 Editor in Chief Bill   | 01 Aug 2025 1:25 p.m. PST |
You were asked – TMP link Recently the Wargames Police came up in discussion, leading me to consider when they should be called in. 17% said "Cheating: Obviously. But failure to let the opponent see and count the dice, or removal of the ruler prior to actual movement should at least result in a warning." 11% said "Child Abuse: No mocking of newbies until it's clear they understand the rules in question." 10% said "Chemical Weapons: Non-existent personal hygiene used as a bio-weapon against opponents…" 10% said "Public Indecency: Troops should not appear unpainted or with primer only in any venue open to the public--and in other homes only with the host's permission." 9% said "Falsification: Deliberate falsification of rules for personal advantage. (Though, to be fair, some rules writers need to either learn the language in which they are writing, or else hire a writer who can clearly explain the rules and their intent. I'm thinking of a particular series of rules, supposedly written by a research group.)" |
 John the OFM  | 01 Aug 2025 1:33 p.m. PST |
Body odor at a convention is an urban myth. I have NEVER encountered it. |
 etotheipi  | 01 Aug 2025 1:53 p.m. PST |
Body odor at a convention is an urban myth. I have NEVER encountered it. Since the OFM speaks for everyone (just ask him), this is obviously true. -BT-
inlgames.com/modfives.htmWhen you really, really need to surround that HO building! |
 Yellow Admiral | 01 Aug 2025 3:32 p.m. PST |
Body odor at a convention is an urban myth. I have NEVER encountered it. If you can't smell the BO, you're the one with BO.  There was so much conversation before Historicon in the convention Facebook group, I was hyper-attuned to smells. I did notice body odors several times, so it did happen. OTOH, it was never terrible, and TBH bad breath is a more common affliction. - Ix |
| HMS Exeter | 01 Aug 2025 4:55 p.m. PST |
A friend once asked me if I could devise some discreet way to get convention attendees to reset their cleanliness. I suggested a by-invitation game. Buy or make a model of the Titanic. Maybe a pool floatation raft looking like a luxury liner. Put it in the hotel pool and cover it with nondescript 54mm toy figures. Participants get in the water and are given toy cabin cruisers and big floaty dice. Each turn they roll to move from the pool's edge toward the ship.
When they reach the ship they roll to see how many people they rescue. They put that many survivors in their boat and bring them to the pool's edge. Most saved wins. OK, it's not bathing, just rinsing, but it has to be an improvement. |
| Col Durnford | 01 Aug 2025 5:35 p.m. PST |
I also encountered the issue, however, cosplay folks were allow in so it may not have been one of our own. It was truly awful to even be in the same room with the individual. |
 McKinstry | 01 Aug 2025 5:52 p.m. PST |
I have encountered the odd odiferous individual over the course of many cons. While uncommon, they certainly made gaming in their vicinity very unpleasant. |
 Doctor X | 01 Aug 2025 11:13 p.m. PST |
If you can't smell the BO, you're the one with BO Yellow Admiral +1 |
| Shagnasty | 02 Aug 2025 10:29 a.m. PST |
Many times at summer conventions I have detected sweat odor but have met gagging, choking BO once and it was memorable! |
| dilettante | 02 Aug 2025 2:33 p.m. PST |
Yay HMS Exeter! Though the venue may be upset when they have to drain the pool afterwards… |
| Buck215 | 03 Aug 2025 5:13 p.m. PST |
If the Wargames Police are called on me, I lawyer up with a Wargames
Lawyer! |
| ThunderAZ | 04 Aug 2025 10:46 a.m. PST |
Hygiene actually seems to have drastically improved over the years. In the late 80s, we'd visit the Los Angeles game cons by the airport and it was guaranteed to be a stinkfest. Add the cigarette smoke to boot! There was a regular vendor there that sold used games and books. Always had the same spot in the vendor area. We had no idea what his name was but he was known to us simply as "Stinky". |
