GAMEHOLECON 2018

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend GAMEHOLECON in Madison, WI.  Unlike many gaming conventions I attend, this one I was just playing and not hosting any events.

GAMEHOLECON is a fairly large convention that draws a national and even international crowd.  The focus is RPG such as D&D, board games and some miniature gaming.  Many gaming notables make an appearance here such as game designers and even some gaming "celebrities" who draw a crowd.

This was only my second time attending, but since I have ventured back into D&D along with my miniature gaming there was enough on the event listing to keep me busy.  The convention took up most of the Alliant Energy Center and ran Thursday thru Sunday.

Throughout the weekend I attended a couple of D&D seminars, played in multiple sessions of D&D adventure league, the D&D Open, Gettysburg historical game, and finished with Star Wars Legion Tournament on Sunday.

Rare picture of me actually getting my nerd on

Unfortunately I failed to get many pictures of the D&D sessions, but they were epic.  Imagine a room filled with close to 400 people simultaneously playing various D&D sessions.

Gettysburg was the only historical miniatures game I played.  It was scheduled from 10AM-2PM Saturday.  You will see the pictures look eerily similar to my set up.  That is because the game master has the exact same maps and terrain I use, just with different scale minis and his own home brew rules.  He had also added 3D building to his setup which look very impressive.

Looks very familiar



Gettysburg map

I signed up for this event as I have run this game several times using Fire and Fury and I wanted to see someone else's take. 

Town with 3D buildings

There were only two players for our session, so I took command of the Confederates and had a very enjoyable time learning a new system of rules.  Not to spoil the ending, but the Rebels won.


Confederate Arty on Herr ridge

Rebels driving off Buford's Cavalry

Infantry mixing it up at the stone wall

Confederates massing to take the seminary

The main difference was playing with 6mm figures (they are small even compared to mine) and the rule system.  It is a unique system of rules based on morale that goes up and down as the battle rages to show the impact of fighting on the troops involved.  Originally designed for Napoleonic battles it seems to apply well to this period.  I hope they are published for sale at some point.

The remainder of Saturday was the D&D Open scheduled from 2PM until Midnight,  During the Open there were over 350 people all playing the same adventure essentially competing to solve the mystery in the shortest time and score the most points.  fortunately it finished around 11PM.  Our team did not win, but we did accomplish most of the adventure goals and had a great time with some very chaotic moments and hilarity.

Sunday AM I came back for the Star Wars Legion tournament organized by my friend Ben.  There were only six signed up so we decided to go with a relaxed style of play as opposed to a rigid time limit.  I was glad for this as it had been awhile since I had played and was a bit rusty on the mechanics.

Imperial army ready to deploy

First table with amazing terrain



Snow troopers in position



Rebel scum

Die traitor!



Amazing save against an equally amazing attack



Second game fought in the desert

Troopers getting slaughtered by terrorist leader Luke Skywalker

Overall I won and lost and was able to play against Rebels with my Imperial list, so that was a win in itself.  Most importantly we all had a good time.  Congrats to Chris who finished undefeated.

In addition to all the gaming the convention also featured a large vendor hall which hosted an assortment of gaming supplies.  I practiced some restraint, but did score the nice dice box pictured above which will work well with all my gaming hobbies.

Overall GAMEHOLECON was a success.  Even better because my lovely bride decided to get a hotel so I did not have to travel back and forth, so I was able to spend some time with her as well.

Already thinking about the possibilities for next year.