From: Karl Bown Subject: Origins: Day 0 Wed 8:30, Columbus, Ohio Well I'm here, I'm booked into my hotel, I've got my event tickets, my T-shirt, and my lapel badge (stop sniggering at the back there) and I'm ready to start gaming. I haven't been to Origins since sometime in the 80's (I know it was in LA) but one thing stays the same, gamers are incredibly FAT! Before anyone complains, this includes me, although it's nice to be in a crowd where I'm not heavier than average. Forget Weightwatchers, Become a Gamer! Tonight I'll try to pick up a game in the hotel (Crowne Plaza) but tomorrow it begins in earnest. I'm starting with 1830 at 8am, Aliens/Predator CCG at 2pm, and Material World at 5pm. This should give me a bit of variety and I'll try to fill any gaps with picking up stuff for The Games Store, and some wargaming. See you tomorrow Karl Bown The Games Store tgsltd@tgs.co.uk http://www.tgs.co.uk/games/ Updated 11th July 1997 From: Karl Bown Subject: Origins Day 1 Friday 1:30am Time to put my feet up and relax after a busy day. Played 1830 at 8am yesterday (Wed). A very friendly (if 1830 can ever be described as friendly) and fun game with some good players, unlike the table next to ours which nearly came to blows. Followed this with a chat with Dean Essig and a look at a set up DAK which prompted me to pick up my copies of DAK and Crusader from The Gamers stall. The Alien Predator CCG tournament was canceled so I found Rob Markham and picked up a few copies of Race for Space and Game Auction and talked about some of his new projects. Red Storm have their new computer and/or boardgame Politika (designed with input from Tom Clancy) at the show and had a quick multiplayer computer game on the network they have set up. Still a little buggy but should be fun when finished. 5pm saw me sat down for a game of Material World, a game I've played before and enjoyed. I quite fancied my chances when I found out none of my competitors had played before. This soon changed though when I found out we were playing a completely different version of the game. Another great fun game though with a lot of laughs. After dropping off my copies of each of the Talonsoft Battleground series games in my hotel I returned to the Convention Centre to see what games I could pick up for the rest of the evening. Managed to get into a game of El Grande with four guys who were new to the game. The last two times I have taught this game to a new bunch I have come a distant last. this time I managed to improve to 4th! An all time great game though which Wargames West will be doing in an English edition of later this year. I know I've missed some games I played but it's getting late now and I've got to be up to play Age of Renaissance at 8am. More later Karl Bown The Games Store tgsltd@tgs.co.uk http://www.tgs.co.uk/games/ Updated 11th July 1997 From: Karl Bown Subject: Origins Day 2 Saturday 1:30am A heavy cold and a lack of decent sleep went I didn't get up in time for my Age of Renaissance game unfortunately, so I decided to spend most of the day going round the stalls, meeting game company representatives and picking up stock for The Games Store. I was surprised at how few stands there are at the show. Less than I would expect at a medium size wargame show back in England, but it was no less interesting for that. I managed to pick up new games from Chris and Callie Cummins at Decision (The Sun Never Sets - Three British Colonial campaigns - Peking, Sudan and the Zulu Wars, and The Schlieffen Plan - August 1914 as well as the computer version of War in Europe). Ulrich Blenneman is here for Moments in History with Eastwall, The Battles for the Dnepr, Sep 43-Feb 44 which uses the Ring of Fire system and Cheapass Games are here with there excellent collection of 10 strategy games including such memorable titles as Give Me The Brain! and Before I Kill You, Mister Bond so I stocked up on those. By this time I was running out of bags, and arms, so I returned to the hotel to make a drop. I decided it was time to play some games and first on my rounds was the Stock Car Card game. This has been re-issued in new packaging and there are two new tracks available to go with the original Super Speedway, One Mile Oval and Short Track. We played all three tracks and the differences between them are very pronounced. Great fun and I'll definitely be cracking a copy of this open for myself when I get home. I then found out Jay Tummelson from Wargames West who has a nice collection of European games which he is demonstrating. I grabbed a copy of Mississippi Queen and enjoyed it so much I played three games on the trot followed by a game of Lowenherz which had to finish early. (I've just realised I played two games three times each today, must be good to keep me engrossed for so long). It was 1am by then so after a quick look in at the Krieg! room to see how they were getting on I made my way home again. If I'm feeling better in the morning it's Hannibal time, followed by Cosmic Wimpout(?) Later Karl Bown The Games Store tgsltd@tgs.co.uk http://www.tgs.co.uk/games/ Last Updated 11th July 97 PS I remembered one game I played on Thursday, Princess Ryan's Star Marines. Stuart Tucker from The General introduced me and another chap to it, running the bad guys automatically. Great fun, with quite a bit of tension between the players as to who gets the spoils after each victory. From: Terry Rooker Subject: Re: Origins Day 2 On Sat, 19 Jul 1997, Karl Bown wrote: > I was surprised at how few stands there are at the show. A couple of people I talked to mentioned this. There were definitely fewer vendors than last year. Although I think part of that was the apparent bust in the CCG market. There were not nearly as many CCG-only vendors trying to compete with MTG. A bunch of the smaller companies weren't there again, and some were present only in the discount bins of Chessex. Another part of the problem is that last year several (many?) (most?) of the vendors did not have a good weekend selling stuff, and therefore didn't feel like returning (excatly how many depends upon who you talk to). I think the vendors that showed up to demo products and offer discounts had more business. Chessex had nearly non-stop demos going, but they were offering any discounts to keep their wholesale customers happy. Still many people were walking away looking for someone to buy the games. I'm one as Fine Games includes the Eurogames/Chessex games in their catalog. > Cheapass Games are here with there excellent > collection of 10 strategy games including such memorable titles as > Give Me The Brain! and Before I Kill You, Mister Bond so I stocked up > on those. > These games are great. They are small, and designed on a variety of topics. Even if you end up not liking a game, who cares? They only cost about $5.00! > By this time I was running out of bags, and arms, so I returned to the > hotel to make a drop. I decided it was time to play some games and > first on my rounds was the Stock Car Card game. This has been > re-issued in new packaging and there are two new tracks available to > go with the original Super Speedway, One Mile Oval and Short Track. We > played all three tracks and the differences between them are very > pronounced. Great fun and I'll definitely be cracking a copy of this > open for myself when I get home. I second the recommendation for this game. There is even know a bump pass card so you can play like Earnhardt. And they say auto racing isn't a conflict! :-) > I then found out Jay Tummelson from > Wargames West who has a nice collection of European games which he is > demonstrating. I grabbed a copy of Mississippi Queen and enjoyed it so > much I played three games on the trot followed by a game of Lowenherz > which had to finish early. I 'found out' Jay also. :-) I also bought MQ. What did I say earlier about the companies who were also running demos? Of course, it strikes me as odd for someone to come from England to buy a German game in Columbus... :-) Terry From: Karl Bown Subject: Origins Day 3 Not much time for game playing today. Again I didn't get up in time for my morning game, although I am feeling better now. Today was auction day for me, I can't remember how many hours I spent in the auction room, but as Arius and Wade will confirm, it was too many. Amongst my many purchases: 2 or 3 War in the Pacific 2 Wacht am Rhein 2 Highway to the Reich 1 Campaign for North Africa 1 After the Holocaust 2 or 3 Empires of the Middle Ages 1 Mech War 2 2 or 3 War in Europe 1 or 2 Operation Typhoon 2 or 3 Operation Crusader And the list goes on and on. I don't know how much I spent but I'm sure it was too much. The good news is that all these games should be appearing on my catalogue in the next two or three weeks, so keep watching, please! Tomorrow I will spend all day picking up my purchases, deciding how to get them home, and then working out how to tell Audrey Regards Karl Bown The Games Store tgsltd@tgs.co.uk http://www.tgs.co.uk/games/ Updated 11th July 1997 From: Steven Wesley Bucey Subject: Re: Origins Day 3 Karl Bown wrote: > > Not much time for game playing today. Again I didn't get up in time > for my morning game, although I am feeling better now. Today was > auction day for me, I can't remember how many hours I spent in the > auction room, but as Arius and Wade will confirm, it was too many. I was involved with the Krieg! tournement Allen and Steve hosted. I got so involved that on Saturday I never got a chance to do anything else (just played Krieg! from 10:00 am to 11:00 pm). The next day (sunday), I spent 45 minutes at the auction when it opened, then back for more Krieg!. We did break for an hour to look around finally. Even then, I spent to much money, but I know at least one guy who was afraid to go home Sunday night . -- --------------------------------------- 99 bottles of beer in the fridge, 99 bottles of beer... From: "Kaufmann, Arius" Subject: Re: Origins Day 3 Here's a run-down on those games I can remember: Web & Starship: punched $4 3WW Arctic Front punched $5 Dauntless Expansion kit unpunched $10 To the Wolf's Lair punched $13 (Multiple times) PacWar mostly punched $1 (I got REALLY lucky) PacWar various states $18-30 Railway Rivals unpunched $21 Air Force unpunched $7 Starship Troopers various $4-15 (You couldn't GIVE these away before) Rising Sun (A3R) various $28-30 A3R various $25-30 Enemy at the Gates unpunched $30 Next War various $50-70 Mechwar2 unpunched $34-40 U-Boat Metal Mini's box damage $26-34 Desert Steel various $8-18 Empire of the Middle Ages punched $88-135 Operation Typhoon various $50-100 Conquest of the Empire various $50-100 Prestags various $175-215 Red Sun Black Cross unpunched $145 (A Steal) Red Sun Black Cross, Return to Europe, and Escort Fleet bundled unpunched $800 Here's some bizarre ones: HOBBY JAPAN VERSIONS OF EUROPA Case white: $30 Narvik: $45? Fall of France: $60 Fire in the East: $100 and one other, but I can't remember what Arius Kaufmann Collaboratio maximi momenti est, quia eis alterum scopum praebet On Tuesday, July 22, 1997 7:29 AM, David Grosskurth [SMTP:dave@DELTA-AIR.COM] wrote: > Arius, could you or Karl give us a quick rundown on what stuff was > going for, and any notable auction sales? From: Karl Bown Subject: Origins Day 4 and Roundup It's Tuesday now and I'm back in the real world. I didn't manage to play any games on Sunday, spending the entire day at the auction, logging all the games I've bought (if anybody wants a list email me directly) and buying even more. The star of the auction was 3 games from Ad Technos, still in the shrinkwrap, Red Sun Black Cross, it's expansion and one other whose name I forget. I didn't bid on those (words you will not have heard from me before) but they went for 800 dollars (US not Hong Kong). I then had the joyful experience of getting 400 pounds in weight (100 cubic feet) of games back to England. I spent another night over in Columbus as I thought Southwest Airlines might baulk at me trying to put it under the seat in front of me. The games are now under the control of UPS winging their way back to England. Strangely enough most of them will probably end up back in the US again when I sell them! What I liked about Origins: Meeting lots of gamers, making new friends, playing the odd game or two, talking to designers and publishers who I only previously knew from their games and reviews in mags, the amount of space available, the auction, the Magic players didn't take over the show, halls nicely air-conditioned. What I didn't like about Origins Poor signposting, many events moved/cancelled, tripping over Magic players in the corridors, not enough time to play games due to auction and other business, the amount of money I spent, going outside and finding it not air-conditioned. I like the social aspects of gaming most, the chance to talk to gamers, have a laugh, discuss what you like and dislike etc. Origins was great for that. I can't imagine meeting a nicer bunch of people anywhere, I wish I could take just 10% of the people I met back to England with me, I would be one contented gamer. Thank you for having me, I'll see you next year Regards Karl Bown The Games Store Boardgames and Magazines by Mail Order tgsltd@tgs.co.uk http://www.tgs.co.uk/games/ Updated 11th July 1997 From: Terry Rooker Subject: Re: Origins Day 4 and Roundup On Tue, 22 Jul 1997, Karl Bown wrote: > What I liked about Origins: > Meeting lots of gamers, making new friends, playing the odd game or > two, talking to designers and publishers who I only previously knew > from their games and reviews in mags, the amount of space available, > the auction, the Magic players didn't take over the show, halls nicely > air-conditioned. > I also noticed that Magic was not as overwhelming as last year. I don't know if that was a result of changes made by Andon, or if the CCG thing is finally seeking a sustainable equilibrium. I just know that they weren't as apparent as last year. In keeping with that Andon did make some changes for the better. Last year they had three (4?) interconnected meeting rooms opened into a single room for both open gaming and running tournaments. It was a mess to say the least. This year the open gaming rooms were not only separate from most of the tournies, but they were also closer to the core convention spaces. This may be also in part due to the fact that Andon overestimated attendance last year and had more space than they really used. Last year, the minatures gaming was in a big meeting room, but it was at the opposite end of the convention center from most of the other stuff. This year, the minis weren't all in one room, but they were a lot closer. The HMGS was also very visible advertising historical miniatures and sponsoring numerous events. It appeared to be working since I saw many young faces playing several of their events. Harpoon 4 was one of the few exceptions. Except for being in a different room, I'da sworn that they hadn't moved from last year's Origins. :-) Terry From: Dick Shay Subject: Origins for Me Many people here on CONSIM-L dislike Origins, and they have their reasons, but I would like to say that I had more fun at Origins this year than I have ever had before. The friends I brought with me agreed that it was great this year. There were a lot of reasons: Wargamers had a lot of room to play, but were concentrated in a common area. Miniatures were together, mostly in & near a large meeting room. Board gamers had their own floor with about 10 rooms, many were very large. The open gaming area was large and never closed. There were plenty of tournaments for many games and demo games by companies. I got to buy plenty of games and some were even discounted (Berg's Waterloo $20, Spearhead: They Met at Gettysburg $26, MIH: Fields of Glory, $19). I got to hang out with "famous designers". Then again, having R. Berg correct your posture is just as annoying as having him 'dis your game design. The food court at the convention center was very close by and the Subway was open 24 hours. I probably could have got more bargains at the auction. I'm not a collector though (good thing my wife will never see this post, she would laugh so hard). What I didn't like was the terrible food on the floor of the convention center. It is expensive, but what the heck. This was the first year I flew ($120 round trip, a local game store organized the flying, they all went to work as gamemasters and volunteers). I took my son. We stayed at the Hyatt with some friends. So I figure its going to cost me anyway. In a few years, my son might even help pay for it! It's true that you trip over Magic players all the time, but they don't mind and one of them is my own son. There aren't many places I can let him go for hours unsupervised (by me) even at age 16. Anyplace where Magic is being played is OK. Magic players are gamers, not your kind of gamers, but gamers. Within the wacky world of gaming they are pretty well behaved (fights don't break out and no one drives off the road with their cards in their hand). And people spending all their money on cards (and games) have little left over for drugs or drink. TO outline the weekend: I'm playtesting M Hermann's Of the People (We the Rebels) with my friend Joel. So getting there early on Wednesday we got to finish a game. We are enjoying this immensely. Its much more historical feeling than We the People (more spaces, more stuff on the board, more kinds of decisions). The game ended way too early, with the CSA wrecked in mid '63. I wrote it up, meaning to find the designer some time over the weekend. Thursday morning, M Hermann and R Berg are trying to eat breakfast, so I drop off the report, but end up having a discussion instead and a plan to play the game with him that night. In the morning I had signed up for Columbia Games Blocks of War demo. The Columbia folk are not very well organized at Origins (based on my experience) mostly because they have too few people doing too much, so I was a little annoyed. Blocks of War is generic WWII with blocks (think Blitzkrieg). It was OK, but I decided I am not a blocks person. Its not a ding against blocks, just a personal preference. I played History of the World in the afternoon, but didn't make the second round. So Joel and I played OtP against Mark. He tunes up the game as we play and a number of things are changed/clarified. The South becomes less crushable and the game is in much better shape. Berg is telling me that standing over the map is bad for my back and assorted luminaries come by for a chat. It was a lot of fun and now I'm really psyched about the game. Friday I got to try the Last Crusade (actually pretty good, more flavor than Tank Leader, but ugly cards), Le Petit Empereur (fast Napoleonic miniatures. The best I can say is that they are fast. Very bland in terms of unit differentiation, though) and Nuclear War (sorry, but its so much fun). More Histroy of the World in the evening. I did find time to wander the booths. Saturday I wandered around the booths a lot. I tried some non-wargames. Fluxx is a fun card game (not collectible) suitable for all audiences. Cheapass Games has a bunch of fun stuff. Give Me the Brain is about working in a fast food restaurant, except you are a zombie (or is that implicit) and have to share one brain among all the players. Great stupid fun. Before I Kill You, Mr. Bond is about being the evil genuis (sort of) with the usual problems getting from capture hero to killing hero that your gigantic ego creates. Kill Dr. Lucky is the prequel game to Clue (with different characters, of course). My friends tried X-files and On the Edge CCGs. On the Edge was desperately trying to drum up some momentum, while the card dealers were marking there decks down drastically. Is this a good business model? Later I got into a game of Tahiti, but discovered I was so tired that I couldn't manage moving large logs around, never mind conflict. Sunday was spent goofing off, packing and playing a little Fluxx. Over the weekend I also caught a presentation by Tom Clancy. He is pushing his new company, Red Storm Entertainment, and biting off a big piece to chew, "We are inventing a new media in story-telling." Well, without a giant ego, you wouldn't even try. The first game, Politicka, looks only moderately interesting to me. The network play might be fun though. I also caught part of one War College seminar. My buddies went to a bunch. They are uniformly interesting and cover a wide range of areas. We were asked to make favorable comments about them on our feedback to Andon, apparently the Andon folk aren't sure its worth the space or trouble. There were fewer booths, but they seemed busier. Only the sales results will tell. There weren't as many wacky things happening in the area outside the dealer area, but there were demos continuously and you could try a lot of different things. I have to hand it to Andon. Wargamers weren't slighted. Registration ran smoothly. Events did move sometimes, but I never had trouble finding them. Tournaments tended to start a little late (10-15 min.), but that was typically due to the gamemaster being busy. I think the secret to having a good time there is to have a plan, but not be too rigid about it. Changing your events or getting a ticket for an event is pretty easy. Allow time to play demos and relax. Unlike my son, I can't really stay up 24 hours at a stretch and enjoy it anymore. Dick Shay 617-466-4173 rshay@gte.com Within GTE: http://cnsmacic.gte.com/users/rshay/ From: Terry Rooker Subject: Re: Origins for Me On Wed, 23 Jul 1997, Dick Shay wrote: > There were fewer booths, but they seemed busier. Only the sales results > will tell. There weren't as many wacky things happening in the area outside > the dealer area, but there were demos continuously and you could try a lot > of different things. > > I have to hand it to Andon. Wargamers weren't slighted. Registration ran > smoothly. Events did move sometimes, but I never had trouble finding them. > Tournaments tended to start a little late (10-15 min.), but that was > typically due to the gamemaster being busy. > > I think the secret to having a good time there is to have a plan, but not > be too rigid about it. Changing your events or getting a ticket for an > event is pretty easy. Allow time to play demos and relax. Unlike my son, I > can't really stay up 24 hours at a stretch and enjoy it anymore. > Yeah, what he said! This year I tried something different and didn't pre-register for anything, except for trying to get into a scheduled Throneworld demo. I figured if I found something I liked, that I could get a ticket, or even play for free if they were short on bodies. I've said in another message that the CCG presence wasn't nearly as overwhelming. I don't know if that was by design, or simple the result of market pressure shrinking that portion of the hobby. I didn't have trouble finding anything, but I heard of others who did. Of course, many of them didn't bother to check things on a map before they went wandering. I even saw someone I knew running around trying to find the Ballroom so he could run the event he was scheduled to GM! Terry From: Jerry Taylor Subject: Re: Origins for Me Dick Shay wrote: > > In the morning I had signed up for Columbia Games Blocks of War demo. The > Columbia folk are not very well organized at Origins (based on my experience) > mostly because they have too few people doing too much, so I was a little > annoyed. Blocks of War is generic WWII with blocks (think Blitzkrieg). It > was OK, but I decided I am not a blocks person. Its not a ding against blocks, > just a personal preference. I'm sorry you were turned-off by "Blocks of War." While I'm a hard-core "blockhead," I just couldn't muster any enthusiasm to play the game based on the demo I saw (real low unit density and slow game play seemed to be the rule). Before letting BOW alienate you forever, though, try either Rommel in the Desert or Bobby Lee; two relatively easy to learn and figure-out block games that have a lot of tension, cut & thrust, rich strategic play, and a good pace. Of course, EastFront is the Rolls Royce of the line, but that takes a little more commitment (although not that much). I spent a lot of time hanging out in the Columbia area. While they always had 2-4 staff and/or volunteers hanging around to help gamers (not counting the more experienced block gamers who were always around to help/evangalize when called on), the problem was the large number of gamers that kept showing up to play. Actually, that's not really a problem ... unless you don't get any help when needed. After wandering around a bit, I was quite surprised that so many gamers were playing Columbia products compared to those of competitors. Let's face it; Columbia is a relatively small outfit. Perhaps this bodes well for the future of block games. --Jerry Taylor From: William Sariego Subject: Life, the universe, and Origins Howdy Guess I'd best throw in my three cents worth before the topic gets old. This was my third Origins, and the best from both an altruistic and selfish perspective. From the self-centered viewpoint, I was undefeated in tournament play. Unusual, since I'm very absent minded and often blow moves in some of my favorite games! (key to beating me...get me talking and tipsy, works everytime) My win in Hannibal was especially sweet, and incredibly lucky! On turn 7 I was down 10-7 on Provinces as Carthage. A Roman army was Africa and Spain, with a force in northern Italy oppressing my little tribesmen and a force coverered Rome. Hannibal was not under any direct pressure in southern Italy, but was very much isolated. I played Major Campaign, with Hasdrubal and Hanno kicking Roman butt (the African force was destroyed) and Hannibal marched on Rome, beating the covering force and accumulating a siege point by turns end. Last turn he beat off three Roman counterattacks before capturing Rome. Scary thing is that if I had lost any of those four battles Hannibal (and my last hope) would have been gone, with no retreat available. Stupidly aggressive perhaps, but I had no choice. And it paid off! Getting away from patting myself on the back, my club, the Strategy Gaming Society was well represented. SGS members ran 11 tourneys. We hope to have an even bigger presense next year. I spent far more than should have been legal! My best out of print coup was getting Hannibal by Aulic Council, which has long been unavailable. Then I picked up a Samurai to round out my GBoH collection. Open gaming was great, and the new friends met even better. My average bedtime was 4:00 am and I was usually up by 9:00 am at the latest so needless to say I took an extended nap when I got home. I had the pleasure of meeting many Consim members but I won't mention any names lest I forget someone and bruise feelings. It was a pleasure. The biggest missed opportunity was the nomination of The Great War at Sea. If it had won the award I had been designated by Avalanche Press for the acceptence speech. Oh well, my 15 minutes of fame must wait... Thus ends the latest installment of Mr. Sariego Goes to Columbus. William From: Jonathan Gingerich Subject: My Origins I had a real, real good Origins. Columbus is absolutely ideal for me as I have a brother with 6-month old twins about 15 minutes by bus from the CC and he's on academic break in July. Obviously it's not the same for everyone, but I'm certainly hoping it stays and people find creative ways to cut the cost. The ultimately unrealized possibility that I could combine the trip with business travel got me so excited that I decided I would take a much needed vacation anyway, and I booked a flight. I foolishly scheduled through Atlanta to save my harried brother 1/2 an hour of rest, had to change to Cincinatti, and got my suitcase delivered to the door Thursday morning... So with a late start I registered, picked up 30 auction lots, found lunch, and checked out the scene. At 2 I sat in Zucker's Friedland talk, chatted with him a bit, then hit the now opened dealer's room. Introduced myself to Charlie and Ed at Clash of Arm's (they owe me a favor), introduced myself to Richard Berg (he owes me a favor), slunk past my cousin George Nafziger, slunk past Beth Queman (coward that I am), got my Consim-l sticker (in neon pink!), greeted William at the Avalanche booth and admired The Great War at Sea. Bought a copy of Napoleon at Bay and The General, and scoured the rest of the displays. The kid in me loved the candy store. DAK was great to look at although I'ld be insane to buy it. The adult was disappointed that Avalanche did not have their Eylau out, no sign of Close for Action at Clash of Arms, GMT's planned Napoleonic titles are still a ways off, TimJim still hasn't released Reign of Terror although they keep demo'ing it, and Decision did not have the remake of Napoleon's Last Battles ready. No sign of AWE's Friedland either. Nearly no historical miniatures and not a lot of fantasy lead either. Grabbed supper, caught the tail end of the Napoleonic round table, and a bus before dark so that I could organize my 30 auction lots. Friday I got a ride down High street and entered my 30 lots. Stuck around long enough to score Napoleon's First Battles for $5.50. Looked for a miniatures game I was interested in, but it had been canceled. HMGS-Great Lakes was doing their best, and the facilities were great, but there just wasn't enough miniatures to keep the rooms warm. At noon I entered the We the People contest. I got thrashed in the first game as the British when my Burgoyne down the Hudson gambit got clobbered by a DE/6 loss and my subsequent risk taking with Howe left me with no CU's on board... But I got into another game, which was quite tense. With good hands I was strong in the South and just about cleared New England. I tried to finesse a Minor Campaign, but Burgoyne lost Philly to a defecting Arnold, then got cut-off and captured, and I could not trap Washington in NYC. But my opponent was feeling the pressure and gambled on Washington substaining a cut-off NH at turn end. I had a couple of 3'd though, and the game came to a bloody conclusion. The AH folks were happy to award me 2 Ironman points and the day had worn on. In fact, it seemed quite dark, which was strange, because I was in a windowless room... At this point I looked for the next thing to do, and was so up from the competition I decided to join the Circus Maximus crowd. I had played semi-regularly about 15 years ago, but feared I was way rusty. Did remember how to set up my chariot though (+2 driver and a normal cart is essential). On the opening stretch I crippled one fast chariot and slowed a second. The crippled chariot soon disintegrated and I caught the slowed chariot again who lost it in a corner 1/2 way through. At this point I was fastest, rivaled only by a chariot with more endurance driven by a young woman attending with her Dad. I attacked her, but we both ended up with damage and I didn't risk speed, which left me vulnerable to her attacks, losing ground and endurance. At the start of the final lap, I was two spaces behind, and decided to risk full speed. Her chit got pulled first, and her race came to a sudden end when she rolled snake eyes for her damaged wheel. Well, almost. I trampled her dragged driver after surviving my own wheel roll. After that I just sleazed by the remaining heavy chariots on the last lap by driving real slow, but fast enough to beat a closing car. BANG! First place gave out 6 Ironman points, and yours truly was atop the leader board at least for the moment. I grabbed a late bus and stumbled a couple of pitch dark blocks to my brother's house where the flashlight by the door made me realize a summer squall had cut power to much of the city. I was apparently sensing the pressure change during We the People! Saturday I was up early organizing my miniatures for entry into the painting contest, for the first time ever. I entered the 1st battalion of the Leib Guard Semyonovskoye 1812-1814, which looked like it had a pretty good chance as a historical column, and Josie of J.T.'s Heavenly Bodies as a fantasy figure. She looked pretty naked among the excellent competition. (If you have never seen her, let's just say you could do a lot worse at a conventions of 10,000 guys...) The Art Room hadn't opened its doors, so I caught the tail end of Frank Chadwick's Myths talk and chatted with him a bit (he doesn't owe me any favors...) then wandered around a bit playing a bit of En Garde in the dealer's room, which did remind me of what little foil training I've taken. Decision Games offered me the next two issues of S&T for $40 and a free t-shirt. Seemed to me I would be paying 10 cents for that t-shirt... Ate the best vegetarian burger I've ever had across the street at Barley's brew pub, before heading back up stairs to learn Hannibal from my Friday opponent. He was engrossed in a game with Mark Simonitch so I hung out a bit, went through the rules, then with his encouragement entered History of the World, hoping to luck out and solidify my position. Unfortunately, while History of the World is easy to play the first time, it is not easy to play well. The game was lackluster, the players were a bit burned out, and I found the game slow and painfully accounting heavy and had no clue as to judging the relative strengths or best plays and ended up second to last. However, the day ended on a distinctly upbeat note when I learned that had I painted the ends of Josie's towel, I would have had a chance for best of show. As it was I placed 1st historical column and 1st fantasy figure - 3d B.o.S., which was far beyond expectations... Sunday things were winding down. I showed my brother around and showed him my artistic competition. Many of the best pieces had been pulled already, so he was somewhat unimpressed... Sat in the last of auction, obtaining a copy of Trireme for a solid $30 and watching many copies of The Korean War go by for $4... Grabbed some lunch and picked up my miniatures before returning for payout which made up for the airline ticket. (I have some early Magic) Greeted Carl on his way out the door with his $5,000 worth of games! Hit the dealer room for one last time. Survived in 3rd place in the Ironman competition, so cashed in my bucks for counter trays (I would have picked up the Banzai expansion if they had any.) Had Mark S. sign my Hannibal board in gold ink. Let Josie display herself at the GeoHex booth, and parleyed my win into a couple of complimentary terrain mats. Reminded Ed at Clash o' Farms that I would be happy to accept updated Nap. at Leipzig maps for my favor. Bought a copy of En Garde and Incognito at full price for my houseful of nieces when I couldn't dicker with Wargames West. Bought a bargain walnut box from Chessex. Succumbed to scratching my anti-Zionist scabs by buying The First Arab-Israeli War from Decision. First class Youst effort on the map, snappy Beth Queman counters. Lots of quibbles with the article, but Miranda is obviously trying hard to be fair, and only really blows it with the maps illustrating the article. Finally thought hard about buying the gigantic sized counters Avalanche was using as part of their display, but couldn't quite see their price. Good things: excellent facilities - competitive food on and off site, air conditioning, plenty of room well organized excellent speaker choices in War College Not wild about constant $1.25 entry tickets, but it does seem to keep everyone focused and organized. Less good things: Not enough dealers - especially miniatures Dealers wanting full price for old product, customers looking for bargains or brand new stuff. Obviously Historicon is on the minds of the historical crowd especially this year, but they are losing a huge opportunity to introduce themselves to a broader audience. Old Glory and NASAWM really need to demo here. Although I am uneasy about Chipco's obvious debt to Phil Barker and WRG, their Fantasy Rules game was being demo'ed very nicely and seems like an excellent alternative to Game's Workshop's stranglehold. Oddly they didn't seem to have any presense. Do they concentrate somewhere else? War College was too pricy and I ended up not getting much savings as there always seemed something better to do. Apparently there is some question about it being run next year, which is a real shame as I would much rather listen to Sharp or Glantz (didn't hear either) than Clancy! The premier wargaming magazine was pseudo-represented by Command-Japan, ADG, and MiH. MiH was demo'ing AQ, and there was a Wave of Terror contest, but there was opportunity for more presence. Jon. - next year, my Han Chariots... From: Dick Shay Subject: Re: My Origins >position. Unfortunately, while History of the World is easy to play >the first time, it is not easy to play well. The game was lackluster, >the players were a bit burned out, and I found the game slow and >painfully accounting heavy and had no clue as to judging the relative >strengths or best plays and ended up second to last. However, the day Hey, I think I finished last in that game. I'm sorry it was your intro to HotW. It was a weird game. I've never seen so much rerolling before. We must have wasted a solid 20 minutes due to tie after tie in combat rolls. Counting up points was annoying and I made it more so by handing out those sheets. Since it was a tournament event, I thought it would be a good idea to be careful and accurate. That also affected everyone else's play a little, too. In a friendly game, there is a little more "just go for it." I think HotW doesn't make a great tournament game, except that you get a lot of players in it and the game can be pretty tense at the end 9though not always). >Less good things: >Not enough dealers - especially miniatures I, too, was amazed at the lack of historical miniatures dealers. You are probably right, they are going to Historicon. >Dealers wanting full price for old product, customers looking for >bargains or brand new stuff. I did get some good prices at GMT and SpearHead, though. >Obviously Historicon is on the minds of the historical crowd especially >this year, but they are losing a huge opportunity to introduce >themselves to a broader audience. Maybe some of the mini people should do a single, joint dealer booth and coordinate a couple of demos. Dick Shay 617-466-4173 rshay@gte.com Within GTE: http://cnsmacic.gte.com/users/rshay/