Category Archives: Whatever
Report from LibertyCon 30
It’s a limited-attendance show, which might keep out some of the riff-raff? ~
Avery Abernethy, 17 July 2017
click images to enlarge
LibertyCon is a small SF literary, gaming and whatnot convention. They limit themselves to 750 attendees and have sold out for years. LibertyCon is held in Chattanooga, Tennessee at the last weekend in June. This was year 30.
LibertyCon is different from every other convention I’ve ever attended. It is very small, but has an amazing guest list. This year literary guests included SF (and wargamer favorites) John Ringo, David Drake, David Weber, Charles Gannon, and Michael Z. Williamson. 
Also attending (an incomplete list) were Robert Buettner; Julie Cochrane; John Hartness; Sarah Hoyt; Chris Kennedy; Tom Kratman; Van Allen Plexico and Cherie Priest. I own probably fifty books written by various author attendees. Baen Publishing loves me.
The strong author list is partly due to LibertyCon being the local convention for David Weber (who always brings his wife and three kids) and John Ringo. A huge number of Baen Books authors always attend. Baen’s publisher Toni Weisskopf is from Wake Forest, NC and they do a two hour “what are we up to” talk every year where they also give away books. They have a Baen author dinner and probably do quite a bit of business. They publically give book contracts to authors at the Baen Show.
Modern-Day Napoleonic Battles & Travels, Part the Third
Cyrano’s last travelogue update before, y’know, actually traveling! ~
Jim Owczarski, 15 July 2017
I’m a bit embarrassed that it’s taken me nigh eight months to file an update to this series, but, with an apology proffered, perhaps it’s best to dive right in?
I’ll begin, if I may, by again talking about a surprise. I’ve known of this creature for a long time:
How very, very lovely
Tracer Rounds: The Nostalgia of Mystara
A photographic journey through an adventurous youth ~
Brant Guillory, 10 July 2017
Most images enlarge when you click them
This started as a set of pics for a personal inventory of the RPG collection. It turned into about half of the collection – this isn’t even all the TSR stuff! – but I wanted to at least get a some of the collection archived. Once I had the pics, though, I figured it was time to bring back at least one random episode of Tracer Rounds, and share some pics and commentary on the Mystara collection.
As an aside, for folks who are really interested in Mystara, you should check out the Bruce Heard episode of the GrogCast, wherein we ask about his background with Mystara, and get a few good inside stories from the glory days of TSR.
Mystara, for those that don’t know, was the expansion of the game world that was first introduced in the X1 module that accompanied the expert-level set of the original no-prefix D&D, starting around 1981. As the rules grew from basic to expert to companion and beyond, the rules series became known as the BECMI series.
How many of us started our adventures here?
The Southern Fried Game Expo Experience
Games aplenty in Atlanta ~
Avery Abernethy, 8 July 2017
The Southern Fried Game Expo (SFGE) is an annual Pinball, Arcade, Console and Board Game convention held annually in Atlanta Georgia. I attended the latest Expo the weekend before the start of Origins on June 9-11, 2017. This is an inexpensive, family friendly and fun event.
Arcade Row
Origins 2017 – Cthulhu
Our intrepid horror-gamer tackled a long weekend of Cthulhu-themed RPGs. Did he escape with his sanity? ~
Avery Abernethy, 3 July 2017
H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu and other horror stories were not very popular during his lifetime and he died a pauper. His heirs did not maintain the copyright to his works which made his stories and the world they inhabited common property for anyone who wished to use them. All of Lovecraft’s works can be obtained free in ebook format.
As Lovecraft’s works grew in popularity, many authors either wrote additional stories and books in this world or adapted his work into other series. Noteworthy examples are the Monster Hunter series by Larry Correia, Princess of Wands by John Ringo and The Laundry Files series by Charles Strauss.
Because the work is in the common domain, there are a lot of Cthulhu games, game systems, supplements and books. Two different RPG systems are based on the Cthulhu mythos (Call of Cthulhu and Trail of Cthulhu). Many other game systems incorporate elements of H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu world including Chill, GURPS Horror, and Munchkin Cthulhu to name but a few. For people who like a little horror in their gaming, there are a lot of options out there and Lovecraft’s mythos is probably the most popular influence.
Origins – Raffle Winners
Who went home with their prizes from #Origins2017? ~
Brant Guillory, 27 June 2017
Photos by Corrinne Mahaffey
One of our highlights every year is the end-of-Origins raffle. Everyone who plays in a ticketed event with us gets their names thrown in the cup for a raffle prize, to go along with the table prizes we’re giving out all convention long. Some of those guys are in there 4 or 5 times, too! Why? Simple – we’re rewarding the wargamers who sit down and play a bunch of games with us!
More accurately, the vendors who donate their kind and generous support to our events are rewarding those gamers that are sitting down to game with us.
This year we had prizes for the raffle from Enterprise Games/GMT, DVG, Dust Tactics, Academy Games, Flying Pig Games, LNLP, and more, to go with a bunch of GrogHeads t-shirts. We would’ve had more to give out from the great folks at LPS, High Flying Dice, Collins Epic, Lost Battalion, and Proving Ground, but our gamers had already snatched up those prizes earlier in the show!
This year we even experimented with live-tweeting the raffle, which went about as well as you’d expect it to, based on a last-minute decision.
So without further ado, our winners, and some scenes from the raffle itself.
Chat about it below, or in our forums, or hit our FaceBook page >>
Origins Convention Report – Lock ‘n Load Publishing
Catching up with David & the crew at #Origins2017 ~
Michelle Owczarski, 26 June 2017
We’re still working our way through our Origins 2017 reports, even though we’re over a week past the show!
With a staggering release of 30 new or updated titles, Lock ‘n Load Publishing earns this reporter’s “Most Ambitious” prize for Origins 2017.
Due to shipping issues from the printer, David Heath said he had a limited number of each title air shipped to meet expectations for his booth. Even so, response has been strong with approximately 40% of convention stock sold on the first day.
Brand-new to Lock ‘n Load Publishing is the Lock ‘n Load Tactical Solo set, a card-based tactical rules AI, called AEO, or Artificial Enemy Opponent, allowing a player to enjoy any of the Lock ‘n Load titles in solitaire mode.
Origins – Costumes!
The costumes at #Origins2017 took on an extra bit of ‘oomph’ this year ~
Corinne Mahaffey, 25 June 2017
In addition to our annual gallery of costumes, this year’s Origins also saw something special for the GrogKids, as two of them entered the kids’ competition in the costume contest – and placed 1st (Ian) and 3rd (Edward).
More costumes within…
