Origins 2023

Origins Game Fair is always a huge event for me and the Ohio War Kings, and this year was another great one.  I have been going to Origins for almost 30 years, missing only one (we don't talk about the dark times) since 1994 (I think - I'm not sure - but I remember getting the original RoboRally after playing a giant sized demo).

I did a little digging into the blog, and it turns out that I started running Kings of War events at Origins 2013 (back when the Mantic forums still existed, so I made a post (ok, 7 (small) posts) for it LTP - Origins, Packing Up, Day 1, Day 2 & 3, Day 4, Day 5 and the wrap up.  I look back at some of the pictures, and realize how much stuff I still have from that first time, and how much has changed.  I started with 8 armies for my event, and now I have 20 (though the undead now are still pretty much the ones I painted for then).  

This year I ran 13 events, doing Learn To Play events for Kings of War, Vanguard and Armada, as well as my "How You Use It!" tournament.

Origins tables for Ohio War Kings

Our banners helped people find us

I did four Kings of War learn to play events, with 8 seats each.  I have cut back on the number of seats for the events (there is a HUGE difference between working with 8 people and working with 12), with 24 people playing.

This year I decided to cut back to 750 point ambush lists instead of the full 1000 point armies.  This went very well.  I taped off a 3'x3' square on my 4 foot mats.

I ran three sessions of Vanguard, which were surprisingly well attended with 15 players.  This really surprised me, as on Tuesday I only had 5 people signed up for the 24 seats.  I was thinking that this was done, but with this kind of turnout I really have to think if I'm going to continue running it after all.

I ran the most Armada sessions (5), and had 33 players.  In addition I had three people come back and ask if they could do a 3 player game (which of course I let them (and did have the latest supplement (Seas of Dread) which had rules and scenarios for just that).

On Saturday afternoon, I ran my How You Use It! tournament, this time using Ambush.  I had 4 people for it, and they seemed to have a lot of fun.

3D printed trophies

Our Players - Kara Brown, Mark Zielinski, Peter Shah and Steve Munson.

Round 1: Kara (Goblins) v Mark (Ratkin)

Round 1: Steve (Halflings) v Peter (Riftforged Orcs)

Round 2: Peter (Nightstalkers) v Kara (Northern Alliance)

Round 2: Steve (Ogres) v Mark (Empire of Dust)

Round 3: Steve (Salamanders) v Kara (Abyssal Dwarfs)

Round 3: Peter (Forces of the Abyss) v Mark (Forces of Nature)

Steve had just played in my Learn to Play events earlier - so it was great seeing him play.  Mark on the other hand, the proponent of small games, just couldn't manage to get his dice to cooperate at all with him.

Steve took 3rd place

Peter came in second

Kara took first place

It was a great convention.  Though it still didn't have the pre-dark times attendance, it was actually growing again.  It was noticeable that the exhibit hall was missing any large game companies, though it was fairly filled up with people selling dice.  

I was a bit disappointed that on Sunday morning, I found that three miniatures were missing (a basilean priest, orc krudger, and dwarf organ gun).  I have refigured those lists using other minis I have (some being from the 250 points I had removed from each list).

Once again I definitely ended exhausted, but felt it went very well.  Most of the sessions ended up with an odd number of players (which makes them a little more difficult as I have to play while answering questions).

I have five weeks to get ready for GenCon and to do it all over again (hoping to have some of the brand new models, like Northern Alliance Frostclaws, the Abyssal Dwarf Armada fleet, and some clear resin printed ghost ships (on my printer as I write this).

Because it is all fun and games . . .