By Harvey Mossman:
It looks like we will have a tremendous turnout this year. If you have not already bought your ticket online, please do so now as preregistration will close on Tuesday night November 22 at midnight. When preregistered, you are guaranteed a coupon for the lunch and dinner meals and will receive one of our “highly collectable” FaTDoG giveaways. You will also be eligible for game drawings and door prizes.
Nourishment at FaTDoG
This year we have something new to FaTDoG. These are food coupons which will come with your name badges when you check-in at the registration desk. You must have a food coupon to eat lunch and dinner being served at the convention. If you are not preregistered, we cannot guarantee there will be enough food coupons (or even food) for you. We had to do this because the meals are now catered by the venue and we had to give them an idea of the number of people that will be eating. While we will be able to accommodate some walk-ins with food coupons, we may not be able to satisfy everybody since we have no idea how many people will show up and buy tickets the day of the convention. People who are not preregistered may purchase food coupons while they last for $15 at the door.
There is a restaurant in the main lobby for those who wish to purchase their own food but this food may not be brought in the convention rooms. There is a snack store in the lobby where you may purchase coffee, tea, soft drinks and various snacks.
Arrival and Registration
The convention will be held in the Vanderbilt and Encore rooms and there is a separate entrance for these rooms to the left of the main hotel entrance as you face the hotel.
The doors open at 9 AM.
When you arrive, you will check in at the registration desk and get your name badge and food coupons.
There will be a white board in the front of the Vanderbilt room which will list games that are being played, the times they start, and the number of players they are seeking to participate. This is a great way to find a seat at the table of your favorite games. We request that everyone who is playing a game post this on the whiteboard. There will be an overhead public address system where will be announcing games that need players. Finally, players who are looking for opponents to participate in the game will have the box cover of the game standing up on the table which will indicate that they are looking for players. At FaTDoG, you will always be able to find players for your favorite game.
Game Demos
Pericles by Mark Herman to be published by GMT
Thunder in the Ozarks by Hermann Luttmann which was just published by Revolution games
Eagles at War by Raymond Weiss to be published by Compass games.
The Penobscot Expedition by Mark D’Agosta and Harvey Mossman
Adam Starkweather will be demoing his yet to be named game which he is publishing in his new company, SDS games
Miniatures Gaming
The Encore room will be the Miniatures Gaming Area and the tables there will be solely reserved for miniatures gaming. Please do not set up any boardgames in the miniatures area.
Some of the miniatures events that will be paid played include:
Sergeants Miniature Game is a card driven action oriented miniatures game of small unit actions in World War 2. In the Day of Days starter, you represent one of the many units dropping into the unknown of D-Day. Your unit of unique soldiers will use their action deck of cards to fight their way to their objective. All the while, your opponent, using his unit of German defenders trying to achieve their goals and stop you.
SMG is a quick paced game which is easy to learn. Within the first few turns you can have a good basic knowledge of the game and be putting your troops through their paces. Join us for this fun and fast WW2 simulation.
As if that was not enough. We will be planning on demonstrating SHOW – Sergeants : Hell on Wheels. This new addition to the Sergeants system adds both Tanks and Guns to SMG. At this point we will expect to have both an American and German tanks to showcase.
This will begin at 10 and run throughout the day.
Thunder Road – think mad Max in miniature. In the apocalyptic future, the man with the most heavily armed and armored vehicle will survive. This game has always attracted a lot of attention at FaTDoG and it will return this year once again.
World War II miniatures – there will be several events throughout the day utilizing this.
Commando Hollywood style – if I have time I will put this together for later in the day. Join the elite special operations team led by Hans Grenade as they go after the evil terrorists Hus Bin Farteen, Myhatma Kote, and Isheet Midroors before they can detonate a nuclear weapon. This is Hollywood epic adventure at its best, tongue-in-cheek at its worst, but loads of fun.
The Flea market
Any attendee can sell games and books at the flea market. There will be designated tables to display your wares. We will have forms that you will display next to your games that will list the game, the price you are asking, and your contact information (your cell phone number or the location of a table in the convention where you will be playing). Buyers will look over your merchandise and contact you to close the deal. In this way you do not have to sit hawking your games so you can enjoy the day playing games (which is the reason you presumably came in the first place). We don’t want to distract anyone from playing games and this has worked very well in the past. The flea market will be held in the main game area and the tables will be along the walls.
Vendors
The vendors will be located along the walls of the main gaming area. All vendor transactions are strictly between you and the vendor. FaTDoG takes no responsibility for any transactions with the vendors.
Game Raffle
FaTDoG has a large game raffle every year and we are looking to raffle off almost 70 games this year. You can buy tickets from the front desk people or any of the FaTDoG staff. Tickets are $2 apiece or 12 for $20. Each game will have a cup with a slot at the top where you insert your tickets. Please make sure to keep the numbered stub. You can put as many tickets as you want into each cup. The drawing will be held at 6 PM and winners will be posted by the registration desk. We have a large selection of wargames and euro games this year so please contribute to the raffle. The raffle is the primary income that supports FaTDoG so your participation is greatly appreciated.
The FaTDoGGy award
Once again we will be awarding this much coveted trophy. This is a time-honored tradition and you may be the lucky one to take home this statue and display it proudly in your home (despite your spouse’s objections!). The way you win this award will be announced on the day of the convention.
Door prizes and Giveaways
Additionally we will be announcing game giveaways throughout the day where randomly selected people will win games by answering history and game related trivia questions.
So if there are not enough games to be played, prizes, food, drinks, awards, raffles, flea market items and vendors packed into one day of absolute fun, please let me know. Enjoy FaTDoG! It is all about having fun and supporting this great hobby of ours.
Looking forward to seeing you all there!
