Rock Con 2018

For most of the last few years I've gone to Rockford, IL in October to Rock Con.  A reasonably priced convention with a lot of variety, excellent staff and decent vendors.  This year Peg came along and sampled the offerings.

The con has five game slots, one Friday night, three Saturday and one Sunday so you are done by 1:00 on Sunday for that drive home.  An easy three hours for us.

My Friday night, Porto Playa Aftermath using Close Action.

Looking around I was struck by how "mature" we're all getting.

Five English ships engaged four larger French.

Team Yankee 1985

All Quiet on the Martian Front

For those that pre-registered you got a gift bag of goodies and a raffle ticket for some cool giveaways.  The con also has a silent auction on Saturday.  They don't take a commission but each lot entered has a flat fee.  My things were too small for the potential return so I brought my stuff back home.  However, I did score a replica British gorget from the 18th century for a whopping $2.

A Song of Fire and Ice, Peg's Friday game as a Stark.

Cold Steel and Canister 15mm Napoleonics.

Easy 8 Battleground in North Africa.

Vietnam: Just Another Day on the Mekong.

Battleground with 20mm, a Pegasus Bridge variant.

The Brown Water game was a big draw.

There were plenty of games this year with a large board game area set aside which saw lots of use.  I'm not sure about attendance.  Either there were more games or fewer players as many games didn't hit their max participation.

My game play, Sharp Practice for the ACW.

My command, which accomplished their game objective were
very well painted by GM Paul Scrivens-Smith.

Melee & Wizard: The Fantasy Trip Lair of Zanphrer.

Formula De Grand Prix in 1/144.

Age of Eagles v.2 Battle of Eylau in 15mm.

In the second session I played in a 3mm(!) session of Fate of a Nation from the 1973 Yom Kippur War.  We got a rather historic result but the scale and basing required a major mental adjustment.  Peg played in a Pathfinder game.  There were a lot more games not pictured like Wings of War, Pikeman's Lament, Jagdpanzer, Utah Beach, etc. etc.  Something for everyone.

My pico scale game.  They are so tiny!

Session 3: The famous B-Movie game.

I played Blood and Plunder with 28mm figs and scenery.

Fate of a Nation 15mm: Battle of Rafa Junction.

An English corvette (near) vs. a Spanish frigate.

The objective of the pirate raid, aided by my natives.

Peg's 4th session game, which made more progress than ours.

I played in a 5th edition session of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Sunday morning while Peg slaughtered Spanish (she also randomly got the natives).  Enjoy a good role-playing game and got to give my own party a zinger at the end.

On Sunday morning they stop all play for a bit and give away any extra gift bags, a few more prizes and anything from the auction which didn't sell but they don't want to drag home.  Always a fun time and they keep it from being a scramble.  Unfortunately all the plastic tank sprues were gone by the time I got there, though I got some fun foam dice.

Next year it is October 25-27th.  Cost for the weekend was $30 with no other fees required.  The only irritant is that you can't bring in any outside food and drink.  The Tebala Event Center provides food and beverages on site.  Good food but limited choices and convention prices.  But with an hour between sessions and lots of fast food within an hour drive it isn't a big deal.  Heartily recommend the convention.