War on Terror Blog
Wednesday 20th August 2008
THANKS, ZAVVI!
What mighty shenanigans. We've got to say straight off, thanks to everyone who came down to Oxford Street and queued patiently for the game. It was a genuine pleasure to meet so many excited people and we had a lot of fun. We hope you did too.
We didn't really know what to expect. Since we didn't want to tip Zavvi off to our mischievous antics, we only let loose with the news the previous day. B3ta.com and Graham Linehan kindly helped spread the word, amongst others, but you never know with these things. We had visions of having to chase people down Oxford St to get rid of our games. Imagine our delight, when, as we rounded the corner at 12.25 loaded down with games, a cheer went up from the waiting crowd.
Two things on Tuesday that made us proud of this country: 1) The great British public's love of free stuff is bottomless - you can put a smile on almost anyone's face by giving them something for free and 2) We really are the best country in the world at queuing patiently and politely. Good job queuers, we're proud of you. Despite the fact that there were clearly many times more people than games, the queue stretched round the corner into Tottenham Court Rd for the entire duration of our stay and everyone was all smiles.
All in all, an epic day of happy mayhem that will make us smile for a long time to come. We were also very happy to meet so many people who had already played the game and had been following the War on Terror for a while. It's easy to feel isolated, working in The Bunker all the time, so we appreciate it, really we do.
So our original plan was to send everyone with a game into Zavvi, find a member of staff and thank them for the free board game. We felt this was only polite. Zavvi however put the kibosh on that almost immediately, refusing entry to anyone in the queue, which is strange because surely they'd be happy with us sending 100s of people into their shop?
In the end, we had to be content with getting everyone to pose with a "Thanks, Zavvi!" speech bubble, while Zavvi security and a mysterious man in a suit glared at us from the front entrance.
Highlights of the day included: hearing how an entire office emptied on 12.30 on the dot to rush down; the sight of a constant queue of excited people stretching down the road; the police showing up and being very good humoured about everything and to cap it all, Graham Linehan came down in person and watched on bemused for several minutes. Being a big fan of Graham's work, it was lovely to get a chance to chat with him, even if it was under rather bizarre circumstances.
All in all, an epic day of happy mayhem that will make us smile for a long time to come. It was just so wonderful to see people carrying War on Terror up and down Oxford St with a great big grin on their face. It made us want to do it all over again.
A special thanks to all our helpers on the day. You all did such a fine job that the police even complimented us on our organisation, so nice one - you did us proud. Also, a big 'sorry' to everyone who came down, queued like champions and went away disappointed. We love you too, we just couldn't fit any more games in the car. Sorry.
Once again, it was wonderful meeting all of you and our very sincere thanks for taking the time to come down and show your support. Yes, we know you only did it to get your grubby mitts on free booty, but allow us our moment of sentimental delusion.
For instant smiles, watch this YouTube montage of everyone expressing their thanks to Zavvi
- posted by TerrorBull Games on 20 August 2008 - 1 comments
Monday 18th August 2008
Free Boardgames! (Thanks, Zavvi)
We're going to be giving away over 100 copies of War on Terror tomorrow for free. But rather than tell you how, we're going to make you read an entire blog entry first. Ha!
So: brief history lesson first. Quiet please, no fidgeting at the back. OK, back in July last year, we got very excited when Virgin Megastores decided to buy 5,000 games of War on Terror for all of their 130 stores nationwide. If that weren't awesome enough, the final decision was made after a meeting of store managers was shown this Powerpoint presentation we made. The last thing we expected was for them to come back to us and say, "Yes, please".
If Zavvi didn't pay up, we'd have to get another buyer immediately or face bankruptcy. Regular readers may remember vague, teasing comments like "we have big news ... stay tuned". Well, dammit, we should have kept our big mouths shut. If it's one thing that's certain, it's that every plan we have gets screwed. It's like a law of Nature. So we weren't overly surprised to learn that - on the very day of release - our games were recalled and pulled off the shelves, apparently because the MD of Zavvi (the chain had meanwhile changed management - and name) didn't like the look of it.
Faced with a mountain of unwanted games, Zavvi refused all further delivery and then refused to pay us. That was a bit inconvenient since we'd just borrowed a load of money in order to get 5,000 made for them. If Zavvi didn't pay up, we'd have to get another buyer immediately or face bankruptcy. Have you ever phoned up a shop and opened with "Yeh, so this other major shop are too scared to stock our game, would you like it?". We were basically laughed at; it wasn't looking good.
The next eight months were about as much fun as dealing with lawyers and fending off debt collectors can be. Eventually, though, we prevailed and things ended in our favour without having to go to court. Zavvi agreed to pay us for all the games they ordered and we got to keep the games they refused delivery of - about half of them.
So we've got a tonne of games we hadn't counted on and we thought it only right to share this rare stroke of good fortune with you. We're going to give away as many games as we can possibly fit into a car - about 100, we estimate. And what better place to do this, than in front of Zavvi's flagship store on Oxford St?
Tomorrow! Tuesday 19th August. 12.30pm - outside Zavvi on Oxford St, near Tottenham Court tube station.
This good time celebration has another purpose too, however. This is basically the only way we can get War on Terror onto the High Street - by giving it away. We want to show retailers that there's nothing scary about the game. No one's going to flip out. No one's going to run away crying. It's a good game, with an important subject matter. Why not let the public decide if it's 'unsuitable' for them?
So please come down, say 'hello' and grab a free game. And don't go ruining our special message by freaking out and running away crying, okay?
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If you're really interested or bored, or you're a journalist, there's a full Press Release available to download. We've also written up the full Zavvi experience on our Coalition of the Unwilling page.
- posted by TerrorBull Games on 18 August 2008 - 4 comments
Wednesday 13th August 2008
TerrorBull Games return to Class Wargames
Following our last, hugely successful campaign at the Flea Pit, we're happy to confirm that we've been asked back for another round. It's time to man the barricades again - on Tuesday, 19 August at The Flea Pit, 49 Columbia Road, London E2 7RG.
We'll be hosting as many games of War on Terror as we can get away with and the Class Wargames posse will be demonstrating Guy Debord's 'Game of War', which we're all looking forward to finally trying out. The evening runs from 6.30pm to 11pm. Obviously the earlier you get there, the better chance you have of taking part in the game you want.
Also, during the day, we're going to get up to some top secret shenanigans in London. More on that later ...
- posted by TerrorBull Games on 13 August 2008 - 0 comments
Friday 1st August 2008
Police Seize War on Terror Games
Breaking news - police in Kent are using tried and tested intimidation tactics with the protesters at this year's Climate Camp and last night raided the campsite, systematically emptying tents and vehicles and confiscating offending materials, among them a few War on Terror board games.
According to reports, the police obtained a search warrant to seize articles for use in criminal damage. These included: "planks of wood, carpet and a war-on-terror board game". Latest reports reveal the police have seized "rope, tools, a ladder, three boardgames, boiler suits, wet suits and flares". Take a look at the official police photo of the 'cache'.
"Confiscated items have included: planks of wood, carpet and a war-on-terror board game" Don't get us wrong, we think the police are doing a wonderful job, shoring up democracy by bullying peaceful protesters. But this list of confiscated items - it'd take some imagination to cause any damage using such a weird assortment of objects. It sounds more like a list of props for a conceptual theatre piece. Wet suits and carpet?
Also, just how .... how in God's name do you cause criminal damage with a board game? We know it's been labelled subversive by some, but it's hardly going to bring an entire power station to a juddering halt just by waving one in the air outside the gates.
If only the police had asked us, we'd have given them one. This surely tops the list of "extreme lengths gone to in the pursuit of getting a 'war on terror' board game". And, lads, taking three is just greedy. Give two back at least, eh?
UPDATE: Amusingly, the War on Terror has been highlighted in this story on Channel 4 news (at 1min 35), ITV news (2min 50), The Independent and also the BBC. Check out that "weapons stash"! Well done Kent constabulary, you're all more than earning your salaries. Incidentally, watch the video at the bottom of the BBC page for some good old fashioned police brutality and a classic piece of double-think: "We're here for the safety of the campers" *THWACK*.
UPDATE #2: Don't you just love the silly season? The Independent wrote a fairly favourable piece, focussing on War on Terror and its puzzling unpopularity. That article got recycled by our local paper, The Cambridge Evening News and also popped up on Schnews and game news site ICV2. It also spawned a couple of radio interviews. We only managed to catch the one on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire - here's Andy S rambling on about something or other (mp3 file, 3.5 MB).
UPDATE #3: Crikey, this story's just exploded on the interwebs, mainly thanks to security guru, Bruce Schneier. Boing Boing, B3ta, ZDnet and even Slashdot and Digg all followed suit and caused our server to fall over. It's still pretty slow - sorry about that, folks. Bear with us.
- posted by TerrorBull Games on 1 August 2008 - 3 comments
Thursday 24th July 2008
TerrorBull Games Take on the Establishment (at the Flea Pit)
Revolution means many things to many people. For the uniquely charming folk over at Class Wargames it means playing certain board games in a carefully planned 'campaign' with the hope that political subversion will spring forth from the table top. It's as good a definition as any, so we attended their latest club night in their Summer Campaign at the Flea Pit in London and manned the proverbial barricades with some 'Freedom Lager' (on tap at the 'Pit) and organic cider. This is how all good fights begin.
Tom got a 5-player game up and running straight away, while we waited for more recruits. In another few minutes, we had a second 5-player game in full swing, headed by Andy S. Andy T was left to 'network' - a challenge he rose to like the proper trooper he is. The boy never stopped networking. Except for when he was lying on the leather couch getting drunk. And even then, he was just planning his next network.
Tom's game saw more action from the looks of things - cities sprang up early on, particularly from Tom, proving the kid can't take his own advice which he had happily dished out at the start: 'Don't be the most obviously powerful Warmonger, it will be your downfall'. For quite a while there were suspicions of a loaded dice with 10 being about the only oil roll being played. Tom gained most from this and became very rich, so a plot was hatched - The playing of 3 civil war cards to be precise. This wiped Tom down to 2 villages and despite much well argued efforts he refused to turn terrorist.
Andy S's game spawned a new psychological condition: Disproportionate Revenge DesireAndy S's game was slower, mainly due to a scarcity of oil and some early, pointless bickering over territory which not only diverted valuable funds and attention but also spawned a new psychological condition: Disproportionate Revenge Desire (or DRD for short). Dr Richard Barbrook was particularly susceptible to DRD and shifted his ire and aggression so rapidly and impulsively that he ended up doing the board game equivalent of swatting flies.
Everyone took a brief pause half-way through and Andy S and Andy T explained a bit about the origins of the game and experiences with the media. This was followed by a brief but interesting discussion about what War on Terror actually was. Funny to see the process of people making this thing their own by applying their own beliefs and experiences to it. But also very healthy and revealing.
Tom's game wrapped up just before last orders with a terrorist win. Bass seemed to be the orchestrator, corrupting Mr. X for a loud and violent terrorist victory.
Meanwhile, Andy S's game was still stuck in the middle ages. Fabian's attempt at brokering peace between Dr Barbrook and his many enemies resulted only in Andy S lashing out against Fabian and double-nuking his (up-until-that-point) promising Asian empire. Joy turned terrorist after failing to escape from South America and the game was declared a draw, although the other Richard claimed a win based on the fact that he was the only person to hold an entire continent (N.America).
So well done Richard (your win didn't count) and Bass. And big thanks to both Class Wargames and the Flea Pit and of course everyone who showed up and all the lovely friendly people who simply came over to say 'hello'. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening. It looks like we'll be back for the next Class Wargames outing in August (19th) but we'll post details closer to the time.
And remember, the revolution may not be televised, but who needs a TV when you have board games like War on Terror.
- posted by TerrorBull Games on 24 July 2008 - 0 comments
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