Battles for Beginners Competition, 2003
Introduction
Every year non-gamers come to historical miniatures conventions. Some are brought by friends
or relatives who game. Others are drawn in by convention advertising. Try to imagine the impression
on some one who has never seen even one miniatures game in his life when he sees hundreds of them in
one place. While a newcomer might be drawn to miniatures gaming by interests in history, games and
modeling common to those who love this hobby, he’s probably intimidated by the obvious amounts of
time and money laying on those tables.
While the big showcase games, the ones that turn heads and are talked about for years, will
impress and inspire the newcomer, he probably thinks that doing a game like that is beyond his skill,
budget and available time. If that newcomer is going to be converted from onlooker to gamer, he needs
to see that there is an accessible starting point. Though some can become regular gamers by joining a
nearby club, not all are so fortunate. For many, their life in historical miniatures gaming will begin on
the dining room table, with a few friends or relatives (or even one) who can be persuaded to play.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to show potential miniatures gamers just how
much game they can get with a nominal effort. Your task is to produce a game that a raw rookie could
reproduce, with ordinary skills, in a month or two, for less than $100 and that will fit on a dining room
table. Needless to say, the game has to be enjoyable enough that first time gamers will want to
reproduce it and their opponents will come back after the first game.
That’s the mission. Here are the details.
Schedule
Fall In! 2002
Official rules made public, kick off ceremony held Saturday, 7 PM
Cold Wars, 2003
Sunday March 9
Deadline for entry
August 10, 2003
Submit event registration to contest staff for inclusion in the Fall In! PEL
Fall In! 2003
Run and judge the competing games
Announce the winner
Prize
The winner primarily gets bragging rights. However, the contestant whose game gets the highest score,
demonstrating his superior skill at making something out of nothing, will win the coveted “McGiver
Trophy.”
The Aftermath
The project descriptions and lists provided by the contestants will be made available to those interested
in joining the historical miniatures gaming fraternity at Fall In 2003 and future conventions. This is in
fact the participants’ true reward.
The Contest
To Contact The Committee:
Information about BBC can be obtained at BB_Contest@yahoogroups.com.
(To subscribe send an email to -- BB_Contest-subscribe@yahoogroups.com). All contest forms
and information will be posted at groups.yahoo.com/group/BB_Contest/. This the place to
download contest rules and entry forms, ask questions about the contest and share ideas with the contest
committee and fellow contestants.
Contest Entry:
All contestants must submit entry forms by noon Sunday March 9, 2003 (Sunday of Cold Wars).
Signed forms can be hand delivered to the BBC Committee in the Paradise Room of the Lancaster Host
at Fall In! 2002 or Cold Wars 2003. Entry forms can also be mailed to:
Duncan L. Adams
179 Waldo Road
Pasadena, MD, 21122
All Forms must be post marked no later than Sunday March 9, 2003.
Entry forms can be obtained in the Paradise Room at Fall In! 2002, on line at
groups.yahoo.com/group/BB_Contest/ , by email request to
BB_Contest@yahoogroups.com, or by mail request to the above address.
General Rules
Table size:
6 by 4 feet
Duration of game:
2 hours
Minimum number of players:
two
Prohibited Items: 1
items not currently available retail (unless there is an equivalent item)2
Home cast lead figures
Minimum standard for a game:
Historical miniature game only
Figures must be representations of men (not colored blocks)
Gaming surface cannot be a bare table top
(A game on green cloth and no terrain could be entered, but, probably won’t win.)
1
2
These items are prohibited because a new gamer will not be able to acquire them to reproduce your game.
For example, if you have Airfix plastic figures you may use them even though they cannot be bought in retail
today, provided that some other manufacturer is currently producing the same scale and period. This exception
exists so that you won’t have to buy and paint new figures when you have the same army on your shelf. That
would be counter to the contest’s spirit of frugality.
Submission Guidelines:
All entries must be submitted both in hard copy (i.e., paper) and electronically (in MS Word 97 or
higher, Word Perfect 8.0 or higher, or Rich Text Format (RTF)). RTF files are preferred. Electronic
submissions may be Emailed to bucksurdu@bucksurdu.com or provided at the convention on 3.5” disk.
Please format your document with the following sections:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Itemized list of materials, including costs. Include items not charged against the $100 maximum.
Estimate of hours needed to build the game – just the total number.
Instructions that a brand new gamer could use to reproduce your project.
Scenario: situation, objectives, and orders of battle.
When contestants enter the BBC, they will be asked to sign copyright release forms. The Battles for
Beginners Competition Committee has not determined the appropriate method of publishing the results
of this competition; however, any proceeds from any future publication will be used to promote the
hobby of Historical Miniatures Wargaming.
Every contestant will fill out judging forms on other entries. Each entrant must be available to see at
least one other time slot of the games.
Cost criteria:
What counts in the $100?
Everything you put on the table
Figures
Ground cloth
Terrain
Dice (up to 4 six sided dice for no cost)
Charts
Rules 3
Commercial Play aids
Games costing more than $100 will be disqualified from competition but exhibit and report are
welcome.
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If you buy it during the year of the contest, count what you paid. 4
If you own it, count what you’d have to pay now to get it.
Count the cost of bags or sets of figures, not just what you used.
Don’t count paint, glue, tools and supplies used to complete your game.5 These items and
estimated cost should be on your list of materials.
Recycled common items count as $0.
Count the retail cost of construction materials in full purchase quantities.
3
If you buy a commercial set of rules, the cost counts against your budget and current retail. The best way to beat
this is to download a free set from the internet.
4
A great buy in the flea market, though a wonderful thing, is not in the spirit of the competition. Remember, the
guy you’re trying to guide into the hobby will only be able to get what he can find in his local hobby shop or craft
store and what he can find on the web.
This won’t count against your $100, nor cost you points, but it will allow the end user to know what he will need
to recreate your game at home.
5
Judging Criteria
Required Elements
Delivered
Not Delivered
_____________________________________________________________
List of materials
5
0
Estimate of hours
5
0
Instructions
5
0
Scenario
5
0
PRIMARY CRITERIA [1 - 10 scale]
1
5
10
__________________________________________________________________
Appearance
bare flat cloth
average wargame
looks like a $Million
Play
just pushing
units around
pretty good game
Reproducibility (required skill)
need to sculpt
basic knowledge of
each figure
gaming resources and
average craftsmanship
thrill-a-minute
shake the box
SECONDARY CRITERIA [extra credit]
0
2
4
__________________________________________________________________
Portability
mountain-o-stuff
one arm load
one hand carry
Creativity
a wargame
interesting
innovations
revolutionary
<$100
<$50
<$30
>40 Man-Hrs
<40 M-H
<10 M-H
2 player skirmish
8 player skirmish
or 2 player tactical
6 player tactical
Cost
Time
Scale