I had the opportunity with a few things lining up this summer to be able to go the USA and spend some time at Historicon in Lancaster Pennsylvania. I was able to meet up with some of the painting challenge guys and other FB forum paint and chat friends face to face which was great .
In addition we tagged on travelling to Gettysburg , Antietam/Sharpsburg , Manasses and into Washington DC with a visit to the USMC Museum (just wow) and the Smithsonian Air Museum at Dulles (brilliant) - more about that in the next posts.
A brilliant time was had - so here are few of the highlights of Historicon . - I may be back !
First the social catch up was excellent - with meeting with various on line friends , Bob F , DennisC , Jim and Miles, - that for me is what our hobby is about .
Bob and I at a Congo game -,we may have led each other astray in the vendor area 😂😂 , buying more Vietnam stuff . Mine is now painted (watch this space ) - just saying Bob!
I helped Bob with his dice rolling , after his opening effort - inspired by Ray Roussell no doubt
Miles at his Pelilieu game -,with those sneaky Japs giving the Marines a hiding
A catch up with Jim Perky - aka Der Alte Fritz , waiting to play with his amazing 54mm Sudan game
And catching a beer with Dennis “Matt Varnish” Campbell - Scott Roach was too busy glued to his stall in Wallies Basement selling off his stash to join us for an early beer !
For the Non Historicon people , it’s a 4 day convention with all participation games across multiple halls . For the UK people it’s a bit like Hammerhead on steroids, the main difference is that it’s mostly a book your game in advance arrangement and a bit pot luck if you just turn up .
The vendor area wasn’t massive , but it had lots of different stuff - I could have filled a suitcase with interesting terrain items . I picked up various bits and bobs which will make their way onto the blog in due course .
Stash !
40mm ACW - who knows where this may end up
First game was Jim’s Sudan - a recreation of Abu Klea - I picked up the Naval Brigade .it was a close run thing!
3 x 30 foot tables to play across - epic
My Gatling didn’t jam!
Jim ran a further assault on Khartoum on the next day
1500 plus 54mm figures altogether - a sight to behold !
There were a range of game systems , and standards of tables across the time I was there - but it was obvious people were having fun - that’s what it’s about . The tables put on
by the Lardies groups were excellent as were a number of the ACW ones too . Here are just a selection for you Next up - ACW Battlefields
Brilliant post Dave. As you know I’ve been living vicariously through you for years so I’m so pleased to see how great a time you had. I’ll have to get your itinerary off you as it looked absolutely perfect.
ReplyDeleteMany many thanks for taking the time to post all the pics for this, Dave. Very much appreciated my end. Loved the Khartoum pics in particular. Just epic stuff, and I'd love to have enough figures to play out such a grand-scale encounter. Ran out of coffee half-way the rest of the pics, so I'll catch up with them later. But I was intrigued by your 40mm ACW purchase. They look very nice from the baggy pics. :-)
ReplyDeleteUh oh! You should know by know Dave, Don't throw a 1!
ReplyDeleteVery jealous of your adventures across the pond. You are a very lucky chap, apart from that 1 of course.