First Look at Laughing Moon Con

We had a great time at Laughing Moon Con yesterday, so we want to give a run-down of some of the excitement. Our apologies that these first few pictures are grainy, the lighting wasn't great and these were taken with a cell phone. We'll get the better pics up during the week.

First off, we were able to bring out the Gladiatorial Coliseum and show off a few new touches. This is a shot from the first game of the day.

Here's a bit of a close-up. Again the picture is pretty grainy. The attendees at Laughing Moon Con seemed to really enjoy the game.

 In fact, we not only had people coming back to play a second or third time - they were bringing their friends over to play with them. This led to a couple of four-player games. The pic below is from one of them. In another of the four-player games, there was a bit of excitement when a young lady effectively cleaved another gladiator in two with a single blow. This was the result of the most amazing series of dice rolls we've seen yet while running this game. After an extended "dance" with her last opponent, she finally finished him off to stand victorious before Caesar and the crowd.

Amongst the other excitement of the day, we had the opportunity to meet an array of amazingly cool people and catch up with some of the awesome folks we met at Vul-Con Arena I. We'll be posting more on that throughout the week. We'll also cue you in on the launch of the Ubi es Vulcan? contest at Laughing Moon Con.

Lastly, we'd like to thank Todd VanHooser for inviting us out and putting on a truly fantastic event.

Looking Forward to Laughing Moon Con

Just wanted to fire off a quick reminder that we'll be at Laughing Moon Con tomorrow with the Gladiatorial Coliseum.  Come try your hand at Gladiator, check out the sites and sounds, play a Steve Jackson Game with the truly awesome Arizona Men in Black, play some Laughing Moon, and visit with the Laughing Moon Girls. It looks like a great time for all, so be certain to stop by and say "hi". We hope to see you there:

Laughing Moon Con
Saturday April 16th
11:00am - 11:00pm
Desert Edge High School
15778 W Yuma Rd
Goodyear, AZ 

Gladiatorial Coliseum and "Ubi es Vulcan?" at Laughing Moon Con

If you missed it or didn't get to play it enough at Vul-Con Arena I, there's another chance to try your hand at man-to-man combat in the Vul-Con 5' Diameter Gladiatorial Coliseum this weekend. The Vul-Con Team will be bringing this monstrous play field and the 90mm scale gladiators to Laughing Moon Con on April 16th. If you've played the game or just want to learn, come out and join us. Amidst and amongst the other fun activities at this event, we'll be teaching a playing Gladiator on this truly awesome play field, We'll also be unveiling a new surprise in the form of our "Ubi es Vulcan?" contest. We'll be explaining how the contest works and handing out 12" standups of the Vul-Con statue of Vulcan to attendees.  This is your first chance to get your hands on one and a jump-start on the contest, which involves Facebook and you snapping shots of Vulcan in interesting or unusual places.

Want to know more about Laughing Moon Con?  Read the excerpt from their web site below or check out the site at http://www.laughingmooncon.com.

LaughingMoonCon hopes to introduce a new generation to the sci-fi, fantasy, comic book, and gaming convention scene.  This is a unique opportunity for veteran convention attendees and first timers to get involved with the long tradition of pop culture conventions. 

Held at Desert Edge High School, students and families can enjoy the event with the local community.  All proceeds from the convention go to extracurricular clubs at Desert Edge (last year, the DE marching band was able to attend the Fiesta Bowl Parade along with the Arizona 501st thanks to funds raised from Laughing Moon Con).

There is an entire world of adventure and storytelling just waiting for you to discover!

Saturday April 16th
11:00 AM to 11:00 PM

Desert Edge High School
15778 W Yuma Rd

Goodyear, AZ 

90mm Miniature Gladiators Five Foot Diameter Gladiatorial Coliseum We Who Are about to Die, Salute You!

More Awards Photos from Vul-Con Arena I

Once again we'd like to thank R&D Games for donating two copies of the BoardGameGeek Game through BoardGameGeek.com.  I understand that these are currently in short supply and will soon be sold out, so if you are interested in a copy and weren't one of our winners (pictures below) rush over to BoardGameGeek.com before they are all gone.  We'd also like to thank Fantasy Flight Games for donation of the Rattlesnake Game.  This game was a huge hit with kids at Arena I, and we were thrilled that our winner of this game was attached to one of them.

Keep an eye on this blog, as we will soon be announcing some upcoming appearances at local events, an upcoming contest, and a new benefit to attending Vul-Con Sponsored Events.

Gabriel Suarez our First Ever Prize Winner and Winner of the BoardGameGeek Game

Chris Barath Winner of the Second Copy of the BoardGameGeek Game

Kent Parker Jr., Winner of Rattlesnake from Fantasy Flight Games

First Photos of Winners at Vul-Con Arena I

There were a variety of prizes and accolades to be won at Vul-Con Arena I.  We'll be posting some information about the winners and pictures over the next few days.  Today we'll start with the winners from our three Tournaments:

Wings of War - WWI Tournament

The Tournament Winners (shown above) for Wings of War were:  James Hiers, Top Entente Flier; Henry Tyler, Top Alliance Flier; James Hiers, First Place in Tournament; Terry Veazey and Henry Tyler, Tied for Second Place in Tournament; Jesse Archbold and Neville Stocken, Tied for Third Place in Tournament.  Each winner received a plane (donated by Fantasy Flight Games), the Top Entente and Alliance players received a plaque (designed by Vul-Con's own Rick Ivansek and sporting actual WWI airplane fabric), and medals were presented for First, Second, and Third Place in the Tournament.  Several of these gentlemen, including the Top Entente and Alliance Players joined us from Tucson and are members of El Escuadron 857th, Vuelo Del Javelina.  Their web presence can be found at http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/JavelinaFlight/.

Dust Tactics Tournament

In an interesting twist, the first and second place winners in our Dust Tactics Tournament were not only first time players, they are father and daughter.  Ray Marron edged out daughter Alexa in the final match to become the first place winner and Top Axis player, leaving Alexa not only as the second place winner, but also the Top Allied player.  They were each awarded medals, pre-release Dust Tactics figures with cards, and a cloisonné pin for faction they represented in the Tournament (all  but the medals were donated through the generosity of Fantasy Flight Games).  Additionally, all players received Dust Tactics patches showcasing the Allied logo.

Ludi Vulcani Games

Ironically, Darren Nakamura is not a very competitive person.  He took a liking to Gladiator and Circus Maximus pretty quickly though and was the champion of both games, earning the first place winner medal for the Ludi Vulcani games at Vul-Con Arena I and a prize donated by DriveThruRPG.com consisting of a digital gift certificate for free merchandise at their site.

More Post-Arena I Coverage

Just wanted to drop a note of thanks to Jonathan of Lightning Octopus for dropping by Vul-Con Arena I and for the really nice blog post yesterday. If you want to see some really nice photos of the event, drop in on his site at http://www.lightningoctopus.com/. If you're into gaming or geek culture in general, I'd suggest bookmarking his site - it is a wealth of information and his writing style is a pleasure to read.

We met some really cool people on Saturday and it looks like we may be turning up at some other local events.  Keep your eyes on this blog to find out where we'll be.  We also have a few other cool announcements around the corner, including a contest and a little piece of information about the Arenas and the Full Convention that we've been holding back until it is ready to roll out.

For now, here's another pic of the Hippodrome and one more from the Wings of War - WWI Tournament.

A Chariot Overturns Rounding the Bend

Wings of War - WWI Tournament w/ the Tournament Champion on the Right

More Vul-Con Arena I Pics

We're still recovering a bit from Arena I, but wanted to fire off another "Thank You" to all who attended and made it a great time.  We'd also like to thank the wonderful folks at Gamer's Inn again for being the most amazing hosts.  We also couldn't have done it without great support from local gaming advocates like the Table Top Gaming Society, The Arizona Men in Black, Todd VanHooser and the Laughing Moon Girls.  We also made some new friends in the Strategy Gaming Community that we'll be talking about soon, and we'll be showing up at some other local conventions, but more on that later.  For now, here's a few more pics:

Wings of War

Shadows Over Camelot

Arizona Men in Black Teaching the Revolution board game

The Settlers of Catan

Circus Maximus

Winning the BoardGameGeek Game

Live Blog Update from Vul-Con Arena I

Vul-Con Arena I is off to a rousing start.  The World's Largest Game of Circus Maximus is being played for the first time.  The Table Top Gaming Society has a game of Prelude to Alesia under way.  The Arizona Men in Black are running Munchkin and Car Wars: The Card Game.  The Wings of War Tournament recently fired off and Adventures Under the Laughing Moon is honestly the coolest RPG we've seen being played. Folks seem to be having a great time and the great folks at Gamers' Inn have been amazing hosts.  If you haven't made it yet, rush down and join us.  If you can't make it, there are some pictures below.

Vul-Con Swag Announced for Arena I

We're thrilled to announce a very cool "swag" item for tomorrow's Arena I event at Gamer's Inn. The first fifty people to register for the event will receive a copy of the Vul-Con Game Kit shown below. This Game Kit is perfect as a game "first-aid kit" for games missing parts, a gamer's skunkworks for designing your own games, or a components repository for those who have purchased downloadable print-it-yourself games from our Sponsor DriveThruRPG.com and its sister sites or own some of the "envelope games" so popular a few years back that came with no components. If you want to lock in your slot as one of the fifty to receive a game kit, register online today at Vul-Con Arena I Registration (today is the final day for preregistration).

The kit comes with a plastic case, an oversized pawn, beautifully sculpted plastic pawns in 8 colors, three six-sided dice (black, red, and white), and a handful of bingo markers in a variety of colors.  The picture below shows all components.  We look forward to seeing you tomorrow at Vul-Con Arena I.