ScrapYard Armory

New Location at Hall F

Catalyst Game Labs gaming area moved this year.  The Wabash room just a stones throw away from the exhibitor hall was the previous home for Catalyst as well as Privateer.  This year there is a long corridor that snakes its way behind the exhibitor room and out into an enormous gaming space known as Hall F.

Catalyst is tucked in the middle between Heroscape and Heroclicks.  Privateer our pseudo convention gaming competitor (all in good fun…) is within spitting distance.

Wabash was always a noisy venue.  It will be interesting to see if the new space changes the audio quality at all.  More on that at the end of the convention.

Catalyst and Iron Wind Metals

Catalyst Game Labs in in their usual location within the exhibitor hall in a huge space in front of the main doors.  Iron Wind is tucked into a nearby space which is small but jam packed.  The shelves are filled with thousands of ‘Mechs, Vehicles, and Infantry including every single archive unit at regular prices.

The only thing I really missed was the Introductory Box set.  It’s unfortunate that they could not get them in for GenCon but I’m sure they tried their hardest.

The seminars are tomorrow so perhaps there is still hope that they have a surprise waiting.

CamoSpecs Diorama

This years diorama takes place on Terra near Cairo.  It’s the Liberation of Terra and there is little else to talk about so lets just get to some pictures.

Other Games and More Pictures

There is more to GenCon than BattleTech alone and I made a full day of games and demos.  Here are just a  few highlights.

Leviathans

I took in a quick Leviathans demo for an hour outside the massive hall F.  The event was filled and at least three people turned away when they saw the huddle of gamers around the single map.

I like the basic system.  The attack and damage system is robust and unique.  It was very easy to learn and after the first turn, myself and the rest of the group were rolling dice themselves.  We had three chances to crack the keel on various targets but didn’t have the dice rolls to make it happen.  An enjoyable system and perhaps worth a box set purchase in the future.

The only thing I found lacking was the movement portion of the turn.  There was little to do strategically besides rotate your ship around to spread damage.  I’ve heard that torpedoes (damn the torpedoes!!!) and other advanced features would make the movement phase more interesting.  As it is, there is no terrain in the air.  No way to jump into woods for cover.

M.E.R.C.S

MERCS is a new gaming company who originally made miniatures alone but is now expanding with an infantry skirmish rules set.

I was late to the demo but still managed to get in a complete game from start to finish in under an hour all while learning the rules.

The premise of the game is small unit tactics.  Each unit has a card that has stats but also serves as a movement template.  Each stat card is packed with information which can be foreboding for a new player but it gets easy quickly.  I enjoyed the game and may look into getting some of the miniatures.  Some of them could be stand ins for light battle armor in a Time of War game.

Warlord: Ebentop Cavern Crawl

Like massive dungeon crawls?  This map was amazing.  The Warlord rules were simple and easy to learn.  The combat was fast and furious.  What else can you ask for?  ‘Mechs will always have their place, but sometimes you just need to bury a sword in the skull of a Gnoll.

All The Rest