"Historicon 2026" Topic

I went on Saturday for a few hours this year; here's what caught my eye:

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Nice photo report, thanks for taking the time to take the pics and put the report together. Of course, no one day report can cover it all, but you sadly missed the new game room, with the HAWKS and the Carnage and Glory games. And there were some great ones there, as usual. As well as Rich Hasenauer's Fire and Fury games.

Nice picture gallery; as FYI, that one picture of the lonely mountain sans all the trees….King's Mountain/AWI. Was a very cool set up (I saw it on Friday).

Ill have to disagree with you on the inclusion of the fantasy/sci-fi games at the con. While I enjoy historicals, the fantasy/sci-fi game genre generally makes hobby entry easy, particularly because so many games are at the skirmish level; it helps bring people into the hobby. As I gazed upon the Et Sans Resultant game several times, all I could think about was "I have to paint HOW MANY troops to get a basic game???" Maybe while playing sci-fi, those folks can wonder at the historicals and start moving in that direction.

Additionally, fantasy/sci-fi drives a whole other crowd into the con: younger folks, women, people without a strong sense of historical leanings. Gencon/Adepticon gets 10s of thousands of people, and they are a much more diverse group than you see at HCon. That could be a good thing for the hobby as a whole. I look at this as a business person might: first, just get them in the door! Then secondly, just maybe, a well set up historical game with con friendly rules will get them interested.

Thanks for taking the time to post the images. At one time, there was the thinking that some of the sci-fi and fantasy gamers would migrate to historical gaming at some point, but that seems to be getting less and less with each passing year.

In our area we had a few gaming shows where Warlord Games asked our group to put on some Hail Caesar battles to go along with the Bolt Action and Flames of War tournaments. Even then, the Warhammer tournaments swamped the historical gaming tables. Now a company called Green Banner Events has taken over the Warhammer tournaments in the Western U.S. and even the Bolt Action and Flames of War crowd have been tossed out. Having talked to many of those gamers there is very, very little interest in historical gaming, just getting the next Workshop releases and prepping their armies for the next tournament.

Thanks very much for the photos and commentary, Flashman! I used to go to Historicon regularly in the late 1990s and early 2000s but have not been able to make it for the last 20 years or so.

It is great to see the games being played and some of the really nice tables that were there.

most people are recruited into the hobby by someone who takes the time to do so. Having non historical games at a convention does not.

Nice stuff mostly. I find it amazing that people will put unpainted MDF and minis on a convention table.

Thanks for posting.

I went Thursday through Saturday morning. Very good to see a healthy crowd and lot of young gamers regardless of what they are playing. I met up with my friend from high school who incidentally enough began the hobby in Warhammer and he brought his young son who took first place in the junior painting competition category with a rather nice Gloomsprite Git model from GW.

Also good to see some new sellers and different products in the vendor hall. I'm a fan of the Marriott and Lancaster County Convention Center as a venue (and I like the Host too).

More pictures and thoughts here: link

A thought provoking review with an interesting perspective. Some thoughts:

1. I have frequently thought that Saturdays are the most underwhelming days of Historicon. I'm pretty sure it's not a lack of events but rather fewer events that I'm interested in. And of course the attendance bump from the day/weekend trippers means events that do pique my interest fill up quickly. I have noticed that many of the GMs who are there for the full convention tend to focus their efforts on Thursday and Friday.

2. There were a ton of theme-related games earlier in the week. Yes, there were more fantasy and sci-fi games than I'd prefer to see, but if they're not denying a slot to a historical game it's a non-issue to me. At every convention I've attended in the past seven years I have encountered gamers (usually under 30) who came to play WH, LotR, etc., and ended up discovering historicals.

3. There's a good chance the unfinished MDF buildings were because the GM forgot to pack a few terrain elements. Every single convention I overhear somebody in the dealer area or Wally's frantically looking for a substitute for X because it was left at home and they need it for an event.

4. Empty tables only look awful if they remain empty. I notice that most are between occupants, as we are blessed with enough space to allow adequate set-up and take down time for GMs. I do not miss the days of hot bunking event tables.

Talked for a bit to the Marine reenacter as i have a replica of a Brown Bess like he had. ⁸
In Hawks saw a kids game of American Revolution, thought that was a fantastic idea.

I have noticed that many of the GMs who are there for the full convention tend to focus their efforts on Thursday and Friday.

I deliberately run my game on Thursday because there's less competition and the people there on Thursday are more serious about attending. I usually get all my prereg players to show up that day. That isn't always the case with Friday and Saturday in my experience.

I thought there were quite a few themed games on Thursday and Friday. I wasn't around much for Saturday. Several GMs did mention that people registering and not showing up to their games was an ongoing issue.

I noticed a lot more empty tables than last year, but I also noticed there are more gaming areas than last year. I am hoping those two facts are linked.

Last year the dim Commonwealth room was the majority of the gaming space, especially with the well-lit Heritage room upstairs set aside for club-run events. This year there were so many other well-lit areas to run games, the empty tables in the Commonwealth room felt totally justified. I made a list of the rooms I'd prefer to run a game in, just in case I figure out how to bring a game 3000 miles from California.

Friday was definitely busier than Thursday or Saturday.

This year and last year, Saturday suffered a notable drop in attendance compared to either Thu or Fri. Saturday night was disturbingly quiet. Why are so many people leaving early? It didn't used to be this way. This con only happens once a year, Saturday is a weekend day, surely it should be the most heavily attended…? Or at least roughly equal to Friday. I'm mystified.

I understand Sunday being quiet, it always has been. A lot of us have a long trip ahead, and most of us have to work on Monday; I'm part of the Sunday exodus for the those reasons. That said, this year I tried (and failed) to stay longer on Sunday so I could play a final Sunday game. I'll try again next year. I'm traveling all the way across the continent, I'd like to maximize the time.

- Ix

Attendance wise I think Saturday had plenty of bodies, judging by the large number of "Saturday Only" badges I saw that added to the full con attendees. But yes, things always seem slow down in the afternoon and evening. Anecdotally, I know that some GMs who have a long drive don't do a Saturday PM game because they pack up in the late afternoon for an early Sunday AM departure. I also know some guys go out for a group dinner that night.

The group dinner thing makes sense. Saturday is the most logical day for that, since it's the only weekend day, and most likely day to have everyone on site.

It's just weird to be at a huge con that's normally teeming with bodies and have trouble finding a game to play on a Saturday night. If I run around town and break up all the group dinners, you think they'll come back and play?

Der Alt Fritz and his Battle of Princeton
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Great pics

I've noticed over the last few years that Saturday nights are becoming a ghost town as far as people running events goes. I recall back in the early 2010s that Saturday night used to be pretty busy, but not so now.

I've tried running Sat evening events to poor attendance, so I gave up on it.

I haven't attended for over 20 years and from what y'all have described I'm not sure I'd want to. Seems that Historicon's glory is in the past and must be mourned.

Seems that Historicon's glory is in the past and must be mourned.

I can't tell if this is a serious post or sarcasm. This year's Historicon was one of my favorites ever. With the march of technology and increase in quality of figures and terrain games look better than ever.

I haven't missed a Historicon in like 40yrs and glad for it. I remember the days of non-historicals crept in. As I was young then I didn't care as I love scifi, fantasy and historical. But I remember the grumbling that started. As mentioned above, if it doesn't keep a historical game from being submitted what's the issue? As some else said above, the lounging come for fantasy and scifi but discover the historical. Since greying of the hobby is a constant talking point and needing new blood, I see a win win here. Plus more people to spend money makes the dealers happy which seems to be another constant talking point. But more people means injecting money into HMGS is just a win for all.

Missed out on 20yrs of Historicons is just a big miss. Shame.

Grimm

Regrettably, I did miss the room formerly dedicated to Wally's. Looks like some spectacular games in there.

Further, and I've watched a fair amount of YT vids now on the event, I've decided to skip Saturdays from now on. I won't make Thursdays, but Friday seems to be the new sweet spot.

Come on flashman you should be there Wednesday night till Sunday…..