ORIGINAL OPORD 21-342 ~ LIVESTREAM ARCHIVE ~ AAR
Armchair Dragoons, Regimental Operations Order 21-342
Distribution restriction: No restriction; unlimited distribution is authorized
Situation
- Weather – So it’s supposed to be winter, but some places are still getting rained on. Either way, it’s a good time of year to stay inside and play games all weekend.
- Enemy Forces – Our primary enemy at this point seems to be inertia – we just need everyone to get off their kiesters and get into their wargaming!
- Friendly Forces – Friendly forces for this mission include (so far) Moe’s Game Table, Ardwulf’s Lair, Song for War, and others. Other friendly forces may join at a later date.
- Attachments & Detachments – None at the present
Mission
The Armchair Dragoons and other friendly forces conduct online/virtual game convention operations beginning with registration (2 January 2022) and culminating with the execution of the Armchair Dragoons Digital Convention (The ACDC), from 14-16 January 2022, at a cost of $5 to attend.
Link to ACDC Registration/Scheduling at tabletop.events
Operations
- Commander’s Intent
The Armchair Dragoons have now planned and executed 5 different digital convention / conference events, and have decided to set MLK holiday weekend as our annual ACDC. This gives wargamers a mid-January convention to look forward to coming out of the holiday season, and gives players an opportunity to meet, play, and congregate in another online/virtual convention.
The Armchair Dragoons intend to offer a mixture of larger events, quick/casual games, opportunities to learn from/play with designers, a robust seminar program, and a variety of industry-focused talk shows.
- Concept of the Operation
The ACDC will focus on the following 4 features:
- Wargaming Events: the primary activity will be wargames played through virtual tabletop systems like VASSAL, Tabletop Simulator, and Tabletopia. Registered players may play in any number of non-overlapping events for their $5 registration cost. The GMs will ensure the appropriate game-specific modules are available for the players joining the game.
- Topical Seminars: Both wargame-related and more general military history seminars are planned, including formal presentations, industry interviews, and talk shows.
- Vendor and Sponsor Support: Different vendors have expressed their willingness to support the ACDC and will be offering convention specials and/or discounts during the event. Details will be announced as they come available.
- The Convention ‘Community’: There will be additional channels opened up on the Discord server to creat virtual ‘meeting places’ for attendees to congregate between games, whether to discuss past/upcoming events, arrange future games, or kibitz about wargaming.
The ACDC will also include several “pick-up game” voice/chat channels for use by players who decide to join in any impromptu or unscheduled games they organize between themselves. Note that these pick-up games are not official ACDC events, and will not appear in our schedule nor will tickets to those events be required (though you will still need a badge for the show for access to the channels on the Discord server).
- Subordinate Tasks
Specific members of the Armchair Dragoons have the following tasks
- GMs – prepare, present & supervise games played during the convention, including ownership of the game modules for the games/platforms you intend to use. Be prepared for platform test w/ Armchair Dragoons HQ NLT 7 January 2022
- Players – Ensure you have the correct platform software (VASSAL, TTS, etc) loaded and functional before registering for any games. The GMs will provide the appropriate game module and invite you into the game, but it is your responsibility to ensure your computer is working and connected.
Additionally, players are required to provide their user names for the online platforms, to ensure that GMs can invite them into their game at the appointed time. - Seminar Speakers – Prepare & present content for online audience, including participant Q&A.
- Editorial Team – ensure content is captured during the event to most accurately capture the convention for follow-up articles.
- Coordinating Instructions
- The ACDC has a cost of $5/attendee for a weekend badge.
- Only ticketed attendees will be given access to the ACDC Discord server.
- Event schedule will be posted here, for you to recon before registration opens.
- All times for events are listed here in US/Eastern time, but the Tabletop.events registration site converts to your local time zone.
- Individual event tickets are needed to play in the games, but not to watch. While we hope to stream many of the games through YouTube, many of them may only be made available to registered participants through the screen streaming function on Discord.
- All GMs will make every effort to stream their games through the Discord screen sharing, and through publicly-viewable channels (YouTube, Twitch, etc) when possible.
- YouTube streaming, including (especially!) seminars & talk shows, will be through unlisted Youtube links, with URLs provided to attendees. This will allow us to still leverage YouTube chat during the livestreams while still limiting the audience to registered attendees. Streams will be made public after the convention is finished.
- ACDC Merchandise (and some new Dragoons swag!) will be available
- There is an option to print your badge, if you want it as a keepsake. Obviously, we don’t need no stinkin’ badges for an online convention.
Service Support
- Support Concept
Armchair Dragoons will provide the scheduling & registration framework, as well as the online ‘anchor’ presence for the convention. As the central clearinghouse for information, Armchair Dragoons will take the lead in supporting convention attendees.
- Technical Support
- Armchair Dragoons can offer limited technical support for the registration / scheduling software through the tabletop.events platform
- Armchair Dragoons makes no promises, guarantees, warranties, or assurances that the platforms used for this convention (such as TTS, or VASSAL) will load and function correctly on your individual machine. In short: it is your responsibility to make sure your computer works with the platform for the game(s) you want to play this weekend.
- Armchair Dragoons will be publishing a few “tips & tricks” guides for specific platforms, but these are in no way intended as any sort of guarantee of success nor an implied offer of universal tech support.
- Personnel
- Anyone wishing to volunteer as a GM is instructed to contact the convention team at armchairdragoonsevents – (AT) – that ‘gmail’ thingee. Please include game, platform, duration, max # of players, and your experience with playing/leading the game in an online platform. Include at least 2 options for times at which you can run the game.
- Anyone wishing to volunteer as a seminar speaker is instructed to contact the convention team at armchairdragoonsevents – (AT) – that ‘gmail’ thingee. Please include a draft outline of the content to be covered and include at least 2 options for times at which you can present. Note that whenever possible, we will try not to schedule multiple seminars at the same time.
- Event submission will be opened for GMs to submit their own events, but there are multiple required fields to capture all necessary details for an online game.
- Promotions
- A bank of images is available to freely share here: banner ad (728×90) ; social media box (500×500); large banner (728×250)
- Everyone registering for/attending the ACDC is asked to share information about the convention through their social networks; the more, the merrier!
Command & Signal
- Command
- Armchair Dragoons will lead the effort, with assistance from other organizations as needed
- Questions or concerns should be communicated to armchairdragoonsevents – (AT) – that ‘gmail’ thingee
- Signal
- We will use online comms for site administration and other coordination
- All games are played online through virtual platforms like Tabletop Simulator, VASSAL, and Tabletopia. It is the player’s responsibility to ensure the appropriate software is working on his/her own computer.
- Games will operate with online voice channels, such as Steam Chat or a Discord server. The GM will communicate to the players which channel is being used, but it is the player’s responsibility to ensure the audio is appropriate for the game.
- While some GMs prefer Steam Chat for their voice comms, the priority will be the dedicated Discord Server available for that weekend for both voice and text chat
Sync Matrix
The currently-confirmed schedule for The ACDC.
All times are US EST, and the tabletop.events site should adjust to your local time zone when registering for events.
Event | Type | Max Seats | Starts | Minutes | Platform |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Newton's Cradle (Squadron Strike rules) | Game Session | 6 | January 14 (FRI) at 19:00 | 240 | ASCIBI |
Newton's Cradle (Squadron Strike rules) | Game Session | 6 | January 15 (SAT) at 19:00 | 240 | ASCIBI |
Romance of the 7 Realm (Squadron Strike rules) | Game Session | 6 | January 15 (SAT) at 13:00 | 240 | ASCIBI |
OCS Bootcamp | Game Session | 8 | January 14 (FRI) at 20:00 | 240 | VASSAL |
Falling Sky | Game Session | 4 | January 15 (SAT) at 18:00 | 240 | VASSAL |
Falling Sky | Game Session | 4 | January 16 (SUN) at 13:00 | 240 | VASSAL |
White Eagle Defiant | Game Session | 4 | January 15 (SAT) at 17:00 | 120 | VASSAL |
Last One Standing | Game Session | 4 | January 16 (SUN) at 12:00 | 120 | VASSAL |
Lanzerath Ridge | Game Session | 4 | January 16 (SUN) at 12:00 | 120 | Tabletop Simulator |
Lanzerath Ridge | Game Session | 4 | January 15 (SAT) at 16:00 | 120 | Tabletop Simulator |
Lock ’n Load Tactical: Heroes of the Pacific | Game Session | 2 | January 14 (FRI) at 13:00 | 180 | VASSAL |
Lock ’n Load Tactical - Heroes of the 'Nam | Game Session | 2 | January 15 (SAT) at 10:00 | 180 | VASSAL |
Lock ’n Load Tactical - Heroes in Defiance | Game Session | 2 | January 16 (SUN) at 10:00 | 180 | VASSAL |
Shores of Tripoli | Game Session | 4 | January 15 (SAT) at 11:00 | 120 | Rally The Troops |
Shores of Tripoli | Game Session | 4 | January 16 (SUN) at 11:00 | 120 | Rally The Troops |
Robotech Reconstruction | Game Session | 4 | January 15 (SAT) at 10:00 | 180 | Tabletop Simulator |
Robotech Reconstruction | Game Session | 4 | January 16 (SUN) at 12:00 | 180 | Tabletop Simulator |
Where Eagles Dare ("Strife of Eagles” Kriegsspiel pt 1) | Game Session | 6 | January 15 (SAT) at 06:00 | 240 | Discord |
Eagles Nest ("Strife of Eagles” Kriegsspiel pt 2) | Game Session | 6 | January 15 (SAT) at 11:00 | 240 | Discord |
Rebels & Patriots AWI: A Chance Encounter | Game Session | 4 | January 15 (SAT) at 11:00 | 240 | Tabletop Simulator |
Blucher: The Battle of the Mincio River | Game Session | 2 | January 16 (SUN) at 10:00 | 240 | Tabletop Simulator |
Battle Of Quiberon Bay | Game Session | 8 | January 15 (SAT) at 16:00 | 360 | Discord |
Battle of Guadalcanal | Game Session | 12 | January 16 (SUN) at 10:00 | 360 | Discord |
Eagles Clash ("Strife of Eagles” Kriegsspiel pt 3) | Game Session | 12 | January 16 (SUN) at 11:00 | 240 | Discord |
Twilight: 2000, Roleplaying in the Future That Never Was | Game Session | 6 | January 15 (SAT) at 10:00 | 360 | VTT |
Song for War | Game Session | 4 | January 14 (FRI) at 20:00 | 240 | Tabletopia |
Song for War | Game Session | 4 | January 15 (SAT) at 14:00 | 240 | Tabletopia |
Welcome Happy Hour with Moe's Game Table | Seminar | 500 | January 14 (FRI) at 18:00 | 120 | YouTube |
Designer Interview: Robotech Reconstruction | Seminar | 500 | January 14 (FRI) at 20:00 | 120 | YouTube |
Designer Interview: Blue Panther Games | Seminar | 500 | January 14 (FRI) at 22:00 | 120 | YouTube |
Designer Interview: Song For War | Seminar | 500 | January 15 (SAT) at 10:00 | 120 | YouTube |
Designer Interview: Purple Haze | Seminar | 500 | January 15 (SAT) at 12:00 | 60 | YouTube |
Designer Interview: Global War 1985 | Seminar | 500 | January 15 (SAT) at 13:00 | 120 | YouTube |
Designer Interview: Catastrophe Games / Tim Densham | Seminar | 500 | January 15 (SAT) at 15:00 | 120 | YouTube |
Designer Interview: Air & Armor / Bruce Maxwell | Seminar | 500 | January 15 (SAT) at 17:00 | 120 | YouTube |
Happy Hour with Ardwulf's Lair | Seminar | 500 | January 16 (SUN) at 17:00 | 120 | YouTube |
World at War '85 with Lock 'n Load Publishing #1 | Game Session | 4 | January 14 (FRI) at 16:00 | 240 | Tabletop Simulator |
World at War '85 with Lock 'n Load Publishing #2 | Game Session | 4 | January 15 (SAT) at 11:00 | 240 | Tabletop Simulator |
World at War '85 with Lock 'n Load Publishing #3 | Game Session | 4 | January 15 (SAT) at 21:00 | 240 | Tabletop Simulator |
Point Blank - V for Victory (FRI) | Game Session | 4 | January 14 (FRI) at 18:00 | 180 | Tabletop Simulator |
Point Blank - V for Victory (SAT) | Game Session | 4 | January 15 (SAT) at 18:00 | 180 | Tabletop Simulator |
Point Blank - V for Victory (SUN) | Game Session | 4 | January 16 (SUN) at 13:00 | 180 | Tabletop Simulator |
Purple Haze | Game Session | 4 | January 15 (SAT) at 13:00 | 120 | Tabletop Simulator |
Modern Warfare & Wargaming Roundtable | Seminar | 500 | January 16 (SUN) at 13:00 | 120 | YouTube |
Fleet Marine Force | Game Session | 6 | January 15 (SAT) at 12:00 | 240 | VASSAL |
Splendid Failure: Challenges of Reconstruction and Democracy | Seminar | 500 | January 15 (SAT) at 10:00 | 60 | YouTube |
Judean Hammer (Catastrophe Games) | Game Session | 2 | January 14 (FRI) at 16:00 | 120 | Tabletopia |
Judean Hammer (Catastrophe Games) | Game Session | 2 | January 16 (SUN) at 09:00 | 120 | Tabletopia |
NATO: Cold War Goes Hot (play w/ the designer) | Game Session | 4 | January 16 (SUN) at 08:00 | 300 | VASSAL |
War of the Triple Alliance | Game Session | 4 | January 15 (SAT) at 18:00 | 90 | Tabletop Simulator |
Exploring Competition through Competitive Wargaming | Seminar | 500 | January 15 (SAT) at 14:00 | 60 | YouTube |
First Battle of Kharkov | Seminar | 500 | January 15 (SAT) at 12:00 | 60 | YouTube |
Competition: AI -- The National Innovation Base | Seminar | 500 | January 15 (SAT) at 13:00 | 60 | YouTube |
Designer Showcase: Song for War seminar | Seminar | 500 | January 16 (SUN) at 12:00 | 60 | YouTube |
UK Wargaming Scene 2021/2022 | Seminar | 500 | January 16 (SUN) at 08:00 | 120 | YouTube |
Game Design: Planning the American Revolution NSDMG Style | Seminar | 500 | January 16 (SUN) at 10:00 | 120 | YouTube |
The Wargame Bootcamp - Atlantic Chase Demo | Game Session | 10 | January 14 (FRI) at 13:00 | 240 | VASSAL |
The WarGame Bootcamp - Horse & Musket Demo | Game Session | 10 | January 15 (SAT) at 13:00 | 240 | VASSAL |
The Wargame Bootcamp Hearts and Minds Vietnam1965 -1975 Demo | Game Session | 10 | January 16 (SUN) at 14:00 | 240 | VASSAL |
The Wargame Bootcamp Standard Combat Series North Africa | Game Session | 10 | January 15 (SAT) at 18:00 | 240 | VASSAL |
Armchair Dragoons Keynote | Seminar | 500 | January 15 (SAT) at 19:00 | 90 | YouTube |
Tall Tales & An Open Bar – Random Chatter With Wargamers | Seminar | 500 | January 15 (SAT) at 21:00 | 180 | YouTube |
Making an Arty Wargame from Scratch:What was I Thinking? | Seminar | 500 | January 15 (SAT) at 11:00 | 60 | YouTube |
ORIGINAL OPORD 21-342 ~ LIVESTREAM ARCHIVE ~ AAR
We appreciate you visiting the Armchair Dragoons!
We’ve got a dedicated forum to discuss the January 2022 ACDC.
You can also find the regiment on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, and occasionally at a convention near you once we’re allowed to hold them again.