So, about a month ago, I got the bug to go to Origins. Despite it being only 30 miles away, I hadn't been there since before covid, and on a lark, I asked a non-gamer friend if she would like to go. Much to my surprise, she said that she'd love to. So I got a couple of tickets and we spent this past Saturday at Origins.
The last time I went, we were pre-regged, and it still took like 45 minutes to get in, parking ended up being rough, and I was generally let down by the miniatures events, where for the first time, I saw unassembled figures being used in a game, i.e., little piles of parts being moved around on the table.
Well, this past Saturday was a blast, getting both our badges took about 45 seconds, and we were off.
The miniatures events were minimal with respect to the size of the convention, many being more of what I consider boardgames, with a printed game board using miniature tokens as playing pieces, more than miniatures as armies in the way I consider them. Still there were some nice looking games, including beautiful sailing ships, various airplane games, some fantastic sci-fi stuff, etc.
The venders hall was huge as always, and had a lot of art dealers, costume venders that I hadn't seen in my prior visits, lots a dice sellers, and the typical sellers of games, cards, figs, and rule books.
In the evening, we went into the hall that had open gaming, and I have to say that it was an impressive sight. So many tables, so many games, and so many people in that one big room. Despite having been to over a hundred conventions including maybe ten prior Origins, it impressed me in a way that I hadn't been before.
My friend was introduced to the hobby in a big way, bought some art, and played her first game, an introduction to D&D using miniatures. This was my first D&D game since about 1985, and the game went really well. The GM did a great job, and we both had a fantastic time.
She enjoyed the game tremendously and really just loved every second of the convention. We walked over nine and half miles at the con that day, looking at all that there was to see, and would have been hard pressed to have a better time.
The only glitch was that we tried to sign up for a second event just after registration had closed, but we couldn't get the web site to accept either of our credit cards through either of our accounts. Despite that, I really can't complain, I had a blast, she had a blast, and asked me if we could go for three days next year. I'll have to see if I can't get her into a proper miniatures game next year.
Outside of Origins, May and early June continued to be a "Star Trek", with more Klingon and Federation ships joining the fleet, and also touching up of six of my old (circa 1982-83) Romulans and thirteen new Romulan ships added to the fleet.
I also bought a new computer about three weeks ago, but just haven't had time to switch over and set it up. So, I will be able to start posting pics again soon.
Until then, stay safe and happy gaming.
