Hi guys, welcome to the first “other” week. Where I talk about something, could be modelling, gaming, sport or something else entirely. This week, I want to think about introducing a new game to a small meta, I’m talking 3-4 people, that really only have one game that they play.

I’ve tried a few times, and I think there are 4 important steps to doing this right. 1) being able to provide lists, models and terrain that have variety for people to learn and play with, 2) a firm grasp of the rules, 3) a passion for the game, and 4) a receptive audience. I have made mistakes with this before. I didn’t have a large collection of Infinity or terrain for it when I tried to introduce that. I didn’t have a firm enough grasp of the rules in Malifaux, and I have misjudged my passion or my mates’ interest in games before. However it has been a while since I tried to introduce a new game, and so now I’m going to be try and introduce Dystopian Wars to this group, in light of its new edition coming out soon. Not as a main game, just a palette cleanser. Push some ships around, blow some stuff up.

1) Provide lists

I picked up several fleets, the Covenant of Antarctica, Federated States of America and the Republique of France. I ensured that I got some of the “landmark” kind of ships for each, to provide a visual hook, and I made sure they all had a solid make-up. Carriers, battleships, cruisers, a real spread of options. I already owned Australians. I am aware that they don’t have rules really yet in the current ed, but they can proxy in for other fleets that people want to have a go with, or just adapt their old rules. I also have enough terrain to run a game, so the same problem from Infinity won’t crop up. This time around I believe I have this one covered.

2) Firm grasp of rules

This is the one I think I will struggle with the most. However, I played several games with the 2^nd ed, and have gameplay videos as well as a rulebook I can research for the group, it should work out. Additionally, a good pair of cheat sheets for rules, turns and the like will really help the intro games clip along.

3) Passion for the game

This is the easiest of the lot, because all it takes is for me to really want to play this game. Which has been a somewhat constant state since I was playing in 2^nd ed and the store’s meta died.

4) Receptive audience

This one is also tricky. My group has 3 main members. Two of them will try every game under the sun once, one wouldn’t try a new game with his feet held to a fire, even if it was free. So with introducing this game I have to make sure I’m pitching it to the people who are likely to play a few games in between tournament prep and the like of WMH.

So, fingers crossed it works well, and I can enjoy playing a game I really used to have fun with back in the day. Not sure if I like this format of a post, so I’m also going to post up a batrep today!