Monday Night Mordheim: Eat, Drink, and Be Merry!

FIRST!

Ah, the first post of the year, and I thought it would be appropriate to discuss something that is often over looked when it comes to planning a game session, and where those thoughts drag me.

Food and Drink.

Now, the addition of food and drink are really a unique situation. Each group and even each session is a bit of a single piece. Now, the reason I am thinking about it is because today at work we got some Peking Duck. Now, I love me some Peking Duck, and it put me in mind of our last Mordheim session.

In game sessions I've had the gamut of food from nothing to pizza and beer to a full course meal. What I want to do is go over each type of foods and weigh their benefits and detriments. Which doesn't just apply to Mordheim, but all games. Then I will talk about an idea that I've had about elaborating food in Mordheim.

1. The Cheap Shit:
A. Chips and Pop- the ultimate basic foods. Everyone brings their own chips and their own pop. The great thing about this is that it is cheap, everyone does their own thing. Maybe some cross trading of Doritos for Lay's Wavy. However, chips are greasy and well, you will leave grease marks on your warband sheet.
B. Spaghetti- We used to do what we called 'Too Much Spaghetti Nights', and we'd make spaghetti for the entire game group. The great thing about this is that you can feed an entire game group for REALLY cheap. Go to your local cheap store, pick up between two and three boxes of spaghetti, which should be like $1-$1.30 and a couple jars of sauce, which is like another $1-$3 depending on quality. So for like $6 you feed everyone. The only main problem with this is that you cannot eat and game at the same time, you really have to stagger it.
C. Fast Food Run- Everyone troops off to the local Mickey D's or whatnot and buys what they want. Then brings it back to the game. While grease may be a problem, I think the main problem is the cut into game time.

2. The Middle of The Road:
A. The Junk Food Option- This is not a cheap option, if you think about it. Though it can be the best for a 'party' like atmosphere. A thing of nachos with melted cheese and salsa, cookies, a bag of assorted candy, and a bunch of pop. The great thing is that most of this stuff is finger food, so you can eat and play at the same time.
B. Pizza and Beer- To be honest, this is probably one of the most common things in the world to do. A case of decent beer and everyone chips in for pizza. It's not the cheapest option in the world, but the cost is generally spread across a couple of people. The main problems are that pizza is greasy (more ruined sheets!) and well, some people don't understand how to stop drinking the beer. Then you've got a big ruined set of ruins from where Frank puked all over the terrain.
C. Barbeque- I love this option. Some potato salad, hamburgers and hotdogs off the grill. Not cheap, but not too pricey. A great one to do in the summer. Especially if the person hosting has a pool, cause then you can bring family and they can swim while you stomp on some opponents. The main deteriment to it is the same as with spaghetti, you can't do it at the table.
D. The Pot Luck- Depending on your group, this could be a great option, or a horrible travesty. Everyone brings some sort of food for the night. If your group is those with a bit of culinary skill this can be a great option, I've had groups where there was Keilbasa, chocolate chip cookies (from SCRATCH), and some Potatoes Au Gratin. Then I've had groups where there were six bags of ranch flavored Doritos. I think that the benefits and detriments are pretty apparent.

3. The Expensive Stuff;
A. The Feast- We used to do this every Thanksgiving. We'd bring home the left overs from two different Thanksgiving meals, and we'd heat them all up, and it was like a third Thanksgiving dinner. Now, that's a cheap option. If you truelly want to go all out and cook a whole feast, then you will definitely win the 'Best Host' award. However, it will be a split session (food and gaming separate), and there is a significant chance that someone will be so full that they will barely be able to move, yet alone pay attention to what your archers are doing (so that COULD be a good thing).
B. PEKING DUCK- The king of Chinese food. This is an expensive option, since one duck only feeds about four and costs about $30. Though it is great cause it doesn't have to be something where you play separately. Its a tad greasy, but you can really control that if you are a good eater. Almost perfect, since it is fairly clean, and very filling, the only downside is the cost.

Let me know about your own gaming with Eating and Drinking. Love to hear those types of stories.

So that's the food. Add in your drinks of choice and price accordingly. Now, we've got your mind on food, I want to talk about Mordheim specifically. Those of you here for general game stuff, can stop reading now.

One of the main campaign phases is the upkeep phase. Now, I think that a fun little addition would be to change a bit how it works. Normally, depending on how many warband members you have, it changes the amount of money that you pull in. It is a determined not specifically by how many members, but what category that they fall into.

Normally, the upkeep is standard. That would imply that you get what you need to keep everyone fine. Standard implies that is what required. I have a suggestion, two more categories. Impoverished and Opulent.

If you choose Impoverished, then you count as one warband member category lower then what you actually are for the terms of upkeep (warbands with less then 5 members gain 5 extra GC). The main problem is that everyone is hungry, so they take a -1 to all Ld values. However, you might just earn enough in that one game to make it worth it.

If you choose Oppulent, then you count as one warband member category higher then what you actually have (those who already have 20, lose an extra 5 GC). The benefit of this is that everyone is well feed and has been having a rip-roaring time in the pubs. This translates as a +1 to Ld values. This is a great way for low Ld warbands to get some extra for that tough fight against the Undead and other Fear causing enemies.