Snag-a-normie Month

[horati0nosebl0wer 19831xp 3]

It is that time of year once more that we look beyond our ranks to those not among our number as geeks, nerds and weirdos to enjoy these things less popular with the mainstream as gamers and hobbyists. It is SNAG-A-NORMIE month! From out last occasion to take February to fill up our gaming clubs and swell the rosters for tables, or even just showcase what have on display at home, this is our time to spotlight just how much fun can be had OnTabletop.

I have begun my drive for this event with my new girlfriend. Showing off my collection of finished minis in my Detolf case and the hobby area I keep she came to know of what I did in my spare time. She had a leaning to playing various card games (rummy, solitaire, blackjack, etc.) from when she was growing up and got my nudge to The Dark Side when I introduced her to Blood Bowl after finding out her following of college football. I’ve now gotten her hooked on it with the recent purchase of a Lizardman team and a special purchase from Versatile Terrain for custom nameplates. Keith, over at the shop, was wonderful in offering a change to my original order to one of his new designs (not out yet and I’ll let him do the big announcement on it) after I told him my plan for them. So now its just time to paint them according to the team colors and she has her own playable faction.

With that all out there I hope that I’ve inspired some action to snag some more. Nerds of the world unite!

[sundancer 43737xp 2]

I’m sure there is some “50 shades of grey” reference in that “Showing off my collection of finished minis” 😉

Snag-a-normie…. well… I don’t really know anyone not already infected… But I’ll keep my eyes open.

[soldado 5903xp 3]

I’ve been trying to corrupt my daughter for a while, introducing her to burrows and badgers and so on, but recently she asked if I’d teach her to paint. So I pointed her at the box of stuff Ive bought and may look at at some point and she chose GWs Deathguard minis… ok

Shes actually doing pretty well (weve progressed with the minis since I took this but I dont have any more pics to hand)

So tonight we tried them out for the first time using the new Starbreach ruleset that arrived through the door this week.

A quick shot of the game area we setup.

She had a blast, she’s way luckier with the sum stones than I am, 2 turns in and I dont think I can win this one…. I think Ive snagged this normie good an proper. Well until she gets older and discovers boys…

[ninjilly 11673xp 3]

Ah, Snag-a-Normie month, one of the finest [new] traditions of the CoGs. A Normie friend and I have split a Star Wars Legion Clone Wars box and this week we’re getting together to teach him about building, prepping and priming minis. Over the course of the month we’ll be painting them up for a Battle Companies style campaign and possibly playing Skirmish.

@soldado sometimes we’re just born predisposed to chaos ? good for her (and you)

[limburger 22092xp 2]

Looks like Starbreach is doing a new kickstarter :
http://kck.st/37k6JMM

//

snag-a-normie … and people wonder why the newbies are converted to chaos 😉
Good guys don’t kidnap people for games …
or are we not supposed to do that ?

I hope I can learn my dad to play wingspan when I’m visiting next time.
I’ve been trying to tempt my nephews and niece. Not sure how effective that has been as videogames are proving to be an easy distraction. Although my niece has been showing an interest in WW2 … so there might be hope. 🙂

[trewets 4782xp 2]

My attempt at snag a normmy this year is to get a pal to play a game of bolt action.the game is on the 8th Feb and I will report back after.

I will be playing Germans and the other side have choices of 8th army brits. American army or airborne. With several builds per choice.

To be fair I will have my army ready before my opponent chooses his( meta,max…min list, just bog standard)….and their lists are going to be very competitive.

 

[horati0nosebl0wer 19831xp 3]

@sundancer *tsk tsk* My completed minis have nothing to do with that atrocious book/movie. My unpainted figures do, however, have a couple figs from Manufaktura minis but those aren’t the likes of which you set up in the living room.

I agree that it is difficult to spread the joy of minis as we’re the ones who seem most interested. Thinking about Chaos you make it sound a bit like some sort of Nurgle induced malaise.

@soldado you daughter doesn’t make that concept sundancer put forth any less viable now that we have more evidence of it. Forget Chinese coronavirus look out for our Creeping Chaos. Joking aside it sounds like a good time was had by all and maybe it might be the venue that boys come through in the future. Who knows, you might sit down with a young suitor one day and pass judgement over him by his content of his character and dice bag.

@ninjilly Sharing the hobby experience behind the gaming will definitely enrich the experience and cement the idea of “these are my forces” for playing. Good on you for your efforts.

@limburger I think that the point sundancer made about 50 Shades might have something to do about Chaos. As far as kidnapping… we don’t do that. We merely encourage a more proactive and enthusiastic approach to bringing others to the hobby.

As far as the small fry picking up on games this is great to hear as imagination and history are great fodder for our most valuable asset in these things, the mind.

@trewets I’m not one for the collection of Bolt Action or FoW but I will say that the armor is most impressive for the games. Good luck with your bat rep later.

[koraski 1981xp 4]

I have not had a regular gaming group since my old college gamer friends all went their separate ways. I have been unable to entice any of them back to the dark side so I decided to lure in some normie coworkers. Several had expressed interest in WW2 either via movies they liked or one fellow was watching documentaries with his children. I decided to pull the old drug dealer strategy of giving free samples and picked up 5 Flames of War Fury starter sets. They are pretty cheap if you can get them on sale and I got all 5 boxes for less than some single GW starter sets!

Last week we stuck around after work for an hour and I walked 4 of them through building their first Sherman tank. This week we aim to finish the US tanks and next week the German tanks. After that I have purchased the GF9 prepainted terrain that matches the card terrain from the Fury box to really impress them with a demo game. I doubt all 4 will become “gamers” but I have high hopes for at least 2 of them.

I’ll consider it a success if at least one of them invests any of their own time or money and goes beyond the Fury set.

[angelicdespot 4700xp 1]

Unrelated to this particular month / project I’ve been getting my girlfriend into miniature painting recently.   She painted a test zombie last year and was pleased with the result.   This year I gave her some paints, brushes and a wet palette for her birthday, with some practice minis (terminators and resistance guys from the Terminator: Genysis game).   She’s hoping to start on some Nighthaunt next.

We’ve done quite a few board games so I’m sure sooner or later we’ll get on to miniature wargames, but that might have to wait until we’ve got a bit more built / painted and a bit more time!

[flatbattery 8265xp 2]

I am currently in the process of converting the wife from simple card/board games to full on tabletop miniature games. It’s been many years in the making, but all the stars managed to align over Christmas.

The in-laws spent four days with us over Christmas, and as the Father-in-Law is an avid wargamer of 40+ years (mainly hex and counter), I was able to get a few games in for a change. Not to be left out the wife and Mother-in-Law insisted on joining in, as long as the games weren’t too taxing. So after introducing them to the Die Hard (it was Christmas after all) and Jaws (the wife’s favourite movie) games the wife admitted she’d had the best Christmas ever and wanted more.

So far I’ve got her hooked on The Island of El Dorado, Joan of Arc, Star Wars Imperial Assault, Neuroshima Hex and Blood Bowl. This weekend it’s Batman Gotham City Chronicles and she’s already agreed to try X-Wing and Star Wars Legion, so we’re on the up.

Sadly I don’t get to the local club that often, so at least my Saturday or Sunday  sees some gaming action at home.

[angelicdespot 4700xp 1]

@flatbattery it may have taken a long time to get started, but sounds like you’re making rapid progress now.   That’s not a bad selection of games to try in just 6 weeks!

[flatbattery 8265xp 0]

@angelicdespot,  I thought I’d be a bit sneaky with the number of different games, first to keep some variety going but more importantly I hadn’t yet played some of them myself.

My wishlist is growing by the day and I couldn’t possibly buy any more with the pile of shame I have.

[angelicdespot 4700xp 2]

@flatbattery that’s even more impressive.   I’ve found it very risky introducing my girlfriend to games I don’t already know reasonably well.   She’s enjoyed quite a variety of games (none super-heavy yet, but by no means all simple games), but she’s not very patient with constantly checking the rules.   I am willing to take time learning games, looking up rules, getting things wrong, if I think there’s a good game to make it worth it.   She is more of the view that there are plenty of good games to play already so if I’m introducing her to a new one it’d better not only be good, but I’d better be able to explain it quickly so that we can get on with playing it.

[horati0nosebl0wer 19831xp 2]

Another victory for Team Geek! Converting the young with sophomoric humor is a great tactic to seed the a new generation of gamers. I was introduced to my gf’s niece and nephew which turned into a battle royale of Poo and Lunch Money. I believe my job was well done when the young man answered a call from his mother after breakfast and asked if she could find these games for later. Space Poo is next on the docket with Nuts! as a possible option later. Letting kids be mean to each other in a controlled play environment without physical damage means so much when you don’t have to worry about bandages later.

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