Post Adepticon 2015 Wrap-up

Now that I covered the events I participated in I wanted to give a brief overview of some of the important aspects of Adepticon.  What did I think of the new space?  What did I pick up in the vendor hall?  What was the best part of Adepticon for me?  Read below to find all that out and more!



Adepticon moved to a new convention center this year after a couple years of complaints regarding the Westin-Lombard and space arrangements. The new convention center, located in the Schaumburg suburb of Chicago, was definitely large enough to handle Adepticon.  Almost every major game had their own room.  The 40k hall was the largest followed by Warmachine, and then Fantasy, Malifaux, Infinity, etc.  Despite busting attendance records again, the convention hall was not overcrowded or packed and, other than the vendor hall, I never had any issues moving around.

It's not secret that I travel frequently for my work.  I make quarterly visits to my HQ in Virginia and then I make several other impromptu trips throughout the year as well.  So when I say that, for the price of the rooms at the Renaissance the amenities were lacking, people will understand that my expectations were in check.  My room was clean and comfortable but my TV had spotty reception, the plumbing made noises like a dying water buffalo every time the hot water was used (for my entire block of rooms), and the extra charge for internet was completely absurd.  Charging $12-$16 a night for internet in this day and age is almost criminal.  I know business centers are often rip-offs but $4 per page for a color copy is excessive.  The layout of the hotel is awkward at best.  The front desk is tucked away in a corner where the restaurant is located where you'd expect the front desk.  I wandered a bit encumbered with my luggage before finally locating the front desk but at least the staff was courteous and professional.  The floors of the hotel were absurd.  I feel terrible for those people located on the opposite corner of the elevators as their walk to and from the non-centrally located elevators would suck.  Overall, I would not recommend this hotel to anyone. If I attend in the future, I'll be staying elsewhere.


This is the first year I've laid out for the VIG experience and man, was it worth it.  My SWAG bag contained a Khador starter for Warmachine, a UCM Starter for Dropzone Commander, a bunch of cool individual miniatures (I'll try and post pictures later), a bunch of coupons for at the show, some base inserts, and then a battlefoam coupon for $10 and a coupon for a free Wrath of Kings starter of my choice.  I was very excited about the Dropzone Commander and Wrath of Kings.  While I wanted PHR for DzC I'll take UCM for now to learn the game.  For Wrath of Kings I picked up Shael Han.  I love that they let you pick your own starter.  I think this increases buy-in if I have a faction that I'm really excited about.

Speaking of that excitement I picked up a number of items at Adepticon on my own personal dime.  Overall I spent far less this Adepticon than I did in previous years.  Usually I would expect to spend $400-500 dollars in stuff.  This year I spent $150-$200.


I have to give a shout out to Broken Egg Games.  The owner is a former St. Louisan and used to play Warmachine and Warhammer Fantasy at the local store before leaving for Arizona.  I picked up their short display board, some 55mm expansions, an iSkill measuring tool, and their laser pointer.  All of these items rock.  The Display board proved invaluable on Saturday and the laser pointer was used multiple times throughout the weekend.  My iSkill came in useful for measuring in tight areas, although someone walked off with it on Saturday.

After talking with others this weekend I agreed to get back into Malifaux.  So I picked up some of the new plastic kits including the Rasputina and Viktorias box sets.  I wanted to pick up the Lady Justice box but someone bought it before I could get back to it.  I'm super excited about Malifaux but I do have other projects to attend to prior to assembling and painting these figures.



Wrath of Kings.  I had heard very little about this new game until Certs started posting on his blog about it a few months ago.  When I learned about the free starter for VIG members I investigated more and became more and more excited.  The Shael Han starter came free but I purchased the rule book, a box of character specialists, and the dragon.  I would have purchased more because I love the look of the models, but I wanted to play prior to picking up more.  Although if they had a box of the Lotus Warriors I would have gladly picked those up as well.


On an unrelated note my Grenzer performed so well on Saturday that he was given a badge by Tim at the end of the tournament.  Yay!


As usual, Chicago doesn't disappoint.  Thursday night we went out to Weber Grill and I ordered a fantastic Strip Steak with a Parmesan cheese topping and mashed potatoes.  The potatoes were creamy and delicious while the steak was juicy, well seasoned, and delicious.  The topping on the steak was fantastic and did not overpower or trump the steak but rather added a nice dimension to the flavor.  Other than Weber Grill the highlight of the trip were the two trips to the Chicago staple, Portillos for some Italian Beef.  I wish we could import a franchise to Southern Illinois but part of me (my waistline) is glad they exist only in Chicago.


At Adepticons in years past (I've been going since 2005) I usually went with a pack of friends and we stuck close together.  While I met people I played against I rarely walked away with new contacts, friends, or feeling more engaged in the community.  The closest I came was a few years back when I attended the WFB Grand Tournament.  I played against a few new WFB players and gave them my contact information if they ever wanted to chat or read about WFB.  Nothing came of it despite my opponents being great people.

This year, the best part of Adepticon was getting in the car to drive home and knowing that I made several new friends and contacts both within the Infinity community and in the general hobby community.  Additionally, I learned so much from my more experienced opponents that I feel more capable.  How many times did I get roflstomped in 40k and my opponent just signed the sheet adn walked off?  With Infinity my opponents took the time to explain alternatives (sometimes while playing teh tournament game!) or go over other possible courses of action.  It was great!  Hats off to John, Zach, Kyle, Nick, Alex, Jay, JR, Chris, Nestor, Eric, Greg, and Josh for being stand-up folks who are fun to play against, chat with, or wander around the hotel with!  Oh... I guess you too Tim.  :-P

I want to continue attending Adepticon in the future.  I don't know how possible that will be as my daughter gets older.  My plan for now is to branch out, make friends, and let the future be the future.  If I'm meant to attend more Adepticon's, then I'll go.  I do know that next year Tim and I want to attend Rumble on Route 66 which may make a trip to Adepticon untenable.  But we'll see.  Like I said, the future is the future and I'm no crystal ball.

My motto moving forward is, "People first, Gaming Always" adapted from many common DoD principles which state, "People first, Mission Always".