NashCon 2013 - May 24th-26th, Nashville TN

[scoutdad]

I know its early, but the HMGS-Midsouth guys are really looking to expand their player base by moving beyond just historical games.
Last year, I ran [IMHO] a very sucessful ACTASF weekend - 12 different players in 6 events covering about 26 hours.

This year, we want to top that... and to help, HMGS is being more than kind. The event organizers have already requesting a chance to get together and discuss the upcoming convention. They have offered me a choice of:
1) Double the floor/table space in the main hall and located right in front of the entrance.
This will limit me to about 16 players max during the tournament, but will still allow for the huge Battle of Kh'rtis Rock scenario on Friday night.
2) A smaller, separate room dedicated solely to ACTASF.
This will enable us to have the potential for more players, but will not provide anywhere near hte pass-through observation of the ongoing games.

Befroe I get together with Brant and Scott to make plans, I need some help.
Who's planning to attend, or thinks they may be there in May?
What are your thoughts on Main Hall versus dedicated gaming room?

 

[McKinstry]

I'm really hoping to make it this year.

 

[LimeyDragon]

I'll see if i can get the time off to lend a hand..

 

[billclo]

I can't make it, but I would advise you to take the doubled table space in a prime location. You NEED people wandering by and seeing the games. My event(s) at the last HMGS convention were sold out, yet I'd say that about 3/4ths of my people were walkups who saw the game and stopped by to check it out. Most of the ticket holders were no-shows. I would have gotten far fewer people if I had been in an off to the side area.

I know a guy who runs Battletech at HMGS events, and while he seems to like the small side room idea for his events, he rarely has events that have enough players (half full or less from what I've seen is typical). From my perspective it's easier to get people to see/consider trying your game if you are out in the open where you can be seen from a distance.

Even with a sign out front of the private room off to the side, you're likely to see fewer people wandering in. Which is why I would greatly prefer to run my events at Origins in the miniatures hall, despite it being noisier.

 

[Lincolnlog]

I'm planning on coming. And I agree with Billco, you need to be where people can see the action!

Bob

 

[Naradra]

I concur with the first option and what other have said, if you want to raise awareness about the game, take the prime location that everyone as to pass by. Having done con and ran demo and event for other games, you want to have as many people pass by your table and see what you are doing, even if they don't play or interact with you directly, they might look it up later and that's part of what you want. As long as you have the name of the game/product on display and easily identifiable, then you will benefit from having that location, even if it might not look like it at first. At any rate, good luck with the convention, a bit far for me to go thought.

 

[scoutdad]

I want the big area in the main gaming hall as well, but felt it only appropriate to poll those who might show up in case the majority felt otherwise.

Last year, we had two tables off to one side of hte main hall. More people stopped and watched and asked questions than actually played. The Trek-like minis attracted the attention first, and since very few ST2500s were available at that time - most of the gaming was done with older Starline2400s. This year, I plan ot have all of my painted ST2500s there and hope to really attract attention!

 

[Mongoose Andy]

So do you require any support from Mongoose for this event, if so drop me a line at amcmillan@mongoosepublishing.com . Also have you thought about running Victory at Sea as a demo game there?

Thanks

Andy McMillan

 

[scoutdad]

Andy,

Email sent.

 

[scoutdad]

If you're waivering on Nashcon, here's an enticement.
I just finished modeling Kh'rtis Rock, so there will be all new sceanery to fight over:

 

[Nerroth]

I could imagine a certain six-sided space monster being done up with that very same colour scheme...

 

[Allerka]

I admit I'm tempted to try making it down there, put some faces to the names here, and have some fun. Are you running anything besides demo tables?

 

[scoutdad]

I admit I'm tempted to try making it down there, put some faces to the names here, and have some fun. Are you running anything besides demo tables?

Yes, there will be much more than demos going on. The current plan is:

The are two sessions on Friday evening.
This will be the Battle for Kh'rtis Rock scenario. This scenario is a massive battle featuring 31 Federation ships, 29 Klingon ships, a Battlestation, and a few freighters unlucky enough to be in the wrong spot at the wrong time. This years version has been tweaked abit to provide a more balanced and hopefully much more fun scenario.
As with last year, there will be no official demos on Friday, but anyone interested in the game will be assigned a squadron of ships, taught the mechaincs of the game, and can then play as long as they want.

There are three sessions on Saturday:
This will be the three-round, ACTASF tournament. We had eight participants last year and it looks like there will are going to be 16 this year. Although we could easily exceed that number! 8)
I will have enough maps and terrain to handle up to 24 players, after that it'll get problematical - but what a problem to have! :wink:

The is only a single session on Sunday morning.
This is typically the "demo" day for most people.
I'll have an introductory Judge Dredd game going (run by my two sons) that anyone can play.
I will be demo'ing ACTASF (and hopefully VaS II) on this date, not running any other events.

 

[bolive]

Well but me down for the tournament on Saturday. Sounds like a real fun weekend. Look forward to seeing everyone.

 

[scoutdad]

Well, I need to get together with the Nashcon guys this month / early next month to work out arrangements. Knowing who'll be there (or at least hope to be there) will help tremendously.

At last count, I had:
Scoutdad (Tony L. Thomas)
PlasmaBoy (Mark A. Thomas)
Close'n Hose(Ken A. Thomas)
SFU_Fear (Mike Curtis)
Fearless (John Curtis)
Brigantine (Merl DeWitt)
The_Burl (Scott Burleson)
These seven are our locals and are 100% certain:

On this forum, I've had probable response from;
Bolive
VolMD
LincolnLog
Mckinstry

And am still hoping to hear from
MDaubien
Bubbahotep

Throw in the two from the ADB forums - and that's 15 right there.

Reply to this thread if you think you migth be coming to Nashcon.
Let me know what day(s) you'll be there: Fri - Sat - Sun
And what the likely of attending is - on a scale of 1(not likely) to 10 (definitely)
If you need more info on Nashcon 2013, it can be found here:
HMGS-NashCon 2013

 

[Allerka]

I'm in the "maybe" right now. I'd be interested in the Friday scenario and Saturday tournament. Need to confirm some details (like money, availability, etc.) first.