A modest proposal: Qt3 London board game meet

[GloriousMess]

After reading the various board game threads dotted around Qt3 I've noticed that there are quite a few people reporting on their experiences with a board game group. I love board games but I don't have a regular group that's especially interested, and as a result I've been thinking about organising a meetup in London for anyone who feels the same. From what I've read I haven't seen evidence of a London Qt3 group, so here we are!

Quite simply, if you're interested in meeting Qt3ers in London and playing board games with them, this is the thread for arranging it. We have already had our first meet and while there were only three of us, it went extremely well.
The venue until further notice is: Dark Sphere, London Waterloo, who only charge £1 per head for a table and are very happy to rent a table on any weekday evening (weekends too, but I think they're a little more awkward).

Upcoming meets:

Thursday 3rd May, 7pm+ at Dark Sphere, London Waterloo

[JM]

Obviously I'm up for it.

Might be a good idea to list games (+ # of players) we currently own.

So, for me:

Cosmic Encounter (+ expansions, FFG edition) - 3-8 players
Arkham Horror + Innsmouth Horror - 1-8 players co-op
Chaos in the Old World + Horned Rat expansion - 3-5 players
War of the Ring - 2 players :(
Citadels - 2-8 players
Space Hulk: Death Angel (+ print on demand expansions set 1) - 1-6 players co-op
Space Hulk - 2 players :(
A signed copy of Modern Society that Jarmo gave me that needs playing! :) - 3-5 players
Agricola - 1-5 players
7 Wonders + Leaders expansion - 2-7 players
Warhammer: Invasion +tons of card sets - 2 players :(

[Ginger Yellow]

I might be up for it, but at the moment I only have BSG (without the expansion).

[JM]

I honestly think us London/South-East types have more than enough games - it's players we need :)

[GloriousMess]

Indeed, we're more than covered for games at the moment thanks to JM's obsessive compulsive disorder and my paltry few. We need gamers!

[Hans Lauring]

London, you say?

Get these organized and plan months in advance, so I can participate next time I visit!

[Gryff]

Indeed, we're more than covered for games at the moment thanks to JM's obsessive compulsive disorder and my paltry few. We need gamers!

Hey GM, I notice you live near me. We have a gaming club based in Fleet that mostly does RPG's (Wed & Fri evenings, and all day sunday), but one sunday a month we have a board games day. While Bracknell isn't next door, we do have a number of people who travel further than that to attend.

I might be interested in playing semi-regularly in London, depending on when and where (How easy the travel is from slough/farnborough).

[Wendelius]

I live in South East London and would certainly be happy to meet QT3ers for a board game meet.

Having 4 kids means my attendance would be not be a sure thing at all. But when I can, I'd love to show up. I've got my games listed on BGG: http://boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/Wendelius (I hope that's a public link).

Wendelius

[JM]

Excellent - very little crossover so far. Games for the Games God!

[Nellie]

If you were perhaps to consider making it a Friday night/weekend affair I might be able to make it, calendar depending.

[Lykurgos]

I'm based in South East London, specifically Rotherhithe. I'd be interested to join.

In November I'm going to be moving to a 3 bed house with lots of space and no one to tell me how to use it. It could potentially be a venue for a small group.

[JM]

Excellent. No plans yet for a date Nellie, think we're harvesting interest then we'll put forward a range of possible dates.

[Tortilla]

I think this is a great idea and we should meet up this Friday. But I only say that because I fly back to the states on Saturday :)

[Beefeater1980]

Back in London for a while in the first couple of weeks of October - I'd be glad to meet up if people are around then.

[Lykurgos]

Excellent. No plans yet for a date Nellie, think we're harvesting interest then we'll put forward a range of possible dates.

How much do we need to harvest before reaching Lvl2. Also will there be a 'ding' sound when we level up, and how do we spend the skill points? :)

[GloriousMess]

Wow, more interest than I expected already!

The time frame I'm going to suggest is pre-Christmas, probably October to November time ideally, and most likely on a weekend. I'm more concerned about the venue at the moment though.

[Nellie]

I'll declare in advance that I'm out of the country for the last two weeks in October just in case anyone thinks I'm doing my usual express an interest and then never do anything about it :D

[Wendelius]

Once every other week, I'm spending my Friday night driving to and from Essex to pick up the boys and then back on Sunday. So I basically have a 50/50 chance to be able to make it for a weekend meet. But if I can make it, I'll definitely be there.

Wendelius

[Wendelius]

Related to the idea of getting together to play, did you see Robert Florence's Downtime Town proposal on RPS?

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011...downtime-town/

...
A woman thinks that she’d like to play some games. She has some time on the following Tuesday. She hits the Downtime Town site. She posts this:

“Hey! Downtime Town in London next Tuesday at 8! Three chairs are empty! Playing King of Tokyo and Battlestar Galactica! Who’s in?”

And she, and two of her friends, and three new people get together in the back of a pub to roll some dice. Afterwards they tell the rest of us about it on the website. They post a video. One of the guys who went to her Downtime Town sets up his own a fortnight later. He brings his own King of Tokyo, of course. He’s a gamer now.

Or, a guy gets the use of a community hall, and there’s room for about 30 people.

“Hey! Downtime Town on Saturday at the Community Hall. 26 spaces available! Bring games if you got ‘em!”

Can that really be the answer? Is it really that easy? Is it as easy as just deciding to start playing?
...

It's a cool idea. If our meetups take off and we have a regular location with some empty seats, it might be a neat way to meet even more boardgame players and keep those gaming tables full.

Wendelius

[JM]

Nice catch.

We just had a LAN/boardgame meet this weekend with our usual circle which was fairly unsuccessful - people changing their minds about wanting to get involved. A 3 player game of Cosmic Encounter and one 4-player game of 7 Wonders.

More players urgently needed - and a bit more enthusiasm as well. Getting tired of feeling like I'm intruding on people by wanting to play games with them.

So. We've gotten a few good responses here, now we'll have to start researching locations+dates. Hopefully have something done soon.

[GloriousMess]

Yeah that was a bit depressing, there's a definite vein of "not interested" running through my other half, and a friend's other half as well, when it comes to gaming. JM and I are pretty enthusiastic but there's only so much we can do.
Cosmic Encounter was good fun though - JM maintained his streak of not winning the games he owns. I have no doubt he'll make an excellent Cylon when we finally get to play BSG.

So yes, I think we have enough interest to arrange a small meetup. It might actually be more along the lines of what you just linked, Wendelius, where JM and myself just occupy somewhere with a few games and the seats are open. I like that idea, and it requires a bit less formal organisation and doesn't scare anyone away with a register-or-you're-not-coming mentality.

[Dan Lawrence]

If you ever decide you want to play the super tricky to setup and organise Warhammer; well I'm fairly nearby and slowly building an army :)

[JM]

Sadly I'm an Epic: Armageddon and Warmachine/Hordes fanboy ;)

[KieronGillen]

I'm off in New York for a week shortly, but I'm probably up for this.

(I too have been thinking about Rab's manifesto.)

KG

[Wendelius]

Looks like we have a gang.

Unfortunately, I'm not central to London (I'm near Lewisham). As such, I don't really know what good locations we might be able to hit there for informal gatherings. I'm sure I can find such spaces here. But it might be nicer to have something a tiny bit more central so those coming from elsewhere in London do not have to travel as far to the South East.

This weekend is booked up. But my weekends in 2,4 and 6 weeks should be free. That being said, don't change the dates on my account. Just thought I'd give you an idea of when I'm around.

Wendelius

[Lykurgos]

By the sounds of it, I'm the most central. I currently live in SE1 near Waterloo, and am moving to SE16 Canada Water/Rotherhithe.

What I don't have, is recent experience of board-gaming. I belonged to an excellent Wargames club for many years, but that was many more years ago.

What kind of venue do we need? That depends on the numbers of people of course, but I can scout a bit.

[JM]

It won't need much - somewhere with a big table or two and seating for, say, 10 people (better to overestimate!). If it's an eating establishment with a back room we can use, fantastic.

[Kirian]

This is my subtle way of saying that I might well be interested. I own zero boardgames and aside from the usual Christmas culprits, have played one (1) game of Carcasonne and one (1) game of Settlers of Catan and was left intruiged.

Um, you could steal the RPS thing and co-opt the Blue Post (Leicester Square, basically). Bit noisy/busy there. There was a spin-off board game night that was in a pub just down Charing Cross Road, too, I think it was the bar under the Phoenix Theatre. That was also spun off from a meet-up London indie developers do every so often (to play board games, I believe)- they had a load of tables down there. I don't know if they booked- the people I went with don't seem to be around right now. They also might be up for this as they are London-area.

[Wendelius]

This is my subtle way of saying that I might well be interested. I own zero boardgames and aside from the usual Christmas culprits, have played one (1) game of Carcasonne and one (1) game of Settlers of Catan and was left intruiged.

Not a problem. seems like we have board games aplenty. What we need is willing players. :)

2 good games to get intrigued by, by the way. I enjoy both.

Wendelius

[Lykurgos]

Okay, how about this for a venue?

There is a place called Dark Sphere, no more than 2-3 minutes walk from Waterloo. It is a gaming hobby shop, and lays on themed gaming nights for Miniatures, Card Games, RolePlay Games and Board Games. It also rents out tables. There is a "Casual Table" slot every Friday from 1900-2300. On Saturday December 3rd, they are having a Board Game Day from 1200-1730.

Dark Sphere Location: http://darksphere.co.uk/gaminglocati...v7800ivv94ckm7

Dark Sphere Schedule: http://www.darksphere.co.uk/gamingcalendar.php

Central location, close to transport, dedicated to gaming, did I do good? Who is interested? I'll find out what the tables cost if anyone is.