Ok, So my trip was fan-tastic.. I cannot thank Palladium Books for the amazing hospitality and professionalism and respect that they have given me. I can only say that I am truly humbled by the respect and courtesy that they have shown me.
It has been Over Two years since I started this blog and even longer that when I started drafting my original rule set for the Robotech Battles Game. That game opened a BIG door and allowed the Robotech RPG Tactics game to be produced. This whole endeavor was clarified for me as to truly what I had started when I first got to Gen-Con.
First off I arrived at Gen con Friday at 11 after two plane rides and several shuttle rides.. I get to the con and finally get my badge to the show. I arrive at the Table and Greet Kevin Siembieda. Hugs are shared and smiled filled greetings are exchanged.. What it also apparent is that there are people EVERYWHERE in and around the booth.. The only way to tell fan from employee is the shirts.. I see the Robotech shirts that are employees only shirts.. I get two.. Wow. ok so I start to be introduced to a few of the Palladium guys at the booth and some of the Ninja guys that were helping out.At the booth, Palladium was all about meeting and talking to thier fans and people interested in their games. All of these people at Palladium that I met are super friendly, down to earth people and as I find out later - Super talented.. whether as artists, writers, GM's, storytellers, editors, demo-ers, gamers, or developers.. It really doesn't matter because even though there are not many people at Palladium, they can handle just about anything.. and have. They are still going strong after a few crazy years.
As soon as I had arrived, I got a few of the hello's done and I was then stationed at a demo station.. a 18" round terrain piece with various city terrain. These were beautiful sections of city scape that small Robotech Tactics battles were to take place. I received a small intro game to refresh my knowledge of the game, and I learned a bit of what had changed since the Demos I ran back in May.. Everything came back easily and no real rule changes had occurred. Great!.. and off I went to Demo-ing for the next 7 hours.. I did take a break at some point to take a quick lap to see some of the con. But for the most part Demos were my life. I cannot tell you how many demos I did, nor could I tell you if I had the same experience in game twice. 2 veritechs and 6 battle pods can make for some great games. Those games were a blur but a very exciting and joyous blur.. I was playing with the very models that I had dreamed of years earlier. I was running a demo of the game I had brought to light. I signed Books because people really did want my autograph. I shook hands with so many people, I got more hugs from some really beautiful women. Just because I was persistent with an idea that I had.. I met a guy that I knew from only seeing his you tube videos, Dave Simpson. We did a interview, then a demo, He had no voice, and then I held the camera.. It was interesting and cool at the same time..
There were some back and forth with rules during the demos.Damage was supposed to be rounded down with dame and we played games with the rule rounded up and down. Command points were tweeked so the demos went smoother. Because of the life is cheap rule, Battle pods don't accrue command points. But everyone loved the system. Many of the guys there doing demos were doing it for the first time. I have to admit it though, They looked like pros after the third or fourth one. Every person who stopped for a demo left excited and happy for the game. Many people were asking for release dates and what was included in the box sets.. Should anyone have questions on game mechanics, rules or anything, post and I'll try to answer questions as best I can. I did not have a single negative demo, not one!.
The Max and Miriya promo game pieces.. The metal Max was $15 and the resin Miriya $20. these two minis caused a lot of issues.. not only from the fanbase in the Kickstarter, but at the con itself. Every day a limited number of mins were available to purchase. The first day of the con the VIG's got the lions share and the table was MOBBED for the remaining ones. The second day there were huge lines that the event staff talked to us about.. We had made lines but the lanes were being blocked and traffic jams ensued.By the last two days of the con, lines were formed and foot traffic wasn't blocked and event staff were grateful. so we did ok with that. The biggest problems were when the doors opened at 10, there was a huge mob of 300+ people making a beeline to our booth. I have to say that these mobs caused many a big companies jaws to hit the floor when they realized that the crowd wasn't coming to see them. That put a huge smile on everyone's faces. I took some video of one of the opening mobs coming at the booth and I had to stop filming or get run over. Crowd control took up about an hour of everyone's morning at Palladium. Not a bad problem to have I feel sorry for the people that missed out on the con-exclusives. On a side note as soon as the minis were sold they made it on Ebay at around $120 for both minis.. The last two days of the con went by in a blur and I had a blast.. I love the Robotech fans out there and the passion that people have for the series. I saw and talked to legends in the industry. I even spoke with Larry Elmore the artist who can be credited to making many a DnD roleplayer, myself included. I spoke with the D6 Generation, Russ and Craog are great guys and I need to talk to them to get an interview set up. Also I need to get interviews with 40K radio and the Screaming Heretic pod casts.. All of which are Robotech fans, who knew..
This chapter of my project is at a close, because the dream that I had to get this game created has been realized. This snowball has been pushed and is picking up momentum. There is no stopping this now. I'll still be here to add a little direction I hope and give some insight as to whats coming.. Moving forward, I'm still here and I'm in the process of starting my new Website for the Game company I started, Red Duke Games.. Look for the website soon.
Also, sorry for the lack of pictures, we were so busy we didn't get many ourselves!!..
More info soon!!
-Tom
