"Would You Attend A Gaming Convention At A Military Academy?" Topic

The topic on the "Mini Convention" in Baltimore (which I attended years ago) prompted me to start a discussion on a related idea which I've had for a long time, namely, whether there is any interest in a weekend gaming convention at a military academy.

Some of us are veterans of PointCon at West Point. (Others may recall the "JodieCons" that were held years ago at the West Point Prep School at Fort Monmouth, NJ and the Borodino 2002 game held at Fortress Monroe in VA.) This isn't a topic about reviving PointCon (which many of us enjoyed), but a general discussion of the advantages of holding a gaming "Mini Con" at a service academy.

Some advantages are obvious: plenty of gaming space and related hotels in the area (they all host football games and graduations, hence the hotel rooms at various price points) in an environment that is friendly to wargaming with plenty of potential attendees in the area.

In addition, most academies have a related museum nearby that is open for tours and/or events. Some museums have hosted wargames in the past. In addition, several academies have wargaming clubs on campus.

Add in a lecture (or two) by a prominent speaker or author, with a group lunch, dinner or brunch and you have yourself a weekend. If there is interest, local vendors could be invited and space could be made available for a flea market or bring and buy.

Potential sites are as follows. If interested, please rank your preferences:

U.S. Military Academy, West Point, NY;
U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD;
U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO;
Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, VA; and
The Citadel, Charleston, SC.

Some scouting has already been done of several of the above locations. There's a "war plan" for a couple of the locations already on the shelf. The issue is whether there is enough interest to proceed past the planning stage.

Thanks in advance for your replies.

Even better, at a military ACADEMY.
The system won't let me edit the title.
Maybe The Editor will come to my rescue.
Thanks.

Of course! I think the level of enthusiasm would be enjoyable.

Why not?

Other than distance I can't think of a reason why not.

Would think it would be like going to the Metropolitan opera

I actually did some years ago.

When to a convention called Falcon at the air academy in 1980's

An all naval-themed gameday or minicon at Annapolis could draw my attention, primarily due to proximity but also because it would offer something unique in terms of gaming experiences.

In general, two keys to success for a minicon event are probably the density of gamers within a 1-3 hour radius by car and the absence of competing events in the same time frame. At least a couple popular vendors in attendance doesn't hurt either.

Sure, why not? What is the vetting process to get on base?

Just for distance, I would pick the Citadel followed by VMI. But having a convention at West Point would be very nice even though it is a long drive for me.

A naval convention at Annapolis or an air battles convention at the Air Academy would also be interesting.

Jim

Distance lets me out. Good idea, though.

Some of us are veterans of PointCon at West Point. (Others may recall the "JodieCons" that were held years ago at the West Point Prep School at Fort Monmouth, …

Bringing back memories. I played Meade at the Gettysburg game at a JodieCon in the late 90's. I also attended at least two PointCons at West Point. I would definitely seriously consider attending a convention at West Point or Annapolis. Maybe VMI, but Colorado would be a bit too far.

Great topic, and one that is very personal for me!

My older daughter just started her second year as a cadet at West Point. I wanted to bring a game to Point Con, but sadly learned it's currently defunct.

It would be great to bring it back, but will definitely require an interested and enthusiastic partner within the Academy itself (and/or the other academies listed above). Though my cadet daughter enjoys miniature wargaming, at the current time the hobby is very far down on her "to-do" list. There is a "Wargames Committee" AKA: "Wargames Club" still active within the Corps of Cadets. I'm not much of a Facebook user, but here's a link to their Facebook page, where the most recent post is from April 25, 2017:

facebook.com/GoArmyGaming

As far as attending such a convention goes, for obvious reasons I put WEST POINT #1 on my list and would definitely want to attend and bring a game to run if it was held there in the next 3 years. USAF Academy in Colorado is my #2, since one of my best wargaming friends lives nearby.

U.S. Coast Guard Academy, New London, CT.

uscga.edu

Well done Old Contemptible! I just realized something was missing and came back to edit my post and add the same thing!

On principle, absolutely. A major draw. However, I'm a looooooong ways from any of them.

West Point is only a few hours away from me. I'd go there if possible.

Point Con gets my vote. I am in Anaheim, so all of them would be a significant travel distance.

West Point would be awesome

Yes.

Not much chance of that in the UK.

The Army does their Rupert training at a place called Sandhurst. They seem to have good quality lecturers available but have never heard of common or garden wargamers being onsite.

The Royal Navy does their thing at Dartmouth College down south somewhere. Again I've never heard of Joe Bloggs getting a game there.

The Royal Air Force does something at Cranford (something like that) but again nothing more than that.

Given our Westminsters inability to do anything constructive anywhere and their consistent chopping of service budgets it would be unlikely for a convention/show at a UK service destination to take place.

The old "Point Cons" at west point were great, and the flea-market was a game buyers dream, but the 1st con after 9/11 had a "security check" line a mile long, and that is the last one I remember being held.

Why not just go to Bovington Tank Museum, UK, has all the above with lots of the original hardware available to view.

In principal I see no plus or minus to having a con at an academy. As PJ ONeill noted however the requirements for getting in may be a major issue since 9/11. They also may not even allow such things any longer depending on the site – or at least it is not worth the bother getting the appropriate approvals.

As a vendor it is a headache to be on any college campus. Severe product restrictions on what you can sell and in most cases you have to give them a hefty percentage of the sales.

No. No desire to ever go back.

The Army does their Rupert training at a place called Sandhurst. They seem to have good quality lecturers available but have never heard of common or garden wargamers being onsite.

It was at Sandhurst that I attended a mega wargame some years ago and I am a civilian.

I think this is a fantastic idea. I'm not disregarding the downsides, but they are outweighed by the upsides.

For HMGS, I think this dovetails with the outreach we need to be doing

It's a reasonably credible idea. I live closest to Annapolis, and frankly, as metro areas go it's more than a bit of a snarl. They used to have ship model cons down there. 2 were on the academy grounds. I don't think they hold them anymore.

I'd prefer elsewhere, but if you build it, I will come.

It was at Sandhurst that I attended a mega wargame some years ago and I am a civilian.

That's interesting.

I had never heard of such an event at Sandhurst.

Paddy Griffiths organised a WW1 event at Sandhurst back in the 80's ? Security was rather tight, advance notice needed of names and car registration numbers. Paddy was a lecturer there, so had certain privileges.

Yes. Naval Academy is closest. I intend on going to the Military Academy in October to watch a rugby game. I have appropriate ID, so personally, access wouldn't be an issue.

Access policy varies between installations, but some advanced preparation can generally expedite the process.

pjm

In 2015 we ran the battle of Waterloo in the museum at West Point on three large tables. It was not the best venue due to the restrictive lighting required by museums. We would have rather used another facility that would have been a better venue but it was under renovation. It all worked out rather well but the sleepy village of West Point is limited in terms of accommodations, restaurants, etc. Had to drive up over Bear Mountain just to go to a Home Depot for supplies.

Having visited West Point with my family multiple times over the past few years, I can say that mckrok is right on target, as the security check to gain entry without a military ID is generally not overly complex or time-consuming. It requires a REAL ID driver's license/ID card or a valid passport, and if you are a visitor without any connection to the post or its personnel, I think you must start the process at the Visitor Control Center, located outside the front gate. It makes sense that in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 the security protocols were significantly enhanced, but we are now approaching two decades since then. I know Pointcon was still up and running smoothly as recently as 2012, long after 2001.

@oldnorthstate: Yes, that's the "sleepy village" of Highland Falls, also just outside the front gate.

I'm only 30 minutes from West Point, I'd certainly go to a convention there.

I'd go to VMI.

As a USMA grad, GO ARMY!! Do it there!

Attended a con at West Point back in 77 (or thereabouts, memory fades). Had good time. Stayed at Hotel Thayer.

Remember game with 1/285 armor minis on sandtable. LOS determined by laser – size of shoebox, mounted on tripod beside table, players held dental mirrors behind vehicles, reflected beam to target. The good old days ;-)

PointCon was fun. Wish they'd bring it back. Ran a game there once.

As an employee at the US Army Heritage & Education Center (Army War College) in Carlisle, PA, this is something I've been wanting to explore for some time. We've got the facilities/gaming space, access to major highways, and it'd even coincide with our mission.

T34forU is on to it. An event at The Army War College. How cool would that be? And starting to draw active members of the military who would be a natural to have at all our events.

I would vie for The Citadel as a good friend went there and I have family in the area and also the closest for me . But it would be hard to turn down West Point as it is the proverbial "Mecca" for US Military Academies and I hear a great museum as well !

Some interesting responses so far. Thanks for your comments.

FYI, re the Army War College, there were several ACW games run there years ago by various members of HMGS using the Carnage and Glory II computer moderated rules system. The games were called "The Civil War in Miniature" series and included First Bull Run and Antietam. The games were held at the local hotel. At the time, the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center was still in the planning stage. It might be interesting to go back.

The Army War College also just finished hosting its Connections conference. If anyone was there, they might want to submit a review.

PointCons (West Point) were great back in the 1990s, including just walking around and visiting the museum.

I've been to Carlisle twice, including visiting the original powder magazine (which used to house the museum but was 99% empty). That was an extensive car search and that was at least a decade ago. The new building outside the gate had exhibits on several floors and I think there's a walking trail with hardware. I'd enjoy heading back there.

Borodino 2002 at Fort Monroe was fantastic, but again, that was via official channels.

Went to Maxwell AFB to exhibit MagWeb for a number of years, (includes USAF archives at the time), but that was with official permission, etc. for the conferences before moved to Florida.

A few years ago, stopped in at a base in SC near Columbia (forgot which one) with a touted museum, but was turned away at the gate. The guard sympathized, but noted he had to turn others away who were seeking the museum … so my guess is that you'll likely need official clearances before you go on a military base. Granted, that's based on one effort to visit a museum with no advance warning or connection with anyone inside.

Here's a report of one at the UK Defence Academy that happened only a few weeks ago:
link

For those who were interested in attending a gaming convention at a Military Academy, please see the related topic "HMGS at West Point" regarding HMGS' upcoming Game Day at West Point.

Hope to see you there.