(Trogs Redux) #8 - Night's Dark Terror

Phinious Whistelteets, a half-elf bard of Riffilin blood, trying to live up to his merchant family standards. His charming personality was going to get him a number of enchanted and rare items in a deal with the prominent Nubian merchant in Verge. Of course, his fear of light war horses and his deadly allergy to cheese was proving problematic on this journey.

Arnold, another half-elf bard of far more considerable blandness

"Keebs," a Gnome Titan BattleMage, and frighteningly the only competent fighter in the group.

Froedrick Cobblepot, a Gnome Cleric of worshiping the halfing goddess Yondalla. Very recently retired.

28th of HexDec, 1142 - Village of Verge, Kingdom of Marakeikos  

The group was approached by a local, Stephan Sukiskyn.  Representing the interests of his brother, Pytor, he was looking for solid adventurers looking to make solid coin escorting a herd of all-white horses to the elven settlement of Riffilian.  The caravan of horses began in seven days.

29th of HexDec, 1142 - Village of Verge, Kingdom of Marakeikos

With Froedrich quietly relaxing in his new-found retirement, the party needed to hire the services of other adventurers for healing, and perhaps some spellcasting might by helpful.  

Without much discussion, they picked up a cleric of the illegal Cult of Halav, named Danut Boichev.  

Danut

The search for a spell-caster was even more daunting.  They ultimately settled on a surface-living albino Drow named "White Thunder" Gomez. 

"White Thunder"

35th of HexDec, 1142 - Homestead of Sukiskyn, Kingdom of Marakeikos

The party rushed to reach the homestead in the last few flecks of dusk, only to encounter cries of battles and flames over the trees.  A massive goblin raid on the homestead was being conducted. Our heroes rushed to the battered gate, ignoring a pursuing pack of dire wolves with goblin riders.  There, they caught their breath for only a moment, as the portions of the palisade were being breached by yet another group of these endless goblins. 

36th of HexDec, 1142 - Homestead of Sukiskyn, Village of Verge, Kingdom of Marakeikos

Overnight, they aided the defense of the homestead, fighting off wave after wave of this goblin attack.  Finally getting a chance to introduce themselves to Pyotr, he explained numerous goblin tribes had been raiding numerous homesteads in recent weeks. One of the tribes stole their 42 white horses, pending sale in Riffilian, and double the pay would be offered just for the recovery of them.  An additional share would be paid if the safe recovery of Stephan could be made.  He disappeared during the attack, and Pytor was afraid he was held prisoner... or worse. 

2nd of SeptDec, 1142 - The Wildlands, Kingdom of Marakeikos

With the help of two of the homesteaders, 32 of the 42 white horses were recovered and returned back to Sukiskyn.  The party had dispatched most of the Yellowfang tribe, but in interrogating the survivors, discovered than Stephan might very well be the guest of the Wolfskull tribe.   As a great surprise, Froerick quickly cancelled his retirement and had arrived at the homestead with a new companion, a Gnomeling cleric named Or'elle Boffintoe.  Pyotr agreed to half the profits of the horses, in return for the safe recovery of his brother.  

3rd of SeptDec, 1142 - The Yegenev Homestead, Kingdom of Marakeikos

A day later they arrived at the Yegenev homstead, burnt to the ground. After Orel and Keebs debated a deity's ability to direct his clerics on hunches (or talking chipmunks), they moved into the deep woods.

The weather turned bad, freezing rain and the occasional gale force wind. They encountered a half a dozen giant vampire bats, followed a few rounds later by four large goblins being led by an even larger goblin wielding a two-handed sword and giant white wolf that had a freezing breath attack. They fought off the bats and goblins, but allowed the giant goblin and wolf to get away.

  

8th of SeptDec, 1142 - The Petrified Forest of the Wildlands, Kingdom of Marakeikos

Inside a petrified forest, sat a ruined keep, now the home of the Wolfskulls.  

The forest was completely petrified, even the leaves on the trees were turned to stone, the underbrush and a few wild animals as well (Orel snatched up a stone bunny to perform "miracles" on later in his preaching career).

The six had fared well thus far, but the wear and tear of combat finally caught up to him.   Another five vampire bats attacked them and they ripped the party apart.  Phineas' knee was damaged beyond the power of healing anyone possessed.  A later encounter with some of the Wolfskull goblins saw poor Froedrich's skull smashed in.  The captured (and tortured?) goblins provided the location of the where Gregor was being held, Xitiqua.  

Unfortunately for the survivors in the party, the inhabitants of the lair were hobgoblins, and better armed at that.   While the group killed many, encounters with jade statues, and other accessories for the goblin Warlord Vlack were too much for them.  

They never made it back to the homestead, much less Verge.  Stephan was never recovered, however all attacks and rumors of attacks by this group, these cultists, simply seemed to vanish.  

The goblins, working for this Cult of Janus, had obtained ten white horses for the leaders diabolical rituals, as well as a number of ancient Traldaran tapestries that had been hanging at the homestead.  Combined with other tapestries that they had collected, revealed a hidden valley north of their headquarters in Xitiqa.  With a small army of the remaining hobgoblins and gnolls, Illyana meandered through the mountains until finding the entrance to the valley.  They encountered short, stocky human Tralda, and the dog-face Hukkuta.  When the evil visage of Janus appeared, with all her power on display, both Tralda and dog-man bowed down in front of her.  

The heroes had saved Verge but at what cost for this civilization?  And worst yet, no one knew where this berserk Janus was, save a certain Druidess of Verge, and her elderly Pixe-Fairie companion....

GM Notes:  And with that, my third Hackmaster campaign, the one to reignite the remains of the first one, fizzled in a desolate goblin lair, far north of Cloudland Castle.  While it was not a success, it did set up a number of characters for their post-Burning Trogs lives, especially one particular Gnome Titan who has yet to have many mentions in the preludes to Burning Trogs Redux.  

The other benefit the campaign TPK was the transition to the long running Call of the Cthulhu 1920's campaign.  Like the original Burning Trogs Rule!, the storyline has been completed, but I did a much better job setting up 1927-28 if we happen to return to it one day.

I did find some notes on the survivors:

• Clarkos will return to Vadevicsny and help train the baronial militia. He will not adventure again. He will return the land gift to the baroness.
• Lorrigaard will establish a shrine to Echellon in Verge and, by 1147, establish a formal church in Sulescu.
• For Galdor Melwasul ("Strom"), the mad elf survived the orcs and is settling his land deed along the NE edge of town, using the underground lair of the the orcs in B11 as their compound of destruction towards the orkin races!

My notes of the campaign mention the wounds to Froedrich and Phineas.  Phineas was simply a level 12 crit to the knee, which hindered him and obviously the group as well.  Froedrich was hit by a level 17 critical to the side of his unprotected head. How bad is a level 17 crit? How about 4x damage, a broken skull, -7 to hit, -7 to Dex -5 movement, immediately fall unconscious and suffer a severe concussion and obtains the flaws migraine.

That was the beginning of the end for the campaign.

Next: A return to the Star Wars d6 campaign, with episode #23, a relaxing "Holiday" TO BE POSTED 12/14.

For the Burning Trogs Redux #9? I'll link it if it ever happens, but I will say it might involve midgets and a rowboat.

(Kickstarter) Things That Go Squeak in the Night RPG by Gallant Knight Games

Things That Go Squeak in the Night is a rules-light tabletop role-playing game where you play heroic mice saving human children from evil faeries and demons, all while keeping yourselves secret from adults, in a contemporary urban fantasy setting.

Pledge levels are $10 for the pdf, $15 for print on demand, and $25 for the offset published book.

Hanukkah in Star Wars Really is Eight Crazy Nights.

Huzzah! SATLOF is Here (Or Is It There??)

 

Painting Update for the Holiday Weekend

 Yeah... I had a plan to do something... but I'm the only manager on-call for the weekend, and there's a disaster with the mail-in registrations for the local rec basketball league, do I've been doing data entry for three days.   Fun times!

Plus the Sweet Potatoes were delicious and completely kicked my butt.

Happy Tanks-giving!

 

Wargaming Ikea-Style

Seriously, just how hard is it to get an affordable table that you can run RPG sessions, set-up moderate sized wargames, and occasionally use it to eat as a family?

Perhaps the biggest insult that COVID has forced upon us is not meeting face-to-face at my college roommate Steve's house.   Sure, he lost the bar/gaming area with his half-block move, but his dining room has a full-sized dining room set, perfect for 8+ with room.  Luckily we managed to christen it with a few card and board games during the last true SATLOF.  Here's hoping we can pull off another SATLOF this year.  

(Trogs Redux) #7 - A Quiet Return from House Emerald

The "heroes" of Verge:

Phinious Whistelteets, a half-elf bard of Riffilin blood, trying to live up to his merchant family standards. His charming personality was going to get him a number of enchanted and rare items in a deal with the prominent Nubian merchant in Verge. Of course, his fear of light war horses and his deadly allergy to cheese was proving problematic on this journey.

Arnold, another half-elf bard of far more considerable blandness

Froedrick Cobblepot, a Gnome Cleric of worshiping the halfing goddess Yondalla.

"Keebs," a Gnome Titan BattleMage, and frighteningly the only competent fighter in the group.

20th of HexDec, 1142 - Village of Verge, Kingdom of Marakeikos

Our "heroes" returned to Verge from their caravan duty with a minimum of fanfare.   Something happened on their journey, that much was obvious.  The party came back sporting some new equipment, courtesy of the legendary Gnome Titan House Emerald:

Phinious - a magic shortsword

Froedrick - magical chain mail that fit a gnome (!) and an enchanted footman's mace.

Arnold - a magic shortsword

Keebs - an enchanted dagger and a ring of defense

27th of HexDec, 1142 - Village of Verge, Kingdom of Marakeikos

Within the week, details of the caravan job emerged from the drunken party members' lips each night.

The caravan was basically a wagon driven by a lone kobold going to dwarven settlements in Argivia. Allegedly, the group (almost) peacefully subdued a riot of refugees coming from Barthey, and defeated a pack of orcs who tried to ambush them.  It had been a set-up arranged by the kobold, so the group decided to hunt the creature down to the ends of the Georic.  

Searching for the treacherous kobold, they came upon an abandoned manor for House Smaragdi (Emerald) gnomes. House Smaragdi's Gnome Titans were the finest warriors of the ancient lands, defending the Argivians against the hordes from Parthia (and Yarbay). It was the climatic battle of that war that produced the fabled Fromm Tyre swords, the ultimate gnomish weapons. 

Something like this may happened to House Emerald.  The stories were varied, yet quite sketchy.

In their time searching the manor, none those swords were to found inside, but the group did find many documents relating to House, and (at Keeb's insistence), sent them by courier to House Emerald in the Gnomish City-States. Rewards were obtained, curses were lifted from the manor, and Froedrich threw in the towel, claiming his adventuring was driving him slowly mad. 

He kept the armor and mace on sheer principle.

GM Notes:  I had absolutely no data on this adventure when I initially compiled this Actual Play.  I had copied some data over to a Blogger Page Draft some time later, and when I read it, I uncovered exactly the data you see above.  

Next: #8 - Night's Dark Terror

(Kickstarter) Wasteland Pugs & The Glory Hogs Go Metal! by Old School Miniatures

For those of you with Post-Apocalyptic aspirations more After the Bomb and Gamma World than Morrow project, I present the Kickstarter for Wasteland Pugs & The Glory Hogs Go Metal! by Jamie Loft and Old School Miniatures

I've seen characters like Karl Barx and Moby Richard, but not in this adorable and fun.

(Kickstarter) Dice Cage Ornament

 Since I don't own a 3-D printer, and I actively support those who still cast minis in metal, resin, or plastic, I rarely mention the Kickstarters providing only STL files. 

I only mention the Dice Cage Ornament Kickstarter, because, well, it looks like a freaking gazebo, and as a Hackmaster/Knights of the Dinner Table fan, gazebos hold a special place in my cold, twisted heart.

NOT Historicon 2021 - Gnomes on the Matterhorn from Tiny Painted Heroes

Not everyone made it to Historicon last weekend, even if they were less than two hours away from King Prussia. 

The crew over at Tiny Painted Heroes, not only had their own game day, but decided to play the classic Brewery scenario for Gnome Wars!

I simply love the brewery....

Historicon 2021: The Mike Lung Gallery #82 Paleo Diet - As Above, So Beneath

Last weekend, intrepid reporter, consultant, and contributor to the blog, Mike Lung took center stage on Friday at Historicon.  

Bookending both sides of the Gnome Joust, Mike took over the main table and ran multiple games of Ganesha Games' Paleo Diet.   

The concept of a stone-age band of hunters stalking prey is simple one, the high-play ability for solo play, and the base requirement of minis makes it a great game.

Then Mike personalizes the figures....

No sloths or squirrels were harmed in these games.   There was a successfully hunted bunny.

Mike has also found his new style penchant, from the world of demonsration games:  the backdrop.  

The hunters were a mix of Gnome-Magnons and Neander-fowls.

Hunting animals is tough enough, but with the introduction of predators, things got desperate real quick.

And why just rely on the bleak winterness of an Ice Age civilization, when the game concepts work everywhere, like... underwater?

Predator fish

Blue fish (one meat), Orange fish (two), and One-eyed catfish (four)

Saturday was also the physical appearance of his Othermann Empyre army.  They weren't needed for the Gnome Wars game, but they are quite formidable.

Historicon 2021: Gnome Action!

Thanks to COVID and logistics, it was a light schedule for Gnome Wars at Historicon.

To prevent a completely overwhelming response, the Gnome Joust was scheduled for mid-afternoon Friday in the Juniper/Maple Room, halfway between the main ballrooms and the dealer hall.   It was nice to have a semi-private room, but it we discovered it was one of the more popular rooms for games, not just for the gnomes. 

Friday was an oddly timed, but well-attended (about two dozen) 3pm Gnome Joust.

Paint job of the joust goes to Lindsey Crouch.  Her German definitely stood out amongst the other figures.

For some variation, the Finals were played with two Schleich knights.  Congrats to Norman, our 2021 (Belated) Historicon Joust Champion!

The only other scheduled Gnome Wars event was to be a 7pm Tanga "Battle of the Bees."  Unfortunately, Jim "The Gnome King" Stanton, recently put a considerable amount of his wargaming stuff into tstorage, and the Tanga board, terrain, and even the train were buried deep within the unit.  

Luckily, he did keep his Hudson and Allen castle at the house, and events shifted towards the a classic Gnome Wars castle game. 

But first, this con represented the premier of the Nauvoo Legion to a Gnome Wars table, eleven months after I completed them.  

The Nauvoo Legion of Deseret (left) and their hated foes, the California Imperial Guard

Outside of missing a medic, they were ready to go.  We even decided for the game that they'd follow the Americans (South) card, editing Rebel Yell to "Mormon Positive Affirmation."

Mormons Ready for Battle

We threw together some concepts for the scenario, and it ultimately boiled down a classic convoy scenario.  Thanks to GNOVID-21, supply logistics for even the simplest of items.  The nations of Gnome-dom were descending upon a German castle for ammo, toilet paper, and beer, with an extra German supply column coming in during the game.

It's like a Great War Amazon warehouse.

Besides the high walls of the castle, the attackers were faced by a peculiar problem.  The castle was home to multiple legations, most notably the quite ornery Desert and Empire of California.  Both layed solemn claim to their diplomatic holdings, so it might involve an international incident.  

Worse yet, a group of migrant Swiss were performing road maintenance (and clearly a random tank that had exploded) and slowly everyone's progress.

The attackers immediately assaulted the legations and the road crew.    The road crew managed to lay down some defensive cheese to slow their advance, and the Californians killed the crew of the Sikh war elephant, claiming it as their own.  

Colonel Clooney and Private Pitt try to figure out how to drive an elephant.  "Where's the auto-navigation?"

I'm not sure exactly what happened on the far side of the board, as those participants were trapped in the corner as often as they were locked in combat.   The attackers did manage to penetrate the shattered wall of the castle before the game was called, but no one's fate had been predisposed. 

Cheese Throwers going wild 

Highlanders forced to wheel around the Bay-Bell Cheese Thrower. 

By the time the convoy arrived, the Deseret Legation had fallen to large explosions, the war elephant recaptured by the Sikhs, and the massed troops and giant piles of cheese around it caused great headaches for the delivery.  

Yes the Sikh machine gun tank should have come in first, but space was so limited for deploying troops that it was hiding.  

The logistics rolls and table size didn't help the supply column at all.  I'll work on writing up some different logistics rules to keep the attackers distracted, and the number cruncher players happy.  The trucks should be a mini-game with the mega-game, and the right player will find great amusement with that.  

After twenty months, we had at least twenty players reaffirm their love of Gnome Wars.  Whenever the next HMGS will be, there will certainly be more gnome games on the docket.

(Kickstarter) The Cult of the Beekeepers by Midlam Miniatures

Midlam Miniatures is well-known for their prolific penchant for Kickstarters, but know they've either run out of ideas... or their even more brilliant than I give them credit for.

Their latest Kickstarter, The Cult of Beekeepers, ten new figures for a mysterious, and potentially deadly cult. 

Fun fact, I did not realize that they already have a small line of Human and Halfling beekeepers that could be tied into this line.

(Trogs Redux) #6 Rumors and The Near Innuendo

The "heroes" of Verge:

Phinious Whistelteets, a half-elf bard of Riffilin blood, trying to live up to his merchant family standards. His charming personality was going to get him a number of enchanted and rare items in a deal with the prominent Nubian merchant in Verge. Of course, his fear of light war horses and his deadly allergy to cheese was proving problematic on this journey.
Arnold, another half-elf bard of far more considerable blandness
Froedrick Cobblepot, a Gnome Cleric of worshiping the halfing goddess Yondalla.
"Keebs," a Gnome Titan BattleMage, and frighteningly the only competent fighter in the group.

 
17th of HexDec, 1142 - Village of Verge, Kingdom of Marakeikos

Great celebrations took place in Verge once word of the party's attack on Illyan's Keep (now referred to as the Citadel of the Cult of Janus) was confirmed, but there were already fractures in the group.  Clarkos was first to leave, taking his share and heading back to Vadevincsy.  Lorigaard tried to work with the group a few days more, but left one morning for Danaan before the others woke up after a night of hard partying.  

22nd of HepDec, 1142 - Village of Verge, Kingdom of Marakeikos 

In the downtime between adventures, a wealth of rumors and knowledge came up will staying at The Burning Ox Inn (The inn owned by the halfling “Mayor” Sam the Wise):

1. Piotr Suikyn, brother of a wealthy horse merchant, is looking for guards for a horse caravan near Celsior.
2. Caravan jobs to Sulescu. Most traffic leaves either south or north, so the Pcs would have to walk back to Verge (or anywhere else).
3. Caravan duty into Argivia is becoming more and more difficult as Barthey refugees turn to crime and violence to survive. Good coin can be earned, though…
4. Of course, better, nay, phenomenal coin can be earned by those courageous enough to venture through Barthey and into Parthia, whose lands are in the control of the Master. Soon can become instantly wealthy with just one trip. Others simply die a horrible death.

Interesting goings on in Marakeikos:

1. Mirros, the capital city is rife with adventuring possibilities. The largest city in the Kingdom is a major port and full of colorful characters.
2. Celsior: The keystone of the kingdom, Celsior has less adventures within its walls and more possibilities for business contact.
3. Califon (and the western frontier) The Queens opening of the orcish frontier to homesteaders has brought in an up swell of people into the area, good and bad. 
4. Vadevincsny: agents from Vlachia are rumored to be crossing the border and laying the seeds of dissent. Good thing the Baroness has returned from the Crusade against the Master! Too bad she didn’t kill the Master!

A regular night at the Burning Ox

Possible leads from the Burning Trogs, the famed adventuring company headquartered in Verge:

1. The old fort west of town, now named the Citadel of the Cult of Janus,  has been cleared out, but the most renowned castle in the area is Cloudland, located southwest of the Verge. Rumored to originally be a citadel for the Ancient Ferasean Empire, over the last few hundred years, it’s also rumored to have housed goblins, frost giants, gnomes, dwarves, evil warlocks, and it’s most recent occupants a group of heavily organized grunge elves. Long before the Trogs settled their organization in Verge, they cleared out the castle and the first few levels of the dungeons below. Stories the Trogs tell vary, but it appears that the damage from the foray was harsh, losing a large number of allies, and forcing Mutumbo and Nina (the owners of the current trading post) to return early. The queen’s military advisors recommend seizing the castle to make a much needed fort along the southern border, but they have neither the plan nor the manpower to do so. The group that takes the castle could very well sell it to the kingdom and be set for life. Continual surveillance of the area indicates the grunge elves still operate as they did 10 years ago, with small but well trained forces manning the castle’s towers. 
2. Just for all to know, leads to the appearance of Janus are few if not completely non-existant
3. Military couriers from the Gnomish City-States arrived to the Trog’s HQ with a package. Head Trogs are quiet on the contents, but rumors within the underlings say it was probably for Zorin Redrock, the greatest Trog warrior, who is still fighting in Yarbay against the Master. Zorin spent a few years with the Gnomish City-States Navy, trying to find those pirates/slavers who dishonored the Trogs over eight years ago. Revenge may be soon coming if the package is of any great import.

And with all that data, the party hired on as caravan guards into Argivia and Barthey.

Next: #7  The Return from House Emerald

Historicon 2021 Has Finally Occurred!

As we are nearing 20 months of pandemic craziness, the idea of an HMGS con in the fall still seemed fleeting.  The idea of replacing Fall-In! with the Historicon banner spoke of either a grand return, or a bit of desperation.  But that did not mean I wasn't going to go down to King of Prussia and have a go at it.  

I got the kids on the bus and drove through a rainstorm to get to KoP.   

FACILITY:  C-  The complex is still stretched out and byzantine, with its meandering passageways.    Then was the overwhelming task, even with maps, of interpreting the exactly where my room was games, where the secret passageway to the casino was, and everyone's favorite game, after visiting the Exhibitors and the flea market, which floor gets you back to the Valley tower (answer: Mezzanine, and it's a hard right out of elevators.)  

If the contents of this car were in the normal casino parking lot, we wouldn't bat an eye.  This weekend, we knew it would be a Wars of Ozz game.

REGISTRATION: A+.  Mask firmly affixed, I found registration and took care of everything in the matters of seconds.  

The board game library:  Very popular this year.

Space Hulk

Flea Market:  C :  I'm reviewing my notes from the 2011 Historicon for formatting purposes, and the even a decade apart, the same issues are always there.  There were some deals and haggling to be had, but too many fellas selling items still in the shrinkwrap with MSRP pricetags for even worse.  I picked up a few choice minis, but foolishly didn't clean the one fella out, something I regretted when he didn't have a table Saturday.  

Wally's Basement (aka the Flea Market)

EXHIBITORS:  C+  Plenty of vendors, lots of variety, but COVID kept some massive old reliables (Old Glory and Brigade) away and definitely took away from my enjoyment of wandering the hall.  I did not have a shopping list this year, and my enthusiasm to search through blisters was just not there.  And when I did try a little search, I found out some vendors omitted entire lines from their con inventory.  

FOOD:  B-  After HMGS and the convention director given the facility hell for their inflated prices Thursday, Friday and Saturday saw reasonable prices for on-site food.   Despite positive reviews, the hot dogs and hamburger didn't look appealing to me, and I made sure to schedule Wawa runs for sandwiches.  My on-site food budget focused on soft pretzels and cans of Diet Coke, and at two bucks apiece, that seemed almost too low for a captive audience.  I visited four different Wawas over the weekend.  Three of them had visible signage stating the per CDC guidelines, the company recommended masks for the customers, regardless of vaccination status.  All of the employees were masked up as well.   More people in Philly trust Wawa before any politician.  That might be a sign.  

LODGING:  B+  Staying on site seemed better than a decade ago.  Hot water, clean sheets, and just the howling winds on Saturday to coerce me to contemplate napping.  

Paleo Diet

More Paleo Diet    

MASKING:  B+  The big bugbear that threatened attendance was the mandatory masking policy.  There were only a few reported instances of staff requiring enforcement of some egregious behavior, but most folks kept them on... and we have been more lax as the weekend progressed.  I'm not sure if it was the muffling of the masks or the fact that usually obnoxious folks decided not to attend. but the game rooms were at a lower roar, with exceptions. 

EVENTS:  C+   The mandatory masking creating an exodus of gamemasters meant some larger gaps (like the HAWKS room).  But games usually had more space to maneuver.  I spent my time in the Juniper room and the biggest grip was the post-dinner roster on Saturday.  With empty tables through the site, we had seven rather full popular events turn over on four tables within a very limited window of 3-4 hours.  It might have been the only time things felt like Distelfink in it's heyday.  

The Joust!

My Friday was a number of games of Paleo Diet (see further below) as well as the Gnome Joust.  I couldn't roll worth a damn, and I fell through after one win.  

Saturday was set-up shopping, early recruitment, and a massive 20-player gnome game, where everyone,  save a six-year girl, seemed to just be happy that gnomes could roam free after a long hiatus.  

Rumors and innuendo:  I also attended the Membership Meeting on Friday night.  Most things are in the reasonable level (money, attendance, etc is all good. Historicon attendance before Saturday walk-ins was over 1,5000)  Although we're almost certain to lose Cold Wars next years thanks to vendor issues and Adepticon being a week away from it,  Historicon '22 is definitely in Lancaster Convention center, and the leading candidates for Fall-In! 2022 are either KoP, or a surprise bid by the (formerly) HOST.

SWAG:  Like I said, there was a perfect storm of the missing vendors, lack of planning, and personal apathy that prevented me from pulling the trigger on some projects.   A few packs of Macho Women with Guns minis (the Bob Olley Space Dwarfs are pretty nice), a copy of Ebola Monkey Hunt, and with all else lost, two t-shirts at Registration.  Historicon is historically my worst hauls, but this is ridiculous.  Of course, my last three gaming items purchased this fall still lay unread in my office, so there might be true theme.

Paleo Diet Underwater

Toys for Tots

A convention debut for the Mormon Nauvoo Legion from Deseret.