The longer answer is only slightly more complicated.  We have tried the program for several years, and ultimately while it does make for happier customers, it does not make for a happy business.  After all is said and done, we feel that the most important thing is that we have a fully functioning business that will be able to serve you for many years to come.  We have looked at the issue long and hard (over a year in fact), and at the most successful businesses in the comic and game industry, none of which discount.  We refuse to be so arrogant as to think we know better than the professionals and industry leaders in our field.  Plus we tried it for some time now just to make sure!

Phasing Out the Frequent Buyer Program

So when does this take effect and what about your existing credit?  We are going to try and be as accommodating as possible while still being decisive in this major turning point for our business.

The Frequent Buyer Program will end on May 15th.  Which is to say, that May 15th will be the last day that you will be able to earn credit on your existing account.  We have already stopped creating new accounts for new customers.  You still need to hit $10 in credit to use it, so this is the last bit of time to build it up.

The last day to use your credit will be December 31st, 2012.  Though purchases will not get you more credit, you will not be expected to come into store by May 15th to use existing credit, you will have until the end of the year.  At this time we expect to switch to a newer Point of Sale System, leaving our Frequent Buyer Program behind forever.

We Hope you Understand

Please do not think that we are making this change lightly or because we do not think much of our customers.  Again, it is something we've thought about at length.  Our customers will always be most important to us, but we believe that the best thing we can do for you is make sure that we make a business that is sound and able to provide the best service to you for many years to come.

We thank you for your understanding and your support.

- Sherman, Liana and the Gryphon Games & Comics Staff

Why the change?

Over the years it has become obvious that only a few people are taking the responsibility for managing the majority of the effort that goes into the wargame’s community.  The hope is that with proper incentive and direction, the club will be able to organize more and better events, as well as create new and awesome terrain.

How do I join?

There are several ways to get involved with the Fort Collins WarParty!  The Club needs funds to afford new projects and cool new stuff.  Anyone wanting to buy into the club can do so monthly, with a single year’s discounted payment, or by purchasing terrain if they want the money to go towards something in particular.  Also, rather than money you can contribute to the club with volunteer hours. 

Cash Option – Basic club membership can be paid at a yearly rate of only $50.  Alternatively, you can contribute $5 every month.

Terrain Donation – Using the above rates ($50 all at once or $60 over the course of the year), purchase and donate the terrain you want to see the club have.  This means you can make sure that your cash is going into the things you want to see he club have.

Volunteer Hours – There are a lot of projects that need your effort!  Tournaments and leagues need to be run and managed, terrain needs to be painted and repaired, and there are always one-off projects as well.  Put in an hour’s work a month for the club, that’s it!

Other Options – Have an idea for something you’d like to donate to the club?  Talk to the Club Leadership!  They’re happy to work with you to make sure that you can contribute to the Club in a meaningful way.

Do I have to join?

While you don’t have to join the Warparty club, it would be great if you would.  The community needs your input.  Not only can you help with your time effort, but you can also help plot the future of the club and make sure that it is taking on the character that you’d like the club to have.  Plus you get access to the Warparty’s sweet terrain selection when you’re playing games at the shop and you’ll want to come in afterhours for the Warparty’s Monthly Social.

Putting it all together, how does this look in practice?

The club has a number of games it supports and caters to a diverse group of people.  To that end, the Club leadership has made an effort to make it possible for you to participate in the way that works best for you.  Here are some examples of how you can get involved:

• Pay $50 upfront, don’t worry about it again for a year.
• Pay $5/month, if some project catches your eye and you have the time, participate in that instead.
• Buy a terrain piece that you think your game needs.  Some terrain is expensive and will cover you for a year (or more!) and some pieces are small and will cover you for a month or two.  
• Buy a terrain piece, paint and assemble it.  For instance, if you bought a Bastion ($30) and finished it (probably a 2 hour project) you would have 8 months of your year settled.  Talk with the Club leadership and you’ll get a better idea of what goes into a project.
• Work on the club terrain.  Terrain needs organizing, touching up, and repairs.  This can be something you did once a month for an hour, or twice a year for six hours.  Either way is super helpful.
• Run a league.  You can put together a map, organize a rule’s set, and then help the participants each week.  Most any league is going to take a minimum of eight hours, and probably more like twelve to accomplish.
• Run a tournament.  Once you take into account organizing the event, generating scenarios, and actually running the event, you’re probably looking at a good four hours of effort.
  

As you can see, all of this stuff helps the entire community grow.  We can use the money to work up bigger events, buy new terrain, host club events, host CSU outreach programs, etc.  We can use your efforts to pretty much do all the same stuff, only with less money! 

The end goal is not to make you work for your hobby, but to make sure that everyone is doing their part to make the hobby enjoyable for everyone.  


If you want to know more about the FortCollins WarParty, visit them at their web site:
http://fcwarparty.com/wordpress/ 

February is in full swing now and that means Genghis Con looms!  For those who are not familiar with Genghis, it is the premier gaming convention here in Colorado.  Everything from role playing, board games, and of course miniature wargaming! Genghis Con begins on February 16th and ends on the 19th.  

Some events to check out are the Flames of War 1500 point Late War tourney on Friday night; the Warhammer Fantasy 2200 point tourney Sunday should also prove to be epic!  However the big draw will undoubtedly be the Warhammer 40K 2000 point tournament.  This bad boy is a test of a gamer’s attrition.  Beginning Saturday morning with three rounds of two hours fifteen minutes players will slug it out for a chance to be the top general out of a crowd of 64 players!

In other news the first soft cover rule books for Flames of War Version 3 are in!  With a completely overhauled Assault rule section and awesome new missions this beast of a rule book is twice the size of its predecessor!  If you purchased a Version 2 hardbound copy of the rules then come down to the shop and get your soft cover for FREE!  If you did not purchase the V2 hardbound book then sadly you’ll have to wait till March to get a copy.

Another point of interest is the newest army for Warhammer Fantasy Battle, the Vampire Counts.  With tons of new units and models as well as a rebuilt list of spells these guy are sure to be a popular sight on the battlefield for a long time to come.  The new Counts can now field Skeletons that come with light armor, shield and either hand weapon or spear for only five points!  This is a huge reduction from the eight points they cost in the last Counts book.  Zombies also got an upgrade; now costing a mere three points they are now toughness three rather than two meaning Skavenslaves will no longer be able to dish out a beating to your freshly raised minions!  

This is looking to be a big year for miniature wargaming! So come down to the shop check out the sweet new stuff, then grab some friends and start playing games! 

What a month January was for Magic players. With the Dark Ascension pre-release weekend Gryphon had over 150 players combined in the four events. With a record breaking 87 players attending the midnight pre-release alone.  We want to thank everyone who came and supported the store. 

FNM Promo this month is Depise. This will be awarded to the top four players in each of the two FNM events.

On February 25th, Dark Ascension Game Day will be held at the store. This will be a $10 Standard tournament with prize support at 2 ½ packs per player. Promotional foils for all participants as well as top eight.  FNM Promo this month is Depise. This will be awarded to the top four players in each of the two FNM events. 

There are a lot of reasons to join in a role-playing game.  There is the comeraderie with friends, the challenge, the imagination that goes into it and just the general feeling that you did something special and cool that you'd never really have gotten to do.  If anyone hasn't tried getting into a role-playing game and thought that maybe they'd like to, all I can say is go for it!  It's an awesome good time if you can find a group that jives with you.  I wanted to talk about one particular game though, Savage Worlds. 

Despite the name, Savage Worlds isn't some sort of Hyborian Sword & Sorcery setting, though it could be!  Savage Worlds is actually a generic rules system that is flexible enough to accommodate most any genre of role-playing setting.  I've used it for fantasy, Cyberpunk, wild west, pirates and more!  If you're looking for a system that you can use to run your next game, I'll tell you why I'd recommend it be Savage Worlds.

Obviously it's adaptable.  No system is able to cover every setting, but Savage Worlds covers a pretty wide range.  The tagline, "Fast! Furious! Fun!" covers what the system is shooting for, and hitting.  I equate the general feel of a Savage Worlds game as being that of pulp fiction.  If you look at movies like "Indiana Jones" or "The Mummy", you have protagonists that are not exactly overly exceptional, but definitely capable and who often succeed through luck and ingenuity as much as skill.  

After years of struggling with systems that required me to take hours to create even a single NPC adversary to face off against my players, and then watch as they destroyed that NPC in a couple of rounds of play, the ease of preparing a Savage Worlds game was entirely welcome.  I used to try and keep my prep time down to one hour for every hour of play.  Prepping a game of Savage Worlds can take me as little as thirty minutes (not including countless hours thinking about plot, characters and setting!)  I feel like the ease of Savage Worlds speaks to the reality of being an adult and having responsibilities outside of games, sad as that may be.  Savage Worlds is rules-light, and once you're comfortable with the rules there is very little you can't come up with off the top of your head, no need for hours spent studying the minutia of character options or spell descriptions.

Despite the rules-light approach that Savage Worlds takes to game design, the system still does not feel flimsy.  A lot of thought went into creating the system so it flows nicely, but it doesn't seem to have come at the cost of solid rules.  Savage Worlds draws a distinction between high detail Player Characters and major NPCs, and less detailed "extras".  This divide allows for large numbers of combatants to square-off against one another without the resolution taking the entire evening's play.  That speed and ease of play are my favorite things about Savage Worlds.  

Being able to run fast combats and resolve non-combat scenes with only a couple dice rolls means that you really have time to get a lot in with every session.  If you want to have a throw away encounter that gives flavor but isn't really challenging, do it.  It won't take long.  Same thing with running a combat when the players so unwisely split the party.  You can run that fight too since it won't leave half your players waiting an hour before they get back in the action.  Tired of making excuses why no one from the village wants to help out?  Have a dozen miltia sign-up for the job.  Probably most importantly, all that speed and ease means that you'll have time for the most important thing, role-playing.  You can have three or four fights in an evening and still have time for planning, character interaction, story telling and all that jazz.  You know, the stuff you actually remember about a game years later when you're talking about it with friends.  It's almost never the rules or rolls that are worth talking about, but the stories they helped tell.

Anyway, you don't have to take my word for it.  Head over the Pinnacle Entertainment Group's website and give the "Test Drive" rules a download.

http://peginc.com/downloads.html  

Then head down to Gryphon and grab yourself a copy of the Savage World's Deluxe edition!  I think you'll be glad you did.

- Sherman, Gryphon Games & Comics