News

Gaelcon 33 is falling nicely into place for the October weekend. We’re taking on the feedback from last year with the goal of making the convention run smoother, but a lot of the core team will be the same. (It being fairly difficult to do the traditional recruitment tactic of cornering people in the pub and asking them to sell their soul.)

Headline news is that Brian Nisbet has agreed to lead the auction to new heights of taking your money (for charity), Graham Turner our quiz master again and Colm Lundberg will be running a new version of Radio Gaelcon with a surprise twist which we’re not releasing yet.

The call for RPGs is out, and if you have a game you want to run you can submit it here; https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfSOdFcgIw0W4v5DKx8jVXwLVn1A5TVOkXr0kVvxpDfUQhkGQ/viewform 

Isabella Storey-Cosgrave is RPGs Czar again, with two new assistants. New fresh RPGs are coming in through the submission form, and we are also happy to have people who simply would like to run games – games written by others, games from the archives, even published scenarios which you just fancy running for folks. People willing to run entry level games for new players are particularly welcome, as we would like to have some of those in the programme. If you have specific questions about RPG’s or LARPS you can always Email RPGs@gaelcon.com,

Rian Boyle is back leading special events – quiz, auction and panels – which all went excellently last year. Rian is also in charge of CCGs; we will run at least 1 tournament because while face to face CCGs may be back in many local game shops, not everyone will be able to get to those so online events will be important for people. Card games is an area where we also would welcome more hands:- people who can judge and can drive tournament running software well are going to be needed during the con so please do shout if you have those skills.

There are teams working on other areas like staff, trade and logistics – we’ll introduce them as we get closer to the convention. The call for staff for the weekend will come out in early September, but in the meantime folks who want to help out with any part of the con can give us a shout – email chair@iga.ie

In the lead up, some things are happening during August. Colleagues at Octocon have an online panel on writing RPGs on Wednesday 28th July which is obviously of interest to gamers. Gaelcon have two events coming up: Xander Cosgrave will lead a short session on writing a programme blurb for your convention game on August 5th and then we are working on a longer Gaelcon workshop on developing a full convention game on August 12th. Both will be on the IGA Discord. – links and more promo will appear closer to the event, but if you want to get in the IGA Community Discord right now, click here https://discord.gg/pXAx7zZRqZ

 

 

Our hopes for Gaelcon 33 changed as the news changed from week to week, but we have decided that we must have an online event. Various things influenced our decision:

• The news about the pandemic and the vaccination rollout changes from week to week
• We don’t know when we might have certainty about the numbers possible in the venue – we can’t predict when we might actually have solid information on which to base a plan for a physical convention.
• Our intended venue is now part of the hotel quarantine system, and no one can predict when that might end. There is a plan for the civil service to have a team managing the process for 12 months, so that doesn’t bode well for us.
• Given the rising cost of venues and the uncertainty about the pandemic and its aftermath, there is a significant financial risk if our numbers were to be limited – in fact, this cost is going to be an issue in the future, venue costs are the bulk of the cost of running Gaelcon, and and if they continue to spiral as they have, we may have to bump up the weekend price in future years
• A hybrid event is technically possible, but in practice complex, and we weren’t willing to gamble the success of the convention and the enjoyment or accessibility of it trying to make major event of the year on making hybrid work successfully. That said, hybrid is the next challenge to overcome, and we might run some smaller, experimental hybrid events when we have enough people with the skills and time, without detracting effort from Gaelcon.
• Several other events in the Fall have already opted to go online; the broad consensus seems to be that in-person events won’t be possible before December.

We have two main threads of ideas for themes, and we need to pick one soon, but I’m open to suggestions. Two strands were suggested: Resurrection/Rebirth/Renewal/Renaissance and Gaelcon with some sort of digital/online theme like Gaelcon-nected? Gaelcon Matrix, or Gaelcon Infinite. The VIP ticket holders lead on this choice, but your opinions and ideas are welcome.

I have some people already “volunteered” for the committee, and I will be approaching some other folks, but I am open to offers of help with preparing the con, whether on the committee, as writers or simply as staff. I have a form here for folks who’d like to get in the loop early, whether you want to help out form now, or just put a name down for helping on the weekend

In other news, the formal company registration to register the IGA as a Company Limited By Guarantee has been filed and accepted. Obviously, something which would in normal times have taken an hour in an office was stretched out over some time, and we have a few things to do yet like new bank accounts, but we will be able to have a genuinely open body with a wider membership. This wider membership means that we can move forward with more events and a broader range of things happening than we’ve been able to do in the past with our limited committee.

Finally, if you want to stay in touch with the IGA Community, don’t forget to Join our Discord

Mike Cosgrave

chair@iga.ie

 

The IGA needs a gamer friendly accountant  and solicitor to update our corporate structures.

As it currently stands, the IGA is officially constituted as an “Association unlimited by guarantee” like many other associations and clubs. However, this means that the liability of the members for any debts of the association is unlimited. In practice, while it is unlikely, if the IGA was the subject of a lawsuit which slipped past our insurance cover, the full cost could fall on the members. Understandably there are quite a few people who could and should be members who cannot sign up to that risk. It is a serious obstacle to expanding the membership and increasing our range of activities.

The limits flowing from the current structure have meant the burden of keeping the show on the road have fallen on a shrinking group whose goodwill has been worn out, while a great many people who have been active helpers aren’t members. People who weren’t formal members could be forgiven for feeling that the association was a sort of secret cabal with funny handshakes! Activities which should have been reviewed and kept fresh have become a little stale, or fell by the wayside.

The current committee are very much committed to changing this, most probably by converting to a “Company limited by guarantee”. There are many operations out there that will do this as an off the shelf setup. We have a few wrinkles which are slightly more complicated which we would like to get right. Therefore, we intend to take advice from someone who will do more than just a standard setup. We are also keen to get it done quickly.

This will not be without risk: it will certainly incur some annual fees, and we will need to find ways to meet those. We also face other challenges: convention venues are rising in cost, as is insurance. The association has a warchest, but without reviving our activities, we risk running into real problems in three or four years.

So we’d like suggestions from the community of suitable professionals who can do this. We are not looking for a freebie, but ‘mates rates’ would be nice. In any event, since we have to spend money on this, we’d prefer to spend it in our community. If you know someone, pop me an email to chair@iga.ie in confidence

Mike Cosgrave

Chair, IGA

A new IGA Website is in bound….

The old IGA with the Eblana Academy will be moved to it’s own separate sub website for archiving.

For another year, on the 12th – 13th August, Dublin Comic Con took place in the Dublin convention centre. We sent a couple members of our Demo Squad to show off their skills on Sunday of the con.

We arrived at the con early on Sunday morning, despite transport and traffic woes. Up in the dedicated tabletop gaming area, we set up with a pile of our own pickup and play RPGs and a stash of Sandbox’s board games.

It was a great weekend where we showed off a number of our favourites games including Luchador. Skulls proved a hit and a large number of people had an enjoyable experience with Ah Here Now, a very Irish equivalent of Cards Against Humanity. We even learnt a new game when we were introduced to Boss Monster, a fun cave exploring, adventure game with a twist. Thanks to Sandbox for showing us the game, looks like we might be adding a new game to our collection.

Boards game weren’t the only flavour of the day, groups were also introduced to the joys of Tabletop Roleplaying Games. One such game featured the antics of a scheming group of criminal bears (in hats) out to steal the prized contents of HoneyCon ’17 in “Honey Heist”, a one-page RPG by Grant Hewitt.

At the end of the day, we rounded everything off with many of our previously visitors returning for one final round of fun accusations and finger pointing in a huge game of Werewolves of Millers Hollow.

We would also like to thank Dublin Comic Con for giving us space and for Sandbox for helping provide some board games. Because of this, we were able to introduce people to the wonderful world of gaming.

“This is how the world ends . . . not with a bang but a whimper”

With the return of Nagash, the End Times were upon the Warhammer World

When T.S.Eliot wrote about the world ending without a cataclysmic event he was not talking about the doom of the Warhammer World. Ending spectacularly with the destruction of the world, the Warhammer Fantasy universe concluded explosively, with a new universe taking its place. The Age of the Warhammer World was over, and the Age of Sigmar has begun.

Veteran Warhammer players enjoyed the Warhammer universe because it had wonderful depth, and had a rather dark and gritty feel to it. The models to accompany the universe were arguably the best miniatures in the world. Rules-wise, many of us felt that they were reasonable but could be improved upon. Towards the end of Eighth Edition Warhammer Fantasy Battle, many of the armies were brought up to date and they were more balanced than we’d seen since the Ravening Hordes version at the outset of Sixth Edition.

The tome that was Eighth Edition

Things were not all wonderful in the garden however. Games Workshop were acutely aware of the vulnerability of their Warhammer Fantasy Intellectual Property which itself was based heavily on the worlds created by Tolkien and Dungeons and Dragons. In addition, Warhammer Fantasy Battle simply didn’t sell particularly well, and there were many barriers to entry – particularly for the new wargamer. Barriers included the high model count (meaning high cost) and rules that were occasionally complex and always voluminous.

Games Workshop decided that the best solution would be to close this chapter on the Warhammer World, and start afresh. Over the space of a series of sourcebooks which provided some wonderful new fiction and artwork, not to mention interesting rules and scenarios, the End Times story developed a punishing narrative for the Warhammer World until its final destruction. All eyes were on Games Workshop for the next edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battle and all players eagerly awaited the next instalment in the series.

The Age of Sigmar rules were released without charge on the Games Workshop website with much fanfare among the gaming communities. A new offering, an entirely new proposition, was launched – one that bore almost no resemblance to what had gone before. Entirely removed were hefty tomes of rules, replaced with four pages of text. Out the window went ranked units, replaced with individual models on round bases. A new world was being developed and built, with new narratives formed.

Reaction from players varied widely. Many lapsed players saw this as an opportunity to return to the game and dusted off old models. New players applauded that the game was far easier and cheaper to get started with.

White Dwarf 148 – The Battle of Blood Keep

Every wargamer has had a moment where the game became a hobby. My moment was reading a battle report in White Dwarf in early 1992 which included the army above. I loved the ranked units, the tactics and strategy and the wonderful models and terrain. It captured my imagination of how a wargame should look and feel, and I’ve been biased towards that aesthetic and those mechanics ever since.

Age of Sigmar doesn’t look or feel the same as this, and the game has moved in a different direction. Without the game aesthetics and ranked unit strategies, and with the destruction of the World that was developed over three decades the game lost a lot of its stickiness for veteran players.

An Age of Sigmar demonstration game

One of the games that retains much of this is Mantic’s offering – Kings of War – and many veteran players have found refuge here. Written by Alessio Cavatore, who penned many rules sets for Games Workshop,the game has a very familiar vibe to Warhammer Fantasy Battle. The rules are simple, but allow enough room for grand strategies and tactics on the tabletop.

A Kings of War battle

Mantic’s models range is developing and is not at the same level as Games Workshop’s at present. Thankfully, Mantic are happy to allow players to use non-Mantic models for their game – even at their own events. Many of us are using Games Workshop models in Kings of War and it’s very straightforward to port entire armies from Warhammer to Kings of War, so the transition is very easy and smooth – certainly an added bonus!

The world of Mantica certainly has room to grow and needs to develop its depth. Right now, the world doesn’t feel as iconic as the Old World or Ulthuan did in the Warhammer setting. Recent releases have improved this, but there’s some distance left to go before the Mantica world has that epic feel.

One important thing for Irish gamers is the availability of games. While the Kings of War community is relatively small and new, it’s developing well with five events scheduled in the first half of 2016. Alongside this, many gaming clubs have growing Kings of War player bases, which is hugely encouraging for those of us who enjoy the game.

For anyone looking for alternatives to the Warhammer World, there are many new options including Dragon Rampant and Frostgrave which are well worth a try. Kings of War ticks many of the boxes for this veteran gamer including being elegantly simple to learn, allowing old collections of miniatures to be fielded en masse – and having a wonderful feel of large unit strategies throughout!