Category: Conventions

06/22/17

Origins – Thoughts from the GrogCrew

What did our guys bring home from #Origins2017?  What was the coolest thing they saw? ~

GrogHeads Staff, 22 June 2017

We asked our crew at the GrogHeads Central Command (AKA Fort Kickass) to chime in with the coolest thing they saw at Origins that wasn’t GrogHeads-related.  Most of them dropped us a line or so.  One of them expanded his thoughts.  And one of them wrote a bunch.

First, the loot, as photographed by some of our GrogHeads

Bullet points!

  • Coolest non-Grogheads thing…discussing and/or playing three in-development wargames with the designers.
  • The coolest thing I saw was Rogue Cthulhu gaming group.  All of their events were very good and it was well organized.
  • Coolest thing I saw this trip was a 6′ x 3′ rubber backed carpet, that was the game board for Quartermaster General!


Some longer thoughts:

Ian won the kid’s section of the Costume contest with his Dwemer Armor (made by Ian, Corinne, plus additional help from grandma and grandpa.)  And Edward Owczarski took third place in the same event!  Yes!  😀

Continue reading →

06/20/17

Origins – YAPG

Yet Another Photo Gallery from #Origins2017 ~

GrogHeads Staff, 20 June 2017

There were plenty of other games on tables, and a few ‘destination’ events that are the big games people come to conventions for.

Don’t forget to also check out Twitter feed for other photos that were posted live from the show.

Chat about it below, or in our forums, or hit our FaceBook page >>

06/20/17

Origins – The Newbie Report

Avery’s #Origins2017 Newbie Experience ~

Avery Abernethy, 20 June 2017

My Origins knowledge goes back to playing Avalon Hill wargames in the 60s and 70s and their sponsorship of Origins in the distant past. Many grogs attend annually. I looked at the event list for the last two years before making the plunge. I went for the first time last week driving ten and a half hours from Alabama to Columbus, Ohio.

After this article was submitted, Origins released attendance numbers, and there were over 17000 unique attendees.

Origins is huge. There are more than six and a half thousand scheduled events spread over five days. I spent hours figuring out what I wanted to play when the program was released this Spring. I purchased event tickets for many Call of Cthulhu RPG events. About half of the program is tabletop events. Second in number are RPGs with many D&D, Shadow Run, Pathfinder, and Call of Cthulhu events. But less common games such as Paranoia, Chill, Trail of Cthulhu and many others have at least a couple of games being run. There are also many card deck games and even multiple LARPS (Live Action Roll Playing). There are also a number of miniatures games. Continue reading →

06/17/17

Origins – Day 3 Photos

More pics from #Origins2017 ~

GrogHeads Staff, 17 June 2017

With the convention in full swing, there are plenty of games on tables to photograph.  There’s also no shortage of designers ready to show off their new games in the exhibit hall.

Don’t forget to also check out Twitter feed for other photos that were posted live from the show.

Chat about it below, or in our forums, or hit our FaceBook page >>

06/17/17

Origins – Proving Ground Games

The award-winning minis heroes are back at #Origins2017 ~

Michelle Owczarski, 16 June 2017

Gigantaur (don’t call him Godzilla!) in the front, and Heather & Mark Brown of PGG on the left, in the background.

Even with a brisk demo schedule and booth sales exponentially better than last year, Proving Ground Games’ Heather Brown gave me a few minutes to chat.

New this year is Crucible of Force, which brings PGG’s Fields of Fire engine to World War II. It’s available for purchase now. Hive, Queen and Country will be seeing Kickstarter orders filled soon, with a full release by end of 2017. This includes materials for RPG, miniatures and a supplement for vehicles. Coming soon via WargameVault, the demo scenarios run at Origins will be released in packs for Fields of Fire and Crucible of War in PDF format.

Proving Ground prides itself on games that are easy to learn, are well-researched, and provide an enjoyable gaming experience for all players. The rules are tested against extensive “rules lawyering” as a way for their system to be an entry to historical miniatures gaming.

Heather said that Proving Ground is pleased with the 2017 convention so far. The perception is that attendance is up, people are smiling and happy and buying, and that con staff were ensuring things were running more smoothly than in years previous. She was critical, however, of the mix of available events, citing a lack of diversity in LARPS and a general lack of historical miniatures. While there are more sessions, there are many repeats, versus original events.

The best part of the convention, though, “Someone brought me a pie!” (It was chocolate, walnut and bourbon, and it came all the way from New Mexico.)

Ed note: Proving Ground’s Movie Monster Madness variant for their Fields of Fire rules was part of our kids’ program this year. 

 

Chat about it below, or in our forums, or hit our FaceBook page >>