Gen Con 2011 - Day 3 & 4 recap

Saturday was pretty mellow for me in the morning. I did have another FFG game of Civilization to play at 9am, but I decided to skip out on it. I was tired and, while I was playing Runewars the day before, I had overheard one of the FFG guys commenting that none of the Civ games so far had finished within the 4 hour time slot. I did not really want to get bogged down into a game that we wouldn't finish in time.

So I spent most of the morning in the dealer hall, which is not a bad place to be at any time.. well, maybe not for your wallet.

I happened by the Dark Age booth and was offered a demo while I was ogling their miniatures. Dark Age is a post-apocalyptic 32mm skirmish game set in a sci-fi universe and based on the artwork of Brom. Humanity settles on an inhospitable planet to harness it's resources but when the corporations suddenly pull up and leave, the rest of the population is abandoned with no incoming ships to provide food or goods. Survivors scramble to rebuild as best they can in the anarchy over the next few centuries.
It was a great demo (look for another post very soon about that) and since they were running a good deal (Buy the 2 books and get $20 off up to 2 starter sets) I bought in. I went with the Forsaken, the 'somewhat' more civilized humans, and the Dragyri, the honor-driven alien race that's indigenous to the planet. They are really cool miniatures and I can't wait to get started on them.

Saturday's loot pile.

After that I bought a couple of things at the Dream Pod 9 booth for Heavy Gear: Blitz. Although, I really wish I would've waited until Sunday when they were taking 20% off of everything. D'oh! Ah well, live & learn for next year. I also ran back by the vendor who had the markdown 40K stuff and found one more box of Dark Eldar.

In the afternoon, I had a game of Malifaux to get to. This was meant to be a set of demo games called 'speed dating' to give you an idea of how the different factions play. Since I already have my faction and my crew picked out I just asked if one of the guys would walk me through a few turns to cement the concepts of the game in my head. I have read the rulebook, but I figure out how the game plays much better by actually doing it. Things really clicked after a couple of activations and I feel ready to play. Now I just need to find someone else around here to play with.

Don't lose your paper clips!

Later that night was my new experience for this Gen Con. I finally submitted to my curiosity and played in a True Dungeon event. I had been wanting to try it for years now and since I had heard nothing but good about it, I had to give it a go. As I walked in and sat at the table, however, I was still a little leery. Was this going to be lame? As a 'noob' was I going to not have a clue what was going on? Was my group all going to be all ultra-geeks who have done this since year one?

My worries were put aside when I sat down and started chatting with the other players in my group. A couple others were 1st timers, which was refreshing, but even those who had gone before were very helpful. I was asked if I would play the Druid, as no one had taken it yet, and I didn't mind one bit. I've always liked the class anyway. We traded around the collectable tokens that depict what weapons, armor, equipment, & magic items you have, with several being outright given to me to full out my Druid's combat abilities.

Finally it was time to go and we went in to face the Sea Lich. I'm not going to go through and explain every last detail of the experience. I wouldn't want to run anything for anyone thinking about doing True Dungeon in the future. Yes, they will be new dungeons, but some of the riddles and concepts might be similar. I will leave you with a few tid-bits, however..

I rocked as a spell caster! Magic users have to memorize shapes when you train (right before start the dungeon) to make their magic checks. Druids had to memorize the shapes of real-world leaves. Two years of biology came in very handy! Also don't forget your class abilities! The druid's ability to  speak with animals can not be overlooked.

I was not so good at the puzzles. They vary in difficulty. Some require you to think a bit outside of the box, but don't look so far as to miss the obvious answer, and beware of red herrings. For example, One puzzle gave us the letters to spell out the answer, but, because there were multiples of each letter, we missed the obvious conclusion.

They're like poker chips, but for geeks.

I can see why there is such a market for the item tokens. Some magic items, in particular, are very powerful when used in the right circumstances. My Wand of Tentacles, which I didn't think too much of it until I was using it on the end monster, made sure she never laid a claw on us. Powerful indeed!
Obviously, we were victorious!

Overall, I had a great time and I plan on doing it again next year. Probably only once per con though as $38 per run is not cheap. My only gripe is that it felt like it was a bit short, but when you get out, the allotted time has passed so it's more that you wish it would go on for longer instead of it being rushed.

So that was my Saturday at Gen Con.

Dark Age junkie!

There's not too much to say about Sunday. It was mostly just packing up and then taking one last run through the dealer hall. Having been totally suckered into Dark Age, I bought several more packs to beef out the two factions that I picked in the deal. Beyond that, I didn't see too many outrageous deals on anything I really wanted (except the aforementioned Heavy Gear deal) and I really didn't have too much money left to spend. I did buy a few things for the kids and then we were on our way home.

In conclusion, this year was a blast. I had a lot of fun and I ran into several old & new friends while I was there. I'm grateful that it's over, but I still can't wait for next year.

There's still more Gen Con posts coming though! Demos, pictures, & final thoughts, so stay tuned!

Until later,
-Jack