"So, how was Adepticon?" Topic

…….specifically the historical games. I know the Sci-Fi and Fantasy stuff continues to do well and that Adepticon had another record attendance.

There was a big push to provide more historical games and I want to know how things went. Also, how are the new digs?

Heard the new venue, and surrounding food and support places outside the venue, absolutely rocked. Couldn't make it this year but sure looking forward to making it next year! Love going up there and visiting Chicagoland. :)

It looked like a success to me. The parking lot was full, and its a big parking lot. Walked thru the Battlefront National Tournament. Looked good, but compaired to past years far fewer participants. Looked at the Battle Badgers Point Du Hoc game, they also ran an intro game. They have a very impressive terrain board for the battle. Better than mine in many ways. They did a great job. Thats all I really saw for Historical Games. But didnt really look past that. That was on Friday.

As a gamer who is fond of all gaming whether sci fi, fantasy, or historical, it was incredible. It was the best convention I've attended in years. This was only my second time there, and last year was a one day, let's take a look around, kind of scouting mission. This year we went down for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

I am not big into tournaments these days (I don't play any one game regularly enough to make a respectable showing) but I still managed to play a dozen or so short demo games. This is the best aspect of Adepticon to me. All the small-mid size game companies that are making more than just minis attend and show off the new systems.

Now, if you are solely into historicals, or if you are interested in single scenario games rather than tournaments, then I'd say Little Wars, Historicon, Fall In, or another regional convention would better suit your desires. While I saw good sized, and apparently well run, tournaments for SAGA and Bolt Action, and though I never got around to visiting it I know there was a FoW tournament, I am not aware of any single scenario games that took place. That doesn't mean they weren't there. It's a big venue.

The venue itself is really nice. It's convenient for food (not quite walking distance, but a 3-4 min drive to anything you'd want, plus a shuttle from the hotel to the local mall) and the accomodations are comfy.

If the Adepticon organizers read this, I'd recommend expanding the offer of space for single scenario games. That would likely draw a whole additional crowd to the convention.

There was also a SAGA tournament – the US Grand Melee with about 40 players starting out on Friday and I believe 32 finished out the 2 days into Saturday. They had a huge demo table and played some Musket and Tomahawk there as well. Next to the SAGA was a Bolt Action tournament on Saturday.

My question is "Is Adepticon all about tournaments with a handful of demo games?" That was my impression.

Anyone have pictures etc?
Clif

I went for the first time this year. It was a quick day trip, like Dan did last year, and my primary objective was to shop, get inspiration from the games, and check out the "feel" of the con. Unfortunately, I was underwhelmed.

The dealer area was particularly disappointing. The website listed almost 50 dealers, but it sure didn't feel like that many. Between no-shows and companies not bringing full lines, I left empty-handed.

There were a few really outstanding looking games. There was a Pegasus Bridge board that looked like a museum piece, the Pointe du Hoc game mentioned above, and Wingnut's pirate game is in a league of its own. These aside, I find the games at Little Wars to have generally better presentation.

I think Dan said it best, so I'll quote him:

Now, if you are solely into historicals, or if you are interested in single scenario games rather than tournaments, then I'd say Little Wars, Historicon, Fall In, or another regional convention would better suit your desires.

All that said; the staff were friendly and helpful, the venue nice and accessible, and since no badge is necessary to shop, we weren't out any money. I would have liked to play some demo games, but that wouldn't justify the cost of the badge to me.

The venue was top notch.
Good food: both at the event and local restaurants.
Bathrooms: the ones I used were clean.
Parking: reasonable distances and available.
Hotel and Event Staff: courteous, helpful and friendly.
Noise levels: decent. No problems holding conversation at a table.
Vendors: no redundancy, good selection of terrain, board games and new products. A few smaller vendors, Warlord and Flames of War represented historical.
Other players: Very friendly, well mannered, mild gamer funk.

As Dan Wideman stated, I would also like to see more single scenario games.
Saga had a nice showing for terrain, I can't find the pic's of the Mead-hall display that was there. A masterful work, Museum quality.
My crew ran two 5hr sessions of Pirate gaming, Friday and Saturday nights. Our troupe had a great time.

Wingnut

I had a great time and I'm glad I skipped Little Wars for it. I will do that next year.

As for Adepticon getting more historical games, it's too bad Little Wars can't co-locate. That would immediately increase the number of historical games and (possibly) vendors.

For anyone looking for photos and coverage we have a running page on the AdeptiCon site here: adepticon.org/?page_id=9799 and it is expanding daily as folks get home and post updates.

The SAGA and Bolt Action tournament games were great to see.
I was not disappointed by the dealer area at all. I found plenty of shiny things to buy, most of it historical figures and terrain pieces.

As for Adepticon getting more historical games, it's too bad Little Wars can't co-locate. That would immediately increase the number of historical games and (possibly) vendors.

I, too, wonder if there is a way for Little Wars and Adepticon to cooperate/coordinate/co-locate. There's a lot more cross-over gamers these days and Adepticon is getting a goodly selection of tournament-oriented historical games.

I think it would be challenging for Little Wars and Adepticon to merge or simul-host games, but I think it is doable and would be a plus for all attendees. There would be a great benefit to historical gaming if we could get our games in front of the sci-fi and fantasy gamers.

The idea that the non-profit status of HMGS would be in jeopardy, which I saw put forward as a reason not to merge the conventions, is just silly (I am a lawyer and feel comfortable making this statement). However, I can see why HMGS would not want to be swallowed by the bigger convention, and the process of avoiding that "assimilation" might be too cumbersome or complicated to be worth while. There is also a reasonable objection to merging the conventions on the grounds that the combined convention would be more expensive (or crowded) than many current HMGS members want to pay for a convention. I disagree with that conclusion, but I don't think people are crazy to be concerned about it.

But, maybe here in a couple of years, both GenCon and GaryCon will move to Chicago and the competition will force their combination anyway.

Thanks for link Hank
clif

Bringing in a collection of demo and participation games was a priority for Adepticon Historical team this year. To some degree, we were able to succeed. On Saturday, the tables were double booked with events in both the afternoon and the evening. By Sunday, most of the tables were empty & we could have hosted any number of games.

Some of the most popular games included Old West, "Flames of War: Learning & Enjoying the Game", Battle of Arsuf (Hail Caesar), Battle of Chaeronea 338 BC.(Clash of Empires). I did observe that 28mm games seemed to be better attended than games in other scales (FOW excepted). I assume this goes to the Adepticon fan base coming mostly from 28mm games.

As always, we will be looking for volunteers to host games for 2016. All miniature game types and scales are welcome (board games too!) Look for an event submission announcement in the fall.

Rich N.

Rich:

Is there somewhere we can add our email to a list to get notified when you;re looking for GMs? I'd be interested in running some games….

Hank,

(or anyone)

I could use some help:)
Do you guys have next years show dates?

I did some searching but could not find the answer myself.

Thanks for any info:)

The Adepticon home page has a 'join mailing list' option. Joining the mailing list will get you notified of when the event submission form opens & when next year's dates are announced.
adepticon.org

About the consideration of Little Wars & Adepticon merge. I do not see it happening for many reason to numerous to go into here. But that does not mean that there can be better communication & cooperation between the two conventions. Hank and I have had several conversation during the year and plan on sitting down together at Little Wars to continue them. He is a great guy to work with and Adepticon is a great convention. I have been asked by Games Plus to run a few games there next year and have agreed to do so.