InCON 2015

[OldGuy59]

InCONceivable? It is on, again!


8 & 9 August, 2015



Courtenay, British Columbia, Canada!
Link: inconcv.com

The name has changed, but it is in the same place. Well, part of it is in the same building. The little con that could has quadrupled in size, and now has two co-located buildings filled with gaming and display. We have dealers and game designers coming in to expand the interest level, and one of the demos from last year is now a full blown tournament. Not Wings of Glory, though.

However, with two full days, I have scheduled a full roster of flying, using my BottosCon/GottaCon scenarios. Both the Zeppelin and HMS Glorious will make appearances, and Snoopy will make his debut.

So, on 8 & 9 August, I will be in the Florence Filberg Centre sharing my Wings of Glory passion, with some awesome assistance from Ares Games. They sent me a box of planes and each of the Rules and Accessories Packs for the two versions of the game. I also managed to pick-up a Camel/Fokker Dr.1 Dual Pack, to hand out for the Snoopy vs Red Baron game.

AAR and pictures to follow...

[csadn]

Um -- you might want to include a city and province for those of us who have no clue where the Florence Filberg Centre is....

[OldGuy59]

Um -- you might want to include a city and province for those of us who have no clue where the Florence Filberg Centre is....

Chris,
It's InCONceivable that you don't know what this is all about! A convention in my neighborhood? And this year, I am not just shoe-horning myself into a corner, I'm organizing the Demo Games, just to make sure I get some quality space.

Sorry about missing the obvious, but it's a bit close to home, and I have been posting about the con for over a year. Starting with last year's announcement, the Skype game with Paul during the con, and the AAR. As well as the other cons that I've posted about and dropped hints about this con. But you are right. So, the above post is edited with the location. And this thread should have been posted in the British Columbia forum, too!

I got carried away, what can I say.

[matt56]

This sounds very cool, Mike! Glad it's so close to you - that makes it so much easier to do what you want to do

All the best,
Matt

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Good on you Mike.
Spread the word and have a great time whilst you are at it.
Rob.

[Flying Helmut]

Have a blast, Mike!
Swell the ranks of the British Columbia Squadron.

[csadn]

Sorry about missing the obvious, but it's a bit close to home, and I have been posting about the con for over a year. Starting with last year's announcement, the Skype game with Paul during the con, and the AAR. As well as the other cons that I've posted about and dropped hints about this con. But you are right. So, the above post is edited with the location. And this thread should have been posted in the British Columbia forum, too!

It happens all too frequently -- as punishment, fifty recitations of the "Assume Cadence Call"*. :)

[*: "A, DOUBLE-S, U, M, E!/ MAKES AN ASS OF U AND ME!" ;) ]

[OldGuy59]

Today was the Nautical Days parade in Comox, and the InCON team put an entry to get in some last minute advertising. As they needed some people to fill out the group, I joined in with what I could scrap together for a costume. No surprise, I had no luck finding a uniform for a WWI pilot that would fit me. I'm too big in a few dimensions, and not many 1914-18 pilots were over 6' tall.

I did find a replica leather flying helmet and replica goggles, and my Better Half's late father left some RCMP riding boots in our garage that actually fit me. I did the best I could for the rest, and joined in the parade. Others took pictures, so I might get some later, but I didn't get more than a head shot.



I will be dressing up for the Con on Saturday, perhaps I'll get some pictures then.

Five days and counting.

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Have a good one Mike.
The only way I'm likely to get a uniform jacket is if Mrs K makes me one.
A bit too portly to fit any period ones even if I could afford them.
Rob.

[OldGuy59]

First Day, and I actually had people playing Wings of Glory! Yay!

Battle of Britain - Channel Fight:
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(L to R) Aiden Coté, Me, Alex Malisky, and Kelsey Watts. Me playing and coaching three new players.
We started with Alex with Adolph Galland, JG 26, and me flying F/L G. McGregor, No. 1 RCAF Sqn. Later we were joined by Aiden (Spitfire), Kelsey (Bf-109) and Shane [Skyguy001] (Ju-87 Stuka)

One shot, one kill:
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Aiden brings in a Spitfire, and Kelsey goes for him head on. Both take short ranged damage, but Aiden survives. Kelsey somehow dug around in the "B" chits and pulled out two, count them, two, pilot wounds! Dead! She thought this was an awesome outcome, and can't wait to take on the HMS Glorious tomorrow. What a great sport, and new addict!
Note: the splashed Hurricane was mine, after Kelsey set me on fire and took away what was left of my badly mauled plane. Alex had done me lots of bad on his first pass.

Snoopy vs the Red Baron:

Me in my WWI pilot outfit, and RCMP riding boots (not seen). I found a MvR vs Brown Dual Pack, so I bought it to provide a prize for this game.


Only had one taker, Jayden Smith, so he took the Dual Pack!

The Dogfight Challenge:

Four players (L to R): Darrin Root, Jayden Smith, Connor Hogg, and Shane [Skyguy001].


Jayden took the Bullet Magnet award (Elwood Sopwith, provided by ARES Games), having played three rounds of head-to-head combats, and racking up 51 points of damage (one Boom Card for 18 points).


Shane [Skyguy001] broke the three-way tie for first place with two wins each over three rounds, but dealt out the most damage. He deferred the win to the new players, but Darrin and Connor were tied for damage inflicted. So, damage received was used to break the tie, and Darrin took a bit less, and takes the "Deluxe" Starter Kit. This was provided by ARES Games, consisting of a RAP and four minis.

More fun tomorrow, with a Zeppelin Raid on London, and the HMS Glorious defending itself from Stukas and Bf-109s.

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Nice photos Mike.
Gives a flavour of what is going on.
Also good to see Ares stepping up and providing some prizes.
Rob.

[tikkifriend]

Hi Mike Like the WW1 outfit Did you get many other players that day?

[Jager]

Looks like you had a good day. Hope Sunday is equally as fine.

Karl

[matt56]

Great pics, Mike! Hope your turnout on Sunday is equal or better...the Zeppelin and carrier should draw some interest

All the best,
Matt

[Nightbomber]

A classy dressing never goes outdated, Mike. When I pay visits to honorable F.O.Kyte and his charming Good Lady I always wear something appropriate.

[OldGuy59]

A classy dressing never goes outdated, Mike. When I pay visits to honorable F.O.Kyte and his charming Good Lady I always wear something appropriate.

Andy,
Nice costume for that other ARES card-based movement game.

[OldGuy59]

Great pics, Mike! Hope your turnout on Sunday is equal or better...the Zeppelin and carrier should draw some interest

All the best,
Matt

We'll see how it goes. I'd probably get lots of attention, if I lit the Zeppelin on fire. But, that would limit replay value with the model. Kelsey was very interested in playing the scenario with the Glorious. I expect a few people to join in from the comments I heard, but it might not get crowded.

Saturday morning, I had a few interested people suggest they were coming back for the Snoopy game. None of them returned to play. So, I'm not holding my breath for anyone. I'm optimistic about Kelsey, but then, there's Real Life. I'll take pictures.

[fast.git]

Nice photos, Mike. Thanks for sharing! Hope you get some takers today...

[Flying Helmut]

Thanks for the report, Mike - here's to Day 2!

[Flying Officer Kyte]

Very droll Andy.
Rob.

[OldGuy59]

Second Day, and lots of flames. Well, that was to be expected with the big, flammable targets on the table.

Zeppelin Raid on London:

Laurence Pereira, Connor Hogg, and Aiden Coté (hidden behind my fat head) attempt to stop the Zeppelin from bombing London.

Swat the exploding fly...

Laurence almost collided with the Zeppelin, but managed to get out from under the silhouette of the Zeppelin. Until the Zeppelin moved, turning to the right, and swatting the tail of his plane with the side of the dirigible. Two "C" damage card were drawn, with Laurence exploding. I drew the "10" damage card, and rolled for a potential fire from the collision. Which, of course, started a fire.

How many cards does it take?

Aiden fires two close-ranged shots into the Zeppelin for the third time, but takes a 2 damage card in return. He goes down. However, before we spawn a replacement, I took the next turn of fire damage, and became a flaming pile of wreckage falling from the sky. End of the scenario, with London safe!

A random prize is handed out for pyromania:

Aiden Coté is given a Fokker Dr.1 (provided by ARES Games) for his fire-starting efforts. He lit almost all the fires on the Zeppelin, and between the shooting and the fires did almost 60% of the damage of the three participants.

HMS Glorious in Norway, 1940:

HMS Glorious in Norway, 1940. Dave's [clipper1801] 1/200 scale carrier model, defended by Sea Gladiator biplanes and Hurricanes flown by Kale Conway and Kelsey Watts, is attacked by Ju-87 Stuka dive-bombers and Bf-109 escorts, flown by Craig van der Merwe and his son Silas. Shane [Skyguy001] is coaching and helping with the photos. Shane ended up flying the Sea Gladiators when Kale was dragged away by his adult supervisor.


A better shot of Kale, with his partner and new WoG addict, Kelsey. Kale's Gladiator is smoking, and badly mauled by the Bf-109 flying through the Gladiator formation. His plane had taken 14 points of damage by this time, but survived the game, shooting down another Bf-109 in revenge.


Kelsey's Gladiator is blown up by a long-ranged shot by a Bf-109, as she attempts to close on a Stuka.

Revenge:

Shane puts a Bf-109 down with the badly mauled Sea Gladiator.


Silas straffs the deck with his Bf-109, starting a fire on the deck. Craig adds in some straffing from the stern, and after more than two hours of flying and shooting, start damaging the carrier. And they just kept dishing it out.


Neil's [Skafloc] Sails of Glory inspired damage system is used to track attacks on the Glorious. Two hull boxes are taken out and a fire on the flight deck is recorded.


More straffing, and following fire (extra "A" chits), and the Glorious is suddenly down half of it's hull. More special damage to the flight deck with the rudder jam taking off the aft box of the flight deck. No pictures of the Stuka's bomb drop on the aft elevator, nor the continued straffing, but that was it for the Glorious, and the game reached the time limit of three hours. There was 3 points of a hull box left, and the flight deck took two more special damage hits (right rudder jam and an engine hit).


HMS Glorious doesn't survive Norway, being sunk by a Ju-87 Stuka dive-bombing and a straffing Bf-109 escort. As all the pilots flew pretty well, I decided a totally random way to award the prize. Craig won the dice toss to win the Wings of Glory WWII "Deluxe" Starter Set provided by ARES Games. Here are Silas and Craig van der Merwe being presented with their haul.

Summary:
Hosted games all weekend, and other than the single pilot attempting the Snoopy vs Red Baron game, there was lots of flying this weekend. It turned out very well, from my perspective, being that I only had one person stop by last year. I didn't have any per-registration, so didn't actually expect to be playing at all. Was I happily surprised. And lots of new players in my area, I hope, thanks to ARES Games and all the helpful stuff from 'drome Forum members.

Special Thanks to: Dave [clipper1801] without whom I wouldn't have had the BIG, interest-gathering targets to draw in participants (as usual, lots of people admiring the work, Dave!); Neil [Skafloc] for rules on Zeppelin and Carrier damage; Doug [mrdugsir] for the Dogfight Challenge format and experience at Enfilade 2013/2014; Beau [Beaunanza] for the WWI Rules summaries and guides, and all the AARs and other guidance from too many people to mention...

[Boney10]

Excellent report for the two days, good pics , nice one Mike

[Flying Officer Kyte]

I agree with Chris.
It was a great report Mike.
Gave the full flavour of the weekend and shows what a few willing hands can achieve.
Thanks for posting.
Rob.

[tikkifriend]

Well done Mike . Good to see you had a great time and hopefully a few more new players to add to the BC Squadron.
Nice of Ares to chip in with some minis too.

[Nightbomber]

Mike, you did a GREAT job there .
Hommage.

[matt56]

So pleased your Sunday turn-out was as strong as it was! It can be a crap shoot, like you said, when there isn't pre-registration or some other firm commitment. Looks like everyone had fun, and the prize support was great. It's always lovely to see one of Clipper's Zeppelins in action, and the Glorious is, as has been said before, simply glorious

Well done, Mike!

All the best,
Matt

[Flying Helmut]

So pleased your Sunday turn-out was as strong as it was! It can be a crap shoot, like you said, when there isn't pre-registration or some other firm commitment. Looks like everyone had fun, and the prize support was great. It's always lovely to see one of Clipper's Zeppelins in action, and the Glorious is, as has been said before, simply glorious

Well done, Mike!

All the best,
Matt

What he said!

[fast.git]

Outstanding! Wonderful way to grow the game, Mike.