I had the pleasure of attending my first Nashcon (and my first dedicated gaming convention) this weekend. I'll start by saying I had a great time, so thanks to HMGS-Midsouth for creating the venue.
Being new (and not having the entire evening or afternoon free), on Friday I came to register, look around, and observe a few games in progress. (I must say that the sheer magnitude of the Hannibal game was stunning to see!) I also had the opportunity to point a curious father and his children to the "paint and take" table in the vendor area. As they left the Hannibal game to find it, the boy said with eyes wide, "I want an elephant!" I'm afraid he may have been disappointed in that particular wish (at least on the free end of things), but he was clearly bitten by the minis bug.
Saturday I came in earnest for the Space Hulk game hosted by Keith Jordan— a most impressive sprawling mass of dangerous corridors, where I proved my utter inability to attain the primary objectives, having to rely on my teammates to handle my assignment. I did, however, manage to secure the two secondary objectives at the cost of all but one member of my squad. I must say, first edition flamers are quite effective— especially when you accidentally blow the fuel storage tank in the shuttle hangar bay! Result: Several fully cooked genestealers and a toasty (but still miraculously living) terminator. WHOOM! Fun game, with a suitably explosive finish supplied unwittingly by yours truly. Kudos to Keith Jordan for a great scenario, and my teammates for demonstrating how to effectively use terminator squads, and to the loyal opposition for clawing me (at least) into bite-sized pieces.
That afternoon, thanks to help from Neotacha, I was able to meet Micheal (mweaver) and Jim (jweaver), as well as their friends, both conveniently named Michael in an apparent attempt not to tax my memory.
Jim and I enjoyed an impromptu game of Warmaster when the afternoon Full Thrust game proved to be full. (Fortunately, I had decided to bring my Warmaster box back with me after lunch.) Jim's dwarf army obliged me by succumbing wonderfully to my orc hordes— though he first smashed apart my goblin chariots with a unit of allied elven cavalry (we decided they had lost a bar bet and had drunkenly agreed to join the dwarves). His warriors and trollslayers also nicely pummelled a unit of goblin archers and a unit of orc warriors, turning my center into a gaping hole, but simultaneous flanking moves by boar riders and my last stand of warriors slammed into his left and rolled up the fight.
The "utterly useless units" award went to my giant, whose brigade made a grand total of 1 move, (presumably to get a better view, as they otherwise did nothing but watch), and Jim's cannons, which emerged around a wood for a clear shot, only to be immediately trampled down by boar riders.
Jim, mweaver and Michael and I all then went to dinner, allowing me to serve as navigator. We had an enjoyable dinner conversation about everything from conventions to drag queen racing. Very pleasant, and I owe everyone a dinner next year!
Afterwards, Jim was very kind to put up with trying out a medieval warfare board game I created. So William and Harold "duked" it out over England. We left the battle with Harold holding the upper hand, though I suspect William wasn't as vulnerable as Jim thought.
I ended by starting a massive Ogre battle, but as I'd promised my wife an early return, I couldn't see it through to the finish. My GEVs were taking a pummelling, and though the Ogres were unscathed, the forces approaching were formidable to say the least, especially as my attacks were leaving only disabled superheavies to the rear.
Morning exhaustion prevent my return to the field of battle today, but I had a nice time all around.
Regrets— not being able to join the Pirate game this morning, not having enough disposable cash for the vendor selection (very tempting), and that it all ended too soon.
Most visually stunning event: The Blue Max WWI field strewn with the smoking hulks of downed planes. Wow.
Sounded like they were having a great time: The fictional heroes free-for-all featuring Sharpe, Hornblower, Aubrey, Maturin and their respective arch nemesises. If they repeat that one next year, make room for me!
Most tempting game I saw: Wings of War. Simple, fun, and the planes are indeed very nice.
Enjoyed it, and hope to return.
wonders if he can use his 3Dprinter to make markers.
