Every year in July, the Mecca of Historical gaming in North America occurs in Pennsylvania, called Historicon. It is an event all historical gamers should plan on attending at least once in a lifetime. For historical gamers, this is our GenCon or Origins, although we do not have nearly the extras or glitz and glamour of these two shows. Is it because our gamers are unwilling to pay a higher price for entertainment? Is it a lack of leadership in the hobby, trying to stick to a hard fast rule of historicals only? Or is it that historical gamers have elitist attitudes? If I had to guess, it is a combination of all of these. If we put some of these things to the side, I think Historicon could draw crowds over 10,000 easy. I would love to see Historical artists like Keith Rocco displaying original paintings, prints and sketches, weapon displays, reenactors and informative seminars at Historicon. Here is a brief overview of what I observed at Historicon 2004. EVENTS As reported this year, Historicon had its largest number of events ever. The reported number of events totaled around 500, give or take a few, for a four-day convention. I did manage to walk around a few times and check out the events. Overall, I was unimpressed by appearance and quality of the games. That is not to say there were no events that are worth mentioning. I admit 1 did not make it up to the showroom to look around. I am not a fan of the showroom at this facility. For those of you that are not familiar with this room, it is a theater-style room. In the heyday of this hotel, it hosted acts like Don Rickles, Liza Minnelli and so on. It is up more than a flight of stairs, poorly lit, and it out of the way. As a GM, I would not want my events up there but I am sure there are a few who do. The lobby and foyer outside the main ballroom were lacking any special event(s). With no Uncle Duke and Pete Panzeri having to cancel his events due to a possible deployment, no one headliner was able to set up and create and eye-popping event. And those veteran GMs who have incredible setups, like Chris Hughes, David Bonk or Bob Giglio, were tucked away into corners of a side room or the ballroom. What was placed up in the lobby was less than satisfying. It did not even have finished terrain! No wonder their games did not have full player slates. This event should have been hidden, not showcased. I had browsed through most of the club rooms and the colonial room. The clubs continue to be the backbone of Historicon. If it was not for some of the clubs, the events at this show would not be worth mentioning. The colonial room is always a highlight of the convention for me. It was always full of great games and full allotment of players. All in all, the events for this con were average at best. FLEA MARKET This year also saw the largest flea market ever at Historicon. This was due to a reservation malfunction. More tables were sold than the show had originally allowed for. Not wanting to upset people who had paid for space prior to the convention, more space was given to the flea market. The flea market is like a blob-the more space it is given the more it will expand! The Flea Market continues to be a problem at all three HMGS-East shows with overcrowding as one of the main problems. There is much debate about who should be selling in the flea market. Some quasi-dealers are in the flea market now and many consider this unfair to dealers in the dealer hall. I made only a quick stop because I will not fight the crowd and body heat. I'm not a flea market shopper. Over the years I can count on my hands how many items I have bought in the flea market. If I am looking for something, I tend to get lucky on eBay or Bartertown. SEMINARS The seminar program goes up and down at this show. This year, Dr. Adrian Lewis was the guest speaker. I did not attend this seminar but was told it was very good and well attended. With HMGS-East being a 501c3 education organization, I would think the seminar program would have a higher priority. As a comparison the war college at Origins put the seminar program to shame at Historicon. This is not due to a lack of talent but to a lack of planning. Most of the same people who gave talks at the War College are regular attendees at Historicon. DEALER HALL This is the room where I spent a good majority of my time at this show. All of the major manufacturers were present at the show. The major figure lines from across the pond were also there. Eureka & Castaway also came from across the other pond. It was nice to see the latest releases of product up close and personal. I am one of those that will not mail order or internet shop unless I have a chance to play touch and feel with the figures and terrain. I did my share of spending to help the economy keep going. I picked up my orders of painted figures from Bob Ladd & Monica Hobbs. I bought a unit of painted Greek Hoplites from Norm Flamm, and I must say that they are just breathtaking, as well as some minor purchases at Old Glory & Pulp Figures. The last stop for me was Age of Glory to buy more Ancients from Foundry. As long as the major manufacturers and imported product lines are at this show, it will always be a draw to come to Historicon. FINAL THOUGHTS The quality of Historicon over the last fews years has gone up and down. This show was an improvement over the last two years. For me, the dealer room continues to be the driving factor to come to this show. As far as events, I think Little Wars in Chicago in the spring has better overall quality, with Historicon the edge on sheer numbers. Special events should be present at Historicon but were lacking this year. As a grade, this year's show was a B-. This show lacks identity and panache. The convention will continue to be this way until some drastic changes are made. I guess I am looking for more than most people out of this convention. Let's see what the future brings. Back to MWAN # 131 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2004 Legio X 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