Wrote this , can we stick it up to help people /stop idiots

Comrades in Arms' advice - "How To Run a WW2 Event"

This comes up rather regularly, so here’s our “How To” guide to putting on an event.

1: Do not consider running an event on your own. Ideally you need around 4-6 people to do it successfully. The demands on your time of trying to mange 40-60 players on the day is too much for one person. You will need organisers on both sides of the battle. Do not rely on site owners to help much, unless you are very lucky they are often too busy to get involved.

2: Find a willing site. Preferably one that you’ve all played at before.

3: Convince the site owner to let you run an event there. Agree numbers, costs and a date . Some will want a guaranteed total amount as a fee, other will just want a guaranteed number of players at a set fee. Make sure your agreement includes the site's liability insurance, marshalls (if you need them) and food etc.

4: Most players will have to travel, can they camp overnight on-site or nearby? Sometimes players can also group-book local Travelodge rooms.

5: Take a good look at the site. CiA normally do 2-3 site visits with at least two of us to get a feel for it. The terrain should give you a idea of what you can do, or as I often put it, “See the game”. Some sites are really hard to see the game, for example, the site for Operation Husky - it was a superb site, large, with lots of exciting terrain, but working out just what would fit best took some effort. Some sites like the one we used for The Battle for Bryansk just screamed Eastern Front as soon as we entered the gate. It’s obvious, but fitting the site to the scenario is a key consideration. Time of the year helps too, no point running Stalingrad in Summer.

6: Come up with a scenario. What period of the war, when, who’s fighting whom and over what. This is the “storyline” which is what gets everyone interested in to coming to your event. This is the bit the players get to see. Scenarios can be fictitious, such as Operation Wotan, or based on real battles such as Operation Husky. If you base it on a real battle then do some research. What were the key features of the battle? How can you work them into a game plan? At Husky we kept the two Allied forces independent, as happened in the real battle; Autumn Mist (Ardennes) was all about capturing bridges, fuel and ammo dumps. You're not necessarily looking to recreate the battle, but make it recognisable, as opposed to just a blat in the woods.

7: Write the game plan. What are the objectives? What will you need? (eg: people, props, maps, radios, pyrotechnics etc.) How do you expect the play on the day to go? You’re not scripting the precise gameplay, but working out how you can ensure players will have a good day and not wander around aimlessly for 4 hours. Feel free to use CiA's standard rules for a lot of it, they work for most situations .

Writing a plan where one side is defending a fixed position all day will not be a good day out for that side. Both forces need the ability to win the day, both sides need to be kept on the go. You also need to have some contingency ideas for if it all goes differently to the plan (ie: one side has won all it’s objectives in the first hour, or it rains all weeken). Also never forget KISS .....Keep It Simple Stupid.

The flavour of your game will come from this plan. Our game plans for a 24 hour event typically run to 10-15 pages, at any point in the event we all have a reference as to what should be going on. When everyone reads it anyway....

8: Never forget that people are paying their hard earned cash to attend a good event. Making sure your players enjoy themselves within the event you have planned is your only consideration. Always try to see how the event will play through the players' eyes, walking 1km to regen might seem a good idea for accuracy but would you want to do it twice?

9: Come and speak CiA with the following:

Name of Event: "Operation Acme etc."
What the scenario is: Eg: British Commando raid set in 1942 against a German heavy water plant in Norway
Where it is: ABC Airsoft, Outer Hebrides - run by forum members Bob, Joe and Walt .
When it is: 1/2 April 2099
How much it costs: £45 - camping allowed etc.

The game plan is your baby, we may offer advice, if asked, but will not get involved in the event other than perhaps attending. We’ve been offered to help run events before. It’s nice, but, to be honest, we prefer to do our own thing in our own time and would rather enjoy playing at other people's games.

10: We may then give you some forum space to promote the event and take bookings.

11: Be positive about what you are planning in your marketing. Tell people the scenario , but not the game plan blow-by-blow. Don’t post “Are you interested?” but rather, “Book Now!”. Lots of people will say they are interested, but often can’t confirm a booking for a variety of reasons. Equally you are running the event, you write the game, don’t try to get it written 'by committee' on the forum, it doesn’t work that.....ever.

12: Pull off a really good event that everyone can be proud of, then do it again!

13: Do not, under any circumstances, put on a SISK (Skirmish In Silly Kit). It will no win you any friends on here.

14: Finally, lots have people have put on games successfully in the WW2 genre using much the same guidelines as above. It’s reasonably easy to host an event, but it’s pretty difficult to pull off a good one. CiA have had duds as well as crackers in the past three years.

Hals- und Beinbruch!

The CiA Team