ORIGINAL OPORD ~ REGISTRATION ~ LIVESTREAM ARCHIVE ~ AAR
Armchair Dragoons, Regimental Warning Order 23-312
Distribution restriction: No restriction; unlimited distribution is authorized
Situation
- Weather – It’s going to be cold & shitty; stay inside and play games!
- Enemy Forces –
Multi-Man Publishing & the guys at Winter Offensive?Just kidding; they’re not enemy forces, just adjacent ones - Friendly Forces – Friendly forces for this mission include (so far) Ardwulf’s Lair, Pushing Cardboard, and Star Fleet Tactical.
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 (approx 15 December 2023) and culminating with the execution of the Armchair Dragoons Digital Convention (The ACDC), from 12-14 January 2024.
Operations
- Commander’s Intent
The Armchair Dragoons have now planned & executed over a half dozen different digital convention / conference events, and have set the 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 3 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. (Sync Matrix TBP)
- Topical Seminars: Both wargame-related and more general military history seminars are planned, including formal presentations, industry interviews, and talk shows.
- The Convention ‘Community’: There will be additional channels opened up on the Discord server to create virtual ‘meeting places’ for attendees to congregate between games for any sort of community-building discussion.
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
- Organizing Committee – Update/create relevant SOPs in advance of detailed planning for this ACDC, to include participant help guides
- GMs – prepare, present & supervise games played during the convention,
- Players – Ensure you have the correct platform software (VASSAL, TTS, etc) loaded and functional before registering for any games
- 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 $3.50/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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Event submissions for the 12-14 January ACDC are now open
GM’s may submit their events for scheduling, but please be sure you check out the guidelines
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 submit the event through this link (TBP)
- 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.
- 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
ORIGINAL OPORD ~ REGISTRATION ~ LIVESTREAM ARCHIVE ~ AAR
Sync Matrix
More events are coming as the GMs submit them, so check back regularly
| Event Name | Event Type | Max# | Starts | Time (Mins) | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wargame Bootcamp - Learn to Use Discord, VASSAL, TTS | Game Session | 12 | FRI (12th) 1200 | 180 | Other (see event info) |
| People Power | Game Session | 3 | FRI (12th) 1600 | 180 | VASSAL |
| Seljuk: Byzantium Besieged, 1068-1071 | Game Session | 2 | FRI (12th) 1700 | 120 | VASSAL |
| Goose Green by MMP | Game Session | 6 | FRI (12th) 1800 | 240 | VASSAL |
| Night Witches Demo | Game Session | 10 | FRI (12th) 1900 | 60 | Tabletop Simulator |
| Squadron Strike: Newton's Cradle | Game Session | 3 | FRI (12th) 1900 | 180 | ASCBI.net |
| Valour and Fortitude 2nd edition | Game Session | 2 | FRI (12th) 1900 | 240 | Tabletop Simulator |
| Welcome Happy Hour | Seminar | 500 | FRI (12th) 2000 | 120 | YouTube |
| Saturday Morning Wargaming Wakeup! | Seminar | 100 | SAT (13th) 0800 | 90 | Discord |
| World at War '85 - Blood & Fury | Game Session | 4 | SAT (13th) 1000 | 240 | Tabletop Simulator |
| 200 years of modern wargaming: Kriegsspiel now and then | Seminar | 100 | SAT (13th) 1100 | 60 | YouTube |
| Robotech: Reconstruction - Tournament - | Game Session | 12 | SAT (13th) 1100 | 360 | Tabletop Simulator |
| The Battle of Gazala | Seminar | 100 | SAT (13th) 1200 | 60 | YouTube |
| People Power | Game Session | 3 | SAT (13th) 1200 | 180 | VASSAL |
| Nations & Cannons: Battle of Sullivan's Island | Game Session | 6 | SAT (13th) 1200 | 240 | Roll20 |
| Code: ATLAS | Game Session | 5 | SAT (13th) 1200 | 240 | Tabletop Simulator |
| Iron, Blood, Snow & Mud - demo | Game Session | 2 | SAT (13th) 1300 | 120 | Tabletop Simulator |
| Blackhorse Cold War goes hot in 1989 | Game Session | 6 | SAT (13th) 1300 | 240 | VASSAL |
| Raid on Aurich demo by Mark Walker | Game Session | 4 | SAT (13th) 1400 | 60 | Tabletop Simulator |
| Order & Opportunity: Making of the Post-Cold War World Order | Game Session | 12 | SAT (13th) 1400 | 90 | Discord |
| Postcards of War | Seminar | 100 | SAT (13th) 1400 | 120 | YouTube |
| Squadron Strike: Klingons Off The Starboard Bow! | Game Session | 4 | SAT (13th) 1600 | 240 | ASCBI.net |
| Demo of Raider Drop Zone: The Invasion of Planet Kraken | Game Session | 6 | SAT (13th) 1700 | 60 | Tabletop Simulator |
| The 2024 ACDC Keynote | Seminar | 100 | SAT (13th) 1700 | 120 | YouTube |
| Volko Ruhnke's New Game | Seminar | 100 | SAT (13th) 1900 | 120 | YouTube |
| OCS Bootcamp | Game Session | 4 | SAT (13th) 1900 | 240 | VASSAL |
| Learn to Play the Great Campaigns of the American Civil War | Game Session | 12 | SAT (13th) 2100 | 90 | VASSAL |
| Starfleet Tactical -- Special ACDC Edition! | Seminar | 100 | SAT (13th) 2100 | 120 | YouTube |
| Sunday Morning Wargaming Wakeup! | Seminar | 100 | SUN (14th) 0800 | 90 | Discord |
| Escape From Colditz | Game Session | 6 | SUN (14th) 1000 | 180 | Tabletop Simulator |
| Blucher (Napoleonic minis) | Game Session | 2 | SUN (14th) 1000 | 240 | Tabletop Simulator |
| The Battle of Inchon | Seminar | 100 | SUN (14th) 1200 | 60 | YouTube |
| Nations & Cannons: The Saratoga Campaign | Game Session | 6 | SUN (14th) 1200 | 240 | Roll20 |
| Kriegsspiel (200th Anniversary!) | Game Session | 6 | SUN (14th) 1200 | 240 | Tabletop Simulator |
| Code: ATLAS | Game Session | 5 | SUN (14th) 1200 | 240 | Tabletop Simulator |
| Atlantic Chase The Kriegsmarine Against the Home Fleet 1939 | Game Session | 8 | SUN (14th) 1300 | 240 | VASSAL |
| Gaming the American War for Independence | Seminar | 100 | SUN (14th) 1400 | 120 | YouTube |
| Take That Street! - Beta Playtest Opportunity | Game Session | 6 | SUN (14th) 1400 | 180 | Tabletop Simulator |
| Squadron Strike: Romance of the Seven Realms | Game Session | 3 | SUN (14th) 1400 | 180 | ASCBI.net |
| Closing Happy Hour | Seminar | 100 | SUN (14th) 1700 | 90 | Discord |
ORIGINAL OPORD ~ REGISTRATION ~ LIVESTREAM ARCHIVE ~ AAR
Thank you for visiting The Armchair Dragoons and mounting up with the Regiment of Strategy Gaming.
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