June 24, 2013

Gear Con and the Adeptiquest

Little more than a week and a half remain until Gear Con. I'm pretty excited. The convention experience is sweetest just before getting in line for registration. I'll be demoing both Warmachine and the Iron Kingdoms RPG. On July 6^th of the con, there's going to be a 35 point tournament that I'm planning on playing in.

With any luck, I'll get to do more than just the Privateer Press thing. There's a Victorian era martial arts demonstration. Abney Park, a steampunk band, will be performing. There seems to be a goodly lot of things to do. 

Preparation has added to my painting table. I'm just about finished with my Cryx battlebox. Convergence is up next, and the pirate “battlebox” will follow after that. Hopefully, this will be enough time. Even more hoped for, that I'm not just sitting there with Nathaniel playing battlebox games to pass the time.

With Lock and Load 2013 in the rear view mirror, I find myself pondering the state of war-gaming specific cons in the Northwest. Initially, I can think of only three: Lock and Load, TSHFT (it stands for something like the Seattle Heart of Flames Tournament or something like it), and OFCC Club Challenge. My mind has just dredged up Walpurgis Nacht. Some of the gaming and sci-fi conventions like Game Storm and Orycon allow some space for miniature war-gaming. 

The problem that I have is that none of them approach what I have heard about Adepticon. I've never attended, but the stories that come out of it make me want to attend it. Unfortunately, I don't think that it is a trip that I would be able to make on my own. So, I think that having that level of convention here on the west coast is my best chance to get to attend one of that size.

What Adepticon brings is some of the things that would end up being on the fringe at a smaller convention. The Gladiator, a tournament that allows for any legal army that GW has created, has a solid place with plenty of players; where it would have a much smaller number of players at a smaller con. Vendors come out of the woodwork to sell their products and services to such a gathered mass of potential customers. The increased range of panels and seminars that cover the gamut from hobby to tactics are taught by folk that can only brought in by such a large event. Best of all, swag bags that nearly cover the cost of entry.

I have no illusions that I'm a strong tournament player. I tend to find my place in the middle of the pack these days. Entering tournaments just to confirm that does not seem productive to me, though I still do. Getting something for my money aside from the knowledge that I have contributed to the winner's takings would be a great thing.

There are obstacles for the Pacific Northwest gaming community toward getting our own Adepticon. We have larger distances between communities. There is not a lot of cross culture in the gaming clubs by either system or communication. The giant in our backyard is content with the way things are.

The history of the larger cons is that they developed over years. Perhaps, like myself, they were only seeing what was; the future a mystery. Perhaps they saw what might one day come. Each year, we hope to see more and more things, with more and more players. Only by being ready for somethng big will something big happen.