01/22/14

2014 Convention Schedule

Game On!
6 – 9 Feb, Seattle, WA
Feature the 2d Annual Lock’n’Load World con, too

•Monster Games – with the time and space you need to play them
•8th Annual NW ASL Championships
•Combat Commander Tourney
•OCS/SCS/TCS
•CDG’s and Euros
•Swap meet
•Or any other game you want to host

Williamsburg Muster
7 – 9 Feb, Williamsburg, VA
The Williamsburg Muster is an annual wargaming convention in Williamsburg, VA, hosted by the Hampton Roads Wargamers.

Our goal is to host a convention that is both family friendly and appealing to a wide variety of gamers. We primarily feature historical miniature wargames, but we also showcase a board-gaming room with many of the most popular titles currently on the market, as well as science-fiction based and role playing games. We want and encourage visitors, whether experienced gamers or first time visitors, to participate in as many games as possible. Check out our Primary Events List as we get closer to the convention dates for more details.

DundraCon
14-17 Feb, San Ramon, CA
Includes a West coast edition of the War College (with Dana Lombardy, among others) and a pretty robust event calendar.

OwlCon
21-23 February, Houston, TX
Pre-registration open, includes a variety of role-playing, tabletop, and minis games.

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06/28/13

Origins 2013 – Exhibitor Hall!

Brant Guillory, 26 June 2013

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.

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.

… and trying to avoid their picture being taken.

Many dealers, like Crash, advertised games that were on Kickstarter.

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.

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.

TechCommander figures. They’re not really “minis” when they stand 6 inches high.

A Caribbean “castle” for your pirate adventures.

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

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!

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06/26/13

Origins 2013 – Gameplay!

Brant Guillory, 24 June 2013

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 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.

The minis tables always have some visual treats on them

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.

Stay tuned for our final installment of our Origins coverage from the Exhibitor Hall later this week.

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06/22/13

Origins 2013 – Costumes!

Brant Guillory 22 June 2013

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.

Origins13127 — The demo team for Catalyst’s *Leviathans* game were most decked out in some nice costumes.

Origins13125 — Steampunk costumes continue to be popular.

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06/20/13

Origins 2013 – Frontline General Gameplay Video

Brant Guillory, 20 June 2013

Byron Collins, of Collins Epic Wargames, takes a moment out of Origins to show off how the Frontline General game works.

And don’t forget that they’ve got an Eastern Front expansion on Kickstarter, too.

GrogHeads

Keep Calm and Grog On!

Tag: Origins