The usual confusion reigned during the morning hours of the May 26-29 convention, as the hotel neglected to clear out the ballroom, but was soon cleared up by the afternoon.

At right, one of the games--a Napoleonic scrum in action.

Fortunately, I missed the worst of it due to impeccable timing--and starting that morning from Montgomery, Alabama. Nothing like a 5-hour drive to avoid problems. Check in and so forth flowed easily and I quickly set up in the dealer room. A salute to Baxter for sorting out the chaos.

It wasn't the full MagWeb.com set-up. I only brought the laptop and a couple flyers and business cards. In fact, I had to buy a couple magazines from a dealer so I could show the match between print and electronic formats.

The gaming are of the ballroom was a riot of games, from ancients to WWII and even a cool, 3-D Star Trek (at right). Some photos will show the artistry in action.

I wandered down to the flea market and bought a few magazines and books. I went to the tournament area where it looked like Armati was being played.

The dealer area ebbed and flowed all day long, and the dozen or so dealers looked to be doing a brisk business.

Interestingly enough, WRG Ancients 7.6 (ancients rules) seems to have been licensed to Four Horsemen LLC. It's being slightly tweaked rules-wise, and totally rewritten to reorganize and present the system in a more readable fashion.

At right: If it walks like WRG 7th, and talks like WRG 7th, it must be Warrior 1st...

The name is also being changed to Warrior. I flipped through the beta copy briefly. It looks more logical and with a better layout. I can't comment on the actual re-write.

At left: A Corsair strafes a Japanese-held island as US forces storm ashore.

The only not to pick at the show was the allowance of smoking inside. Being a non-smoker from up North, I've come to appreciate breathable air (many states ban indoor smoking in public areas).

The Bulge. The Germans advance towards an American-held town.

I don't know if second-hand smoke will eventually kill me or not, but even my rather dulled olfactory senses were overwhelmed at times. End of tirade.

Other than that, the convention was well run, the staff friendly and efficient, and folks ready to help out with moving tables and other grunt-work endeavors (as if the staffers weren't already overworked!).

Frank Chadwick's recreation of Fredericksburg.

As far as I could tell, everything ran smoothly, once the convention staff overcame some hotel obstacles. From what Baxter said, the convention is moving to a different location next year, perhaps downtown Nashville. About 150 or so people attended, and it was a pleasure to meet some MagWeb.com members and give a demo to interested convention goers.

Matrix Game

On a less business and definitely more get-out-of-the-booth-and-have-some-fun aspect, I finally played in a Matrix game run by creator Chris Engel.

Is that a new sheriff in town?

What a blast! He ran several games besides the British Victorian colonial game I played on Saturday night. A write-up will follow.

Also, I took advantage of Sunday afternoon to drive down and visit Stones River battlefield (about 1/2 hour away). Write up of that to follow as well.

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