War on Terror Blog
Friday 31st August 2007
GenCon, Reading - Day One
We're off to GenCon! Packing goes well - sheep's skulls, squashed rats, 'warning: unexploded bomb' signs, rubber vulture, life-size suicide bomber and politician standees, 'mine' signs (x3), painted bedsheets ... but no camo netting. It's at this moment we remembered we left our camo netting in LA. So in a bid to blag some last-minute camoflage Tom phones the local TA, who unsurprisingly refuse to help us out. Tom makes a new enemy when he tells the TA colnel that he'll try the 'proper army' instead.
So a quick detour to Luton Army & Navy stores and we're kitted up and off to Reading, stopping occasionally to pick up interesting rubbish we see for our stand. We're possibly the last people to arrive, meaning that we have just two hours to set up, but we're old hands at this now and Reading University soon has its very own piece of armagheddon-themed terror.
Sadly (and thankfully) Reading isn't Vegas and there's little to do but end the night with a game of chess. Rock n roll.
Up early the next day and we meet our convention neighbours who are staring wide-eyed at the horror which has sprung up next to them overnight. It's not long before we're 'known'. Despite our new camo netting, blending in is not an option when you're wearing a bright orange jumpsuit. The day passes quickly, with lots of classic reactions, from sheer disbelief to loud, insane laughter. We also hide some WMDs around the place for people to find after stealthyly removing the orange jumpsuits ( we had previoulsy tried hiding WMD's whilst wearing the suits and couldn't work out why we were constantly being watched - we are stupid sometimes).Although there's a reward of a free game, WMDs still prove elusive - no one's found any yet. But this time it's not down to dodgy intelligence.
We also hide some WMDs around the place Tom makes himself a second enemy in one day by approaching a LARP (Live Action Role Playing - weird shit) booth, picks up a troll outfit and declares with genuine child-like enthusiasm "Oh I love fancy dress!". Tom is firmly informed that the correct term is 'Larp gear' and under no circumstances 'fancy dress' or 'dress-up'.
We were humbled on many occassions by the genoristy and noisy vocal enthusiasam of many 'fresh blood' visitors to our stand who wished to take as many postcards as they could carry (And that's a lot!) to spread the 'terror' on our behalf...Big up all you guys, you know who you are.We love ya!
In the evening, there's a game-themed quiz. The promise of free wine and food draws us in, but we know full well we're going to be rubbish. And yet, we are recruited into a team despite all our warnings that we'll be nothing but a hindrance. Our team ends last, with the lowest ever score in GenCon history. Question after question is met with blank faces at our table, while ubergeeks all around squeal with knowing delight. Example question: 'You are Morlock and have the Dagger of Oblivion. If I have a Spellcasting power of four, where and how can I invert your Targ energy?' Our team-mates are briefly hopeful when the 'Boardgames and Publishers' round is announced and look at us expectantly. We then had to explain that we're here by accident and know next to nothing about boardgames and publishers and might even struggle to answer a question about TerrorBull Games. Turns out we know less than next to nothing, since our score for that round was a big fat zero. And that was the round we played our joker. Thankfully wine, as is often the case, rescues the evening.
The night ends with a short scavenge for more rubbish. The big find of the evening: a pair of rubber gloves. Nice.
- posted by TerrorBull Games on 31 August 2007 - 0 comments
Tuesday 28th August 2007
War on Terror Cameo on The IT Crowd
Check it out - blog binge! We fall silent for ages and then it's non-stop bloggy action. Just a quick one this time - the new series of Graham Linehan's (Father Ted) rather amusing sitcom, The IT Crowd, has just started on Channel 4. Those living in the UK with particularly eagle eyes may have noticed something familiar on set.
Yep, it's only the bleedin' War on Terror on the shelves behind Moss's desk. Even though we've known about this for a while, we still did a little wee of triumph when we saw our beloved cardboard baby on TV. So cute.
If you haven't ever seen The IT Crowd, give it a go next Friday, Channel 4 (9.30pm). Try a drinking game, taking a shot every time you see the War on Terror. It's a cheap night in, what have you got to lose?
we still did a little wee of triumph Apparently, in one episode this series, Moss and Roy are actually going to play our game. Since the sitcom stars the twin pillars of genius that are Chris Morris (Blue Jam, Brass Eye) and Richard Ayoade (Garth Marenghi's Dark Places, Man to Man With Dean Learner), you can imagine we're really rather chuffed.
Three cheers for free product placement!
Edit 29/08/07: For those of you not in the UK, or who don't have a TV, or who simply can't be arsed, here's episode one on You Tube. Skip to 2'45'' for some vintage War on Terror action.
Edit 20/07/15: Moss and Roy actually play the game briefly in episode four. It's about 1 min 50 seconds into This clip
- posted by TerrorBull Games on 28 August 2007 - 3 comments
Sunday 26th August 2007
War on Terror at Burning Man
If you're lucky enough to be attending the Burning Man Festival in Nevada this year, then why not take some time out from the free love and hippy peace-loving vibes to spread a little chaos and paranoia amongst your fellow festival-goers?
On Sunday 2 September at 2pm*, there's going to be a special War on Terror event, introducing the game to newcomers and playing a couple of games in the desert heat, which is hardly going to help tempers stay cool.
This event is being organised and run by Big Bad Bill, who also organised the fantastically bizarre and unforgettable War on Terror Tournament in Los Angeles. The guy is a legend - and a lovely one at that. So even if you're not up to wearing a balaclava in 40 degree heat, drop by anyway and say 'hello' from us. You're guaranteed to make a new friend or few.
And if you do make it, please send us photos. We'll be there in spirit.
* seems as if the Playa Calendar is down at the moment - check back in a day or two, it'll hopefully be back up again
- posted by TerrorBull Games on 26 August 2007 - 0 comments
Friday 24th August 2007
A Brief History of Satirical Wartime Board Games
We thought we were pretty much alone in the satirical board game category. In fact, we assumed that part of the knee-jerk insanity surrounding our game was due to the disparity between our game and the typical image of a wholesome family board game, making board games a more disturbing and less acceptable vehicle for satire than, say, a film.
However, this article on the BBC site pleasantly threw our efforts into relief. It appears that our game is nothing more than the latest in a long line of wartime propaganda. Alright!
In this game, players have to throw darts at Hitler's moustache. Compared to the board games in the BBC article, ours is positively conservative. For example, in Bomber Command, players take it in turns to approach Berlin, the winner getting the prize of unloading their bombs on the German capital. Extra points for fire bombs, no doubt.
Another game, the Allies Dart Game, is less of a board game, but gets top of the list for surreal targets. In this game, players have to throw darts at Hitler's moustache. I'm sure this gave the Nazis great pause for thought and probably played as great a part in Germany's defeat as the Russian did.
We particularly like one of the reader comments, submitted by Richard from Kingston upon Thames:
"If only toy manufacturers had the guts to try similar things these days! No chance with the levels of political correctness in existence now."
Obviously Richard doesn't know about TerrorBull Games. We'd like to chip in and set the record straight, but we'd prefer someone else to comment, rather than indulge in shameless self-promotion (which we're not above, by the way). So why not pop on over and do our dirty work for us? Join the discussion.
- posted by TerrorBull Games on 24 August 2007 - 0 comments
Tuesday 21st August 2007
WoT...Another convention?
We were banned from every major games fair in the world...until we were invited to go to Las Vegas where we won an award for best stand at GAMA! And now it's time to don our orange jump suits once more...this time at Guantanamo Bay...sorry that should have read Gen Con UK in Reading.
Vegas was trade only, where we made some rather useful distribution links in our struggle for world domination, this time we're offering our souls and our game to not only those in the trade but also you, the beautiful public...
So once again we will be roaming the streets the night before collecting rubbish and WMD's, if we can find any, in order to prettify our award winning crap filled stand format.
The doors of Reading University who host Gen Con UK will be opening to the public thus:
Thursday 30th Aug 9am-6pm
Friday 31st Aug 9am-7pm
Sat 1st Sep 9am-6.30pm
Sun 2nd Sep 9am-4pm
Creator Andy Sheerin will be in attendance and oranged up, as well as Illustrator Tom Morgan-Jones.
Why not come along and say 'Hello!' or 'Can I buy a set right here and now, signed by one of the creators and the Illustrator at a special discounted Gen Con Price?' and we will either say 'Hello!' or 'Yes, of course...oh be careful, don't touch that, that's not ours, we didn't bring any rats this time...'
Despite what your Government tells you, it will be safe, people will be nice, you will have a great time, no harm will come to any of us, we will mingle and play with each other happily. Ooh-er! See you there...
- posted by TerrorBull Games on 21 August 2007 - 0 comments
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