ANIMA: Tactics will be again making an appearance at the 29th ARCANACON . For all those who don't know Arcanacon is, it is one of Melbourne's largest RP and Wargaming conventions and is held over 4 days in January from Thursday the 20th until Sunday the 23th at the Collingwoord Education Center..

If you would like to see some information on the con visit http://www.arcanacon.org/

From when the doors open until late I will be running demonstrations and hosting games any of those attending the Con are welcome to come on over and have a go at the game either during on of the scheduled gaming breaks or during any time you might not have other events scheduled. A demonstration of Anima takes about 30 minutes so its a good activity to trial while waiting for something to start or to relax as the rules are easy to grasp.

Last year the Conventions doors opened around11am with events starting at Noon and we were located in the main registration hall along with a couple of traders and various event staff and are likely to be in the same location again.

So if your in Melbourne around Australia Day take this chance to come and play a game or two and have some fun.

- Raith
Free Agent 005

This is just a little reminder that Arcanacon starts this thursday. I will be running demonstrations and hosting matches throughout the four days. On thursday things will get under way around 11am.

- Raith

Arcanacon XXIX

After Action Report

Day 1 - Thursday

Much like the previous year Arc got off to a good start, I rolled up at 11am and got set up, the doors to the Con didnt open till after midday and where even a bit late due to some technical difficulties but that just gave me a chance to sit down and relax for a bit. Once the gamers where let in the place soon got busy with people calling past the table (Conveniently located near to the main entrance)

After an hour or so of people milling about I got stuck into my first demonstration. During that a few more people rolled over to check out my display and after that first event I had another Demo supplicant waiting.

The matches for the day went one to the demoer and one to myself alternating between Light and Dark starters which became a theme for the rest of the convention. Sometime around 8pm I began to pack up following the beginning of the last roleplaying session block and I actually managed to get home for plenty of sleep.

I think this was my second demoee for the day, he laid the smack down on Bael after two unsuccessful Mark of Jedah attempts.

A win for dark in the third demonstration around mid-afternoon.

Day 2 - Friday

Wow this day was completely different from the previous day or any from other years. For the vast majority of the day the main hall was empty, few people wandered through to look and there were no demonstrations though I got to talk shop about painting and at lunch had to apologize to a bunch of D&D players who were hoping that the figures were pre-painted or simply for sale.

As Friday was neither the opening registration day nor a holiday I had expected the crowds to be thin but it seemed like the only people about where really dedicated gamers roving from one gaming session to the next, barely stopping to have a break.

Day 3 - Saturday

Saturday picked up again from the previous day. Really picked up. With the major War Gaming events taking place in different parts of the con I was busy for most of the day showing off my figures, answering questions, explaining and running demos. I was somewhat glad by the end of the third day that I had, had a quiet friday as my voice certainly got overworked.

After the first two demonstrations for Saturday I lost track of which demo teams won each round though the streak seemed to favour light more than Dark with Kronnen managing to continually avoid being paralyzed.

I also saw most of my regular crew who dropped by the table to say hi and ask when things are getting underway on the normal schedule.

Another satisfied customer (even though he lost the demo), this guys had spent a bit of time over the previous two days admiring my collection before I got him to give the game a go.

Towards the end of the day I showed this guy the ropes, he had previous wargaming experience so the demo was pretty fast paced and hopefully we'll see him again at my regular events.

Day 4 - Sunday

Sunday was a combination of the previous days, it started out very slow with some tired people making their way between games with a few newcomers. I alternated between being busy showing off the game and chatting with people I knew from previous events.

I managed to get a couple most demonstrations in and explain the rules but sent the late afternoon being shuffled around by the Convention staff in to run an Auction. Right at the very end before I left I took a quick lap around the con, past the 40 or so tables of Warhammer 40k still being battled out for a winner, round past the traders and back again.

Just after 5 o'clock I packed up my gear the con was winding down and the last scheduled event was the Arcanacon Prize awarding so I hustle on out before they took up too much space.

Here is my last demo for the con with one player and an onlooker, the guy I was playing against kept telling me to be as savage as I could in the demo, apparently he didn't want to be coddled. After arguing with my own morals about beating down a potential recruit I gave in and wrapped the match up pretty quickly despite Baels continued lack of success.

Here is one of the many match outcomes from across the weekend.

The closing hours of Arc 2011

*****

All up the con was less busy that I had thought it would be but I had a pretty good time and will most likely be going back next year.

- Raith