GenCon 2019

Montag · Post by **Montag** » Sat Jul 06, 2019 2:25 pm

I'm doing the full deal this year and my brother is coming as well. I live on the south side of Indy and I am curious of the OO crew's plans.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Sat Jul 06, 2019 2:46 pm

I really, really wanted to do the full deal again (I did the last two years, and it was one of the best times I've had), but an unexpected new pet and life expenses just made it impossible. I'll only be there for Sunday this year, sadly. I'm in-state, so the gas isn't much, and will be staying with some friends in town Saturday night. Net cost for Sunday for me will be about $30 including badge, gas, and food.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Sat Jul 06, 2019 3:13 pm

I'll be there Thursday - Sunday with my friend/co-worker Terry who I went with last year. Had so much fun there was no question about me coming back this year.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Sat Jul 06, 2019 3:30 pm

Luckily, I didn't know I was going until yesterday, so I didn't spend the last couple of months researching what the latest cool thing was or what would be there. Hopefully that means I can get by without having much money!

It also helps that I know I have a couple of games on the way via KS (Hostage Negotiator should be here this month.)

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Sat Jul 06, 2019 3:55 pm

Blackhawk wrote:Luckily, I didn't know I was going until yesterday, so I didn't spend the last couple of months researching what the latest cool thing was or what would be there. Hopefully that means I can get by without having much money!

I'm actually going to try to not spend as much this year either. My game group is halfway through a Gloomhaven campaign that is likely going to take the rest of the year, which means our backlog has just been growing and growing. I also have the STREET MASTERS all-in coming in October.

This year we scheduled more actual game play time than anything - two sessions in the Hot Games Room and library passes Thurs-Sat. The goal is to play more, buy less. We'll see how it goes.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Sat Jul 06, 2019 4:38 pm

Yep, and we just got the last of Sword & Sorcery in, plus Batman: Gotham City Chronicles. I have the wave 1 elements of Hostage Negotiator (which is the stuff already in print) this month, plus several sets of dice in August. I've also got several games in line to take a turn on the table.

My goals right now are to get remaining content for games that I already have rather than collecting a bunch of new games (although I wouldn't mind a good, quick solo game or two.) Since most of that was already released, it isn't something I'm too likely to get at GenCon unless I find it in the consignment room or the CSI scratch-and-dent shelf. Seeing that I'm coming on Sunday after it's all been picked over, the chances aren't great, and it's likely to be cheaper online than in the other booths. I'm not running any RPGs right now (I'm a player for a change), and already have what I need for the next one I do run (which will be Torg Eternity.) I could use some sci-fi miniatures, but I've actually found that GenCon is a terrible place to shop for miniatures.

I'll mostly be going for the experience and to check out some of the general board gaming/RPG accessories. Maybe a Star Realms mat, some organization options, that sort of thing.

That's not to say that, if I had a pile of cash, I wouldn't be getting a few games.

Punisher · Post by **Punisher** » Sat Jul 06, 2019 8:41 pm

As of right now unless something drastic happens, my wife and I will be going for the full deal. We have our tickets and a hotel reservation about 20 minutes away. Driving in from Jersey. Might start the drive Monday night after work and take our time getting there (it looks to be about a 11 hourish drive)
This is our first time going, but its been on my list of "must go at least once" things. (We hit another big one on my list last year when we went to Star Wars celebration for the first time.)
Does anyone know if the parking deal they have is worth it or am I likely to find cheap parking closer to the convention?

Any tips or things to look out for at the con? (I found out too late that there is a LOT of stuff you needed to pre-register for and pay extra for, so probably not going to be able to hit too many things. We are going to try to get into some of the free painting classes though and I did get free tickets to the Cosplay contest)

Montag · Post by **Montag** » Sat Jul 06, 2019 9:41 pm

Does the crew try to get together at some point? I have not done many events in the past. I think the BGG Hot Games Room is pretty awesome to get access to the newer games. I recommend trying to know the rules in advance for the games you want to look at.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Sat Jul 06, 2019 10:30 pm

Punisher wrote:This is our first time going, but its been on my list of "must go at least once" things. (We hit another big one on my list last year when we went to Star Wars celebration for the first time.)
Does anyone know if the parking deal they have is worth it or am I likely to find cheap parking closer to the convention?

You're going to love it, Punisher. Last year was my first year and we had a blast despite our trip getting off to a really bumpy start (our initial flight got cancelled, and by the time we got to Will Call the line was 4+ hours).

We used the parking deal last year and did it again this year. To me it was well worth it. From the lots its either a very short shuttle ride or a moderate to long walk, depending on whether you're hitting the arena or the convention center. I highly doubt you're going to find parking any closer, but I'll let some of the GenCon veterans confirm.

Avoid Will Call if at all possible. If you're planning on picking up your badge on Thursday, you may be in for missing half a day of convention waiting in line. That's what happened to us. They stay open late so you can pick it up Wednesday night if you're in town which is what I'd suggest to avoid the MASSIVE lines on Thursday. I paid the $10 to have it shipped and will NEVER make the mistake of Will Call again.

As for tips, I don't have a lot since I've only been the once, but I will suggest hitting the vendor hall hard on Thursday. That was by far the least crowded day and when we got the bulk of our hands-on time, publisher interaction, etc. Good shopping day too, as some publishers sell out quickly if it's a hot game. I suggest if you see it and you want it, you buy it. Some people like to wait for Sunday deals, but just from our experience we ran into more "sorry, we're sold out" than hot bargains on Sunday. (Though I did get a super sweet deal on HOSTAGE NEGOTIATOR: CRIME WAVE and a bunch of promo packs). There are tons of good first timer Gen Con tips on the Boardgamegeek forums, so I'd suggest looking at those. We read a bunch before our trip and they helped a lot.

I second Montag on the BGG Hot Games Room. That was a blast. We got to play FORBIDDEN SKY when it was hot off the presses. We had so much fun, in fact, that we signed up for two sessions this year.

I also highly recommend getting some game library time in, if they have slots available. That was another highlight of the trip and we had a ball sitting down and just trying stuff.

I can't express how positive our experience was overall. It's a really good time.

If any OOers want to drop by and say hi, PM me and we'll make it happen. Blackhawk and I met up last year.

Punisher · Post by **Punisher** » Sat Jul 06, 2019 11:16 pm

I have only done Will Call once in my entire Con life and only because I jumped on too late to get it shipped, so I already have my GenCon Badges in hand and the Cosplay ticket we got is apparently an E-Ticket so I should be good there.
Our current plan is to start the drive Monday night or Tuesday morning. Neither one of us like driving and we both have some medical issues that will make it an adventure to say the least, so there may be plenty of stops along the way. The goal is to get to our hotel room by early Wednesday at the latest so that we can have the whole day to recover from the drive. Then leave after the con on Sun or early Monday depending on our condition after the con to get home by early Tuesday at the latest to again recover from the drive before work the next day.
We went to Pax unplugged 2 years ago (She couldn't go last year because of work) and she REALLY enjoyed the various painting classes we took, so I am hoping the onsite sign up ones have room by the time we get to them. If I had realized you had to sign up online I might have jumped on a few less costly ones (The Pax ones were all free)
Other than that we are going to be looking for some games that peak our interest and try them out. I have a HUGE HUGE backlog of KS games, so I'm not looking for anything in particular at the moment and not planning on spending too much money there if I can help it, but I'm always on the lookout for good deals.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Sun Jul 07, 2019 1:23 am

The parking deal is worth it. Unless you have a hotel next to the con, you won't find parking except at absurd rates. Long-distance hotel shuttles are ok for getting you there, but if you need to go back to your car for anything, they suck (and I've always had to go back to my car - usually to drop something off.)

For shopping, my musts are the CoolStuffInc scratch and dent shelves, where you can get really good prices, and the consignment/auction hall. The consignment portion of the hall is just the world's largest used games store. The items have different prices for each day, typically dropping in price the longer you wait - but if you wait, someone else may snatch something up. My advice is that unless you are desperate or want to experience the 'crush', skip the vendor hall for the first two hours on Thursday. You can get some of the good, limited stuff then (especially at the CSI scrach and dent), but it is an absolute mob. It subsides after the first couple of hours.

Sunday shopping will get you great bargains, but you'll only get bargains on what's left after 50,000 other people went over it. Last year, for instance, Miniature Market was selling card play mats for 5/$20. These places don't want to pay to ship this stuff home! It is very worth checking to see what you can find, but is not for must-haves.

And yes, the game library is amazing, and the location is... unique. Visit.

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Sun Jul 07, 2019 7:39 pm

I am fairly confident I am going to go - for the first time in my life - on Thursday. I might consider going Friday, but I doubt I will have the time/money to do so. My main goal is to get there for the vendors, so I hear Thursday is the way to go on that.

Any tips and tricks? Since I am in West Lafayette, I can easily get down and back in a day. I think I am going to ride with some coworkers friends.

Anybody else going on Thursday? I would love to at least touch base and shake some hands!

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Sun Jul 07, 2019 9:07 pm

Not for me again this year. Summer camp with the scouts.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Mon Jul 08, 2019 1:52 am

baelthazar wrote: ↑Sun Jul 07, 2019 7:39 pm My main goal is to get there for the vendors ...

Any tips and tricks?

Cool Stuff Inc has a scratch and dent shelf that has really good deals. The consignment hall across from the vendor hall has even better deals (it is usually listed on the map as 'auction', but is both.) Print out a hard copy of the map in advance (you can get it from their site) and note any 'must visit' vendors on it. You will be given a coupon book. Look through it. There are lots of bonuses and freebies. One tradition is that there is a coupon for free die from Crystal Caste. When you pick it up, buy the official GenCon dice set. They have a different set every year, they come in a tin, and there is an extra slot for the free die in the tin. While it is crowded, there usually aren't long lines for the vendors, save for a couple of big vendors (especially Fantasy Flight and sometimes Paizo.) Since you only have one day, unless you have something you absolutely must have there, skip them. In fact, I find the big publishers to be far less worth the time than all of the smaller publishers, craft places, indy publishers, retailers, and so forth. The big ones have exactly the same products you'll see on Amazon or their site, and for the same (or higher) prices.

Also, with the exceptions I listed above, GenCon isn't the place to go for discounts. There is lots of availability (usually), exclusive bonuses and promos and that sort of thing, but most booths charge full MSRP for their products. What it is good for is discovering new things, for various crafts and accessories you didn't know existed, and for the overall experience.

In more general terms, bring a water bottle (they have free fill stations everywhere.) Bring comfortable shoes you can stand on concrete for hours in. Bring a backpack. Bring pen and paper to write down names, games, etc on. Bring snacks (and meal bars if you don't want to waste your limited time waiting in concession lines.) If you're a caffeine drinker, consider a bag of chocolate covered espresso beans as a quicker, easier-to-carry alternative. Six or eight will solve caffeine withdrawal. One trick I discovered was to take a big manila folder and put something stiff in it. I use the back of a clipboard with the clip removed, a piece of cardboard or whatever would work, too. You'll get tons of free promos, cards, sheets, everything under the sun. They'll get bent up in bags. Just stick them in the envelope and keep it in your backpack. The stiffener will keep them safe. Bring hand sanitizer. 50,000 people have handled that doohickey before you. Many of them have less than stellar hygiene. Dress cool - it gets warm. And keep hydrated.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Mon Jul 15, 2019 8:57 pm

Once again I wish I could go, but the timing is precisely wrong. GenCon weekend coincides with Parent Day at my kids' summer camp.

They're there for two full months, and we've promised.

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Tue Jul 16, 2019 3:04 am

Probably lucked out on the timing myself. My wife is undergoing a medical procedure the week before, and she expects to be sick of me by GenCon.

I still should be able to as long as she's recovering as expected, and I can get caught up at the office. It's going to be a pretty rough few weeks, even if everything works out.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Jul 22, 2019 3:29 pm

Does anyone NOT going to Gencon want me to pick them up a copy of the Kenny G board game, Keepin' it Saxy?

I've heard it described as Mage Knight meets Chutes and Ladders.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Mon Jul 22, 2019 3:32 pm

I saw a press release for that last week and totally blocked it out of my mind until now. Between that and Bob Ross Art of Chill, someone could have a crazy weekend.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Jul 22, 2019 3:34 pm

hepcat wrote: ↑Mon Jul 22, 2019 3:29 pm Does anyone NOT going to Gencon want me to pick them up a copy of the Kenny G board game, Keepin' it Saxy?

Five stars at Target, and a 7.4 at BGG.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Jul 22, 2019 3:37 pm

Looks like coop only.

Help Kenny G stay in the groove with the power of jazz! In this cooperative game, players work together to make sure Kenny stays smooth and saxy through a hectic day. During each round, players will play sound cards to help Kenny overcome uncool events, detangle his luscious locks, and avoid rush hour traffic without missing a brassy beat. No jazz playing in the elevator? Scat with your friends and a “Biddle Scoodily Bop” can get Kenny back in the groove and keeping it smooth and saxy.

I would have loved to play as Kenny H...Kenny G's evil twin brother who is a master of fusion jazz, G's kryptonite.

edit: oooh, includes a wooden "Kenny G mover"! But I guess you have to have minis in a game today to get it sold.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Mon Jul 22, 2019 3:48 pm

hepcat wrote: ↑Mon Jul 22, 2019 3:37 pm Looks like coop only.

No, I think Coop is out on this one.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Jul 22, 2019 3:53 pm

You know as well as I do that you'll be sending PMs to me and everyone else going to Gencon by this time next week, begging us to pick you up a copy.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Mon Jul 22, 2019 4:24 pm

hepcat wrote: ↑Mon Jul 22, 2019 3:53 pm You know as well as I do that you'll be sending PMs to me and everyone else going to Gencon by this time next week, begging us to pick you up a copy.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Jul 22, 2019 4:29 pm

Sergio!

I think he was unlocked as an alternate character during the last few days of the Kickstarter.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Mon Jul 22, 2019 4:39 pm

Our game group plays almost exclusively co-op, so I was delighted to drop the Kenny G news on them.

Me: "Hey there's a new Kenny G game we can check out at Gen"
Terry: "No."
Me: "But it's co-"
Terry: "No."

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Jul 23, 2019 8:00 am

GenCon attendees, be on the lookout for Funko's new game - featuring two of the Golden Girls as playable characters.

Funkoverse is a collectible strategy board game based on different pop culture universes that plays similar to Settlers of Catan. The first batch will include games based on Harry Potter, Rick & Morty, DC comics and The Golden Girls in either four or two-character sets. Each variation comes with its own 3-inch figurines that can be used across different games. This means four people could play a game as Batman, Voldermort, Harley Quinn and Blanche in the Rick & Morty universe.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Jul 23, 2019 9:11 am

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Wed Jul 31, 2019 8:30 pm

If anyone spots a copy of Downtown: Air War Over Hanoi 1965-1972 for less than an arm and a leg, I’d like to negotiate.

Punisher · Post by **Punisher** » Thu Aug 01, 2019 10:18 am

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Wed Jul 31, 2019 8:30 pm If anyone spots a copy of Downtown: Air War Over Hanoi 1965-1972 for less than an arm and a leg, I’d like to negotiate.

What price range?
Cant promise anything but I can look

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Thu Aug 01, 2019 10:31 am

Punisher wrote: ↑Thu Aug 01, 2019 10:18 am
Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Wed Jul 31, 2019 8:30 pm If anyone spots a copy of Downtown: Air War Over Hanoi 1965-1972 for less than an arm and a leg, I’d like to negotiate.
What price range?
Cant promise anything but I can look

$100 or under in new to great quality, and it's an instant buy. Anything over $150 and I'm out. There's a listing on eBay right now that I could acquire for ~$200, and that's (currently) outside my comfort range.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Fri Aug 02, 2019 1:17 pm

Having a blast so far. Bought Set a Watch and the Legendary Alien Covenant expansion.

Played Thanos Rising at the game library last night. We only had an hour and a half so wanted to try something light. Played HORRIFIED at the hot games room this morning and it’s a lot of fun - definitely buying that one.

Way more crowded this year than last year but it’s fine. I’ve avoided the hype and stayed away from dropping $100+ on anything. I have a couple more small contenders for purchase but overall I should come out fairly cheap this year.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Fri Aug 02, 2019 1:26 pm

I'm really looking forward to it, even if it is only one day for me this year.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Sun Aug 04, 2019 8:00 pm

I've been to GenCon a few times, but not recently. Lately our kids' camp schedule (and fee) makes it pretty difficult.

2020 might work out, though!

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Mon Aug 05, 2019 8:57 am

Here's my GenCon recap:

First off, it was much more crowded than last year. The crowds in the vendor hall really never tapered off until Sunday. Thursday this year felt like Saturday last year. I still got to see most everything, but it was a little less enjoyable just to walk around and browse.

Some highlights:

- Got to see a very early prototype of RETURN TO DARK TOWER. We talked to the designer on Thursday and managed to get a sneak peek on Sunday before we left. If you remember the old tower, it had spinning floors that would turn to display different icons depending on what was happening in the game. The new tower keeps the spinning floors concept, but has 20 doors that can pop open via electromagnets and spit out crystals. We saw this in action and it is SUPER COOL. I don't know exactly how the gameplay works as we didn't stay for the full demo, but apparently throughout the game you can "feed" the tower crystals which can then be spit out by the tower and corrupt parts of the board with plague, etc. The tower is Bluetooth connected and will require an app for play. I don't know how expensive this thing is going to be, but it was amazing.

- Was very happy to meet Frank West, creator of CITY OF KINGS. It's a fantastic game and one of my favorites of the games I've bought this year. Extremely nice guy.

- One of my bucket list goals for GEN CON this year was to meet Ignacy Trzewiczek, CEO of Portal Games and designer of ROBINSON CRUSOE: ADVENTURES ON THE CURSED ISLAND, FIRST MARTIANS, DETECTIVE, etc. Ignacy seems very shy and introverted, so we had to catch him at the right time when he wasn't hiding in his booth. Swinging by on Sunday we managed to catch him out and about and tell him what big fans we were of his games. He was VERY humble and seemed very appreciative of our feedback.

- Got to playtest another extremely early prototype of a game called MINI SPACE ROGUE by Chou! Games. Went through a play session by the designer Daniel Chou in the playtest area. MINI SPACE ROGUE is a small box (think Tiny Epic size) space exploration game where you're exploring space, looting asteroids, fighting pirates, and upgrading your ship. It's competitive but there are some co-op elements as many of the enemies are too big to take down by yourself. This introduces some backstabbing as you try to swoop in and finish off enemies weakened by your opponents. The game was a lot of fun and aside from some lack of variety in the exploration cards, we didn't have much negative feedback.

- As mentioned in the "what did you play" thread (where you can find a rundown of what all I played), I managed to score a copy of HORRIFIED Saturday morning with Invisible Man promo. I missed out on it both Thursday and Friday as they were selling out within an hour. This Ravensburger title was a surprise hit of the show I think. It's a co-operative game in which you're trying to defeat the Universal Monsters who are terrorizing your village. Shares a lot of elements with base Pandemic, but the strong theme and high replayability with the monster variety made it a lot of fun. It's pretty light complexity-wise, but that doesn't mean it's easy. I think between this game and JAWS, Ravensburger is firing on all cylinders. Their booth was mobbed all weekend, and good for them. It's great to see a publisher putting out some IP-based games that are actually really fun to play.

- The OP (formerly USAopoly) had some fun titles - a new DIE HARD game that they were really promoting the hell out of but I didn't get a chance to play, and what looked like a TOY STORY version of Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle that looked really great. Also the guy at the counter gave me a full pack of Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle promo cards just because I asked nicely.

- The Dice Tower Live podcast recording was a lot of fun again this year, though they didn't have nearly as many big announcements as they did last year. And once again I came up empty on the door prize. Some day, Tom Vasel, some day!

All in all had a wonderful time. Things went much smoother this year from lessons learned, and we got a LOT more actual game play time in this year than we did last year. I think the only negative was the increased crowd size, but even that didn't prevent us from doing everything we wanted to do. I spent MUCH less this year, but that was intentional as I have some big Kickstarters on the way and we really didn't want to have to ship anything back. Picked up Set a Watch Deluxe, Alien:Covenant expansion for Legendary: Alien, and the aforementioned Horrified.

AWS260 · Post by **AWS260** » Mon Aug 05, 2019 10:12 am

That Dark Tower prototype looks amazing! And also like it will probably cost 150 bucks retail.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Aug 05, 2019 10:23 am

A big thank you to Punisher for being my agent and keeping an eye out for Downtown. Unfortunately, it does not appear that any of the vendors there had a copy there or at home.

On the bright side, a copy went up on eBay today for $120 that should be in my grubby hands within a week or so.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Aug 05, 2019 1:36 pm

I didn't really play a lot of games that were new to me. Mostly I just shopped and played some games I don't get to play much back home.

Thursday:

Star Trek Ascendancy - Sadly, the guy who ran it screwed up Borg placement and they appeared as my neighbor within 2 turns. The Romulan Empire (me) died soon after. Then I took over for the Klingon player who had to leave early...on to discover the guy running it was also confusing Borg spires and Borg cubes in terms of movement, effectively doubling the rate they appeared in the process. The whole thing was a mess. However, it's a testament to just how great Ascendancy is that I still enjoyed myself.

Friday:

Wings of Glory: Tripods and Triplanes - My first time playing it. The other player didn't show, so the guy running it played a few rounds with me so I could see how it played. I really liked it. Now I'm torn between this and their Battlestar Galactica starship game.

Legendary Encounters Covenant - Just an expansion to Legendary Encounters Alien. Nothing too big changes with it. Just adds a few extra things like new roles and aliens. I liked that David from the movie can show up and help you...until he screws you over. You have to get out before he does, it seems.

Witchborn: Enter Perdition - An interesting skirmish level miniatures game with an RPG heavy mechanic built into it. It's also very app driven as the app acts like the GM, giving out flavor text in the form of stories and events. It's okay, but I'll probably just stick with Frostgrave and other Osprey games like it.

Saturday:

Unicornus Knights - Unfortunately, I lost my damn tickets and had to go get them reprinted and missed this one. But thankfully I discovered it was the 20 dollar door buster sale item at the AEG booth so I just bought a copy. It looks utterly horrible, but apparently it's got a pretty loyal fan base who say it's good in spite of the look and sound of the game.

Empires of the Void II - I own this one but don't get to play too often. It's kind of a 4 x minus with less emphasis on the exploit and exterminate. I played with just Zarathud and the guy running it. I enjoyed it even though a few of the rules were taught wrong. But then again, I always enjoy EotVII. It's just such a nice balance between space opera and RPG.

Shadows of Malice - Finally, I played a 6 player game of Shadows of Malice. They're doing another print run now and the maker has fixed some of the issues that folks complained about in the older rules. Movement is now an action, and you get two actions per turn, for one thing. That helps to prevent folks from just leveling up at an ungodly rate by cruising around the map like they were riding a souped up dune buggy. Unfortunately, we split into two groups right away and instead of reseating ourselves accordingly, we just yelled over each other all the time. It ended up more annoying then fun. But that's not really the game's fault, I guess.

As far as purchases go, I picked up a copy of Untold Legends and Fields of FIre Vol. II on the cheap from the cool stuff booth. Then a copy of a faction pack for dead characters in the new edition of Malifaux, as well as a copy of a new roll and write game (a genre that saw a release list of approximately 3728 different ones at Gencon) called Welcome to Dino World. The latter has a solo AI from the great David Turczi, of Anachrony fame.

Rounding it out was some new stuff for Holplamachus (just some new titans). I danced around the big box of Edge of Darkness from AEG, but I couldn't justify 120 bucks for a game I knew nothing about...no matter how pretty it looked.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Mon Aug 05, 2019 1:44 pm

I was only there for Sunday, and I was with a friend who'd never been, so I really didn't have the chance to do much more than a trip through the vendor hall. I didn't have a lot to spend, but I did manage to pick up:

~The box/sleeves set for Star Realms, which gets played enough to justify it
~The Nile Empire card set for Torg Eternity, plus an extra set of acrylic tokens
~Some promos for Champions of Midgaard
~Some odds and ends (official dice set, a handful of 2019 GC dice for my gaming group, etc)
~A really nice dice tower (this was my splurge for GenCon this year.)

The games I was looking for were all sold out, unfortunately. I did order a copy of Deep Space D-6 on the way home, though!

I've been invited for the full four days next year, and/or Origins. It seems pretty unlikely right now that I'll be able to pull off the expense for either one, but I'd love to give it a whirl. I'd hate to miss GenCon, but I'd be tempted to try Origins just for something different.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Mon Aug 05, 2019 2:12 pm

Oh, and while I didn't get them at GenCon, my friends I was staying with gave me copies of the new core books for Pathfinder 2 that were released there. The shiny leather-and-gold collector's editions, too.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Mon Aug 05, 2019 2:32 pm

You guys reminded me of a couple of other purchases:

- Pimped my Nemo's War with some light aqua/dark aqua dice to replace the white and black ones

- Bought a really cool dragon playmat (signed) by one of the ladies that does the Pathfinder artwork. I'm giving it to a friend for his birthday.

hepcat wrote:I danced around the big box of Edge of Darkness from AEG, but I couldn't justify 120 bucks for a game I knew nothing about...no matter how pretty it looked.

I was really tempted by that one as well, but I'd wind up only playing it solo and I definitely couldn't justify it for that. Same thing for Black Angel. It really helped this year that we were trying to avoid a trip to FedEx. The big box games were much less tempting knowing we'd have to pay to ship them home.