Fall In 2023 - Friday, November 3

 Another day trip to Lancaster! I was in attendance here for just a few hours and have just a few observations.

First - tons of folks around so attendance appeared to be in good shape going into the weekend. The weather was good so travel delays should have been at a minimum.Vendor booths were crowded and there were plenty of full games in play. The vibe was positive and bustly throughout and appropriate to the size. 

I think I prefer the Wyndham (formerly the Host) to the downtown convention center location. It feels more homey and relaxed whereas downtown has a more upscale and cosmopolitan vibe. For one there for an entire weekend it's not clear to me what would be preferential. And I can't speak to the quality of the rooms. The Wyndam also has better lighting and perhaps better sound control. At Historicon there were a fair amount of micced-up game masters who needed to be heard over the din.

Maybe it's the times, but I did notice more African Americans than in ages past. Also I noticed many more women at the tables this year - mostly spouses I'd guess rather than gamer gals out on a lark. More importantly, I noticed a lot of kids (both boys and girls) playing at the many kid friendly tables throughout the venue. Not there to game, I don't typically look much at the great printed convention book that comes with admission, but saw that there was a dedicated and concerted effort to attract the tykes, this is much more so than I had noticed in the past. Welcome developments indeed!

As to the games - this is just a midday snapshot (on opening day no less) and not necessarily representative of the entire con, but I felt the displays were getting better and better. Here are the tables that caught my eye - first up the entryway spectacle:

 Also in the lobby: 

Bloody Romans!

All Quiet on the Martian Front - beautiful game!

Impressive hardware!

Drowning in tactical options! You could go forward, or try a frontal assault, or maybe go straight in, shooting all the while. Heh, I kid of course but still, a tremendous spectacle!

 

I can never resist getting shots of the perfect little boards for the Flames of War tourneys:

 

I was perhaps too early, but the competition space was pretty quiet. Wally's Basement was to be held in the same spot but was going to start much later than I could remain.

 On to the Distelfink! Er, now the Lancaster Ballroom.

Sometimes I take shots for my own personal reference - I love this jungle scatter terrain in this shot and the next!

Great table overall!

Soldiers are secondary. Create a natural and peacetime landscape first, THEN bring the war to it.

(Cigar box) Battle mats > billiard ball felt

Crescent Root pre-painted buildings are stunningly good and very difficult to acquire!

This was in another room - VERY cool set up - a contender for my favorite.

Back to Distelfink!

This AWI set up is also a contender - lovely pastoral set up, marred by human conflict

Beautiful, simple game!

Perhaps another finalist is this MWWBKs Zulu War game. A little cluttery in the backfield but looks great!

Groin shots are a hazard hard to avoid for photographers!

Hot Napoleonic action at Papelotte in the Waterloo campaign.

On to the side shows:

An errant Starbucks cup menaces this snowy landscape

ooh! cemetery!

Nice and crowded Rebels and Patriots game

One of the kid friendly games - Gnome Wars

This Pony Wars game had just wrapped as I got there.

Finally some Wars of Ozz games in the HAWKS room

Definitely something completely different!

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