Gen Con 2012 Part 2!

Ok, so with Friday over I'm staring down the barrel of the Master of Malifaux tournament on Saturday.  I'm at the event hall at 9am roughly, and I'm stressing out a little.  I had been asked to help judge Malifaux tournaments for Wyrd at Gen Con, and this was my primary reason for being there.  I had been going over rules, rulings, errata, clarifications, and tactica all summer.  I was definitely prepared.



As it turns out I didn't get anywhere near the amount of rules questions I thought I would.  Many of the players were very experienced, and I found myself with more time to sit and recover in between the occasional rules call and wandering the tables.  It felt kind of satisfying to know that the community is really in touch with the game as well as being good sports.  While wandering I actually saw some cool setups and paintjobs that I want to share.  First up is the model Snowstorm for the Arcanists faction



I really love how the blue turned out very frosty looking.  The white is very well done, with hints of blue for the shadows.



That's the Pig-a-pult, which is as awesome as it sounds.  What caught my eye about this piece is that the main attraction, the pig, is painted in green.  I thought it was an odd choice, but it gave the model some character.  Maybe the painter was inspired by Dr. Seuss' "Green Eggs and Ham."



Last up for Saturday is the Rail Golem.  This model was pre-released at Gen Con and doesn't come out for a few months still.  The painter had rigged up everything the base would need, grabbed the model from the dealer's room on Thursday, painted it up, and even rigged an LED in the chest to give the glowing effect you see.  It was very cool to look at.

Miniatures weren't the only thing dressed to impress.  A pair of Malifaux players decided to cosplay as Ramos and Collette from the Arcanist faction.



From what the gentleman said he actually had more to the costume, but had left it as he had been wearing it for most of the day by the time I took the picture.  Both costumes looked amazing, and it was a real treat to capture them on film.  At this point I was about ready to give in to exhaustion, and once the tournament was over I grabbed food with friends and sought refuge in my hotel room to recover from the day and the night before.

Onto Sunday, the final day.  This is the day where a majority of attendees spend a few hours in the dealers hall looking to get some deals, and then heading home.  I had the finals for Malifaux to judge.  It was an invitation only with spots being given to tournament winners from the previous three days. 



The tournament was about half the size of the others, and again the participants were really capable of handling the rules.  I had a half dozen rules calls if that.  So I spent my time going back and forth between the tables, and after the tournament wrapped up I found myself in the dealers hall picking up some last minute swag.  I also ran into one of the most amazing costumes I've seen.



The costume was of a Malifaux miniature called Collodi who is based off of the tale of Pinocchio.  The hands and face were made of real wood, and the guy behind the mask kept moving his mouth periodically which kept making a wood clacking sound.  Very creepy to hear and see.  It was incredible!  I just had to get a shot of myself with him, and he was happy to oblige.



That was probably the last pic I took at the con.  Following that I gathered up my things and headed for home.  The ride back from Gen Con is always a long one.  All the fun and excitement starts to leak out leaving you with a groggy and satisfied feeling.  It's kinda like that time after Thanksgiving dinner.  I always make sure to drive carefully, and I arrived home safe and sound.  Things were unpacked, swag sorted and piled, and then I sat down to relax and prepare for work the next day.

Gen Con 2012! Part 1

So I've been home about two days so far, and I think I'll be spending the rest of the week recovering.  That being said, it was totally worth it!  I worked the tournament hall for Wyrd Miniatures judging some of their Malifaux tournaments for most of the weekend, but Friday was my big day.  I'm getting ahead of myself though.

It started on Thursday, and I had one hour to explore the dealers hall before I had to be at the event hall to judge the first Malifaux tournament of Gen Con.  I had two big choices on my list.  The first was Wyrd Miniatures cause even though I'd be getting credit I wanted to make sure I could grab the stuff for Malifaux that I was really wanting.  I ended up going with my other option which was to hit up the Paizo booth and get my DVD's of The Gamers: Dorkness Rising, and Journey Quest Season 1 signed by the fine folks over at Zombie Orpheus Entertainment.



I'm a huge fan of Zombie Orpheus Entertainment, and getting a chance to meet them in person was very exciting!  They were all very friendly, and they were all gamers.  What more could one ask for?  How about a group pic?



After that it was a quick trip to the event hall where I began judging tournaments.  I love playing Malifaux, and it's always a pleasure to interact with the community that's been building up around it.  I will say that the tournaments all weekend went by very smoothly with little to no drama, and with everyone working together to keep the rules clear.




So then Friday rolls along.  The big day.  This was my only day off the whole con so I would have to do my shopping and get stuff signed!  I swung by the Paizo booth again to pick up my Kickstarter items for The Mask of Death Kickstarter.  I got a color print version of the module, which was then promptly signed by the guys from Zombie Orpheus Entertainment, as well as the Mound of Dead Bards miniature.  One thing I snagged was the next print book for Schlock Mercenary.  Howard Taylor has been attending Gen Con for several years now, and while I have been a fan of his comic for a long time I hadn't read through the archives (which is a very daunting task).  I started working through the backlog by picking up the print versions at Gen Con, and Howard has always been gracious enough to draw your favorite character in the back of each copy.  Having gotten my fav characters drawn previously I asked for my favorite ship, The Post Dated Check Loan.  Howard has mentioned on occasion that drawing the ship is a bit difficult.  I asked nicely and he was happy to do so.



It was a bit hurried (there were other people waiting), but I was happy.  When I asked him if he minded my showing the picture on my blog his response was, "Yes, the world must know how badly I've drawn this!"



That's one of my favorite pics from the whole convention.

I picked up some stuff from Wyrd, including the latest book for Malifaux.  My miniatures addiction knows no bounds! 

The real thing I've been waiting for was The Gamers Live.  I had picked up a front row seat, and was very excited to be so up close I could make out facial expressions.  While I was a bit to the side of the stage (I had gotten there with only a few seconds to spare), I still managed to get some good shots.




There was even some audience participation.



Following that was filming for the next Gamers movie, The Hand of Fate.  They managed to successfully film eight minutes of footage in an hour!  There may even be a shot of me in the audience somewhere.  There's a kickstarter going on to help fund the movie right now, and if you liked the original Gamers movies I highly recommend helping out!

My Friday has been an incredible ride by this point, and the exhaustion is starting to peak it's way through the high.  However there was one more thing to do before I could call it a day.  I was already leaning towards going to the after party following The Gamers Live, but a friend's urging helped to ensure I went.  I owe him for that.



That's me with writer and producer Matt Vancil.  I had already seen him a number of times, and talked with him as well.  He was getting to know me by sight at this point, but he wasn't the only one I got a picture of myself with:

Trin Miller


Jen Page


Ben Dobyns


Steven Wolbrecht


Connor Marx


 It was an incredible honor, and really amazing to just hang out and chat with all of them.  True gamers each and every one!

I still have more to talk about, but for now I'll leave you with the pic of swag I grabbed from the con

Gen Con Friday Teaser

So after wrangling real life job stuff I ended up spending most of the day uploading and editing photos.  I had some issues getting my Friday photos up on imgur, and didn't get them uploaded and edited until later on in the evening.  So here's a few teaser pics from Friday.

First up is me together with Matt Vancil at the after party following The Gamers Live.



I had a great time both at the after party as well as The Gamers Live.  There was a real thrill seeing my favorite actors performing in person, and then getting to meet them afterwards was icing on the cake!

Here's a pic I took during The Gamers Live



The portion of the show that was the actual "Live," part involved an impromptu gaming session where Nathan Rice (playing the part of Kevin Lodge) would take audience input on what to do for his game session.  That was how the macguffin item ended up being a vorpal blender of Mordor.  Kitchen wares is serious business.

Last for tonight is a slightly blurry photo from the after party with a lot of the cast and crew from Zombie Orpheus Entertainment celebrating the fact that they got 8 minutes of film shot in one hour (which is quite an accomplishment).  More on that after I've had a chance to sleep.

Surviving Gen Con

So my plans to make posts this past week hasn't turned out as I hoped.  Today I got to finish up the Malifaux tourneys, collect my swag, and stagger home exhausted.  I have a couple hundred pictures to go through, upload, and edit, so I'm going to hold off till tomorrow when I can sit down and go through it all in one go.

Short version: I got to hang out and party with the crew for Zombie Orpheus Entertainment after The Gamers Live, bought swag (oh did I buy swag), judged tournaments, and made new friends.  Good times.

Gen Con 2012 Thursday

So it's a bit obvious by now that I didn't quite finish that last squad of Frazi Heavy Fighters.  As it turns out things have been pretty busy since Tuesday morning!  I've done running around, visiting friends (one of whom is only in town for a few days before going away to another state for a year), packing, travelling, meeting, and greeting.  Then Thursday began.

I haven't been sleeping well the past few nights due to a combination of nerves and excitement.  In spite of this I was still outside the dealers hall 45 minutes before it opened.  Why was I there?  Because I wanted to meet the cast of The Gamers: Dorkness Rising, and Journey Quest.  Besides having some DVD's I wanted signed I've been looking forward to meeting the cast of these favorite series since I first watched them.  I think they were ok with meeting me.



Going to do a quick roll call here.  First up is Matt Vancil, writer and director of The Gamers: Dorkness Rising, Journey Quest, and many others.  He has been patiently putting up with my messages since I started donating to the Journey Quest Season 2 Kickstarter.



Up next is Jen Page, the beautiful and darling actress who plays the female half of the character Luster from Dorkness Rising.



The other half of Luster, as well as the star of Journey Quest, is Christian Doyle.



It was really odd being surrounded by the actors, and hearing them talk normally.  It felt like being in the movie while still in real life.  There was definitely a lot of enthusiasm from the cast along with plenty of excitement at being at Gen Con.

Continuing the roll we have Brian Lewis Carrol, who portrays the infamous Cass (Scourge of GM's) in Dorkness Rising, and the sagely Carrow in Journey Quest..



Brian is a very humble actor who has a great ability to portray multiple styles in different roles.  As you can tell from the picture he was quite astounded by all the attention from his fans.

 Not to be forgotten is Scott C. Brown, who has the distinction of playing Flynn the Fine, irresistible Bard extraordinaire!  Scott was having a great time even before he got to the booth!



Also at the booth was Nathan Rice, actor for the role of Kevin Lodge in Dorkness Rising, and Roderick the Gargoyle from Journey Quest.



Just looking at the faces you can see how much fun they were all having.  They were really getting into it, and since they're at Gen Con to film parts for the next Gamers movie there seems to be an extra spark of excitement in the air.

I couldn't forget to include Steve Wolbrecht, the composer for Dorkness Rising (as well as portraying Nodwick the Henchman).

 

That was only the first part of my morning!  I only had a little bit of time before I had to report to the miniatures/ccg event hall to help get things ready for the first Malifaux tournament of the convention.  I'm here with Wyrd Miniatures, and a lot of my time will be spent judging their big tournaments.  The first tournament to kick off the convention (for Malifaux anyways) was a story encounter called "The First Into The Breech."



Lots of fun was had by the attendees, and we had enough players show up on time to fill up all but a few tables!  I don't have too many more pictures except these.  I saw this display near the Wizards of the Coast area in the tournament hall and had to snap a shot.



During the downtime between adjudicating the rules I was tasked with assembling some scenery for a tournament to occur on Friday.



I was exhausted and hungry by the time I was done such that I started saying to all who showed an interest, "I Speak for the trees!"  It definitely got some good laughs.  Once I was done helping out I got some food and came back to the room to rest and recuperate.  Tomorrow I'll have a free day to wander the dealer room, as well as attending The Gamers Live.