July has come and it was time for another Historicon. This is the premier HMGS wargaming convention in the US. I try to attend most of the HMGS events, but have missed the last few, so to life! So, I was very much looking forward to going to this event and catch back up with old friends and seeing new things.
The event is once again at the Marriott hotel convention center in down town Lancaster Pennsylvania. It began on Wednesday night and went through Sunday mid day. A buddy of mine flew in to visit and we took the long drive up to the event together, catching during the drive.
This event seemed to me to be the first event that was running on all cylinders, since Covid. There were plenty of vendors, events and flea marketeers. The convention focus was the American War for Independence. As this is the 250 anniversary, that makes sense. Overall, I felt the aesthetic quality of the games was very good. There were a couple of duds, but overall many very nice tables and miniatures. I did not see the show super game this year, but everything else had so much eye candy, I could not help but spend time just walking the halls and admiring the games.
There were plenty of painting classes at Hobby University and these were very popular. I thought about attending a couple, but they were all booked up. There were plenty of speakers at the War Collage and I attended three of these sessions. I cannot remember so many presenters, in the past.
The flea market was in the main tournament room again. Still a little too tight for my taste. Us warmers tend to be on the rotund side and add a few backpacks and it turns into a bit of a mad house. My strategy was to wait an hour for the crowd to dwindle a bit and do my thing. I guess I may have missed out on some deals, but all my buying is more on the opportunistic side anyway. I came away with a number of small purchases. The selection was excellent and there was much for most gamers. My only reason for not buying a lot was I already owned so much! I have to keep this blog going!
The vendor room was full. Battlefront was still not in attendance, but this is their current strategy. I think this hurts their tourney scene, but there are plenty of other games to fill in the slack. I managed to leave with a number of bags full of stuff, before the weekend was done!
I stayed at another hotel on the edge of town, so hard to park every morning. The convention gave parking coupons, but these did not cover the entire cost. They also gave me the wrong certificate on day and did not have the right one another. So, they still need to do some work on this front.
As I said, it was great to go. I ran into a lot of old gamer buddies that have since mored to other areas, so it was a great place to connect and talk of the “old days”. The venue is great, with plenty of places to eat within walking distance (if you do not want the convention food). I am looking forward to getting back into the convention swing and attending Fall in in November!
- Manteuffel