Best Historicon yet for me. The only bad game I was involved in was the one I ran on Thursday. I hit traffic on the way to Lancaster and arrived at the hotel about 50 minutes before my game was scheduled to start. I did luck out and got a parking space right by the door in the rear of the Distlefink ballroom so I was able to cart my stuff in pretty quick. Anyway, I have to say my heart really wasn't in running this game, so being late didn't put me in too good of a mood. Anyway, one of the guys who played was being a jerk, taking the game too seriously for what it was (It was a modern era skirmish game set in a fictional African country). I can't stand people who quibble over rules and stuff in a miniatures game. It'd be one thing if it was a tournament game but hosted games at cons should be about having fun and getting into the experience. Oh well, with that over I was able to enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Played in a WRG game, which is really old school stuff. Fought a battle in Italy circa early 16th century. Really cool GM and the other players were great as well.
Played two games of Carnage and Glory, one of my favorite miniatures games. One of the games was run by Dave Bonk, and his games are like playing something out of the wargaming magazines. Fantastic miniatures and terrain. Tom Garnet ran the other game I played and that was a blast since everyone playing were people that I knew.
My favorite game of the convention though was on Saturday morning. Played a Command Decision Test of Battle game put on by Jake Strangeway. A great game that really sold me on how Command Decision makes you "feel" like you're wargaming World War 2. My friend Scott and I commanded some British paras, and we captured a key bridge and had to hold out until the armor arrived. If you've seen The Longest Day, think "Hold until relieved, hold until relieved." If you haven't seen it, go rent it.
Played some board games too. Taught my friend Kevin how to play Twilight Struggle, and played a game of Eketorp as well. Didn't get to play Fire and Axe, which was a shame. But, there's always Fall In!.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Back from Historicon
Had a great time at Historicon. When I've recovered I'll make a more lengthy post. Until then here's some pictures.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Fantasy Flight and Warhammer
A couple of weeks ago I saw that Fantasy Flight Games had announced Chaos in the Old World, a board game set in Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy Battles world. At first glance I figured this was some kind of adventure game similar to the World of Warcraft board game, but in fact it seems to be a strategy game where 3-4 players take on the role of one of the Chaos gods. I won't bother going into who they are, since I figure most people reading this either know them already or know how to use Wikipedia.
Anyway, I thought this was cool since Fantasy Flight had already taken over the Warhammer 40K rpg but hadn't announced any new games since getting the Games Workshop licence. A board game where you get to be one of the Chaos gods is one of the last things I would have expected.
Now they've also announced Warhammer Invasion, which is a "living card game." From what I gather that means it's like a collectible card game without the collecting. So I figure it's along the lines of Dominion, which I've played and liked, so for me a game like Dominion with the Warhammer theme sounds great. Thing is it's only two players but I played Dominion two player and it was fun.
Anyway, I thought this was cool since Fantasy Flight had already taken over the Warhammer 40K rpg but hadn't announced any new games since getting the Games Workshop licence. A board game where you get to be one of the Chaos gods is one of the last things I would have expected.
Now they've also announced Warhammer Invasion, which is a "living card game." From what I gather that means it's like a collectible card game without the collecting. So I figure it's along the lines of Dominion, which I've played and liked, so for me a game like Dominion with the Warhammer theme sounds great. Thing is it's only two players but I played Dominion two player and it was fun.
More Historicon
Here's a couple of press releases re: Historicon 2009.
HISTORICON 2009 Announces Educational Programs, Special Events
Celebrates 25 Years of Historical Miniatures Gaming
Bel Air, MD (June, 2009) –The games begin on July 16 and continue through July 19 at HISTORICON 2009 (www.HISTORICON.org), the largest gathering of historical miniatures hobbyists and gamers. The convention offers extensive seminars and discussions, plus exciting military history games, tournaments, and contests attracting thousands of historical gaming enthusiasts.
The Historical Miniatures Gaming Society East (www.HMGS.org) commemorates the silver (25th) anniversary of HISTORICON, “the mother of all war gaming conventions” at the Lancaster Host Resort & Conference Center in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Students of military history and war gamers can attend a full program of seminars by well-known historians discussing the convention theme of the 200th Anniversary of 1809 Napoleonic Wars.
Scott Bowden, author of 24 works connected to Napoleonic and American military history; Rene Chartrand, author of over 30 books on American and Western European military history; First Sgt. Matthew Eversmann, who was portrayed in Black Hawk Down; Col. David Glantz, who served over 30 years in the military and has written or co-authored 60+ books; and Dr. Donald Howard, founder of the Institute on Napoleon and the French Revolution are among the noted military historians and luminaries who will be presenting talks during the conference.
“The Napoleonic era has always been a great period for the wargamer as this theme allows for a cross-section of presentations and games, from formal massed European armies to the Spanish guerilla actions,” said Pete Panzeri, president of HMGS East. “The price Napoleon paid for his ill-conceived Spanish venture produced so much bleeding in the diplomatic, military, financial, and political realms of his empire, that it is referred to as the ‘Spanish Ulcer’.”
A new feature to Historicon this year is the first annual “Piratical”, a costume contest for adults with prizes and games. To be held on July 18 at 8 p.m., the contest encourages adults to dress in any costume related to pirates of 1809 – British, French, American Navy or Marines.
All HISTORICON attendees are welcome to attend the HMGS 25th Anniversary awards presentation, which includes the First Annual HISTORICON Awards, Game Master of the Year Award, HMGS Legion of Honor, and Jack Scruby Award. Entrance to the awards presentation is free to all. During the presentation, HMGS will recognize the Historical Gaming Industry with the first annual HISTORICON Awards for excellence and prominence in historical games and miniatures. Six HISTORICON awards will include: Historical Miniatures Vehicle, Terrain and Figure Line of the Year, as well as Historical Miniatures Game, Game Expansion, and Gaming Reference Publication of the Year.
HISTORICON 2009 features over 600 events, including elaborate historical miniatures games reflecting Napoleon’s 1809 Austrian Campaign and the Peninsular War (1807-14) and the massive and most extensive tournament program in North America – everything from DBA, DBR, and Warhammer Ancients to Field of Glory (FoG) and Flames of War (FoW). A special 25th Anniversary cake is being made just for HISTORICON by Charm City Cakes (of the Ace of Cakes Food Network show) featuring the original “Hands Bridge” logo created by artist Rich Hasenauer to recognize the first HISTORICON in 1984. The cake will be on display Friday and will be served to attendees.
As the popularity of HISTORICON grows, in 2010 the convention will move to the Baltimore Convention Center in Maryland, where it can accommodate many more attendees and vendors. Baltimore offers a wide variety of budget, mid-range and luxury accommodations, and access to historical attractions such as Fort McHenry, the USS Constellation, and the Baltimore Civil War Museum. HISTORICON is the largest historical miniatures gaming convention in the United States. Each year, thousands of avid gamers descend on what the New York Times has described as the "mother of all war gaming conventions." The event features thousands of attendees (adults and children), hundreds and hundreds of games, the world's biggest war game hobby shop, painting events, and a special awards celebration. Admission to the 4-day convention is $15 for HMGS members and $35 for non-members.
HMGS is a non-profit educational organization that promotes the study of military history through historical miniatures gaming, seminars, grants, and conventions.
Other HMGS events include the annual “Fall In” convention to be held Nov. 6 – 9, 2009 in Gettysburg, PA, “Cold Wars”, to be held March 11 – 14, 2010 in Lancaster, PA, and “HISTORICON 2010” to be held July 8 -11, 2010 in Baltimore, MD.
For more information on HMGS, visit www.hmgs.org. For more information on HISTORICON, visit www.HISTORICON.org.
###
HISTORICON Celebrates 25 Years of Historical Miniatures Gaming
Pre-Registration Now Open
Bel Air, MD (May, 2009) -- The Historical Miniatures Gaming Society East (www.HMGS.org) commemorates the silver anniversary of HISTORICON, “the mother of all war gaming conventions” from July 16 – 19, 2009 at the Lancaster Host Resort & Conference Center in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Attracting thousands of historical gaming hobbyists, HISTORICON 2009 celebrates its 25th year with four days of fun on the convention theme of the 200th Anniversary of 1809 Napoleonic Wars. HMGS is a non-profit educational organization that promotes the study of military history through historical miniatures gaming, seminars, grants, and conventions.
HISTORICON 2009 features over 600 events, including elaborate historical miniatures games reflecting Napoleon’s 1809 Austrian Campaign and the Peninsular War (1807-14) and the massive and most extensive tournament program in North America – everything from DBA, DBR, and Warhammer Ancients to Field of Glory (FoG) and Flames of War (FoW). More than 700 games over the entire four days of the convention attract players from across the United States and Europe.
“The Napoleonic era has always been a great period for the wargamer and this theme allows for a broad cross-section of games, from formal massed European armies to the Spanish guerilla actions and games involving Sharpe’s Rifles,” said Pete Panzeri. “Aside from the Napoleonic era, HISTORICON 2009 offers hundreds of games and tournament events from nearly every other period of military history.”
HISTORICON also holds the HMGS War College with 40 historical presentations by scholars such as René Chartrand, military historian and author of 30+ books, and Matt Eversmann, veteran of the Battle of Mogadishu (‘Blackhawk Down’), and a Napoleonic Wars Exposition: “The Sharpe Experience.” The convention’s Painting and Modeling University allows participants to choose from a variety of classes to learn new techniques for miniature painting. Attendees can also register for the “Iron Paintbrush” Competition where teams compete to create the most eye-catching figure mini-diorama.
Other special HISTORICON events include a Wild West costume contest with prizes for kids and an adult costume contest related to pirates of 1809 – British, Spanish, French, American Navy or Marines. As part of the silver anniversary of HISTORICON, all attendees are invited to join in the free celebration. The first 3,000 attendees will receive a free 10-foot long lockable metal tape measure, and exhibitors Old Glory, Wargames Factory and Warlords will provide free figures to attendees (while supplies last). A special 25th Anniversary cake is being made just for HISTORICON by Charm City Cakes (of the Ace of Cakes Food Network show) featuring the original “Hands Bridge” logo created by artist Rich Hasenauer to promote the first HISTORICON in 1984. The cake will be on display Friday and will be served to attendees.
Everyone is invited to HISTORICON’s Silver Celebration Party on Friday at 9:30 p.m. in the Windows Restaurant. Free beer samples and promotional items will be provided by various distributors, including Kirchner (Yuengling/Sam Adams), Lancaster Beverage (Coors Light/Heineken), Sheffer (Miller Lite/Lancaster Brew), and Wilsback (Budweiser).
As the popularity of HISTORICON grows, in 2010 the convention will move to the Baltimore Convention Center in Maryland, where it can accommodate more attendees and more vendors. Baltimore offers a wide variety of budget, mid-range and luxury accommodations, and access to historical attractions such as Fort Henry, the USS Constellation, and the Baltimore Civil War Museum. HISTORICON is the largest historical miniatures gaming convention in the United States. Each year, thousands of avid gamers descend on what the New York Times has described as the "mother of all war gaming conventions." The event features thousands of attendees (adults and children), hundreds and hundreds of games, the world's biggest war game hobby shop, painting events, and a special awards celebration. Admission to the 4-day convention is $15 for HMGS members and $35 for non-members.
Other HMGS events include the annual “Fall In” convention to be held Nov. 6 – 9, 2009 in Gettysburg, PA, “Cold Wars”, to be held March 11 – 14, 2010 in Lancaster, PA, and “HISTORICON 2010” to be held July 8 -11, 2010 in Baltimore, MD.
For more information on HMGS, visit www.hmgs.org. For more information on HISTORICON, visit www.HISTORICON.org.
HISTORICON 2009 Announces Educational Programs, Special Events
Celebrates 25 Years of Historical Miniatures Gaming
Bel Air, MD (June, 2009) –The games begin on July 16 and continue through July 19 at HISTORICON 2009 (www.HISTORICON.org), the largest gathering of historical miniatures hobbyists and gamers. The convention offers extensive seminars and discussions, plus exciting military history games, tournaments, and contests attracting thousands of historical gaming enthusiasts.
The Historical Miniatures Gaming Society East (www.HMGS.org) commemorates the silver (25th) anniversary of HISTORICON, “the mother of all war gaming conventions” at the Lancaster Host Resort & Conference Center in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Students of military history and war gamers can attend a full program of seminars by well-known historians discussing the convention theme of the 200th Anniversary of 1809 Napoleonic Wars.
Scott Bowden, author of 24 works connected to Napoleonic and American military history; Rene Chartrand, author of over 30 books on American and Western European military history; First Sgt. Matthew Eversmann, who was portrayed in Black Hawk Down; Col. David Glantz, who served over 30 years in the military and has written or co-authored 60+ books; and Dr. Donald Howard, founder of the Institute on Napoleon and the French Revolution are among the noted military historians and luminaries who will be presenting talks during the conference.
“The Napoleonic era has always been a great period for the wargamer as this theme allows for a cross-section of presentations and games, from formal massed European armies to the Spanish guerilla actions,” said Pete Panzeri, president of HMGS East. “The price Napoleon paid for his ill-conceived Spanish venture produced so much bleeding in the diplomatic, military, financial, and political realms of his empire, that it is referred to as the ‘Spanish Ulcer’.”
A new feature to Historicon this year is the first annual “Piratical”, a costume contest for adults with prizes and games. To be held on July 18 at 8 p.m., the contest encourages adults to dress in any costume related to pirates of 1809 – British, French, American Navy or Marines.
All HISTORICON attendees are welcome to attend the HMGS 25th Anniversary awards presentation, which includes the First Annual HISTORICON Awards, Game Master of the Year Award, HMGS Legion of Honor, and Jack Scruby Award. Entrance to the awards presentation is free to all. During the presentation, HMGS will recognize the Historical Gaming Industry with the first annual HISTORICON Awards for excellence and prominence in historical games and miniatures. Six HISTORICON awards will include: Historical Miniatures Vehicle, Terrain and Figure Line of the Year, as well as Historical Miniatures Game, Game Expansion, and Gaming Reference Publication of the Year.
HISTORICON 2009 features over 600 events, including elaborate historical miniatures games reflecting Napoleon’s 1809 Austrian Campaign and the Peninsular War (1807-14) and the massive and most extensive tournament program in North America – everything from DBA, DBR, and Warhammer Ancients to Field of Glory (FoG) and Flames of War (FoW). A special 25th Anniversary cake is being made just for HISTORICON by Charm City Cakes (of the Ace of Cakes Food Network show) featuring the original “Hands Bridge” logo created by artist Rich Hasenauer to recognize the first HISTORICON in 1984. The cake will be on display Friday and will be served to attendees.
As the popularity of HISTORICON grows, in 2010 the convention will move to the Baltimore Convention Center in Maryland, where it can accommodate many more attendees and vendors. Baltimore offers a wide variety of budget, mid-range and luxury accommodations, and access to historical attractions such as Fort McHenry, the USS Constellation, and the Baltimore Civil War Museum. HISTORICON is the largest historical miniatures gaming convention in the United States. Each year, thousands of avid gamers descend on what the New York Times has described as the "mother of all war gaming conventions." The event features thousands of attendees (adults and children), hundreds and hundreds of games, the world's biggest war game hobby shop, painting events, and a special awards celebration. Admission to the 4-day convention is $15 for HMGS members and $35 for non-members.
HMGS is a non-profit educational organization that promotes the study of military history through historical miniatures gaming, seminars, grants, and conventions.
Other HMGS events include the annual “Fall In” convention to be held Nov. 6 – 9, 2009 in Gettysburg, PA, “Cold Wars”, to be held March 11 – 14, 2010 in Lancaster, PA, and “HISTORICON 2010” to be held July 8 -11, 2010 in Baltimore, MD.
For more information on HMGS, visit www.hmgs.org. For more information on HISTORICON, visit www.HISTORICON.org.
###
HISTORICON Celebrates 25 Years of Historical Miniatures Gaming
Pre-Registration Now Open
Bel Air, MD (May, 2009) -- The Historical Miniatures Gaming Society East (www.HMGS.org) commemorates the silver anniversary of HISTORICON, “the mother of all war gaming conventions” from July 16 – 19, 2009 at the Lancaster Host Resort & Conference Center in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Attracting thousands of historical gaming hobbyists, HISTORICON 2009 celebrates its 25th year with four days of fun on the convention theme of the 200th Anniversary of 1809 Napoleonic Wars. HMGS is a non-profit educational organization that promotes the study of military history through historical miniatures gaming, seminars, grants, and conventions.
HISTORICON 2009 features over 600 events, including elaborate historical miniatures games reflecting Napoleon’s 1809 Austrian Campaign and the Peninsular War (1807-14) and the massive and most extensive tournament program in North America – everything from DBA, DBR, and Warhammer Ancients to Field of Glory (FoG) and Flames of War (FoW). More than 700 games over the entire four days of the convention attract players from across the United States and Europe.
“The Napoleonic era has always been a great period for the wargamer and this theme allows for a broad cross-section of games, from formal massed European armies to the Spanish guerilla actions and games involving Sharpe’s Rifles,” said Pete Panzeri. “Aside from the Napoleonic era, HISTORICON 2009 offers hundreds of games and tournament events from nearly every other period of military history.”
HISTORICON also holds the HMGS War College with 40 historical presentations by scholars such as René Chartrand, military historian and author of 30+ books, and Matt Eversmann, veteran of the Battle of Mogadishu (‘Blackhawk Down’), and a Napoleonic Wars Exposition: “The Sharpe Experience.” The convention’s Painting and Modeling University allows participants to choose from a variety of classes to learn new techniques for miniature painting. Attendees can also register for the “Iron Paintbrush” Competition where teams compete to create the most eye-catching figure mini-diorama.
Other special HISTORICON events include a Wild West costume contest with prizes for kids and an adult costume contest related to pirates of 1809 – British, Spanish, French, American Navy or Marines. As part of the silver anniversary of HISTORICON, all attendees are invited to join in the free celebration. The first 3,000 attendees will receive a free 10-foot long lockable metal tape measure, and exhibitors Old Glory, Wargames Factory and Warlords will provide free figures to attendees (while supplies last). A special 25th Anniversary cake is being made just for HISTORICON by Charm City Cakes (of the Ace of Cakes Food Network show) featuring the original “Hands Bridge” logo created by artist Rich Hasenauer to promote the first HISTORICON in 1984. The cake will be on display Friday and will be served to attendees.
Everyone is invited to HISTORICON’s Silver Celebration Party on Friday at 9:30 p.m. in the Windows Restaurant. Free beer samples and promotional items will be provided by various distributors, including Kirchner (Yuengling/Sam Adams), Lancaster Beverage (Coors Light/Heineken), Sheffer (Miller Lite/Lancaster Brew), and Wilsback (Budweiser).
As the popularity of HISTORICON grows, in 2010 the convention will move to the Baltimore Convention Center in Maryland, where it can accommodate more attendees and more vendors. Baltimore offers a wide variety of budget, mid-range and luxury accommodations, and access to historical attractions such as Fort Henry, the USS Constellation, and the Baltimore Civil War Museum. HISTORICON is the largest historical miniatures gaming convention in the United States. Each year, thousands of avid gamers descend on what the New York Times has described as the "mother of all war gaming conventions." The event features thousands of attendees (adults and children), hundreds and hundreds of games, the world's biggest war game hobby shop, painting events, and a special awards celebration. Admission to the 4-day convention is $15 for HMGS members and $35 for non-members.
Other HMGS events include the annual “Fall In” convention to be held Nov. 6 – 9, 2009 in Gettysburg, PA, “Cold Wars”, to be held March 11 – 14, 2010 in Lancaster, PA, and “HISTORICON 2010” to be held July 8 -11, 2010 in Baltimore, MD.
For more information on HMGS, visit www.hmgs.org. For more information on HISTORICON, visit www.HISTORICON.org.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Historicon
Along with playing some board games, I've been working on a game for Historicon (www.historicon.org). It's entitled Raid on Auntdebbie and is a skirmish level game set in my fictional African island nation, Zamunda. Really the only thing I've had to work on is putting together and painting the Platicville USA airport terminal. Pictures to follow.
As for Historicon I'm signed up for a few games, including Command Decision, which is a battalion level WW2 game. It looks a little like Flames of War (same scale, 15mm) but in FOW each vehicle represents one vehicle and each stand represents a squad (or is it half-squad?). In CD, each vehicle is a platoon and each stand is a company.
Command Decision is a good game but it can be risky playing at a convention. It tends to attract some interesting people. People who may be interesting to talk to but not that much fun to play games with. Oh well. The game I'm signed up for is being run by Jake Strangeway who runs a lot of CD games at the cons and his games are always great.
More on Historicon in a few.
I updated my music and reading lists. For those of you who don't know, Batman is dead. Sort of. He got shot by omega beams and sent back in time, and everyone in the present thinks he's dead. Yeah. Anyway, Nightwing (the original Robin for those of you keeping score at home) has taken over as Batman.
What I'm trying to say is that while all that sounds pretty strange, the new Batman comics are pretty good so far. Much better than the Superman books.
As for Historicon I'm signed up for a few games, including Command Decision, which is a battalion level WW2 game. It looks a little like Flames of War (same scale, 15mm) but in FOW each vehicle represents one vehicle and each stand represents a squad (or is it half-squad?). In CD, each vehicle is a platoon and each stand is a company.
Command Decision is a good game but it can be risky playing at a convention. It tends to attract some interesting people. People who may be interesting to talk to but not that much fun to play games with. Oh well. The game I'm signed up for is being run by Jake Strangeway who runs a lot of CD games at the cons and his games are always great.
More on Historicon in a few.
I updated my music and reading lists. For those of you who don't know, Batman is dead. Sort of. He got shot by omega beams and sent back in time, and everyone in the present thinks he's dead. Yeah. Anyway, Nightwing (the original Robin for those of you keeping score at home) has taken over as Batman.
What I'm trying to say is that while all that sounds pretty strange, the new Batman comics are pretty good so far. Much better than the Superman books.
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