[Warmachine] Smogcon 2015

Just over a week ago I had an absolutely awesome experience - I spent three days at a hotel just next to Heathrow airport. Which doesn't sound so great, until I say that it was my first experience of a convention. Specifically SmogCon 2015, the UK's biggest Warmachine convention, and the only US-style gaming convention in the UK (and possibly Europe, though I'm not sure that's entirely true). 

As I said, I had an awesome time. I'd been hoping to go for the last couple of years, but was either a) in Scotland, or b) forgetful and missed the tickets sale. This year I was actually at orchestra when tickets went on sale, but fortunately there were still about 50 left when I got home and I managed to snag one. I decided pretty early on that I wouldn't bother trying for any of the tournaments; instead I'd spend all my time in the casual play area playing pick-up games of Warmachine/Hordes, or trying out some of the boardgames. I'm quite pleased with that decision in hindsight.

In the months leading up to SmogCon I was getting quite excited about the prospect. This was only exacerbated by the announcement that there would be official support from Privateer Press, including pre-releases and convention exclusives in the shop, the presence of several staff members, seminars, and the official P3 painting competition. I promptly signed up for all of the seminars, and put my name into the hat to win a spot on the 'IKRPG: Unleashed' game with Doug Seacat, the head Privateer Press writer. More on that later....

It was a three day event, so I took Friday off work and travelled down on Thursday night. I then spent the evening repairing various models that were in need of some care and attention, and building a new objective and wreck markers for my Convergence of Cyriss army.

I was up bright an early on Friday morning, and promptly joined the queue for the shop to make sure that I got a chance at some goodies. I had a small shopping list and a budget, and I'm pleased to say that I managed to stick to it. Sadly the pre-released that I wanted had been delayed by shipping strikes, but I managed to grab the convention exclusives I wanted, lots of Privateer Pins (mostly faction badges), and a few extra models for my Convergence.

Loot from the store! Lots of pins, convention exclusive models, and some Convergence reinforcements. (Credit: David Brown)

Next on the agenda were the first couple of seminars - I'd split them half and half over the Friday and Saturday morning, and Friday's instalments were 'IK Unleashed' and 'From Concept to Model'. The former was a fun introduction to PP's new rpg, with some discussion about races, careers, the new setting, the theme behind the game, and some of the fun things that can be done when you're part of the wilderness ('meat silencer' anyone?). What was particularly cool was the pdf version of the rulebook that Doug Seacat put up on the projector and scrolled through for us - it's a massive tome, with some fantastic artwork. The 'Concept to Model' seminar was less visual, but no less interesting. Will Schick and Ed Bourelle walked us through the entire process of creating a model for Warmachine/Hordes, right the way from the brainstorming process up to the final box production. It was a fascinating insight into how the design process works, and listening to them desperately try to avoid spoiling stuff they're working on was quite fun. The Q&A session afterwards ended up being a long discussion of errata and game balance, which was equally interesting.

How to train your Warpwolf! Art from the IKRPG: Unleashed. (Credit: David Brown)

After a quick bite for lunch is was time to dive into the Iron Arena. I took my Cryx out for a spin, and managed to get in five games before calling it a night about 11:30. I'll do a rundown of the games in another post, but I went 1-4 for the day; not a great start in terms of results, but all of the games were good fun.

The other event of note on Friday evening was the PP Keynote. At the end of their annual Templecon Keynote they'd teased something for Hordes would be announced at SmogCon. We knew it was going to be a video, and it turned out to be the announcement video for the new set of Gargantuan warbeasts, all of which look awesome. There was much rejoicing.

Big crowds for the Keynote. We were treated to revelations about the new Gargantuans: the Glacier King, Storm Raptor, Blightbringer (right), and Desert Hydra (left). (Credit: David Brown)

Saturday started off much the same way as Friday. I got up nice and early, but instead of starting with a trip to the store I squeezed in a quick Iron Arena game before heading to the morning's seminars. This time around it was 'State of the Factions' and 'Cosmology of the Iron Kingdoms'. The former seemed to be aimed more at the newcomers to the system, or those that don't really read the background, as it was a pretty light-on-details skim through recent events in the fluff. I already knew most of what had happened (I love the background to Warmachine/Hordes), and the responses to the questions were a little frustrating, being essentially all variations on "I'm sure we'll hear from that character soon". I know that Doug can't say much about plans for the story and what's coming, but a few small spoilers would have been good. Fortunately the second seminar made up for it, with a really, really interesting look at the various religions of the Iron Kingdoms, their history, and their relationships. Great stuff, and the level of knowledge about the setting that Doug has at his fingertips is amazing.

Saturday afternoon was another trip into the Iron Arena, this time with my Convergence of Cyriss. With my game in the morning, and a couple of late night games, I managed six games in total on Saturday (or at least what passed as Saturday before I crashed at 3am!). I went 4-2 for the day after exclusively playing Forge Master Syntherion's theme force, and again all of the games were good fun. The best game though has to be the 2-vs-2 game that start at 1am, and that was pretty silly all told.

Early morning gaming is the best gaming :-) (Credit: David Brown)

In between Iron Arena sessions I snuck in a quick learning game of High Command, something I've been wanting to try for a while. I enjoyed it enough that I want to pick up a set, but I'm not sure it'll become a staple game. Oh, and remember right at the start when I said I'd come back to the 'IKRPG: Unleashed' session that Doug Seacat was running? I was lucky enough to win a space, and had a blast playing through a shortened version of the Adventure Box. I played the Pygmy Troll chieftain, who was quite fun and surprisingly resilient. But I do have to admit that the other characters all seemed like more fun. Combined with the seminar, this session (which also featured the head of PP's studio, Ron Kruzie) made me eager to pick up the book when it finally releases.

I don't have any photos of the session itself, sadly. But our Bloodweaver was pretty much the star of the show! (Credit: David Brown)

After not enough sleep on Sunday (about four hours I think), I checked out of the hotel and then headed straight back into Iron Arena for some more games. I didn't play as much as I could have done - lots of people seemed to have run themselves into the ground - but I managed to get in another five games, including a 75pt game that was over way too quickly (stupid Rahn), and a quick 15pt Hardcore game with no terrain! I went 2-3 for the day, and managed to snag enough points to get everything I wanted from the prize desk.

After doing a bit of packing up to help out, and briefly panicking about my lost card wallet (for the second time that weekend!), I headed home about 5pm. I had a fantastic weekend, met lots of nice people, played a lot of great games, tried out some new things, and met some of the people that make the games that I love playing. I'm already planning for next year......

.....but first I need to get over the post-convention come-down