Well, folks, that’s a wrap. VerminCon 2008, our 11th Annual gaming convention has concluded for another year. For myself and all of the staff here in Vermillion we’d like to think you all for attending our convention.
Thanks everyone, I hope we’ll see you back here in 2009!
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Friday:
Noon – Doors open, clean up and set up begins
1 pm – Registration Begins
2pm-7pm – Slot One
7pm-12am – Slot Two
Saturday
8am-1pm – Slot 3
1pm-6pm – Slot 4
6pm-12am – Slot 5
Sunday
9am-2pm – Slot 6
2pm-7pm – Slot 7
7pm – Vermincon 2008 wraps up. Clean up, etc begins.
These are the currently scheduled events.
UPDATE
In addition to our regular gaming events, our friends at SoGenCon have volunteered to run an anime room for us this year at VerminCon. Lots of thanks to them, check out their website www.sogencon.org
Here is the schedule:
Friday
16:30 Escaflowne – The Movie
18:30 Ranma 1/2
22:00 Ronin Warriors
Saturday
09:00 Fushigi Yugi
13:30 Slayers
17:00 (3 hrs open for Mystery Science Theater)
20:00 Rurouni Kenshin
Sunday
09:30 Star Ocean EX
13:00 Vampire Hunter D
14:30 Orphen
SLOT 1: Friday 2pm-7pm
BART MILLER – Time: 2-4
Event: Supersystem Demo
Description: SuperSystem is a fast-paced, skirmish-scale superhero miniatures battle game designed to simulate comic book clashes between heroes and villains. Players will play short skirmishes and be introduced to the supersystem rules. All materials provided. 2-4 can play
BART MILLER – Time 4-6
Event: Lowenherz
Description:The king lies near death, so the princes compete to dominate the kingdom and secure the throne by grabbing as much land as possible. A clever blend of euro game mechanics with a healthy scoop of direct conflict. 2-4 can play
BART MILLER – Time:6-7
Event: Dungeonville
Description: Dungeonville is a dungeoneering card game for 2 to 5 players. The players take the roles of mad wizards who own the five dungeons surrounding Dungeonville. You recruit parties of adventurers and send them into the dungeons, earning points by defeating other parties in combat and by killing other players’ characters in your own dungeon. The life expectancy of the adventurers is measured in minutes, and gold only gets used for hiring more saps to die on your behalf.
WILLIAM HUET – Last Night on Earth: The Ultimate Zombie Survival Game
Up to six players (including up to two players running the zombies) have to cooperate to survive the night as hordes of flesh-eating zombies taken over their once peaceful town. Its a matter of life, death and undeath as players struggle to gather supplies, find uninfected townspeople, and fortify buildings against the rising masses of the undead who hunger relentlessly for the taste of human flesh. Or in other words…its going to be a hell of a party! http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/29368
LUKE JOHNSON – Smart-Ass Trivial Pursuit
Note: The game will not start at the beginning of the slot, but whenever the GM and enough players are there.
It’s Round Three of Smart-Ass Trivial Pursuit, as we see if anyone can take on two-time defending champion Jordan Gibson. Remember, the goal is not giving the correct answer, but giving a funny one.
SHANE SATHER – Game Vault
Number of players: Depends on game
Description: A random assortment of Shane’s game collection for use at the convention. There will be a check out/check in sheet which must be followed, though feel free to browse the games at your leisure. All that Shane asks is that each game is treated carefully, with respect, and that food is kept away from them at all times. Enjoy!
STEVE THUM – Open Rails event
Pick a Mayfair Rails Game and start building your railroad empire. The winner qualifies for the Championship game (China Rails) on Sunday. The winner gets a $10 gift certificate from Chae’s Restaurant in Vermillion!
SLOT 2: Friday 7pm-12am
BART MILLER – Time 7-9
Event: Mall of Horror
Description: As in Dawn of the Dead, zombies are invading the mall. Each player controls 3 characters: a blond girl, a big guy and a dude with a gun. They must escape the zombies by locking themselves in the stores. But be careful: there is not always enough room in the stores for everybody, you might be the one chosen by your “friends” to be left out with the Zombies! A political/negotiation game for 3-6 players.
JORDAN GIBSON – Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots Grand Prix IV
Number of Players: 16
System: Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots
You know them, you love them: Blue Bomber and Red Rocker will be ready to throw down once again in our annual VerminCon tradition.
*Note that this event will not start at 7pm, but later in the given timeslot.
GLENN BERMAN – RPGA Living Greyhawk
WILLIAM HUET – Battleground: Fantasy Battles. The Battle of Three Hills.
In 214 B.W. a new orc warchief, Orgash Skullspitter, rose to lead the Black Lands Orcs. Looking for a decisive battle that would hurt all three of his emenies (the Da’ quan Humans, the Runegard Dwarves and the Ravenwood Elves) he decided upon an unorthodox (at least for Orcs) battle plan: he would attack and seize a series of fortresses protecting the the River Niborg which was the vital trade link between the dwarven mines, the human farmers and the elven craftsmen. Control of the Niborg would disrupt trade and damage the economies of all three. Skullspitter set off with a large army to seize or destroy the three lightly defended fortresses before help could arrive. The elves were too far away to help but fast moving human and dwarven reinforcements could save the day..or just end up dead.
Designed for 2 to 5 players, Battleground is a miniature game using cards instead of figures. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/18985
NICOLE SATHER – Cranium Pop 5
Number of players: Any
Hilarious pop culture fun gets a Cranium spin! From Madonna and mullets to moonwalks and Monday Night Football, this party game isn’t about what you know, but how you show it. Here’s how it works: Each turn, the opposing team draws a clue card and assigns points to each of the five activity choices, according to how hard they think each one will be. If they pull the “Red Bull” card, they may think drawing it is easy, so they’d give it one point. But acting? Hard. Five points! Now it’s up to you to decide: Will you go for the easy points and draw, or go for the big points (and glory) by acting it out?
Each turn you get to choose to act, draw, hum, sculpt, or use letter cubes to get your team to guess the clue. With songs, celebrities, fads, fashions, TV shows, movies, and more, Pop 5 cards include all kinds of fun pop culture clues that span the decades — and every turn, you get to choose how to get your team to guess!
*Note that this event will start after the end of the Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots Grand Prix
SHANE SATHER – Game Vault
Number of players: Depends on game
Description: A random assortment of Shane’s game collection for use at the convention. There will be a check out/check in sheet which must be followed, though feel free to browse the games at your leisure. All that Shane asks is that each game is treated carefully, with respect, and that food is kept away from them at all times. Enjoy!
STEVE THUM – Open Rails event
Pick a Mayfair Rails Game and start building your railroad empire. The winner qualifies for the Championship game (China Rails) on Sunday. The winner gets a $10 gift certificate from Chae’s Restaurant in Vermillion!
DAVE GLEWWE – Flames of War Demo
I will have two boards set up to demo the 15mm
miniatures game Flames of War. One board will be North
Africa and the other will be Eastern Front. This
system is very similar to Warhammer and is d6 based.
Learn the basics of the game by playing either the
British Desert Rats or Rommel’s famed Afrika Korps in
the North African desert, or the German army versus
the Russian hordes on the infamous “Eastern front”
SLOT 3: Saturday 8am-1pm
BART MILLER – Time 10-12
Event: Web of Gold
Description: The players are adventurers seeking gold in an abandoned mine. Each ventures into the mine equipped with a lantern (with a limited amount of oil). The outer ring of hexes can be searched for additional equipment (torches, oil to refuel the lamp, mushrooms…) whilst the inner hexes are where the gold is to be found. First player to bring back six gold nuggets wins. Or,if all adventurers are killed, the player whose spider has scored the most kills wins…did I mention you control a giant spider? 2-6 players in this cheesy old game by TSR.
BART MILLER – time 12-1
Event: Incan Gold
Description: A quick, fun game of push-your-luck. Players venture down mine shafts by turning up cards from a deck, sharing the gems they find on the way down. Before the next card is turned up, you have the chance to leave the mine and stash your finds, including any gems you get on the way out.
Why would you leave? Because the deck also contains hazards, scorpions, snakes, poison gases, explosions and rockfalls. When a duplicate hazard turns up (such as a second scorpion), anyone left in the shaft is killed and loses the gems they got this turn. The trick is, the more players that leave, the bigger your share in the next card will be.
Do you have the nerve to hang on for a big pay-out, or are you fool enough to risk certain death…? 3-8 players
GLENN BERMAN – RPGA Living Greyhawk
WILLIAM HUET – Age of Empires III
Up to 5 player compete as one of the European colonial powers seeking to explore, settle and conquer the new world. Clever game mechanics allow multiple paths towards victory and the the game plays fast, with little down time. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/22545
DAN ROSS – Blood Feud: The Modern Mafia Game
SHANE SATHER – Game Vault
Number of players: Depends on game
Description: A random assortment of Shane’s game collection for use at the convention. There will be a check out/check in sheet which must be followed, though feel free to browse the games at your leisure. All that Shane asks is that each game is treated carefully, with respect, and that food is kept away from them at all times. Enjoy!
STEVE THUM – Open Rails event
Pick a Mayfair Rails Game and start building your railroad empire. The winner qualifies for the Championship game (China Rails) on Sunday. The winner gets a $10 gift certificate from Chae’s Restaurant in Vermillion!
STEVE THUM – Against The Darkness RPG
The small town of Dunlow, WV, has had 9 children disappear over the last few weeks. A brave clergyman managed to stop the individual (Creature?) abducting the children, but where are the missing children? Where did they go?
DAVE GLEWWE – Flames of War Open Challenge
Dave Glewwe will host an Open Challenge using 2,000
point mid-war armies for Flames of War (see Demo info)
on Saturday morning and afternoon. Armies are provided
but if you have your own bring it! Two tables will be
set up, one for North Arfica and the other for the
Eastern Front. Come test your skill as one of Rommel’s
Afrika Korps commanders, or a Brit 8th Army Desert
Rat. Or, be a Russian Komissar and “lead” your
Battalion of Russian hordes against the German
invaders of Mother Russia, or play a German Kommandant
of a Kompany fighting in 1942 against those Russian
hordes.
SLOT 4: Saturday 1pm-6pm
GLENN BERMAN – RPGA Living Greyhawk
BART MILLER – Silly games of silliness
Description: Come and choose from this array of silly games—-Dragon strike (electric dragon head), Yeti Slalom (Snowboarding race with yetis attacking), Igloo Pop (Shake igloos and guess how many eskimo children are rattling about inside them), Canyon (Trick taking game with canoe race of drunken natives as scoring system), Hoity Toity (annoying rich people show off stupid stuff they own), Medici (Medieval merchants trade in commodities )
WILLIAM HUET – Junta
In the dog-eat-dog world of banana republic politics, players try to amass the most money in their Swiss bank accounts while plotting revolution, assassination, and visiting their mistress. Easy to learn and a whole lotta fun. http://www.westendgames.com/junta.asp
JASON TRUHE – Magic the Gathering
This will be an Unhinged booster draft. There will be a $4 entry fee for this event.
LUKE JOHNSON – Road to the White House: Democratic Convention
It’s the ultimate game of pandering and backstabbing: politics! Tour the nation and drum up support for your campaign, as the players will attempt to gain the Democratic Party nomination for the Presidency.
The winner of this event will have an automatic slot in the National Election, to be held at MageCon South.
SHANE SATHER – Game Vault
Number of players: Depends on game
Description: A random assortment of Shane’s game collection for use at the convention. There will be a check out/check in sheet which must be followed, though feel free to browse the games at your leisure. All that Shane asks is that each game is treated carefully, with respect, and that food is kept away from them at all times. Enjoy!
SHANE SATHER – Carabande
Number of Players: 2 – 8
Description: A dexterity game about racing a wooden disk (your car) around a race track, with the first person to finish three laps the winner! Can you flick your way to victory? Or will your car go shooting half way across the room into someone’s soda? FIND OUT!
*Note that this event will begin after the M:tG tournament (guessing around 5pm)
STEVE THUM – Open Rails event
Pick a Mayfair Rails Game and start building your railroad empire. The winner qualifies for the Championship game (China Rails) on Sunday. The winner gets a $10 gift certificate from Chae’s Restaurant in Vermillion!
STEVE THUM – Star Trek RPG (FASA)
The Crew of the USS ARCHER have been transferred to a new sector a little more quiet than the Klingon border. What awaits them there?
DAVE GLEWWE – Flames of War Open Challenge
Dave Glewwe will host an Open Challenge using 2,000
point mid-war armies for Flames of War (see Demo info)
on Saturday morning and afternoon. Armies are provided
but if you have your own bring it! Two tables will be
set up, one for North Arfica and the other for the
Eastern Front. Come test your skill as one of Rommel’s
Afrika Korps commanders, or a Brit 8th Army Desert
Rat. Or, be a Russian Komissar and “lead” your
Battalion of Russian hordes against the German
invaders of Mother Russia, or play a German Kommandant
of a Kompany fighting in 1942 against those Russian
hordes.
NICK ZACHARIASEN – Movie Heckling Even
Join the jolly group of cinematic masochists as we get together to heckle a truly wretched film. In the celluloid stocks at this con is the infamous Robert Stigwood production Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. This movie features Steve Martin doing
a Shatner-esque semi-spoken word performance of Maxwell’s Silver Hammer, George Burns doing a musical number of his own, and contains other guest appearances too numerous to mention here. It’s jolly good fun— and jolly bad film— so come on in and throw out some gags. If there’s time afterward, we may heckle another movie.
*Note that this event will run from 5pm-8pm on Saturday.
SLOT 5: Saturday 6pm-12am
GLENN BERMAN – RPGA Living Greyhawk
JASON TRUHE – Robo Rally
TODD MCCRACKEN – Mutants & Masterminds: The Unknown Soldiers
Metropolis has Superman, Gotham City has Batman, New York has Spiderman but somewhere in a dark corner of the world lurk the Unknown Soldiers. Never heard of them? Good, that’s the way they like it. This will be a power level 8 event featuring pre-generated characters.
WILLIAM HUET – Race for the Galaxy
In Race for the Galaxy, players build galactic civilizations by game cards that represent worlds or technical and social developments. Each round consists of one or more of five possible phases. In each round, each player secretly and simultaneously chooses one of seven different action cards and then reveals it. Only the selected phases occur. For these phases, every player performs the phase’s action, while the selecting player(s) also get a bonus for that phase. The players compete to explore the galaxy by settling new worlds and developing new technologies. Each turn each player chooses one action, but the others will share in the actions chosen. In the end, the player with the most points is the winner! http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/28143
SHANE SATHER – Game Vault
Number of players: Depends on game
Description: A random assortment of Shane’s game collection for use at the convention. There will be a check out/check in sheet which must be followed, though feel free to browse the games at your leisure. All that Shane asks is that each game is treated carefully, with respect, and that food is kept away from them at all times. Enjoy!
SHANE SATHER – 7 Ages
Number of Players: 2 – 7
Description: 7 Ages is a game of world history from 4000 BC/E to 2000 AD/CE. Players represent dynasties that decide the fate of the world across the millennia. You, as a dynastic head of one or more empires must guide your empires through history gaining glory points for historical, scientific, religious and cultural advances as you increase their health, wealth and prestige. All the leading figures of history are included, as they attempt to influence events and their society through their great words and deeds. Want some epic civ-like gaming, this is it. You heard me, EPIC.
*Note: Game time can be preset, may play till midnight or end earlier.
STEVE THUM – Open Rails event
Pick a Mayfair Rails Game and start building your railroad empire. The winner qualifies for the Championship game (China Rails) on Sunday. The winner gets a $10 gift certificate from Chae’s Restaurant in Vermillion!
DAVE GLEWWE – Flames of War Open Challenge
If you’ve seen the movie, you know what this is about,
an American Free Enterprise “Company” moving 35 miles
behind Germn lines to Clairemont, France, to
“liberate” 16 million dollars in gold bars from the
town bank, which just happens to be guared by a
platoon of german soldiers supporting three little
tiger tanks. chuckle Can you play Kelly, Big Joe,
Crapgame and Donald Sutherland’s hippy tanker and get
the gold? You can also play the “Reserves”, led by the
Engineers and followed closely by the Band and Grave
Diggers and genral Colt and his box of medals.
Or you can play the German defenders. It’s all in good
fun.
SLOT 6: Sunday 9am-2pm
LANCE CURRY – Daredevils: The Forgotten Manuscript
Things seem placid in Northview while the daredevils search for some missing pages from a manuscript by a highly-regarded novelist of the occult. Taking on this job for a prestigious publisher is one thing, even when it involves travel and a nagging side question. Dealing with what seems to be happening in this picturesque rural New England town is another thing altogether! Can the daredevils unravel the various mysteries here and will they do it in time to block catastrophe?
GLENN BERMAN – RPGA Living Greyhawk
BART MILLER – Time 10am-12
Event: Torres
Description: Torres is an abstract game of resource management and tactical pawn movement. Players are attempting to build up castles and position their knights to score the most points each turn. Players have a limited supply of knights and action cards that allow special actions to be taken. Efficient use of pieces and cards, along with a thoughtful awareness of future possibilities, is the heart of this game.
NICK ZACHARIASEN – HeroClix Tournament
This event will be 500 points, Unrestricted build. Your team must be a Themed Team (as described on pp. 6-7 of the Legion of Super-Heroes rulebook), but instead of being able to ignore a Battlefield Condition in each game, you will get a single use of Ordinary Day that you may use anytime during the tournament. Other benefits for themed teams are unchanged. If your theme is not based on existing keywords (or includes figures that you think should have an official keyword but don’t, like how Bishop is missing the Mutant keyword), the judge will certify teams as long as they make sense (like a “Lawyer” team) and aren’t too general (like a “Woman” team). You may wish to have a backup team ready just in case.
Additionally, if the only characters on your team with team abilities are wild cards, you may choose a single team ability for them when registering your team build. This must be a team ability that can be copied by wild cards and may not be changed from round to round. Similarly, if you use the Thunderbolts feat, you will not be allowed to change it from round to round, contrary to existing official rulings.
The current rulebook and the lists of keywords for all HeroClix sets (with separate documents for Restricted-legal figures and older figures) are available on www.wizkidsgames.com under Rules For All Games. Also, please read the Errata & Clarifications documents, as many character cards have minor errors. The various FAQ documents are very beneficial for newer players, as they explain some important concepts, but are not necessary.
SHANE SATHER – Game Vault
Number of players: Depends on game
Description: A random assortment of Shane’s game collection for use at the convention. There will be a check out/check in sheet which must be followed, though feel free to browse the games at your leisure. All that Shane asks is that each game is treated carefully, with respect, and that food is kept away from them at all times. Enjoy!
SHANE SATHER – Samurai Swords
Number of Players:
Description: Guide your faction of feudal-Japan era followers to claim the title of Shogun, and rule all of Japan. Samurai Swords is a classic game of conquering and expanding your empire through brute force, with clever mechanics on handling three separarte armies lead by Daimyos, and a resource allocation system at the beginning of every turn determining what you build, and what turn you go in. Also, it’s totally sweet.
*Note: Event will start hopefully at 9am, possibly around 10am.
STEVE THUM – Open Rails event
Pick a Mayfair Rails Game and start building your railroad empire. The winner qualifies for the Championship game (China Rails) on Sunday. The winner gets a $10 gift certificate from Chae’s Restaurant in Vermillion!
MAGE – MAGE Board Meeting (1 p.m.)
The MAGE Board will hold it’s yearly meeting to approve a budget, vote on the offices of Pres. and VP, and to go over various items of business. All MAGE Board members need to attend or contact sthum@usd.edu to let him know you cannot make it.
DAVE GLEWWE – Flames of War North Africa Campaign
There is an ongoing Flames of War North Africa
Campaign being played by the Sioux Falls MAGE gamers
and you are encouraged to join in. Froces are
available and if you played in the demo or played in
the Open Challenge, get your WWII miniature “fix” with
this series of campaign games.
SLOT 7: Sunday 2pm-7pm
LANCE CURRY – Tekumel: Vanished Bride
System: Swords & Glory
The wedding between Gayan hiGraithloivaus of the Sea Blue Clan of Penom, High Administrative Priest of Lord Ksarul, and Ayesha hiTishkolun of the Golden Bough Clan of Jakalla may be the prominent social event of the year in Ferinara. Unfortunately, Ayesha has disappeared. Gayan asks his fellow priests of Lord Ksarul to find and rescue her.
Notes: Players with a familiarity with the world of Tekumel are preferred. Player characters are provided
GLENN BERMAN – RPGA Living Greyhawk
BART MILLER – Event: Horde of the Things
Description: In this Fantasy knock off of DBA various and bizzarre fantasy armies slug it out for tabletop supremecy. As I haven’t fully learned the rules yet I don’t know how else to bill it except anyone is invited to come and muddle through the rules with me and see what it takes to create a HotT army. Maybe you can show me how to play if you have some DBA experience, otherwise Guinea Pigs needed!
(Hordes of the Things approaches tabletop battles under a system VERY similar to DeBellis Antiquitatis—all spearmen are fundamentally the same, all knights are the same, and so on for archers, Light horsemen, heroes, etc etc etc. all combats are resolved with the roll of one die with miniatures only having stats with regards to how they interact with each other. Any brand of figures may be used)
BILL ROSS – Starcraft: The Board Game
LUKE JOHNSON – 40 Days Around The World
As if last year’s 30 Days event wasn’t bad enough…now we’re adding 10 Days In Asia to the mix, along with Africa, Europe and the USA! Travel by foot, car, plane, ship, or train…AROUND THE WORLD! (In 40 days!)
SHANE SATHER – Game Vault
Number of players: Depends on game
Description: A random assortment of Shane’s game collection for use at the convention. There will be a check out/check in sheet which must be followed, though feel free to browse the games at your leisure. All that Shane asks is that each game is treated carefully, with respect, and that food is kept away from them at all times. Enjoy!
STEVE THUM – China Rails (VerminCon Championship)
Build your railroad empire across the vast landscape of China. The winner gets a $10 gift certificate from Chae’s Restaurant in Vermillion.
DAVE GLEWWE – Flames of War North Africa Campaign
There is an ongoing Flames of War North Africa
Campaign being played by the Sioux Falls MAGE gamers
and you are encouraged to join in. Forces are
available and if you played in the demo or played in
the Open Challenge, get your WWII miniature “fix” with
this series of campaign games.
*Note that this event will start after the MAGE Board Meeting ends
JARED SAGE – Yu Gi Oh Draft Tournament
There will be a $10 fee for entering this tournament. The draft will be played with Dark Beginnings 2 and Dark Revelation 1, we have a booster box of each, and will be playing under Traditional Format.
7pm – VerminCon 2008 ends and cleanup, etc begins.
Please submit your events to toddmccracken@vyn.midco.net, folks.
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