Game Faire, for the vast majority of you that don’t know, is a small gaming convention that has been taking place in Spokane, WA, since 1979. This convention is run by the staff of Merlyn’s, the best game store in Spokane, and one of the nicest around anywhere. One of the neat things about Game Faire is that it is a fund raiser for local charities. All proceeds from the con go to charity (Habitat for Humanity this year).

The events at Game Faire cover the entire spectrum of gaming. There are board games, RPGs, card games (collective and non-collectible), sci-fi and fantasy miniatures, Warhammer and Battletech tournaments, and even some historical events. This year, I was pleased to see a much larger selection of historical miniatures events. There were several skirmish games, including a Battleground WW2 scenario that lasted all day Saturday. Age of sail naval games are always popular at Game Faire, and there was a large Fire & Fury game, so big that it was run on the floor instead of on tables.

My involvement in Game Faire 2001 was unfortunately pretty minimal. I have missed only 3 of the 23 Game Faires, and I usually run several games at each one. But this year I could not make it on Sunday due to family commitments, so I just showed up to play games and have fun.

On Friday, the gaming is usually pretty light, so we (myself, my nephew James, and two of my sons) started off with a Game Faire staple that we had never played before - Clay-O-Rama! Clay-O-Rama is a simple game where each player (the more the better) is given a can of Play-Doh. The player then has 15 minutes to sculpt some sort of fighting creature. The imagination is the only limit for your monster. The abilities of the critter are based on how you sculpt it. Lots of legs - faster movement. Spikes - more dice to roll for combat. Some of the Play-Doh can be used as missile weapons that can be thrown at your opposition. The amount of damage your creature can absorb is based on the weight of your ‘sculpture’, minus the missiles. Absolutely unhistorical, I know, but this game is a hoot! Everybody was having fun at this table.

After Clay-O-Rama, we were looking around for another game to get into, when disaster struck. A large electrical storm blew into town, and out went the lights. We sat in the dark for about 30 minutes, when the campus authorities decided that it was time to close down and try again tomorrow. Definitely not the optimal way to close out a day of gaming!

Saturday was a wonderful day in Spokane, and the gaming was good also. James and I got into a modern skirmish scenario, using modified Battleground rules and 20mm figures. This game, run by Jake Bledsoe, involved a US commando squad that had been ambushed in some nondescript village in a desert area. A rescue team, composed of a platoon of Australian troops, was coming to the rescue, but had to fight through the local ‘Arab’ bad guys. I was the US ‘bait’ squad, while James took command of some of the Arabs. If ever there was a game that displayed my bad luck, this was it. I just could not do anything right. I set up in two buildings in the village, one of which had a huge set of doors for an entrance, while the other had no windows towards the axis of advance that the Arabs were using. Bad, very bad. While the Arabs were squeezing me like a lemon, the Aussies were ambushed outside the village by Arab reinforcements. My sniper, observing a target with a RPG lining up a shot on an Aussie APC, took aim, slowly squeezed on the trigger and watched the RPG gunner shoot and hit the APC. (Translation - my sniper took deliberate aim at the grenadier in order to make sure of a hit. The card for the RPG’s squad came up before the sniper’s card, and he brewed up the APC.) Bad, bad, bad. The Arabs were eventually dealt with, and an evacuation helicopter came in for the Americans, but we had taken far too many casualties. Despite my lack of tactical ability and a definite streak of bad luck, it was fun. Thanks, Jake!

Saturday night was the time for Game Faire’s game auction. Hundreds of items were offered up for sale. I actually like to watch auctions at game cons. It is neat to see what people will pay for a beat-up copy of a D&D book. There were not many historical items in Game Faire’s auction this year, but that was OK, because my wallet was pretty light (my son Jared’s appetite took care of any spare money I had). If I remember correctly, every single item, even the most scruffy, was sold, which is a first for any gaming auction that I have attended.

Overall, Game Faire was a good little con this year. Next year, however, I will definitely try to bring some of my stuff and run some games. Game Faire is held on the last week-end of April yearly. For more info, please go to www.gorillabobs.com or contact Merlyn’s at (509) 624-0957.