2400 Attendees, Including 800 Historical Minature Gamers
Origins' 85 at Towsen State University near Baltimore had one of the more beautiful Origins venues in quite some time. I did find that (as one of the OLD guard) the campus defied the laws of nature and was all uphill! I never found downhill.
THE ALAMO IS OVERRUN - BEST OF SHOW
STONES RIVER ON 16' x 24' TABLE
The dealer area was a good part of a mile from the Historical Miniature gaming area which may have affected historical sales by gamers without cars. There was a shuttle bus -- but I was never able to find it. Several of the dealers I spoke to were quite happy -- all having done better than break-even.
There were quite a few new items available with Franco-Prussian War period being pushed by several. Modeler's Mart showed some beautiful 25mm Franco-Prussian figures and promised 15's close behind. GHQ is bringing its small detail expertise to historical figures. They showed a line of ECW and one of Seven Year's War figures that have to be the best proportioned & detailed 15mm figures I have ever seen. The production run is limited and by "subscription" only which is a new approach. There were many innovative new items most of which will be reviewed in detail in the next issue.
HMGS did itself proud in providing a plethora of events for the historical gamer. The most popular event and best of show was The Alamo by Rich Hasenauer & Ron Prillaman. A richly detailed Alamo was defended & assaulted by hundreds of finely painted individually mounted figures. The game was run several times over the weekend and players & spectators were seen to be 3 to 4 deep around the table at all times.
Another high point was a massive 16 ft. x 24 ft. Stone's River ACW game that lasted an entire day. I believe the rules used were Rally Round the Flag, but I may be mistaken.
Craig Taylor introduced a play test version of his new Seven Year's War rules (being developed in conjunction with Bob Coggins). This may well be THE set to use in the coming years - they have many clever innovations that allow realistic grand tactical actions. I am looking forward to seeing them in print.
The painting competition had a great many superior entrants. I did not envy Bob Coggins and Jay Hadley in their roles of judges.
ORIGINS AWARDS FOR 1984
H.G. WELLS WINNERS
Best Historical Figure Series Ra a
a~ P rtha 25mm Colonials (Tom Meier, Sculptor)
Best Fantasy/SF Figure Series R Partha 25mm Personalities (Tom Meier, Sculptor)
Best Vehicular Series FASA 1/3900 Star Trek Spaceships
(Ab Mobasher, Sculptor)
Best Miniature Rules The Sword and the Flame, revised - Greenfield Hobby (Larry Brom)
Best Role Playing Rules (tie) Paranoia - West End Games (D. Gelber et all
Twilight 2000 - GDW (T. Chadwick et a])
Best Role Playing Adventure Live & Let Die - Victory Games (G.C. Klug)
Best Professional Miniature Magazine The Courier (Courier Publishing)
Best Professional Role Playing Magazine The Dragon (TSR, Inc.)
Best Play-by-Mail Game Star Web (Flying Buffalo)
CHARLES ROBERTS AWARDS
Best Pre 20th Century Boardgame South Mountain -West End Games (Richard Berg et all
Best 20th Century Boardgame Vietnam - Victory Games (N. Karp)
Best Science Fiction Boardgame Web & Starship - West End Games (G. Costikyan)
Best Fantasy Boardga me Lonely Mountain - Iron Crown Enterprises (C. Chariton)
Best Professional Boardgame Magazine TheWargamer-WWW
Best Adventure Game - Home Computer Carriers at War - SSG (Roger Keating et at)
Best Amateur Adventure Gaming Magazine Alarums & Excursions - Lee Gould
Best Graphic Presentation in an Adventure Game Vietnam - Victory Games (Ted Koller)
Adventure Gaming Hall of Fame Frank Chawick
Milton Bradley gave awards for the PBM Assocation but as there was no press handout I do not have the names of the winners. I know that Flying Buffalo got at least two. I apologize to the other winners and if I ever get a list, I will publish it.
HMGS AWARDS
Ral Partha Best of Show Alamo - Ron Prillaman, Rich Hasenauer
The Courier Best Terrain Demo Alamo - Ron Prillaman, Rich Hasenauer
The Courier Best Painted Historical Unit Alexander's Companions - W. Harris
Origins Best of Show - Historical Alexander's Companions - W. Harris
HMGS Best 25mm Unit Alexander's Companions - W. Harris
HMGS Best 15mm Army Nikephoran Byzantine - Ben Pescow
HMGS Best 15mm Unit British Penninsular Cavalry - Steven Payne
HMGS Best 15mm Army Ohonian Franks - M. Owens
HMGS - Best Painted Equipment 15mm Napoleonic Ambulance - Peter Landry
Origins Best of Show - Fantasy Cloud Giant - Matt Sturm
Origins Best Fantasy Unit Mammoth Skeleton - Arnold Toporowsky
Origins Best Fantasy Diorama Sea Dragon - Tom Harrison
Origins Best Fantasy Army No Entrants
The annual HMGS raffle was very successful. Jay Hadley contributed two beautifully painted 20 man units of Ral Partha Pathans and Indian Infantry. Chances were sold at $1 ea. (6 for $5), the proceeds go to defray HMGS expenses. The lucky winner was Jeff Caruso.
Besides the usual awards suppliers to the hobby contributed over $1000 worth of merchandise & merchandise certificates to be given away to participants in the various events. A partial list of the companies includes Alliance Miniatures, The Armory, RAFM, Ral Partha, The Ship Shop, The Courier, GHQ, Mike's Models, Seakrieg, Wargames and Minifigs.
HMGS will put on their next historical only gaming convention 28 Feb to 2 Mar 1986 at the Ramada Inn in New Carrollton Md.
THE COURIER SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
ORIGINS 85 WRG ANCIENTS EVENTS
BY KRUSE SMITH
The Ancients tournaments at this year's Origins had by far the largest number of entrants ever. Including the National Championship Tournament and the 25mm and 15mm Origins Ancients Open Tournament, there were about 90 participants using armies drawn from 42 separate WRG troop lists. Although there were 10 more players in 25mm than in 15mm, both scales were well represented.
Johnson Hood of Texas became the first ever U.S. WRG Ancients National Champion (Johnson used 25mm Seleucids) by defeating the 15mm champion Richardo Gonzales of New Jersey. This event was sponsored by Wargames (Dallas), The Courier, and WRG. The final game was played in 25mm with Richardo using a 25mm duplicate of his 15mm Early Crusader army. This final game drew a lot of interest. At one point I counted 40 onlookers watching the game, even though it was held late Sunday afternoon, while Origins was winding down.
Richardo, by the way, had pulled what hadt o be the upset of the weekend by beating BobAndriolo and his Late Romans in his semi-final game. Johnson won his semi-final game against Steve Herndon, who was using Sicilian Hohenstaufen. John Brust and Todd Fisher, both of Illinois, won prizes for having played WRG the shortest time before reaching the National Championship finals (Both had started playing WRG Ancients only about seven months before).
The Origins WRG Ancients 25mm Open Tournament was won by Mike Pfanenstiel, Alabama, using a Burmese army. Thirteen-year-old Adam Weitz, New Jersey, using Seleucids, was the best of 32 entrants in the 15mm Open Tournament. The Courier award for best painted army was won by Roland Lane (Aztecs) in 25mm and Mark Owens (Franks) in 15mm. The Courier Best Sportsman award was a difficult decision with almost 40 entrants nominated for the prize by their opponents, but Bill McCampbell of Texas was chosen for the award. Todd Fisher of Illinois won the Best Terrain prize.
Prizes were very generous this year with Wargames (Dallas), Alliance Miniatures, RAFM, Rai Partha, and The Courier all donating. Kruse Smith wasTournament Organizer and Chief Umpire, with Steve Roper handling all the administrative duties, and Steve and Tom Hazlett assisting umpires.
Sportsmanship was the theme of the Ancients events this year, and everyone seemed pleased with the outcome.
The Courier Dispatch News of the hobby.
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© Copyright 1985 by The Courier Publishing Company.
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