Battlefield Bangkok

The news is in, the initial stock should arrive on site on Friday!!! So then comes the fun of wondering where to put it all and finding out I’m short of about 300 meters of shelf space no doubt!

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So it’s all happening. The stock should arrive in Bangkok tomorrow. We’re testing out a new air freight option and the shop interior is just about done… except the Air Con which has a few issues that should be resolved Wednesday. So now I still need to get a desk, display cabinet, a show case, some smaller gaming tables, the membership cards, carrier bags and plenty of other stuff that no doubt will become apparent once we open.. chaos is sure to follow! The Air freight order will include a chunk of dice, some battle maps and the Small Wonders Board game.

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Well just 23 days till we arrive at the targeted opening day and still lots to do in the store, however I expect we can get all, if not the important stuff done on time. The biggest tasks are going to be painting, shelving and the new air con fitted.

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Meanwhile th stock continues to sale in this direcion and we’ve also sorted out a new major supplier who will fill 99% of our gaming gaps. We’re also going to do some air mail tests to see how fast, costly and painless it is compared to sea mail.

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No new news on shipping, seems to have stalled for a week, which isn’t good news considering our targeted opening date… fingers crossed.
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However the Thai language site is now complete

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I should have a new supplier set up next week too that will massively add to our game pubisher reach! So between them and the 4 present suppliers we’ll have the vast marority of game systems covered!

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Been a day of minor chaos, this week I managed to break the blog, so in an attempt to fix it I upgraded it, which didn’t work, but then I found the problem on the Word Press forum and got that fixed and now the blog is upgraded too.

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Also launched a new forum over on Thailand Boardgames which is an awesome community of local game players, mainly a Thai community but with some bits in English.

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Shipping still giving me headaches, appears the US freight firm wants to increase their prices…this after they have already delivered everything to the port. I have to wonder why they didn’t ask about the price increase when they first got the deliveries from our suppliers… anyway I’ve told our Thai based shippers that we’re “not amused”, I must say that the shipper here has been awesome, a HUGE help to a total shipping newbie! Anyway tomorrow get the store signed. Founds some great gaming tables 5′ by 5′ slightly higher than usual with nice chairs to go with it.

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Anyway with luck we ship very shortly. Then 25 days to get here… then Thai customs….

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Well the initial stock is on the way, around 500 KGs of stock in board games, books, hobby gear and miniatures.  Just waiting on the final price info from our shipping agent and we’ll have the transportation costs done, that just leaves Thai customs and we’ll finally know how much it’s going to cost to get everything here.  Hopefully the costs will be low enough for us to keep the prices near US retail rates. We’ll see soon eough, shipping should take around 26 days we’re told.

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The store location has been picked and the rental agreement will be done this week, then we have most of April to get the store in shape ahead of the arrival of the shipment. Assuming everything goes fairly much to plan then we hope to open on May 1.

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For perhaps a couple of years I have had a crazy dream to launch a games store in Bangkok, selling Board Games, war games, miniatures and RPGs. Yes nuts perhaps but well, a dream, a plan, and potentially not too far off happening.

Challenges are a fair number. Shipping the games here isn’t cheap as they need to be ordered in bulk to get good shipping rates.  Taxes are going to add to the price and then finding a retail spot that will allow the games to be sold at an affordable price and cover the rent will be pushing the edge if I want to sell the games at near US prices.

But I’m getting there, a couple of supplier agreements are done and a major one should be nailed this week. A shipping firm has been found that appear to be able to do the job at reasonable rates and that just leaves the the location.

As “walk by” traffic isn’t going to be a major target, the key is going to be accessability for hobby gamers, rather than finding a spiffingly expensive front row store. I think I’ve found a good spot, but I need to check the cost and how much room they have. The store will need room for products,  staff and of course room to play games in store.

Service wise, well selling games, free access to play test games, bring in your own games, all with no charge, and hope to sell coffee at 20 baht a mug to cover the rent! Sounds like a plan!

Ah yes and staff, still not got around to that yet,  shop staff needed to play games with customers

Stay tuned for updates!

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Sunday 20th is lined up to be a board games day, looks like 6 or 7 folks will be turning up. Exact games to be decided, but games that support 7 players are going to be needed. Definitely Game of Thrones is on for later in the day once some of the folks have to head out for company parties.  Steve’s in town from the Philippines and will likely have a sack full of new games for us to try out!

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The day began with Propit wanting to find a new place to live and finding out that he would need to get the permission of the district Kindred lord of whatever area he wanted to move into. That would require some time, planning, and setting up a meeting with said lord.

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Additionally, Chen was informed by his regent Sasawat that he would need to keep an eye on his ghoul, Adam, and basically ensure the good behaviour of Josh as ghouls’ activities can reflect upon their regent. Chen phoned up Josh and set up a meeting with him with the simple word “Thirsty?” Adam, nearing the end of the month, had a craving he couldn’t understand and, yes, he was damned thirsty. They met at Electric Blue bar in Patpong and Chen gave him a few pints. Chen lied when Adam asked what the hell was going on and Chen said that it was some experimental Chinese military intravenous drug. Adam then went through all his underground contacts trying to find more. Of course, nobody had a clue what he was talking about.

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The excitement happened on a Thursday night when Propit and Chen, feeling a bit hungry, went hunting in Patpong. Bruce came along as he’s the barfly and knows how to chat up the bargirls. They got two girls to agree to come with the three of them from a pool bar named Lek’s Bar not to far from the Sala Daeng BTS station. Adam, having found no luck searching Nana for the mysterious Chinese drug, was on his way to Patpong.

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As Bruce left the bar, he heard a man yell out “Hey Bruce. Over here. I want a word.” Looking over, Bruce saw a massive foreigner standing about 20 feet away. He was at least 7 foot tall, 300 lbs. Bruce was wary but allowed the man, who called himself Garth, to walk forward. Garth said that he was there to collect the 500,000 baht bounty on Bruce’s head. However, he said, he would walk away and left Bruce in peace for the cheap price of 50,000 baht. Chen and Propit were outside at this point. Bruce said something about having a new employer who would double that 500K if Garth would switch targets and help Bruce go after David Ward. Garth agreed and stuck out his hand for Bruce to shake. Bruce took it and….

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ZAP!! Electricity coursed through Bruce’s body as Garth grabbed on to him. Bruce saw just a flash of change in Garth and saw a different person standing in front of him… one with thick ugly white scars running along his arms and across his neck and metallic plates in the back of his hand. Chen reacted quickly and using a new ability he learned, he yelled “Surrender” to Garth and, much to everyone’s surprise” Garth raised his arms above his head. He didn’t look to happy about it though. Adam was walking down to BTS stairs at this point…
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Everyone backed away from Garth and were waited for someone to make the first move. Garth, with arms still raised, angrily said “I’m just waiting for this shit to wear off!” Bruce violently punched the defenseless Garth twice, once in the face and once in the spleen. Bruce immediately realized that he was in big trouble when his fists screamed in protest over the rock hard body that Garth had. It felt like punching a brick wall.
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All hell broke loose then. Chen drew and then threw a ninja star at Garth which went wide and Propit plunged his knife into Garth’s stomach. It penetrated the thick skin but just barely. Garth backhanded Bruce and sent him flying through the air. Bruce crashed into the corner of Lek’s bar and fell prone on the ground. Chen then circled around Garth, pulled his gun and shot him. Again, the bullet barely penetrated. Propit continued to stab Garth with limited success. Of course, after bullets when flying, masses of people were diving for cover and running away.
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Garth, ignored Propit and his knife, pointed his hand at prone Bruce and electricity arced of his hand and zapped Bruce on the ground. Things were not going well. After a few more backhands and flying bodies, Bruce and Propit were beaten badly. Chen, turned things around when he made a perfect shot and hit Garth in the back of the head. It was a grevious wound and the big man was hurting. With Garth on his last legs, none of them had enough ummph in them to bring him down. Propit was the first to hit the ground when Garth knocked him torpid and then Bruce fell next… just barely alive when he fell unconcious. Garth picked up unconcious Bruce and walked away. Chen took some parting shots but couldn’t hurt him. Chen was, by now, starving and fell into a hunger frenzy and took apart some poor somtam lady on the side of the street. By the time he was finished, Garth and Bruce were gone, so was Adam and Propit’s body.
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Adam had taken Propit’s body to a motel room where he knew the owner. Doing some experiments with Propit’s body and feeding him his blood, Adam quickly realized that he could get his fix here. Adam got a junkie whore he knew to come to the motel room, drugged her up, bleed her into Propit and then fed off Propit. Adam did this for two whole weeks, keeping the whore alive and keeping himself stoned on vamp juice. That was, until Propit woke up after two weeks and devoured the poor girl. Propit still hungry was about to jump Adam but Adam fast talked him down. Propit needed more food so Adam quickly called McDonald’s delivery and ordered a Big Mac meal. The delivery man was the meal, not the Big Mac.
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In the meantime, Bruce had woken up strapped down to a medical bed, in a bare room, attached to an IV. He saw no one except a nurse who would only come into his room a couple of times a day to change the IV. She said nothing to him. Bruce saw no one else. He attempted to break free from the straps but it was a near impossible task. On the 4th or 5th day, Bruce dislocated his shoulder in the attempt. When the nurse saw this, she got handcuffs and handcuffed his feet to the bed. By the 14th day, Bruce was still there.
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Chen attempted to phone Bruce but someone else (named Thomas) answered the phone. Chen was unsuccessful in trying to broker a deal in getting Bruce released. Seems that David Ward won’t be budged on the subject.
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So, at the end of the session, this was the situation. Bruce is locked up somewhere, still half dead, no idea where he is or what’s to become of him.
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Adam totally blood bonded himself to Propit and Propit had just woken up from a two-week torpor.
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Chen, no being able to contact Bruce or Propit, has no idea what’s going on.

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