BottosCon will be held next weekend in greater Vancouver, BC (New Westminster). It's an annual 3-day convention of wargames, a few minis, and the occasional Euro. Always a good time. I'm going to be running a session of Wings of Glory:WWII Battle of Britain on Friday, Duel in the Dark on Saturday, and Bomber Command and Star Trek Ascendancy on Sunday.
If you're in the region, drop by. You might even meet the elusive Jack Nastyface!
https://sites.google.com/site/bottoscon/Registration (https://sites.google.com/site/bottoscon/Registration)
Damn, my next trip to the left coast isn't until the end of Nov. :(
Say 'hi' to Brian Train while you're there! :)
BottosCon is always fun.
I missed the con the year that the hotel was also booked for a convention of "furries"; I heard that occasionally one or two of them would wander into the game room in costume, look at the tables, shake their heads at the weirdos and walk out.
I always bring my new stuff to playtest with people, though it's rare for someone to take me up on the offer.
This year I am bringing:
Brief Border Wars Quad
- four mini-games on nearly pointless but bloody border conflicts (El Salvador-Honduras 1969, China-Vietnam 1979, Turkey-Cyprus 1974, Israel-Hezbollah 2006)
Nights of Fire
- on street fighting in Budapest, November 1956. Heavy Euro or light wargame, not sure which. Coming from Cloud Island games, could do with some thoughtful plays!
Freikorps Redux
- heavily revised version of earlier game in which Soviet Red Army, having won the Battle of Warsaw in 1920, keeps going for Berlin. This is the sequel to Red Horde 1920, revised according to the same system and recently published by Tiny Battle. This one will be published by Tiny Battle too.
Chile 73
- multiplayer (2-5) game on coup that toppled Salvador Allende, "the other 9/11"..
Also, bringing some games that do not need testing but would be glad to loan them for plays:
Caudillo
- multiplayer (2-5) card game on power struggle in fictional Latin American country, modelled on a thinly disguised post-Chavez Venezuela (but designed before it was post-Chavez). Rob loves this game.
Colonial Twilight
- the first 2-player COIN system game, on the Algerian War 1954-62. I'll autograph your copy if you like!
also, giveaway copies of Guerrilla Checkers and whatever else I can find.
Fun fun,
Brian
Two days down so far. I'm pretty wiped.
Played Elusive Victory yesterday. First time for both of us playing so it was a bit slow going as there were lots of pauses to look up rules. I'm intrigued enough to try again despite having all my Egyptians blown from the skies with nothing to show for it except a few plane shaped craters on Israeli soil.
I ran a Wings of Glory: Battle of Britain scenario late in the evening and it lasted quite a while. Didn't get home until 2am. The RAF managed to knock down some 109s and Stukas without a single loss in the air but their airfield got pasted by 110s.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4464/26402909719_da81ce3489_h.jpg)
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4488/26402909759_9d5e6aa65d_h.jpg)
Played a long game of Duel in the Dark today. Good back and forth action with the Luftwaffe nightfighters tearing up the RAF on the first night but the RAF coming back and absolutely plastering Munich on the second night.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4466/38147122652_5c2ee62aba_h.jpg)
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4581/38122691416_a200909c00_h.jpg)
I won a copy of Heroes of the Falklands from Lock N' Load. They donated a lot of games as prizes for the convention and I was lucky enough to get one of them. Tough choice between this one or Heroes of the Pacific but as I've already got Conflict of Heroes: Guadalcanal, I figured it'd be nice to have something different.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4585/37468522794_d750e79d55_h.jpg)
Falklands is a good game :)
Quote from: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 05, 2017, 12:52:59 AM
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4488/26402909759_9d5e6aa65d_h.jpg)
Are you in this pic?
Nope. I took the pic.
Day three was my busiest day in terms of time commitments but it was probably the quietest at the Con as a whole. I played Bomber Command in the morning and had fun despite getting absolutely pasted by the Germans. The dice were hating me in that game.
Tried to play a 4-player game of Ascendancy starting just after noon but one of the scheduled players screwed up on the time and showed up 45 minutes late. As it was his first time playing, we had to spend some time going over the rules and his first few turns were pretty slow as he got a feel for things. As such, we had to pack it up before getting close to ending the game in order to vacate by 4:30. We got crop dusted pretty good by a beefy, beefy guy so it was time to make a break for it anyway.
Good con overall. Got a chance to get some games in, won a prize, met some new guys to play against locally, chatted with some game devs, sold some games I no longer play and managed to pick up a plane for Wings of Glory.
A tonne of photos from this year's event.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/cameramn/sets/72157690256554006 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/cameramn/sets/72157690256554006)
Great photos! I wonder, though, are game boards getting bigger? :o
And one guy was wearing a D7 shirt! 8)
For clarification, I didn't take those photos. I was just one of the attendees. (I'm the pudgy, bald, middle aged white guy with glasses. Shouldn't be hard to pick me out.) 😜
Quote from: Silent Disapproval Robot on November 07, 2017, 10:57:13 AM
I'm the pudgy, bald, middle aged white guy with glasses.
you don't get many of those at gaming conventions :P
I know! It's like spotting a unicorn. A smelly, smelly unicorn... Why won't some nerds shower?
Very nice pics, SDR...thanks for sharing! I miss going to gaming conventions.
My chief issue is lack of cons nearby...lack of cons nearby and time...time and lack of cons nearby.... Our two weapons are time and lack of cons nearby...and lack of traveling funds... Our *three* weapons are time, lack of cons nearby, and lack of traveling funds...and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope.... No, *four*...no... *Amongst* my inability to attend cons.... Amongst our weaponry...are such elements as time, lack of cons nearby.... I'll come in again.
Well you've got the nerd part down pat. How's your hygiene?
Depends on if I have to go into the office or not. :2funny: