The Conclave

The Lachesis Affair is a one day Inquisitor event at Dark Sphere (London, SE1 7LD, easily accessible from Waterloo or Lambeth North) to be run on 21st November 2015, and is open to both 28mm and 54mm scale players. Players will spend the day investigating Facility S4d-5, a weapons research facility on Lachesis IV which has gone suddenly and eerily silent.

Event Pack V0.2 (http://mediafire.com/?7r8n7blis8uj4y6)

(If there are any non-forum members checking out this thread, feel free to contact me on the e-mail in the event pack if you're interested in joining us).

~~~~~

Original Post:

Dragging this over here from the "Where the frak are you from?" thread.

It seems we've got a few active members in and around the capital (I myself am about 40 minutes train ride out of Euston), so there's the possibility of having a modest meet somewhere in London.
I also know there are quite a few Ammobunker members near London too, so it's possible a few of them could be enticed along as well.

There's a reasonable selection of wargaming venues in London (including big places like Dark Sphere), so it shouldn't be too difficult to find somewhere to play.
Some of them may charge a small levy for using their tables, but I doubt that's going to be a major investment.

As far as what the event is, I can't personally commit to writing and running a narrative event (or, at least, shouldn't - given I've already ladled Legacy onto my plate), although I'm open to such a possibility (and even GMing a round or two) if someone else wrote and oversaw it.

It is possible that the day could be used in a more free-form fashion though, with players and GMs arranging games and narratives in advance (one of the various event ideas we've not yet run), and I could probably find the time to write a scenario or two within that.

... and I'm thinking perhaps sometime in November or early December? (Given that Legacy is nigh certainly going to be next year, now I look at how much I want to get done).

Registering my interest in this thread too.

The last IGT was a bunch of non-narrative scenarios - we could do the same again.

Preliminary inquiries have pulled up a couple of potential players from Facebook groups, and maybe some interest in spectating too.

I may inquire more widely on other forums and groups in the next couple of days.

As I can fly to Gatwick or Luton from Inverness, and have one of my best friends living in Camberwell, London gaming is probably easier than Nottingham gaming for me. I'm in.

Ruaridh

I can probably make it down to London and stay with my brother. So count me in too.

i can train it from Bath straight to paddington and have Lachesis Affair that can be printed'n'played

Well, that all starts to sound reasonably promising then.

If no-one has any objections, Dark Sphere seems like a fair place to start our inquiries about a venue - it's well connected and I've heard generally good things about them, so I'll throw out an e-mail later to see what the deal may or may not be with booking some tables.

An important question (with a different venue) that comes to mind is: How much terrain will we have available? Will we need to bring/make (in my case paint) our own terrain or will there be stuff we can use?

I would be very interested in this.  Not actually played INQ in ages, will have to touch up the character sheets etc.  But colour me interested. 

Sorry, I've been dawdling a bit - I've only just got around to sending an inquiry to Dark Sphere. Still, hopefully we'll hear back in the next few days to see if they'll have us.

I did however get a response in minutes...

~~~~~

Dates available:
The Saturdays they've currently got space for available for are the 21st and 28th November.
Sundays are available 15th, 22nd and 29th of November, and 6th and 13th of December.

They're expecting these dates to fill up fast with FFG events though. (I suspect X-Wing will be going crazy in the next few months).

Opening hours:
11-6 on Saturday, 12-5 on Sunday. Anything longer than that confers an additional charge.

I think the Sunday hours are probably too tight to really get a proper event, so I think that will limit us to our Saturday options. This means only a little over two months notice, but hopefully that's enough for most people.

Cost:
To quote directly, "A table of 2'x4' costs £4 to rent for the day".

As 2'x4' is not a particularly standard table size, I've sent a reply asking whether this was a mistake or they mean to suggest that the tables are rented "by the foot". They may mean 12' x 4' (with the expectation many events would split this down into two 6'x4' tables), in which case we probably need only one or two (depending on numbers).

Terrain:
They say have terrain available for most gaming systems, and specifically think they have stuff that's suitable for large models, so I think we'll be good.

~~~~~

So, answers on a postcard people...

28th'd be great for me!

cost, even if it's £8 to get a 4x4 for a day that's not too bad; couplea quid each?
Marco, did i ask you to look over Lachesis already? i don't know if anyone else'd stepped forward with options

I'll tentatively say either works for me, but there're a few things I know will be happening in November, so I reserve the right to flake shamelessly nearer the time.
Should be there though.
I'll know more nearer the time.

£8 is chips, absolutely fine by me.
The non-set piece tables at IGT were 4'x4', right?
More than enough space for a game.
If we did get 12', you could probably squeeze three in if we end up with a big turnout.

Terrain-wise, it'd be really cool to get some more vertical stuff in.
The tables at WW are great, but the 28mm size usually means the buildings don't often have usefully sized second or third storeys - room for half a squad is barely room for two Inquisitor characters.

Quote from: greenstuff_gav on September 17, 2015, 08:24:35 PMcost, even if it's £8 to get a 4x4 for a day that's not too bad; couplea quid each?

Far from terrible, particularly as our three/four people to a table approach means we're splitting it more ways than most events would! I suspect they'll get back to me early tomorrow, and we should know then exactly what they mean.

QuoteMarco, did i ask you to look over Lachesis already? i don't know if anyone else'd stepped forward with options

You have asked me to look over something on some occasion, but I can't remember whether it was Lachesis or Eramus. I'm happy to look over it (again, if that's the case) and help tweak/expand it if needed.

I'll help, I just don't want to have to do the whole thing myself!

Quote from: TheNephew on September 17, 2015, 08:51:35 PMThe non-set piece tables at IGT were 4'x4', right?

Most WHW tables are 6'x4', but we often don't use all of that. The set piece tables are often 8'x6', but a couple are 12'x6'.

QuoteTerrain-wise, it'd be really cool to get some more vertical stuff in.

Hopefully! I don't know exactly what's going to be available, but it sounds like we'll have some choice.

£8 between multiples is practically free. So that's fine with me. So long as you don't mind an =][= Noob so to speak.

I'd say any weekend is fine but I can't commit to anything with a bub on the way. Although that does mean I need to get painting!

Quote from: MarcoSkoll on September 17, 2015, 09:28:56 PMYou have asked me to look over something on some occasion, but I can't remember whether it was Lachesis or Eramus.

Yeah, now you've sent it through again, I can see it was Lachesis I looked at before.

I'll go over it again, as I think it wouldn't hurt if it were perhaps tweaked to a three round format - there might be a few newcomers along and Dark Sphere's opening hours are a little shorter than WHW's, so we want an easy schedule.
I think some of the ideas from the opening three rounds could probably be collapsed down into two quite well, which should give the plot a quite nice pace.

(I might also want to try out simplified versions of a couple of Legacy plot mechanics if they can be worked in).

Quote from: Lord Borak on September 17, 2015, 10:02:05 PMSo long as you don't mind an =][= Noob so to speak.

Everyone starts somewhere, and I recognise there aren't a lot of "somewheres" to start Inquisitor these days.

for something a bit different and if a "proper" venue is overpriced or unavailable, there's a couple board game cafe's in London these days, you may be able to set up shop in one of them for the day.

Quote from: MarcoSkoll on September 18, 2015, 02:31:04 AM
I'll go over it again, as I think it wouldn't hurt if it were perhaps tweaked to a three round format - there might be a few newcomers along and Dark Sphere's opening hours are a little shorter than WHW's, so we want an easy schedule.
I think some of the ideas from the opening three rounds could probably be collapsed down into two quite well, which should give the plot a quite nice pace.

i'm good at ideas, not smart enough to make 'em work or coherent :)

Right, tallying numbers, other than people here, we've got a couple of people from Ammobunker interested EDIT: Correction, I missed a PM in my inbox, it might be four or five (although one says he may not have character ready to play, and may just spectate instead), two or three nibbles from the INQ28 Facebook group and might pick up a (probably 54mm) player or two from the SG FB group.

There's nothing from DakkaDakka, and I haven't bothered with Warseer as the mods over there usually seem to insist on moving such topics from the Inquisitor forum (where players might actually find it) to the Events forum (where nobody is going to be casually looking to see if there's an Inquisitor event announced).

But still, numbers (and variety) aren't looking terrible.

~~~

@Heroka: I think we'll try Dark Sphere this time around, as they seem like the best and most obvious choice from the ones I can think of, so it'd be a bit daft to not check them out while considering London events. But perhaps something to bear in mind if things go completely mammaries skyward with them!

@Gav: Well, I'm sure we can manage something between us. :P

More feedback needed on those dates, people!

I need at least a little more idea of whether to book the 21st, 28th or whether November as a whole is just too soon. We may not have spaces at all if we leave it too long.

28th is no good for me. 21st would be ok I think.

I'd like to go, but I hate to say Yes when I might not be able to make it. For me it's going to have to be a 'maybe'. I can 'maybe' go on any weekend.

Quote from: greenstuff_gav on September 17, 2015, 08:24:35 PM28th'd be great for me!

Just to check Gav, is this saying you prefer the 28th, or can only do the 21st?

it'd be more difficult to make the 21st but can do either :)

It's taken a little while, but I've got something of an answer back on what Dark Sphere meant by their table sizes.

"A 4x4 costs £2 per player per day, a 6x4 costs £3 per player per day."

... which is itself a bit confusing, as I'm not completely certain as to how all the "per player" stuff will play out with our potentially variable numbers of people per table (time for another e-mail, methinks) - but it sounds like the cost per person should be in about that same £2-3 vicinity if we don't overbook, which seems reasonable to me.

if it's anything like Helix, you basically pay your £3 when you get there so if only three of us turn up it's £9 for the day
of course we may need two tables so don't know how that factors as we can't really predict tables required...

also, i'm off to Spain saturday morning; is there anything you need from me before i fly out as interwebs maybe sparse where we're staying...

Quote from: greenstuff_gav on September 24, 2015, 10:59:09 PMof course we may need two tables

The people I've had at least a "maybe" from since we started discussing dates:

54mm:
Cortez
Greenstuff_Gav
Lord Borak (dependent on what's happening with his snotling)
MarcoSkoll (although I'll bring 28mm too)
TheNephew
VanHelser (but he's having trouble booking time off at the moment)

28mm:
linguliformean
Lysimachus
TonyofNurgle (who says he may have a couple of friends)

... then there's several (some 28mm, some 54mm) between various forums and FB who've expressed interest, but not yet confirmed either date.

I'm expecting we'll need three tables, but four isn't impossible.

As far as dates, so far, I'm thinking the 21st. It's not everyone's preferred date, but no-one has yet said they can't.

Quotealso, i'm off to Spain saturday morning; is there anything you need from me before i fly out as interwebs maybe sparse where we're staying...

At this stage, probably not. I'm handling most of the organisation, and most of the specifics of tweaking Lachesis can wait a week or three. (Although I may start putting together a player pack before then).

i'm hoping to bring an extra player (Adrian), possibly a 28mm'er (Alhaus) and will bring my 28mm figures incase (but i prefer to play 54mm!)

I haven't checked this off with Gav, so some of the details may need to get tweaked when he's back from Spain, but here's an early draft of the player pack.

The Lachesis Affair player pack V 0.1 (http://mediafire.com/?7r8n7blis8uj4y6/)

Remember, I'm still taking votes on whether it's happening on the 21st or 28th of November, but I will have to book soon!

21st is better for me as I'm on Holiday that week. The 28th is a case of 'I'm usually off weekends" so will probably make it.

To keep you up-to-date, I sent a booking for the 21st of November earlier today (as a few people ruled out the 28th entirely).

That booking has NOT yet been confirmed - so don't book journeys just yet, I'll tell you when!

The 21st is now booked! 1100-1800, two 6x4' tables, two 4x4' tables.

I'll update you and the top of the thread with full details later.

We now have a Facebook event page. If I haven't already invited you, feel free to invite yourself!

https://www.facebook.com/events/891180250931911/

now that i'm back (and have written a whole miniatures game damnit!) do i need to do anything to the campaign?

We need to discuss how to boil it down to three rounds rather than four (I was thinking about cutting round 2, but adapting its random event deck to be used over rounds 1 and 3), talk about what we want to do for injury/equipment over the course of the day and perhaps a few other things, but I'll throw together a PM about that.

i've got my train tickets booked; should be at Paddington about 09:35 to give me plenty of time to scout lunch locations close to Dark Sphere :)

Campaign is written, 3 out of 4 character sheets written, and crew freshly painted!
(http://buildyourimagination.co.uk/minis/conclavewinter15/rogue.jpg)
The Rogue Trader Rouge Witt and her team

looks like i'm bringing 2 players and a maybe :)

The event pack has been updated to V0.2 at the same link: http://mediafire.com/?7r8n7blis8uj4y6

There may be some tweaks before the proper version is released - and on that front, feedback on the between-game injury/equipment rules is welcome (as long as it's polite).
I'll trim the rules back a bit if necessary, but the intention is for The Lachesis Affair to play as if over a relatively short time span, so injuries will partially carry over between games, and any restocking of supplies will mean diverting efforts from your time-sensitive investigation.

In other news, numbers are currently looking better than I'd expected for an event that's been thrown together at short(er) notice in a new location; this is encouraging (particularly as far as the possibility of future events), but it does mean though that I may need to book an extra table, so it will be *very* helpful if any "maybes" tell me as soon as they can commit - the more notice I have if I need to adjust the booking, the better.

~~~~~

@Gav: I'd say that was a generous number of women, but the odds are I'll probably bring more than that...

I've found all my models, part-painted a new one and started hashing out a more solid background.
Murielle .will. survive a scenario this time.

Marco - I can do a small-to-reasonable amount of B&W printing if needed. Spare character sheets or handouts or summat.
Let me know.

Quote from: TheNephew on November 02, 2015, 07:00:25 PMMarco - I can do a small-to-reasonable amount of B&W printing if needed. Spare character sheets or handouts or summat.

Thanks for the offer, but it shouldn't be a problem - our main printer is a heavy-duty colour laser, rehomed after its retirement from the school my brother does IT support for. It's kind of overkill for our purposes, but it's efficient.

having received some of (marcos?) two-character-per-sheet-sheets a valid question would be if we carried spare sheets would people prefer the traditional character sheet or the slimline ones?

Good afternoon, all. I hope this finds you all well, and ready for the meet this weekend.

There are a few things to bring up, and in no particular order:

1) The event pack has been updated to V1.0 (same link: http://mediafire.com/?7r8n7blis8uj4y6 ), but only really as a formality. The only change I can recall making is a note about transport, and I'll repeat it here for clarity: London buses have been cashless since July last year, so *you cannot buy a ticket on the bus*. You'll need an Oyster, contactless payment card, travelcard or pre-bought ticket (machines are at most major stops, I believe).

2) *Please* bring sensible change if you can, because I don't fancy trying to deal with trying to make change if everyone's trying to chip in to the table booking using £20 notes.

3) I plan to arrive some time before Dark Sphere opens, so there'll probably be an opportunity to chat before the event. There's no particular plans for after the event, but I guess we'll wing that dependent on demand.

4) If you think you may need or want to contact me on the morning of the event, PM me for a number. My phone is just a phone, I won't be able to respond to internet messages after I leave the house.

In case you're not following my notes on the FB event page, please bear in mind that Saturday morning's weather forecast is showing strong wind gusts, a sharp decline in temperature and heavy rain.

So, remember a warm coat, take care when travelling and, if possible and/or necessary, allow yourself extra time when you're making your way to Dark Sphere!

Facility S4d-5 survived, in a sense. Few of its original personnel were alive and fewer of them were pure or sane, but the main threat had been dealt with.
The nameless plague daemon that had tainted the lower atrium had been brought low by an aged Sister Hospitallier, its infected hordes had been purged, and the blade within which it had infiltrated the facility had been sealed in stasis.

Even Inquisitor Ryk's attempt to sabotage the facility's primary reactor and consume the daemonic corruption in nuclear fire had been delayed for long enough to allow word of successful purges on the other levels to stay his hand - at least for now.

There were set-backs, of course. The blade had not been contained alone - an unfortunate soul had also been trapped outside of time, doomed to hear the whispers of a daemon for an instant and an eternity. Purgation team X-7 would eventually break the stasis as they transferred the blade to the immolation casket in which it was eventually destroyed, though none could agree on what the cost had been to his sanity.

The facility itself would never quite regain its full potential, given that it found itself under considerably greater Inquisition scrutiny.

Many of the replacement personnel that were supplied to the facility (all of them intentionally kept ignorant of what had happened to their predecessors) would in coming years log foul smells, contaminated samples and an elevated rate of illness throughout the facility, although would ascribe it to the hostile environment of Lachesis IV.

But nonetheless, the events that would in the halls of the Inquisition become known as "The Lachesis Affair" were generally considered a victory for the Imperium, quietly forgetting that some questions had been left unanswered...

~~~~~

Well, firstly, a belated thank you to everyone who attended! There weren't quite as many of you as I had hoped for, but nonetheless I believe you all helped make it a successful event.

Several points I would like to bring up specifically:

- Good to see a number of faces I haven't seen before.

- Although our 28mm attendance was low, I did end up talking about INQ28 with some of the other people who were at Dark Sphere (most of them there for a Malifaux event), which I'm glad to see is a side effect of putting 54mm scale (which is distinctive) alongside 28mm scale (which is more accessible).

- Two thumbs up for Dark Sphere as a venue:
> £2/£3 to hire 4'x4'/6'x4' tables for the day, with a good terrain selection (and they managed to find stuff for the 54mm tables just fine). Just would have preferred a slightly less cryptic communication than I got regarding the pricing!
> Very accessible, given London's extensive public transport system (There's Lambeth North tube station and about ten bus routes within a quarter of a mile).
> Lots of different products on the shelves, with discounts on RRP. I didn't have a huge heap of time to browse, having been running the event, but you could certainly pick up a lot of new ideas and models there.

I think on that one it's not a question of if we go again, but when.

~~~~~

And the full Lachesis Affair pack is now available for people to peruse, including the scenarios and evidence cards:

http://www.mediafire.com/download/0r2sohn6g55vs0y/The+Lachesis+Affair.zip