Adepticon 2016... with lots of eyecandy

Adepticon is the first convention I've been to in some time. It is mainly scifi and the organizers evolved from a core of 40k players back when Gamesday used to be held in Chicago. Now it is a huge Scifi and fantasy wargaming scene but Bolt Action, Flames of War, Saga, and other games including Modern have a good sized foot print. 

I meandered the halls as I did not register for seminars or tournaments and had a leisurely couple days of ogling all the eyecandy.

The above three photos show a table prepped for Wild West Exodus which is a Steam Punk Western. Lots of LED lights, source lighting, and laser cut MDF buildings including the train. Really nice board set up. The train and terrain were available for purchase too in the vendor hall.

Speaking of which, these are shots of the Laser cut kits. I usually only scratch build or use PDF, but this was a nice set up and pretty affordable. Each piece is designed for modular construction  with removable walls and floors. 

So much stuff, but perfect for skirmish. I wish I had stuff like this in the Necromundia days!

This is intended for Infinity, but I see no reason why Mercs or even 40k cannot enjoy a brawl across the set up.

They had painted the demo up and marked it for Infinity Ariadna forces. They even had console, becons, and scatter terrain. All was very movable and easy access.

The 40k tournament had a large display of orks vs imperial forces ( my photography butchered the pics)

Some old hands of former GW staffers had a huge participation game of War master in 28mm scale. All vintage models too!

I cannot remember this game, but it was a demo for a post apocalyptic game pulled from Fallout PC game.

Beasts of War had an impressive demo of Imperial Assault. The players had three stages one was the echo base hanger with the Millennium Falcon! The led lights were strung up and looked like cabling from the movies.

Rebel troops manned the trenches and launched snowspeeders

The fighting was intense in the trenches

The imperial players could have pounded the rebels with the scout walkers and AT-ATs, but with Vader and snow troopers, they all wanted to just get stuck in!

The AT-ATs and Millennium Falcon were from Hasbro Toys and the figures were all from the wiz kids games, but they did scale very well together.

Some more MDF terrain, but this was from the 40k/30k tournament and were set up as space hulk type battlefields.

This one was the most impressive of the lot.

Lots of battle mats in use and it made even rudimentary terrain pop!

Lots of brilliant brush work, there was so much to see!

This impressive work was intended as a prize draw. I belive both the army and display.

The display was big enough for a battle too!

The most beautiful Machine Cult army in attendance and there was many. Lots of 30k forces too.

I almost picked this up as the Rebels from the new Disney show have their ship now represented in X-Wing. This ship is to my son as the Millennium Falcon is to me.

I found the beast! The elusive and rare GW dragon was at the 28mm Warmaster game. A beautiful paint job on him too!

There was just a ton of classic GW fantasy minis in both forces and sweet vignettes like the tower with squig herders forcing a doom diver off the plank.

These next shots are from a massive pirate game from a group of traveling wargamers. They hit most all of the conventions and their game has been growing for 8 years.

There is just so much to see with scores of ships, islands and minis for all factions like the above shipwrecked pirates

Lots of smaller boats and vignettes like the pelican on the pilings.

Dock workers, slaves, British and French troops.

I did mention ships too! Wonderful details on them with buccaneers, sailors, and marines aplenty.

A couple of fortified islands with attendant warships and armed merchants.

Plenty of rocky deserted isles with buried treasure too.

Some small coves and jettys.

Even islanders to get in on the action. With their war boats organized by color for several participants.

Cargo, villagers and scatter terrain abound.

Plenty of period buildings from shops, houses, hovels, and huts.

A wealth of plunder and sites to ravage for the pirates and pirate hunters.

The ships are really well done and fully staffed!

European, Orient, and Arabic...what ship would you wish to command!?

This was the most fun participation game to play and the game club was on hand in period dress to keep things moving along!

My camera dumped the other participation games and photos of the gaming icons there. 

Paint demos, new games, old games. New models. More forgeworld and titan class stuff than ever imaginable.

Warlord, Mantic, and Coolmini-or-not were readily available for any any question and any demo. Guild ball was very fun and Reaper had scores of bones and paint demos including the popular paint and take. Warlord had master painters showing all kinds of tricks and toys of the trade. Indie game companies and hobby shops were all over and all but a few hard core tourney players were supper friendly. 

Mantic folk were pure fun to deal with and their excitement was infectious. 

I hope the stars align again for another outing next year. I plan to stay longer and bring swim trunks for the hotel pool and hottub... and extra cash for food.

My only complaint was $2.75 for a small cup of coffee at the venue. I enjoyed my $8 beer more and the freebie stuff that came with it. I'll have to remember to pack my coffee maker for the next time! ;)