From the Servitors over at BigStompyRobots: It’s been a bit quiet on the news front recently, but I think everyone will agree that this one is worth the wait. As of the end of this month, the club will have a new home! Most of you will know that we’ve been looking for a new venue for a while now. We’re pleased to announce that as of Thursday 4th July, we’ll be running at the Moorsley Hut in Hetton, which you can find here:
Moorsley Hut, Moorsley Road , Hetton le Hole, United Kingdom, DH5 0ED
Google Maps – https://maps.app.goo.gl/n26GxJ9MrGgsKeyp9
What 3 Words – https://what3words.com/careful.ducks.scripted
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/p/Moorsley-District-CIO-100064819566135/
To give a summary of the hall, there are two main rooms that we have access to. Initially, we’ll be using the smaller room. This is bigger than where we are now. I’d say space for 6 to 8 tables. The larger room I’d say is 10-12 tables. They’re effectively partitioned with a divider, so we could use both parts together for larger events if we wanted to – I’m sure we could fill the full hall with the right events.
The kitchen is bigger and newer. There is a massive walk-in store cupboard and secure outside storage that we will have access to. Initially, we’ll be storing 10-15 of the storage boxes we use for scenery and a few mats in bags. Longer term, I’d like to add to our on-site resources – things like ‘demo’ armies that we can use for intros and a few board/card games that can be used for pick up games.
The Hall has off-street parking. It’s also less than 100 yds from a bus stop – Moorsley Road-Weardale Street – for anyone that uses public transport. For those travelling by car / camper van, the hall is 2 miles (5 mins) from the Rainton Arena turn-off on the A690 or 3 miles (6 mins) from the A690 turn-off on the A1.
Alongside the move, we’ll be able to bring in a few changes that have been on the radar for a while.
- Scenery
As we’ll be storing the scenery sets on-site, there’ll be a check-in/check-out sheet in each box, along with a suggestions / additions form. The idea being that we can track what is actively being used and where any additions can be made to the collection. - Card Payments
We’re looking into the viability of taking payments by card alongside the Paypal, Cash and Bank Transfer that are in place at the moment. Is this something that people would use? - Tuck Shop
We’ll be launching a Tuck Shop on club nights, which Lily has offered to help in the running of. Initially we’ll be looking to stock Hot and Cold Drinks plus a few snack type items. If anyone has a particular flavour of snack in mind, let us know and we’ll see if we can stock it. - Little Stompy Robots
Due to the location, Lily and Luke will be able to attend more regularly with either myself or Lisa. The plan initially is for them to game for the earlier part of the session then head home (during term time), so there will be scope to grow the ‘Little Stompy Robots’ aspect of the club over time. - Hobby Sessions
We’ve talked through this a number of times now, but logistics have often hindered being able to run sessions focused on non-gaming aspects of the hobby. I’d love to revisit things like Airbrush and Painting Sessions, along with Scenery and Board-building if that’s something people would be interested in taking part in. - Campaigns
When talking campaigns – LImp / AT, Gorkamorka, Battletech, Killteam and Armada have all been suggested. Starting with LIMP and perhaps GorkaMorka (Looking at you Big Boss Dave), we’ll be kicking off the ongoing narrative.
I’ll stick a post up for LIMP separately, but to give a bit of an overview the plan is to run a slow-grow campaign over the next 3 months starting with a series of small games and gradually increasing size over that time using the Warfront (campaign-lite) rules from the Great Slaughter book.
I know a few people have expressed interest so far, so keep an eye out for the upcoming post to sign-up. - Blood Bowl League
As the summer break is upon us, we’ll be running the Blood Bowl League in the run-up to LilyBowl III which is booked in for later in the year. I’ll leave Lisa and Lily to fill in the details, but we’ll be running a 7s format to keep things flowing and allow time for 2 (or maybe even 3) games in an evening session. - Online Presence
Over time, we’ve seen a growth in interaction on our Facebook and Discord platforms, whilst forum use has tailed off. With that in mind, there will be a focus on pushing Facebook and Discord as the primary community touchpoints and the website being used to signpost them and other key information.
One quick change I’ve made already is adding an easy to remember invite link for our Facebook and Discord Communities. If anyone wants to get involved, you can point them towards:
https://www.bigstompyrobots.club/discord or https://www.bigstompyrobots.club/facebook
and it should take them there directly
I’ll be adding more over the coming weeks, so if anyone has ideas on what could or should be there, let me know.
Updated Pricing
We’ve held the price per session since Jan 2021, but rising costs have meant a change has been on the cards for a number of months now. We’ve been loath to change anything before finding a new venue, and then having to change things twice in quick succession. With that in mind, as of July ’24 the price per session will be:
£6.00 per adult
£4.00 per junior
These prices will be reviewed in 3 months alongside any additional revenue generated by the club. As soon as we are able to, we’ll look to reduce the cost per session and are planning to bring in monthly and annual subscriptions as an option.
If you’ve got this far, we’d love any feedback you have to the above. Happy to take any comments on Facebook or Discord, or if people want to message me or Lis directly or catch up in person on a club night that’s great too