Covid and clubs?

[Tony S]

So, ever since our province of Ontario, Canada locked things down on April 17th, we haven’t met at all.  Our area is slowly reopening now – stores are open, but limited customer numbers (including our local gaming store thank goodness; I was out of primer!), some cities and regions mandate masks indoors for everyone, gatherings of ten are permitted – so I suggested that we think about meeting again.  With masks, maximum of ten members, no sharing of dice or rulers or whatnot, and perhaps members like myself who are at higher risk of contracting it for various reasons not show up.

 

The general consensus was to wait a trifle longer, and see whether the case load in our local area goes up as we reopen.  I thought the fact I wouldn’t be there would be a huge attraction! 

 

Covid is a very serious, very real thing, and I am not criticizing them or anyone at all, but I’m just curious what other clubs and people around the world are doing?  Are clubs meeting again with restrictions?  Are just two friends getting together, with masks?  How is everyone else handling it?  I’ve got long list of rules that I wish to play whenever we can do so again.

 

(And please; no political theories or polemics about Covid.  The reality, whether you agree or disagree, is that most of the world has introduced pandemic restrictions, and thus affected wargaming.  That’s all I’m asking about.  Thanks!)

[Mr. Average]

No political theories? So you accept that it’s the Saucer Men conspiring with the… I… I’ve said too much.

However. Our club has partially opened, but we’re all taking precautions. As I’m having a visit from some at-risk guests, I’ve stayed away for the duration, but we have limited space use, and have our game tables marked out for proper distancing, and require masks at all times. Not terribly pleasant but we also can’t live under rocks for the rest of our lives.

[hammurabi70]

With the requirements of social distancing still in place and limitations in the numbers of people who can associate together, those clubs (in the UK) with which I am associated await further developments and the lowering of the alert level to the next level before Club activity is seen as likely to resume.

www.olivercromwell.org; www.battlefieldstrust.com
6mm wargames group: [email protected]; 2mm wargames group: [email protected]

[madman]

Hey Tony. Where in Ontario are you? I am in Georgina, about a half hour north of Newmarket and looking for opponents. Since you have NEiS we may be interested in similar games.

Our club (monthly in Newmarket) has tried for a couple months to get a set of contacts going using zoom. I am computer illiterate on social media and related topics but that is one possibility. Seems like they are trying to find a common platform for various people to connect on. They have also looked at Steam (I have Conflict of Heroes so that may work for me) and VASSAL (for which I have a few games) but since I have no experience with either I would need serious hand holding so this remote stuff may not work for me. I had a gaming buddy over last week for a couple hours. With some limits being slowly relaxed small gatherings, like under 10 gamers which is our club’s normal number, may mean we are back in business but location becomes the next problem. In the past we met at a local game cafe which gave us half their space for a day once a month. A couple times a year we rented a room at the library ’round the block.

[Tony S]

A few members here tried the same thing by using the computer, but I don’t think it went anywhere.

We’re in Kitchener, so about two or so hours away? We meet (well, not right now of course) Sunday mornings at a store we rent out, since they don’t open until noon.

[madman]

Which store? So I can google it.

Thank you.

[Tony S]

The Phoenix, on Krug.

But, as I mentioned, we’re not meeting yet!

[Jacob Stauttener]

I am still a little apprehensive about getting together with groups. I have some at risk family though that I want to stay healthy for. I’ve been trying to reach out lately to some of my friends more through social media. It will be interesting to see how things open up. I’ve been meaning to get to one store for three weeks now for a curbside pickup, but still haven’t got there yet.

It will be interesting to see how things go with the group Tony. Thanks for bringing up such an interesting topic.

Check out my gaming blog about Indy and Historical Games
https://mustcontainminis.com/

[MartinR]

We still have lock down restrictions and our club venue isn’t going to be reopening any time soon. Even when it does, given our age profile, people are cautious. We’ve spent the last three months playing games remotely, three of us take it in turns to put a game on and the most participants we’ve had is eight.  Despite being old duffers we’ve managed to get the technology to work, after a fashion.

They take a lot more prep and are hard work to run, but very worthwhile.

"Mistakes in the initial deployment cannot be rectified" - Helmuth von Moltke

[Steve Johnson]

As I game at home, definitely no gaming with chums until it is completely over. I don’t expect any FtF gaming until the Autumn at the earliest.

[Sane Max]

Our Club is not open yet, and no news yet as to when it will be.

Quite a few of the other clubs in or area have the additional issue that they meet in Council-owned properties, and will have to satisfy a ‘different’ set of rules and restrictions before opening.

we were hoping to mark the anniversary of some FPW battles with games for the same fights. It’s looking like we may yet miss the anniversary for at least some 🙁

[Sane Max]

Sane Max wrote:

Our Club is not open yet, and no news yet as to when it will be. Quite a few of the other clubs in or area have the additional issue that they meet in Council-owned properties, and will have to satisfy a ‘different’ set of rules and restrictions before opening. we were hoping to mark the anniversary of some FPW battles with games for the same fights. It’s looking like we may yet miss the anniversary for at least some

 

well…. we have a provisional opening day for our club of 24/06/2021. since lockdown I have had precisely two games…. one by Zoom, and one versus a family member which was just not the same. Looking forward to it big time 🙂

[Tony Hughes]

I had my first game since September with a mate here at home. Both of us fully vaccinated and him with a recent negative test and a long history of avoiding most of human contact. On Sunday we have 6 from our group together for our first game since lockdown, again all participants fully vaccinated. I’m probably the most vulnerable having had recent surgery but we have all been keeping away from others as a general rule so I’ll feel pretty safe in that company.

Cases are now low locally but the Indian variant is active not that far away so we’ll need to keep an eye on how that goes to widen our participation any further. Personally I’m happy trusting people I know who behave sensibly (as do I) but less sure of contact with others who’s behaviour I know nothing about.

 

[hammurabi70]

Club reopening.  Maximum of six at a table.  Social distancing and normal Covid-19 protocols apply.

www.olivercromwell.org; www.battlefieldstrust.com
6mm wargames group: [email protected]; 2mm wargames group: [email protected]

[ian pillay]

Not that I go to clubs. (I find it all awkward and I am not sure if there is a club in my town. I don’t fancy driving to Grimsby for a game these days. I just don’t have the time these days.) I can totally understand the apprehension of getting back together. Social distancing might not be as easy as you think. Typically tables are 4foot wide, so you could be at the table opposite your opponent during a game. You would have to step back or something. Again the live video concept is great for meetings/ discussions but can’t be much fun when gaming. Do you need copies of your armies…. One set on each table…???

I will stick to solo and gaming with my son for the time being.

stay safe everyone.

Tally-Ho! Check out my blog at…..
http://steelcitywargaming.wordpress.com/

[Tony S]

We’re still completely locked down here, no gathering whatsoever.  Even tennis courts and golf courses are closed!

I have an appallingly long list of rules and games I want to start playing, and sadly the list just gets longer as new rules keep appearing, and I keep buying and reading them.  (Really want to try LaSalle 2 and Shadows of Eagles).  I did try a few solo games, but they were more to try the rules than any actual interesting play.  For the record, they were LaSalle 2, Oathmark and Men of Bronze.

This past year has been particularly bad for me, on a personal level.  But, things are improving, and I’m actually able to look forward to seeing my friends and even gaming again sometime this summer.

[MartinR]

Our club premises has now reopened again so people can meet there, subject to the various covid regulations and limitations. None of our group will be rushing down there as we are still playing games with up to nine people remotely via Zoom two nights a week and we’ve also met up for a couple of outdoor games, so we will keep that up for a bit and see what happens in June I guess.

"Mistakes in the initial deployment cannot be rectified" - Helmuth von Moltke

[Mike]

I guess I am lucky that Samantha (my wife) games?

[Thuseld]

Mike wrote:

I guess I am lucky that Samantha (my wife) games?

You are lucky. Don’t you dare hurt her!

My wife will play Boggle with me and a few light card games like Skipbo or Phase 10. Anything that requires even the hint of a long term strategy is uninteresting to her.

Experiments here: http://inexperiencedmodelmaker.blogspot.co.uk/

Tranquil Stars updates: https://tranquilstars.wordpress.com

[Sane Max]

Thuseld wrote:

Mike wrote:

I guess I am lucky that Samantha (my wife) games?

You are lucky. Don’t you dare hurt her! My wife will play Boggle with me and a few light card games like Skipbo or Phase 10. Anything that requires even the hint of a long term strategy is uninteresting to her.

 

Mine quite likes Space Hulk. We tried playing something a bit meatier, but her heart was clearly not in it.

[Mike Headden]

I’m still not ready to go out and face the world but am getting my gaming “fix” on Board Game Arena ( https://boardgamearena.com ).

Huge selection of board games accessible for free (with limitations) or two euros a month for premium, unrestricted, access.

Three 3-hour sessions a week with friends and a two-hour afternoon session with my son every week, worth every cent!

There are 100 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who can work from incomplete data

[Author]

Posts