Cold Wars always holds a special place in my heart. It's guy's weekend. No females, the alcohol can flow freely, and if I did them right, my tax return has hit my bank account and I have a little more flexibility with my purchases.
The start to Guy's Weekend was tempered by my late work schedule, my wife's early morning Friday schedule, and two rambuncious little scamps called my daughters, who refuse to sleep. Sticking them on my wife on back-to-back nights was one thing. Three nights might involve lawyers and alimony.
Friday morning, I dropped the rascallions off at daycare and mosied on down to Lancaster, getting there around 10-10:30am. Outside of a long line of idiots during gas stop and the normal Fast and the Furious traffic which US 30 can be, it was uneventful.
I caught up with a few people and wandered down to the dealers to start my extravaganza of shopping, only to discover a line from the Tennis Barn/Expo Center to the base of the stairs of the Host proper! I don't remember the dealers opening so late on a Friday, but perhaps I've always jumped in games when I've shown up earlier. When I did get into the dealers later, they seemed to have a good steady stream of business. No one was showering the building with twenties, but everyone could afford a good drink or three in the evening.
The start to Guy's Weekend was tempered by my late work schedule, my wife's early morning Friday schedule, and two rambuncious little scamps called my daughters, who refuse to sleep. Sticking them on my wife on back-to-back nights was one thing. Three nights might involve lawyers and alimony.
Friday morning, I dropped the rascallions off at daycare and mosied on down to Lancaster, getting there around 10-10:30am. Outside of a long line of idiots during gas stop and the normal Fast and the Furious traffic which US 30 can be, it was uneventful.
I caught up with a few people and wandered down to the dealers to start my extravaganza of shopping, only to discover a line from the Tennis Barn/Expo Center to the base of the stairs of the Host proper! I don't remember the dealers opening so late on a Friday, but perhaps I've always jumped in games when I've shown up earlier. When I did get into the dealers later, they seemed to have a good steady stream of business. No one was showering the building with twenties, but everyone could afford a good drink or three in the evening.
If it were better beer, the line should have just turned around.Friday attendance was slow and building throughout the day. It took until 7pm to have Distelfink really rocking with games. Saturday started up by 10am and was at full throttle when I left around 10pm.
There were a lot of the old stand-bys, not that it's a bad thing. For a number of games, the only difference from last Cold Wars was the location of their table. Battletech got upgraded to a better room, the HAWKS were ready to rock as always and the upstairs lobby was full of fun.
One of the unofficial themes I've noticed is the conversion of boardgames into wargames. Not that it hasn't been done before, and the reverse in fact, but if I saw one Memoir '44 game, I saw a dozen, and the hexes just don't look appealing, even compared to 6mm Napoleonics with felt terrain. At least the game using Britains gave some honesty to the whole scenario.
Memoir '44 using Britains!
Betweent the other blogs and my travels, the amount of things I consider boardgames being played as, well, boardgames increased dramatically. Zombies, Battlemasters, and a pile of Euro-esque games took up table space, if not space in the actual con book.
Battlemasters?
Despite a loud "harrumph" from the grognards, non-historical gaming took center stage. Zombies, Victorian Sci-Fi, even kids stuff overshadowed the traditional games, and even most 1812 theme games, because they looked spectacular.
Force on Force Red Dawn: Wolverines!
Rollerball in the Setting Sun
Freakin' TRON Light Cycles!
One of the Snowball Fights Seriously boys, I know you love your 6mm Napoleonics and your World War 2, but outside of a student of that era, to the average person the games all look the same.
The All the King's Men Mega-Game: The only 1812 game I even noticedSize does matter
Next up: Perhaps more pics, if the camera cooperates, or we may descend into GNOME MADNESS!!!! Mwhaahahahaah *cough cough wheeze cough* hahaha!
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