"Were You Recruited into the Hobby By Attending a Convention?" Topic

Just curious, how many of us were "recruited" into the hobby by a convention?

Over the years, I've heard and read a lot of discussion about bringing people into the hobby through conventions, but in all of my years, I can't remember ever hearing anyone say that they were brought into the hobby by attending a convention.

In my case, I had been gaming for several years, before I discovered that there was such a thing as a gaming convention.

Anyway, I am curious. Were you introduced to, or brought into the hobby by a game convention?

No, I cannot remember seeing or hearing of any in the late 60"s early 70's.

My first ever historical mini game was in Raleigh NC at the convention run by Ed Mohrmann and Larry Brom, among others. Probly 1984 or 1985. First Hcon was in the DC suburbs, but don't remember which one. Been going ever since.

So yes, I would say that con is what lured me away from RPG's with minis and AH/SPI/GDW style games.

Nope. Had no idea what conventions were until years after joining the hobby.

Conventions only bring people into the hobby if hobbyists bring non-hobbyist-people to conventions. Asside from the obvious example of gamers bringing their family or significant other, I've seen very little of such.

No there were not any conventions anywhere near here when I started gaming with miniatures.

No, didn't go to my first convention until 2 years after I got into wargaming proper.

No – saw it on TV and went to the library to get a book.
Didn't go to a proper wargames convention (went to RPG/comics ones) until 20 years later…

Mike

I was introduced to the hobby by way of a newspaper ad for a new kind of game, "role-playing," that apparently included wuzards and hobbits. That "Dungeons & Dragons" box lead to lead miniatures, which eventually lead to wargaming.

Nope…

Sort of. I was already wargaming using Featherstone rules and Airfix figures, and I may already have had my first set of WRG 2d edition Ancient rules; but I remember going to the Model Engineering exhibition in London – Wembley? – in about 1972, meeting Phil Barker at a WRG and/or Society of Ancients stand, and buying my first Slingshot back issue. I subscribed then or soon after, and haven't looked back.

My first was a few years after (1968 ? in London somewhere) I started wargaming with airfix figures and rules based on Featherstone's concepts. My real start point was finding a local club around 1966 (memory of dates) and realising I wasn't the only one doing it.

Kind of. I was already playing M&M with 1/72 scale models, when I attended a convention in LA. I got drawn into the miniatures then. First ACW, then Napoleonics.

No, it was a local TV news piece, featuring a local club playing Napoleonics at a local hobby shop, and I went to check it out and the rest is history. Circa 1978.

No
Found a book in the school library

Nope. Got into boardgaming because of an older cousin, got into miniatures in college with guys I still game with today.

No

No. I only went to my first convention after joining a club that did a displays at several. That was about 14 years after I started wargaming.

No. Started gaming using Charles Grant's Battle book. Found both clubs that I have been a member of through going to shows in the UK though.

Yes and No.

I started with Avalon Hill Board games, mid-70's, and read about miniature wargaming in a few issues of "Wargamer's Digest" that I found in my local hobby shop. Then I moved into D&D, and used a lot of lead miniatures for that, late 70's and early 80's.

However, I did go to an Origins convention in 1984 or 85 and there got my first real historical armies (15mm Late Roman, Huns, Vikings and Normans) and did paint and play with them for a few years.

So, I was in the broader hobby without Cons, but the more narrow miniature wargame hobby was through a Con.

No. I gamed for years before I even knew there were conventions.

No, books brought me from collecting 54mm figures into wargaming.

There were no conventions back then (well, the MFCA
gatherings on Womrath Street in Philadelphia might
qualify I guess), so no…

No. My father first then Airfix Napoleonics at the 5 & 10. After that it was an index card pinned to a bulletin board (an actual, physical one) looking for people interested in forming a Thursday night historical miniatures club at the Compleat Strategist in downtown Philadelphia. The last Penn Harris show came afterwards.

Nope. Met my first miniature gamer through SPI's opponent finder info in 73 or 74.

Wargames Illustrated, Miniature Wargames and the folks at Viking Hobby were my shepherds.

NO it was Airfix and its magazine for me.

Sort of. Went to a Con to play board games, ended up playing Napoleonics. Went to another to play DnD and ended up playing Napoleonics. Moved to a new town, tried to get into a DnD game, ended up playing Napoleonic. Hmm, there might be a pattern here…

No.

In a way.
In the 70s my dad took me along to a model railway convention at the local Scout hall in Crowborough. That was neat n all but what really caught my attention was a group of guys playing a WWII desert wargame with Airfix models and soldiers in a sand box. I was already into making the models and 'playing' with them, but the idea of rules, rulers and dice was a revelation!

Not completely,but it did help. My youngest brother was buying stuff from a game store(AD&D stuff,mostly)and I saw some of the historicals for sale,and some club players. They pointed me to a local minis club,and went to my first gaming con in the mid-late '80s,a local con,but a good start.

No. It is one of the great myths of the hobby.

And some of my first historicals figs I bought were Stone Mountain ACW minis.

No such thing as a wargaming convention in the 1969 Middle West. We did have decent-size games, though. My first "formal" game had 20 players, about 4,000 30mm figures and table space to match. I've attended "local" conventions in about that range, only with less actual wargaming.

No.

Went into Minifigs-Skytrex (later Adventure Worlds) in Victoria and never looked back.

For myself no. However, I brought 2 of my nephews to conventions and now they do some wargaming. I am bringing a 3rd to a convention this summer, so maybe it will be 3 soon.

No. Found Morschauser's book of wargame rules and never looked back.

No…but, when I was an RPG player, I attended several SF/Fantasy cons where GW was putting on games. I was always enchanted by the scratch-built terrain. I was pretty surprised at the venom against GW when I started in on wargaming.

No. Recruited by friends.

Yes, I went to another Council of the Five Nations and saw a giant Rev war game in 28mm and then I bought minis from Steve Keyer from Two Tin Soldiers. But years ago I had minis for Chain Mail and AD&D but they were more for placement on the table then really gaming. It was certainly difficult in the late 70's early 80's to get figures.

No. Charles Grant's "The War Game" in 1979 and my dad had already made me a toy fort and bought soldiers to fill it.

Sort of. My first experience with Miniatures was at a get together at some stranger's home in New Jersey.
Along the way there we stopped at someone else's home in a different direction to play Trafalgar. So I was hooked, but in none of the games we played that weekend.

Later, a guy came up to me when I was playing in a tournament at a convention and introduced himself as being a local. We've been playing together for almost 30 years now.

Yes, for Historical gamming. I was doing Warhammer with friends and we all attended the annual Warhammer convention. Then one year I saw an ad in White Dwarf for a HMGS convention. I think this was late 90's. After I stopped in at that convention I was HOOKED on Historical gamming. HMGS staff actually let me attend the convention for free, when I told them I never had been to one, and just wanted to find out what was going on. That was very nice of them, I will always remember how nice everyone was to a newbie.

That first show went a long way , for me the transition from just being exposed to Airfix , Matchbox and model shops . My first show was armageddon in Reading I guess 1981 or 82 . The massive 20mm battle of the bulge game is one I'll never forget .

No. I posted online somewhere that I lived near Chicago and a gamer reached out and invited me to his group (prior to that I was strictly a painter).

No, but I did meet my local club at one.

No, but wargaming did lead to convention attendance.

No, introduced to the hobby by a friend. In nearly 50 years, think I have been to fewer than a dozen conventions.

Yes I was. My first convention was Historicon around 2002 or 2003. I didn't know a thing about miniatures. I saw a flyer at a local game store. I went to the con to check it out. One of the staff showed me around. He took me to the game rooms and dealer hall. He is now one of my best friends in my convention gaming circle. I was hooked the moment I saw the game hall. I have not missed a HMGS-East convention since. I have run games and met a lot of great people.

Phil

Nope. Started gaming 9 years before my first convention.

No, not really. I played D and D in the seventies. Then I painted up some D and D miniatures. I then stopped playing in the eighties. My friend got me some WH40K Epic games, and after that WH 40K orks and marines. Then, I started playing WH Fantasy with minis. Finally, we started playing historical miniature wargames after attending Historicon. Now we play mostly historical minis.