And lookie here - GAMA's Games for Troops program!
Selectively quoted from Gamegrene.com. Additional material from SPC Amberson.
When President Bush ordered troops to Iraq, he probably never imagined that he would be ultimately be responsible for what very well could be the very first D&D convention/game day ever held in a war zone. Ziggurat Con, being held June 9 from 1200 to 2100 hours at Camp Adder/Tallil Airbase, is open to all allied military personnel and civilian contractors in Iraq.
KBR and MWR (the army’s Morale Welfare & Recreation Department) have graciously allowed service members to use part of the Community Activity Center to hold the Game Day. The Ping Pong room will be set up for RPGs (Role-Playing Games, not to be confused with the rocket propelled grenades which share the same acronym), and the DVD Movie room will be playing Anime Movies all day in support of the event.
The largest problem with running a Con in Iraq, of course, is that there are no local stores or game publishers, and few game books on the post. Even dice are in short supply, with many soldiers breaking the unwritten taboo held by many gamers and sharing dice. Thankfully, many game publishers have also lent their support, and have agreed to supply game products to help the Con along. aethereal FORGE, Sovereign Press, Final Redoubt Press, Goodman Games, Paizo Publishing and Steve Jackson Games are among those that have thrown in their support for the convention. But Amberson indicated that the soldiers could definitely use more.
"This convention is currently in drastic need of prizes and giveaways for the troops," he said. "Everything donated will go directly to the troops, or to MWR to use as loaner books for the soldiers."
For more information, contact SPC David Amberson at the following address: david.amberson (at) iraq.centcom.mil
Donations can also be sent to SPC Amberson directly at the following address:
SPC David Amberson
A Co 86th Sig Bn
APO, AE 09331
They’re planning to run the following games (and will be happy to get additional games).
Babylon 5 RPG, Cyberpunk 2020, D&D, D&D RPGA, GURPS, Historic Miniatures Battles, Magic Tournament, MechWarrior Miniatures, Rifts, Shadowrun, Starship Troopers, White Wolf System-Vampire, White Wolf System-Werewolf, XCrawl
When President Bush ordered troops to Iraq, he probably never imagined that he would be ultimately be responsible for what very well could be the very first D&D convention/game day ever held in a war zone. Ziggurat Con, being held June 9 from 1200 to 2100 hours at Camp Adder/Tallil Airbase, is open to all allied military personnel and civilian contractors in Iraq.KBR and MWR (the army’s Morale Welfare & Recreation Department) have graciously allowed service members to use part of the Community Activity Center to hold the Game Day. The Ping Pong room will be set up for RPGs (Role-Playing Games, not to be confused with the rocket propelled grenades which share the same acronym), and the DVD Movie room will be playing Anime Movies all day in support of the event.
The largest problem with running a Con in Iraq, of course, is that there are no local stores or game publishers, and few game books on the post. Even dice are in short supply, with many soldiers breaking the unwritten taboo held by many gamers and sharing dice. Thankfully, many game publishers have also lent their support, and have agreed to supply game products to help the Con along. aethereal FORGE, Sovereign Press, Final Redoubt Press, Goodman Games, Paizo Publishing and Steve Jackson Games are among those that have thrown in their support for the convention. But Amberson indicated that the soldiers could definitely use more.
"This convention is currently in drastic need of prizes and giveaways for the troops," he said. "Everything donated will go directly to the troops, or to MWR to use as loaner books for the soldiers."
For more information, contact SPC David Amberson at the following address: david.amberson (at) iraq.centcom.mil
Donations can also be sent to SPC Amberson directly at the following address:
SPC David Amberson
A Co 86th Sig Bn
APO, AE 09331
They’re planning to run the following games (and will be happy to get additional games).
Babylon 5 RPG, Cyberpunk 2020, D&D, D&D RPGA, GURPS, Historic Miniatures Battles, Magic Tournament, MechWarrior Miniatures, Rifts, Shadowrun, Starship Troopers, White Wolf System-Vampire, White Wolf System-Werewolf, XCrawl
Let’s get those games out there!
Update: SPC Amberson says they're expecting around 300 people. Not bad for a war zone! Martin Rayla of Treasure Tables reminds me that Amazon will ship to military addresses, in case you'd like to use them.
Update:
muskrat_john aka John Kovalic (he of Dork Tower fame) is not only spreading the word via his LJ, he also says:I'm making damn sure everyone at the con gets a comic book or two. I'm also sending a ton of trade paperbacks for door prizes, as well as Out of the Box games, Munchkin, Chez Geek, Mag*Blast and, of course, Chez Grunt.Update: Additional places to send gaming stuff - Games for GI's. They send stuff to all forward deployed troops.
We are currently at an address where we can ship all care packages through military means free of charge. If you’d like to find out more making a contribution or volunteering, or if you’d like a copy of our needs list, I may be contacted at zacharythefirst@hotmail.com. Additionally, if you have a friend or loved one you’d like added to our care package list, contact us, and we’d be happy to do so.The address and central distribution point to send your contributions is:Update: from Dave Amberson - they would be delighted to get PDF products as well. They have laptops and access to printers...
Games For G.I.s
c/o Zachary Houghton
PSC 62 Box 6902
APO AE 09643
Update: More love, this time from
pandemonium_bks in Cambridge, Mass. They will take donations via Paypal to add to the shipment they're sending out May 2nd.- Current Mood:
energetic
Comments
We'll also be sending some of the stuff they requested, and a few other things as a donation from the store, as well as some recent paperbacks, and maybe a small stuffed Cthulhu or two (Cthulhi?). We'll be ordering in a number of small things on Monday for people to buy to contribute, like Cosmic Wimpout, Fluxx and such (toss in the pocket type games that can be readily carried).
People who wish to contribute but who are not in Cambridge, MA, can send paypal donations clearly marked as IRAQ DONATION to general@pandemoniumbooks.com, and I will use the donations to fill things out when we're ready to ship.
http://community.livejournal.com/pandem
I read about this in the post on Dork Tower's comic site on Gamespy. I'm forwarding this to all of my gaming buddies, so hopefully they'll help out. Also, I'm going to hit the gaming stores around Lexington, KY to see if they'll contribute a little somthing! No promises, but I'll be picking up a few odds and ends to send their way.
Todd
Brigid from AdvancingHordes.com here. We've donated dice and dice bags for gamers in the military before, through Games for GI's http://rpgblog.typepad.com/rpg_blog/2005/0
and we'll probably put a package together for ZigguratCon.
I just wanted to let folks (gamers in the military, and their friends and family)know that AdvancingHordes.com ships to military addresses regularly. We ship worldwide, with no minimum order.
-------
www.AdvancingHordes.com : Unusual Dice, Miniatures and Accessories for Gamers and Collectors.
Hugs, Erika
I've passed word along to
Wendie in California
Still, now that we have all already tried to help... can you help by verifying that this is real? :)
Small, and legitimate request.
As for me, I'm a long time convention and club organizer, as well as the creator of RPGA's "Living Force" Star Wars campaign. You can Google "Jae Walker" - I'm not the glider pilot or the Wells Fargo VP. :)
I don't blame you for being cautious - the first thing I did was email SPC Amberson.
Not very smart but it's about fandom and what holds us fans together and makes us a community even if we never met.
Now that so many people are contributing money, I figured some more organization behind this is in order and sent in the request.
Say this is completely legit (which we all already acted upon, not only assumed). How do we protect the fans?
Many different folks offered to gather money and send goods over in a concentrated fashion. I love this, but it opens us to a very unpleasant risk we should avoid...
Some more organization on this side of things could really be helpful.
Just so you know, the folks over at Code Name: Hunter (Darcy, the artist, is a military brat. Her parents were both enlisted, tho long mustered out.) will be sending out a care package of books and prize stuffs this week. We're also heading down to our Friendly Neighborhood Game Store (Badmoo Games) this weekend to try and spread the word.
--Matt
I'm happy to say that my gaming club just sent off nearly 27 lbs of minis, dice, gaming books and a Spycraft T-shirt via priority mail today.
See you at GenCon at a Blackmoor table.
Cordially,
Eric Kiefer, President
www.PittsburghRPGA.org
I hope we get pictures, though. Lots of 'em.
how can I add my skype chat name to my user page?
thank you ahead of time
Good luck!