Historicon 2019: Blood, Plunder and Lancaster

Another is in the books. The 2019 installment was a blast and much different than the others I have attended. The new location and running a tournament for a new game made the experience of this year’s event one I will think about for a long time. It also marked the biggest collection of the NDNG staff under one roof.Venue
This year the event was held in the Lancaster convention Center in downtown Lancaster as opposed to the Lancaster Host. The venue itself was a huge step up, the facility is much newer with large spacious rooms that kept their temperature at a nice comfortable level. The vendor area was next to the room where I held my tournament, so I was able to shop as often as I liked. The local area outside the convention center has a lot of restaurants and bars within walking distance, so when you are not gaming you and your cohorts can enjoy a break within a block or two of the venue.

While I thought I got my request for a room reservation at the venue itself in time, the rooms sold out fast and I, like many others had to stay offsite. This caused not only a short commute into downtown Lancaster but I also had to pay for parking, which came out to $45 for the three days I attended. I tried to get a room for next year’s event and it’s already sold out.

Blood and Plunder Tournament
This year we ran a two-day event for the game . The first day of the tournament was a 100-point land battle and the following day was a 200-point sea-fight. This was the first Blood and Plunder tournament at an HMGS event and I was pleased with the turnout. We had twelve players on Friday play three very fun rounds of Blood and Plunder.

Many of the players were very new to the game. The atmosphere of the event was one of learning and admiration for a game that is becoming bigger each day. Jeff Willerout with his Native force took top honors and was the only player with a 3-0 record when the dust settled. Second and third place was captured by Dave Wolf and Adam Johnson respectively.

The second day of the event was a sea-fight and we had less player sign up for this. The winner of the second day’s event was Glenn Van Meter, with Dave Wolf getting second place again and Eric Mylin grabbing third place. The top three finishers each got a unique medal and great prize support provided by Firelock Games and every participant received a limited edition commander. As the pictures show, the players had a blast and those who came to learn left with a lot of knowledge on how to play the game.

We at NDNG have to really also thank the folks from Firelock Games and The  for supporting the event. Chris and Steph from Phalanx gave a discount for all the participants for Blood and Plunder products which came in very handy to some (more on this later). Firelock Games was also represented by Mike Tunez, Kai Devane and the most interesting man in the world, Rufus Devane. They brought the game tables which looked excellent, provided prize support and helped us hand out the medals in a ceremony that far superseded what you would see at the Olympic Games.

I have often said how crucial it is for developers and distributors to support the games they sell. The support provided to us by Phalanx and Firelock makes me want to continue to run events at large conventions and help them grow the game.

Even More Games

When not playing or running the tournament I was able to run demos of a few games that are not out yet. My BFF from Warlord Games, Jon Russell helped me run a demo of Blood Red Skies: MiG Alley, a game that I feel will really take off. I was also able to run a few games of Heart of Leviathan, which really impressed everyone who sat down to check it out. I was also able to show the upcoming game Blood and Valor to old-time grogs John Desh, Joe Moore, Allen Smith and Eric Lauterbach (who was in berserker mode). Their comments about Blood and Valor showed me that the community will love this game when it comes out.

The B&P Attraction

Perhaps the most interesting thing I witnessed at Historicon 2019 was how Blood and Plunder pulls players in like an addictive drug. Friday night we demonstrated the game with James Best Jr. and NDNG’s own Austin Copeland, and they loved it. They saw how the mechanics make the game flow, how each turn can lead to dramatic changes, and how you have to keep thinking during all phases of play.

Both of these guys are long-time Flames of War and Team Yankee players (with Austin winning Masters in 2018) that I felt had little interest in picking up a new game. Tom “Chairborne” Mullane quickly taught them the game and they were off and running in no time. Both of them said that they wanted to play this game in the future and I saw Jim walking away from the Phalanx booth with a big bag of plunder.

The next day I cornered Max Beck and Eric Mylin into playing on the sea tournament. They just wanted to check out the game and agreed to play in the first round. Breaking in a new player on the sea version of the game was something that worried me. This mode is a little harder than the land version and based on the fact that many of the land players did not stay for the sea event caused me some concern.

My fear was unfounded, both stayed for all three rounds. Both of them picked up a force to play in the future. After round one, I ran into Glenn Van Meter and I shamelessly applied some soft coercive pressure for him to play in the second round. Glenn must have liked it, he stayed for round three and finished undefeated in his two games and won the event with Eric coming in third.

Glenn liked the game so much that he picked up a Dutch army to no one’s surprise.
These stories above, combined with the fact so many players showed up to a tournament to learn the game should tell you a lot about the game. First of all the community who plays it is friendly enough for a player to show up at an event and have his first opponent show him the ropes. Few other games attract brand new players to its tournament scene.

I learned that calling Blood and Plunder a “Pirate Game” isn’t correct at all. B&P is a skirmish wargame set in the Caribbean pirate age that gives you the ability to play a pirate faction. Few players made “pirate” lists to play at the event. Even the lists I made for Max and Eric were the British Royal Navy and French Buccaneer Hunters.

I was also able to test out my Scottish (also not a pirate list) list and found out how much I liked it. Blood and Plunder is a true wargame that represents its period very well and gives gamers an appreciation for a period many of us haven’t gamed before. As new players sit down and learn the game, they realize what a true test of their tactical acumen the game represents and by the time they end the game they are hooked.

This convention showed me how easy B&P is to pick up. For a brand new player to sit down and learn the game well enough to win a small tournament speaks to its intuitive mechanics and is balance. Most rulesets seem daunting at first, we slowly learn them well enough to understand them and one day master them. The very nature of the game makes it easy to pick up and learn on the fly.

While the game is easy to learn it is not simple. Each faction, and forces within these factions,

play differently and represent different capabilities, each with a host of tailored special rules. So the old saying “easy to learn hard to master” really applies here.

A testament of how balanced the game is can be exemplified by my co-host Thomas. This was Tom’s first time playing the game and when he made his list he misunderstood how the points system worked (and did not use the excellent force builder). Due to mistaking model points for unit points, he ended up fielding a 172 point land force. Despite using his massively over-pointed force, Tom lost both his games to more experienced players in two close games. This should show you how good decision making and knowing your force’s abilities can help you defeat a force larger than your own.

Overall, I left Historicon 2019 with an increased love for this game and a desire to make sure that a Blood and Plunder tournament is a staple for all HMGS in the future. I think that seeing five gamers who I respect learn the game and then purchase a force for it is all I can say for how much fun this game is.

NDNG Staff Meeting

While we did not coordinate our attendance we had a strong showing from the NDNG staff and its international flavor made it seem like the cast from the movie the Great Escape. From Canada, we had Scott Roach, Robert Kelly, and Matt Varnish. The US East Coast contingent featured Thomas Mullane, Chris Jackson, Austin Copeland, and Ed Sales. Seeing these guys is half the fun of a convention for me and I wish our brothers and sister from all over the US and Europe can make it out to an event so we can game and gab.