The Wargamer

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year…

Ah, fireworks in the sky, a cool beverage in one hand, some dice in the other; it must be convention season. The Fourth of July heralds not only the Birth of America, but also the start of the major gaming conventions. Smaller cons abound all year round, but the two granddaddies—Origins and GenCon—are summer sports.

This year’s Origins kicked off the day after the Fourth and it seemed appropriate to celebrate our freedom by indulging in the right to pursue happiness. And happiness for me is gaming.

For those unfamiliar with the con, Origins breaks its activities down into seven categories: Special Events, Seminars, Collectable Card Games, Live Action Roleplaying, Miniatures, Roleplaying, and Tabletop Games.

Special Events include a variety of activities that include independent film screenings, art exhibitions, awards ceremonies, and special gaming events. The seminars have a wide range of interesting topics which range from the Origins War College, which covers all manner of battle simulations and international affairs, to lectures on how to design a game, to how to write a book to how to build your own chainmail.

Collectable Card Games have events organized by the major CCG publishers: Pokemon, Magic: The Gathering, WizKids’ new Star Wars Pocketmodel game, AEG’s L5R The Spider’s Shadow are a few among many others. Live Action Roleplaying speaks for itself: gamers act out roles in person rather than using character sheets and miniatures. Miniatures gaming has a number of organized events including Flames of War, Wizards’ full line of miniatures games (Axis & Allies, Dungeons & Dragons, Star Wars, and Dreamblade). Mongoose Publishing has its new Battlefield Evolution modern miniatures game here. These pre-painted minis look first-class and are cheap enough that gamers can get into the game without spending hundreds of dollars.

The Roleplaying events cover a surprisingly wide array of pen & paper RPG games. D20 games and Dungeons & Dragons games specifically are in abundance, but so are game systems from other publishers. Call of Cthulhu has a lot of representation. One new RPG which has just been launched is Witch Hunter. Publishers Paradigm Concepts (the same folks who run the Battle Interactive wargame/D&D hybrid game) now have a late 17th Century alternative history game where the Aztecs defeated Cortez and retain their empire, pilgrim-like players dabble in ancient magics, women hold equality in society with men, and truly evil witches and monsters roam the land.

Tabletop Games round out the last category of events at Origins and there are far too many to provide a complete list. Battlestations, Car Wars, Killer Bunnies, Ticket to Ride, Ninja Burger, and Settlers of Catan are just a few of many games available.

I spent a good deal of the morning catching up with old friends and scouting out new games and things I hadn’t seen before. I had signed up for a game of Dungeons & Dragons for the afternoon, but it was cancelled at the last minute. There are tons of games at the con; the problem is finding an open slot or getting a last-minute game together with guys who didn’t register for them until the last minute (like me). I’ve got some other games that I’ve signed up for and I’ve made some friends with folks so that I’ll get a chance to check out a couple of newer games over the course of the con. I always enjoy these events and the only thing I’m lacking is my family. I’m hoping next year I can convince my entire family to attend.

And now for some pictures taken from Day 1. There weren’t many folks here in costumes yet—they typically arrive for the weekend.

About the Author

Jim Zabek started playing D&D in high school when a group broke off of the Chess Club seeking more interesting gaming material. Already an avid wargamer, having bought his first Avalon Hill wargame at age 10, D&D provided an alternative form of entertainment from the hexes and counters he was accustomed to. Though he briefly played the original version of D&D, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons was released not long after as he started playing with a group, and that was the version that he played until chasing girls became his primary hobby. Fast forward a couple of decades and he started playing version 3.5 at the invitation of a fellow wargamer, failed his Will save and now buys almost anything with the Wizards of the Coast logo without checking for price or content, including D&D, D&D Minis, Star Wars Minis, Axis & Allies Minis, and then there are those new Star Wars Space Battles Minis…