Quote Originally Posted by Diamondback View Post
Also, perhaps variant Ship Logs might be an affordable and acceptable Participation Prize, if Ares were to produce them. What I'm thinking here is, one Ship Log per month, then at the end of the year all twelve get released for general sale as an Additional Logs accessory pack--once again, the idea is you're not getting anything nobody else can, just getting access to it earlier--an incentive to show up and play rather than powergame, more like the old Axis & Allies Combat Zone where everyone who showed up got an exclusive terrain tile, scenario card or documentation and variant-paint miniature from the current set than MechWarrior and the late days of Pirates where "there's only one and it's every man for himself to get it".

Some unique perks for Harbormasters (gotta have our own name for GM's too, right?) would be nice, but again, it shouldn't be something nobody else will ever get, just something they get earlier--like maybe for OP Variant Logs, give them the next month's log a month early so they can show the crew what they're getting next month and give 'em something to look forward to. You're not going to see a lot of variation in stats for a re-card of an existing class with a new name, so that's one thing I'm counting on to geld the Munchkins a bit... but still something where OP participants can tell their non-participant friends "hey, look what you get if you just show up and play a game with us."
Putting aside the tournament discussion for a moment I think the ship log idea might be a great seller for Ares beyond the miniatures themselves if priced appropriately? We have existing sculpts that could be used for other nations ships, we just lack the base cards and ship logs to fight the battles? Printing anything in paper/cardboard will be much easier than prepping for plastic miniature production?

Now back to the tournament and ship logs idea, this might be something Ares itself could consider for their Record Breaker event at Gen Con or as participation gifts for events at any of the shows where they attend in an 'official' capacity?

Something like the HMS Egmont ship log for instance?