A Day Out With ROBIN
This is a bit of a tricky blog post. Normally my event coverage consists of either talking about the fun stuff I got up to as an attendee (Nine Worlds, Derby Worlds and Daffcon, for instance) or the things I did as a professional guest (such as Black Library Live and Sledge-Lit). This past Sunday I went to the inaugural ROBIN wargames event in Nottingham, just a fifteen minute drive away, and I would love to tell you about the cool games on display, the great traders that were there, and the other stuff… But I can’t, because I was there in another capacity.
If you haven’t seen my Big Stompy Robots updates yet, or signed up to the newsletter, here’s the quickish version: I was invited to ROBIN to hold a short seminar on games design, and for some reason best left unexplored I decided to volunteer to run a participation game too. For reasons even more obscure, I decided I would run a game that didn’t yet exist, and so had to create the games system, paint the models and model the terrain.
In about six weeks.
Planning and Preparation
Going into the project I had a niggling suspicion that the board and terrain would prove to be the biggest obstacle. That sort of heavy duty hobbying requires space and time, you can’t just get on with it in the front room while watching the latest episode of The Flash, unlike painting miniatures or putting little stickers on dice.
They say that a picture paints a thousand words, so here’s one of me taken ten minutes before the doors opened to the public.
Nothing like being prepared to make you relaxed for a day of demo games
Getting the Robots Going
It was a slow start, but as a veteran of many similar events I knew the routine. People wander around, browse the stands, see what is happening before they commit to a game or purchases. I had some interested folks tell me they were just looking around and would come back later, and they were true to their word. About half an hour in I had my first victims, er, volunteers and my first ever opportunity to explain the game to someone that had no idea what to expect.
It went very well. They picked up the rules within a couple of turns and got busy blasting each other with machine guns and phased plasma cannons. All-in-all, the first hurdle was crossed: the game wasn’t a shambolic mess that people wouldn’t understand. I didn’t think it would be, but first night jitters and all that…
Across the day I think I ran five games, and I am happy with the overall results and certainly the players’ involvement and interaction. There’s some stuff that became immediately evident about damage control, the movement system and such, but I’ll be going into that in more detail on my next developer diary entry.
The Mechanics of Narrative
One feature of the event which is more common in the US than UK wargames shows was a programme of seminars. I say programme, but due to the unfortunate withdrawal of a couple of other local gaming dignitaries (namely Alessio Cavatore and the irrepressible Perry Twins) it ended up as a Q&A session with games designer Rick Priestley and head of Warlord Games John Stallard (which I hear was both entertaining and illuminating), and a games design seminar from yours truly.
Now, I didn’t have a lot of time to prepare, what with the whole 3-year old son thing, Christmas breaks, and did I mention I was inventing a whole game in six weeks? The last, however, provided some inspiration, and I at last settled on a subject for the seminar a couple of weeks before the show which gave me some noodling time.
In my head it was entitled ‘The Mechanics of Narrative, and the Narrative of Mechanics’, because if you’re going to have a seminar it should sound grandiose.
Anyway.
The gist of it was two-fold. Firstly, that we as gamers respond more to the storytelling aspect of gaming than we do the mechanics – that in the longer term we remember the famous charge that swept away the flank of the enemy, not the specific ‘to hit’ rolls required to achieve it. Secondly, that certain game mechanics, and in particular the physical mechanics used in tabletop games, can in themselves provide a narrative and hence create a better gameplay experience.
LISTER: What I want to know, is how the smeg can you remember what dice you threw at a game you played when you were seventeen?
RIMMER: I jotted it down in my Risk campaign book. I always used to do that so I could replay my moments of glory over a glass of brandy in the sleeping quarters. I ask you, what better way is there to spend a Saturday night?
Red Dwarf: Season 4, Episode 6, ‘Meltdown’
There was reference to the neuropsychology of storytelling thrown in, some examples from games systems past and present, and me referring to my hasty notes and probably waffling a bit. Judging by the discussion at the end, it seems my central idea was on point, and afterwards several members of the audience told me they had found it stimulating and informative. One of those was Neil Shuck of the Meeples and Miniatures podcast, who extended an invitation to discuss the subject (and the progress of Big Stompy Robots) on the show in a couple of months’ time. An invitation I was very happy to accept. so hopefully you’ll be able to get some of the detail then.
A Fine Location
Heating issues and canteen difficulties aside (see other coverage for more on that), Nottingham Tennis Centre is a good venue for such a show, and not just because it’s a quarter of an hour drive for me. There was plenty of space, which I suspect will become less so in future years as the show continues to grow, and it is easily accessible for visitors with plenty of free parking.
I mentioned in a previous post the ongoing project on Mixed Realities Storytelling. Dimitrios from the Mixed Realities Lab was on hand to 3D scan attendees models if they wished (you can see one of my stompy robots below), something unique to the show being in Nottingham. As Nottingham is also capital of the ‘Lead Belt’ in many regards, home to very prominent miniatures business such as Warlord, Games Workshop, Perry Miniatures and Wargames Foundry, and others, I would expect to see more and more involvement form the local gaming clubs, designers and companies now that ROBIN had proven itself viable after its first outing.
The Rest of ROBIN
I only glimpsed the rest of the show, so you’ll need to refer to the more informed opinions of others on that account. The aforementioned Mr Shuck has a nice write-up, and a montage video of some of the display games, while GMorts Chaotica also has put up a thorough review (including some thoughts on my humble efforts).
Judging by the online buzz, the general consensus has been very positive and there is already talk of a return ROBIN next year. I certainly will be going back, hopefully with more Big Stompy Robots, and certainly as a punter if not.
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