Announcing the Society of Ancients Conference

[Richard Lockwood]

By now many (all?) of you will have had the email announcing our exciting new event that the Society of Ancients is planning for the weekend of 15th and 16th October 2016. We say "new", but really it is resurrecting an old institution, namely the Society of Ancients Conference.

Below is a general repeat of the email material, with a few added items to the agenda as people come forward with ideas and offers to run games and sessions. I am hoping we can generate a discussion of what makes a good session at a wargames conference - those with experience of, for example, CoW may like to comment - and answer queries and so on. And persuade as many of you as possible to sign up and join us at the Conference!

So...

This was a thriving event in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but it is 25 years since the last one. We think it is time to put this right!

The planned venue is the Chesford Grange Hotel, in Kenilworth.
http://www.qhotels.co.uk/our-locations/chesford-grange/

The weekend will begin on the Friday evening for those wishing to arrive at the venue then, with informal "beer and pretzels" style games in a suitable environment (the bar!) The more formal proceedings will begin at 9am on the Saturday morning, so those wishing to arrive just in time for this can do so. We would expect the weekend to end in the middle of Sunday afternoon to give people ample time to get home.

The costs for the two arrival options are as follows:
Full weekend including bed and breakfast Friday evening: £279
Weekend beginning with arrival Saturday morning: £179

These costs include bed and breakfast for both Friday (if opting for the Full Weekend) and Saturday, plus lunch on Saturday, dinner on Saturday, and lunch on Sunday. They also include teas, coffees and refreshments on Saturday and Sunday during timetabled breaks, and the hire of meeting rooms, tables etc.

So what's going to happen at our Conference, why should you be already reaching to sign up?

The aim is to rekindle some of the spirit of us being a Society, to get together and exchange ideas on wargaming in the ancients and medieval periods. It is also an opportunity for people to try new things, be they new traditional rule sets that are under development or more self-contained games like the ones we used to include as membership re-subscription incentives. It could also be a chance to re-visit some old favourites, hear some thought-provoking ideas presented, and most of all...have some fun with ancient and medieval wargaming!

Although the agenda is still being worked on, we can safely say it will consist of both presentations/discussions from some period experts, and wargaming sessions in small and larger groups. There will be options to join various activities, some of which will run more than once, so that you can choose what you like the look of, and what you don't!

Currently planned (but subject to change):
Dr Matthew Bennett (formerly Senior Lecturer in the Department of Communication and Applied Behavioural Science at The Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, author and editor of many books and articles on Medieval warfare) will speak on the crusader battles of Hattin an Arsuf, and the challenges of wargaming them, and also on Hastings a day after its 950th anniversary while running a refight.
Paul Innes will speak on Shakespeare's representations of Roman warfare, and we might then all have a go at designing a game to encompass a Shakespearian experience...
Paul is also going to run a mini-campaign across the weekend featuring the battle of Philippi (He painted a lot of legionaries for this year's Battle Day, and he's determined to get his moneysworth out of them!)
Simon MacDowall, author of rule sets and books, will host a session
Phil Steele will run multi-player "historical battles" sessions on a selection of Yarmuk, Bouvines, Arsuf, Montaperti, Bosworth and Pharsalus
Ian Russell-Lowell will run a session on Chariot Warfare, how to game it, probably with reference to the Battle of Quadesh (another previous Battle Day subject)
We also plan a "new rules" session, with authors Simon Hall (co-author of Field of Glory) and Richard Jeffrey-Cook who are both developing new sets of rules

More importantly, if you have a project, idea, or whatever which you would like to share at the Conference, contact me now to discuss it! We will need sessions to be run by you, because you the members will make the Conference what it is, and we are relying on you yourselves partly driving the agenda.

Contact Richard Lockwood at Battleday@soa.org.uk with any questions, suggestions and anything else.

In order to secure your place, we are asking for non-returnable deposits of £40 to be paid before 15 June. The reason for this is that the Society heads to sign a contract with the hotel, and while we can underwrite some of this liability, we need the commitment of 20 members to attend in order to secure the booking. The remaining part of the cost would need to be paid by 31 August.


To secure your place, please pay your £40 deposit by using the link on the SoA website, or else by cheque made payable to "The Society of Ancients" posted to the SoA Treasurer at Mabar, Blackheath Lane, Wonersh, GUILDFORD, GU5 0PN.


Remember – we need your commitment to attend so that we can confirm the booking with the venue. Help make the Society a Society and come along to the Conference!

[Chris]

Sounds like a capital idea . . .

For those who are geographically challenged, is there any chance of the proceedings being reported upon in an issue of Slingshot? Would there be any chance for a separate publication containing the full program and write-ups? Would there be any chance of some video clips of presentations, panel discussions, and games being made and posted?

Thanks,
Chris

[Paul Innes]

Hi Chris, I'd definitely like to see it in Slingshot. I might even write something myself for a change...

Paul

[Chuck the Grey]

I agree with Chris, capital idea. As far as videos of the conference, this might be a perfect event to expand the society's presence on YouTube. A couple of nicely done videos might be the perfect recruiting tool for both the society and ancient wargaming. As another geographically challenged member, YouTube videos would be greatly appreciated.

[Jim Webster]

and for those of us with rubbish broadband, who get fed up of the constant video buffering, something in writing?

[Justin Swanton]

I agree with Chris, capital idea. As far as videos of the conference, this might be a perfect event to expand the society's presence on YouTube. A couple of nicely done videos might be the perfect recruiting tool for both the society and ancient wargaming. As another geographically challenged member, YouTube videos would be greatly appreciated.

Give me some reasonable video clips and I'll assemble a short video for the SoA YouTube page. A couple of tips:

• Use a tripod if possible otherwise try to ensure the camera is held steady,


• If interviewing somebody, keep him in the shot without moving the camera for the entire interview. After the interview take shots of anything he is talking about.


• A few broad panning shots combined with some closeups of interesting things will make for nice cutins during interviews.

It takes a bit of planning.

[Richard Lockwood]

Justin, that sounds good advice.

I think we might try to plan some items well in advance, and be able to have  discussion with you on what makes most sense. As you say, planning is vital here.

Meanwhile - I would like to encourage members to try and get there in person and see it live!

[Richard Lockwood]

Just a quick update. The Conference is going full steam ahead - thanks to those members who have signed up as attendees to support this "new" event. There is still time for more people to decide to attend - we can accommodate more, you would be welcome to join us for what looks like a great programme.

[Duncan Head]

Paid my balance last night - I'd almost forgotten that it was getting so close to the conference date.