A Trip to Lancaster – HMGS Historicon 2023

By Tom “Chairborne” Mullane

HMGS’s flagship convention, Historicon got underway this past week at the Lancaster County Convention Center and a number of No Dice No Glory writers and gamers were in attendance. Mitch Reed, Tom “Chairborne” Mullane, Matt Varnish, Scott Roach, Glenn Van Meter, and a whole host of other friends, podcasters, game designers, and friendly folks made the trip and had a blast.

Read on to get a peak at all the great games and goings on from the NDNG crew.

As I arrived in Lancaster on Thursday afternoon, I was greeted with the normal hustle and bustle of a Convention. Elevators were filled with ambitious gamers hauling their terrain to their respective floors. Excited talk echoed through the lobby as friends who hadn’t seen each other in months got a chance to catch up. And Vendors were just opening up their booths for the first day of what they hoped would be a bustling business with their core clientele. It was exciting just walking around and seeing what was happening.

I grabbed a few shots of my favorite tables as of Thursday afternoon.

I was also lucky enough to get a peak at my friend Greg McNally’s game of Dien Bien Phu. He had a hand-crafted elaborate trench board with water effects and had French and Vietnamese army gear to add to the experience.

After a quick game of Root with some folks playing from around the country, I headed to bed prepared for a chaotic and rewarding day Friday. Glenn Van Meter and I had signed up to run two Blood and Plunder Tournaments. In the morning, I would be running the Land Battles. 150 pts, all books valid, 1 hour and 15-minute rounds, with a 15-minute break between rounds. And in the afternoon/evening, Glenn would be running a 200 pt sea battle tournament.

As Friday began, Glenn and I weren’t quite sure how many folks to expect. around eight had pre-registered with us, but we suspected we would have more walking up. By the time sign-ins were complete we had 21 players, and one ringer (Glenn) bringing us to a total of 33 games played over the course of around four hours.

Many new players meant that pairing and rules questions could be tricky, but the more veteran players came through for us, and helped shepherd many of the newbies around the table. Glenn and I took copious notes about what we were and weren’t happy with in terms of logistics, and I expect we will continue to improve on how these run. We have seen jumps in the number of participants each year, and hope to continue that trend for Mike Tunez and the Firelock Team.

If you are planning on coming to future cons where we are running these events I will strongly suggest you register before the event. We are rapidly approaching a critical mass of players and we may need to turn people away if they haven’t committed to the event in advance!

By the time the dust had settled on the tournament, the standings were as follows:

For a more in-depth look on list construction and competitive play, sit tight. We have our best minds working on that as I write this. I can say that natives and the new books were well represented. And from the looks of the sea tournament, the new sloops from the starter boxes Firelock is selling have made naval combat more accessible to more players. I expect to see more boats on more tabletops at a game store near you soon.

The Prize support offered by Firelock dwarfed anything I saw for other tournaments in our area of the Con.

We had some folks drop from the Sea tournament due to other commitments, games, or a desire for a good dinner, but we still were able to run the sea battles with 14 to start the afternoon.

The Ocean Battles also saw some new faces with beginner players captaining Glenn Van Meter’s Ships. It was an impressive array of boats and vessels on the table.

By the time we finished, we had closed down the tournament hall. Closing around 10 pm, we had 12 players remaining and were able to lavish the players with prizes as we called it a night. It was an exhausting and awesome day, and I want to thank all the folks who played in the games we put on. Blood and Plunder was also represented by larger participation games upstairs throughout the Con in addition to the tournaments NDNG put on downstairs.

Saturday, I was able to participate in a playtest for a game designed by some Georgetown students that simulated the reconstruction period of the civil war. The Designers generously allowed me to play as the swing vote, so I could successfully annoy everyone and frustrate all plans simultaneously.

The Game centers around winning votes and states for tax revenue, and also for the votes needed to pass big legislation. As a history teacher, it is a fascinating way to teach a complicated historical period. I plan on playtesting this with my students this year and possibly writing about it in more depth in a future article.

Getting to see fellow gamers’ creativity, inventiveness, and sense of fun on display is always a treat. And for that reason, I will continue to look forward to these HMGS conventions. I always leave inspired to do some of the painting and crafting I’ve put off for so long. Seeing what is possible, always spurs me on to try some new things.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you at the next Convention in November!

Thomas “Chairborne” Mullane has been a writer and podcaster for No Dice No Glory since its inception. He teaches High School History in NY and Lives in Danbury, CT. He is a player of Blood and Plunder, Bolt Action, Dungeons and Dragons, and many other games. Tune in to “Tales of the Sail” if you want to hear what he sounds like, and please say hi during the next HMGS convention.