GenCon 2024 Wrap Up

GenCon 2024 is in the books! And it was one of the records:

• great games
• splendid comradery
• a little booze
• a few steaks, burgers, and tilapia on the grill
• some rain
• an amazing amount of laughs.

First things first: this GenCon set records AGAIN for attendance. By the time we arrived on-site, every door had a sign on it: “SOLD OUT ALL DAYS” According the latest, preliminary estimates of attendees are well over 70,000, and I believe it. The halls did not seem as crowded as last year, but there were tons of people and I’ve never seen Sold Out signs on the doors before. I would venture to guess, we may have hit 80,000 this year.

THURSDAY

Just had one game going on Thursday and it was one I was slightly dubious about: the Near Future Science Fiction Crisis NSDM Megagame. Recommended by Tom V., the game was:

• The world is about to be hit by a series of asteroids, doing varying amounts (but always significant) damage to places around the world.
• Each player is assigned a role to play, which is largely (a) country and (b) job title
  • I was assigned the role of the American Secretary of Defense
• Each players was then asked to, as part of their role, either work with or against players of other countries to try and solve the pending challenges or take advantage of the chaos to expand their influence and power.
• First job: stop an extinction level event that was going to occur in Hungary

As the American SecDef, my job was to ensure our nuclear stockpile was deployed against the asteroids appropriately while working with the Russians to ensure they were doing their part. And it worked: Russia, America and Japan worked together to throw a bunch of nukes at the extinction asteroid, which we split apart into a shload of pieces. China, not represented, declined to join this global coalition.

Although we stopped the extinction level event, there were a lot of other events, including the US losing Chicago, and tsunamis putting both American coasts in peril. While the first half of the game was about planetary protection, the latter half was about saving survivors and capitalizing on the damage wrought. For example:

• The Russians aided the US by providing massive aid to the American Midwest, where refugees and evacuees were being gathered.
• The American Pacific Navy engaged in a massive evacuation project out to sea, to save those who would otherwise have been destroyed by tsunamis.
• The Russians, irked by the lack of Chinese support during the extinction event, decided to invade; we Americans aided their efforts by turning off the Chinese GPS systems.

In the end, the US fared comparatively badly: beyond Chicago, we had massive damage on the coasts that we simply couldn’t forestall – at least five asteroids hit the Atlantic and Pacific, and we only had 96 hours to evacuate dozens of major cities. The death toll was extreme. Russia fared better but our assistance in Hungary and China predisposed them to helping us,. Germany was a problem, as they had taken a direct hit and the Russian moved in quickly with “humanitarian aid” (largely comprised of the Red Army) and we had to send two full divisions of our own to protect out bases there (Germany is a NATO member, after all) but otherwise we saved the planet. It was a wild game, short and merry, and massively engaging. I recommend you checking these guys out if you have an interest in geopolitics and futurism – the whole thing was very well done, super interesting and fun as hell.

Thursday ended with a ill-advised visit to Cantina Social, just down the block like a brightly painted hand grenade in an Easter basket. I’m nobody’s idea of Yelp, but I can’t in good conscience recommend this place if you have anything even remotely resembling an impulse control issue.

FRIDAY AM

First game of the day was a miniatures game: the Battle of Salamis, 480 BC, Greeks vs Persians. Initially, before the game started, it looked like it was going to be a massive Persian win:

It had all the makings of a drubbing for the Hellenes, but that was not at all the case. Poor rolls, inexperienced crews, and frankly some dubious tactical decisions hurt the Persian effort and eventually gave the victory to the Greeks. Teams were:

• Greeks: Tom V and John V
• Persians: me, Doug, and Kevin

Here’s some pics:

FRIDAY PM

My first – and only – rpg this con was was a game I had been waiting a couple years to try: Vaesen. No surprises with the game mechanics – multiple contested six dice versus a variety of polyhedrals, Nordic gothic setting, we had an absolutely blast. DM Bryan with a Y had designed an excellent adventure, and unlike previous DMs joined us in our constant flow of wisecracks, dick jokes and otherwise horrifying comedic bon mots. He was a gem and, while we weren’t the most on-point of parties, he flowed us into the end game with expertise and aplomb. Excellent game, superior management, maximum fun.

In the end, we were able to peek under the rug (NOT a euphemism), find the reason why the ghosts were haunting the mountain and – after a few well placed rifle shots into local ruffians’ faces – put a stop to the issues plaguing the town and got in good with the Cardinal. It was a wild, raucous ride, and incredibly fun.

SATURDAY

Saturday was dominated by an Ottawa Red Shirts classic: Chicago Bootleggers: The Great Whiskey Raid of 1932 with the Ottawa Redshirts. And it was a blowout. Basically: a train full of contraband whiskey gets stopped at the Canadian border by an overzealous US Customs agent. They can’t move it all themselves, so they call in the local Sherriff and and the FBI. But several carloads of the Chicago mob want that whiskey too. And everyone converged on the scene at the same time.

In the final accounting and after five awesome hours of thrills, spills, gunfire, the occasional pratfall, some self-inflicted bullet wounds, a little whining, and a great deal of accusations and recriminations, the Townies and the local Sherriff’s department came out on top! Between the FBI and the mobsters duking it out, and the Customs agents failing dedicated to preserving the whiskey in law abiding hands, the Townies were able to decouple the train cars while the deputies taught Customs a short lesson in moral ambiguity.

It was a great GenCon! Hats off to Don, Doug, Kevin, Tracy, Glen, Tom V, and John! And so glad to host Josh, Janet and Bob2, and new friends Alex and Bryan with a Y!