"Fall In!" Topic

The PEL is up. One of the greatest times of the year!

I love Fall In. It's probably my favorite convention. Nothing beats being in Lancaster in the fall season, rolling dice and pushing lead with my friends!

I felt that way about going to the con when it was at Gettysburg for many years. I still go when it is at the Host, which I don't think it will be for long.

Well… my event is nowhere near where my primary or alternate dates/times were listed on the registration form.

Dibs on first event cancellation Post-PEL!

Scratch that… my email was responded to immediately and it was discovered that my event incorrectly entered in the PEL. Bill and the other powers that be are furiously correcting the document.

GMs, it should be second nature, but check your events. First time I've had such a problem in 10 years of running HMGS games. It happens.

Despite what those early versions of the pdf may say.
The Burning of Mautonu – Theme (Let's assume it's S: 509: 10 once it's updated)
Saturday, 10:00am, 3hrs, Players: 6 GM: Eric Jacobson, Sponsor: none Period: Colonial, Scale: 28mm, Rules: Contemptible Little Armies TABLE D-34
American Marines have landed on Samoa to try and keep the peace in the capital while a civil war rages across the rest of the islands. After a few difficult encounters while venturing out into the countryside, they are given orders to seize the small village of Mautonu. The overland march has been easy for once, far too easy.

Eric, I believe your issue was handled. I apologize for the scare.

Fall In! is on track to be a great show. Sorry I have not been posting as much.

On the positive….
All of the actual sleeping rooms should be finished remodeling by the show.. this includes the 500 level and upper floors.

We have almost 400 events, which is great… some awesome speakers, but still too few in my opinion!

The late night flea market will be returning… same as last year….

And, for the first time… the dealer hall is sold out for Fall IN! This is big news there… maybe, with some help from you folks, we can actually reach 2000 attendees!!! I am trying very hard to reach and break that mark. Thanks to all of you and many others, Fall In! has grown and I have been very afraid that all 3 shows at the same site would kill attendance….

So, with the dealers having faith in the show, even at Lancaster as show number three.. I do hope that all of you have the same and still come and enjoy!

Please check the website often, I have been a little behind on things as I am learning how to do new things. For this I apologize… but I promise, Fall In! will be every bit as good as you have come to expect!

I've caught every Fall In at Lancaster, I think, and looking forward to this one. This year was four conventions overall--all the HMGS-east and the SYWA. Next year, something has to give, but I'm not sure what yet.

Looking forward to another Flea Market in the Black Hole of Lancaster. I'll pack my flashlight. Any chance the Host will have remembered how to cook food?

Hmm. And now that I've taken my cheap shot, I'd like to point out that the actual layout of the flea market in the last two Host conventions has been a real improvement. You can actually walk past each table, not miss any and not double back. I hope that's a "lesson learned" for all the 2019 conventions.

There were more lights in the flea market for Hcon this year, it might even be better this year for Fall In!

This year was four conventions overall--all the HMGS-east and the SYWA. Next year, something has to give, but I'm not sure what yet.

What sort of attitude is that, Robert? Why not make it FIVE!

You're close enough to give Little Wars a try.

Yes, I think Fall-In! is my favorite of the three HMGS East cons. PaperTerrain will be there!

@ScottWashburn

I have always been a 3-d sold scenery type guy…. BUT… Holy smokes… paper terrain has come a long way. My one friend does all of his stuff in yours and another company's buildings… got to say…

Thank you for the kind words about Fall In! AND… keep up the great work….

As a Mordheim player, etc… I have to express my desires for some 2 stage 28mm stuff….

Fall In was my first convention, did not really know what or how to get in any games. Over the past few years I've worked at the Events desk and this year I am running a game!

Wasn't today the first day for attendee registration? I can't seem to get on to it.

Same for me.

I thought it was my browser, holding on to an older image.

Dan, can you tell us here when registration actually opens ?

Thanks

I guess that comes under the "subject to change" disclaimer, Lol.

Where is the Hobby U event listing? Since I'm not running something for the first time in 5 years, I'd like to try a class.

Xin,

My very unofficial take on events listings, is that the Games and Tournaments generally show up on the PEL first, with the Hobby U and War College info appearing closer to the Con.

And I still can't get online registration.

supposed to be open

Headlune, have you been sucessful?

Heard from Dan Murawski. Registration will be open on Wednesday.

OK, had to add… pre-reg is open right now….. technically.. Tuesday…. is is open though… right now, no lie….

All of this is on me folks. I apologize. The learning curve was a bit harder than I thought to go paperless….

I believe everyone at this time has their brochures Emailed out also…

Everything is back on track.

Don't forget the HAWKS Battle in a Box is going on as is Toys for Tots…. and so many other things.

Also… tournaments are posted, Hobby U classes are posted and i have to get the seminars up yet!

Dan

OK so just registered. Took about under a minute.

I must say that was a lot of Sturm und Drang for a 24 hour delay.

And thanks Dan for your constant posts. Much appreciated.

OK – Just registered!! Looking forward to a weekend filled with friends, food, miniatures and dice!

Thanks for the info and the work Dan.

Dan,

Thanks for your hard work and that of your staff. I worked with Bill White on our events registrations and he was very accommodating and helpful.

Thanks again and looking forward to Fall-In!

Ed

We are not running Battle in a Box at Fall In. We haven't gotten a commitment from a convention director for a convention. More to follow.

To clarify, we had intended to run the Battle in a Box contest at Fall In 2018, but we needed to have HMGS advertise this since Fall In 2017. (Search TMP and hawks-club.org for previous announcements to see what this was all about.)

We wanted to advertise in the program books for each of the three conventions for a year prior to the contest to give people time to develop their entries. If I recall correctly, at Fall In 2017, we were supposed to be in the program book, but somehow weren't. I had provided a quarter page copy for the program. Ditto for Cold Wars 2018. For Historicon 2018, we were told that we would have to pay as if were were an advertiser or vendor in order to get the announcement of this contest. There was once a time when HMGS would advertise club and regional gaming events for free, but I guess those days are gone. We clearly can't afford to pay for an advertisement of a contest at an upcoming convention out of the goodness of our heart.

We already donate many hours of our time to the Armies for Kids project with no assistance -- or even acknowledgment -- from HMGS. The HAWKs really ARE a not-for-profit organization. At this point, I abandoned the project. Eric Schlegel, one of the HAWKs, offered to take up the project, but it is my understanding that he has had no communication from HMGS confirming support or advertisement for this event.

At this point, I suspect the notion of a Battle in a Box contest won't be executed for many conventions, if ever.

That's disappointing but understandable.

I couldn't fulfill the time commitment as per the rules (only a half-day Saturday), but I was planning on trying my hand at using a Really Useful box for my Saturday morning event. It won't win any awards, but the limited space might be a similar experience for my players with less headaches for me.

The hard taskmaster I am, I'll force my 9-year old to carry everything for the game from the parking lot… in one trip!

Buck, I am doing what I can to promote it, you know that I have been behind this project since you talk to me about it. The key is getting the other two directors to be involved.

Buck, I hope you (or Eric) keep this on the back burner. To be honest, when I first heard about this, I thought it was the coolest idea I had seen in a long time. It became more intriguing after I looked at one of my own 17L Really Useful Boxs and thought, "How the heck am I going to get a fun game for about 6 people into a space this small?" I'm still intrigued with this and hope the HAWKS keep us on TMP updated if this idea progresses.

I'd like to think I can come up with something better than a small skirmish game using painted grains of rice as miniatures, Lol!

The "Battle in a Box" project is the type of initiative that HMGS, Inc. wishes to be supporting, so we remain fully supportive of the effort (in fact one board member already had his entry completed). We have already reached out to Buck and the HAWKS to try to resolve any issues and get this effort back on track.

HMGS, Inc. is committed to expanding its outreach to local clubs, libraries, schools, local gaming stores and local conventions. We are always looking for ways to improve coordination in order to work better with those organizations and venues to fulfill our mission and grow the hobby.

As part of that coordination and expansion, we have been discussing, and will be designating, a point of contact for all local clubs in our area. We ask that those clubs designate one or two people in their group to connect with the board point-of-contact on ideas, initiatives and issues. Until the "permanent" point of contact is designated, club representatives can reach out to John Hollier, Director, Marketing & Communications at communications@hmgs.org.

Best regards and hope to see you all at Fall In! in a few weeks.

HMGS, Inc. Board of Directors

Maybe it's just me, but I thought that the old webpage did more to promote the hobby than many of the past efforts of HMGS. It listed links to dozens of local clubs, enabling gamers and potential gamers to seek out area clubs to join. The site also listed a lot of vendors too. But most of all the old webpage had dozens and dozens of photos from our conventions. I can't think of anything better for promoting the hobby.

historygamer,
The new board members with responsibility for IT and MarCom are working on revamping the hmgs.org website to inject some of those things back into the mix – "eye candy" will definitely be part of it.

John Hollier
Director, MarCom

It would also be nice if HMGS would allow club/group registration for running games at conventions.

But most of all the old webpage had dozens and dozens of photos from our conventions. I can't think of anything better for promoting the hobby.

I agree.

I wonder if the photos became "lost" due to the photobucket debacle.