I’m back!
Compass Games Expo was a success, both from what I would imagine is the company’s standpoint in sales and attendance, but also from my own personal perspective as an attendee. With 150+ attendees (a 20% increase from last year), the Expo is once again on a building track both with gamers; and announced this year, the addition of a second Expo each year! …the tentative date is May 18|22, at the same venue.p (hopefully all rooms will be remodeled by then, but I’ll know to ask for one on the fifth floor!). The two games that sold the most were The Russian Campaign and American Tank Ace (both of which, I bought!).
Everyone, myself included, had a great time gaming the days and nights away, with games starting early mornings and going way past my bedtime! I didn’t get back to my room before midnight the majority of the Expo, and this was the most gaming I’ve done at one event since Origins 2008! Though this was my third attendance at the Expo, previous forays a few years ago had me playing primarily with one buddy of mine, which was awesome! We did once again play each other in many games matches (at least eight, several hour matches); this year however, was the first year at the Expo that it all clicked for me in playing many more games, and that included playing against others… I made a ton of new friends that I know I will be gaming with for years to come, both at and outside of the Expo. Great memories made, and Compass Games for me, is a Must Attend event every year… and it looks like it might now be twice a year, as it was announced that they are thinking of adding a bi-annual offering of not just November Veterans Day weekend, but also May!
The reason for my greater participation, new style experience for me was simply, because I put myself out there more this year. The Expo relies on attendees contacting each other to setup game matches, typically via email (Compass Games publishes your email list in the Expo site, with your permission); this, unlike many gaming events that have a defined schedule by the host organization, which you sign up on. While being a nice, laid back way of doing the do, it’s extremely difficult and problematic from the standpoint that most people did not reply back to my emails at all, and many responded so close to the actual Expo that I’d already made other arrangements. It was quite frustrating for me, personally. I asked around and I wasn’t the only one feeling this way… but it’s not a slam against the way this is handled by Compass Games, nor is it isolated, as I get the feeling other events may be designed similar. And it also must be taken into account and consideration that this is still a relatively new event, from a small staffed company.
As an aside, a little comedy of errors on my part was my arrival, where I got off the highway, and I could see the hotel as I was driving on the off-ramp… it shouldn’t have been there! I was confused at that, and then upon pulling into a parking lot that I did not recognize. Both of these items were completely different from my memory of previous attendance at the Expo. The hotel itself, was also completely different, too. Come to find out, literally! Compass Games had changed venue this year and I did not catch that when signing up. I was to find that I was not alone in this faux pas, thank goodness. Completely different town, too, which should have been a clue…but it’s been three years since I attended, so I’ll let myself off easy at that. Turns out, the old site hotel in Cromwell is being torn down, which is a shame from the perspective of having been a nicer locale, with better restaurants, hotel, and gaming space.
Location, Location, Location… the Hotel from Hell
…or pretty damned close
The bad news on that the new location was the latter from above, the hotel. A budget hotel, and it showed. It appears that renovations are underway, which is welcome news… the fifth floor apparently is mostly done, according to gossip, and one gaming buddy that scored an upgrade to a room up there was very impressed. My room on the fourth floor however, had torn curtains that looked like a wildcat went at them with a severe anger management complex; the room was scuffed and aged badly, the cabinetry banged and chewed up like a Dire Wolf went berserk and the door to the mini fridge couldn’t close; the sink was banged up, and the sink was a black hole (no stopper) that had me terrified of leaning over with my hearing aids; the air conditioner and bath exhaust units rumbled like a wounded B-17 coming in hot and smokey; and the room as well as the hallway smelled of cigarettes, pot, and vapes (even though it’s a non smoking hotel). My room wasn’t cleaned once over 6-days! Granted I could have asked for a better room, but outside of the fifth floor that was renovated (I was on the fourth), I don’t think one existed, and everyone else seemed to have issues (four friends I know of had terrible rooms)… probably ‘cause it was at a group rate and I’m sure it was the cheap rooms. I even rode up the elevator with what I am positive was a hooker… she was very pretty, though, so I view that as a perk.
Traffic on the main road outside the hotel was atrocious. My room faced that road and with the windows closed and even over the loud drone of the AC unit, sounded like Logan Airports’ runway. Though the AC unit did cool nicely, I couldn’t find the sweet spot between penguin freezing and rattlesnake desert hear, so cracking the window to get a good sleeping temp made for a noisy sleep. Hey,no was there to game, granted… but that room was just plain nasty. It was also a facility catering to a mass number for utility workers, whom were friendly enough, but whom I saw more than one’s room cracked open with the door bolt and wafts of smoke curls issuing from whence.
Get Your Game-thang On!So as far as the convention space itself, the ballroom was quite nice, and the main ballroom was large and spacious. The pictures below are from my vantage point, gaming in one of the corner spots.
So many wonderful games were on the tables, from monster-sized games to small, and even a cool little hockey game that I saw a second edition advertised on Gamefound and pledge for upon my return! It was an exciting atmosphere, with stern concentration to boisterous laughter… to me, it seemed a little more animated and exciting than my first two years at the Expo…a good thing, indeed! The tables were full for most of the Expo, only letting up very late at night, and then trickling down Sunday into Monday.
There was also two ancillary rooms… one had a bar, which had no drinks, lol, but was a perfect serving platform for the giant pizza party Compass Games hosted (a tradition) with delicious, free offerings of different pizza pies and free soda. The space itself was the second largest gaming space, and I noted many monster games set up in there.
It was much quieter in there, as it was a smaller space, and well lit. The third room was smaller, with no windows, but was the quietest of all, in which I played three games there and found a great change of pace. A flea market was setup in the hallway, of which I scored They Came Unseen for $10 and MBT for $15! …can’t go wrong with that!
…but every chair was stained badly, and were of the super cheap ballroom variety with minimal padding (I had one sore ass after 15 hours of gaming a day). Tables were sturdy, which was a welcome boon, but the cheap chairs couldn’t slide in the carpeted floor, which made it tough to sit down and scoot around. Lighting was OK, but I noted several gamers with portable LED lights. It was impossible to get good game board pics, with the potlights’ glare. The main ballroom got quite hot when packed with gamers at peak hours, and freezing at night when the room was more scarce… it was like the Genesis planet on Star Trek II, with hot and cold zones, and fluctuating temps… like the hotel rooms. Again, it showed its colors as a budget hotel with budget amenities. (I’d never have a wedding there!)
They didn’t stock the gaming rooms with water, which is a huge missing element…and the one dispenser the hotel had at the front was always empty. Their excuse for coffee was like what I imagine the Germans drank in WWII, and in fact, very well may have been leftovers of that time.
Parking was atrocious… a small area at hotel front which was constantly filled up, so if you took your car to a restaurant, you invariably could not find a parking spot there when you got back and had to park in the back, which was super sketchy and nasty looking…I heard many gamers complain of this and simply ate the whole time at the only place nearby, which was an awesome deli; but grinder (sub sandwiches) every day and night gets old fast! There were plenty of fast food joints across the street and up, but it’s on the other side of what I called “The Highway of Death”, upon which was a constant flow of traffic at fast speeds, including a lot of trucks… my room faced that road and it was noisy as hell. I asked the desk clerk if there was a crosswalk, and he said it was waaaaaaaay up the street; and when I asked if he ever got hit crossing, he said not yet but he had to run like hell! Of course, there’s no restaurant at this hotel, nor a pool.
So the new venue? Yes… I hated it. But, it was adequate and the great gaming made up for the hotels’ shortfalls.
The Expo? LOVED IT!!! I can’t th am Compass Games enough. The gaming was awesome, and I bought a bunch of new games from Compass Games’ on-site store. Yes, I’m quite harsh on the hotel, but that’s largely beyond Compass Games control. My understanding is the venue will once again host the Rxpo this coming May… hopefully. Renovations continue.
On Conflict of Heroes, just how big are those counters?? They look enormous and very fumblely fingers friendly. I will have to look at the more pictures lately. 