On the last weekend on May 1992 the Military Interests and Games Society (MIGS) of Hamilton Ontario hosted its thirteenth annual historical gaming convention. This year's event marked a radical departure from our previous one-day events by moving to a larger hall and a two day format. This allowed for a significant increase in the number of gaming events, which ultimately totalled 74, of which 68 were historical miniatures, 4 science fiction miniatures and 2 fantasy boardgames. Over 420 people participated in the convention throughout the weekend, which also represents a significant increase over past years. There were eleven vendors in attendance, exhibiting a wide variety of wargaming products which included figures from most major manufacturers.

There were a number of ancients gaming events provided at the convention. The WRG 7th edition tournament had 14 participants, including the eventual champion Dave Stier who used a Breton army. Other players involved were Jevon Garrett (Yuan), Scan-Patrick Scott (Later Hungarian), Greg Hauser (second place, Seleucid), Gary Jones (Late Imperial Roman), Dick Hurchanick (Prussian), Bruce van Luven (Seleucid), Vic Fitzpatrick (Early German), Bob Spencer (Camellan Roman), Steve Baker (Alexandrian Imperial), Dave Saunders (Norse irish), Nelson Rumley (AngloDanish), Steve Gallagher (Palmyran) and Bruce Palmer (Early Saxon). We adopted an approach similar to "Free Trade Wars" by having four rounds, with the player's eligible to play in any (or all) of the rounds with the top three scores applying in determining the final standings. This approach appears to have been successful since it allowed participants to adjust their level of participation and allows them to take part in other convention events.

There were DBA tournaments in 15mm and 25mm presented at the convention. Each was preceded by a tutorial round for novices, who could then borrow an army and participate in the tournament to follow. The 25mm event was held on Saturday night, featuring 8 participants. Unfortunately, because of the table space required for each game (4' X 4') we could not accommodate any more players. Joe Pfeiffer took first place after 4 rounds of play. The 15mm DBA tutorial/tournament was held on Sunday afternoon. ^Sixteen players took part in the proceedings, with Nelson Rumley's Hundred Year's War English edging Pat Laffey's Carthaginians for first place honours. There was so much interest in the 15mm DBA that we ended up running tutorials all day Sunday. These games caught the attention of many of the non-wargaming visitors to the convention, and I think we may have hooked a few!

While I am on the topic of the WRG and DBA tournaments, I would like to thank Jack van Schaik of RAFM, Dave Jackson of Pharoah's Arms and Mike Gustar for providing prizes. I would also like to thank Vic Fitzpatrick, Dave Stier and Bruce Palmer for helping me run these events. Their assistance was invaluable since I found out (the hard way) that running games while supervising a convention is very difficult.

Ancients gaming was not restricted to the tournaments described above. There were a number of ancients participation games as well. MIGS member Mike Gustar provided three 25mm Tactica participation games. The first game pitted the Germans against the Romans, with the surprising result of a barbarian victory. Mike also hosted two battles between the Egyptians and the Hittites. Boy do those chariot armies look great in 25mm! All three Tactica events were a big success. Even though I prefer to play WRG and DBA, I would have to admit that Tactica probably makes for a better convention participation game since the restrictions in the system ensure that players will get to fight while preventing them from screwing up the game!

There were also b ancient/medieval participation games using "homebrew" rules played at the convention. Dan Hutter brought the "who's who" of the Norse world together for a dark ages skirmish game entitled "The Marriage of Lady Roweena". Dave Pinkerton of Museum Miniatures Canada presented the Second Battle of St. Albans as a participation game, which concluded with a Yorkist victory. Rob Chester ran two medieval siege games in 25mm using his own "Siege Assault" rules.

The visual effect of these 25mm longbowmen manning the walls of a castle against besiegers using battering rams and towers was a sight to behold! The Company of St. George, a gaming club from Toronto, presented two medieval naval games using an adaptation of their medieval rules "The Captain of Warre's Hand Boke". This game also has an interesting visual appeal. All of those small, roundish ship models packed with troops reminded me of the painting of the Battle of Sluys.

In addition to the games provided, there was a good supply of figures available to interest the ancients gaming enthusiast. We were fortunate in having the Canadian distributors of Falcon Figures (Pathfinder Distributors), Redoubt, Museum, Chariot (Pharoah's Arms), Essex and Wargames Foundry (Crossed Swords) and Two Dragons and Irregular (Molycro) miniatures in attendance. RAFM and Ral Partha 25mm ancients and Minifigs were also available from some of the hobby stores in attendance. Boy was it hard to resist the temptation of starting a new army!

That pretty much sums up the ancients gaming at MIGSCON XIII. Since the event was a success we have decided to go with a two day format next year, with the possibility of expanding the size and duration, and I would expect that ancients gaming will be even stronger next year.

Late breaking news... the winners of the $1000 1st prize and $500 2nd prize Ancient Wars' tournament held recently in Colorado were none other than Rochester's own (well, formally) Frank Gilson and Dave Stiers, respectively. The jury is still out on this one as far as precedent goes, but congratulations to them both.

Also of note is the publication on Gary Jenning's new novel, RAPTOR. It covers a large part of 6th century (1000 pages worth) Gothic history. I'm about a quarter of the way through it and so far, it is excellent.