leave it to Serendipity when it comes to recruitment. That’s no way to run a business in my mind, but they’ve relied for so long on the goodwill of us gamers to do the hard work for them, well I say we need help because the player base for a lot of these games remains fragile and underdeveloped in many regions around the globe. I mean you’ve said to me that you’re basically living in a gaming wilderness, what’s that like?

Pictured: a typical gaming wilderness

The Weekly Top X - Smiles and Hugs FOREVER!

FOREVER!  I really got nothing for an intro today, so enjoy this Parry Gripp tune, get pumped and get reading.





1) Blood of Kittens - Meat for Meta: A friendly 6th edition reminder…
This post really resonated with me. Equal parts impassioned and measured and on a topic that is quite important for me This may seriously be the only post about 6th edition you’ll need to read until well after it comes out.

2) Eldar Addict - Custom Talos WIP and Space Hulk Mission List
I dunno much about the Talos except that this dude’s painted examples are one of the best sales pitches you could find for the kit. The rest of his Dark Eldar ain’t too shabby either. And by that I mean they are amazeballs.

Gaming on a Budget: Getting Buggered by the Empire, a Review of Sorts

Fair warning in advance, since that's apparently what we're doing this week- this post will be a return to form for your old pal dethtron.  If you're not sure what exactly that means..... you're about to fucking find out.

It's on!

I'll get the budget part out of the way first, since that's what I'm allegedly here to do.  Simply put, if you happen to be sitting on a few Empire miniatures, it's time to make an army on the cheap.  Given the recent points increases in the new book, your army list just got a shitload smaller.

The Lowest Common Denominator

Hey folks, SinSynn here.

I should probably warn you straight away that this post contains cursing, and a lil' venomous ranting.

I haven't even written it yet, and I know it will contain these things. As I type these words, it's just a concept in my mind. I know what I want to convey to you, but it's a subject that fills me with such animosity that I'm fairly sure that at some point I might just lose it, and start...going off.
Today I will be discussing that segment of the Terran population I've dubbed 'the lowest common denominator.'
Very few things on this planet make me quite this angry.

*I nailed all the exits shut before setting the fire*

Is My Army Any Good?

So you've decided to invest in a new army.

Maybe your bored of your old one, need a new a challenge, have discovered some hideously broken combination in a new codex or are attracted by some new pretty models or interesting background material...whatever the reason, I'm presuming your going to use the army at some point and perhaps would like to win a game or two with it.

Of course if you don't care about whether your army is going to win a game then feel free to ignore this article completely or just skip to the end and I'll include a picture of Kate Beckinsale for no apparent reason.

Community Announcement: Headshots from the Heart Charity Drive

Here's a little something to warm the cockles of your collective hearts this fine Monday evening.

Seriously though, they do look pretty cold.

The illustrious and talented Dave G of Wargaming Tradecraft is gearing up for what promises to be a fascinating combination of a video game marathon and painted model auction.  For charity!

Specifically, Child's Play.

Here's the skinny:

Dave and his wife (and a whole host of other fine folks) are planning on playing Borderlands for a day straight (24 human hours to you SinSynn) and raising money from pledges - either a lump sum or based on how many headshots the charitable team can produce.

Beyond that, Dave will be painting up some themed miniatures as part of a two-pronged assault.

Did I mention that the whole thing will be webcast?  A crack team of support people are involved so you can follow along in the action.

Full details can be found at Wargaming Tradecraft or the Headshots from the Heart page.  I urge you to head on over there and donate whatever you can - money or just plain ol' gettin' the word out.

Since this event doesn't take place until late may, I recommend that you stay tuned to the Headshots mainpage to check in on the painting progress that'll be there.

New Member Monday - Trade Deficit

All right ladies and gentleman, we've got a lot to cover today.  First, the happyfun news:  New members! Three of them this week.  Well... two and a move.

I see Lead People
Keywords: Warhammer 40k, Bloodbowl, Imperial Guard, Night Lords, WIP, Conversions

Armoured Sentinel
Keywords: Warhammer 40k, Tyranids, Imperial Guard, Doubles Tournaments

Watching Paint Dry
Keywords: Warhammer 40k, Warhammer Fantasy, Skaven, Space Wolves, WIP, Ogre Kingdoms, Orcs & Goblins, Blood Angels

On a less exciting note, we completed the first round of weeding.

[Musings of a Game Store Owner] A Funny Thing Happened...

Last week I set out to talk about the internet in an in depth way, with the idea that I would try to avoid painting things with broad strokes. I mentioned that I have a lot to say about the weird and wonderful web. Now it's time to get to it.

First up, I figured I would talk about the subject I know the least about, so let me know if it's lame.

Yeah, that way I have plenty of time to be told I'm wrong and learn my lesson...

Forums have a definite place in the structure and ranks of the internet, offering a place and opportunity for communicating ideas and information.  The ability to be heard on a topic, and discuss with others interested in the same ideas gives a lot of us geeks some kind of hope.

And that ability also gives us a bad reputation.

I haven't ever been a member of a forum, but I've read them many times. I spent quite a lot of time perusing places like DakkaDakka and Bolter & Chainsword, and I continually came away from those experiences profoundly disappointed in ... well...just about everything...

Somehow, the very nature of forums allows the worst of us to come out, and act like  jerks to each other. I found instance after instance of downright creepy and mean attitudes, snark and general jackassery.

Forums have very little direct impact on me or my business. However, when a topic is hot or very popular on one of the sites, we get some conversation in the store. That's usually a pretty good thing, and I am generally grateful. It pains me to see people getting butt hurt over them, but when customers want stuff or talk about whatever they heard about on the 'net, I can't complain too much.

I know there's a lot I haven't addressed- but I don't know a lot about forums.  I'd love to hear what you have to say, and talk about it with you further in the comments.