I was able to make it down to Historicon again this year. The decision was made relatively last-minute to go down and help out Ken at the All the King's Men Toy Soldiers booth. I met up with Ken on Wednesday at the Valley Forge Convention Center to construct the booth. After some pre-show concerns about loading/un-loading concerns, the unload was a breeze and the set-up quick and easy (as was the pack-up on Sunday...dealer hall closed at noon and we were packed up and driving away at 12:35!). There are a number of conversations on TMP about the facility so I won't bore anyone here with details. Suffice to say that the convention center was well-lit, well-air conditioned, and clean. The hotel rooms were a definite step up from the Lancaster Host and the only minor quibble about the place would be the reliability of the elevators. I suspect that, given the obvious superiority of the facility over the Lancaster Host, most of the angst and bad comments I've noticed on-line are rooted more in an aversion to or fear of change than in any real-world negatives.
Ken and I had a great show, of course, and we were able to meet up with old friends and customers. Working a trader booth can be tiring but it's worth it, at the very least, to have an opportunity to talk gaming all day long with willing participants! And the drinks and cigars were pretty good too! My thanks again to Ken for making the trip possible and enjoyable (even if I apparently can't do Beer Math).
We also were able to see number of great looking games, but one in particular caught my eye. This was hosted by Architects of War on their own terrain and run by no less personages than John Stallard of Warlord Games and the Perry brothers. The terrain was spectacular and the figures quite nice (they were all Perry figures, after all). The gun-fire smoke even had blinking LED lights inside and a soundtrack with the sound of cannon and musket fire was playing in the background. You can see the lights in the (admittedly very bad Crackberry) video below:
The lovely Spanish village occupying one end of the board. This entire building complex was raffled off at the end of the show. Unfortunately, the right person didn't win!
Spectacular sculpting around the bridge!
Small military encampment. This is a good example of how the little things can bring a game to life, even if they have no direct bearing on the playing of the game.
Village square.
Small garden: again, a good example of how little things can bring character to a game.
I didn't spot this one until a second pass-by. A proposal in action!
A simple haystack/manure pile. This is minimalism at its best!
One last photo of a different game. This one is a Carlist Wars set-up using Black Powder rules. Another nice Spanish town but I found the boards rather drab. I have an issue with all games set in the Iberian Peninsula depicted with brown, drab terrain. But that's a rant for another time!
Ken and I had a great show, of course, and we were able to meet up with old friends and customers. Working a trader booth can be tiring but it's worth it, at the very least, to have an opportunity to talk gaming all day long with willing participants! And the drinks and cigars were pretty good too! My thanks again to Ken for making the trip possible and enjoyable (even if I apparently can't do Beer Math).
We also were able to see number of great looking games, but one in particular caught my eye. This was hosted by Architects of War on their own terrain and run by no less personages than John Stallard of Warlord Games and the Perry brothers. The terrain was spectacular and the figures quite nice (they were all Perry figures, after all). The gun-fire smoke even had blinking LED lights inside and a soundtrack with the sound of cannon and musket fire was playing in the background. You can see the lights in the (admittedly very bad Crackberry) video below:
The lovely Spanish village occupying one end of the board. This entire building complex was raffled off at the end of the show. Unfortunately, the right person didn't win!
Spectacular sculpting around the bridge!
Small military encampment. This is a good example of how the little things can bring a game to life, even if they have no direct bearing on the playing of the game.
Village square.
Small garden: again, a good example of how little things can bring character to a game.
I didn't spot this one until a second pass-by. A proposal in action!
A simple haystack/manure pile. This is minimalism at its best!
One last photo of a different game. This one is a Carlist Wars set-up using Black Powder rules. Another nice Spanish town but I found the boards rather drab. I have an issue with all games set in the Iberian Peninsula depicted with brown, drab terrain. But that's a rant for another time! 
that game was indeed impressive. As was the League of Augsberg games (republic to Empire and Beneath the Lily Banners). i took a camera but totally forgot to use it, as usual. I still got a few good ideas for making terrain.
ReplyDeleteI also picked up the pick on a spit and well from Architects of war. They'll be ready for appearances in a week or 2
I read somewhere today that those lights were made by Ernie baker at Architects of war. Perhaps we should ask him where he got his LEDs.
Simon and I spend most of Friday and Saturday in the Flea market selling our wares, so kind of a similar situation to you and Ken. unfortunately because of the last minute nature of our trip, we were stranded several miles away in the Krown Plaza Hotel. Next time I'd like to be able to stay in the Radisson or Scanticon.
Steve