Minis With the Masons
Today I went to GOTTCon, a new minicon held at a local Masonic hall. Many of the staff members are Mason's and the proceeds of the convention went to Masonic youth groups. I actually had no idea Mason's were still a thing, I thought they were some ancient niche Christian sect, but it turns out its not a religious group at all and seems to just be a social club. Granted there is probably much more to it, and I definitely have not cracked open a book on the subject or anything, but they play games and that's all that matters to me.
So like I said, this is a brand new convention, with today being the very first time the convention was held. It was created by local Freemasons and gamers, Jeff and Lisa Hiatt. Jeff is a familiar face around the game convention circuit here and he runs a beautiful Stalingrad game, amongst other things. I believe it was the first time the Hiatt's ran a convention and they did a great job organizing everything. I'm thankful they decided to bring another convention to the Bay Area because I love going to them.
Here's the few photos I took of the convention itself , it had 2 large rooms and the main hallway for games, and 1 room each for the flea market, concessions, and mini painting. There didn't seem to be a shortage of tables and when I asked them if they could bring out more, they obliged. The Masonic hall often hosts events like weddings and quinceanera's so tables are probably in ample supply.
I didn't get to take these until around 6pm after most the people had
left, but it wasn't that much more crowded than is shown in the
pictures. It was the first GOTTcon ever and didn't get much advertising or exposure so the numbers do not surprise me. I will do what I can in the future to help draw some attention to it. I know Bob Bergman, who went also, wants to try to convince other SBGC members to attend future conventions, and I will definitely start leaving flyers at local game stores. I would really like more Bay Area conventions so I have an interest in GOTTcon's growth.
The only people who bought miniature wargames to the convention were Bob Bergman and I, most people played boardgames and D&D. I played a bit of Form on the Admiral's Wake with Bob in the morning and ran my game in the afternoon.
I thought I might not get any players but by the time my table was set up, all the miniatures and terrain had been enough of a spectacle that I was able to fill all player slots.
Anyways, first off, before I go into my game, let me just say how satisfied I am with how the faux fur game mat came out and how much better it looks in comparison to my previous mat. I love it, it's probably the mat I'll be using for all my future land based wargames, and I'm glad I finally sat down and made it.
I wanted this next blog post to be a continuation of my previous post, where I wrote about trying to balance my scenario, but because most of my players were kids and had to be driven home early the game lasted only 2.5 hours and I didn't get to learn about the effects of the balance changes.
One thing I think I noticed was that the gunship still seemed too powerful, despite the nerfs I gave it. But I'm not certain if its actually overpowered, or if I only think so because the PAVN player exposed his units to danger and got them killed by the gunship.
To be fair to the PAVN players, exposing the troops to danger was part of their strategy to delay the Americans while moving the rest of their force into better positions, so maybe I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill and the gunship's actually fine. I guess I won't know until the next time I run this scenario.
Although I didn't finish the game, I had a great time running it and had excellent players. Running games for kids can be unpredictable, but this time it was a success. The kids were enthusiastic, strategic, and played well. They even showed interest in the historical aspects, and I enjoyed giving them some history lessons when they asked questions. What impressed me the most was their sportsmanship as they embraced losing and in fact relished in seeing their units destroyed in some spectacular fashion. I believe the ability to lose gracefully is a valuable quality for gamers and anyone who engages in competition and I'd rather run games for people who can have fun whether they are winning or losing, over someone who is a grand strategist who plays wargames skillfully but is a sore loser. Overall, they were fantastic, had a great time, and I hope I played a part in inspiring future historical miniature wargamers and potential SBGC members.
Speaking of potential SBGC members, I actually had a sign advertising the SBGC, and Bob had one too. A lot of people expressed interest, and either wrote down the link or took a picture of the QR code, but to be honest, I always get a bunch of people who are interested in the SBGC at conventions, and its translated to 0 actual new members. I'll keep on hoping, but will temper my expectations.
And that was how the first ever GOTTcon went for me. I think it has potential, the venue is spacious, its cheap, there's good concessions, the person running the event is a fellow wargaming enthusiast, and the Masonic community that attends the event is very friendly, it just needs to advertise more and try to draw in more attendance. Although I had no trouble finding players, it would've been nice if there were more miniature wargames being played. I will definitely try to get some of the SBGC to attend.
Oh and one more thing, I made out like an absolute bandit at the flea market, look how much terrain I got for 80 beans! 😲😲😲 I'm never going to make hills, rock walls, or brick walls ever again!
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