Like any first time visitor to the biggest and best of anything in the whole wide world it takes some time for the "I just overdosed in the candy factory" droop jaw effect to wear off. As I sit down and type this report I have recovered enough to give an objective account of what happened. Let me first state "for the record", you cannot really do all there is to do at Historicon in four days. I will just tell you what I experienced.

HMGS-South was well represented at Historicon. Five members went including three board members. These included Bill, Dale, Curt, Dave and Joe.

Perhaps the two most outstanding things about the convention are the vendors and the games. The vendors rooms covered several thousand square feet. I almost feel silly saying there was something there for everyone. There were manufacturers, distributors, terrain makers, t-shirt vendors, military movie sellers, people selling their friend's estates, old collections and first run miniatures. There were more scales represented in more historical periods than space allows. The prices ranged from the absurd to absolute give aways.

Games were everywhere. I was still finding new gaming rooms on the last day we were there. I approached gaming overdose. (Is that possible?) One time I entered one of the larger gaming rooms and found not one but two 4 table circus maximus games with stellar scenery. In the same room there were six naval games running simultaneously from a variety of Historical periods. People really put on the dog for this convention. Some of the scenery was the finest I have ever seen. One game had a 25mm pyramid and Sphinx for a chariot game. One of the naval games had Pearl Harbor ship for ship in 1/2400 scale. (Rumor was that Greg Monroe did the terrain board.)

Your president played an immense Warpaint game recreating the battle of the Rose Bud. The game had over 150 25mm mounted indians and about 100 mounted and dismounted Cavalry troopers. It covered 8 tables. The game was run by Pete Panzeri who just released his Osprey book on "The Little Big Horn". I'm bragging about this game because I took my 14 man troop and the regulars from the pack train and kicked serious Indian Butt. I took over 24 figs off the board and won the game getting a rule set and a bag of Old Glory Miniatures as the prize. (The indians named me "he who takes names" & voted me the winner.)

Sitting in on a game hosted by a book author is indicative of the quality of the game masters at this convention. The 50 plus "Events Listing" is a reading of who's who in the gaming industry. There were rule creators, book authors and article writers in attendance. Basically the people "Knew their stuff". Your national board took advantage of the connections to be made and invited several companies to sponsor games at Hurricon. I won't spoil the surprises.

Your President and National Representative attended the National Board meeting held the first night of the convention. This writer was teased heavily about almost falling asleep (I'd been up since 4:30 that morning). So I excused myself, drank several cups of coffee and returned.) If the coffee didn't keep me awake the fireworks did. However during the meeting we made several suggestions, which were adopted, and received compliments on our participation. One board member even commented, "We were told you guys were coming up here to raise hell, what happened, you made too much sense".

Words of Advice

Now that I have been to "the big one" I have a few sage words of advice. Read everything. The convention is so big there is no one there to spoon feed you. If you overlook something it's History. You only get to pick two pre-registered games. Read the PEL carefully because the good games fill up fast. If a game is closed out go there anyway. Some game masters have an on-site alternate listing you can sign up on and play "stand-by". If that doesn't work, hang on, many games have novices in them who may need help. I left Bob Moon's French and Indian game too soon. One player asked me where I went as he needed help.

Rule two, don't go where you aren't supposed to. They have security and the people running the convention are on maximum overdrive by show time and have no patience for folks sneaking into the flea market, vendor's areas or registration areas without the proper badges. Yes you need stinking badges. Don't lose it or you'll need to buy another one.

Observation three: There is some unevenness in the quality of the games presented. After missing out on the French and Indian Game I signed on to a WWII game. The guy had cut felt terrain features, a styrofoam hill that looked like it actually was from WWII and plastic figures. (Yes Virginia I am a Lead Snob.) The game master had all the figures mixed up and took an extra 45 minutes straightening out the mess. He had also pre-positioned all the figures so all I would be doing was waiting until the Americans over ran my positions, and then just dying. I politely excused myself. An hour later I was in a great game.

More sage advice. The convention hotel has the best lounge for miles around the town. Following the games we retired there to debrief. The scenery and the drinks were excellent. Two miles down the road is an authentic Diner which has the best tasting food and the biggest portions known to man, all extraordinary prices. I just wish the waitress would have quit telling us she was getting off at 2AM so we could finish our shortcakes.

It is an old saying that sometimes things have to be seen to believed and so it is at Historicon.