GENCON the AAR

Arrived home after an 8 hour drive (Thanks Ken for doing the driving) from GENCON and Indy, and back in my own Indy, a little broken and bruised, and definitely broke.
For those not in the know, GenCon was started way back in 1968 in Lake Genneva (the GEN in GenCon) by legendary D&D creator Gary Gygax and his pals to gather all the gamers out there. It has since moved and grwon to a staggering 70,000 plus attendees.
It is a very welcoming crowd, but there are ALOT of people. I've been to San Diego Comic Con a few times and this was the same level. Great for people watching. For many this a chance to let their freak flag fly!

What the hell have I got myself into... 

 Cue Willy Wonka "Pure Imagination" song

 

 The Nerd Herd

 Game of All Quiet on the Martian Front

 Couple of nice demo table for Wild West Exodus which looks overly complicated (yes, I'm biased).

 New DUST stuff was amazing

 

 Hail Cthulu!

 Great game, BTW.

 Creepy book covers.

 Awesome Japanese style prints, but of geeky stuff like Star Wars above.

 

 The new Marvel minis game had some great tables

 Giant Gloranthan miniatures for their boardgame

 

For the RPGers and Boardgamers this is Mecca. Hundreds of vendors and places to game. Lots of chances to demo games, but if you want a whole game in, you gotta pay.
Speaking of games, I got to play 1st addition Gamma World in Colt's Stadium.

The convention has got so huge its overflowed into the stadium next door. The game itself had an exceptional GM. He tried his best to keep the story moving despite there being 10 players and a few of them drunk a-holes.
I was really disappointed in the tabletop wargaming scene. They desperately need to up the game. With a few exceptions, the tables were sad and uninviting
The good: Great place to be among people who love what you love. A staggering amount of stuff. Really. I cannot express how much gaming shi...I mean stuff there is.
And most importantly I got to spend time with my son Marshal and best friend, Ken.

The bad: Too many of the above mentioned people. It's become like SDCC. As many times as this event has happened, the city wasn't ready. The main artery of the town (I-70) was shutdown...Not enough food trucks. Facilities (especially bathrooms, the stink, oh God the stink...) overwhelmed. And in a weekend of mass shootings at public places, no security. No backpacks checked. Nothing.
How would Saint Gary feel? I don't know. I think he would love the amount of people his little con has brought together, but probably hate how commercial it has become.
The haul:

 Some dice, some Pulp Figures Mexican Revolution minis, Epic Spell Wars Annihilamegeddon, a great little gladiator game: Gorus Maximus, a not so great gladiator game Arena Riot, bunch of cheap Harn books and maps, Red Dragon Inn boardgame, and a new beautiful looking boardgame, Aschaton, where you play cultist factions trying to cury favor before the Dark One returns. And about 5 pounds to the waistline in junk food.

Now I'm off. A LOT of work ahead. I have to get Wasteland Warriors final edited and off to the printers and get 2 game table boards together for Recruits and WW.