New to Variable Magers?
  • brendannewell May 2009
    I've written a quick intro to Variable Magers as we seem to be getting quite a few new people recently :)

    Where we meet:
    Our current permanent venue is the Heaton Mersey Conservative Club (HMCC)

    When we meet:
    We meet every Tuesday from 7pm. Short games usually take place until 8pm while people arrive then groups will form to play longer games.

    What we play:
    NOT monopoly! We play designer boardgames aka eurogames. We don't really play wargames either.

    The GM system:
    In order that everyone get a fair chance to pick games and to reduce wasted time over choosing games, Variable Magers designate 2 or 3 "GMs" a week (depending on numbers) who will pick games. Others are welcome to join a GM and often GMs will post their choices on the forum in advance so you can pick your GM before you arrive.

    To become a GM:
    Anyone can be added to the GM rotation - all we ask is a small fee of £5 a year to help pay for website running costs. Dean currently collects this fee.
  • Jamie June 2011

    Hi Brendan, Nice to meet you on Tuesday, can I ask a few questions regarding subs - do I need to be paying anyone?! (I've been a couple of times now and not paid a bean)

    Also - I'm thinking about buying one of the Cthuluhu games (hey, everyone has a favourite cosmic deity from beyond the stars, right?) either the Arkham Horror or the Mansions of Madness games... have you played either of these? Is one better than the other? (Mansions is more expensive... but those miniatures look sweet). Cheers Jamie

  • brendannewell June 2011

    Hi Jamie, nice to meet you too :-) I'm not really a regular anymore but as far as I know, subs are voluntary and paying is the only way to be included on the GM list (ie to be able to pick games). Last I was aware, it was only £5 a year though so not enough to break the bank ;-) You might be better speaking to Andy (Grimwold) about Cthulu. I think Arkham Horror is his favourite game and to my knowledge he owns all the expansions for it. I've never played Mansions of Madness but I did enjoy Arkham Horror when I played it with Andy. Hope that helps :-)

  • GrimwoldGrimwold June 2011

    Hi Jamie. Sorry I wasn't there the week you went.. I've had illness and family commitments that have prevented me from going. Brendan is right that I have some experience of the Cthulhu Mythos based games... I own and have played both Arkham Horror and Mansions of Madness, and enjoy both a lot... As to which one you should get, it depends a bit on what kind of gaming experience you want... Arkham is a pure co-operative game, so all the players are working together against the game.. whereas Mansions is an "overlord" type game, where one player is the keeper, and they are working against all the other players, who are a team of investigators. Mansions also has a puzzle element, where the players are required to solve tile based puzzles by moving pieces around, and although there is fighting, Mansions is less about the combat than Arkham Horror is. Both games take a fair amount of time to set up and to play.. with Mansions requiring a bit more work in setup, especially from the keeper who has to make the story choices and seed the board with exploration cards in a specific way. The miniatures for Mansions are really nice, and they are actually compatible with Arkham Horror (the Arkham monsters tokens fit perfectly in the bases.. there just aren't as many different miniatures as there are monsters in Arkham.. likewise there are a lot more investigators in Arkham. In terms of replayability I would say Arkham has the edge by quite a long way... even with just the base game there is a huge amount of replayability.. and then there are a plethora of expansions too!!! Don't get me wrong, Mansions does have quite a bit of replayability.. and since it's such a new game, there are bound to be expansions in the pipeline... if it's one thing Fantasy Flight Games does, it's release expansions for their games!!!

    I hope that helps... I would be more than happy to play either or both with you at some point so you could try them before you decided to buy... my wife really enjoys both as well.

  • Jamie June 2011

    Hi Andy, cheers for the info re: Cthulhu stuff, both games sound cool, I've watched a few clips on youtube for them, but I think you're right I should probably give them a play before I buy. I couldn't make it over to the group last night, (too shattered from work to move!) but I'll definitely be there next week.

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