The Runes of Fate: Prophecies for NH2017

[Primarch]

I am in the process of asking my boss for a day off on October 3rd, the day that the NH venue becomes available for booking, and I would like to have some idea of what I am booking it for.

This year's turnout was really low, 10 people and 14 people on the Saturday and Sunday respectively. Compare that to figures in the mid 20s a couple of years ago, it's barely enough to cover the room booking.
I know that a lot of people have started families in recent years, or have other priorities apart from playing games. However, if you want there to be a NagoyaHammer in the future, the continued support of the community has to be there every year. Even if you can only make it along for one day, your attendance is appreciated.

So what do people want from the event?
Looking at this year, the 40K games were mainly a case of everyone who turned up muddling through, BA had a small group playing, Warmahordes was a non-starter, and there were half a dozen different systems being played by a handful of people.
Do people still want a full day given to 40K? I heard various arguments for and against it. The biggest argument for it was that it is the game with the widest player base, though I use the term player very very loosely. (Most of the players at NH2016 had last played at NH2015). 'Lowest Common Denominator' doesn't Exactly fill me with excitement. It seemed like there was very little enthusiasm leading up to the event.
How about other games? BA is growing, though it doesn't appeal to everyone. I can't think of any other games that really cover the majority of players, or even a half. Do we make the event a dozen different games without rhyme or reason? Do we push all the tables together and play one massive mega battle?

I would really appreciate it if everyone can chip in with ideas, thoughts and suggestions. Even if you have never attended a NagoyaHammer event before, I'd like to hear from you. (Previous events are viewable in one of the subforums if you want to get an idea of how we do it).

What do you think?

[The Underdweller]

Well, I had a good time at NH2016.

I guess if you want to draw more people from other areas, having a 40K tournament using the official rules and having prizes would probably be the best shot? But it would be risky, and might lose some locals.

As long as you are breaking even, I think the same thing as last year would be fine. People don't play 40K much, but everyone seemed to enjoy having a chance to get their old models out again. With no game being a clear fan favourite right now, and a lot of people having other commitments around that time of year, I can't see that changing it would help much.

Could you rent a smaller room? As long as we are 4 to a table, we wouldn't need a lot of space, even if more people came.

[job]

I'd say stick with 40k. I don't believe it is actually the "lowest common denominator". It is the game we all commonly like, and, for many, cherished since we were young. Yes, the game is in a very sloppy and undesirable state rule-wise, but it has never been the best of the heap in my memory. There have always been flaws and despite it we almost all seem to have rather large collections of 40k.

The formats of the last two/three Nagoya Hammers have been interesting. I like them a lot. They also seem to be predicated to the local gaming community, being a bit rules and preparation heavy. Probably simplifying the system might appeal to larger ranges of players (ex: bring one list, three one-on-one games). Probably of greater importance is drumming up interest on forums and Facebook pages for the communities in Tokyo and Osaka. If you want growth in attendance appealing to the younger players will be critical, considering they are often the ones without commitments to full-time, long term positions, children and have the money to enjoy a Warhammer/Wargames vacation.

A second day of open gaming seems very popular locally, with BA and skirmish games getting a lot of attention. It may however hurt the argument of making an overnight trip to another city if there's only day of gaming guaranteed with the system you like most. However, in my case the 2nd day has always been a nice way to relax and unwind after the rather busy first day.

Personally, I'd like to see a semi-annual event for every major game system played locally: 40k, BA, Warmahordes, Blood Bowl, Epic and WarPike/Hail Mike. It is a bit of a pipe dream, but I think it would be nice to have a rotation of events to coincide with the seasonal nature of war games in this area.

Just my 2 cents. I am one of those people with family and work commitments, but I would like to attend in 2017. It is always great to see most everyone at this annual occasion.

[me_in_japan]

Well, you asked for opinions, so here I go...

last year's Naghammer was a lot of fun. I've been every single year, and intend to continue to do so as long as the event continues (which will hopefully be right up into the grim darkness of the far future, where there is only... etc. etc.) I go for the gaming, to be sure, but mostly I go because I like the people there. I also really enjoy the 2 day nature of the event, as I can justify staying overnight and going out to the izakaya with y'all, which is something I'd never otherwise have the opportunity to do.

I'm aware I'm one of those awkward bugger players who doesn't play Bolt Action, but to be absolutely honest Naghammer becoming a BA (or any other historical game) only event is one of the few things that would stop me from attending. I have no BA stuff, I don't really want to have BA stuff, and buying a whole bunch of it just to play once a year seems daft. 40k, otoh, I have in abundance, like many people on this forum. I also really enjoyed playing it at Nagham 2016 (and previous events), both the team games on the Saturday, and in a pick up game against Jus on the Sunday. When one gets right down to it, 40k is still a fun game. Yes, it suffers from rules-bloat and is poorly written, and when direct comparisons are made to other games it fares poorly. For a new player considering what wargame to get into, 40k is a terrible choice.

But none of us are new players, and we all know the rules (mostly), have armies (mostly) and (critically) know how we all like to game. 40k isn't the lowest common denominator - it's the glue that holds Naghammer together (meh, hyperbole, I know... )

[tldr]
Anyway, taking all of the above into consideration, my opinion is that Naghammer 2017 should have a day of 40k, with interesting scenarios/rules (team games, preferably), followed by a day of whatever-you-want. Same as last year, basically. However, in order to improve upon last year's event, a couple of things can be done.

1) Play more 40k outside of Naghammer. This is up to the individual, but if ya want people to get more excited about 40k, then they and you and we and me need to play it more. Accept that there are a bucket load of rules in supplements that you don't know, and if you come up against em in an opponent's army, the reaction should be "oh, cool - new shit." If the rule in question is being abused, then the fault lies with your cheesemongery opponent, not the rule. Unlikely to happen around here, though.

2) Advertise the crap out of the event, and all naghammer events. Naghammer needs a facebook page. NEEDS a facebook page. And Twitter, too. Monthly updates for the not-Joshin games, pre-advertise the main events, and respond FAST to any queries from the gen'ral public. By all means link to the forum here, but we need a social media presence. Say Joe Newbie hears tell of a game group in Nagoya. He's going to search Google. So he looks, find us, thinks to himself "must sign up for that. I'll do it after lunch" and promptly forgets.

If there were a facebook page, he looks, finds us, friends us, and then forgets.

And then gets messages on his facebook page every month (or more often) reminding him about that fun looking group in Nagoya, and oh yeah, there's an event coming up in May...
People need prodding these days. Facebook is good for that (as is, I presume, Twitter, although I'm unfamiliar with it. Doesnt mean it aint important, though.)

So, that's my two yen. I hope it helps, but regardless, come hell or high water, I shall be at Naghammer next year.



Unless y'all are playing Bolt Action

[kojibear]

I have attended the majority of the Nagoya Hammers and enjoyed all of them.

Over the years, the nature of Nagoya Hammer has slowly moved from a 'regular' tournament to a more relaxed narrative event, which on the whole I have enjoyed much more. I think Underdweller and Job make good points about a narrative event not being as popular with quite a few of the clubs that are around in Japan. If we wanted to attract in more of these other club members we would probably have to return to a regular tournament and advertise on those club's facebook and blogs. [As Me in Japan just beat me in saying ]

But that is only if we want such an event, of course. For me personally, as I said, I do prefer a more narrative style of play.

If we can predict that the turn out is similar to this year, then I suppose we could, as Underdweller suggested, try to book a smaller room this time. We could even play just one big game of 40k as Prim proposed as being one option.

The second day being open and free to play any games people feel like playing is OK, but I do feel that is just a day of gaming like we usually try to aim for once a month. I appreciate many of us can't make the regular monthly game days, though. However, I'd prefer the second day to be another organised day of gaming with one system, such as Bolt Action or something else we all agree on.

Anyway, look forward to hearing from everyone else.

[Primarch]

Alrighty, status quo it is then.

@M_i_J - The day NagoyaHammer gets a Facebook page is the day that this website dies. It might not happen immediately, but it will happen. Why type a response to a post when you can just hit Like? Why sign up when yo can Friend? Why go and see what others are doing when you can just get important announcements delivered right to you? For all that Facebook is easy to use, I've always felt that it can be very shallow. If not using Facebook means that players outside of the area are unaware of what we are doing, then I am willing to put up with that, even if this website ends up just being me posting by myself.

[Spevna]

@M_i_J - The day NagoyaHammer gets a Facebook page is the day that this website dies. It might not happen immediately, but it will happen. Why type a response to a post when you can just hit Like? Why sign up when yo can Friend? Why go and see what others are doing when you can just get important announcements delivered right to you? For all that Facebook is easy to use, I've always felt that it can be very shallow. If not using Facebook means that players outside of the area are unaware of what we are doing, then I am willing to put up with that, even if this website ends up just being me posting by myself.

Strong opinion from the man with no Facebook account

While it is definitely a risk, I don't think it is a certainty.
I belong to several groups on Facebook, and there are three imparticular that have small but active members.

One of them has 28 members. Only a few of us actually post photos of projects we are working on, but all members comment and offer constructive feedback.

The other two have a couple of hundred members and they are all very active. They run regular painting contests that get lots of participation, and people do take the time to post and comment. There is a very strong camaraderie in both.

Speaking personally, I'd be a lot more active if this were a Facebbook group simply for the convenience of it as Facebook is a bit of a one stop shop.

[The Other Dave]

Yeah, I mean, I love you man, but you have to admit there's a bit of tension between the two statements "we need more people to come if the event's going to be able to continue" and "I categorically refuse to use the single most popular social platform in the world to help get more people to come to the event." It's your decision, of course, and if it's not up for debate it's not up for debate, but in the end gamers new to Japan are probably going to check there first to see if there's wargaming in their new town.

[Primarch]

Speaking personally, I'd be a lot more active if this were a Facebbook group simply for the convenience of it as Facebook is a bit of a one stop shop.

Exactly. Facebook would make this website totally redundant.

Yeah, I mean, I love you man, but you have to admit there's a bit of tension between the two statements "we need more people to come if the event's going to be able to continue" and "I categorically refuse to use the single most popular social platform in the world to help get more people to come to the event." It's your decision, of course, and if it's not up for debate it's not up for debate, but in the end gamers new to Japan are probably going to check there first to see if there's wargaming in their new town.

There are enough players in our little group to keep things going. Getting players from other areas of Japan is nice, but there is also an upper limit to how many can attend before we have issues with space and terrain. 16-20 people is the sweet spot for the event. 10 is the minimum really.

[Spevna]

Don't think of it as being made redundant, think of it as moving home.

Age ago you told me that you'd like to see NagHam grow into a bigger gaming event. Facebook is the pretty muc the best way to make that happen. If, as you say, you want more people there, then I'd give relocating some serious thought.