This post was originally published on November 29, 2019 on the HMGS site.
On November 15-17, I attended Fall In! 2019 at the Valley Forge Casino Resort. (Does the exclamation mark in the title bother anyone else when they see it in the middle of a sentence?) This is a venue change for the convention from the long standing Lancaster Host, now the Wyndham Lancaster Resort.
The Valley Forge Casino Resort is a large, clean facility with lots of room for the convention and nice modern sleeping rooms. There are two hotel towers, the Radisson and the Casino itself. I stayed in the Casino and did not hear anything negative about the Radisson side. The two hotels are connected by a long walkway with various ballrooms and meeting rooms that were used for gaming. The vendor hall was spacious and Wally’s Basement was right next to the vendor hall. I was disappointed by the lack of a Friday afternoon Wally’s Basement. It appears as if the 9:00 pm flea market is here to stay. While I like the 9:00 as an extra flea market I am bummed out that it has replaced Friday afternoon. I do not have any studies to back this up but I knew quite a few people who feel the same way. Hobby University was in the Casino tower and was perhaps the best accommodations we have ever had. There was a lot of space and it was well lit, both of which are nice when teaching figure painting!
How does the new site compare to the old? Well in comparison to the old Lancaster Host it is an amazing upgrade. I don’t need to go into the litany of problems at that facility, we are all well aware. Compared to the Wyndham the difference is less appreciable. The Wyndham is also clean, and modern with refurbished rooms. At the Wyndham, you also have a far walk for the vendor hall but it is the only thing that requires such an extensive walk. I do like the multiple smaller game rooms at the Valley Forge site as it keeps the noise down but they were also harder to find. This issue will probably be worked through, as we get more accustomed to the site.
The same Board of Directors moved Historicon to the Lancaster Convention Center. With that move, I still maintain they knocked it out of the park. The Host was still the host when they moved Fall In! and as such, they made an unpopular but needed choice, at the time. Now that the Host is a Wyndham, I think that the Casino was a lateral move. I enjoyed the venue but I look forward to seeing the full finished Wyndham at Cold Wars!
Due to work, I could only come down Friday through Sunday instead of my typical Thursday through Sunday. I did not make it until late Friday night so by the time I unpacked, delivered a bunch of items for the Toys for Tots auction I had time for the flea market and that is about it. I was super busy Saturday where I taught Sprucing up MDF and Basic Basing for Hobby University. I also helped The Wargaming Company at their booth in the afternoon with running a game of Et Sans Resultat (ESR.) After dinner, I came back and played a few games of Squig racing with one of my newly finished Squig hoppers. The game had a $1 buy in with half the prize going to Toys for Tots and the other half going to the winner. I did not win but when one of my fellow WNPG members put a $5 bounty on my Squig, I got to collect because I survived the game. No easy task that! On Sunday David and Becky put on a game of ESR for the GM’s who helped out over the weekend. I had a great time playing with a great group of guys, including fellow Hobby University Instructor Todd “The Silver Fox” “Grognard on the March” Pressley.
Overall, I had a great show. I continue to add to my schedule and while I keep saying, I am going to cut down on my workload that does not seem to be happening any time soon!
The few games I took pictures of:
Desert Pulp action!
D-Day in 6mm! What an incredible looking board!
Brian Whittaker ran yet another excellent game on the high seas! The boys were thrilled to win this one in the end of a hotly contested, well atended battle!
Brian was presented with the Legion of Honor Battle Star. This a presigious award that can only be given out by a member of the Legion of Honor and it’s one that Brian, as one of the hobbies greatest emissary’s, truly deserves.
The ESR game I GM’d for The Wargaming Company.
My freshly painted Squig attempts to chase down the lead Squig just as it reaches the fnish line. Close but no magic mushroom!
The Squig races as seen by Squig blimp.
My freshly painted Squigs, which I got to close enough status at the convention. The mushrooms have since been further painted and they are now offically finished.
The Sunday ESR GM game in progress. I’m pretty sure it was a French victory and as that’s who I was playing, and I’m the one with the blog, a French victory it was!
– Wachtmeister
Future game desingers honing their trade at The Wargaming Company!
-Wachtmeister
