The exhibitor hall was refreshingly busy. Some of the dealers I spoke to had reported some slower sales, and the big guns of wargaming that had been present for so many years – GMT, MMP, Avalanche, Matrix, LNLP – were all missing for various reasons. But if you wanted to find some great gaming, there was no excuse, because it was everywhere. Even without the more well-known companies, there was plenty of wargaming to be found with Grognard Simulations, Proving Ground, Zvezda’s big booth, Collins Epic Wargames, VPG, and more.
What else did we find in the dealer hall? Check it out. Click on images to enlarge.
War Command Games
Escape: The Curse of the Temple, a real-time tabletop game
Yes, real-time. It’s got a sand timer, or a CD with a music track you can use.
Bayonet Jr showing off the stack of games for sale.
Stronghold Games’ booth was buzzing.
Crash Games hanging out at the booth…
… and trying to avoid their picture being taken.
Many dealers, like Crash, advertised games that were on Kickstarter.
A fantasy 4x game? Sure!
Detail of Terra Mystica
Pandemic has gotten a visual overhaul.
Detail of Pandemic’s new graphics.
Academy has a very busy booth.
Munchkin + Pathfinder = COOL!
The ‘dungeon crawl’ table for the Munchkin Pathfinder game.
Another view of the ‘dungeon crawl’ table for the Munchkin Pathfinder game.
These guys had a light-projection table plugged into a computer to project the map onto a light box for RPG encounters.
Another view of the projected light-box.
These poster maps were HUGE and printed on vinyl for durability.
BIG starship plans from Blackwyrm Publishing.
Bayonet Jr gives you a sense of the scale of these maps.
Another poster map from Blackwyrm
Scrying Eye also does some very cool game mats.
Steampunk airships make for great table maps.
The geomorphic dungeon crawl tiles were a neat find.
Scrying Eye’s rack of game mats was impressive in its quantity.
So how many of the basestars can you name?
And how many of the battlestars could you ID?
Miniature spaceship armadas are more impressive when they’re on the wire posts to elevate them.
More spaceships, and fighters were 3 / $1.
These handmade ships from Sea Dog Games break down for travel and are made in Columbus.
No, he’s not having an identity crisis. There actually was a priate that would sail under a British flag to close on ships, then run out the Jolly Roger.
Sea Dog Games also make wrecks!
Another close-up of a ship.
TechCommander figures. They’re not really “minis” when they stand 6 inches high.
More TechCommander figures.
The TechCommander demo battlefield.
Minis combat on a ship model.
A Caribbean “castle” for your pirate adventures.
A small-scale Caribbean battle.
Agents of Smersh from 8th Summit.
It’s a cooperative game where all the players are trying to take down the bad guys together.
8th Summit has some expansions for Agents of Smersh coming soon.
Drake: The Dragon Wargame from Action Games Miniatures
Drake: The Dragon Wargame from Action Games Miniatures
The full table for Drake: The Dragon Wargame from Action Games Miniatures
One more look at Drake: The Dragon Wargame from Action Games Miniatures
VPG had much more than just their wargames out for the public.
And those miniature dice towers are just darn cute.
VPG was focusing on family games, rather than their more famous wargaming lines.
Balance of Power from Catalyst. Bayonet Jr actually spanked the demo guy in their sample game.
That’s it for our 2013 Origins coverage. See y’all next year!
Look, you’re at Origins to check out all things gaming, right? But what about actually, y’know, playing games?! There’s plenty of gameplay to be found through the convention center. Here’s a snippet of what was going on Saturday.
A really BIG game of Settlers of Catan
A really BIGGER game of Settlers of America
One of the great things about conventions is getting to play those monster, multi-player, multi-hour games, like Twilight Imperium.
Twilight Imperium in progress.
Twilight Imperium, only 2-1/2 hours in!
Detail of the Twilight Imperium figures
The minis tables always have some visual treats on them
Waiting to go into battle.
A homemade battlewagon for Warhammer.
A sci-fi shootout in progress.
“Here come the big uglies, men!”
One of the odder games we saw, mixing early-WWII-era ground troops with some very odd aircraft.
Ever seen a 4-winged, fixed-wing close-air-support attack plane? Now you check that one off your bucket list.
Preparing to repulse those insectoid aircraft.
Infantry advancing behind their armor support.
Smurf Wars. Yes, Smurfs.
Yes, those are Smurfs in combat.
Smurfs throwing down!
Stay tuned for our final installment of our Origins coverage from the Exhibitor Hall later this week.
One of the more entertaining benefits of game conventions is checking out the excellent costumes that some folks wear to the show. This year’s Origins was honestly lacking in full-on costumed convention-goers, but a great many people were sporting something, like a set of steampunk goggles, or a set of antennae on their head. I didn’t notice as many animal tails hanging off of people this year, however. There were a few WH40K pictures that I’ve seen since Origins, but I didn’t see them while I was there.
The demo team for Catalyst’s Leviathans game were most decked out in some nice costumes.
Hey, look – we’re Grogs, right? Which means we’re looking for wargames, right? Despite the whining and moaning on Consimworld that someone’s favorite game company wasn’t there, Origins has plenty of wargaming – if you bother to look for it. We’ve already shown you Collins Epic Wargames, but here are some of the other wargaming found at Origins in 2013.
AcademyGames
They’re not exclusively wargaming, but their wargames are attracting a ton of positive attention from grogs and general boardgamers alike.
Conflict of Heroes is still attracting a ton of walk-up interest at the Academy Games table
Academy also has a new AWI game built on the same system as A Few Acres of Snow
