Brian Blad - 02:17pm Jun 1, 2003 PST (#2210 of 2383) Consimworld Expo 2004 Assistant Coordinator/I offer Binding and Lamination Services The 3rd Consimworld Expo has been a smashing success! Lots of titles still being played today, The Killing Ground, Three Days of Gettysburg, Down In Flames, ASL, Napoleonic Wars, Zombies, Patton's 3rd Army, and several others. If you missed this year, we all hope that you will start planning now for 2004! Some have said it is too far to travel, one person was quoted as saying that this convention was too much like a circus and not serious enough. Friends let me tell you, the focus here in Tempe is on PLAYING the Games. Games are supposed be fun aren't they? Monster Games, Smaller Games, even some Euro games were played here at the Expo. If you want a more serious gaming experience, let us know in advance as to the game you wish to play and whether you want it to be a tournament style event and we will work to accomodate you. Consimworld Expo is by gamers for gamers and we want it to be a fun experience where you can play great games, make new friends, and catch up with old friends! Please send us your feedback, wish list, whatever you think will make this THE gane convention that you would not miss attending! Please consider joining us next year, the 160+ in attendance this year had a great time and you will TOO! Brian "Assistant Event Coordinator for 2004!" Richard H. Berg - 04:55am Jun 2, 2003 PST (#2231 of 2383) "The melancholy thing about the world is that it is full of stupid and common people, and the world is run for the benefit of the stupid and the common."... V.S. Naipaul www.charlestonstage.com/performances/season/annie/annie_photos54.html Have returned to the Deep South from The Deep Oven . . . Monstercon is definitely one of the better "small' cons, although it certainly looks like it will not be small for long. It's growing like a wargamer at an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord . . . mostly because it is so well run. Visually, it is an amazing sight to see all those 8-10 map games spread out . . .and actually being played. (There is no limit to gamer folly: there was an ongoing game of HOME BEFORE THE LEAVES FALL, the hobby's paean to Wretched Excess . . .no, actually that's Jack Radey's KORSUN POCKET. LEAVES is in its own class ). It was almost incongruous to watch four, determined folk play PUERTO RICO!! Personally, I got some good playtesting for WAR OF THE RING (no word yet on the license) and ALEXANDER THE GREAT (Phalanx's, not GMT's), got in a most interesting game of NERO (it's out in Europe, US copies i na cvontainer on some ship in the Atlantik . . . but I may have some extra coppies for sale. More later), and saw the several dozen copies of RISE OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC freshly available sell out faster than condems at a Joan Collins book signing. Two RISE games got played, with Pyrrhus actually eking out a Victory on the last turn . . . and the Romans holding off the Samnites in the other game while they both ignored Alexander of Epirus. I also got to lead Early's division in a full-blast THREE DoG . . . a game in which the Union strategy seemed to be "place all your men into pockets and salients and sucker the South into attacking and cutting them to ribbons". Still, after watching 3 days of this, I am starting to wonder why we put ratings on leaders, given the built-in variety of capabilities of the p;layers. We actually made it into the second day!! Some area notes: best restaurant in the one block Tandoori Oven Trot Radius is "Ra", an ersatz Japanese place that has some interesting items, although two of the attendees we went in with one night fled with horror (and I'm not exaggerating) upon learning there was raw fish on the menu). Worth attending, also, is Manny's Greek place . . . certainly not for the food (which was as Greek as an evening in Tehran, but not as enjoyable), but a chance to ogle Monica . . . . Tempe is a true college town - the college (Arizone State University) is probably the sole reason for its existence - and the restaurants reflect the level of attendee niche. Try asking them to turn the music down . . . Traded design tips and insights on Alesia with Art Lupinacci, had a bunch of laughs with the eminently effable Todd Davis, marvelled that Jeff Tibbets actuallky had a game for dsale 9and not a bad one, either . . . Nathan K's IRON TIDE), engaged in ongoing title discussions with Adam Starkweather on his new Meg Ryan movie, IT NEVER SOMETHING OR OTHER IN SOME MONTH, which, when, acronymed, sounds like Incest (not a hot marketing word these days) . . . and reminisced with Ty B. Not many can do that. And a tip of the hat to host John Kranz who was, almost literally, indefatigable. And effectively so. Oh, and if you want a few minutes of non-gaming humor, sit down and talk politics with Dick Sauer . . . Like Ahnold, I'll be back. RHB Fred Hoff - 11:08am Jun 2, 2003 PST (#2234 of 2383) Stoughton, WI Back to the much cooler midwest, I arrived in Madison at 11:00 P.M. and was thankful that there was a taxi available. I guess we are catching up with the rest of the world. Came into work this morning and promptly fell asleep at my desk. That is my way of telling you how great this Con was. I'm bushed. Thanks to John, and to ALL the atendees and my roommate Mark Milke for making this a great experience. I meant to give an update to 3DoG a couple of times at the convention but someone was always sitting at the graciously provide internet link, I hope actually posting here, so I never got a chance. Where do I begin. First of all I like to thank Richard Berg for making playing his design such an interesting and insightful experience. He actually committed a lot of time to playing with us and it was really fun, well at least I thought so, can't speak for others you know :). Richard, Rob Flores (Rhodes) and I (Hill's Corp) faced Robert Schroeder (I Corp, III Corp) and Dan Plachta (Buford, XI Corps and XII Corps). This game kept fairly close to the historical script despite the agressive positioning of the Union Cavalry, and subsequently the lead elements of the I Corps. Casualties were light on both sides until Ewell's appearence and then things started to heat up. Steady, earnest deployment by Hill, aside from a risky flanking movement by Pettigrew's Brigade in march mode, and an equally earnest Defense by the Iron Brigade et al... made for a tense opening to the conflict. But the flanking movenet turned Buford out of his position on Herr's Ridge and set up that next phase of battle. And that's just a teaser of what comes next. I have to work now :( someone is having problems with the Application that I support so away I go. If you want more just say so... signed A very happy, and now veteran, Consimworld attendee. Fred Morris Hadley - 02:06pm Jun 2, 2003 PST (#2235 of 2383) GB2 at MonsterCon 03 We played an outstanding game of GB2 Moscow Full-bore, the hypothetical scenario where the whole German Army attempts to take Moscow starting June 26th 1942 [instead of the Southern Offensive]. The Hitlerite Reptiles were represented by Chris Farell, John Leggat, Jeremy Vipperman, and myself versus the Godless Commies John "Uncle Joe" Bowen, John Kisner, Larry McIntyre, and Arthur & Josh Winslow. A good time was had by all to include the consumption of original Russian vodka on Friday night. I think we got about 12-13 turns finished which ain't bad considering the amount of stuff to push around. The MVPs of the game are probably the Winslows who went from relatively inexperienced to hyper-violent Soviets within about 8 turns or so- my understanding was that later in the game they simply took whatever armor, supply and aircraft that they saw fit from STAVKA. Chris and Jeremy were panzer pushers with Chris handling the far southern drive. As always, the main show was in the south with the Moscow front of secondary importance- though Kalinin was taken (one hex) on turn 10. The absolute unexpected success was in the Far North. The two Johns Leggat and Kisner spent most of the first 5-6 turns swapping tree-bark soup recipes [and tokens]. But John "the bog fox" Leggat broke through and essentially cleared out most of the far north. John K. had insisted on commanding the northern front to minimize back strain due to bending over to reach the center of the board, but John L.'s success forced him back to the 'Lower Back Pain' zone. John "Uncle Joe" B. filled the overall Soviet commander role masterfully, denying all and sundry supply, armor and air support all the while insisting that they take not one step back. When time allows, I'll post a lessons learned from my own notes and whatever the others email me. Thanks again to John Kranz for the great Con Steve Viltoft - 09:54pm Jun 2, 2003 PST (#2263 of 2383) Currently Playing: POG and now TNW's Feedback from my first trip to ConsimWorld Con: 1) I would like to join in praising John on the tireless effort to make this Con work. He is a gentleman in every sense of the word, and he is blessed with strong organizing skills as well. I am happy to read that he will have reinforcements to help next year. Thanks. 2) The atmosphere was relaxed and anything but tense or cutthroat, at least in the games I participated in and had the opportunity to observe. This is not a tournament setting at all, but it still bred some good-natured and hard-fought competition. As I commented to another attendee in a private email, I personally get enough stress and competition in my day job and have zero interest in taking a vacation to enjoy my hobby only to belly up for a big helping of more such stress. 3) On the auction, I would respectfully make 2 suggestions: first, I would screen some of the items and perhaps put some limits on those items that might be more suitable for the flea market; second, one might want to consider switching to a Dutch auction format, where the auctioneer announces prices in a descending order until someone ponies up. This is a much faster process and, quite often, fetches a better price for the seller on attractive items. 4) On the breakfast tickets, simply contract with the hotel that if the attendees pay for a double, they get 2 tickets. If they pay the extra cost for a triple, they should get 3 tickets. Simple and fair to both the attendees and the hotel. 5) I saw no problems with alcohol causing inappropriate behavior, so unless it does arise suggest not implementing such rules. Remember, we are on vacation and as long as we are not acting so as to spoil someone else's experience, we should be able to have fun and some people enjoy a cocktail or two. 6) A special thanks to all the games designers for attending and making themselves ever so accessible to all of us. A particular thanks to Richard Berg, who brought 2 playtests and I had the good fortune to demo both LoTR and Alex, which show great promise. It does help soften this oftentimes inhuman means of electronic communication to actually meet the folks we discourse with face to face. John seeks to add civility to our friendly debates and this Con certainly furthers his goal of fostering a gaming community based on more fellowship and fun and less competitiveness and egos. Excuse the long post. I had a great trip. Steve Viltoft Martin Scott - 10:57pm Jun 2, 2003 PST (#2275 of 2383) "He was shortish. And oldish. And brownish. And mossy. And he spoke with a voice that was sharpish and bossy." --Dr. seuss, 1970. Well I'm finally back from my first Monster Con. Took an extra 24 hours, but I got here. All I can really say is: ZARK! That was a Zarking great con! Thank you John and gang for one of the best times I've had this year. It was great to see old friends and then send them Down in Flames. And it was great to meet people whom I've only know here on Consim in person for the first time, and then send them Down in Flames as well. And I truly enjoyed meeting new people I had not known from anywhere before, and of course I sent them Down in Flames as well. Any guesses where I spent most of my time? I did actually get out and spend some time observing a great many new, as well as old, games being played. It was most impressive. I don't recall how many DiF games I actually played, but Mike Lam dose and will let me know later. Thanks Mike! That was the best one yet! I don't think I won any DiF awards this year, but I was the first to earn an official "Ace" T-shirt. In my last DiF game of the Con I also had the great pleasure of watching 4 full elements of P-40E's (8 aircraft) cower at very low altitude below my legendary ace Mendo and his fearsome Zeke, all unwilling to climb up and face the mighty ace, even though they had destroyed his wingman and all other Japanese elements in the area. He of course was not born yesterday and was not about to dive down on 8 frickin' Warhawks! Especially with no offensive cards in my hand (good thing they didn't know about that!) Steve C, sorry we never got in any SGBoH. I just couldn't seem to get the timing right. Next time for sure! (Or sooner). The only bummer was coming home. Not because I don't like coming home, It's just that when the pilots window on the airliner you are on decides to shatter at 30k+ feet and your plane starts to decompress, it can put a whole downer on things. Literally. Fortunately, our pilot was quite skilled and we were able to return to Phoenix all in one piece, more or less, without having to go Down in Flames ourselves. Yikes, I get the shakes just typing about it. Anyway, all's well that ends well and even though I will still enjoy flying after this (and playing DiF), I decided to rent a car and drive home this time. It really was a great time, and it was wonderful to see you all there. Until next time. And Lance, and any others that could not get there this year, I hope you can make next year. I'll be there lookin' for you. Have fun! Martin Art Lupinacci - 11:36pm Jun 2, 2003 PST (#2277 of 2383) Let me GAME, and no one gets hurt!™ 1:00 pm EST and I have dragged my sorry a** into the house. I had a great flight, languished 2 hours in Baltimore, finally got to Buffalo and drove home! I stand by my pledge that any participant who ever leaves disappointed, we ask that you attend the 2004 event as our guest at no fee to show you we are only going to be bigger and better for the future. I am DISAPPOINTED John, Very, VERY disappointed... it is OVER!! Man, another year to wait for the next Monstergame Expo! :-) OK, here are some HIGHLITES of my experience at the con..... It is a long one!! • Wed night arrival met Ken Neid and he decides he would like to play the Grain Elevator with me. Ken is a gentleman, great gamer and good friend and it was a memorable game! Thanks Ken! • While sitting and chatting, a rough, fuzzy, scratchy thing rubs up against my check! I slowly turn my eyes and to my horror!!!! PAVE has planted a kiss on my cheek!! Geeesus H. &%^$^&%$ :-( What were you thinking man..... • Hooters! I fall in love there every year. - this year, I even got a cigarette burn from a brunette! - our waitress "wanted" me, admit it PAVE!! She wanted ME. • John Loy and his shot of Southern Comfort • Kibbitzing (OyVay, how do you spell this?) with Richard Berg!! • Seeing the WILD MAN, Todd Davis again, going to Rula Bula with the SoS gamers and listening to all the great stories on how everyone got into the hobby! I really, really enjoyed this dinner! • Made Todd eat his two plastic cups of Jalapeno Peppers!!! I couldn't get him to admit it burnt a hole in his intestine. He says he likes them!!! :-( • The auction! What a blast. I picked up a pile of great games and could have had more if I could figure a way to get them home. My purchase of the con was a MINT Desent on Crete for $10. Oh my god! • Helping John Kranz write a "love" letter with Carl from GRD!! Haaa haaa, too funny!!!! • Lou Manios and his New York Humor, at Hooters and the auction!! Hold on to Hells Highway for me!! • Trying to get up for Breakfast at 7:30 when I went to bed every night at 4:00am. • Seeing DAK, GBII, Circus Maximus (minimus?) played on a simply wonderful looking minatures set up! John will post a picture. • Seeing Shannon, Vance v B, Gary Gruber, Rob Robertson, David Els, John Alsen and a bunch of people I am forgetting (just because I am brain dead), AGAIN!! Too bad it is once a year, in some cases. • Running out to the Ice Cream store around the corner with Dana just as the girl locks the door and won't let us in. We looked so PATHETIC, she opened the door! Great Ice Cream! Nice girl!! • Did NOT do FAT BURGER this year!!! :-) • Did NOT find the LIQUOR STORE!!! • Did NOT beat Ken Neid at the Grain Elevator!!! :-( • Did NOT get more then 4 hours sleep most nights. • Did NOT de-hydrate this year. • What was that SMELL as you first walked in the door!? • We had a "booth babe" this year!!!!! • I didn't win a door prize. You need tickets for that..... • and last but by no means least, seeing the wonderful TEMPE women!!! John, thank you for another wonderful year. You are more then a credit to our hobby. I thank you for your dedication to the hobby and for providing us with an place to meet the best of the best. Sunday came tooooo fast!!!! :-( See you next year.....in TEMPE!! Art Martin Sample - 12:34pm Jun 3, 2003 PST (#2289 of 2383) "Kent , meltdown is one of those ugly buzzwords . I prefer to use the term ' undesired fission surplus' " - Montgomery C . Burns I'll add in some random commentary to another wonderful MonsterCon . First and foremost, a big thanks to our most generous Sysop for a job WELL DONE ! John , if you need help next year ( I would be willing to help with the auction for one ) let us know . As a group, the attendees goal needs to be to give John enough help through delegation of tasks so that he can finally PLAY some games with us !! If Greenwood can do it at WBC, so can you !! Second, if you didn't go this year, start planning for next year ! A word about the auction . Firstly, considering the amount of ..... stuff they had to auction , Bob and John did an admirable job . They could not have predicted the overwhelming response - there must have been 6 times the number of lots versus the last year . And the pool was definitely diluted by some items of negligible value, such as 3 year old computer games or random books . My suggestions for next year would be : For the night of the auction, BOXED GAMES only . No mags, mags w/games, books, or computer games . The vast majority of these went for pretty lowball prices . These items should be on the flea market table. If people want auction like prices, put high prices on the flea market table or " make offer " . Even though one mag game I sold got $32, I would not mind putting it on the flea market going forward if that's what it takes to get the number of items down to a manageable level . Another would be to charge a flat rate of $1 a game to be put up for auction . Generates a little income for the con without being a hassle to collect, and keeps people from throwing something up there instead of throwing it in the trash . As a side note, many of the items in the auction were leftovers from the flea market where the seller either had too high a price and/or did not make price adjustments . I put about a dozen items on the flea market table and priced them " to sell " . By Thursday AM , all but 2 items were gone . I marked them lower and they were gone by the end of the day . This needs to be encouraged somehow, as I think the flea market will grow by leaps and bounds next year as the high volume low priced stuff gets put there. Otherwise, the flea market table will be a mess. All in all, I think the majority of the items were sold at below market prices and there were some deals to be had . Examples would be an unpunched GMT Samurai for ~$60, an un[unched AH Rising Sun for $65, or an unpunched GMT Typhoon going for ~$45 . These are well below Ebay. While the much smaller audience has a part in this, I was still surprised . I picked up a punched but excellent condition GMT Saratoga for $30 as well . To be true, some items had opening bids that were too high and thus did not sell, but the vast majority were good. And make whoever the guy in the front that bought about 25% of the lots was sit right next to the table - save some time as he picks up his 101 buying slips:) P.S. Good luck with the interviews John . Local ? Shannon Cooke - 02:12pm Jun 3, 2003 PST (#2293 of 2383) Real men drink lapsang souchong. Consimworld Expo 2003 debrief: Sysop, you did it again! Thanks so very much for putting this on again. You are a real asset to the hobby and a good friend to us gamers. I had a great time playing the Commonwealth against John Loy's Axis in our game of DAK (the middle one in the group photo). We started the "Race to the Wire" scenario and played about 30 or so turns. This was my first OCS against someone other than myself and it is a really great system. The venue, as always, was top notch as well as the things to do on Mill Avenue. My wife joined me again this year and had a blast shopping and sitting by the pool de-stressing from her work. If you have any concerns about spouses or families, go ahead and bring them; there is plenty to do. The auction was also a lot of fun, but long. I agree that the amount of items needs to be limited and there are several good suggestions stated above. Some observations: 1) The game demonstrations were very crowded. One thing might be to have a sign up sheet and let those interested sign up on a first-come basis up to a maximum number of participants. That way, you would know who is planning to be there. Doing away with raffle tickets for attendance may also cut down on the numbers. Let those really interested in the game see the demonstration, not those who just want a ticket. 2) The heat. It was really hot. 3) I noticed that the hotel had two "break stations" in their atrium. Is this something that would be cost prohibitive for us to rent? The water and coffee were great, but that break station sure looked inviting. 4) The heat. It was really, really hot. 5) The noise level at the breakfast sessions was so much that it drowned out the speaker most of the time. Someone asking the crowd not to talk among themselves when the speaker is talking was needed. Either that, or let those not interested leave. 6) I know John already has set the dates, but I would like the con to begin a day earlier, if possible. The ballroom was opened all day Wednesday for set up and there were quite a few who took advantage of it and were rolling dice by lunchtime, either with their "official" game or a quick pick-up game. 8) Did I mention the heat? For what it's worth, I was one of the several who had some potent potables with me. It was mainly for me and my gaming partner, although several others (including my wife) stopped by for a nip or two. I think there is nothing wrong with this practice (it is a practice; just ask the "Korsun Pocket" boys). If you don't want to partake, don't. If you do, and there is some around, what's the harm? Remember, we are all hardcore gamers who come to this convention to game and only to game; folks who come to party and fall down all over themselves haven't seemed to show up at any of the three conventions. In fact, the hotel has said that we are extremely well-behaved...which is how our wonderful host keeps being able to book us. Those of us who want (or, in my case, when Tobruk fell, NEED) a drink should be able to have one. Since I have now gotten a taste of OCS, my tough decision on what to play next year may have gotten easier. Although, there is so much on my shelf that begs to be gamed..... Shannon Mike Lam - 08:43pm Jun 9, 2003 PST (#2385 of 2539) Playing in the DIF continuous experience campaigns at the GMT-West - Oct. 9th to 12th Down In Flames Debriefing Report First, a big thanks to the 41 players who participated in the second ConsimWorld Expo DIF Aces' Campaigns by flying in at least one mission. I was unable to post any reports during the con as I was very busy with the DIF game table always in use. At the opening reception, I presented last year's winner, Rob Robertson, with a special "2002 ConsimWorld DIF Aces of Aces" T-shirt with his name on it. I also mentioned that last year's aces had personalized leader and/or wingman cards created especially for them by Martin Scott. Each new ace card had the player's name, his pilot's name and the new abilities. Player's Own Ace Card At total of 64 missions were played; 8 on Wednesday, 17 on Thursday, 22 on Friday, 10 on Saturday and 7 on Sunday, covering 6 campaigns; the 1941 Western Front (3 missions), the 1942 Pacific (6 missions), 1943 (11 missions) & 1944 Western Europe (1 mission), a 1943 Eastern front (19 missions), and the new 1944 Pacific campaign (22 missions). The top players in terms of games played were ME with 48, followed by Martin Scott (36 games), Greg Smith (35 games), Jack Beckman (22 games), Chris LeFevre (19 games) and Patrick Mills (16 games). Patrick Mills (Bloomington, ILL) was this year's Ace Of Aces with 11 kills in 7 missions flown by his Imperial Japanese Naval pilot, Toshiro Mifune, in the 1944 Philippines campaign. Patrick won the Grand Prize of free admission to the 2004 ConsimWorld Expo. A big thanks to John Kranz for this prize in making the event a very competitive one. The prize for the best record for a continuing pilot from last year went to Greg Smith from Phoenix, AZ. He won the book prize "Flying Aces - Aviation Art of WW2" for amassing 13 kills against the Soviets on the 1943 Eastern Front campaign in 9 missions with his 5-kill ace Sturmer Schmidt. With the release of the new Corsairs & Hellcats game, most of the new aces were made in the 1944 Philippines campaign. Players who made 5 kills or more by one pilot: Jack Beckman (Sterling Heights, Mich) had 8 with his P-47 pilot, Philo T. Farnsworth, on 7 missions in the 1944 Philippines campaign. Jack won the book "Thunderbolt, The P-47" by Martin Caidin. Martin Scott (Goleta, CA) for two pilots: 7 by his IJN pilot, Takashi Kaga and 5 by his wingman Hayao Kakizuki, flying N1K1s (George) on 10 missions in the 1944 Philippines campaign. Martin added another ace pilot, Ulrich von Beck, with 4 kills to go with his 3 previous kills on the Eastern Front. Unfortunately, von Beck's career ended when his Bf-109G exploded in mid-air on his 3rd mission. Steve Keifer (Wheaton, ILL) with 5 by his IJN Kenji Kato on 6 missions, also flying the N1K1 (George) in the 1944 Philippines campaign. James Jones (Atwater, CA) with 5 by his P-38J pilot, Robert Mitchum, on 4 missions in the 1944 Philippines campaign. My own USN Hellcat pilot, Bob Newhart, had 5 on 9 missions in the 1944 Philippines campaign. I also made a new Eastern Front ace, Hans Stotz, 6 kills added to his 3 from last year. Rob Schroeder (Manteca, CA) added 1 more to the 4 made from last year by his Luftwaffe pilot, Johann Hindermann, in the 1941 Western Front campaign. Chris LeFevre (Mesa, AZ) added 2 Luftwaffe fighters to go with his 3 kills with his last year's P-39N pilot, Joe Bugel. Alas, his pilot ace status was posthumous as his pilot was killed on the same mission that he got the final two aircraft needed for acehood. All players using new pilots with 5 or more kills also received the new "I Became An Ace" t-Shirt version that has on its front side the Ace card drawing from ZERO! but the P-40 was replaced with an F6F Hellcat. Many thanks to Martin Scott again for providing the design. The top US player in the 1943 Western Europe campaign was by Greg Smith's P-47C pilot, Richard Cranium, with 4 kills. Greg's pilot's career came to an end on his 5th mission when he was shot down and taken prisoner. The top Japanese player in the 1942 Pacific campaign was by Martin Scott who added 7 more US fighter planes in 4 missions with his 23-kill pilot Shintaro Mendo (from previous DIF campaign games played at GMT-West). The top US player in the 1942 Pacific campaign was by Randy Martin (Norman, OK ?) with 3 Zekes in 2 missions by his P-40 pilot Pierce Coale to go with his two previous kills from last year to earn an ace T-shirt. The top 1943 Luftwaffe pilot on the Western front belonged to Steve Keifer's Fw-190 pilot Walther Hintzman with 3 kills flying in 3 missions. The top Soviet player with 3 kills was shared by Greg Dewan with the Chekov brothers, Pavel and Anton (2 and 3 missions), and my own Boris Budinsky (7 missions), all flying the Lavochkin La-5FN. Top RAF honors went to Nick Markevich (San Bruno, CA) by his Spitfire V pilot, Paddy Griffin, who had 2 kills achieved in 2 missions in the 1941 campaign. More mission might have been flown on Saturday but the big 14-turn bomber mission with 10 players took 5 hours to complete. Much too long. Despite taking a beating from the American escorts (losing 20 fighters to 2 P-51B escorts), the Luftwaffe squeezed out a marginal victory when Mitch Ledford (Chicago, ILL ?) downed two B-17s on the second-to-the-last-turn. My thanks to the US players (Martin Scott, Rick Young, Steve Keifer, Rob Robertson & Steve Charlton) and the Luftwaffe team (Ledford, James Jones, Joe Chacon, Jack Beckman & Patrick Mills) for their participation and for sticking it out to the end. Next year, the mission will be canceled with more time devoted to the Aces' Campaigns. John Kranz has given his full support to have this type of event again in 2004. And based on the participation level this year, it is very likely that this event will return next year, provided I can get vacation days off from work. For any DiF players, if you like playing DiF all day like I do, consider making the trip to Tempe next year. I hope everyone enjoyed it and had fun learning how to play and playing DIF. I hope to see everyone again as well as some new players for more aerial mayhem in 2004! Mike Lam, The ConsimWorld Expo DIF Flight Coordinator ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mike Lam - 03:27am Jun 12, 2003 PST (#2393 of 2539) Playing in the DIF continuous experience campaigns at the GMT-West - Oct. 9th to 12th And there was only 1 picture of me! What's up with that?? Actually, I found you in 8 pictures. Down in Flames photo captions: Picture group 51-76, #73, DSCN0996. Wednesday night, preparing for another 1944 Pacific mission. In front, L-R: Martin Scott, (with their backs to camara) Greg Smith, Pat Mills & Randy Martin. In the background looking for aircraft are James Jones and Mike Lam. Picture group 176-200, #197, DSCN1089, Turn 1 of Saturday afternoon's 10-player "Target: Berlin" B-17 mission. Eventually a marginal win by the German team for shooting down 7 B-17s and forcing 3 others out of formation causing them to retrun to England with heavy damage. Picture group 201-225, #206, DSCN1087, Saturday's big mission, turn 1. Going CW, starting from left: Martin Scott, Patrick Mills, James Jones, Jack Beckman, Joe Chacon, Steve Charlton, Rick Young, and Rob Robertson (back to camera). Picture group 276-300, #289, DSCN1090, Saturday's big mission, turn 1. Going CW, starting from lower left: Steve Keifer (partial), Steve Charlton (partial), Rick Young, Rob Robertson, Martin Scott, John Loy (walking by, not playing), Patrick Mills & Joe Chacon (back to camera). Picture group 276-300, #294, DSCN1080, Friday. This was a 6-player 1944 Pacific mission. 3 Japanese (Mills, Tee, Keifer) escorting 4 Ki-67 (Peggys) vs. 6 USN Hellcats (Lam, Smith, Ledford). Won by the Japanese, 40-to-12 for shooting down 5 Hellcats against the lost of 1 Frank. Starting from left: Standing, Mark Kaczmarek (observing), Japanese players Patrick Mills, Ken Tee, Steve Keifer; With their backs to camera, the USN players of Mike Lam, Greg Smith, & Mitch Ledford. Picture group 276-300, #298, DSCN1088, Saturday's Bomber mission, turn 1. Going CW, starting from lower left: Patrick Mills (back to camera), James Jones, Jack Beckman (hidden), Joe Chacon, Mike Lam (standing), Steve Charlton, Rick Young, Rob Robertson (partial hidden by Martin Scott), Martin Scott (with hands behind head). Good view of Tally sheets on walls. Picture group 301-325, #304, DSCN1079, Friday. This was another photo of the 6-player 1944 Pacific mission. Starting from left: Standing, Mark Kaczmarek (observing), Patrick Mills (partially hidden by Mark), Ken Tee, Steve Keifer. With their backs to camera - Mike Lam, Greg Smith, & Mitch Ledford. Picture group 301-325, #318, DSCN0995, Wednesday, Martin Scott and 3 others (Greg Smith, Pat Mills & Randy Martin with their backs to camera) take a break between missions. Picture group 326-350, #331, DSCN1004, Thursday, Eastern Front dogfight between 4 Fw-190s and 4 La-5FNs. Won by the Soviet team of Mike Lam & Martin Scott, 19-to-2, shooting down 3 Fw-190s to no losses. From left to right - Greg Smith, Morris Hadley (hidden behind Smith), unknown spectator, Martin Scott (wearing his new Ace T-shirt) and Mike Lam. Picture group 326-350, #335, DSC02208, Turn 2 of Saturday afternoon's 10-player "Target: Berlin" B-17 mission. By this turn of the mission, Steve Keifer's P-47D leader had already shot down Joe Chacon's Fw-190 leader. By the end of this turn, defensive fire from 1 B-17 would shoot down Patrick Mills' Bf-109G wingman and blew up Jack Beckman's Fw-190 leader. However, Beckman's leader managed to knock this B-17 out of formation and forced it to return to England without dropping its bombs on Berlin. Picture group 351-375, #351, DSC0227, Saturday's bomber mission, turn 2. Starting from lower left: Rob Robertson (back to camera), Mitch Ledford, Patrick Mills, James Jones, Jack Beckman, Joe Chacon, Mike Lam (standing), Steve Keifer, Steve Charlton & Rick Young (back to camera). Picture group 425-450, #427, DSC00158, Wednesday night DiF 1944 Pacific mission. An 8-player mission, 8 P-38Js escorting 4 B-25Js vs. 6 N1K1s (Georges) and 2 Ki-84s (Franks). Won by the Japanese 34-to-30. Six P-38Js were lost against 2 N1K1s shot down. In the back - Mike Lam, Martin Scott & Pat Mills. In foreground at left is Randy Martin. Picture group 425-450, #443, DSC00015, Saturday morning, 1944 Pacific 8-player mission, 4 P-38Js, 2 P-47s & 2 F6Fs escorting 4 TBFs vs. 8 N1K1 Georges. Won by the Japanese team 45-to-19 by shooting down 5 escorts and 3 TBFs against 2 Georges lost. Starting from lower left going CW - Japanese team of Steve Keifer, Patrick Mills, Fabio Kayama & Rob Robertson. American team - Mike Lam, Mitch Ledford & Jack Beckman. Picture group 451-475, #457, DSC00010_1, Thursday morning. Pacific 1942 mission, 6 Zekes escorting 4 Betties vs. 6 Wildcats. Won by Japanese 35-to-29. Four Wildcats lost to 2 Zekes and a Betty shot down. In front L-R, Japanese team of Skip Franklin, Greg Smith and Martin Scott. In back L-R, USMC team of Nick Markevich, Tom Meier and Mike Lam. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ sysop - 03:49pm Jun 13, 2003 PST (#2424 of 2539) ConsimWorld Expo 2004 featuring MonsterGame.CON 4.0, May 19-23, 2004 Without further ado, and compliments of Mark Hinkle, I bring you... Top 10 things participants liked most about ConsimWorld Expo, 2003 10. Checking on how much more floor space Vance's EFS game expands this year. 9. The opprotunity to wear all those dumb T-shirts we don't dare wear anywhere else. 8. Eagerly awaiting the chance to win a door prize of a game you already own. 7. The grilled road runner Ceaser salads on the menus. 6. The satisfaction of seeing that someone else's has a stupider looking t-shirt then yours. 5. Getting a sneak preview of the 2nd edition, expansion module of "Zark". 4. Participating in the ongoing, daily "Find Osama" LARP game in the center courtyard at high noon. 3. The chance to rub elbows with the great luminaries of the hobby such as Richard Berg, Richard Berg and Richard Berg. 2. The complimentary packets of Metamusal and Geratol in each of the rooms. 1. Watching the Arizona State University cheerleaders working their way through college at Hooters.