MAYHEM CONVENTION: PART THE FIRST

Friday at the registration desk: things just getting under way.

Having gotten back and recouped from Mayhem 2024, it's time to do some posting on the convention. The short version is that I had a grand time, visited with fellow club mates, met and mingled with other gamers, and ran three games, the high point of which was interacting with the splendid gamers involved.  Unfortunately, I did not shoot lots and lots of pictures given my heavy involvement in my own games. Running one on Friday night and then setting up late into the evening to get the second one running at 8 a.m. the next day left me a bit strung out--so before my Saturday evening game, I did take a break. However, I did, indeed, capture some images, and I have things to report (fear not).  In this post, I'll recap the general convention and report on the activities of my fellow club mates. Collectively, I believe our club ran something like 10 games during the convention: not a bad showing, I think. For lots and lots of pictures, I would recommend that you follow this link to fellow club mate AJ's posting on our public facebook page. 

Things just getting going during the Friday afternoon game session. 

The much busier scene on Saturday afternoon.

Fellow club members at Mayhem.

Phil ran a Brother v Brother French and Indian War game, Battle on Snowshoes.

Richard (aka, Dr Dick) ran Bavaria Ablaze with a game system of his own design using 6mm figs to represent large scale Napoleonic actions. He's been running these games at both regional and major conventions for some time, and they've been well received. 
 

Michael B (bearded fellow holding up fingers), ran his large scale age of sail pirate game, another home grown system--very popular within the club and also with convention goers: the game was full. 

AJ ran another of his innovative American War of Independence Electronic Brigadier games, the Battle of Mill Creek. This game filled up in advance and had a waiting list. He is moving ahead with making his system public, so watch for more information on that as it develops. 

Robert (seated at the end of the table facing the camera) ran three linked games of Marengo using a home brew Napoleonic system that has (once again) been  convention tested and run for our club. 

Mark D ran a Pikeman's Lament game set in the English Civil War, Ambush at Black Rock Cross. This game was also full with a waiting list (I was able to benefit from that fact since I had a no-show at my jousting game on the other side of the room and one of Mark's stand-byes filled the seat). 

I ran three games, which will be the subject of another post...

The Battle of Lutzen (Pike and Shot) using my Baroque Battles system (Friday night); Clash of Eagles using Bloody Big Battles with Kriegspiel Blocks (Saturday morning); and wrapping up with Joust for the Fun of It Saturday evening. 

Part of our crew taking a break at lunch on Saturday: AJ (taking picture), and right to left, your humble correspondent, Mark D (waving), and Byron (who had come up for the day); Dr D and Robert had just departed for the afternoon's gaming session.

It was, in short, a splendid (tiring) time.  Before I depart this post, however, I would like to make a connection to an earlier post. For those who may have been following along here for an extended time, you may recall my philosophical post of November 15, 2017, Of Playing With Toy Soldiers...

...which arrived at its point by concluding with the above image.  Well, it's been several years since then, and with time, there are a few less friends with us than there were then, and our crew at these conventions isn't what it used to be, but nevertheless, I saw a picture taken by the inimitable Mike Paine (below) that reminded me of the point of the previous post. Mike is a fixture at conventions here in the Northeast... 

...who runs these incredible "Hanghai" Pulp Chinese games...

...that are kid friendly. The more you look, the more you see,... 

...and his tables fire the imaginations of both adults and children. The enraptured expression of this little girl captures, I think, who we still all are, deep down, when we step up to play at toy soldiers--even after all these years.  

Exceslior!