The Virtual Conference of Wargamers (VCOW)
With COVID-19 causing COW 2020 to be cancelled it was decided to hold our first virtual conference, imaginatively called the Virtual Conference of Wargamers (VCOW) on 10-12 July 2020. It worked so well that have run one every February since.
VCOW takes place mainly on Zoom, but some sessions may take place on other platforms. As with COW any member can propose a game, but given the complexities of herding people across multiple virtual platforms players are asked to sign-up beforehand. This does have the advantage that pre-game reading and briefings can be circulated beforehand.
Just like COW, VCOW is about playing and discussing wargames, and so is dominated by people playing wargames (often in early stages of development or one-off custom games) and providing feedback to their designers. Even though remote play might suggest mainly discussion orientated committee and matrix games, and Roll20/Vassal style games, we manage to use webcams to deliver the toy solider experience remotely. However, there do tend to be more presentation and purely discussion sessions at VCOW. Through the wonders of Google Streetview and Google Earth we can even deliver virtual battlefield tours. The photos from previous conferences and game listings below, and Nugget Onsides and Offsides, should give you a pretty good idea of what we get up to, but of course the best bet is to join and log on!
Here are links to the Programmes for past VCOWs. Remember to check The Nugget archives for Onside and Offside reports of the individual sessions. The next VCOW is on 7-9 Feb 2025 - details on our Events page.
We'll try and add more details on these over the coming months.