New England Mech Con 2026 - September 18-20, 2026 - Falls River, Massachusetts

Another call from my buddy Wooly, another moment where his resurgence in Battletech has started turning him into a world traveler.  

He shocked me that he's travelling to the far reaches of New England just to play Battletech at New England Mech Con 2026, or by it's tagline: "Battletech on a Battleship!"

Yeah, they're going to be running classic Battletech and Alpha Strike, tournaments, painting sessions, and even lectures aboard the USS Massachusetts.  There is a joke that long-time Battletech players might not fit in some rooms or ladders aboard the ship, but it seems like a totally cool experience. 

Mepacon 50 This Weekend

 If everything goes according to plan, I'll be on the Pennsylvania Turnpike with my daughter, Maja, on our way to Mepacon 50, all weekend, at the Delta Hotels Allentown Lehigh Valley at 7736 Adrienne Dr., Breinigsville, PA 18031

Let me tell you, it has NOT been easy getting the finishing touches on my events.  Granted, they're all events I've run at conventions before, to fit the "Golden Jubilee" Theme.

Here's my events for the weekend again. 

Friday 4:00pm - Burning Plastic:  The game of green army men posing as easily exploding robots!

Friday 7:30-8:30 -  Drink with the Viscount at the hotel bar.

Friday 9:00pm -  Talislanta "The Crystle Dungeon"  - The first game I ever GM'ed (March 1991, Lehicon IV). It's been difficult to NOT upgrade it, but I'll let it run it's course.

Saturday 10am - Burning Plastic

Saturday 2pm  - My Little Pony - Tails of Equestria RPG

Saturday 4pm  - My Little Pony - Tails of Equestria RPG

Saturday 6pm - The Raffle, The Auction... or I might just pass out in the car.

Saturday 8pm - TOON - Cthulhu Comes to Springfield... Krusty the Kultist. 

Mepacon 49 Review

As the loyal blog readers know, I didn't attend Fall-In 2025 down in Lancaster  this month, my first autumnal absence in many years.   To make up for it, I applied all my gaming energy to being a mere attendant at Mepacon 49, in Allentown, Pennsylvania. 

Not to make the folks who run this thing feel old, but MEPAcon (Mid-Eastern Pennsylvania Gaming Convention) started at the turn on the century, trying to focus on gaming in the Lehigh Valley.  That's been a long an circuitous journey moving through the years between Wind Gap, Easton, a trip over the bridge into Phillipsburg, New Jersey, a few spots around the Scranton area and the Poconos, before returning to Bethlehem a few years ago, and finding a spot off the Fogelsville exit this year.  

Friday

I did manage to get down pre-rush hour on Friday.  The Delta by Marriott Hotel is right off I-78 and PA Route 100, within immediate walking distance of a Burger King and a Taco Bell.   I was dreading some ulterior forces working against the con when I couldn't find parking in the first two lots, and the overflow lot at 50% capacity on a Friday afternoon.  

Picking up my pre-reg was  a breeze (no QR code printing yet, but they did print out badges and raffle tickets ahead of time) and I quickly discovered why the parking lot was as full as it was.  

The picture above is a 3pm shot of the main ballroom.  ON A FRIDAY afternoon for a local con!   Definitely a good problem to have.  

The conference/ballroom space was divided to a larger main ball room, a room for all the D&D Organized Play, and a room for minis, other games, and a utilitarian space for the LARPers.    I perused the vendors bordering the main ballroom  and good lured into a party game "Two Rooms and a Boom". 

The players are all secretly part of a red faction or a blue faction and are randomly assigned to two teams.  The objective simple.  Question your fellow teammates, have the leader of the group "exchange hostages" with the other team for a few rounds, and once that continues until the final round, if the "President" (Blue Team) is in the same room as the "Bomber" (Red Team), the red team wins.  If they don't end up like that, the Blue Team wins.    We played five games of that, adding additional complications to the objectives.  It was fun, and I was warmed up for the con.

The "others" in Two Rooms and a Bomb

For my second game, I got into Hairfoot Jousting.  I was a originally excited about the release of this game, but less so as more information came out.  While it was not going to usurp our traditional jousting rules for the HMGS cons, it looked fun enough to give it a shot... and there was a weasel calling my name. 

Hairfoot Jousting

Our two teams of three went after each other with abandon and a complete lack of direction.  The mechanics were pretty simple, but the one thing that took a while for use to adapt to was the almost random movement of the mounts.  Every turn you rolled a d6 for a random movement template, and you must complete your movement unless stopped, so while you might be able to attack multiple foes, you could also hit your teammates or run into the fence.  I do believe that out of my ten hit points, I only took  four points from actually jousting combat.     I reminded me of Car Wars, but with random turning maneuvers, not taking speed into consideration.  It definitely has it's place for a quick convention game.

FASA Leviathan's miniatures game in the flesh!

That night, I had just slated myself for a Battletech game, when my friend Ed, convention director emeritus (He founded the convention), dragged me back into the conference room for his D&D game. 

He had me at "gnome"

I knew I was trapped when he handed bananas to everyone. 

Our little gnome group needed to retrieve an escaped goose, and while they were out there, investigate strange goings on at the community trash heap.  

The goose was rescued, the curse of the trash heap lifted.... and puns filled the air.  

The LARP room

After the game, I drove down to Wawa for a late dinner and drove to Easton to stay over my Mom's.  

Saturday

I woke up early enough to grab dinner at the Palmer Diner (I've been going there for forty years, the only thing that seems to change are the prices...)

Fantasy Treasure Hunt game that was much simpler than even Mordheim.

Honestly, my first concern for Saturday wasn't gaming, but getting my minis in the painting contest and my stuff into the auction.   I'll start my two part-rant about the auction with the huge disclaimer that in regards to the convention history, I'm the old biased guy sitting in the back, complaining how the green the grass was at the auction in years past. 

<History Lesson Time> When Ed and awesome group of friends who started the con, they were essentially taking over the reins of the Bogglecon local one day conventions of the 90s.  That organizer fell ill and couldn't continue... so the Mepacon crew took that model... which included the acution.

The auction originally was a "dollar auction": everything from a beat up module to a box of Magic cards would start at a dollar opening bid.  They've revised a number of concepts over the last 25 years,  like buyout pricing... and minimum opening bids based on a percentage value of said buyouts.  

I'm lucky to have checked out the new rules for this year before I arrived.... and I completely understand where they came from and why they did it

1.   Everyone could have five "guaranteed" items for the auction.  These would be represented by a sticker on the auction slip.
2.  Anyone registering as a VIP, could have 15 items for the auction.  Likewise a mere common registrant could pay $10 to move up to 15 items .
3. Buyouts were still there for all items, so they established "MEPACON Marketplace," next to the tables.  You could place unlimited items in the Marketplace, and if they didn't get bought out, and if the auction crew got through the "guaranteed" items, they would start pulling items for auction from the Marketplace table, subject to time and their whims.

Needless to say, I brought in two bins of stuff, put nothing officially in the auction, and with the limited space, put a half-filled bin of stuff back into the car. 

More on that later....

</ History Lesson Time>

I was greatly pleased to see the miniature painting paint and take was back and better than ever.  Run by Brad Frable, and sponsored by Reaper, it was well-organized and a relaxing spot.  I actually finished two gnomes of mine that were close to completion, finishing a free Reaper frig and starting a second won later in the day.  

Quigley's Cakes

One of the cool things amongst all the vendors was a number of small press game manufacturers not only selling and doing demos of their games, but others playtesting their games that hadn't been produced yet!    I did get to play a fun little card and token game "Devil's Bargain"   I did well with getting enough points, but the other players owned my soul in some capacity.  

Dinner was on site, sitting at the hotel bar.  Certainly not dirt cheap, but I spent less there Saturday night for a beer and a brew than at a local brew pub Sunday night for a burger and a soda.  

The Bar... mere feet away from the ballrooms.  Beer and food were good.

These folks are part of the "Who's Who" of Mepacon

The Main Event:  Six o'clock, the convention shuts down...  chairs all turn to the corner of the ballroom and the announcements are made, miniatures winners declared, and the auction begins. 

I did not win any mini prizes: that usually goes to Father/Son duo who always but in great work.  

<Auction Rant>  Another fun fact about the olden days of Mepacon: I was the auctioneer for the first couple cons.   I felt like I was having an aneurysm burst when the first item of the auction was a miscellaneous oversized board game that I probably ignored on my review of solicitations over the year."

" 'xxxxxx' the boardgame, opening bid, $36...."

*Crickets* 

It looked like the opening bid was 75% of buyout, rounded down...  Seven of the first ten items were like this and did not reach a bid... luckily the pricing and bidding improved the further they progressed.  

I first observed this back in Mepacon 43, but the glut of auction items are now board games of various shapes and sizes... has reached overabundance in the auction.    And whereas bidding in previous years were almost insane (more than retail for in-stock items that were sitting on vendor's tables discounted),  this year there were only wild pricing for a few out of print, Kickstarter exclusive, or charity items.  

My good news: all but three items were bought out in the marketplace, and I was okay bringing those three home. 

</Auction Rant>

Gnome sighting at the auction!

I chilled afterwards.  My buddy Wooly and his wife Jenny planned on showing up Sunday, and arrived at their hotel early, so I convinced him to come over, check out the site, and have a beer, before I drove him back and headed to my Mom's one more time. 

Sunday

Apparently everyone in Easton at 8am was grabbing coffee at Dunkin', so a quick stop to the empty drive-thru at the McDonald's across the street and I was on the road, Warren Zevon blaring from the stereo.  

I was shocked just how busy the main ballroom was for a Sunday morning.    There's a reason why Mepacon is getting folks paying $30 for a one-day pass, while HMGS people gripe that there's nothing going on... and it's technically free.

Sunday was packed until 3...

But for me, it was Battletech Sunday.  

It was a decade since I last played B'Tech, and over thirty since I played it at a con, but with Wooly and Jenny in from Johnstown just for Sunday it was a requirement.    As a bonus, our friend Droz, who runs stuff for Catalyst, was acting in a civilian, casual player mode.  

It was glorious.

It was there "Get to  Da Choppa" campaign event.... the player team trying to get a convoy of trucks to the drop ship on the other side of the table.  In the end, no one died, no Mech on our side was scrapped, and all the trucks made it.   By the grace of God, my tiny Commando suffered a whopping FOUR points of damage, while others right next to me were missing arms and partial torsos.  Even better I have credits and xp for their one going campaign, if I choose to return.  

"Old Man Wooly" and Droz ponder the final turns.

We capped off the weekend with a trip to BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse, with special appearances by our friends Scott and Nate.  I did realize late that we did have a quorum to restart the Hackmaster campaign, but alas, I was stuck in the middle of the curved booth and couldn't get my dice.  It was a great time by all.  

The Hotel:  The Delta by Marriott really was a great site, nothing was spread out, and the bar/food was great and reasonable.   After years of trying to grow this con, after years of planning and changes, they finally cracked over 400 attendees.   Of course, this brings up the biggest concern: Scalability.  

They've over 400, but there's no way they can fit 500, so early registration was emphasized during the "Main Event".... and there's really no reasonable place to move into gradually.  It's a good problem to have, and an even better reason to set up my events for Mepacon 50.

Events:   Fair and plentiful.  Most D&D was in the organized play room,  and the boardgames still dominated the main portion of the ballroom.  Catalyst had their own little wing for Battletech, and a lot of support.

The Swag:   The biggest purchase at the con were a bunch of 3-D printed fantasy animal figures from Solar Forge Miniatures, and a potential order from some sci-fi figures to expand Death Planet Iota.  I also snagged a copy of the softcover Mutant Crawl Classics for ten bucks! 

I didn't grab anything during the auction, but I did grab some great items cheap... sometimes "free to a good home" during the Marketplace buyouts:  A copy of the Ghostbusters International boxed set, some miscellaneous terrain pieces, a copy of 3-D chess from 1979, and the Star Wars (West End) Mos Eisley miniature set, still in the shrinkwrap!  Since I need half of those figures for new paintjobs, they'll definitely hit the queue after the holidays. 

Mepacon 50: A Golden Jubilee, will be back at the Delta, April 17-19, 2026.  More posts to follow, but I'm thinking a "best of" series of RPGs, with Maja running some gnome or sci-fi Fistful of Lead, so she can jump into the LARP.

From the conference room:  "Horizontal Jenga" or "Bob's First Day at the Crucifix Factory wasn't gong so well..."

Another Month of New Gaming (August 2025)

 It might be the heat, the post-convention drain, the lack of spending money, but the vast majority of items being solicited by Alliance this month are such utter trash, I'm not listing them, and there are a few items I do list where I question the creator's sample.  

Game Trade Magazine #306 is available at your FLGS or in PDF form online here.

ViscountEric's Gaming Want List for August
Nothing!

ViscountEric's Money-Is-No-Object List for August
Nothing!!!!


The Imaginary Store List (The Pegleg Gnome)
23rd Century Productions

(Savage Worlds) Battlelords of the 23rd Century - Charlie Foxtrot .................. $60.00

25th Century Games

Battle of Versailles ........................................ $34.99

Bullyseye ....................................................... $24.99

The Yellow House ......................................... $24.99

Bandai Co

Dragon Ball Super Fusion World TCG: Set 8 Boosters

Gundam TCG: Clan Unity Starters 

Gundam TCG: Iron Bloom Starters

Gundam TCG: Dual Impact Boosters

One Piece TCG: Devil Fruits Collection V3

One Piece TCG: Extra Booster Pack Boosters

Bandai is the premiere company at making things confusing continuity wise for FLGS.  You definitely need a fan of the product on staff to interpret/explain it. 

Catalyst Game Labs

Battletech: Gothic ......................................... $99.99

Battletech Salvage Box - Gothic Display

It's a grimdark game with Titans, err.... Mecha!  

Frostpunk RPG...............................................$49.99

It's been awhile since a month with Catalyst nets me zero enthusiasm.  

Chaosium

Call of Cthulhu: The Sutra of Pale Leaves, Carcosas Manifest ....... $42.99

Chessex

Lad Dice 9:  Polyhedral 7+1 die sets .............$13.98 each

Test tube display, fancy colors, withing my base level price range.  Would get the 18-set sampler for the store.

Chicken Challengers

Chicken Challengers ..................................... $19.95

Quack Head ................................................... $16.99

Critical Kit

Escape the Doman  of the Night Hag RPG .......... $13.00

Everspark RPG ..................................................... $38.00

Insurgent RPG ...................................................... $13.00

The Goodest Girls RPG ....................................... $27.00

The Protector's Memories RPG ........................... $27.00

Wires in the Woods RPG ..................................... $38.00

Cubicle 7

Warhammer Fantasy RPG: Lord of Stone and Steel HC .........$34.99

Collectors Edition for $69.99

Evil Hat

Monster of the Week:  Hunter's Journal HC ........................ $40.00

Monster of the Week: Slayer's Survival Kit HC .................. $35.00

Exalted Funeral Press

Carcass Crawler #5 - OSE Zine ......................... $15.00

Ooze Nun (Mothership) ..................................... $15.00

Explore Dungeons 

Heroic Adventure! #1 - Evil Never Dies (DCC) ..... $19.99

Heroic Adventure! #1 - Evil Never Dies Map Pack ...... $30.00

Tales from the Tower  #1 (5e) .................................. $10.00

Fanroll

D&D Dice - Gelatinous Cube 6-Pack ................... $24.99

D&D Dice - Jumbo Gelatinous Cube .................... $34.99

Gadzookery Games

Battle Bake ............................................................ $38.00

Happy Camper 

The Four Doors ...................................................... $19.99

Jungo ...................................................................... $14.99

Konami Digital Entertainment 

Yu-Gi-Oh!  TCG:  Doom of Dimensions Boosters 

Legendary Games

Ancient Tombs (5e) ............................. $13.99

The Dragon's Horde #53 & #54 (5e) ...... $11.99 each

Mantic Entertainment

Halo Flashpoint:  Banished Garrison Terrain .......... $35.00

Mongoose Publishing

Traveller RPG - Reach Adventure #9 - Hellworld Heists ...... $19.99

Paizo Publishing

Pathfinder Monster Match Card Game ........................ $39.99

Pathfinder RPG - AP - Revenge of the Runelords 1 of 3 - Lord of the Trinity Star .. $29.99

Pathfinder RPG - Flip Mat - Bayou Hideout ............... $19.99

Starfinder RPG - Guilt of the Grave World AP ........... $44.99

Starfinder RPG - Starfinder Player Core Pocket Edition .... $29.99

Pegasus Games

Love, Career, & Magic RPG ...................................... $29.95

Renegade Game Studios 

Werewolf: The Apocalypse - The Moonlit Path ......... $50.00

Ravensburger

Lorcana - Fabled 

Boosters, Starters, Deck Cases, Gift Set,  Sleeves, Playmats, and the Illumineer's Trove

Rogue Games

Colonial Gothic RPG - 4th Edition ........................... $39.99

WizKids

D&D - Black Dragon Wyrmling Foam Figure .................. No Price

Pathfinder Battles Bog Dwellers ............................... $39.99

Pathfinder Battles Cave Lurkers ................................ $39.99

Pathfinder Battles Forest Stalkers .............................. $39.99

Pathfinder Battles Deep Cuts ............ $5.99 each

A Possible Wooly Sighting for Mepacon 49?

The world is in too much flux recently.  With the recent change in my employment situation, the kids moving with their Mom to Upstate New York, and even the recent announcement of some insane dates for Cold Wars, the only consistent thing in my world right now is change.  

And then, out of the blue, my buddy Wooly is pondering attempting Mepacon, perhaps his first one in over 24 years.  

Old Man Wooly, from last year's SATLOF

Wooly's one of the OGs (Original Gamers) from back in high school.  He was a Battletech guy first, role-player second, and just in the past year started running Battletech games in the Johnstown/Altoona area.  

He dropped me an actual voice mail this week (How old are we now?) about attending Mepacon 49.  There was a moment where I had pondered not attending Fall-In! in November to hang out with him the following weekend, maybe make a bit an old-timers reunion.   I'm assuming he ran the Battletech table up on the Bingo stage at the Legion in Wind Gap for Mepacon 1 and maybe 2, but even my history is getting fuzzy. 

Circa '96, a pre-dawn picture before an adventure in Toronto. 

Those ideas fell apart when we realized some of the usual Mepacon crew won't be attending in lieu of Pax Unplugged the third weekend in November. 

UBCon '94 

I think we're resigned to a dinner in Allentown with some of the crew Saturday night, and just paying for a full slate of Sunday gaming.  I barely know my logistics for the next month, much less November, but I'm always game to run something, albeit the status and whereabouts of the girls will be more last-second.

CATALYST GAME LABS ACQUIRES IRON WIND METALS

Painting up a Hackmaster mini that snuck onto my painting bench, I wandered over to Iron Wind Metals for the official link, when what to my wondering eyes did appear, but an acquisition:

CATALYST GAME LABS ACQUIRES IRON WIND METALS

Catalyst Game Labs is pleased to announce it has acquired full ownership of Iron Wind Metals, located in the Greater Cincinnati area. While Iron Wind Metals (and its Ral Partha brand) is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Catalyst Game Labs, it will continue as its own division, specializing in metal miniatures manufacturing for a variety of companies, with a heavy focus on BattleTech.

“I purchased my first Ral Partha miniature–a Warhammer–in 1987, with no idea of where BattleTech would take me,” said Randall N. Bills, Creative Director at Catalyst Game Labs. “By 1996 I was working at FASA Corporation, and of course had a regiment of heavy metal by that time—including a swath of Earthdawn and various dragon miniatures from Ral Partha, which my wife Tara painted wonderfully.

“Soon thereafter I met Mike Noe for the first time and continued to work with him–and his great team–in a variety of capacities for the next thirty years, continuing through the transitions from FASA to WizKids to FanPro and to Catalyst, and Ral Partha to Iron Wind Metals. To me, Mike Noe is Iron Wind Metals. And Iron Wind Metals is BattleTech. While it’s been magnificent to launch millions of plastic miniatures onto gaming tables around the world, the metals will always have their crucial place, mortaring the seams of BattleTech.”

Catalyst is committed to this portion of the Ral Partha legacy begun fifty years ago, ensuring metal miniatures of all kinds continue to flow to the tens of thousands of hobbyists who enjoy the craftsmanship and passion in this all-important part of the hobby industry.

“Last July marked my 42nd anniversary in the game industry, and I had no plans to quit any time soon,” said Mike Noe, President of Iron Wind Metals. “However, Melissa, my partner in life and in Iron Wind, has been battling health issues and now needs me with her as often as possible. So, after more than 40 years in the game industry and more than 20 with Iron Wind Metals, it was time for me to step back and take care of my family.

“Fortunately, Loren Coleman and Catalyst Game Labs stepped up, allowing me to gradually back away and stay home with Melissa while letting Iron Wind continue with business as usual, bringing metal BattleTech under their wing. I remain involved with IWM on a limited basis and will continue to do so for as long as my help and input is needed or wanted, but it brings me great joy to know, as I let go of the reins, that Iron Wind is in such experienced and capable hands.”

“I cannot thank Loren, Randall, and the rest of the Catalyst team enough. Nor can I sufficiently thank all our loyal customers and friends for all their help and support these many years.

The last four decades have been an amazing run, but as they say all good things must come to an end. I leave with many happy memories, secure in the knowledge that the company I founded and the legacy from which it began will carry on stronger than ever under Catalyst’s able stewardship.

“I hope to see many of you at game cons in the years to come, but for now, farewell and good gaming…”

Here's hoping Mike's time caring for his partner nets positive moments together... and here's hoping Catalyst will continue with some vendor engagement at HMGS cons.  

Urbie the Love Mech is positively intrigued.

(Kickstarter) Flames of Orion by Stephen Hupfer

 Stephen Hupfer has launched crowdfunding for Flames of Orion, a robot fighting wargame. 

In the shadow of a dying star, massive war machines battle for survival in the desolate Orion sector...

 Who are we kidding it's fast-play mecha combat, with rules for support units, some general campaign background, and there's rules for busting up terrain... all in the a $10 pdf?  

Not much on Kickstarter has cried out to me this year.  This bellows the war cries of Valhalla. 

Visiting Mepacon 47 and Following the Theme to a T

 I was bad boy this weekend.  

There was simply too much going on this weekend, but gaming related, I hopped in the car after work and drove down to Mepacon 47 in Bethlehem, for just a few hours. 

And true to it's theme, Covert Operations, I used subterfuge and misdirection to visit some old friends, drop off a package, and evidently, pick up a new one.  

My primary purpose was to visit my friend Scott, who was running Battletech for Catalyst.  After reviewing the con events from the mess that is Tabletop Events, I finally uncovered he was one of four Catalyst GMs at the con, and this was a perfect time to gift him with some of the building I won at the Toys for Tots raffle at Fall-In! 2024 last weekend.  I luckily got there during down time between session and shot the breeze with him and our other friend, Droz, who was the Shadowrun GM supreme for the weekend

Not only did Scott appreciate my gifts, they were put to use less than a half hour later in his game.

 To my surprise, Scott walked away and came bag with a plastic bag... full of minis!   He somehow acquired seven of the holiday promo blisters from Reaper and thought of me!  

As they set up for their sessions, I wandered about, snapping photos, running into old acquaintances, even buying two cupcakes while following the theme of Covert Operations.

Because I wandered around the con with my lanyard of nearly a decade of old Mepacon badges, but I had not registered.  

The Grand Ballroom

The only foul taste in my mouth for the 2 1/2 hours I was there?  The row of tables lining the hallway at registration were still there, full of the sign in sheets for games, but the spaces to fill your name in was deleted and replaced with this note:  

Freaking Tabletop Events!  

There were about 200 folks at the con Friday night, with plenty of full tables, and probably a lot more attending on Saturday.  I have some gripes that the con is shorter than Fall-In! yet pricier, and the fact there's only one storefront in the vendor area. with the rest of the tables dedicated to designers and and ancillary gaming items. 

I love my figures from Scott, but the Christmas Caroling Mousling and the Christmas Present Mimic are my favorites.  More stuff to screw up the painting queue. 

Since I'm not attending Cold Wars next year, Mepacon 48,  April 4-6, should be under consideration, with me running events. Heck, maybe even Maja and Millie can become "traditional" GMs.  

The con is moving to the Delta Hotel in Allentown, off of PA-100, and Tru Best Western will be no more before Thanksgiving. getting torn down for another warehouse in the area.  

1:1 Battletech Rules Will Involve a LOT of Extension Cords

 

(Kickstarter) Battletech: Mercenaries by Catalyst Game Labs

 Battletech: Mercenaries introduces more than 50 reimagined designed, going beyond Mechs to include armor, support vehicles, VTOLs and even a new aerospace fighter.

Beyond the dozen figures that come in the box, the campaign is offering currently a dozen new boxed sets of lances/stars of mechs, plus a host of other material, new fiction, and gadgets, trinkets, and other shiny objects that Battletech players love.

Mepacon 43: Putting the MEPA back in Mepacon

My local convention is Mepacon, a small, well-organized affair that's resided in Northeastern Pennsylvania for a number of years.  I've always done my best to attend them, but with kids and life I've managed about half, most recently being a Sunday last year.

Its short run at the Mountain Laurel Resort was terminated by the closing of the facility for a third round of renovations in the past five years.  A quick available alternative site returned Mepacon 43 near its roots, with the  Sure Stay Plus (by Best Western) in Bethlehem, PA.

The con's name is derived from the fact that the early iterations were the Mid-Eastern Pennsylvania Convention, a name that never evolved as they moved north for over 15 years.  The Lehigh Valley is about as Mepa as one can get.  

I had not gotten much details, but as I perused the game registrations, I saw names of folks I hadn't seen in decades, so I decided to take the girls down for a trip on Saturday.  

By dinner time Friday,  reports of the place already jumping confirmed everyone's desires for a real convention in the area, with number of folks still driving down from Scranton.

Okay, it's a picture I took of the main board game room on Saturday, but it was reportedly this busy on Friday.

The only delay we had to attend was the internet.  No, we weren't attending virtually, but I woke up Friday morning to zero internet in the house.   All the regular attempts at resetting were futile, and after a day of calls, reports of outages, and promises of a tech coming out, I got a confirmation of one finally arriving.  

Saturday morning between 8:30am and 10:30am.   Plans for an early breakfast with the girls were shot out of the window, and plans for both girls attended were changed with Millie's friend and basketball teammate throwing a sleepover birthday party over the entire weekend.  

The technician showed up by 9:40, did a lot of diagnostic tests, replaced alot of the coaxial hook-ups to no avail, and finally ventured into the woods behind our house to check the box to the main line.  

This apparently, is an ancient artifact, the source of our big problem, and the source of everyone else's intermittent issues.

Bad news, he couldn't replace the box, the source of our issues, but he did put in a request for a maintenance team to replace most items for the afternoon.  Best news of all, no one needed to be home when they showed up, so Maja and I jumped in the car and made the 70-minute drive in about 55. 

I'm quite familiar with the Sure Stay (a long time Holiday Inn before a series of name changes) and it's ubiquitous "Bar With No Name."  It's directly off of US 22 at PA 512, and there are plenty of eating establishments and a Wegman's grocery store a short drive (or decent walk) away.  Three things surprised me. The Bar with No Name was closed to hosts the LARPs, and the other on-site  bar/restaurant didn't open until 5pm each day, and the con didn't get use of their giant ballroom.  A wedding rehearsal and a Marine Corps function took up that space, relegating the con to series of mid-sized and conference rooms for it's functions.  

While no where near as bad as the HMGS cons in King of Prussia, the winding hallways added a small sense of confusion, which the staff tried to alleviate with floor arrows leading folks to the LARP, the dealers, the organized play rooms.  

Getting their late, we missed the 1pm timeslots, and in our navigation of the hotel, most of the cool sessions had filled up for 2pm, so we wrote out our items slips for the con auction, then ventured to the back of a hotel, where a food truck had been invited for a convenient on-site food option for lunchtime.  

I do have an oncoming rant, but first the pros.    The Cheesesteak I ordered was probably the best I've eaten in years, and Maja probably did not fully appreciate the high quality melted cheese on her fries, but the two I stole were phenomenal, but the knowing after the fact that the thirty minute waits would evolve into forty for two pretty stock food truck items (after they were already out of ]our first two options), I could have navigated to one of the four Wawas within ten minutes for average, tasty cuisine and come back. 

Multiple sessions of Battletech, some 40k, and a Gaslands game diversified the RPG/Board game dominance.

After eating, we searched for a garbage can to dispose of our trash and got commandeered into a quick game of Hive Mind, a fun party game we tried to match lists on various topics (Name 3 cute animals).  The more people who had like answers, the more points they got, while the folks with the odder answers were slowly pushed out of the hive.  We didn't get to play the full game, as Maja had signed up for a session of Usurp the King by DHP Games, while I watched some Battletech and caught up with old friends.  Maja had midling response after the game was over, her only positive was, "I should have poisoned more people."

When I meant old friends, I actually mean old.  We've gone from talking about new gaming supplements and chowing down on pizza and beer, to nutritional supplements for diabetics, stroke precautions, and our kids' college options.  And most of us have yet to crack 50!  

At six, the staff did a good job converting the board game room into the games auction.  Gone were the overlong raffle, but the dice guess and costume contests were announced and very bloated auction had begun.  I missed the last few auctions, but it appeared Lehigh Valley gamers had an overabundance of party games, miscellaneous licensed products, general junk, as I believe I was only one of two people putting RPGs in the auction.  I may have bid on a half-dozen items, and won nothing, but my two boxes of stuff I brought all sold well.

With a 13-year old, I finally gave in to a Gamer Dad's biggest fear:  I let Maja play the in the full LARP.    Carcosa Creations has worked with Mepacon for years developing quality LARPs, and after I dropped her off (with my parental blessing), I wandered around before jumping into a game of Dungeon Crawl Classics, with a number of folks I've known for years, but never actually role-played with.  It was a blast, with my fresh 1st level cleric fumbling every spell, angering his God, and only successfully healing the bad guy!  If I ever play again, and drag Bushwick Verybottom out, I think he'll a fighter with divine spells on the down low. 

We got done with DCC around 11:50pm, but I had to wait for Maja to come out of the LARP at 12:30!  Despite her character getting murdered by her apparent best friend in the game, she was on cloud nine, and talked about her character and the entire game from our drive to Wawa all the way to getting on the turnpike, until she passed out.

The LARP seemed pretty frenetic.

The Sure Stay Plus:  The hotel might have changed hands a few times, but it looked the same as it was when I was scouting out wedding reception location twenty years ago with a woman I did not end up marrying.  The winding hallways and assortment of spread out rooms, but still a packed boardgame room confused more than us.  The good news is the con is returning to the site for the spring, and the full ballroom will be available, with the boardgame room getting converted to miniatures and wargaming.

Food Options: The food truck was a mixed bag for us, but there are dozens of options available for takeout/delivery, plus the Wegmans and a hotel fridge is always a great long-term weekend option.

I would like to investigate the small bar/restaurant menu next time, but with full service WAWAs everywhere, my kids' needs will be fulfilled. 

Events: We are either seeing the complete takeover of boardgames for the convention, or we're nearing its apex and eventual decline.  Just too much, too much resource management, too many meeples, and too many glazed looks at the table.   Perhaps it was just their spread out locations, but the multiple organized play options seemed far watered down.  There were a perfect amount of "normal" RPGs, even if the Mutant Crawl Classics game I wanted to jump into cancelled due to lack of players.  

Even with the new Hasbro version coming out, I may resurrect my My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria games for the kids/kids at heart track.

And it was confirmed by a number of folks, even non-players, the appearance of fully attended Battletech games was a much-needed boost to the con.

Dealers:  Of course, The Portal, a long-time vendor, and now partner with the con, was in attendance with a pile of used/new RPGs and a large selection of larger boards with a "Buy One, Get the Second for 75% Off" sale.    They took a prominent spot in the space-crunched board game room, as did the DPH Games where Maja played Usurp the King, plus the all-important Quigley's Cakes (Whatever grumpiness I had with the food truck, a maple bacon cupcake solved all my worries.   The other vendors were across the hall were an interesting assortment of geek crafts/trades, 3-D printing, and small self-publishers.  Millie would have bankrupted me, but Maja just didn't seem too interested.

That's a lot of fancy dice!

Swag:  Lucky for me, my friend Gerry picked out a couple choice lots from the auction so I didn't sabotage the whole purpose of clearing out my stuff.  Besides a free copy of the DCC Quickstart rules (thanks Cyrus!), I grabbed four of the old 3rd edition mini-modules that Alderac put out (Of course, in hindsight, those items are $0.79 - $0.99 for pdfs on DriveThru, an absolute steal!)  I also pulled a stack of older Fritz Leiber paperbacks out of the auction.  My intent was to give Maja a base education in classic fantasy, but after the DCC game, I'm tempted to set up a min-book club with her. 

  

Mepacon 44 will be held back at the SureStay Plus in Bethlehem, April 14-16, 2023.  The theme is similar to "Literary Legends" which will certainly break out the Harry Potter, but I'm thinking more games like Pride & Prejudice.... & Zombies.

Another Month of Gaming Solicitations (May '22)

Issue #267 of Game Trade Magazine can be found at your FLGS or online in pdf format here.


ViscountEric's Want List

Mantic Entertainment

Forge Father Strike Force MGE MCFFF101 ................................. $100.00

ViscountEric's Money-Is-No-Object Want List

Catalyst Game Labs

Battletech: Clan Invasion Salvage Blind Box Display........ $7.99

The best picture I could find of the product was on the Battletech sub-Reddit.

I don't remember seeing these solicited in months prior, so I'll post them here, even if they are out for sale already. I think this is all we really wanted out of WizKids Mechwarrior Dark Ages clicky era.  Actual 'mechs at a reasonable price.  And if they're Clan mechs, pulling ten of one type can't be all that bad.

Modiphius

Kult - Divinity Lost - Core Rules (Bible Edition - 2nd Version) ............... $57.00

I'm still a sucker for a Bible-styled Edition (see The End's last physical printing).  Plus I've never owned a copy of Kult.

Solo Game Master's Guide ........................................................................ $35.00

In a post-COVID world, I think I'd snag this book off a shelf if I saw it. 

The Imaginary Store Ordering All the Other Cool Stuff (aka... The Pegleg Gnome)

25th Century Games

Gartenbau ...................................................... $59.99

2Tomatoes Games

New Corps Order ........................................... $35.00
Peak Oil .......................................................... $40.00
Peak Oil is approaching and, as the president of a major oil company, you need to find a way to keep your company afloat! To do this, you’ll have to extract the last reserves of black-gold to raise the money needed to invest in the new technologies that are sure to soon replace oil. Of course, you’ll attempt to survive this crisis using legal means, but the competition won’t be so honorable. So maybe you’ll have to get your hands dirty as well Scheduled to ship in August 2022
Peak Oil: Profiteer .......................................... $45.00

Peak Oil: Spillover Expansion ........................ $11.00

9th Level Games

Mazes: Fantasy Roleplaying ............................ $39.99

Alderac Entertainment Group

Wormholes ........................................................ $49.99

Alley Cat Games

Eternal Palace ................................................... $54.99

Ares Games

The Shadow Planet ........................................... $59.90

Bandai Co.

Digimon TCG: X Record Boosters 

Digimon TCG: Jesmon Starters

Digmon TCG: Ragnaloardmon Starters

Dragon Ball Super TCG: New Series - Set 01 Boosters

Dragon Ball Super TCG: 5th Anniversary Set 

Also solicited were Starter Decks 17-20, as as History of Son Goku and History of Vegeta.

Capstone Games

Terra Mystica: Big Box ............................................ $149.95

Terra Mystica: Automa Solo Box ............................. $19.95

Catalyst Game Labs

Battletech: Interstellar Operations Alternate Eras ............................ $44.99

Battletech: Interstellar Operations Battleforce ................................  $49.99

Shadowrun RPG: Shadow Cat ......................................................... $49.99

Chessex Manufacturing

The former game store employee in me gets giddy everytime a company like Chessex solicits bulk dice, particularly when their samplers with counter displays.  Sure it's not the lighted up displays that one company offers, but in a world were everyone wants a digital point of sale system, but no one actually knows how to use it, these bulk items are godsends.  Also solicited were mini-polyhedral sets, starting at $5.98.

Compass Games

Enemy Action: Kharkov ............................................................... $82.00

Imperial Tide: The Great War 1914-18 ........................................ $69.00

Paper Wars #99: Rommel Triumphant ......................................... $22.00

Cubicle 7

Doctor Who RPG 2nd Edition: Starter Set ................................... $29.00

Doctor Who RPG 2nd Edition: Collector's Edition ...................... $99.99

Warhammer Age of Sigmar RPG - Champions of Death ............. $39.99

DPH Games

Usurp the King ........................................................................... $24.99

Evil Hat Productions

Thirsty Sword Lesbians RPG HC ............................................... $39.00

Free League Publishing

Death in Space RPG .................................................................... $39.99

Mork Borg: Cult Heretic ............................................................. $24.99

Mork Borg: GM Screen .............................................................. $24.99

Goodman Games

DCC #101: The Veiled Vault of the Onyx Queen ........................ $9.99

5e Fantasy: One Night Inside the Sinister Citadel ....................... $9.99

MCC #12: When Mammals Attack .............................................. $9.99

Grail Games

Fjords ......................................................... $50.00

Green Couch Games

Darwinauts ................................................. $44.95

Kobold Press

Tome of Heroes (5e) HC ................................. $44.99

Special Edition HC $74.99

Konami Digital Entertainment

Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG: 2022 Tin of the Pharoah's Gods .................... $21.99

Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG: Speed Duel GX - Midterm Paradox Mini Box

Legendary Games

Boricubos: Latin American Monsters and Adventures (5e) ............ $79.99

The ironic thing is that in my Hackmaster days, this would have been an instant off-the-shelf purchase.  More ironic is that I planned on putting this on my money-is-no-object list, until I saw the price for a 264-page book.   This would need to have near artbook-level quality illustrations to justify that price.

The Dragon's Hoard #15 ...................................... $11.99

The Dragon's Hoard #16 ...................................... $11.99

Faerie Mysteries (P2E) ........................................  $13.99

Treasury of the Pharaohs (P2E) ...........................  $10.99

Magpie Games

Root the RPG: Core Book ..................................... $39.99

Root the RPG: Travelers and Outsiders ................ $39.99

Root the RPG: Denizens Deck .............................. $19.99

Root the RPG: Equipment Deck ........................... $19.99

Root the RPG: Faction Dice Set ............................ $24.99

Root the RPG: GM Accessory Pack ...................... $24.99

Mantic Entertainment

This month is the big push for the new Firefight boxed set and factions.  For those that want to play 40k (complete with Squats and sci-fi Skaven) but only want to pay a fraction of the fortune GW charges, it's a great alternative. 

Firefight: 2-Player Set (Marauders vs Enforcers) ......................... $130.00

Firefight: Book and Counter Combo ............................................ $ 45.00

Firefight: Command Dice Pack .................................................... $ 15.00

Asterian Strike Force ........................................... $100.00

Enforcer Strike Force ........................................... $100.00

Forge Father Strike Force ......................................$100.00

GCPS Strike Force ................................................ $100.00

Marauder Strike Force ........................................... $100.00

Plague Strike Force ............................................... $100.00

Veer-Myn Strike Force ........................................... $100.00

Metallic Dice Games

16mm Resin Poly Dice Sets (7) "Layered Stardust"................................. $15.99 each

Modiphius

Conan: The Shadow of the Sorcerer .............................................. $49.99

Dune: Adventures in the Imperium - Agents of Dune Box Set ...... $84.99

Infinity RPG:  01-12 Files ........................................... $22.00

Infinity RPG: Acheron Cascade Campaign ................. $22.00

Judge Dread and 2000AD: Rogue Trooper .................. $49.00

Judge Dread and 2000AD: Strontium Dog .................. $49.00

Mongoose Publishing

Traveller: 2300AD Referees Screen ............................ $19.99

Traveller: Errant Lightning Adventure ........................ $19.99

Onyx Path 

Deviant RPG:  The Renegades ...................................... $55.00

Mummy: The Curse ....................................................... $55.00

Legendlore (5e) .............................................................  $55.00

They Came From Beyond the Grave! ...........................  $55.00

Paizo Publishing

Pathfinder RPG: AP - Blood Lords - Part 1 - Zombie Feast .......... $26.99

Pathfinder RPG: Dark Archive  HC ............................................... $54.99

Pathfinder RPG: Dark Archive Pocket Edition .............................. $26.99

Pathfinder RPG: Dark Archive Special Edition ............................. $74.99

Pathfinder RPG: Flip Mats Classics - Theater ............................... $16.99

Pathfinder RPG: Lost Omens - World Guide HC Special Edition ... $62.99

Starfinder RPG: Adventure - Redshift Rally .................................. $24.99

Starfinder RPG: Flip Mat - Star Knight Starships .......................... $16.99

Starfinder RPG: Pact World Pocket Edition ................................... $24.99

Pokemon USA
Pokemon TCG: Sword & Shield - Astral Radiance Booster 

Pokemon TCG: Sword & Shield - Astral Radiance Battle Box

Pokemon TCG: Sword & Shield - Astral Radiance Elite Trainer Box

Pokemon TCG: Sword & Shield - Astral Radiance Sleeved Booster

Rio Grande

Power Grid: The New Power Plant Cards - Set 1 ............... $14.95

Power Grid: The New Power Plant Cards - Set 2 ................$14.95

R.Talsorian Games

The Witcher RPG: A Tome of Chaos ................................. $35.00

Steamforged Games

Dark Souls RPG ................................................................. $49.95

Steve Jackson Games

Turtle D6 Dice Set .............................................................. $ 8.95

Troll Lord Games

Castles & Crusades NPC Almanac - Register .................. $29.99

Castles & Crusades NPC Almanac - Sketches ................. $29.99

Wizards of the Coast

Magic the Gathering CCG : 2022 Starter Kit Carton

Magic the Gathering CCG - Commander Legends - Battle for Baldur's Gate

Bundles, Collector Boosters, Gate Commander Decks, Draft Boosters, and Set Boosters

Wizkids

Aspect of Tiamat ............................................. $129.99

Yeenoghu, The Beast of Butchery ................... $ 79.99

Ogre Warband .................................................. $ 64.99

Adult Silver Dragon ........................................ $ 99.99

Unpainted Version available for $89.99

Pride of Faerie Dragons .................................. $39.99

D&D Icons of the Realms Set 23 - Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse

D&D Blue Dragon Trophy Plaque .................... PI

D&D RPG: Onslaught Core Set ........................ $139.99

"A new way to play set in Dungeons and Dragons."  It's an overpriced board/skirmish game.

Marvel: Remix .............................. $19.99