Arena Building and Impostor Syndrome

[43Supporter]

I want to build the arena with my name on it; I just don't have anywhere I can do it (every part of the house is accessible by Cats).

[TheAmishStig]

Originally Posted by 43Supporter

I want to build the arena with my name on it; I just don't have anywhere I can do it (every part of the house is accessible by Cats).

I've got a German Shepherd that I can brush a grocery bag's worth of fur out of just her butt...every week. I totally feel you on that one.

Worst-case, maybe your FLGS will lend you the space around their back door to hit it with rattle cans?

[Racer]

Originally Posted by kjamma4

I would never play a game again on the nicest set up I've seen after the judges there made a sexist comment when my daughter was in the lead mid-game.

My friend Mistress/Princess Void Dancer gets this all the time , although in the UK it's mainly light joking .

She's also been scrutinized when entering Tournaments - until she produces her Silver Golden Demon Award from Games Workshop . That shuts most chauvinists right up ! Fortunately the further into the 21st Century we go , the less a nice looking girl - often in a Cosplay outfit - is a rarity at a gaming table ...

Re the 3-D Arena : best 40K I've played was on a table with 1" inch raised edges , covered in sand & with stacked slate pieces as rock outcrops in a Desert Raid scenario . It didn't matter if anything got knocked over & the sole bunker was also solid construction . Too many times I've seen & had to play with foam or plastic scenery that gets marked just by looking at it ... And some perfectionist having a meltdown "coz we hurt his baby" ...

[Magesmiley]

Originally Posted by 43Supporter

I want to build the arena with my name on it; I just don't have anywhere I can do it (every part of the house is accessible by Cats).

Yeah... we had either 6 or 7 cats in our house (kids moving home for the Summer... with cats) when I built the KEAR Coliseum. It was a challenge. Combined with a way too warm Summer and my decision to try latex house paint for the arena, it nearly proved disastrous. The bulk of it was built in my front yard.

[kjamma4]

Originally Posted by TheAmishStig

I cannot apologize enough that you've had that experience. If it was one of us (meaning an MiB), please, please contact someone at the company so action can be taken.

It was not (I've had few encounters with MiB but all of them have been very professional) and as it's been quite a few years in the past, it's water under the bridge.

Originally Posted by Racer

Fortunately the further into the 21st Century we go , the less a nice looking girl - often in a Cosplay outfit - is a rarity at a gaming table ...

Thankfully that has been my experience as well. I just attended my 29th GenCon and am happily pleased each year at the increased diversity of the attendees.

FWIW, I'm definitely becoming a dinosaur there but I try not to be one of THOSE dinosaurs.

[TheAmishStig]

Originally Posted by Magesmiley

Yeah... we had either 6 or 7 cats in our house (kids moving home for the Summer... with cats) when I built the KEAR Coliseum. It was a challenge. Combined with a way too warm Summer and my decision to try latex house paint for the arena, it nearly proved disastrous. The bulk of it was built in my front yard.

Crap. I looked closer, thinking I'd dodged a bullet and gotten enamels. Nope, picked the same thing...Behr color samples are latex-based. How ugly did it get? (The end result came out great, BTW.)

[owenmp]

I feel running a game that organized well, being patient when teaching the game, knowing the rules used, and creating a positive experience are possibly more important than appearance of a Car Wars game. You can have a beautifully-built 3D arena but if you do not run the game as a fun experience, using a baking analogy, you have frosting over a cake that has been overcooked.

Whether you use 1X, 1.5X, 3X, 8X, or even 16X Car Wars scale, I highly recommend you do use some type of miniatures for the vehicles.

If you have the time, resources, and skills such as Magesmiley, creation of upscaled gaming components is worthwhile. If you have 3X scale materials, you will probably attract more players because of the popularity of Gaslands.

Use of 1X scale playing materials is still acceptable in some situations. Using all six Midville maps in 1X scale looks great. If you use a larger scale, you will need a massive playing surface, or need to play on the floor.

If you are going to run a Car Wars game at a convention, use the minimum amount of rules as possible. Creation of simple play-aids such as charts and tables improves play significantly.

[43Supporter]

Originally Posted by Magesmiley

Yeah... we had either 6 or 7 cats in our house (kids moving home for the Summer... with cats) when I built the KEAR Coliseum. It was a challenge. Combined with a way too warm Summer and my decision to try latex house paint for the arena, it nearly proved disastrous. The bulk of it was built in my front yard.

It's worse than that -- at least two of mine are part-Siamese, with the "Siamese brain" thereunto pertaining; the current oldest actually plays "fetch" (throw a toy, he will chase it down, and bring it back), and has a talent for finding small objects and bringing them to the humans. Add this to paint, glue, and other chemicals.... NO ES BUENO.

And my front "yard" is a solid mass of juniper bushes concealing lava rocks -- I don't have to maintain it, and the local bratlings have learned a *whole* new definition of the phrase "get off my yard" >:) . However, this does rather preclude building stuff there.

[Magesmiley]

Originally Posted by TheAmishStig

Crap. I looked closer, thinking I'd dodged a bullet and gotten enamels. Nope, picked the same thing...Behr color samples are latex-based. How ugly did it get? (The end result came out great, BTW.)

I had some really bad problems with the paint not drying very well (partly due to the heat when I initially did the work). Then later, I had loads of fun with the pieces sticking together and the paint coming off when I pulled them apart.If it gets hot (and few conventions don't) the problems get worse. And it gouges pretty easily. And of course, they were stored for a number of months with pieces touching and got very warm.

I'm not going there again. It's acrylic or spray paint all the way for anything new. Large portions of KEAR have a couple of layers of acrylic over the old latex plus a couple of layers of clear spray or varnish.

Visit the local craft store and watch the prices of the bottles of paint I caught my local Michaels with the bottles at $.70 and they had a 30% off coupon. And there's online too.

[TheAmishStig]

Originally Posted by Magesmiley

I had some really bad problems with the paint not drying very well (partly due to the heat when I initially did the work). Then later, I had loads of fun with the pieces sticking together and the paint coming off when I pulled them apart.If it gets hot (and few conventions don't) the problems get worse. And it gouges pretty easily. And of course, they were stored for a number of months with pieces touching and got very warm.

I'm not going there again. It's acrylic or spray paint all the way for anything new. Large portions of KEAR have a couple of layers of acrylic over the old latex plus a couple of layers of clear spray or varnish.

Visit the local craft store and watch the prices of the bottles of paint I caught my local Michaels with the bottles at $.70 and they had a 30% off coupon. And there's online too.

Well, [FNORD].

Glad they're only sample sizes...I was planning to polyurethane over top after October's event [because I don't have 30 days for a full cure], but that's not gonna get me through the summer heat, an hour one way in the back of the car, etc.

I'm still going to have to primer them with what's in the can...MDF has a nasty habit of sucking up spraypaint and anything water-based...but on the bright side, doing the actual paint work with a rattle can will go a LOT quicker than a foam brush out of a pot.