Games as Gifts
By Mike Bennighof, Ph.D., President, 119694_avalanche Press
November 2009
I like Christmas. I've never gone in for "Happy Holidays" — my Roman Catholicism makes this Christmas season. Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, the Feast of Mithra, the First of Muharram or the Solstice — all are fine holidays and festivals worthy of great joy. For me, though, it's always going to be Christmas, 12 days' worth, pagan traditions and all. With my children growing up, this may be the last year I get to really play Santa Claus, so I'm looking forward to it very much but with a tinge of regret. They're not the only ones on my lists of course. Small children are pretty easy; it's the bigger children who presently present a present problem.
My VP and best friend wrote her own gift guide the year before last, describing a few personality types that are simply hard to shop for. Re-reading that piece, I see now that I was supposed to get her "girly bath crap" that year; I did get her a set of rubber duckies painted like little red devils, so I guess that counts. This year, my wife has already pointed out the perfect Lys Gift, and one that she's not likely to re-gift, either. Somehow that doesn't quite feel right, like it's cheating if someone else finds The Gift. But we all need pointers, so here are a few thoughts on our games as gifts.
It's Easy
One of the things I like about Christmas is the actual hands-on experience of wrapping presents. I don't wrap them very well, mind you, but there's something special about putting the paper on and taping it up and then selecting the ribbon and putting it under the tree. But I've known for a very long time that I'm NotLikeOtherPeople, so this year we finally have a long-sought service: free gift wrapping.
When the warehouse was 800-odd miles away from world headquarters, our gift-wrap plans seemed to crash and burn every year. I have a pretty good idea why, but there's no need to dwell on those days since it'll only ruin my holiday spirit. This time we have the wrapping service ready early, and it was pretty easy on our end, and it is on yours, too. The web store has a special item called gift wrap. It has a cost and weight of zero, so it doesn't add anything to your price or shipping totals. Just add it to an order and we'll wrap everything in that order.
Or you can send a present to someone else. Just fill their name in on the "ship to" side of the order form, and click "gift wrap." Want to sneak an extra game past the Significant Other? No problem! Just make yourself the gift recipient and we'll put any name on the tag you want.
So the prices are very nice, there's free gift-wrapping and you can send the games anywhere on the globe for the same shipping price. Which should you choose?
The Stocking Stuffers
These won't actually fit in most Christmas stockings, but they are small and relatively inexpensive: our line of $19.99 Quick Play games. They're in nice little 9 x 6 inch boxes (roughly the size of a trade paperback book — the box was designed to fit in the same bookstore racks), so they make nice packages. And they're pretty easy to play, making them a good choice for someone you're not so sure of.
Which to choose? Defiant Russia is the most popular, and it's a great starting place for someone new to wargames. As Roger Brouillard writes, it's perfect to introduce a young gamer to the hobby, or for some father-son bonding. If your recipient already has it, there's a fine sequel, Red Vengeance.
Most of our games are sold through a channel of distributors and retailers, and in that sector the best-seller by far has been They Shall Not Pass. A major catalog company has taken a thousand or so copies. It's based on the opening weeks of the Battle of Verdun, and plays very well plus it has a very nice box design — a present needs to look good after the wrap comes off, too.
We have three others that are a little more intense in terms of game play: Alsace 1945, Gazala 1942 and Bitter Victory. These are World War II games, still reasonably easy to play. Gazala is probably the best choice of the three, because it carries what may be the best-looking map we make, and that will look good when it's opened.
More Starting Points
We have some good starting points that are a little more expensive, but also deliver much more in terms of game play and packaging. Our Panzer Grenadier series is very popular, and Elsenborn Ridge has just about everything you can ask for: lots of scenarios (separate game situations) and many different types, a huge variety of forces including tanks and paratroopers, and really beautiful maps on which to play. Plus the price ($39.99) is very friendly.
Our naval games are also wildly popular. Second World War at Sea: Arctic Convoy is a great package, and for an earlier era so is Great War at Sea: Jutland. Jutland is now on sale, and it's in a larger box. They sport beautiful game pieces and, like most of our games, lots and lots of scenarios to maximize game play value.
For a game with more than two players, it's hard to beat Soldier Kings for game play fun or for its price. The key here is its highly interactive card play and the nature of diplomacy in the game: in keeping with the philosophy of Frederick the Great, there are no neutral countries, just enemies you haven't attacked yet.
Under the Tree
Size does matter. A game with a hefty rattle when listed makes an impression, and looks very solid under the Christmas tree. The largest package we'll hand to Santa Claus or Kwanzaa Kangaroo is Alamein, on sale now but still an expensive item. It's not the sort of present to give unless you're sure of the recipient's love of World War II wargaming (or, of course, if you're giving it to yourself).
A much better choice is Third Reich. Third Reich is by far the best-selling traditional wargame of all time, though most of those were sold by the previous publisher. It's been 25 years since the very first edition appeared, and it's the one traditional wargame most likely to be recognized by the uninitiated: "I play wargames." "Wargames?" "You know, like Third Reich." "Ah."
It plays very smoothly, and plays well with anywhere from two to five players. And it's heavy (our heaviest game, actually) with mounted game boards — plus it gives off a very nice rattling sound when shaken. Of all our games, this is probably the best gift for a gamer and it's on sale right now at a very fine price.
More expensive, but also impressive, is Panzer Grenadier: Cassino '44. This is the largest game in our most popular line, with a very full box that also has nice heft with a good rattle factor. While it's designed for two players, it's easily the best game in the series for multi-player fun, with campaign games that allow teams to play either side.
The Discount Bin
For our Black November special, we have some games on particularly deep discount. These are the ones we have in heavy stock right now; it's not a comment on their sales or their fun factor, but as with all things these vary from item to item.
The two deepest price cuts are for Red God of War and Napoleonic Battles: Austerlitz. Red God of War is a traditional war game, and those simply don't have the long shelf life of our series games. Austerlitz likewise is the sole member of a series. Both of them play well, and at $10 apiece it's kind of hard to go wrong with either, or both.
There are also three Panzer Grenadier titles with very low prices: Afrika Korps, Desert Rats and Beyond Normandy. All three have large paper maps, which means that we had to print them in large quantities unlike the print-on-demand model we use for games like Elsenborn Ridge. So we have a lot of them on hand and are still trying to fit everything into our new warehouse — and that means greatly reduced sale prices on each. They're very good games just packed with pieces, maps and scenarios. At $25 each their deep boxes will fill up that space under the tree very quickly.
And that's my Christmas list for 2009 — the sort of stuff I'd like to see on one or more of the Twelve Days. We can still deliver in time for any December holiday, anywhere on the planet, complete with gift wrap. |
