Two words describe my state of mind at the end of Tricon '96 -- exhilarated and exhausted! Sanctioned by the national Seven Years War Association, Tricon ended up being just about everything any of the organizers had hoped it would be.

Although the doors of the Masonic Temple in Concord, Mass., officially opened at 7 a.m. Saturday, November 2nd, we got a hint of what was to come during set-up on Friday night. As two early-arriving vendors laid out their wares, several Tricon '96 registrants--including Steve Carpenter, founder of Minifigs, and a few of his friends from New York State showed up to check things out. Their desire to scout the con was typical of the enthusiasm expressed by participants throughout the weekend.

Saturday's events kicked off at 8 a.m. with two lively games Earl Richard's 25mm Bloody Tomahawks, using Bob's Bloody Rules, and Greg Symko's beautifully appointed l5mm Zordorf featuring the fast-play Volley and Bayonet rules. At 9 a.m., five more games started, including Castiglione, an early Napoleonic battle run by William Keyser, author of the Valmy to Waterloo rules set; John Costea's Clive, featuring elephants, fanatics, rockets and more surprising developments than you could shake a mahout at; and Festung Krieg, a six-hour 18th century siege game exquisitely modeled -- complete with destroyed fortress sections and zigzag siege trenches -- by Jim Dirmaier.

The most telling comment of the day came from guest lecturer Brent Nosworthy, who said, "I arrived at 9 am. expecting to find a few sleepy people and discovered a crowd!"

The day continued at that pace, with about 100 gamers, staff, vendors and onlookers playing in or watching more than 30 games. The entire 18th century was embraced, from Great Northern War games hosted by Rich Masse, Dan Schorr and Bruce Weeks, to naval actions off India and North America (thanks to Tom Ballou, Rodney Fernald, Phillip Spera and Andy Zartolis), and the early Napoleonic battles of Rivoli, Arcole and the previously-mentioned Castiglione, run by William Keyser and Peter Landry. As one vendor observed, "Every table was busy for most of the day."

Lectures

Tricon's selection of one-hour lectures seemed to provide a welcome break in the garning action, as did the continuously playing 18th century military videos ranging from Culloden to home video of Prof. Christopher Duffy's 1994 Seven Years War battlefield tour in Europe (thanks to Association member Ken Bunger for making it available to us).

Most popular among the lectures was Brent Nosworthy's talk on Frederick the Great's influence on tactical doctrine. In a comprehensive one-hour overview, the author of Anatomy of Victory and With Musket, Cannon and Sword, traced the evolution of Frederick's tactics during the Seven Years War and their influence on Napoleon, and through him 19th century warfare.

Robert Mulligan presented a fascinating, detailed description of a successful assault by British colonials on France's Fort Frontenac during the French and Indian War, and Mark Mocarski, author of the Broadsword and Bayonet Jacobite rules set, reviewed the organization, tactics and campaigns of the Jacobite army of the 1745 rebellion.

Vendors

Five vendors attended Tricon, including terrain manufacturer TCS, Clash of Arms Games, Dayton Painting Consortium, manufacturer of RSM and Musket Miniatures, John Durant Bookseller and John McGrath, a figure painter from R.I. All of them seemed satisfled with their sales and expressed interest in returning in 1997.

Thanks to the generosity of a number of vendors, table prizes were awarded at every garne. Also, prizes were given to gamemasters in recognition of outstanding effort. The Pour le Merite Award ($50 Guernsey Foundry certificate) for the best presented game of the convention went to Ralph Gero for his 15mm SYW Battle of Bergen game. Besides meticulously painted figures and impressive terrain, Ralph took the innovative step of setting small table tents near terrain features with desktop-printed descriptions of their affect on movement, combat and etc. Well done!

Second place ($30 Dayton Painting Consortium certificate) went to Tom Dirmaier's previously mentioned Festung Krieg siege game. Three honorable mentions ($10 Guernsey Foundry certificates) were presented as well. One to Mark Nichipor for his unique and very nicely put together A Short Walk With Old Tony scenario in which Wayne's Legion took on Indians, Tories and other assorted brigands while trying to move supplies through the wilderness. Another to Fred Hubig, who traveled from Washington, D.C., to put on The Golden Sun of Kolin, a mammoth, old fashioned grand tactical 25mm game that sprawled over a 6'x16' table. Finally, an honorable mention was presented to Allan Wright for his AWI Battle of King's Bridge, in which A.J.'s beautiful 25mm figures were complemented by truly inspired terrain pieces created by James Gibbons.

Tour of Lexington/Concord Battlefield

On Sunday morning, 38 hearty souls gathered in a bracing wind at the Old North Bridge parking lot in Concord to begin a truly memorable three-hour tour of the Concord/Lexington AWI battlefield led by park historian Mark Nichipor. Those of us who only know Mark across a gaming table were duely impressed. Imposing (and thin-looking!) in his ranger uniform, Mark held his audience enthralled with insights into the events of April, 1775, and vivid characterizations of the people who lived and fought there.

I don't think many of us will forget the "street firing" exercise at Old North Bridge, or the hike up the bluff near Fiske Hill (I'm still winded) where the British light infantry fought a desperate rear-guard action, or Mark's description of the dead drummer boy lying in the road near Bloody Angles. It was a fitting conclusion to Tricon '96 and an outstanding job by Mark!

In the end, a year's worth of planning, paid off. Unsolicited comments from convention participants were uniformly positive. More than one enthusiastically told us that Tricon '96 was the best convention he had ever attended -- and even if it wasn't true, it was nice to hear. High marks were also earned for the focus of the convention -- one distinct and distinctive period covered completely.

People traveled a long way to attend -- from as far away as Ohio, in fact -- and I think it was because of Tricon's unique character. Also, Tricon '96 attracted a number of people (re-enactors among them) who had either never gamed or had only gamed once or twice before. This points to a rich motherlode of individuals with a well developed interest in military history who can be recruited into the hobby.

Thanks are owed to Tricon '96's sponsors -- The Seven Years War Association, Wee Bee Publishers and North Road Diagnostics -- as well as to members of my local club, The Northern Conspirators, who organized the convention, volunteered to work the floor the day of the con and busted their humps to pull together the figures and terrain for a game. Also, we owe a debt of gratitude to a number of people who helped spread the word about Tricon, including Chris and Gloria von Fahnestock, of Outland Games, and Lt. Col. Wilbur Gray, of HMGS. Above all, I want to express my deep personal thanks to Mr. SYW Association, Jim Purky, without whose early support and continuing commitment Tricon would never have gotten off the ground.

The Tricon convention committee has met to assess the event, and based on the enthusiastic response by gainers, has tentatively scheduled Tricon '97 for the weekend of October 25 this year. As we firm up details, well be communicating them to members of the Seven Years War Association and other interested gainers.

Editor's Note

I would like to give the readers a little bit of background information on how this wonderful convention came about. It started with a correspondence from Byron in which he asked for some assistance and ideas for getting an 18th Century wargame convention off the ground. I provided Byron with a copy of the membership list for the eastern half of the United States as well as $200.00 from the SYWA treasury, as seed money to help cover the up front expenses.

Byron and his committee took it from there and I must say that I was very impressed with the roster of games, lectures and dealers that they had assembled for Tricon '96. The SYWA also donated some back issues for the convention to sell, to raise additional funds. Needless to say, I arn willing to provide similar help to anyone who wants to organize a similar 18th Century-only convention in any other part of the country.

Obviously, Byron's planning and organization paid big dividends in terms of turnout and the quality of games hosted at Tricon '96. It appears that the popularity of the convention will enable it to become an annual event, and I for one, can't wait for next year so that I can fly out to Boston and attend. I have often thought that the SYWA needed a convention in the eastern half of the US as well as a second convention to augment our annual Winter/Spring meeting in the midwest. Byron's results have exceeded my expectations and I encourage everyone to try and attend Tricon '97. Sounds like we have a first rate convention going on in the east from now on.

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