Wyvern Tabletop Games Club

EXTRA BONUS GAMES DAY - 28 SEPTEMBER 2024

In the heart of Wychavon, Mid Worcestershire, we're trying to create the kind of board games and tabletop club that we always wished we had.

Wyvern Tabletop Games Club is like a pop-up board game cafe... but with a limited choice of refreshments! It's like a board games night at a pub... if everybody in the pub was a gamer, and the pub is actually a modern village hall! And you can bring your own drinks.

We welcome anyone who wants to play tabletop games: be that board games, card games, miniatures games, or tabletop role-play games (RPGs).

6pm - 9:30pm, second Sunday of each month

at Bishampton Villages Hall, WR10 2LY

You can absolutely just turn up. But, if you can RSPV for upcoming Events, then that can help us plan things in advance, like tables and chairs, and refreshments. There are a few ways to keep in touch: Facebook and/or email newsletter and/or WhatsApp.

Get involved

>> Join the Facebook group <<

and RSVP to the next of our >> events <<

>> Get our emails and/or join the WhatsApp <<

We'll let you know about upcoming events via the Facebook, mailing list and/or WhatsApp. You can discuss and plan games on the Facebook or WhatsApp groups.

Who?

We're open to everyone. Any background, orientation or identity. We value and promote diversity within the tabletop gaming community. (The only thing that wouldn't be welcome, is if someone was unwelcoming to any other player. Zero tolerance for intolerance!)

Whether you're an experienced gamer, or completely new to the hobby, or anywhere in between, there's a place for you at the table. You do not have to be local or have any connection to the village.

We're funding the hire of the hall through voluntary donations on entry (so you can play for free if you need to). We'll also sell some snacks and refreshments. Your first time with us is always free. Our suggested voluntary contribution will be £3 per adult gamer for the night - but again it's all on a voluntary, pay-what-you-want basis.

Where?

We're based at Villages Hall, Bishampton, WR10 2LY (map below). Please note: no games or other valuables are kept on the premises between game nights!

The hall is between Evesham and Pershore, west of Worcester, east of Stratford-on-Avon, in the heart of the Wychavon district, mid Worcestershire. By car, we are approximately…

3-8 mins from anywhere in the Lenches
12-15 mins from Pershore or 15-20 mins from Evesham
20-25 mins from Worcester or 25-30 mins from Droitwich Spa
25 mins from Redditch or 30 mins from Stratford-upon-Avon
30 mins from Tewkesbury or 35 mins from Malvern
40 minutes from Cheltenham or 50 minutes from Gloucester
an hour south of Birmingham

More about the venue

Bishampton Villages Hall has been extensively refurbished to modern standards. There's a nice big kitchen, and we will offer light snacks and refreshments.

The hall has its own car parking (no charge) and a bicycle rack in a secure position near the front door.

The hall is very accessible. There is a long entry ramp to the front door. Our gaming space is entirely on the ground floor, including an accessible toilet.

An idea for the afternoon

If Bishampton is new to you, it's a quiet village in beautiful countryside on the edge of the Lenches. Why not make an afternoon of your visit?! Just round the corner from the hall, the village pub (formerly The Dolphin Inn) is now primarily a steak restaurant with some local pub space: Ounce at the Dolphin. You could arrive in time for a Sunday lunch (reservations advised), and have plenty of time before games night to walk it off in Shorthorn Woods; you can reach the woods (see map) on public rights of way along tracks and fields (muddy boots may be necessary), loop round Shorthorn and back again into the village, all in about an hour. And plenty of other hikes around Bishampton are doable in the day, prior to games night!

Your questions answered...

How much does it cost?

Your first time with us is free.

Then, we'll suggest you donate £3 £2 for the evening per adult gamer. (This suggested amount was reduced in May 2023.)

We are hoping to operate on a basis of voluntary suggested donations, or a pay-what-you-want basis. That means if you need to, then you might give £0. You could give more than the suggested contribution. But we're hoping that if most people can give the suggested amount, then that will cover hall hire, and generate a small excess which we'll use for club purposes.

For total transparency: We book the hall (on regular-user rates) at £8/hour for 3.5 hours per session. That's £28. We aim to cover that cost. If we had 12 players on an evening that would divide up as £2.33 each. We may vary the suggested amount based on long-term attendance trends, and in May 2023 after six months of around 15-20 players per session, we reduced the suggested donation from £3 down to £2. We're aiming for the amount of entry donations to cover the hire costs and keep back a bit of a buffer which we might use to maintain or replace games in our founders' collection in case of damage, or to run a club competition, or donate to charity. We make no promises on that. But it's just a suggested amount anyway. The founders are running this on a voluntary, ad hoc, informal basis for now - we're a small group of family and friends and there's no formal structure - so we'll be covering any shortfall in the hall hire costs.

Where do the games come from?

Short answer: Anyone attending can bring their own games for others to play. You bring games at your own risk. The club founders will bring titles from their large personal library of games to every session.

Long answer: We will bring different games on a rotating basis. We'll try and let you know on our social channels what we might bring on the night. You might want to chime in like: "Oooh yes I'd like to play that one if you bring it." Equally, you can bring any of your own games that you'd like to play. You are encouraged to propose in the Facebook group or Whatsapp channel any games that you might want to offer, i.e. for you to bring for yourself and others to join you in playing. This might help find players earlier. Or you could just bring a few games to offer on the night and hope to find players.

What kind of games?

We are wide open to – and our library contains examples of – all of the following types of game:

board games, including:
- light games (easier) (examples: Carcassonne, Ticket to Ride)
- medium-weight games! (e.g. Settlers of Catan, Small World)
- heavy games (harder) (e.g. Terraforming Mars, A Feast for Odin, Through the Ages : A New Story of Civilization)
- euro games (sometimes called "Euro-style" or "German-style", these games tend to be more abstract, with tighter rules i.e. less swingy, less randomness; these games are often but not always based on a historical period or industry or more abstract concept)
- thematic games (sometimes known as "American-style" or even (affectionately) as "Ameritrash", these games tend to have stronger story or character elements; these games are often but not always based on intellectual property e.g. Star Wars or The Walking Dead etc, or to be strongly aligned with a popular genre)
- puzzley games (e.g. Azul, Alhambra)
- story-telling and descriptive games (e.g. Dixit, Once Upon a Time)
- strategy games (e.g. Risk, Star Trek: Ascendancy, Game of Thrones The Board Game)
- party games (e.g. Codewords)
- traditional games (e.g. Scrabble)
card games (a lot of modern board games can feature cards as a component, including some games in which each player manages a hand of cards throughout; but we tend to reserve the term "card game" for games that use cards primarily or almost exclusively), including:
- collectible card games CCGs (e.g. Magic the Gathering) (note: we can do casual play, we can even provide a few pre-built decks, but we're not operating the competitive "organised play")
- living card games (e.g. Game of Thrones The Card Game)
- unique deck games (e.g. Keyforge)
- deck-builders (e.g. Star Realms)
- traditional playing-card games (e.g. Whist)
miniatures games, wargames (there's often a higher barrier to entry for this kind of game because people often build, paint and play with their own armies; but we grew out of a club that initially focused on wargames, so if you are interested in playing miniatures or tabletop wargames, you can always ask in the social channels to find someone who can play your favourite system, or someone who might introduce you to a system if you're new; the original Wyvern Wargames group is still running on Facebook)
tabletop roleplay games (RPGs) (if you're interested in joining an RPG one-shot or campaign, express your RPG interest and preferences on this online form).

Are children welcome?

Yes, as long as we're all sensible about it.

Our club night runs until 9:30pm on Sunday nights, so we don't anticipate many families or young children. Our own rotating games collection also does not have a lot of games aimed at children. (We have many "gateway" games, which are lighter-weight games aimed at adult players who are newer to the hobby or who want a more casual experience on the night, but not a lot of "family" games, or games aimed at younger children.)

However, if accompanied by a parent or guardian, children and teens who (this is the important bit) themselves want to play and who are happy to sit and play at the table, are indeed welcome. In terms of behaviour and attitudes, it's mainly about respecting other gamers in the room – which goes for all players, regardless of age!

Children must be accompanied by an appropriate adult who is responsible for those children, usually a parent or guardian.

The accessible toilet also contains a baby-changing facility. The club is Breastfeeding Friendly.

Can I come on my own? / with a partner? / in a group?

Yes.

And yes.

If you're on your own: don't worry about finding a place at a table. As long as you're not totally late to the evening, then we'll always proactively organise the number of games in play around the number of people in the space, such that no one is left hanging at the start of the night. (There's always the possibility of a bit of downtime between games if you're playing shorter games and moving from one game/table to another, but again as new games form you never need to be left hanging. We encourage all players to make sure that everyone who wants to join a game can do so.) Of course, there's also nothing to stop you trying to arrange or get in on a specific game prior to the event, through discussion on our Facebook or WhatsApp groups. But just turning up and seeing what's happening is the usual thing.

If you're in a couple or small group: that's fine, of course. If you're there "together", in any sense, or if for any reason you want to stay with a specific other person when playing games (assuming they agree!), then that's fine: as above, we should always be able to adjust the number of games based on players. So if you "come as a pair" or "come together", for example hot dates, socially anxious friends, or anyone with care needs, then we'll accommodate on player counts.

If you're in a group: that's great! The more the merrier, hopefully. Feel free to sort a game beforehand, or bring a game, or join an ad hoc game, split up or stay together, etc. (Obviously the more of you are together, the less likely you can all play on one game, unless you are playing a specific game as a group. But hopefully, meeting new people is part of the fun!)

If you're a BIG group: then that's probably fine too, but if you're more than about five whole people turning up together, then we'd ask that you register your intention to attend first, mainly just because that makes it more likely that we're running up against capacity limits. But that would be a nice problem to have.

And however many people in your party: we do encourage you to let us know you're coming by using the Facebook Event. It just helps us prepare chairs and tables, and refreshments, or to pull the Emergency Hold cord in case of a pending capacity issue!

Can I get to the venue without a car?

If you're close enough and able to bike, there is a bicycle rack outside the front door of the hall.

If you're further away, unfortunately there is no easy public transport route to Bishampton on a Sunday night. (The nearest train station is Pershore. The station is 12 minutes away by onward taxi, or a walk by road of about an hour and a half!)

However, if you want to come to a games night, then you can ask our social channels to see if you can share a ride with anyone else who is coming. We can't guarantee a workable ride-share, of course. But we would encourage gamers to share a lift (and save on fuel!) where possible. (You do this at your own risk and any arrangement re fuel-sharing etc is between you and the other player!)

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse