A Short Note Regarding TACTICON 2013

Well, TACTICON 2013 has passed into history.  I continue to be impressed with the amount of work the organizers put into this convention.  Despite all the hard work, however, events can conspire to make a smooth operation into a disappointment.

In this case, the hotel decided to split into two separate hotels.  Yes, this is absurd.  Splitting a single building into two buildings by dividing the lobby, putting two new reception desks, closing the restaurants and generally making a mess of things serves as a reminder that things do not have to make sense.   Of course, all the construction was going on during the convention and I suspect that the hotel did not tell the Denver Gamers Association until it was too late to find a new venue.   

I never did find the convention headquarters.  The area where the con headquarters was located last year had simply disappeared, along with the hotel bar and a number of meeting rooms.  Unfinished walls appeared where doors and hallways once existed.  Air conditioning had returned to the status of a theoretical concept.  Therefore, it is no surprise that the convention was not well attended, even for a Labor Day weekend.

John and Ron as the plucky Russian/Prussian command

My Napoleonic game went better than I expected with 4 players plus an able assist by my friend Ed.  John and Ron played the Allies.  John was from Wyoming and Ron was from South Dakota.  They apparently knew each other from sometime in the past.  I believe that Chris and TJ, the leaders of the French, were from Colorado Springs.

The Allies had a slow start, with Ron's Prussian's losing the cavalry battle on the left flank to TJ's well handled French Dragoons and Hussars, but they doggedly advanced in the center.

Chris and his son TJ commanded the French

Although TJ rolled very well, defeating and then crushing the Prussian cavalry opposing him, his father was not so lucky on the other flank.  The two French batteries that were supposed to disrupt and shatter the Russian hordes were unable to score enough hits to make a difference.  The French line was breaking and the guns were overrun when the game ended.

All in all, the game went well, even though my stalwart co-referee gave incorrect instruction on melee resolution to Chris and John during their critical cavalry melee on the French left flank.

The American Civil War game on Friday evening was attended by only two players so I did not need to scale it up.  It played to a conclusion with a modest Union victory.  The SYW game on Friday night had only one player so Ed went ahead and stood in as a proxy.  The scenario may have been too ambitious for the convention according to Ed.  It was my intention that the SYW game be an introductory game with no rivers, only two formations for infantry and only one artillery battery on the table.  Once set up, it seemed bigger.  

Of course, as my first convention as a game master, I learned a few things.  First, rosters are not as good as putting markers on the bases.  The game slows down when you have to look at the roster to determine your die type.  Second, set up takes longer than you think.  Always allow at least 40 minutes for setup.  Third, make the players calculate their own combat factors.  The game will speed up once they have some competence in using the chart.  Third, use a ground cloth that allows for proper display of the figures.  My figures were swallowed up by the camo pattern of my ground cloth. 

I will probably put a couple of games on at Genghis Con in February.  It was good to see the troops on the table and my painting got more than a few compliments from people walking by the table.