Atmosphere - making a standard game EPIC?

[Major]

Hey everyone!

I have been an a very interesting conversation with some friends in the community of late and I wanted to bring it onto the forum here as I value all your opinions! It is my belief that the quality of the table, and to a lesser extent, the surroundings you game in, have a dramatic effect on the quality of the game you play and how much you enjoy yourself. Obviously the person you're playing, the reason you're playing, the armies you're playing etc etc all count as well but today I would like to focus on the Atmosphere we game in. I mean, I've played on a kitchen table using cups and bowls as terrain (yes and that's with people on this very forum!) and I've played in a room surrounded by shelves of minis and images on a custom made table with amazing terrain (one even had a little smoke machine of the spooky effects!) and I can say I 100% found the later to be far more immersive and allow for a great visual experience, which is a large part of the game and can take a standard game and turn it into an Epic one where your imagination links to your surrounding and takes the experience to a whole new level. This isn't to say I didn't enjoy playing with one person more than the other, but from at atmosphere perspective, who wouldn't take the mini smoke machine over a cup and bowl! 

What do you like most about the atmosphere you game in?
What is the best atmosphere you have gamed in?
What is the worst?
What does a good atmosphere look like? Share some pics!
When it comes to tables, terrain and your surroundings, what is most important to you as a hobbyist and gamer?


 

[chord]

The most epic game I've had was playing the consumed battle plan. It came down to the last initiative roll for the game. So much tension very epic

[Major]

38 minutes ago, chord said:

The most epic game I've had was playing the consumed battle plan. It came down to the last initiative roll for the game. So much tension very epic

Awesome @chord! Did the table you played on, the terrain used, the "atmosphere" add to the epic-ness of your game? Does that matter to you? Why/why not?

[chord]

1 minute ago, Major said:

Awesome @chord! Did the table you played on, the terrain used, the "atmosphere" add to the epic-ness of your game? Does that matter to you? Why/why not?

Hmm.. I'd say a little bit. The sacrifice was taking place on the temple of skulls which is imo a great piece they should make again. It's the perfect piece for a ritual.

Typically the games I play that are most epic they are really close and down to the wire.

terrain matters but a blow out with great terrain is still a blow out.

[RuneBrush]

The biggest contributor for me is everything painted - so that's models and terrain/boards with the table laid out in such a way that it looks like a plausible location.  What I mean by that is, that having a really posh building next to a swamp looks really peculiar!  Whereas a load of little buildings with tracks between looks like a plausible hamlet or village.

Having a side table or chair to drop all of your gaming detritus on really helps too, when you get down to model level or taking a photo you really feel that your models are fighting over some objective or other.

[MacDuff]

I agree that having everything painted really makes things feel more epic, especially if the terrain helps  create a sense of place and is finished to the same level as the armies. I like to make small 'ecosystems' in a few places on the board - a hamlet here (probably attacked before, so somewhat barricaded), a rocky area where roving bands perform rituals, a wooded area that is spooky to travel through, the ruins of a temple from an earlier attack (maybe with civilian survivors huddled there), a wild animal den, or whatever else I can invent with my fairly extensive terrain collection. Then it's fun to add mysterious terrain icons generated randomly. To me the game board has a story to tell even before the story of the battle is played out.

[Killax]

Quote

What do you like most about the atmosphere you game in?
What is the best atmosphere you have gamed in?
What is the worst?
What does a good atmosphere look like? Share some pics!
When it comes to tables, terrain and your surroundings, what is most important to you as a hobbyist and gamer?

- Friendly chats and fun, winning is there but I enjoy discussing tactical choices with my opponents. In most games I like to practice lines of thoughts for units. While for tournaments I will not say much about that. This is also why I think a tournament atmosphere is less ideal for fun gaming.
- The best atmosphere as a result has been at homes of friends or at my place.
- The works atmosphere is when you are up again a guy in a Tournament who refuses discussion alltogether, to the point where things can get unclear due to lack of communication.
- Photos of my home will come at one moment or another.
- Scenery is very important to keep the game visually interesting. A great table usually means that players stick longer in the game and are less likely to 'scoop up' just because they are quite certain they would lose anyway. While the latter might be true I feel that it's visually more jarring if your looking at some felt terrain while losing. At that moment you feel like your models are what make the table interesting and as a result of losing might pick them up altogether.

In many ways cool games to me boil down to:
1. Good social communication
2. Painted armies
3. Painted table and 3d scenery