Gencon 2014: day one

Back from Gencon, and lordy did I take too many pictures. Tried grouping these by topic, but I ended up with an outline of... nine posts. And considering how sporadically (and tardily) I have posted this year, I threw out that idea and will just give the day by day overview. Basically, my plan is to get these written up before I start writing about my prep for Fall In.

Thursday morning, 7:30 in the a.m., before anything is opened, we're behind the lines and setting up for our first Critical Mass demo. Featured above is Maurice in a sea of tables, denoting where we'd be.

The basic layout. Day one featued my Kaamados versus Maurice's Praesentia.

Alien trees and buildings are all Critical Mass, as well. Buildings are out of production, but so good.

Some hard-nosed Naga vets escorting a Gekotaa command car.

The foul Praesentia menace. With their foul force fields.

 The massive might of the Dragamaa heavy tank, guided by the Legion commander in his Dractamaa APC.

Aaron explaining the game to our honored students. Maurice, on the left, isn't moving. He's just naturally blurry.

You just teleported into the wrong part of town, mother hubbard! 

 The Dragamaa begins its second career as a smoking wreckage terrain feature.

Praesentia claim the middle objective. 

The game went well. I think we did a good job explaining it, and everyone seemed to have fun. 

Toys packed and safely ensconced back in the hotel room, we return to the con and hit the dealer's hall for day one shopping.

After dropping some cash on must-haves for Bushido, we check out the preliminaries on their upcoming Rise of the Kage board game. Sneaky ninjas from rival clans try to complete objectives without alerting the vigilant guards. Figs look great!

Another early stop was the Sentinels of the Multiverse booth. Which was pretty big, and pretty packed. It's a favorite game in out household. I got some cards signed for a friend, picked up promos to fill out my collection, and chatted with the artist. 

The Impact booth was tempting as always. Those walkers are pretty spiff.

The afternoon held the first of three Bushido events for me. As noted earlier, I've never played a game. But I rushed to have the figs together so I could play in two of the dojo events (pretty much just bring your figs and square off against other players) so I could learn the rules, and then play in the tournament on Saturday.

My first game was a stand-up fight against the Savage Wave of Mr. Jack. A noble opponent, he was patient with my innumerable questions and general confusion. It was a decent game, to boot. I was able to figure out the ebb and flow of a turn, and start learning the ins and outs of how my forces work. 

Engaging the enemy. 

Bakemono! Oni! Paintjobs! 

My monks, surrounded. 

If this was an RPG, the term would be 'failing your Spot check.' 

 Aiko has a bad day.

The terrain caught a lot of passerby's eyes, and rightfully so. It's by Lost Village Terrain, you can see some more pics here. The objective markers in the center there were by Retainer Greg (Ret-CrazyFish) himself, an easy but highly effective craft store formula.

After the Dojo, caught some dinner, and then it was wandering the halls and checking out other people's games.

Retro Raygun! SO SHINY. No, I mean, actually shiny, a nice change of pace. 

The Game of Thrones board game, blown up, with 20mm-ish figs as tokens. Impressive!

While the boys went on a shadowrun, Miss Heather and I caught up with some cool friends of hers in the gaming hall. We sat down for some illicit libations and the Penny Arcade deckbuilder game. A lovely time was had.

What?

Soon: the Friday report.