What Gaming Conventions in US are Oldhammer compatible

[Blue in vt]

Howdy all,

After seeing the huge success that the "Bring out your Lead" was I have started to think about how to have an Oldhammer event on this side of the pond.  I've been contacted by a couple of other interested parties from the FB group (who would have guessed that FB would be so useful... :: ) so there is a bit of momentum for such an "event"

Now considering the more widespread nature of the Oldhammerers over here I don't think it makes sense to try and organize an Oldhammer only event like the one that just happened in Nottingham....but I think we should be looking for a larger Con to run a demo game at.  Now I have never been to a gaming convention of any sort...so I'm really going into this with no preconceived notion of where to start.

So that brings me to my question...are any of you familiar with Gaming conventions in the US or North America that would be suitable to host an Oldhammer "event"? 

A quick look around the web suggests that GenCon in Indianapolis might be a good place....but it is really an RPG event.  Historicon in Virginia is really more of a historical gaming event (as implied by the name... )  what are some of the other options?

Any help is great appreciated.

Cheers,

Blue

[Tom Reed]

Can you give a description of an OldHammer event?

[Blue in vt]

Haha...I suppose that would be helpful...Oldhammer is a relatively new "movement" among us aging fantasy gamers.  It has its roots in the Early editions of Warhammer fantasy battle (1st-3rd)....a time when the game focused on an open narrative gaming environment....not the Tournament focused nonsense that WFB has become in later editions.

Basically I'm thinking of having a table at an event on which several of us enthusiasts are playing through a narrative battle for visitors to observe and get a flavor of what WFB used (should?) be like...perhaps we have a few units that people can pick up and add to the game?

So basically I'm looking for an Con that is accepting to Fantasy tabletop gaming....that is a little out of the "norm"

I hope that helps.

Cheers,

Blue

[Chico]

Gah the Oldhammer ''movement'' sounds terrible.. I'm sure it'll die out soon enough so everyone get get back to good old fashioned ''Power gaming'' heh

[Blue in vt]

You shut up you!  You had your chance to attend the real thing!!   

Let this yank dream!

Cheers,

Blue

[Tom Reed]

Hmm, ok, well there is Adepticon, which might fit your bill. And really, GenCon does have some miniature gaming. There is DragonCon in Atlanta. Little Wars in Chicago. Winter War in Champaign, IL.

[workerBee]

Die Con in Collinsville, IL.

Edit - they will play anything.

Gracias,

Glenn

[Old Coast]

Hi Blue

Having been to Adepticon going on 8 years now and running an event there, I can tell you clearly that's NOT the place for "oldhammer"
table space has become a behind the scenes brokered affair, often based on how much prize support you can donate, while that is not always
the case, it certainly true for the bigger names. there isnt much free gaming space at all anymore , its gotten so big since it became a "miniatures" convention
as opposed to a "GW Miniatures Convention" that it is outgrowing  a "Hotel" as the venue. despite the size limitations its all the better for it, although it is still one of the last bastions of huge current GW events , and in WFB's case its hosted the largest tournament in the US the last several years running with 175ish players. If you're in the midwest Oldhammer would be great at Little Wars, or Rock Con I've been to Little Wars it is very laid back with tons of variety, I hear great things about Rock Con.. can't help you on the East Coast..not my neighborhood..

[SBRPearce]

Does Origins (Columbus, OH) have much miniature gaming? I'm almost ashamed to admit that, despite being less than 200 miles away, I've never made the trip down for that show...

[aggro84]

It's starting to look like you need to move Blue.
 

[Lordblackwing]

Dragon*Con is a possibility, but will require buying into the con either for the weekend or the day in addition to any game related fees. Tickets for the day vary, but are around $50. Also be prepared for big crowds, as it now occupies 5 of the largest downtown hotels. If you decide to do it, I would be happy to assist as boot on the ground for you.

[Spooktalker]

If I can muster the energy I might do something at Kublacon some time in the future though I'm more likely to get around to an OSR dungeon crawl first. I would certainly participate and try to rally some support if someone else was to run Oldhammer.

Kublacon and the other American cons I've been to have a more or less broken system for setting up games. It's easy to run a game, you just need to sign up early, but getting the right people in your game, or getting into another game while bringing the right people along with you, is next to impossible. You have a random assortment of people win the slots and they won't have any figures with them, you'll have to provide everything.

Also, there is little or no discussion on the web outside the con itself. A buddy of mine and I played Necromunda there year after year and I can't tell you how many people would come by and say, wow, I love that game and have a gang tucked away somewhere. And we'd say, great, bring it next year. And next year we'd be playing Necromunda again and those same people would walk by... until we wound up pretty cynical about it. There's got to be some way to muster and keep the enthusiasm going amongst a group of people in the months leading up to the game.

The vision I have is a system where slots in my game are merit based and arranged ahead of time, so that someone coming from out of state knows what they will be getting into before they buy the plane ticket and the group can get excited and post pictures of what's being painted for the event and what not. You know, like it's done in the UK. Our system is just bust.

[number9]

It isn't terribly big, but The Warstore Weekend, http://thewarstoreweekend.com/ would likely be open to the idea and should have table space. I ran a big zombie game there of my own devising at their first con and found the organizers very accommodating to my needs. Since the Warstore is a big retailer of a wide variety of figures and systems they are pretty open to just about any type of volunteer game in their demo hall (or at least they were.) November is pretty near so I don't know if there is still time to sign up events or gather interest, but it could be a possibility for next year also. I can't speak for the number of oldhammer folks in the immediate area, but with millions of people within a quick day trip, you might find a fair number of participants or gawkers, especially if the tables and figures are nicely done.

[Abbner Home]

I went to GenCon this year to see some old rpg friends and I was surprised, and very pleasantly so, by the number and quality of mini events. I think your old hammer movement would be quite welcome there.

[Conquistador]

<snip>

The vision I have is a system where slots in my game are merit based and arranged ahead of time, so that someone coming from out of state knows what they will be getting into before they buy the plane ticket and the group can get excited and post pictures of what's being painted for the event and what not. You know, like it's done in the UK. Our system is just bust.

Not to sound cynical but who determines who has "merit" to participate?

Also, it depends, I have seen games at local cons where the playing slots are filled before the game is listed in a PEL because it involves a battle being fought out as part of a campaign (and all the campaign players show) or discussion within a group builds enthusiasm and there are already players involved in the planning process that (perhaps rightfully) expect to be in the game.  Not often but it has happened. 

The UK system apparently works well there, that doesn't mean it will translate here as successfully.   

If I am out of town at a con the only figures I take are the ones for the games I run.  Between differences in TO&E for differing rules, house rules, scales, etc., I would hesitate to bring my own figures out of town because of the potential of theft (although the biggest loss in figures I ever had involved a local con and (whatever the cause which I will never know for sure) it happened while transporting game "A" figures to the car and game "B" figures to the table.  I discovered the missing figures and terrain the morning after the con.  I was not allowed to search the game site afterwards by Park Personnel who were "sure" anything left would have been trashed as standard practice and procedure.

just my dos centavos.

You think you have a "fix" for the "broken" system most cons use?  Fine, run a game that way and see how well it succeeds.  I would love to be happily surprised by such an effort.

Gracias,

Glenn