Fall In 2010 - Lancaster, PA

I always look forward to the three big area wargaming conventions, Cold Wars in the spring, Historicon in the summer, and Fall In in the fall. Since Historicon had been moved from Lancaster to Valley Forge this year, Fall In was moved from Gettysburg to Lancaster to fill the void. Lancaster is within an hour of my house, so it is much closer, but I had gotten used to the idea of a yearly pilgrimage out to Gettysburg to see the show and stop at some of my favorite spots on the battlefield. Perhaps that's why I wasn't looking forward to the show quite as much this year, or perhaps it's just because I have been in a lull period as far as miniatures goes.

I couldn't get away from work on Friday to go this year, but I planned on putting in at least a token appearance on Saturday. I left bright and early to go on a geocaching barnstorm through part of Lancaster county on the way out (the subject of another post), and arrived at the convention before noon. I paid my daily admission fee, wandered around for a while, saw some decent looking games, but for the most part... felt nothing. The usual surge of gaming adrenaline I get just wasn't there. I'm not sure if it was the sparse turnout (not a ton of games, and not a large crowd by any means), or what, but it felt hollow.

Even wandering the dealers' area in search of new toys turned up nothing that struck my fancy. All told, I didn't spend two hours at the show, and didn't spend a penny other than my admission fee. That's definitely a first.

One effect that these conventions always have on me is the desire to paint something, and I do feel a little of that. Progress on my Ottoman army is creeping along at a glacial pace, but I did dig out a unit of janissary archers and put them on the painting table. We'll see if anything happens to them anytime soon.