"Newt" wrote:
> Battlemasters Leicester University Digby Hall 20th to 21st April 2002
> www.eurolog.org The European League of Gamers
>
> This year we shall be running two Hero Wars games. One is a two part
tournament, the other a less serious Sunday afternoon game.
>
> Prizes for both the games have been very kindly supplied by The Unspoken
Word magazine.
Battlemasters Leicester University Digby Hall 20th April 2002.
As a Hero Wars demonstration was taking place, and our group wanted to see
others playing the game to pick up some tips and techniques, we went along
to Eurolog�s Battlemasters convention held at Leicester University, Digby
Hall. Leicester is only a short hop away from Derby so we went down just
for the Saturday and signed up.
The venue (I believe that Convulsion C02 will be held here as well on
19th-21st July 2002) is set in picturesque grounds and the main part of the
hall is an old converted manor house although the two-story accommodation
blocks are typical sixties design. I didn�t see the accommodations myself
but I was told that they are very basic student lodgings, clean and
comfortable.
The main dining hall is smaller than that at College Hall, Leicester where
Convulsion is usually held and the bar area is tiny. I do not know if there
are any more large rooms available that weren�t open to this convention
although I did wander around and have a good look (part of my job as a Venue
Manager I suppose).
Registration at Battlemasters was computerised and was brief as long as the
uplink was working (and they spelled my name wrong but everybody does that
>:-( ).
Signing up for games was also computerised, with a nice timetable printed
out, but there was only one computer and so a long and slow moving queue
formed. However the Eurolog volunteers were all kind and helpful which
facilitated matters greatly.
Some of the games taking place were �Call of Cthulhu� (which should interest
some of this lists members), �Feng Shui� (written by Robin Laws), D&D City
of Sokal, and Cyberpunk 2020. There was a 16 PC local area network for
playing �Diablo II� and �Team Fortress�; there was a �Chivalry & Sorcery�
product launch as well as the launch of a new fanzine for CoC called �The
Black Seal�.
There were several gaming stalls in the dining hall as well as a weapons &
armour re-enactment stall and �Valkyrie� magazine had a major presence
giving away free copies of edition #22.
We signed up for the Hero Wars tournament game that was run and written by
Paul �Newt� Newport with the prizes kindly provided by �The Unspoken Word�.
The room we got to play in was large and fairly airy with basic furniture
but was adequate for our needs. It was above the bar but to us that was a
bonus!
The game:
�Last Seen in Pavis�
An Hero Wars adventure for six players, by Paul "Newt" Newport.
The heir of a respected Lunar Noble family goes missing, presumed dead, on a Grand Tour of the barbarian lands of Prax. Five years later agents of the Lord in the City of Pavis, jewel of the Praxian wastes, report that his son has been seen in the shady lower class district of town. A party bound by honour and blood ties is hastily assembled under a veil of secrecy to find the answer to the age-old riddle: - "When is a ghost a man?"
We played Lunars, which is a first for us as we normally play Orlanthi or
Praxian nomads, but we were willing to give it a go.
I played my Lunar cavalryman a bit like the English baddie from Mel Gibson�s
�The Patriot� and had great fun with it. The scenario itself involved a
quick trip to Pavis, dealing with an inerrant Sundomer, hob-knobbing with
Sor-eel, hanging around Pavis� seedy bars and taverns and a small (50 yards)
trip into the Big Rubble.
We found the missing heir but instead of the big, bloody climax that is the
norm, we convinced the heir (who is illuminated and dabbling in chaos) to
return back to the Heartland of the Empire and spread his (chaotic) word
there. A *very* Lunar ending IMHO.
I enjoyed playing Lunars that we will probably be doing it again at some
point, when the Lunar Handbooks come out I suppose would be best.
It was beneficial to us to see how someone else handles a Hero Wars game and
Paul had a very good way of keeping track of the AP�s during contests that I
will go through in my next post to HW-Rules list.
So in all we enjoyed ourselves at Battlemasters and many thanks goes to Paul
�Newt� Newport for running a great game-CHEERS!
In hindsight it may have been better to stage the game in the main hall so
other attendees could see and watch Hero Wars in action and peak their
interest. But in all a very entertaining day which has got me in the mood
for Convulsion CO2!
Cheers,
DARRAN SIMS.
darransims_at_...
darren.sims_at_...
'Let Justice be done
though the heavens should fall'
Powered by hypermail