Re: Con Report: NameThatCon St. Louis

> Date: 	 Tue, 28 Apr 1998 18:27:48 -0500
> To:		 FTGZG-L@bolton.ac.uk
> From: 	 The Caldwells <clcaldwell@primary.net>
> Reply-to:	 FTGZG-L@bolton.ac.uk
> Subject:	 Con Report: NameThatCon St. Louis

Good job in a pressure situation.  I know how small cons can be (I 
have been hit up for the price for the full weekend to run a game as 
well!!)  Preparation and flexibility are the keys to running a 
successful demo.

Thanks for the kind words about our Con support, but a good deal of 
the credit has to go to Tony Harrison our shipper.  I PROMISE but Tony 
DELIVERS!!  Tony has done an excellent job of setting con support for 
us over the last year.

KR

> Hello all,
> 
> NameThatCon 11: In-Con-Ceivable was held the weekend of April 18 in
St.
> Louis, MO, USA.  I "carried the flag" as the only Ground Zero Games
> representative.  It was a pretty small gaming/sc-fi convention.  The
gaming
> was pretty badly run (don't even get me started about what I had to go
> through, but the dork running the gaming registration tried to make me
pay
> the $25 con entrance fee to run my own game!	Luckily, I found the
gaming
> chairman who pointed out the error of his ways).
> 
> I ran a scenario that was posted to this list by Peter Caron nearly
two
> years ago.  It was called "Circle of Death."	Basically, each player
drew
> another player's ship name and that ship was their target until it was
> destroyed.  When a ship was destroyed, that player passed his target
on
> until only two ships were fighting.  THANKS to PETER CARON if you are
still
> out there for sharing this scenario for us.
> 
> This scenario made a great convention scenario as it gave clear 1st,
2nd,
> and 3rd place winners.  A BIG THANKS to GEO-HEX for not only providing
> enough miniatures for 1st through 3rd but also for providing enough
minis
> to give EVERY PARTICIPANT a miniature prize IN ADDITION TO a coupon
off of
> a direct order from Geo-Hex.	I was totally floored when I received
the
> package containing the prizes.  Obviously I would urge anyone running
a
> convention game to get in contact with Geo-Hex as they are obviously
> enormously supportive of our hobby.
> 
> By the way, there was a Starfleet Battles tournament going on at the
same
> time we were playing.  We played through the Circle scenario plus two
other
> "pick-up" games in the time it took for them to play through their
first
> round.  And we looked like we were having more fun (i.e. - we had no
fist
> fights over rules interpretations).  And did I mention that of the
seven
> players only one had ever even seen the game before?
> 
> To brag on myself a little bit (just a little - I'm normally quite
modest)
> I must say that the amount of preparation I did helped make this
> successful.  Obviously getting in touch with Geo-Hex a month before so
I
> had time to get the prizes helped.  
> 
> I also prepared two sheets ahead of time: one) the ship record sheet
for
> the single cruiser that each player had in the Circle scenario.  This
> included a movement record as well as the beam battery effectiveness
chart
> (see below), damage chart, and threshold check chart.  Two) a second
sheet
> detailed 8 examples of orders and movement.  This allowed players to
simply
> pick a maneuver from the sheet and try out the movement rules for the
first
> few turns.  After that they really weren't needed, but I was glad I
had
> them for the beginning.
> 
> The beam battery effectiveness chart was made to reference the Beam
Battery
> Measuring Stick (TM).  I took two dowels of three feet length, marked
them
> at the 12" marks, and then painted each section a different color
(red,
> then orange, then yellow).  I then keyed my chart to show the number
of
> dice that each battery fired at each color range.  So at "Yellow" you
were
> pretty safe, but if you were in the "Red" zone you were in trouble.
> 
> Finally, well-painted miniatures and a black sheet speckled with stars
(ala
> the sheet Geo-Hex sells, but mine is 8 feet by 3 feet and homemade)
> certainly helped.  You see, this Con was so badly run that a majority
of
> the games had ZERO players at their times to start.  If you wanted
players,
> you had to compete for them.	If I hadn't had a starfield and minis I
would
> never have gotten any players, but within ten minutes of setting up I
had
> three people ready to go.  The other four players I picked up as the
night
> went on, and I think the most I had at any one time was five.
> 
> I think that's it.  No pictures I'm afraid.  I do have the sheets
available
> in Microsoft Publisher format if anyone is interested in seeing what I
did.
>  And is there anyone interested in a repost of the "Circle of Death"?
> 
> Nick Caldwell, who just missed getting Andreas Katsulas' autograph
this
> weekend
> clcaldwell@primary.net
> 
>