Gaming Year in Review 2025-26

 I've always tracked my gaming progress like the US Federal fiscal calendar (October through September). Don't ask why, it's always been like that, I'm not going to change now.

Over the course, I happened upon my review of my 2015-16 gaming year.  Full of hope, plans, and failed projects.  It was Maja's first overnight con, my first full weekend con (Mepcaon),  we had three gaming stores, and lots of people read my posts on conventions and pulp gaming. 

Ten years later, Maja likes to run games at HMGS conventions, all the stores shuttered (one has evolved to Sword in the Stone at the mall), and people still like my convention posts, my pulp posts, and my painting posts don't send people screaming. 

The Blog in General:  
The Top Ten Blog Posts Over the Past Twelve Months

1. The Historicon Mega-Game is Back! (Gnome Wars)
2. Historicon 2026 AAR (Conventions)
3. The Complete Strategist is Closing?  (Retail)
4. Zombie Planet Comics and Games, Albany (Reviews)
5. The Event List for Historicon 2026 (Conventions)
6. FlipSide Gaming, Clifton Park (Reviews)
7. Hawaiian Gnome Playtest Rules (Gnome Wars) 
8. Flights 2 Game Store and Hobbies (Reviews)
9. #RPGaDay Day 27 - Hunger (#RPGaDay)
10. #Star Wars Day - Mos Eisley Cantina Adventure Set (Painting)
11. Savage #4.2 - The Craft Fair of Chaos (Pulp)

I'm definitely spoiling my review of the goals I set for this year, but my trip to visit the girls in Albany got a lot of positive response, and a lot of organic page views. Gnome Wars and Painting tend to bring folks in repeatedly.  The reviews, local and abroad, have helped replaced my normal traffic from the HMGS Conventions I missed this year.

#RPGaDay2026:  The annual RPG community event was lackluster, and that could be more on this participant than anything else. The only true positive of the one word prompts is that I spent an evening with the Monday night online crew and brainstormed over the dozen or so that had left me puzzled... or underwhelmed with ideas.  

#CharacterCreationChallenge:  Overall a fun project that nets me about the same number of views as my wargaming stuff.  A LOT of positive engagement over at Bluesky, but most of the views still come from limited Facebook use and lukewarm Twitter posting.   Threads is either not recording at all, or hot garbage.  

The most popular post for the month, Captain Guy N Pygmalion for Gamma World.

#ZineQuest:  For the last four years, I have love the concept of promoting zines on Kickstarter. In that time frame, my posts for the month went from lowest productivity for the years (20-25) to 45-60 for the month.   This year, though, between the solid split between Kickstarter #ZineQuest and BackerKit's #ZineTopia, plus the underwhelming types of zines compared to my taste, I only highlighted a handful of zines, and signed up for zero.  I was easily more pre-occupied with...

#RPGCampaignTour:  A 28-day challenge for February to answer prompts about your RPG campaign.  Simple, fun, and a good way to review 130 episodes of Gamma World.  Twenty-six of the prompts were answered, with me using AI to figure out topics I more preferred to write about.  I chalk it up as a success.

Perhaps my favorite AI-generated artwork, Lady Vespara from the #CharacterCreationChallenge

#Project 350:  For my neverending tracking of blog draft posts behind the scenes, and posts scheduled for the future, I end the gaming year at 472 (314 blog draft and 158 scheduled post), definitely up from  453 (281/172) this time last year.   It's largely consistent, the big increase in drafts chalked up to my pre-gaming for January's #CharacterCreationChallenge. I'll admit that I've finished and schedule the post for four concepts I statted out, but I've plugged away about 25 placeholders for the event, everything from a name (ex: Rip Shenanigans), a concept (Christmas Tree farmers), or a whole crew of Delta crew characters with unique situations.   I still need to play more games to reduce my standing list of concepts that I need to put into action.

TRIUMPHS:

Mahalo to Our Hawaiian Gnome Overlords! - I received the Hawaiian Gnomes from Brigade Games in July 2025, and by December 2025, they were painted up, a near speed record for me!  

The playtest rules are out, and in a Great War focused Gnome Wars setting, melee troops need good balance, but also tactical skill to be successful.  

The Hawaiian Gnomes

Mepacon 49!  - Skipping Fall-In! allowed me a full weekend at Mepacon.  I love the new location, the attendees bring a lot of energy, and we had a quorum of the old group at dinner Sunday night!

A buncha old-timers playing Battletech

The Pulp Game Returneth!  We officially started Pulp Alley's Tomb of the Serpent and it's... fair.  Knowing what the girls normally expect from pulp-style games, it's a little underwhelming, but we're going to slowly work our way through, when we have the time.

Mepacon 50!  I made it to both cons within the years, and celebrated the con's big 5-0 by running a nostalgia-fueled series of events.  Talislanta and My Little Pony didn't fare to well, but I got plenty of players for the return of Burning Plastic and my Cthulhu Comes to Springfield TOON Games.  

Historicon 2026 - With a full crew, we commandeered the Commonwealth Foyer for a series of games properly showcasing the Hawaiian Gnomes, as well as some sweet outrigger canoes by Diabolical Terrain. 

The Hawaiians learned they were a melee army...

Volcano! 

Millie's Black Cat Transformation

The Women of Sisu

It only took well over a dozen years to get these gals painted up.

CATASTROPHES:

No Fall-In, No Gnome Wars, No Cold Wars, No Gnome Wars:   Funds and schedules didn't work out.  Unfortunately the rest of the Stout Gnomes were also quite sparse. 

Dog Wizard (Sculpted by Mike Lung)

The Death of Game Trade: The death of Diamond Comics distributors and the subsequent spin-off of Alliance Game Distributors to Universal Distribution forced my faithful Game Trade Magazine into obsolescence after the ignominy of being stuck behind an overpriced paywall at DriveThruRPG.   No free access to gaming solicitations any moron would want customers looking at and driving FLGS business is ridiculous.  I've reverted to looking at ADC Game Distributors Meeple Monthly, which has been passable for something I've done for years prior to GTM's 300+ issue monthly run.   My verdict:  Meeple Monthly is such a horribly crafted magazine, it would make the colored paper and stapled solicitations of 30 years ago laugh at them. 

Ronaldus Iaworski, Holy Gnoman

The Death of the Complete Strategist (King of Prussia): The announcement of the closing of the Complete Strategist in KoP came out of left field.  I wasn't able to get down there, but part of the greater OG gamer contingent did.  It could be argued that it was well past its former glories, but I repeatedly wanted to make visits down there, even after my kids stopped playing local AAU right down the street. 

GENERAL MUCKERY:

The Death of Meticulousness - Overuse of AI, so much so, I actually gave up most functionality for lent.  That barely worked.  I did find it amusing that I'm nearing a 1,000 day streak on Nightcafe, yet Gemini has been producing my weird Gamma World art on the first or second attempt, at a much higher quality. 

Cascadia

After a year and a half, we got another installment of the Mike Lung Gallery

A Review of My Plans from last October

1. My Back-Up Game, D.A.M.N.I.T. -  Even with the successful and completed Kickstarter for the Savage Worlds version (Space Beards!), I didn't get to implement.
2. Pulp (Savage Showdown) -   4.2, 4.3. 4.4, 4.5
3. Death Planet Iota Ongoing -  Games continue to be played.  I'm trying to use the characters on a spreadsheet to keep track of faction.  The high point, of course was the Mos Eisley comes to Death Planet Iota game. 
4. Mousling Fantasy - The Brutal Quest dive wasn't what I really wanted, and per my daughters, a return to Savage Worlds/Showdown is what is needed for next year.
5. Painting - Cleared all available gnomes, worked on sci-fi, embellished with fantasy/pulp when needed.  I could always paint more, but I'm satisfied. 
6. Reviews -  Gold Star!  I was satisfied with the number of reviews halfway through the year, and even after I started my new job, they seemed to keep coming in.  It's been fun visiting new game stores, and giving my old man opinions on the handful of items I purchase... and they usually produce good initial and perpetual views.  
7. RPG - Gamma World is the slow and perpetual monster that doesn't appear to be going anywhere, although we've had moments where players were revisiting the Roll20 page to prep for next weekend when combat went dark.  No direction on what people want after the campaign. 
8. Mini-Purge - We are at capacity ... but nothing purged quite yet. 
9. Wargaming at Steve's - Outside a game of Thunder Road, nada, although all his youth baseball stories with his kids definitely made Monday night sessions amusing.
10. Burning Trogs Redux -  Ha!  The eternal dream still lies dormant, but the 25th Anniversary Edition of Hackmaster stokes a few memories.
11. Cthulhu New York, Ia! Ia! -  Ha!
12. The Wikis -  Ha!

Star Wars (WEG) Rebel Commandos

Kickstarter Status:  

BK: Toon 2nd Edition  - 2027 

KS:  d6 System, 2nd Edition  - February 2025 - Beta PDF ARRIVED 

KS: Gone Foragin' - PDF ARRIVED

KS: Gone Scarin' - PDF ARRIVED

KS: Hackmaster 25th Anniversary - August 2027

KS: Monsters and Hunters by Macrocosm - ARRIVED

KS: Space Beards - PDF ARRIVED

KS: Space Dwarves - November 2027

KS: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness RPG  - ARRIVED 

Painting -   117 this year, after a monster 182 last year... looking at the pictures, I forgot that I painted many of these in the last 12 months! 

Reaper Bones Ankheg

The first few of the Hawaiians...

More cultists from Pulp Figures

Even more cultists from Pulp Figures

These two random Prussians drew a lot of page views

Not the Gnomes, just the Reaper road cones...

Brigade Games Goblins

2025-26  Gaming with the Gnomies Awards

Best Kickstarter:    Macrocosm Monsters and Hunters

Worst Kickstarter:  TMNT - Compared to Palladium's Robotech, it's a dream come true, but $25 for shipping one book in-country?   I think I understood how my simple order got to the tail end of US Shipments, but I tend to avoid campaigns with 8 month delays... so it still winces. 

Best Game:  39th Annual Cat Wrangle

Best RPG Purchase:  Mutant Crawl Classics - a big chunky book for the shelf, and a host of gonzo charts for Gamma World.  Best $10 con purchase in a loooong time. 

Best Minis:   Island Gnomes! ... and an appropriate runner-up with the Diabolical outriggers

Best Other Purchase:  Not my purchases, but my money.  I'm pretty systematic with my convention going: same vendors, same eating establishments, and Maja has always tagged along willingly, but with Mepacon 50, I can admit that she's the target demographic for a lot of the craft and peripheral vendors that attend our local con, and god help both of our wallets. 

Next: My Plans for 2026-27

Trying to Figure Out the Fall Con Scene

 I’ve had the fortunate situation of traveling up upstate New York to watch Maya play volleyball the past two weekends.  With the move up there, a new travel team, and the very backwards set up for varsity sports at the new high school, it's  been a bit more trying than it should.

I’ve been paying more attention in recent months, not to the player interaction, but how a coach actually "coaches'.   In my conversations with Maja, I've realized that there are honestly few true coaches been any level of sports that can instruct to a full roster, strategize with the flow of the game, and just general personnel management.  With some Shake Shack between us, and with no disrespect to the wonderful adults who have stood in that role over the years for both my daughters, but we really only came to a consensus of two coaches in the dozen years of sports,  that have really been excellent coaches, in all segments.

And as a further downer for the weekend, Shake Shake is nothing more than overpriced vintage Wendy's with pretentious Frosties.    

I do have to laugh, our time was probably better spend attending CouncilCon 26 in Schenectady, even if she had to leave halfway through the day to go to work… If I didn’t have to take the journey to go visit my mother and take care of yardwork and fixing a few more things, I may have even stayed for Sunday

Despite being the emotional athletic support systems both weekends, I have gotten a few other things done.

I finished a revisit to Flights 2 and downgraded the their review.  It's only a half-gnome deduction, but  the folksy and cluttered appeal began to wear thin as I double checked a few things.  

I've also been able to visit not one, not two, but THREE different game stores, with pending reviews coming up.  

Most importantly,  was able to enjoy the extra time with my daughter, trying to plan a game-filled November we normally have in Pennsylvania.

First off, FALL-IN 2026, November 6-8, 2026 at the Wyndham in Lancaster will NOT have a formal HMGS NEXT GEN presence.  I'm half tempted just to sign up for the day or the weekend, maybe volunteer to judge events for a slot, although between my  conversations with Maja and a my long drive down the Thruway on Sunday, I think I have an event to run a) that's fun  b) simple to assemble and c) still Gnome themed.  It might require a few trips to the dollar store, Michael's and definitely the evil Hobby Lobby.    With this, I might just be willing to run the joust.  

Mepacon 51 -  Is the following weekend , November 13-15, in Allentown Pennsylvania. 

For Mepacon 50, I had run an assortment of “best of “games. I’ve done over the last 35 years of convention.  

For Mepacon 51, I was strongly pondering a Fistful of Lead sci-fi game to cover the alien theme and I was actually being pressured to run a sequel to the “Cthulhu Comes to Springfield" games, most notably, an alien themed vignettes under "Don't Blame Me, I Voted for Kodos!" 

I don't think I'm willing to do the 12 hours of gaming anymore to get the free badge.  Hell, I’m not sure I might even go anymore.

Couple that was some pretty big news for the Gamma World campaign happening this Monday night, as well as the normal October-to-September year end reviews I do  and we’re sort of had a crossroads of what I really want to do, And what’s really important?

Perhaps it's the request from Maja to bring "The Boyfriend",  Drew, to SATLOF (Saturday After Thanksgiving Left Over Feast) my college roommate, Steve (and Angi) still host.  Considering Steve was one of the "trusted uncles" Maja begged opinions of the young man, this should be a smooth transition.

#RPGaDay2026 - Day 30 - "Pride"

 It's Day 30, the penultimate day of #RPGaDay !   And we should show a little "Pride" that we've made it this far. 

We'll even go so far and used the Alternate Question: A game event that you are still proud of?

Now, I always go down the convention game rabbit hole, and I don't anticipate too much deviation, but Let's try a non-con game

"It's a Wonderful Reunion" Circa 1999  With the spring semester of college looming, I had split the group into gamers and non-gamers for the summer.  About half the group got teleported to, and adventured in Talislanta for the summer, while a few of them still were stuck with some pretty horrible things back in town.  And after a few sessions for the "homebodies" who survived everything, only to have the armed threat of foreclosure on their base of operations, the "Chateau" on the first day of Yule. 

We met on the evening of move in day on campus, staffing with the dorm basement like improv theatre, some of the PCs with murder plots for the moneylender coming, while villagers, townsfolk, and their lost fellow adventurers made big reveals... only for the next person to make an appearance to prevent tying up loose ends.  One of the least likely characters shows up with the gold to pay off the loan and save the Chateau, and there was artwork displaying a kobold Mariachi band.   

That out of the way, let's cover my prideful moments after 35 years of running convention games.

"Scavenger Hunt" Circa 1996  A GURPS-IOU game at CoveCon, Blue Valley Farm Show Building, Bangor, Pennsylvania.   This was the first con I ever helped run, and we.... broke even, to the penny! 

The characters I put together were fantastic, my players were simply top-notch, and the looks on my friends faces as they ran their own games, watching the chaos descend,  but all knew the students were close to obtaining the disco ball from the 1977 IOU Winter Social, only to face off against the Village People and their Disco Zombie minions.... culminating to when I played a Village People Greatest hits cassette as background music for the final combat.  

It holds a dear place in my heart, but I kept no notes from the game, and every years, the memories get vaguer and vaguer.  

Monster of the Week - Mepacon 41 - November 2021 -  A game I actually PLAYED in!  That weekend I had spent Friday and Saturday at Historicon in King of Prussia, playing and running wargames for the masses willing to leave their homes.   I came home Saturday night so I could take my daughter to Mepacon, a mixed-game convention, since it was 20 minutes away.  Mandatory masking AND proof of vaccination were annoying to hear other players on an active table, but otherwise understandable and tolerable.  

I let Maja choose her game, and the only words I remember her describing it were "mature audience", "mystery", and "children's teeth."  I thought the worst, but was relieved to find out it was Monster of the Week, and we were saving children from corrupted tooth fairies.  

The game itself isn't too important, it's that, despite masking and other inconveniences, this was the first time we played together in a game as equals, rather than one of us as sidekicks.   That itself warms a burnt out portion of this old man's heart. 

My Little Pony - Mepacon 34-ish - November 2017 - COVID screwed up the numbering for the bi-annual convention, but there's a full write-up of the weekend here.  With my daughters 8 and 6, my search for a good RPG for them was always in full effect.  I had found a great game, My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria Storytelling Game and would run it every two hours when I could make it the Mepacon.  Better yet, I allowed the kids to keep the pony they made at the table, and "level them up" each time they played at my table, be it that con, or a future one.  

While most of my players were always kids, their parents, and two tolerable Bronies, things didn't escalate into awesomeness until the bro-nies showed up.  

Brandon and Anthony were two college-age guys who had two open hours and signed up for the game, partly for fun, partly for the challenge.  

Everyone was having a good time, but as the game progressed, it was obvious the young girl playing the pony Harmony was heading for direct show-down with the captain of the gnome legion.   When that showdown took place, I expected her father on his feet, cheering her own,  I expected the other kids, but the bros were the ones on their feet, standing on chairs, tossing Tokens of Friendship (think Savage World super-bennies) to improve her rolls every time she falter, cheering raucously with each success until the gnome legion was vanquished.

Kids get excited when they can play a game with their parents.  

Parents are excited to play with their kids.  

These two guys took that energy and ran with it.  

Alternate Question:  A game event that you are still proud of?

Historicon 2026 AAR

It's just after midnight as I try to put into words this past weekend at Historicon.  I'm slowly rehydrating, I've snuck in a nap, and I'm still trying to weigh the awesome moments with a lot of ho-hum, but ho-hum at Historicon is so much better than most cons...

Wednesday: The underlying theme of the con wasn't inside the convention center, it was outside, in the form of the smoke and haze drifting down from the Canadian wildfires.   When I left work on Wednesday, I had watched the orange skies roll into Northeastern Pennsylvania around 4pm.  The level of eeriness never reached Lancaster, but it was disconcerting the entire weekend.

As has been tradition, my daughter Maja came down from Albany to spend the weekend with me.  In a major change, I can safely say... we took her car.     Her first Historicon was the "emergency" Valley Forge.  She's now 17. Suffice to say, it didn't make anyone feel younger.

It's a little sad..  If I only had the opportunity to visit Wednesday night, hang out with friend and have a few drinks, I would consider this con a success. 

Thursday: I'm soooo not used to NOT running a game on Thursday.  It was a chance to sleep in, grab a coffee and a spinach breakfast sandwich at La Dolce Vita Courthouse Bakery - and sitting around talking with folks.  

La Dolce Vita Courthouse Bakery

 

Battle of Trenton

Maja and I have our systems, and we decided to try one of our usual spots at the Southern Market,  Unfortunately, we not only discovered the pizza place had relocated, but that the soul food place closed up as well.  We immediately ventured back to our other default metal, Plough, the hotel restaurant.   Fingers crossed, we've never had a bad Plough Burger, and that streak continued. 

Test of Grit

Test of Grit

Even More Test of Grit

Fistful of Lead - "First They Came for Our Cows"

All Quiet on the Martian Front

Token 40k, outside of the tournament. 

Heavy Gear.

After dinner, we helped set up the first Gnome Wars game "Treasure Island" run by Jim Stanton, and stayed around long enough to cause the proper chaos.

A glowing volcano, thanks to "Award Winning GM" Mike Lung. 

We were able to leave most of the board up for the Friday morning game, and headed down to close the bar.

Star Wars

Friday:  An early morning an a run over the Central Market from our Mennonite breakfast sandwiches, heading back to the Commonwealth Foyer for Maja's crack at running Treasure Island.  

A few minor revisions and a good time was had by all.  

Star Wars 15mm(?)

The high point of Friday was supposed to be our Gnome Mega-Game.  Three tables, three separate games, and the ability to move across the boards.   That was beat out by the appearance of Maja's BOYFRIEND to the con (insert all the stereotypical reactions here.)  He and a friend made it down, per Maja's behest, played in her game, picked up some 40k from Wally's and participated in the Joust. All was good.  

We couldn't spend too much time scrutinizing:  There was a mega-game that needed to be run.  

The objective was pretty straightforward:  Find the treasure on Treasure island, meet up with their ship on the second board and used them to safely get past the British fort and into town.   Let's just say the cannibal gnomes were fast on their tales. 

Hawaiians on Diabolical Terrain Outriggers

The docks at New Providence were busy in the waning minutes of the game. 

Starship Troopers

Our group normally hosts the Gnome Joust on Friday night, with Maja as the GM.  Usually 90 minutes of unadulterated chaos, stowed far enough away from other games to not annoy other games.   That would have been incredibly effective, as we had kept our New Providence board up for the following morning. 

Except that there was a game of "What a Tanker" scheduled mere inches from the chaos.  

The good news was, we left the con on good terms with the poor fellow trying to compete against our tomfoolery.  

By college roommate made an appearance at the con for the joust, and his record was pretty epic, but for a select few, the father-daughter joust drew a pretty decent crowd.  

Dad remains victorious

Saturday

After finishing her GMing obligation, I gave Maja freedom for all of Saturday.  

No surprise, she slept in.

I ran over to he Central Market for breakfast, but the girl on Kom Esse were slammed, so one Spicy Jamaican Empanada  and a latte later, and I was ready  from by 11am Saturday game. 

Most of our games were centered around a) the Mega-Game concept and b) promoting the Hawaiian Gnomes that were released last Historicon.  

My game was the first real test of all the unit's abilities, and I'm happy to report that everything that's currently online will need a little tweaking on the Island Spirit, and the Pineapple Catapult.   Now I just need to stat out the massive Tiki God figure that arrived at the convention this weekend....

Silver Bayonet, with Undead Moose!

With Maja painting, swimming, and galavanting, sans boyfriend, I made the poor decision to walk outside to the Southern Market, to try the Pork Belly Sliders at Philthy Good

The sliders were the best thing I've eaten all month, and the unlocked doors at the HAWKS new room gave me a short foray in the smokey and sticky air outside. 

Lego Pirates! 

The HAWKS Armies for Kids game.  Every kid who played got two 54mm armies, rules, and terrain.

By 5pm, we were running the final Gnome Wars game, and by 10pm, we had packed everything up and hoofed it to the car....

Sunday - Loaded up the car well before Maja even attempted to wake up, did an early lap at Wally's and we left early enough to reach my mother's by noon, and back in Wilkes-Barre by 3:30 to unload the car, and she could get back to Albany before dark.  Success!

Overall:    Talking with people, it seemed like there were moments of transcendent greatness,  with a lot of ho-hum stuff.  Don't get me wrong, ho-hum is better than 98% of the world today. 

Lancaster Convention Center:  Outside of lighting issues with certain areas, the site was fantastic, and the elevators and escalators appeared to be fixed in a timely manner. 

Hotel:  After the snafus regarding the hotel, it is beyond convenient.  It's easy to navigate, housekeeping was great, 

Parking: The broken elevator for the on-site parking garage would have been a nuisance for me, had I not come Wednesday night and got a primo spot.  

Tournaments:  

On-site Food:   Really, it's not much more than a #4 at your favorite fast food place, and no horror stories of the Borg meatloaf cube that went out the same shape it went in..  

Off-site Food: All off-site food was great, including a $5 Nutella donut that created a stream of $5 milk shake Pulp Fiction quotes.

Gnomes:

Vendors:  Still missing a lot of folks over the years, but none of them are ever coming back.   I really enjoyed the back row of sorts, with the reenactor groups, the War Department Archives and Flagbearer games.  

Swag: 

Nations and Cannons

Rifts: Mechanids

Star Trek RPG (Last Unicorn) needs a lot of TLC for the spine.

More Pegasus Banana Trees.

2 Green army men tanks. 

3 Adult banthas 

5 Diabolical Terrain outriggers.

a bag a bases (non-Chinese container, but...)

a pile of barrels, cacti, treasure and other miscellany.

dollar store toys I actually use for my Gnomish Space Marines here and here

2 Kryomek walkers. 

(EDIT:) Next Historicon is now July 21st until Sunday July 25, 2027 back at the Lancaster Convention Center.  The theme will be "Small Battle with Big Impacts!"

The Next HMGS con is Fall-In!  November 6-8, 2026 back at the Wyndham (formerly HOST).