Hack Attack...

Editorial

by Philip J. Viverito

The Classical Hack News Letter this month is primarily devoted to the Siege of Augusta held in Augusta, Georgia. While not a big convention compared to say Historicon or Fall In! it is still a very important event. Having missed the Siege last year Lynne and I motored down to Augusta and the Siege. What makes a convention important? First and foremost is the staff. Jim Birdseye is the primary functionary for the Siege. Regardless of the issues that arise in the course of the event nothing seems to ruffle him. With limited help (Margaret Paradiso, Drew Gaddy, Maj. Bill, Paul Elkin, Mike Jackson, Paul Harrison, Kelly Timmerman, and David Henry) he has for many years pulled off what I feel is an important service to the gaming community in the Augusta area. Help is a common problem suffered at all conventions. Providing a place to game in a neat and clean environment is the next element to hosting a successful convention. Another ingredient for hosting a convention are the vendors. Here there were about 11 vendors. Like larger conventions attendees had a fine selection of items to shop through, from books to figures in all disciplines of gaming interest. Chris Hughes of Sash and Saber was there and Ruddy Nelson had tons of books, figures and buildings to pick from. Others included Time Portal Hobbies, Casting Fool and Son, Little Metal Men, O'brien Flags, The Quarter Master, Dayton Painting Consortium, Editions Brokaw, Heliograph, The Quarter Master and some company called LMK Works (who ever they are). A convention is nothing without some fine presentations and game systems with engaging hosts. The entire gambit of history and fantasy were represented as I said. Drew Gaddy put on Castle Siege, Paul Elkin and Paul Harrison put on Trebia, and I put on Siege of Troy. Chris Hughes got out his 40 mm figures for a beautiful skirmish game in AWI and Ron Oldham put on an 1812 game. Chris Pagano of Clemson (Cowpens Organizer another good convention to attend) brought Hannibal out to face the power of Rome. Scott Monsour put on demos of his newly released Rally Round the Flag. Chris Damour hosted a NASAMW sponsored Warrior Tournament with Greg Croyle. Then there was Warhammer, Tanks for the Memories and much more. Let's see, a good staff, a good facility, vendors and a band of hosts. What else is left? Hmmm, I think I know, a good group of attendees! This is what puts the final touch on making a good convention. The attendees at Siege of Augusta are some of the best people you would want to game with. Conventions like this are the life blood of the hobby. We travel widely and without a question of a doubt when conventions like this disappear so will the hobby. The real gamers are at the local conventions; at the grass roots level. If there is a local convention in your area you should support it. Wishing to reach this public and to enhance the hobby by supporting it in our own way, leading a Hack Attack!. Back to Table of Contents -- Classical Hack Newsletter # 6 Back to Classical Hack Newsletter List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2005 by Phil Viverito. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com