WengFook Wrote:Good luck if they attempt to push it down the chain.. They'll run into the old problem of trying to enforce it.A couple of problems:
That said I'm not quite sure what the fuss is about. What exactly is wrong with them wanting people to play with their official mini's at their official/sanctioned tournaments? Is it the way it was presented or is there something else that is offending people?
1. It was their previous policy that you can bring any WW II miniatures to their events. The abrupt way they announced the change (buried in the tournament packet of the European Grand Nationals) and then Brisgotti's reaction to the outcry further fanned the flames.
2. The claim of BF that Flames of War is the HOBBY. It's a subset of historical wargaming, not the entire hobby. No, more than GW is the HOBBY.
3. If their reason for this change is the amount of money they're spending for promotion of the game, then either cut back or be more creative in promotion. The tournament scene was doing fine when BF decided to do jump in as well. It wasn't a problem when they were holding only 1 Nationals. Deciding to expand it to 3 Nationals and then do a Masters tournament was not really necessary.
4. BF is a business, but they seem to forget that their customer base are hobbyists. Wargamers may be fond of game rules, but once someone decided to start imposing rules by fiat from above, that riles me and just about everyone else. Everyone else is defined by FOW players in America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Britain. Have not heard on the forums FOW players from anywhere else, chime in. It's bad enough when I have to deal with rules and regulations at work and I work for Uncle Sam. Telling me what to do in my fun time? *Raises the red flag*
5. BF states it won't affect the casual gamer only the tournament player. Well, who are these guys? They're the ones that are really dedicated to the game. The equivalent of "wandering warrior" of yore. The ones who spends time and money to go to tournaments. The ones who buy a great majority of FOW merchandise. The reason they might have non-FOW stuff is because BF has not made it yet or is out and also of budgetary constraints. The one who puts up with the falling pages from hard bound books and the "cut and paste" errors that BF won't fix until the next book (which you have to buy). The ones whose word carries weight in their local FOW community. And you want to piss these guys off to a man?
6. Last but not least, is the camel's nose in the tent scenario. If BF pushes it through for their tournaments, how long would it be before they decide to push it to the big regional tournaments they don't control. "Either certify they're all BF models in your tournament or it won't be recognize by us as a qualifier." Good luck with enforcing that.
7. Which leads us to the last question: Enforcement? Who are they going to do that? Get someone dressed like Arnold Toht to inspect the figures prior to the start of the game? I can see the con organizers having issues with that. All it takes is someone to bring a whole force of non-BF figures, cause a scene and the word really gets out that BF has gone the way of GW.
__________________
Into terror!, Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell