Best 4,,, ok, 2 days of Gaming...

Lots Of Pics!

Scroll down for descriptions!

Let's see.. where to start. Okay, Gen Con #40 was this last weekend, and as it says, it is the best 4 days of gaming. I headed out on Friday morning with the family and a friend in caravan mode. We got to Indy that afternoon, shortly after lunch and immediately discovered that parking is much harder to find than planned. But we persevered and found a nice cheap spot only a mile or so from the convention center. A funny thing happened on the way to the center. No sooner than we were about a block from the Mecca of gaming, we over hear a conversation that goes something like this... "The cloak was used for as a protection cloak instead of invisibility...." We knew we were in the right place. Anyway, we got in, got registered, got the incredibly heavy swag bag and were off to get a lay of the land. I have been once before, but the rest of my family and my buddy Dave had not. So we went exploring and I think they were a bit stunned by the sheer size of the convention. We did not have a game scheduled until 5pm that afternoon, but we needed to get some food and get checked into the hotel. We wandered around the exhibit hall and gawked at all the stuff on display. Not just games and gaming material but, flesh and blood. As Dave said, I was prepared for the high gamer geek level at the convention, but not prepared for the costume party and potential babe fest at Gen Con. (You can see some of the Conan Babes posing with my daughter) He was right after all. Gaming is geared toward males, aged 14-20 and most of the displays, if appropriate, took full advantage of using the babe factor to get people into the booth, or some of the female costumed characters dressed as a gamers fantasy come true. Heck, while hanging out at the True Dungeon Tavern and playing a game of Three Dragon Ante, a chain mail bikini wearing gal comes right up to us and asks us what we are playing. I don't really know what her real purpose was, but she certainly was not shy. I am kind of glad my son was gone at the time, but he got eye fulls later on throughout the weekend.

But we did not come to gawk. We came to game and game we did. We got involved in a big game of Epic Battlelore with the game designer and had a great time. (My team won!) My son was the only one to score points on the other team, so at least losing for him was not totally a loss. Then later, everyone on the family got to join a Settlers of Catan game and I think my daughter really impressed some of the strangers in the game at how good she really is at the game. It was a blast and maybe on of the best times at the convention. We were also invovled in some other games, including the huge Memoir '44 game (seen in photo #6) with none other than the CEO of the game company that makes the game! (Very cool from a gamers point of view) we did not win but we came awful danged close. The time at Gen Con was a blast and I really hope to make it again next year. My son said he definately wants to go again and so that is a good thing and makes it more likely. We will see.

Now to the photos.

Photo #1 This is the D&D room sponsored by Wizards of the Coast. Everyone there is playing a Role-Playing Game... and what you see is only about a third of the room!

Photo #2 This is the kid gaming room, normally filled with a bunch of really good games, but lo and behold, Dave and I found Rock 'em, Sock 'em Robots! We had to relive the childhood of the 70's once again! (I seem to recall them being bigger when I had them.)

Photos 3&4 Julian in the Role Playing game room with some of the gaming mock ups! Nice atmosphere for gaming, and the floor, much like a dungeon tile door, I think could double as a dance floor!

Photo 5 The kids with Lord Vader.... There was another Darth Vader at the con, but he was not any taller than I am so, he had to be an impostor.... We also think that George Lucas was spotted at convention too.

Photo 6 The big "Overlord" version of Memoir '44. It was an 8 player game with myself, Dave, Julian and the overall commander, Henry on one side.

Photo 7 This is Julian and I with E. Gary Gygax, the creater of Dungeons & Dragons, the game the created all other role playing games and started Gen Con 40 years ago. Meeting him was a bigger thrill than I expected it to be. After all, he is responsible for some of my best memories as a kid. It was actually an honor to get to meet him. I did have him sign my DM guide... okay... call me a geek now!

Photo 8 The Conan Babes in front of the Conan video game booth. These girls were here all day long and had probably been asked by thousands of guys to take pictures, but this was the first time I actually saw them looked excited to take a photo! They really glammed on to Cora taking a photo with them. And speaking of Conan, I got to talk with the Secretary and Treasurer of the Robert E. Howard foundation and got some really good info on some stuff for a new blog posting... but that is for another time.

As of right now, I have to stop typing. So, if you can, go to Gen Con next time! You will not be disappointed!

Later!

Game On!