Tower of Gygax

We did this last year and it was a good time.

The idea of the Tower is that it plucks rooms from many worlds - every world that Gygax's work has helped inspire. As such, it is not a traditional dungeon, but rather a constantly-changing labyrinth of rooms. There's no knowing where you'll end up when you make it out of your current room; the question is how far you can get, how long you'll survive, and if you can at least die gloriously!”

The Tower of Gygax was one of many events last year at Gen Con Indy 2008 to honor the memory of Gary Gygax. Keith Baker put it all together with the goal of having a continuous game of AD&D 1st edition (Old School baby!) running all through the Con – 80 hours straight. A lot of people last year volunteered to help with this charitable event, either by writing up rooms (which is available as a PDF now), DMing one or more shifts or helping organize at Gen Con, or both. There was a great response both from professional designers and people who simply love the game, and it’s our hope that we can expand upon and improve it even more this year.

We can always use more rooms, and we’d certainly love to find more people willing to take on DMing sessions or helping organize the event. Some of the interesting changes made (and still being made!) based on feedback, is the event is going to be generics only for limited lives and not limited to 1 or 2 hours slots as before. We’ll have a constantly rotating table of players so more can join in on the fun. We wanted more people to be able to reminisce or experience for the first time the great gift that Gary helped bring about and so many remember with fond memories.

So, if you'd like to help with those memories, contact enderswiggin2000@yahoo.com or visit our forums for more details about room submission format, interest in DMing, or helping organize. Please help spread the word to those that wanted to be a part of or unfortunately missed this event last year!


I'm up for another try. What say you men?

Top 10 Reasons to Attend Historicon™ 2009

Top 10 Reasons to Attend Historicon™ 2009
10 - Be a part of a winning tradition at the largest and most respected wargame convention in the country. Don’t miss being able to say “I was there! I was at Historicon™ the best wargame con ever.” It’ll be like Woodstock, except with war elephants and Panzers.
9 - Experience military history. The battle is yours to win or lose. How do your general skills compare to Julius Caesar, Omar Bradley, Napoleon Bonaparte, Alexander the Great, James Longstreet, “Stonewall” Jackson, Aleksandr Vasilyevich Suvorov, Hannibal and the world’s other great military leaders?
8 - An army travels on its stomach. Is there any better place to get provisioned than the all-you-can-eat buffets of Pennsylvania Dutch Country?
7 - Expand your knowledge as well as your waistline. Interact directly with leading gamemasters, manufacturers, military history experts, game designers and other fascinating members of the Historical Miniature Gaming Society family.

6 - You can shop till you drop. For four days in July, the Historicon™ Exhibit hall will be the world’s biggest wargame hobby store! And if that’s not enough for you, check out the bargains in the constantly changing flea market area.

5 - An unbeatable wargame experience! Where else can you choose from hundreds and hundreds of games, ranging from ancients, Colonial, WWI, WWII, Great War, ECW, Napoleonic, Civil War and Naval, to Medieval battles and air combat. From pirates to gladiators to aliens, there’s something for everyone.
4 - Make new friends! Enjoy the company of old ones. Better yet, introduce someone new to the fun of an HMGS convention. Bring a co-worker, family member or neighbor with you to Historicon™.
3 - Location…Location…Location. Lancaster is a great place to bring the whole family for a vacation. While your miniature army is on the march, family members can be sightseeing, shopping, relaxing at the pool, Dutch Wonderland and much, much more!
2 - Where else can you have so much fun for so little? For only $35.00 ($15.00 if you are an HMGS member and pre-reg!), you can have four days of convention activities, including non-stop gaming, shopping for new figs, rules, paints and accessories, a painting competition and events, a big flea market (the largest at any convention!), workshops, game demos, a children’s room, “Mega” games, and many other activities.
And the Number One reason to attend Historicon™…
1 - To enjoy Historical Miniatures Gaming's Biggest Summer Vacation!

Fall Outing?

This fall marks the 20th Anniversary of the Ohio Renaissance Festival. It runs on weekends from September 5- October 25. I was trying to figure out when would be a good week end to go for me and was wondering if we could make it a big outing? My schedule will be based on the Ohio State home schedule. The Buckeyes are home on:

Saturday September 5 they open with Navy at the 'Shoe. I will be at that game after a full morning of tailgating so this one is out for me.

Saturday September 12 they play USC at 8:00 PM. This might be a possibility.

Saturday September 19 they play Toledo in Cleveland. I have a feeling that the boys up North might be heading to Browns Stadium for this one.

Saturday September 26 they play Illinois at a time to be determined. This might work.

Saturday October 10 they host Wisconsin time to be determined.


Saturday October 24 they play Minnesota at noon.

Another possibility is the Great Lakes Medieval Faire in Rock Creek Ohio. It runs from July 11 - August 16. I would be up for checking this out too but it would almost have to be on a Sunday.

What say you men??

Hone Run Derby

Tonight is the Home Run Derby at the All Star Game. Who do you like? Do you even care? The participants (from top left to bottom right) are:

Albert Pujols - 32 Home Runs, 351 career home runs in 9 seasons
Adrian Gonzalez - 24 Home Runs, 121 career home runs in 6 seasons
Brandon Inge - 21 Home Runs, 117 career home runs in 9 seasons
Nelson Cruz - 22 Home Runs, 44 career home runs in 5 seasons
Ryan Howard - 22 Home Runs, 199 career home runs in 6 seasons
Prince Fielder - 22 Home Runs, 136 career home runs in 5 seasons
Joe Mauer - 15 Home Runs, 59 career home runs in 6 seasons
Carlos Pena - 24 Home Runs, 187 career home runs in 9 seasons


Enjoy the show and the All-Star game Tuesday Night

Future GenCon Shows

I know our group isn't much into planning ahead but I thought I'd post this anyway. It looks like GenCon will be held a little earlier in the coming years. Here are the future dates:

Future Gen Con Indy Show Dates

Gen Con has been in Indianapolis since 2003 and has signed a five-year extension with the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association (ICVA) for 2011-2015. Below are the upcoming show dates.

* August 5-8, 2010
* August 4-7, 2011
* August 16-19, 2012
* August 15-18, 2013
* August 14-17, 2014
* July 30 - August 2, 2015

These shows will all be held at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Only 31 days left

Only 31 days left until we head to nerdvana. Let the ceremonial feasting begin with this dragon cake!!!

“Ride to the Sound of the Guns"

As it does every year, HISTORICON presents “the world’s largest hobby shop”, plus the world’s biggest hobby flea market, for four days every July. Both offer a gigantic selection of military miniatures, rules, books and anything else needed for the historical miniature gaming hobby.

HISTORICON is the historical miniatures gaming convention in the United States. Each year, thousands of avid gamers descend on scenic Lancaster, Pennsylvania for what the New York Times has described as the "mother of all wargaming conventions." There will be hundreds and hundreds of games, the world's biggest wargame hobby shop, painting events and much, much more. Don't miss the fun! Make plans now to attend HISTORICON July 16-19, 2009 (at the Lancaster Host Resort & Conference Center in Lancaster, PA.) Be there!

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I really am fascinated by the whole miniatures realm. At this point not wanting to play as much as I would like to have one of these on display. I would love to one day construct a Civil War related scenario.

For more info check it out here.

Historicon 09

Just a reminder that next week is Historicon in Lancaster Pa.

Public Enemies

I went and saw Public Enemy this morning. Starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale I was expecting great things I left a little disappointed. I thought the movie was a little slow in a lot of places. The movie jumped around to a lot of different locales with little warning and unless you knew the Hotel Congress was in Arizona, or caught the Hialeah sign in the background you would not have thought Florida at that moment. I also struggled with some of the historical things in the movie like the World Series game on the radio in one scene would have been played in 1932 and I got the impression from the film that it was much closer to the time of Dillinger's death. Also, I thought the FDIC sign in one bank was a little out of time but I may be wrong on that matter. But the weapons, cars and clothes were spot on and quite an addition to the flavor of the movie.

The soundtrack was outstanding with Diane Krall leading the way. They featured some period pieces, some retro stuff and some new music written for the movie.

So was some of the cinematography. Some of the scenery was outstanding and the shootout scene at Little Bohemia was incredible, probably the best ever in a gangster movie. Very Saving Private Ryanish.

Overall it was good, not great but good. I'd say go see it. But don't let your date wear red, especially since they don't either. Two Floyd's (and Boy they aren't pretty) and a bit.

things to do in Indy

39 days to Indy (See the nice new countdown timer?) and I was thinking that maybe we could go catch a movie Wednesday evening if anyone is up for it. This starts the week end before we get there. What say you men?

Happy Birthday America

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

As we celebrate this weekend let us never forget the debt we owe those who have not only gone before but those yet to come. We owe it to them to live live well, and to make sure that America continues to stand for the ideals that the Founding Fathers laid out so eloquently for us for future generations.

So as we gather for cook outs, picnics, ball games and fireworks let us pause to reflect on what it means to live in the greatest country in the history of the world. God Bless America.

would you wear these? really? seriously?

Looks like there is a contest underfoot to design a D&D type tennis shoe. Would you wear these? If they are available I am sure we'll see some at GenCon. Now we will have to be on the look out for guys with Gamer's Foot wearing nerdy shoes.

GenCon preview #1

I am looking forward to GenCon this year and hope we have a good turnout this year. I'm going to try to preview it once a week until it gets here. It looks like there will be a lot of the larger game companies represented. Z-Man Games, Smirk and Dagger, and Green Ronin to name a few will be there. Here is the complete list of exhibits and here is the floor plan, as they currently know it.