Historicon 2013 Day one

Greetings Wargamers,

I will type this recap as I upload 172 pictures to Photobucket. Stressing out the Hotels network!

It's the end of the first day of Historicon. Or if you are checking the time stamp, 37 minutes into the 2nd day. A very long day. Actually our trip started Tuesday as we came down early to tour some Civil War battlefields prior to the convention.

We hit Manassas on the way to Historicon. Got there after 1pm and spent maybe 2 hours looking around the First Manassas Battle on Henry Hill. We watched the lighted map program of the battle which clearly lays out the course of events, and took the free guided walking tour. Our tour was cut a little short as it seemed the Earth was moved about 37 million miles closer to the sun. We picked 2 of the hottest days of the summer to walk around battlefields.

On Wednesday we went to the Chancellorsville Battlefield. A great thing about this battlefield, LOTS of trees. It's located just a few miles outside of Fredericksburg. We went to the Visitor Center to get info on the battle and taped to the door, "Closed Wednesdays" @#$$ $$#@ &*&^!@#. Ok now that is off my chest, we hop back in the car and go back to Fredericksburg to Barnes and Noble and get a driving Guide book for the battle.

A bit of a pain, but in the end well worth it. Figuring out the 1st day engagements and then driving Jackson's actual flank march route is pretty cool. I think we as wargamers tend to discount the effect terrain has on battles. Bull Run is not a little stream to cross. The woods in this section of Virginia are no joke. So Jackson had to follow small tracks and back roads to flank the Union. We enjoyed it immensely.

On to Historicon! First day had a battle of Dystopian Wars in the morning. My Brits drove off the French, but at a cost. Lots of things get destroyed during the game. Fun game but I don't think I'll dive in. At 12noon the doors to best wargaming shopping in America opened. It was not long before I started spending money. Not as much as I thought I would, or I have in the past. My unpainted pile is too great, and I'm really trying hard to be disciplined  about my shopping.

I picked up the new Ronin rules from Osprey. When I get home we will bust out some Clan War figs and have at it. I had a 2pm game but completely forgot about it in the shopping rush. No biggie. I made a great score in the flea market. I picked up some rare/oop LOTR figures beautifully painted for less than the cost new or current prices. He had so much he couldn't get it on the table or unwrapped fast enough. I dropped maybe $150 there. I didn't mean too, but some of this stuff I've been looking for for months on ebay.

36 minutes elapsed and 30 pics uploaded. I will need to sleep soon and finish post in the morning.

After the flea market a quick late lunch and back outside to cross what felt like the surface of the sun to get to the car/oven. Holy Cow is it hot. Here's a tip, near the hotel, is a Sheetz, gas and convenience store. Go inside and they have a beer room, It's essentially a walk in freezer. Shear heaven on a day like today. And it's stocked with BEER!

Back to the hotel at 6 to set up our Ancients battle Ipsos, which I forgot to take pictures of. 172 pictures and not one of our game we ran. Hmmmm.

Anyway Good night. I will finish the post in the morning when the pictures finish uploading.

Ok it's now 8AM and I am up, bleary eyed but up. All 172 pics uploaded. It was too late to sort thru the pics and delete the really crappy ones, I apologize. Also I tried to take pics of a given table all at the same time, but occassionally something caught my eye and I went back and took pictures out of order. If the GM's had a rulebook out or some sort of sign, I snap a picture of that as well. Other than that, I snap the pics and move on.

Enjoy, Xin

Slideshow:
http://s158.photobucket.com/user/Xintao/slideshow/Historicon%202013%20Day%201