Hey, anybody else hear about a new wargaming con in King of Prussia? It's like Cold Wars or something...?
The last time Cold Wars occurred was the Pandemic Edition, which seems like an eternity ago. This year, HMGS returned to the Valley Forge Casino and Convention Center, for probably the last time.
I made the trek down Friday afternoon, somehow avoided traffic, and did this weird activity called chilling before the rest of the crew arrived and we could finalize some game logistics before our first event Friday morning. Valley Forge already suffers the fragmented layout for the con, the Byzantine route to walk from the ballroom to the dealer's hall, and being under the watchful gaze of casino patrons and regulations. Not having the bar open on Thursday night (a repeated offense from conventions past), felt like a bad omen to start the weekend.
Friday morning, I took a trip off-site to Wawa for coffee and a little serenity before living in the Ballroom foyer for the rest of the day.
Our group's "theme" was a Old West board, populated with 4Ground and Sarissa buildings from (Award Winning) GM Mike Lung's collection.
Mike Lung's Old West table |
With all the cool kids at the HMGS Membership meeting, I was "forced" to run the joust... in the bar. Luckily no "unaccompanied minors" showed up to play to attract the ire of the security team, and everyone had fun (save the folks stuck in the BoD executive session).
As we're nearing 50 jousts at HMGS cons, attendance wax and wanes, and everybody has fun, no matter what the outcome, but the important fact you should glean from the previous sentences was that THE BAR WAS OPEN Friday night, and had steady traffic that the bartender was able to keep up with.
Saturday morning, I escaped from my bed and went right back to the bar... for breakfast. The hotel did run breakfast, lunch, and dinner concessions Friday and Saturday. I had the misfortune that my free time between events Friday corresponded with their down time between meals, but that's why God invented Wawas.
A breakfast sandwich and coffee was ten bucks, which seemed reasonable for on-site food. The breakfast sandwich may have been the best food I ate all weekend, and the coffee was more than palatable, getting me a boost, and saving me a trip to Dunkin in the casino food court.
I was a little shocked to have zero players for that table for a 10am game. Nevertheless, it was great opportunity to talk with all the folks passing by, answering questions, and gently nodding offers to jump in and play whenever they were ready. By 11:30 we had a table full of players chucking dice, rustling jackalopes, and preventing the Germans from visiting the Telegraph office.
Between the "gnome guys" we believed this late session may have been the best game we've had in quite some time. We had a brother/sister duo who were either new to the hobby or wargaming novices, the proud father of the kids was on the opposite side of the table, keeping tabs on their shenanigans, but letting us help them out, so could gleefully play his own unit, and the other adults were the perfect combination of enthusiasm and chaos to inspire the kids to try new things.
After cleaning up and setting up for Mike's afternoon game, I went off-site to Wawa for food (of course, bar concessions were closed). I'm not a true Wawa fanatic, but if any future convention site has a Wawa within ten minutes of it, I will certainly consider going.
Fun story: I ran into someone I hadn't seen in 23 years. He had posted on Facebook about attending, and just happened to be four tables over from ours. Good times. |
If my game was one of the best we've run, Mike's afternoon session was a runner-up in a different division. His players were sea of silver and gray hair, plus three over his game cap, but they were equally enthusiastic and played a fun game. A little less chaotic than the morning, although I was "privy" to some exploding outhouse activity.
Hobby U. |
The cavalry finally arrives, but they seem to have forgotten their horses. |
How it started.... |
How it's going.... |
LODGING: Had an absolute nightmare at the Scanticon back in the pre-casino days, so everything was adequate for an on-site stay. Stayed on-site at the Stardust (formerly Scranticon?) Rooms were clean, beds were comfy, bathroom seemed like a design/remodel afterthought but the water was hot and towels fluffy enough. Outside of the elevator doors requiring a reaction time most of the us wargamers no longer possess, I would try to get a room again in twenty years when the BoD may reconsider the site.
EVENTS: One obvious, and understandable gripe, coming into the convention was the lack of events. Even I can't sugar coat that one. On my usual HMGS PEL post, this Cold Wars had 37 events that piqued my interest. Fall-In! 2022 had 51. I will say that the Saturday evening slot was not a ghost town. The Ballroom started at 2/3 full and was half full by 8pm, there were giant games downstairs, and most of the smaller rooms were at least half-full, but most were full tables.
Wars of Ozz: Battle for Yule |
Gundam |
Herrero Wars |
German Infantry defeat the Three Lone Rangers in Fistful of Lead |
Bears and Hogg Gangs team-up to escape with more gold. |
Mexican Tequila Worms fighting back against German aggression |
I have to agree with others, the venue is a bust for me. I did well at the flea market moving my wares. On another note, I'm glad my daughter just plays JV Bball only for Berwick. You're a much better man than I with those tournaments. The last one I remember us going to was in Kingston in the middle of an ice storm a few years ago. More power to you!
ReplyDeleteI have it on pretty good authority that we're not considering that site for at least another decade, but the expanded alternative site list has more potential red flags than a May Day parade.
ReplyDeleteMy eldest will be playing JV for Crestwood next (hopefully a few minutes of Varsity too) fewer extracurriculars there, but the little one will drive me crazy moving up to Junior High next year.
Eric,
ReplyDeleteWhat area does your group cover up here in NEPA? Do you meet regularly?