Other booths' offerings ranged from custom fantasy art, Westernalia, and furry-style art to used games and rulebooks. The used SPI wargames, such as Kursk and Panzer 44, attracted a fair amount of attention, as did the first edition D&D books that appeared at several booths.
Next to them was a gentleman offering what he described as an "educational wargame" entitled Warzone Chess. Its main feature was a map of an archipelago, with numerous land masses connected by roads across the water. The premise is a relatively simple "take territory and destroy the other guy" and features submarines, tanks, assault carriers, and fighter bombers among its units. Movement and attacks are determined by dice rolls. According to Scott, the author of Warzone Chess, the intent was to create a game where the players could immediately begin attacking without having the long build-up of Axis and Allies or the multi-hour sessions of Risk. He noted that an average game should "...take 90 minutes from start to end." The game has been previously reviewed by at least one game magazine, and further information is available at warzonechess.com.
There was also a miniature painting competition which had several entrants. Among the categories were Best Games Workshop Figure and Unit, Best Non-Games Workshop Figure and Unit, Diorama and a Judge's Choice. I entered a pair of Smurfs that I converted from GW "Thugs" several years ago, and placed third.
An overlooked feature at these conventions are the viewing rooms. One room featured non-stop anime from 6pm on Friday thru to 1pm on Monday. The other was set aside for other science-fiction and fantasy movies, including the entire Star Wars cycle.
Attendance at this convention seemed to be down from previous ones that I have attended. This was in part due to KublaCon taking place in the San Francisco Bay Area about 400 miles to the north. Another reason, however, was that Games Workshop, a long-time participant in these conventions, had chosen to hold a Warhammer tournament at their local battle bunker. Despite this, there was plenty of activity throughout both Saturday and Sunday.
If my plans hold together, I'll actually have some decent miniatures to enter into the contest next time – and I may actually be able to do some gaming!