Greetings fellow educators, gamers, and interested parties! If you can't tell from the quirky photo above (taken by yours truly), Next Gen recently ran a Dark Ages wargame (of John's creation) for a new friend of the organization- the New Canaan Library. Megan (pictured right) and John Spiess (pictured left) connected earlier in the season, and we got together for a demo game to see how well situated New Canaan is for our kind of programming. The short answer is that they are quite situated for our kind of programming!
In talking with Megan, there already is a bit of gaming buzz in the air, given that she personally runs the D&D club, and regularly gets a full group of adventurers on a weekly basis. Given how hand in hand tabletop goes with the RPG world, it was easy for us to slot in and see what kind of interest there was in set piece wargames.
We had a full table of 7 players, taking positions either on the Saxon or Viking side. We used John's Halberd, Mace, and Great Sword rules, which are perfect for our style of event. The kids had a blast and picked up on the rules quickly. It was a treat watching them figure out tactics, decide on activations, and generally speaking, have to make the decisions necessary to win the game. The players were great sports, asked fantastic questions, and took to miniatures very naturally.
Megan, the teen librarian at New Canaan Library, really needs to be given a lot of credit for the lovely community she has helped to create. The kids were exceedingly comfortable, particularly with one another, and it certainly helps that the library was recently renovated and absolutely gorgeous.
I can proudly announce that much like other libraries out there including Gardiner, Simsbury, Canton, and others, we've booked multiple events ahead and plan on being in New Canaan in June, July and August. We'll have more games on hand and hope to have some player input on what we play.
All said, we couldn't be happier with the opportunity New Canaan is giving us, and we're excited to bring more fun, learning, and camaraderie to the library this summer.
As usual, if you have interest in an event, or would like more information about what we do, please reach out via the contact form. Thanks for reading!