Historicon, Here I Come!

Everything is wrapped up at work, I've got my itinerary, shopping list and a wad of cash for the vendor hall. I'm all set for Historicon.

Last year I really enjoyed taking a rest from the multi hour set piece games with a few short demos to break up the day. If you don't follow Architects of War / Alien Dungeon's blog, twitter, etc. you may have missed this, but they are running a number of demos for 'SAGA', 'Uncivil War', and 'All Quiet on the Martian Front'.  There's also a number of demos of the latest update to DBA being run throughout the con I'd like to check out. I couldn't get jazzed about the last edition, but I'm happy to give them another shot, especially with a little guidance from folks who've already deciphered the rules. I'm hoping to spend some time trying out all four demos.

Guidebook

I also downloaded the Guidebook app for my iPhone this year. A quick search found the guide for Historicon 2013 with a full schedule -- including games, tournaments and hobby university classes -- with the ability to add them to a personalized schedule, plus room for notes and maps. Highly recommended! I think it'll beat carrying the large paper program around (which I invariably lose the first day). While building my schedule I was able to review all of the games being run, and so many are tables I'd love to roll dice on. This year I'm bringing along some non-historical gamer friends of mine who signed up for full gamut of sci-fi, zombie and fantasy games that intrigued them, all games I'd happily join except they conflict with some of the ancient and WWII games I'm dying to play.

In the past, I've read some grumbling about non-historical games at Historicon, Cold Wars, and Fall-In (even my own regular opponent Mike was mystified by Battletech appearing on a side table at the first Cold Wars he attended), but I'm happy to see some alternatives to Yet Another Napoleonic Game. I love historical wargaming (I'll play any period as long as I can move some lead and roll some dice), but gamers tend to be a well rounded lot with varying interests. How many historical blogs have been peppered with posts about Fantasy Flight's X-Wing game over the last year? How many joined in on the Reaper Kickstarter? I don't think any attendees are laser focused on only a single period, and historical and non-historical games together make these conventions doubly fun. Can't wait!