GenCon - Day 1

Some notes from today. Hopefully I'll remember to add details later . . . .

Lots of people, which is good. Seemed to be a good number of people buying stuff, which is good. Swag seems light this year, which is bad. I got to meet a couple new acquaintences, which is good. Fun people, especially since I really want to hang out with mini painters more than gamers sometimes. Paizo's Pathfinder game was a hit; there was a line as soon as people could get there. I'm glad, since I don't particularly want to make most of the game books I own suddenly incompatible with the new edition of D&D. Considering I've subscribed to their Adventure Path, I hope they continue in 3.x for a while. I also managed to chat with some folks at the IU school of infomatics. My only knowledge about informatics was in regards to databases. Turns out there's computer animation/modelling, games, interactivity . . . and I mentioned an idea that could likely be used as part of a master's program. Crap, this could be bad . . . .

Green Ronin's True20 Freeport adventure The Lost Island should be there tomorrow. Dangit, now I have to go back. Picked up the Warrior's Handbook and Buccaneers of Freeport.

Caught up with a couple back-issues of Knights of the Dinner Table.
Gamescience dice. Expensive, but worth it. I hope.
CMON is here, and brought the Avatars of War line. And a bunch of Enigma minis. That's gonna hurt the budget . . . .

Jen Haley's class was pretty good. I took it last year, but the topics change based on who asks questions on what to see. Gotta see about getting a pillow to support my elbows while I paint. Also got a review of a painted mini. Still have to work on bringing up highlights. I apparently forgot to highlight a part of the mini's thing (d'oh!). Need to highlight/shade gold. This probably means I need to set the "completed" mini aside for a couple days and then go back and really finish it. That was mentioned to me once before. But, "skin is good" and "hair is good" is a pretty good compliment.

Ninja Magic minis. Yay for space ships!

Reaper Minis is gonna be producing Pathfinder minis. And I got a sneak peak at the new Valeros. Awesome! Where the old mini (by Croc Games) was flat, the new one captures Paizo's iconic fighter in an action pose. I can't wait to see what they do with the other iconics.

I got to show my wife around the mini paint-and-take area, and talked with Bobby Jackson about the sculpting process. Now Mrs. Workshop is an expert . . . or at least understands where these minis come from. I told her I don't have the hard job, the sculptors do. I just slap some paint on and call it good.

Mmmm . . . fish tacos at Houlihans.

Paizo got some more money: Cheliax handbook and the Ezran mini. Yeah, Reaper will redo it, but I like the current version. I skipped over Merisiel. I like her in artwork, but the mini just doesn't scream "Paint me!"

Note to Out of the Box Games: If you run a game at GenCon, you may want to consider bringing that game so that we can buy it. Gavett's Stock Exchange is a fun, fast game, but I can't buy it from you if you leave all the copies at your warehouse. Which sucks, because I'll probably end up spending the money I would have spent on your game at Reaper or Darksword. Or Wyrd.

The WarStore is here, and has MicroArt resin bases. Pretty cool, and supposedly they'll have some more out tomorrow.

Items crossed off list: Cthulhu stuff. I'll check and see if they have Pulp Cthulhu, but the other books I was considering didn't really make the cut. Hirst Arts molds: Boy, do I want them. But, with life the way it is and will be in the near future, I won't have time to use the molds . . . so I'll have to drop them off the list this year. Kraken Editions didn't have any plinths with them, and I wasn't impressed with those available at Armorcast. Infinity minis, although nice, are too expensive. Maybe if I played more scifi games, but at $11 each (or $20 each for the cool motorcycle soldiers) I can't justify it. Carcassone (by RioGrande Games) may be off the list. I can pick up the game here in Indy for the same price as they're offering it at the convention, so I think I'll be supporting a local store instead of buying it here. They didn't have Medici or Medici vs Strozzi. Privateer Press . . . I don't think you'll be getting much money from me anytime soon. I love the steampunk stuff you've put out, but the new stuff is damned expensive, and I don't play Warmachine. Please put out more RPG stuff. But I know you won't since there' s not a good market for it.

New items: Gotta think about the game "Run Candyman, Run!" Imagine Candyland, only with bazookas . . . . Talisman is a classic, and pretty easy to play . . . . Maybe check out the "scratch and dent" games.

Spent: 16% of my GenCon budget.