Jack of Harts

While a civilian airliner was on final approach to land at Reagan National Airport, an army Black Hawk from the priority transport battalion flew into it. The priority transport battalion flies priority transportees everywhere around Washington DC, but the army reports that this was a training mission and that no VIPs were onboard. They report three occupants on the helicopter, added to the sixty-four souls on the airliner. But I have to ask, why did they have a training flight up at night, flying through the landing corridor of an international airport? Why did the helicopter simply fly directly into the airliner? Is this a tragic accident? Or is it worse than that? Is it an on purpose? We need to find out.

Castle Con had some 700 people show up, which is an amazing number. Especially for a first year con. I’m frankly amazed.

I ran approximately two-dozen of them through demos, and had another dozen watching. Most of the watchers were parents who grew up playing BattleTech and were letting me give their kids their first shot at playing it. Around a dozen of those who played at my table were kids. None of them had played BattleTech before. Of the adults, it was half and half between those who had played BattleTech before and those that had not.

Now Castle Con was created by a board gaming group, so the attendees trended towards that distribution. The kids and half of the adults had no concept of what BattleTech’s movement system was. They played like board games, or like Alpha Strike, simply measuring the distance between start and end and going there. The idea that they had to expend movement points to turn, could only walk forward or back, and that movement points used was not equal to hexes moved was an alien concept to them. And converting only the second number, and not the first, to the TMM was equally alien.

Obviously, I’m going to have to brainstorm a better way to teach the movement system. I am ten years plus out of practice on that. But I find it very interesting that such a large number of my demo players simply had no concept of the idea. Some of them groked it after repeated explanations. Others did not. It was something I had to actively teach and keep on them about it or they would forget it.

It was the single largest hangup people had about learning the game, and I find that very interesting.

Castle Con is over. I planned to post that i was at the con and ready to take players again, but the players were there and ready. I lost track of how many people i ran through demos od BattleTech and Alpha Strike. Literally lost track. On the plus side, both demo kits came home with all their dice and other pieces. Two demo kits spent threed days at a con and came back complete. And I was giving demos to both experienced gamers and to kids. Sometimes kids of experienced gamers who saw someone doing demos of a game they fell in love with as a kid and wanted their kid to experience it. It was a good three days and I am tired. Castle Con is over, the people did an amazing job running it, and I look forward to the next one.