GenCon AAR


Thanks to graduate school I haven't been able to attend Gencon recently.  First, a gallery of all the pictures from the con that can be found here:

http://imgur.com/a/CochH

Overall it was a great time.  I managed to see and do a ton.  According to Fitbit it was a mere 50 miles walked over the last week.  Some more detailed impressions:

Doomtown(+):
I had a great time playing Doomtown and managed to come in 3rd on Sunday in the finals.  While it was a ton of Doomtown for the con, the tournaments ran well and I paid the iron price for a bunch of swag.  Thanks to restocks, Nightmare at Noon and Immovable Object, Unstoppable Force were also welcome purchases(really didn't expect that new pine box early).

I'm going to try to post my deck and some thoughts on DTDB sometime this week.

FFG(-):
Their booth was a mess of a neverending line.  I would have liked to pick up GoT 2nd but it would require far too much effort.  The next wave of Imperial Assault was purchased from a different booth(I really need to play that game already).

Everything I've heard about their awfulness at running events is justified.  3 two hour rounds should not be scheduled from 11am to 9pm and you should be able to knock them all out in one day, not just two.  Gencon time is just too costly to waste that way.

Shadowfist(+):
Daniel Griego, from Inner Kingdom Games, was there.  He had a bit of a Shadowfist fire sale going on and I was more than happy to pick up a complete set of modern packs and a box of 7 Masters.  He was also willing to ship me a promo Jessica Ng.  Next year, I will have to put some thought to packing up a deck and I need to back that kickstarter.

Privateer Press(-):
This was the first Gencon since playing WM/H where I didn't leave the con excited about what was coming.  eZaal really comboed well with the Reckoning casters(at least for the factions I play) to put a damper on things.  It also puts Skorne at 3/6(being generous) for poorly implemented MK2 casters.

Undercity looked like it has potential.  The minis to dollar ratio was good but I found the map itself fairly boring.  Will have to read some reviews after people have played it more.  Honestly, if Shadows of Brimstone had a more directed campaign mode with a GM it would likely be my choice for Descent-likes.

Wizkids(-):
From talking to people, after the complete shit show that Wizkids made of the con last year they decided not to have a booth this year and make Origins their primary con.  It's just what you expect from Wizkids.

Mayfair(+):
5 Year Mission was incredibly fun to play while tired/drunk.  I will need to see how well it holds up.

Wyrd(+):
Malifaux having a Mordheim mode sucked me back in(it helps that I've heard there is a local community too).  It looks fairly promising and I've been feeling more like Narrationist miniature games lately too.  Dark Debts is just too much up my Alley too.

Bushido/Mantic/Spartan Games/Dropzone Commander/Infinity(+):
All these companies/games looked really great at the con.  If I could find local steady communities for any of them I would be completely in.  Sadly there is not.

It was good to hear that the EP crew tried out the Bushido board game and enjoyed it.  Looking forward to that Kickstarter coming in.

Escape: Space Station Edition(+):
The only board game I managed to grab a demo of in the dealers hall.  Everyone I tried it with enjoyed it, and I'm somewhat sorry I didn't pick it up.

Zombie LARP(+):
With Ben and my Brother.  Goofy fun and well worth checking out at Gencon.  The laser room was a nice touch this year.  Next time we need to be better organized and get more people in it.

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