It was my pleasure to attend the recent West Point Adventure Gaming Convention, Point Con VIII. The Convention was hosted and organized by the President and V.P. of the West Point Club, Cadets John Serdu and Kenneth Reed. As a director of HMGS I was fortunate to be invited, along with the various dealers and game designers, to the pre-convention activities on Friday, March 29.
Included was a guided tour of the Post, ably conducted by Cadet Reed. We saw tons of guns, especially from the Mexican War, chain links from the West Point Boom, some nice statues and impressive paintings. One of the most interesting curiosities is the upper half of the Post's flagpole, which is part of the mast from the battleship Maine. It seems some army engineers thought it would be great fun to one-up the Navy and since they got to Havana first... Well, there you have it, inter-service rivalry ala 1898. The most impressive part of the tour was the West Point Museum, in Thayer Hall. The dioramas are excellent, especially that portraying a Roman assault on a fortified city. Also for the Historical Miniaturist is a display of 1500 54mm pre WWII Minot Napoleonics, including Napoleon, his Marshals and many of the better known generals. Cadet Reed informed me the figures on display are only a fraction of a large collection of Minots donated to the Academy and rotated on a regular basis. Those interested in military history could easily spend a day touring only the museum.
On Friday evening the invited guests attended a formal dinner hosted by the game club and their advisors. Following the dinner, LtCol Dillard, of the Military History Dept., gave an enlightening talk on fire power and its effects on battlefield tactics. Not to be outdone Lou Zocci of Gamescience regaled the assembled with a mercifully short rendition of the Theme from Exodus on the saw... YES THE SAW!
The convention was held in Eisenhower Hall, West Point's equivalent of a Student Union. Overlooking the Hudson, the view and the surroundings were excellent. Total attendance appeared to be between three and four hundred. There were approximately fifteen dealers and manufacturers present, including Mikes Models, RAFM and Enola Games. The program included a cross-section of events for boardgamers, fantasy garners and historical miniaturists.
Aside from the inevitable WRG Ancients, historical miniatures were well represented in Napoleonics, Civil War, Ancient ships and by two Seven Years War Demonstrations. The ancient ship combat consisted of two 25mm ships manned with individual figures; very colorful. Harry Jarosek, a frequent contributor to THE COURIER presented his Seven Years War Rules in 25mm. Lace War Armies always present an impressive appearance and Harry's were no exception. Pat McGuire, from Baltimore, brought his terrain boards and presented a 15mm rally Round the Flag Game. He was ably assisted by Craig Taylor, the designer of numerous sets of miniatures rules including the above, and currently employed as a game designer by Avalon Hill. There were no arguments over the rules.
Craig demonstrated a new set of Seven Years War Rules, designed to fight large battles on a grand tactical scale in less than four hours. The game, including the half hour rules explanation, lasted approximately three and one-half hours!
All things considered the historical miniaturists more than held their own against the fantasy and boardgamers. We were definitely more noticable, cardboard counters and maps cannot compete in attractiveness with miniatures on a miniature battlefield. Numerous Cadets participating for the first time in a Historical Miniatures game expressed an interest in getting into miniature gaming. They were apparently attracted by the pageantry as well as the game itself. Unfortunately since their quarters must always be inspection ready there is no room for unauthorized personal belongings. With their ability to be stored, computer games are the favorite with the Cadets.
If you live in the Northeast, enjoy gaming and want to have a good time, I would recommend that you attend next year's convention (usually around the end of March). Indeed, I would recommend you come a day or two early and tour the post and especially the museum.
The Courier Dispatch News of the hobby.
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