Rock-Con 2019

Once again we returned to Rock-Con at the Tebala Even Center in Rockford, IL.  I've been going for years with the intent of sampling new (to me) games, playing some old favorites, and connecting with old and new gaming friends.  To that end it was highly successful.  Some years ago they merged with NavCon so there are always a nice selection of naval themed games.  Los Tres Amigos traveled down from the Fox Valley in WI and shared a room to defray costs and all had a good time.  The following is picture heavy and text light, but there is so much eye-candy to be had.

Friday we arrived in Rockford early to check in and find we missed the cut-off date for the ditty bag.  Oh well, it worked out okay anyway.  We then skipped the afternoon session and went to a flea market at Royal Hobby in Rockford.  Collectively we scored some great deals, well worth the side trip.  They were also one of the vendors at the Con.

The Battle of Five Armies using A Fistful of Miniatures. 
The "Good" side won.

Cold Steel and Canister: Bavarian Vacation

Rapid Fire: Operation Barbarossa

Chain of Command: "Out of von Luck"

Medieval Naval Engagement Rules System: Battle of Bach Dang
River, 938.

Formula De: Grande Prix

Not sure, probably Dust 1947: The Lost Briefcase

4th Quarter Football: American Football Demo

All Quiet on the Martian Front

Not sure, can't do justice to all the work they put into it.

Not pictured are some Wings of Glory and Star Wars X Wing games, along with a kamikazee game using 1/700 ships and models.  I tried to get a sampling of games but missed out on many.

Dust 1947: Cattle Raid on Corsica

Team Yankee: Al Jahra I - Kuwaiti Bridges

Ironclads (Modified): Gunboats on the Mississippi

Cruel Seas: The Convoy Must Get Through

Blood Eagle: Fetch My Daughter You Fellows

Chain of Command again I believe

Game I played in of "All Quiet..."  Humans win

Black Sails Demo

The big picture.  Few ships survived

Phase II of the Team Yankee game set in Kuwait.

Not sure, perhaps another Dust 1947 game

We played in four of the six sessions, taking Saturday night off as well as Friday afternoon.  Sunday I played 5e AD&D while the guys played in the Asian Naval game and had a blast.  During the Sunday morning slot the Con had a give-away of unclaimed auction items, donations, etc.  You line up, go through taking one item from each table and then get back in line if you wish.  I happened to be in a good position when they started and did very well.  Lots of useful items to me, including a ditty bag.  So all's well that ends well.  The Con ends at 1:00pm Sunday we could take a leisurely drive back to Appleton.  Next year I'll plan to run a game or two myself.

The pros to the Con are a great and friendly staff, wide range of games, food and drink available on site, a reasonable fee for the weekend and vendors.  The down side this year was there seemed to me to be fewer games and fewer vendors.  Maybe it was just that the new games weren't my cup of tea.  Lots of space and dystopian universe games to be had.  Regardless, I plan to return in 2020.  Give it a try.