Going into the event I luckily had little to no expectations. I had been told about it by a few friends a week before, and while it sounded fun I wasn't particularly looking forward to it. I hadn't put any thought into it for that matter. What little expectations I had stemmed from previous events kin to this.
Kingdom-con had a great turn out, and a lot of support from various game companies. There were rooms set up for 40k & Warmachine, and a tournament that was in full swing by the time we showed up. There is a lot I could cover - but I just want to focus on the five highlights of the event. This will be presented in descending order of awesome.
#5 - Warlands
I have been on a big 80's post-apocalyptic kick lately. Maybe its a mark of the waning days of the Zombie Apocalypse, but there is an almost aesthetic nostalgia that goes with cold-war era visions of nuclear wastelands with Mad-Max style banditos. This game capitalizes on games like the aforementioned Mad Max trilogy, Death Race, and other motor-head style movies.
Now I am no 'car guy' or 'gear head' by any definition...but the prospect of zipping around junk yards in suped-up buggies with machine guns strapped to the hood is too cool to resist. The game is all about basically getting matchbox cards and strapping guns to them. It is the ultimate demolition derby, and while I didn't get to play a demo: I am definitly eager to give this a shot.
#4 - Flames of War
I have known about this game for a while, but never got to watch people play. Historical wargaming seems like an idea I can get behind. While Milady Geek and her husband were upstairs trying Battlegrounds (basically a card game version of WFB) I went downstairs to check some of the games in progress. There were three games of Flames of War going on, and I watched as a group of what looked like US infantry valiantly hold against a Nazi Armored advance. Another table featured soviet mass-infantry charged defensive lines of some other army while artillery/rockets flared overhead.
From what I saw, it looked like the game was simple, the rules were quick, and had a good depth of strategy. I'm not eager to buy new miniatures, but I am definitly curious about looking into the rules.
#3 - Zombie Dice
There was a creepy old guy giving the demonstration. I had seen it sold in places like Barnes & Noble, and had heard good things in a few random reviews (Penny Arcade comes to mind), but had never tried it. I was willling to wait to avoid the creepy guy. However, after overhearing the excitment of some of the other players, we all jumped in for a round. We wound up sitting through five games. The fifth we played a variant called 'Cthulhu dice'.
Zombie dice is fast, fun, and amazingly simple. If you can roll dice and count to 3, you can play this game. All it is is a set of dice (red, yellow, and green) you pour into a bag, draw three and roll. They will either come up as a shotgun blast, a trail of feet, or some juicy & delicious brains. The brains you keep, and make up your score for the game. Feet are runners, and you keep rolling those till you either get a shotgun or a brain. Shotgun blasts are set aside through your player turn, and you can keep rolling until you either choose to stop or accumulate 3 blasts. If you get to the 3, you basically bust and lose all your brains. The first one to get to 13 wins.
I would highly recommend this game. This is a great quick, casual game that you can play with any number of people (even as few as 1...IE yourself...so you can play with yourself I guess I'm saying...yeah...). It would make a great drinking game, and even if you don't often play it: I encourage everyone to get a set and keep them around.
#2 - 40k kit bashing competition
The only event featured on my list. This might very well be the most fun I had at the con (its a tie between this and #1. The rules were simple, you had something like a half-hour to assemble a miniature with clippers and glue from random bits grab-bags put together by the War Store. They also had a giant tackle box full of parts in hte front on the off-chance your bag didn't come with any legs (like mine did), and you are encouraged to swap and use bits from around the table.
It was a BLAST. Some people foolishly tried to make models that could be featured and playable in the game (I pitty these fools). Everyone else just threw together what they had in some of the most horrible amalgations imaginable. I created some chaos champion with no shirt and as many flails, spikes, and banners I could glue to him: my end goal being to use everything in the bag I was given. I came close, but my goal fell short with the last 6 pieces, as I had run out of room to put bits after I gave him that spiked codpiece (lol).
This event lost #1 slot mainly because it took 40 minutes for the judges to come in, look at all the miniatures, and then vote and debate over who won. When the winners were decided upon, it seems that they were just pulled aside and left everyone else just kind of milling about. When it became clear the event was over, we quickly stole every bit that wasn't nailed down, then left the room to the grumpy Dresden RPG group in the back who had been dicks the whole time through.
#1 - SUPER DUNGEON EXPLORER
OMFG! A 16-bit beer-and-pretzels style tactical game a la Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactica Ogre (or whatever its called). Every player takes a hero and the 'consul' takes the roll of DM as the players must make it through a dungeon, steal treasure, and fight hordes of awesome looking kobolds, giant ogres, mimic knock-offs, and a dragon we never had to fight.
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| This has nothing to do with what I'm talking about. But when looking for pictures I came across this miniature, and it might be the most awesome model I have ever seen (even more then the badass bear below) |
The classes we played with were a Dwarf Fighter (who had a taunt attack and a cleave ability), a Demonkin Rogue (Who backstabbed and did some crazy dodges and teleports around the place) and a Human Paladin (who had an awesome offensive healing ability). There was also an elf druid that could apparently turn into one of hte most awesome bear-models I have ever seen...but we weren't allowed to play that one :(
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| This bear is scientifically proven to contain 900% win |
After each player turn, the DM can summon kobolds or other monsters and has a number of points they can move each turn. Kobolds have different types and abilities that allow them to either throw rocks, gouge with pointed sticks, or beat on the players with cruel-looking daggers. They also have the ability to 'mob' which makes their attacks far more lethal and make them a legitimate threat if the players are careless. At one point our paladin would have died if the Dwarf hadn't stepped in, drank a potion, and used a special ability that took the hit for him.
The game comes out in September, and is an easy must-by. This is another great quick and casual game that you can probably rope non-gamers into playing with you.
I would also like to say the guy who gave this demo was easily the most fun and enthusiastic at the con, which is big when you are deciding whether or not you are interested in the game they are selling.
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