{"id":541,"date":"2011-07-12T17:25:37","date_gmt":"2011-07-12T17:25:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bucksurdu.com\/blog\/?p=541"},"modified":"2011-07-12T17:25:37","modified_gmt":"2011-07-12T17:25:37","slug":"hawks-plastic-army-for-kids-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bucksurdu.com\/blog\/?p=541","title":{"rendered":"HAWKs Plastic Army for Kids Game"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Recipients<\/a>
Recipients of free armies from the second iteration<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The HAWKs sponsored two iterations of the Plastic Army for Kids project (see previous posts) at Historicon 2011. \u00a0All participants were supposed to be 10 or younger, and all of them received a Continental Army, a British Army, a ground cloth, a copy of Big Battles for Little Hands (donated by Phil Viverito of LMW Works and Classical Hack fame), dice, a deck of cards, two tape measurers (donated by Robert Seitz), some road sections, and two hills. \u00a0This picture shows the participants from the second iteration. \u00a0I think they look pretty happy — even the kids who cried a couple of times when his units ran away or were wiped out. \u00a0(He really empathized with those plastic widows!) \u00a0All of the kids seemed surprised that they were getting armies when the game was over.<\/p>\n

\"American<\/a>
American commander from the first iteration<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"British<\/a>
British commander from the first iteration<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I was the GM for the first iteration. \u00a0Duncan was the GM for the second. \u00a0The first time around, the parents sat away from the table and observed. \u00a0The second time, the parents sat up near the table and helped. \u00a0I thought the former methods was better. \u00a0While the parents were trying to help keep the game moving, sometimes they didn’t know Milk and Cookies Rules well and misguided the kids. \u00a0More importantly, it was easy for parents to slide from rules help to directing tactics and troop movements.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The British team<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Duncan<\/a>
Duncan was the GM for the second iteration<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Serious<\/a>
Serious looks before a key die roll<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We consider this a very successful club effort. \u00a0We plan to do this again for the next couple of Historicons. \u00a0Most of the HAWKs provided time and\/or resources to bring this to fruition. \u00a0During Historicon, at least two big boxes of figures were donated for future efforts. \u00a0Some people donated cash on the spot. \u00a0Others offered to paint armies next year. \u00a0Many came by the HAWKs room and were effusive in their praise of the HAWKs’ efforts to make wargaming approachable by youngsters. \u00a0This included not just the plastic army project but a constant offering of kids’ games all weekend.<\/p>\n