Welp, the blur that was Kublacon has come and gone. Both Jason Ellis and I survived the experience, ready for next year!
Had a great time and met some great people, and I’m already itching for more boardgaming and some miniatures gaming as well.
Day 1: Thursday
Thursday was the drive up. After a late start (about 4 hours later than planned) we rolled up the I-5 in the Kia Optima. The nice thing was that the late start did dodge all the rush hour traffic the early start was also supposed to dodge. 🙂 Passed Magic Mountain and got a look in person at the new Twisted Colossus ride they were opening that weekend…need to go back and try that monster out.
The ride up was fine, we did pass an open field where a smallish ‘tent’ of some sort had been erected and someone had placed a bicycle and three dressed mannequins outside. That was more than a little creepy…
Shout out to Jason’s parents for putting us up for the night. A tradition he has with his folks, Jason gets to Fremont and visits with them before heading to Kcon on Friday morning. I had tacked myself onto his drive so I was in it for the visit as well. Wonderful people, had a great time with everyone there! Was introduced to a great Mexican food restaurant while I was there, apparently it’s a family tradition for his family: La Milpa. I try chicken mole whenever I find it on a menu and theirs was AMAZING! Would like to have that again. 🙂
Day 2: Friday
The drive into the con was uneventful (no mannequins stalking the car in the morning). We were a bit behind, so after getting the room key and lugging up some basic luggage I helped Jason set up his Ground Pounder demo game then had to set up the first run of Brimstone.
Ground Pounder is a generic skirmish ruleset Jason has been working on for years. It’s a great system and hopefully it’ll be available to the public soon. His table looked AMAZING. Lots of hard work. (And somehow, the pix I took have wandered off…)
Brimstone had 13 signups and 5 players who actually showed. Had the spread of players who owned the game but hadn’t played it yet, were interested in it, and were just curious. The painted miniatures and little details (actual gemstones, money cards, poker chips) really made the game pop. The table was a bit small for it, but we still had a blast. They defeated the Big Evil just at the 3 hour mark, so teaching/character selection/etc worked perfectly for a full demo. As you can see, the table was long, but narrow. Glad the map turned back and didn’t head to the table edge.
After that, dinner then a demo of the Malifaux 2E rules. Astute readers may be wondering why I needed an M2E demo…well, I never did see the final product for M2E and I haven’t read through the new books (although I have them) since its release. Crissy DuBois was kind enough to accommodate me and show me the final product. Had a fun time and am grateful for her demonstration (even if she is a stickler for measuring).
Then it was prep for the Kcon Flea Market. I didn’t take pictures of the madhouse, but should have. It opened at 11pm (ran for 2 hours), but people started lining up to buy outside of it at about 8 pm. At least 100 in line by the time the doors opened, if not more. We both did well. I took less than Jason had, and left with maybe 1 or 2 items. He returned with a box, but also sold a good chunk of what he brought. Of course, some of that money went back into the Flea Market. 🙂 Found a nostalgia copy of the TORG RPG as well as bought a copy of the old Supremacy boardgame to combine with my old set that’s missing pieces. Also got a few miniatures for a song (NIB Ork Skorcha and 12 assembled Bretonnian Knights each buy for $15).
Day 3: Saturday
The breakfast buffet was great at the Hyatt, fueiling me up for the day to come. I wandered the smallish dealer room, met some folks, then ran my second Brimstone game in the afternoon. 20 on the signup sheet with about 10 showing. I did accommodate 7 players. They also defeated the Big Evil, and because their game ran shorter I had time to show them how visits to Town worked. Everyone had a blast and I did receive some compliments on my paint jobs (always nice to hear). The table for this game was also wider, making it more comfortable for everyone.
After that gamed with some of Jason’s local friends – a great group – and played Rise to Power, a great little card game.
Also had the chance to see Harry Coit, a friend of mine who used to live local, but we seemed to only meet up at conventions out of the area (like Gen Con).
We also played Camp Grizzly, a very fun and hilarious satire of the 1970’s/80’s slasher movies. My character didn’t survive, but it was a great game regardless. Can’t wait for their expansion for it (Electric Steve!).
Demo before the game purchase.
Day 4: Sunday
Sunday was more boardgaming. I played a marathon length game of Relic with the Haits, we had a BLAST, but it did eat up about 6 hours of the weekend. Won’t be playing with the Daemon finale again if I’m looking for a quicker game. Played a few small games including:
I have to admit, I don’t think I’ve ever finished reading P&P, after the game I think I want to. 🙂
Then 6 of us played a full expansions Firefly game. Time was called before the game ended. I wasn’t doing well, but still enjoyed the time and the game.
Day 5: Monday
Monday the fatigue was beginning to take its toll. Jason had his second Ground Pounder event at 11 am, and once it was over we’d be hitting the road. After packing up the car I wandered the dealer room and made a couple purchases. There was supposed to be a Flea Market on Monday that I wanted to check out, but it was so small and so many people tried to get in they ended it earlier than I was downstairs!
Played Rise to Power again, plus a zombie card game called Zombie Fried that was mediocre, but fun for players of the right age or sense of humor.
Once Jason was finished with his game we said our goodbyes to the local pals, and hit the road. Hit a bit of traffic and didn’t get back to SoCal until nearly midnight, but even that wasn’t too bad of a drive. Fortunately it was dark enough we couldn’t see the tent and mannequins on this run…or was it they couldn’t see us…
Would definitely recommend Kublacon for boardgamers who can get there. A great con for boardgames. The last time I went (years ago) it was also great for miniatures gaming, but this year it was fairly lackluster. Hoping that changes in the years to come!!
Roadkill Spotted Count:
5 possum
2 raccoon
1 skunk
1 hawk
8 unidentifiable
1 ewok
Random con pix
shiny penny musings 
