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.

Mepacon 51 - What to Run?

The proverbial ink isn't even dry from Mepacon 50 last weekend, but it is a good time to think about events for Mepacon 51, taking place November 13-15, 2026, just outside of Allentown, PA at the Delta Hotels Allentown Lehigh Valley at 7736 Adrienne Dr., Breinigsville, PA 18031

For this last con, I asked the question "What to run?" to the gaming community at large, and its no surprise that the most successful events were the winners from the survey.  a

With the theme of 51 turning to "Aliens" I have set up a poll to take everyone's input.  You should be able to vote for multiple options.  Thanks everyone for your help! 

1 - Death Planet Iota (Fistful of Lead - Galactic Heroes):  Death Planet Iota is my take on the wormhole/ "junk planet" where you can take figures from all sorts of games and plop space marines with Star Wars or Star Trek.  Obviously, only the strong survive, but within the confines of the City of Carf, the intergalactic refugees huddle together to last just a bit longer.  My daughter, Maja, and I ran our oversized but simple board at Historicon for over 50 players (over 100 when we add in the gnomes and the joust at that spot for the weekend).  

I have conversion notes for most intellectual properties, so I might allow you to bring a smattering Fallout figures to fight Orks or Jawas or Mouslings.  

2 - Burning Plastic - Green Army Guys who are secretly robots fighting a distant galactic war for their mysterious galactic overlo.... who am I kidding, people just like to make scout floaters careen into their own troops and self destruct robots against enemy tanks... and chuck dice at the table.  

3 - Legions of Steel - Most of the classic 90s miniatures game involves the valiant troopers of the United Nations of Earth (UNE) fighting the invading hordes of alien robots known as "The Machines" (or Legions of Steel), but running four or six player games could finally justify me painting up the other alien races from the game.

4- TWERPS Science Fiction Theatre - TWERPS is the "The Worlds Easiest Role-Playing System" and I have a track record from early Mepacons (and the Bogglecon/Lehicon lineage) of taking classic Sci-Fi RPG material and boiling it down to it's base components.   Quick two hour sessions, heck players could jump in and out... all in the name of having fun. 

5 - TOON - "Don't Blame Me, I Voted for Kodos" - I still have people who couldn't jump into my classic "Cthulhu Comes to Springfield" game, so perhaps a game based in the future of the classic Treehouse of Horror episode might appease the masses... and the theme? 

6 - Star Wars d6 - I know a handful of folks I would prefer to PLAY in the their Star Wars game, but if needed, I have no issue running a few sessions.

7 - GURPS: Humanx -I'm stretching here, but GURPS, plus the long out of print sourcebook of Alan Dean Foster's novels, plus the con theme, brings back high school nostalgia.

8 - Classic Traveller - Yes, there's some aliens in Traveller, but in a bit of nostalgia, I remember playing in a "Intro to Mega-Traveller" game run by Ray George at Lehicon IV, and I do believe we still killed off one of the players' characters during character creation.

9 - Other - Surprise me...  The Mepacon crowd always does.

Mepacon 50 Review

Let's be honest, Historicon is the pinnacle of conventions for me.  

But by golly, a well-run Mepacon is a close second. 

Even mid-afternoon on a Friday, the place is jumping!

As faithful readers of the blog have seen repeatedly, this past weekend for Mepacon (Originally the Mid-Eastern Pennsylvania Convention).  This year the convention remains outside of Allentown, PA off the PA Route 100 exit, a fine facility that can barely hold the majesty of the local convention.  

In addition to the four different events I was running, I had the pleasure of bringing my daughter, Maja, with me.  She drives now, so she drove down from Albany after work, with a surprise guest: her younger sister, Millie.  Millie games as well, but her plan was to spend a weekend of AAU basketball as a  spectator, watching her best friend play two levels up at 17U during a college coaches showcase.  

Friday

I took all of Friday off, and it was a good idea, as I was still formatting and printing off handouts for my games up until noon.   We finally ventured down the PA Turnpike, with no issues and arrived at the The Delta by Marriott Hotel with plenty of time to unload my stuff, let Maja figure out the compact arrangement of the convention, and for me to set up my afternoon Burning Plastic game. 

Burning Plastic, a game where green army guys represent robots on a futuristic landscape where 100% casualty rates aren't just acceptable... they're expected.  We started playing this at cons in the mid-90's, sold a few books along the way, and for the 50th (and nostalgia-fueled) Mepacon, it was a no brainer.  

I was placed within the "hallway" area, mixed within the solid Battletech contingent, although my request for a square/rectangular table was seized by the B'Tech boys for a layout that I never saw an actual game at.

Note to self: Specifically request Table #52 for Mepacon 51... all slots.

The infamous table 52....

I had the best of both world in my first game.  Two brand new players who slowly learned the twisted insanity of Burning Plastic... and two old buddies, Cyrus and George, who played the game back in the 90s.  

I have finally joined the internet trend of taking a picture with my players, post-game (and post-clean up!)

No matter your experience, when robots start self-destructing, and air strikes (chucked dice) make the men line up like it's a penalty kick, you can throw that right out the window.  

Friday night was supposed to be my Talislanta "The Crystle Dungeon" game.  This was my first ever convention game I GM'ed back at Lehicon IV in March of 1991.    The plot was the same, with lots of wiggle room, the characters still pulled off of the 1988 2nd edition rules (the classic heavily tattooed Thrall on the cover).   I was prepped for a classic, successful convention game, updated to more modern accoutrements and set-up. 

Despite the "Looking for Players" placard, I had none, and after 45 minutes or so, I packed that up and wandered the con.  

The silver lining?  The entire game is finally in a file folder, and two separate files digitally.  

Maja participated in an Improv seminar and played in a playtest promo of a fun game called Community Cats, which, when it becomes available, will end up at her house, to be gleefully played by her sister and mother. 

The one thing that always impresses me about the Mepacon is its history giving burgeoning game designers and companies a platform to show off their games, and playtest their new ideas.  There was quite literally a corner of the main ballroom labelled "Break My Game" were designers gleefully recruited players of all sorts to try out their concepts, some with simple mock-ups, others with more elaborate set-ups and specific artwork.  It's always full of players, but always looking for more.

I spent a good portion of the night waiting for Maja to finish the nightly LARP.  I can probably blame Carcosa Creations with Maja quitting basketball and focusing on drama and music more.  It's not a complete coincidence that the timelines converged after her first LARP experience at an earlier Mepacon back at the Bar with No Name at the (former) Holiday Inn off PA 512 in Bethlehem.  The only thing she asked about going to Mepacon was if there was a LARP.  She was in her glory when she found out there was one each night!

After midnight, we got in the car and drove over to my Mom's in Easton to crash for a few hours.

Saturday

Pure nostalgia for me, as we left my Mom's early and drove 2 1/2 blocks to the Palmer Diner for breakfast.  It's always been a little hole in the wall diner, with fond memories of the 80's, my sub-zero weekend deliveries of the newspapers, always had my Dad sitting in the truck, keeping the cab toasty, just in case I need a moment or two to get warm, then, as I finished the last paper on the top of Greenwood Ave and John St, we'd turn around and grab breakfast at the diner.  There's nothing particularly special about those memories, or perhaps that's what makes them special.

After a solid breakfast, we made record time back to Fogelsville and I set-up for round two of Burning Plastic.  This time I was away from the Battletech crew, and sort of shoved in  corner.  But if the corner involves the "cupcake ladies" aka Quigley's Cakes.  There have been professional geek-themed cupcakes at Mepacon for the better part of ten years, maybe more, and even if money is tight that weekend, there's a two cupcake minimum.  

At better yet, for my own health's sake, no random Burning Plastic airstrikes made their way over to take out the cupcake displays.

A low-key casual ViscountEric, sporting a Next Gen jersey.

The game was another rousing success, with my players pushing the limits of the ruleset (adding buildings to the table brings up new questions that a traditional empty expanse of microchip and hydraulic fluid death do not.  

Saturday afternoon was thwarted by the most adorable six-year old girl.  

Going for nostalgia, I went with running the older River Horse Press version of the My Little Pony RPG.  I ran plenty of two-hour sessions of it back in the day, and I thought I had the perfect set-up.  

A mom, a dad, and their simple brilliant and delightful six-year girl... and my 17 years old Maja, feeling nostalgic for the game.  We had made Ponies, we were two seconds from rolling some Rory's Story Cubes to set up the plot for the adventure, and the youngest lady had a "Code Brown (Upper)" that made quite a mess.  

Obviously, the game was scrapped, the parents could attend to her.  The con staff (as always) was super responsive and within twenty minutes the hotel staff had the area cleaned, sanitized, and a new tablecloth on the table.  

No pictures of the catastrophe, but here's an explosion on a SILENT DEATH (!) table.

6pm-8pm Auction Time:  For the times before Mepacon there has always been a two hour mandatory break, with no games.  Some grab food, some take a nap, but most show up in the ballroom for the raffle, the winners of the dice guess, and the costume and coloring contests, and the auction.  

I've ranted about the auction in my Mepacon 49 review.  It's a different time, a different economy, and with that, there was a lot of mid-range stuff that simply did not garner bids because the opening bids were too high.  Not the fault of the auction rules, just a newer group of folks trying to use the auction to make money.  

The most heartfelt part of the two hours and Katie Brad, the convention director, holding back just the right amount of tears to thank everyone who had helped the con achieve it's success over the last twenty-five years.  The same extended group of friends volunteer and operate the con in some capacity since 2001.  In fact, when Katie did ask for a number of showing of hands for the classic "Raise your hand if it's your first Mepacon... Raise your hand if you've only been at Mepacon at the Delta... or if you were at White Haven... Scranton, Clarks, Summit.. or even the lone con in Jersey."

When she got to Mepacon 1, she brought those folks up... Of that small contingent of less than a dozen, only my friend Scott and I were not wearing current con staff (Ed Leheman, who retired from con, is con director emeritus by default).

And then I remember I was auction director for that first con.. so Scott was just a normal paying attendee...

The back of this year's con t-shirt.  It's been a most unusual ride....

And since we're old enough to remember "the good old days," we realized afterwards that for genealogical sake, there are only a half-dozen of us who can trace our con lineage to Lehicon 2 or 3 in the early 90s.  

God I'm old. 

I ended Saturday night with another much-demanded event: TOON - Cthulhu Comes to Springfield. What was once multiple one-hour "episodes" has been shrunk down to a two-hour "very special episode" of "Krusty the Kultist."

The first hour, the Springfield kids worked hard to make their secret prize to Krusty's sleep-away camp a nuisance for the adults to find them.  In the end it was the heroic group of Marge Simpson, Grandpa Simpson, Principal Skinner, Groundskeeper Willie, and Duff-Man who may have saved most of the wee children.  There were heroic but gruesome deaths for Grandpa and Nelson... but the most sanity shredding was the complete murder of Maggie. 

I'm proud to say that there were a circle of at least four more old players of the scenario, playing at the adjacent tables. 

Maja's day was lounging about in the morning, hanging out between the Burning Plastic and the cupcake ladies, played a game of Rock-n-Roll Brouhaha, took a nap in the car before dinner with me, snagged a game of Penny Black from the board game library, and made me stay till midnight with the LARP.  After a Wawa stop, we were home by 1am.

Nothing like waiting for the LARP wrap-up (This was Friday).

SUNDAY

Unlike Mepacon 49, I did not go Sunday, preferring to clean out the car, and coordinate the return of the youngest child, Millie, from her friend's basketball tournament in Lancaster.  As it was my birthday, we had some ice cream cake, the girls got me some extremely practical minis from the local game store, and I got to hang out with them before they headed back to upstate New York.

SWAG:  I honestly tried to peruse the multiple vendors, but, in the end, I grabbed some Car Wars stuff from the Auction buyout.   

Maja, I realized, is the bloody demographic they're looking for with the vendors I would call "peripheral"  She bought crafts and book pouches, and even some stuff for her sister, coming back to dear old dad to fill up her coffers again. 

Let's not take my downplaying of the vendors fool you, there were some heavy hitters showing up for a 500 person con. 

Mepacon 51 will be back at the Delta, November 13-15, 2026 | Lehigh Valley, PA.  The theme will be sci-fi, so I'm thinking about claiming Table 52 early and running on-going Fistful of Lead, although I still have a contingent that wants to me to run more and more Burning Plastic.   I guess it will be time to set up another poll!

My Events for Mepacon 50! April 17-19, 2026 - Outside of Allentown, Pennsylvania

Alright, party people, the events are getting posted fast and furious for Mepacon 50,  this April 17-19, 2026, at the Delta Hotels by Marriott Allentown Lehigh Valley. 

Since I was part of Mepacon 1 and 2, and a whole lot more as it bounced around mid-east and northeast Pennsylvania, I decided to do some of my "best of" convention games from Mepacon (and the decade of con games I ran prior to Mepacon's founding, the Antideluvian era of gaming that filled up Legions Halls, full of dollar auctions, TORG, impromptu swords fights, and a host of other things I'm not quite sure if the statute of limitations has run out. 

I had set up a survey way back in November, and did get a few responses.  So without further ado, here are my submitted events:  (Edit: 2/23/2026 - My events are officially up on TabletopEvents after some minor corrections and some incredible logistical work by the convention staff.) 

Friday

4pm - Burning Plastic "Polymers in Flames"  8+ players      4 hrs   (Event #202 - Hallway 52)

Burning Plastic is the miniature game using green plastic army guys for mayhem and carnage.  Tanks! Explosions! Air Strikes!   Lots of d6's to chuck, rulers to measure, and no worry about chipping the GM's paint job!  Children under 12 welcome with a playing adult (Don't worry parents, the kids will help you with the math...)

9pm - Talislanta 2nd Edition   "The Crystle Dungeon"  6 players    3hrs    (#212 - Table 32)

The classic Fantasy RPG known for it's ads in Dragon Magazine "No Elves..."    Most of the Gnome-Kin Kingdom of Durne is underground, so why is your party investigating an above-ground outpost that hasn't responded in weeks... and what happened to the first two scouting parties they sent to check it out?  (Originally run March 1991 at Lehicon IV). 

Saturday

10am - Burning Plastic "Polymers in Flames"  8+ players      4 hrs.    (#203 - Hallway 57)

Burning Plastic is the miniature game using green plastic army guys for mayhem and carnage.  Tanks! Explosions! Air Strikes!   Lots of d6's to chuck, rulers to measure, and no worry about chipping the GM's paint job!  Children under 12 welcome with a playing adult (Don't worry parents, the kids will help you with the math...)

Okay, no beer at the table at the con, but it is a "beer and pretzels" game...

2pm - My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria  "Tokens of Friendship"   5 players 2hrs.    (#203  Table 23)

My Little Pony - Tails of Equestria (RiverHorse Press) is a role-playing game that's  as magical as the power of friendship! Each session you can create your very own pony and share adventures with your friends in Ponyville, Canterlot, and beyond! Or bring back your pony from a previous session (or previous Mepacon) to play some more! Parents welcome to help their child or play alongside them.

4pm - My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria  "Tokens of Friendship"   5 players 2hrs      (#207 - Table 23)

My Little Pony - Tails of Equestria (RiverHorse Press) is a role-playing game that's  as magical as the power of friendship! Each session you can create your very own pony and share adventures with your friends in Ponyville, Canterlot, and beyond! Or bring back your pony from a previous session (or previous Mepacon) to play some more! Parents welcome to help their child or play alongside them.

8pm - Toon - "Krusty the Kultist"  8 players  2 hrs.       (#218  - Table 33)

Cthulhu comes to Springfield!   Classic Simpsons characters with a healthy mix of Lovecraft  Something's amiss!  Krusty is giving away trips to kids? That's Unpossible!  Will the parents catch on and save the wee children, or will the kids have to do it themselves?

Nothing crazy, nothing wild... simply four of my most memorable games I've run in 35+ years of GM con games. 

Mepacon 50 - What to Run?

So, Mepacon 50, our local con here in Pennsylvania, is being held April 17-19 outside of Allentown, PA.  

I'm still trying to verify any scheduling conflicts, but as of now, I'm dedicated to not only attending, but running games as well.

And that brings up the big question: What to run?

I've been attending Mepacon since the first one, and if we go back through the convention's genealogy, there are only one or two attendees who can claim an earlier claim.  

The fiftieth con is the best time to consider a "Best Of" selections of my convention games.  Introduce some great games to a new generation, upgrade a few that might not present well theme or statistically.  

I have set up a poll to take everyone's input.  You should be able to vote for multiple options.  Thanks everyone for your help! 

1. Talislanta - (2 HOUR)  The Crystle Dungeon - Lehicon IV 1991 - My first ever convention game for teenage, essentially a dungeon crawl that luckily was filled with adolescent players.  Will need an overhaul (and I'd use 2nd or 3rd Edition for simplicity... it's one of the reasons I fell in love with the system.
   
   
2. TWERPS - (2 HOUR) Showdown on Starmist  - Bogglecon 1995  - "The Worlds Easiest Role-Playing System" is normally a silly hex-based beer and pretzel game, but I've turned it into a four-hour convention game a few times.  Cutting it down to 2 hours for fun and clarity.  
   
   
   
3. TOON - (2 HOUR) Cthulhu comes to Springfield - Lehicon VI 1994 - Classic (90s) Simpsons Characters and the Cthulhu Mythos... using Toon!  Each  "epsiode" ran an hour... so I just need to pull out the better scenarios like "Krusty the Kultist" or "The Reactors of R'yleh"  
   
   
   
4. GURPS/RISUS - IOU  (2 HOUR)   SCAVENGER HUNT - CoveCon 1996 - Perhaps my most perfect convention game ever, back when GURPS was my jam.  Cross-dimensional, multi-genre Illuminati University and a simple case of a campus wide scavenger hunt.  
   
   
   
5. My Little Pony - (2 HOUR) Friendship is POWER  - Mepacon 33-35 - I admit, I ran the My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria game (River Horse Press) to help fill up the Kid's Block of game.  If the games weren't in direct conflict with the kid's LARP or scavenger hunt, they were rousing successes and great memories.  
   
   
   
6. Hackmaster - (4 HOUR) Pirates of the Beluga Chew -  My Mepacon 2 game.    The best and more of the best of what made Hackmaster great.  
   
   
   
7. Burning Plastic (HOUR) - Bogglecon, Lehicon Jr, UBCon, Mepacon 26 - The game of green army men who might represent killer robots.  
   
   
   
8. Gnome Wars - (4 HOUR) Tales from the Front (Yard) - Mepacon/Historicon/Cold Wars - Gnome Wars is a 30mm Miniature game using garden gnomes of many nationalities to fight battles based on World War I tactics.  We run the game at HMGS conventions to hundreds of satisfied players.  Heck, we've even had a game or two in run up at the Clarks Summit Mepacons (25-30?) 
   
   
   
9. Legions of Steel  (2 HOUR?)- Lehicons/Bogglecons/Origins - The classic mid-90's miniature/board game where we answer the question, "What if Space Hulk replaced Genestealers with Terminator robots that shot back?"  
   
   
   
10. Illuminati (4 HOUR) -  The original no-frills Steve Jackson version.  Okay, maybe the expansions. 
11. Car Wars (4 HOUR) - Choosing this one means I finally scratch a decades long itch to play the game and hook a whole new generation in the original rules. 
12. Fistful of Lead - Fistful of Gnomes - Historicon - I love my gnomes.  And another option is using the same figures in skirmish/mission settings using my favorite minis system, Fistful of Lead.   
    
    
    
13. Fistful of Lead - Galactic Heroes -  Historicon - I also run a mean multi-dimensional sci-fi town with Star Wars, 40k, Firefly, and other characters playing side by side.  
    
    
    
14. D&D - Isle of the Abbey - We lost one of the godfathers of Lehigh Valley conventions, Mike Griffith, this past year.  It can be argued pretty well that without him, Mepacon would have never come together 49 conventions ago.  I believe Isle of the Abbey was one of his go-to convention games, so it makes sense for somebody else to run it, updated to the current edition.  
    
    
    
15. D&D - The Jade Monkey - Mike's partner in crime for many early cons was Joe Ward.  I don't his status, but his running of this RPGA scenario is one of my fondest memories of convention gaming. 
16. D&D - They're Only Kobolds - Joe's trademark game.  PCs vs classic dog-faced kobolds.  How hard can it be?

I think that's a healthy enough 

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..."