Historicon 2024 is over and I wanted to provide a “brief overview” of the convention results, allowing everyone to understand some of the details that each convention director considers before, during and after each convention.
This report was delayed due to a number of personal and other reasons. The biggest reason for the delay was the tragic loss of one of my Key Convention Staff Members (Awards), HMGS Treasurer, BoD member, and personal friend Steve Boegemann. Steve passed away suddenly right after the convention was over and it has been a challenge gathering a lot of key information that I normally would get from Steve. I want to personally thank Michael Gesser (the new HMGS Treasurer) and Joe Schwartz (the new HMGS Awards Program Coordinator) for stepping in and helping me work through a number of issues to close out the Convention. You don’t realize how much you depend on your friends and fellow coworkers in an all volunteer convention until they are lost to us all so suddenly. I worked closely with Steve from the usual Post Convention Finances to the Awards Program results to making sure all of our volunteers, guests and vendors/attendees reimbursements were handled in a timely manner. The loss of Steve to HMGS, the Hobby, and to many of his friends has had and continues to have a significant impact to us all. Peace brother.
I want to thank each and every Attendee, Game Master, Wally’s Basement Dweller, Vendor, Hobby U Artist/Instructor, War College Lecturer, our heroic Volunteer Staff and our fantastic support network of friends and family that help us make our hobby, businesses, and conventions possible. Thank you everyone!
Historicon 2024 By the Numbers
| DAY | GAMES | TOURNAMENTS | HOBBY UNIVERSITY CLASSES | WAR COLLEGE LECTURES | BOARD GAMES (ticketed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday (evening only) | 14 | – | – | – | 7 |
| Thursday | 156 | 4 | 17 | 5 | 17 |
| Friday | 234 | 10 | 18 | 7 | 21 |
| Saturday | 197 | 9 | 14 | 8 | 20 |
| Sunday (morning only) | 13 | – | – | – | – |
- Total Attendees: 2,557
- includes Spouse/Children: 175/126
- Number of Games: 613
- Does not include Vendor Demo Games
- Does not include cancelled games – 22 before the show & 37 at the show = 672 originally registered game sessions
- Average Fill Rate: 88%, with 185 games taking on additional players (Thank You Game Hosts)
- Special Notes: 11 walk-up games; 93 Kid Friendly games; 29+++ Beginner Friendly games
- Number of Game Hosts: 267+
- Number of Tournaments: 23
- Number of Exhibitor Demo Games: 33 (this is increasingly popular with attendees and vendors to playtest new and emerging games)
- Number of War College Presentations/Attendees: 22/503
- Number of Hobby University Classes/Attendees: 49/263
- Hobby U Paint and Take Attendance: ~7
- 21 Teams in the Iron Paint Brush Competition (this was crazy fun!)
- Board Game Ticketed Events: 65 games
Convention Awards
Historicon Awards Coordinator: Steve Boegemann
The HMGS Convention Awards Program is a continuing effort to recognize those Game Hosts that go “Above and Beyond” to present outstanding and entertaining games for all of us to enjoy. The program is supported by volunteer judges to select games that best represent the artistry and fun of our hobby.
Games are selected for PELA Awards (Pour Encourager Les Autres) during four daily judging sessions (morning, early afternoon, late afternoon, evening) on each full day of the convention. Additionally, special awards are given for games that represent special aspects of the hobby, including: Overall Best of Show, Best of Theme and Best Terrain games; as well as a special Award for the overall Best Kids Game. The Best awards competitions selects games based on nominations from our PELA judges, with the final selection determined by the Awards Committee. “Best” Award Winners are generally nominated by multiple judges in two or more categories, with the final determination for each category decided by the Award Committee on Saturday evening of the convention.
The quality and delivery of a number of games was outstanding this year, as noted by all of the judging teams. Each award recipient receives a voucher that can be used in the Vendor Hall or for food during the Convention. Congratulations to each of our award winners and thanks to all of our volunteer judges.
2024 “Duke Seifried Game Host of the Year"
Adam Wine
The Duke Seifried Game Host of the Year Award, given annually at Historicon to a Game Host from among the past year’s “Best of Show”, “Best of Theme”, and “Best Terrain” recipients. The winner is selected by the Awards Committee, usually from those who have won multiple top awards at HMGS conventions during the past year.
Best of Theme
Tom Uhl, “Arnhem Bridge – The Battles for the Bridge”
Nominations:
- Sean Barnett, “How the West Was Won”
- Carl Cardoza, “The Battle of Midway”
- Doug Fisher (and friends), “Action of 5 November 1813”
- David Good, “The Alamo”
- David Hill, “Test of Honor – Shogun and The Last Samurai“
- Brad Schaive, “Ragnar’s Raid”
- John Seitz, “Hollywood Studios Shootout“
- Tom Uhl, “Arnhem Bridge – The Battles for the Bridge”
Best of Show
David Hill, “Test of Honour: Shogun and the Last Samurai”
Nominations:
- David Hill, “Test of Honour – Shogun and The Last Samurai“
- Pete Panzeri, “D-Day”
Best Terrain
Doug Fisher (and friends), “Action of 5 November 1813”
Nominations:
- Gordon Andrews, “Roman Circus III”
- Doug Fisher (and friends), “Action of 5 November 1813”
- John Seitz, “Hollywood Studios Shootout“
- Tom Uhl, “Arnhem Bridge – The Battles for the Bridge”
‘Pour Encourager Les Autres’ (PELA) awards
- Gordon Andrews, “Roman Circus III”
- Sean Barnett, “How the West Was Won”
- Ed Bowen, “Battle of the Assunpink Creek”
- Carl Cardoza, “The Battle of Midway”
- Richard Claydor, “Hot Fuzz”
- John Emmett, “Out of Ammunition – Arnhem Bridge”
- Doug Fisher (and friends), “Action of 5 November 1813” by Doug Fisher and friends
- Jared Fishman, “Surviving the Northwest Frontier”
- Sam Fuson, “Sherlock Holmes and the Crime of the Century”
- Thomas Garnett, “Prussian Assault at Elasshausen – Battle of Proschwiller“
- David Goode, “The Alamo”
- Edward Harding, “Nothing Bigger Than a Bren Gun”
- Trevor Hawkins, “Buccaneers of Bird Cay!”
- David Hill, “Test of Honour – Shogun and The Last Samurai“
- Kris Johnson, ”Red Oktober Factory 7 Assault”
- Greg Pooler, “What a Tanker – Berlin!”
- Jim Purky, “Picketts Charge – The Wargame”
- Brad Schaive, “Ragnar’s Raid”
- John Seitz, “Hollywood Studios Shootout“
- Adam Sharp, “Battle of Sitka – The Battles for the Bridge”
- Shelby Thompson, “The French Flotilla”
- Shelby Thompson, “The Mummy”
- Tom Uhl, “Arnhem Bridge – The Battles for the Bridge”
- Thomas Vielott, “Seige Lord Hasimoto’s Castle!”
- John Wilk, “Antietam – Burnside’s Bridge”
Michael Fijalka Young Guard
An award presented in recognition of exceptional children’s focused games with an emphasis on events that are hosted by children. Any Game Host who is 18 years old or younger and is the active, primary GM of an event is eligible. The Michael Fijalka Young Guard Award is selected by the Awards Committee and presented at Historicon and Fall In!
- Zaccai Given, “Battle of Salerno”
- Charles Fastoso, “Warricks and Warlords”
Legion of Honor Battle Star
A “special recognition award” selected by members of the HMGS Legion of Honor. Glenn Kidd presented this Legion of Honor Battle Star.
- Rick Dunn & NOWS, “Mission for the Governor”
Award Winners Photos at the Convention
While we continue to work on making our photo library more accessible (including embeddding photos in this AAR), below are links to the photos of each of the Award Winner presentations for each judging session for each day of the Convention. These are posted out to X (in the links below) and Facebook in real time during the Convention.
Awards' Judging Team
The Awards’ Judging Teams are veteran Game Host’s and previous award winners, all of whom devote their personal convention time as volunteers. (Note: we are always recruiting Awards judges, this year we welcomed several new judges to our ranks.)
Award Judges for Historicon 2024 included:
- Mike Bassett
- Steve Boegemann
- Cliff Brunken
- Daniel Caramagno
- Kevin Carroll
- Annemarie D’Amato
- Patrick Devine
- Dino Diakolios
- Nikolas Diakolios
- Doug Fisher
- Brandon Fraley
- Matthew Fridirici
- Rich Greenaway
- David Good
- John Hosie
- Marie Hubley
- Eric Jacobson
- Maja Jacobson
- Glenn Kidd
- Bill Koff
- John Leonard
- James McWee
- Michael Pederson
- Dennis Perlot
- Marc Raiff
- John Sileo
- Joe Swartz
Wargames Illustrated Painting Competition
Each year at Historicon, HMGS teams up with Wargames Illustrated to conduct a judged painting competition that brings out some of the finest artists that HMGS has to offer. There are a number of categories across a range of periods, scales and unit types/sizes to cover a wide range of interests of our membership. Each award winner is given a medal to recognize their accomplishments and photos are taken to be included in an upcoming Wargames Illustrated issue. 2024 had a number of outstanding entries and we saw a tremendous response from our attendees in both submissions as well as interest over Friday and Saturday admiring their work. There were 104 entries, up from 62 last year. There were quite a few new entrants, many of those entering their first competitions, as well as a good number of returning entrants.
The Best of Show Winner is chosen from the Category Winners. For 2024, Best of Show was Andy Waxtel.
The Category Winners were:
- Historical Single Miniature Winner: Aaron Simmons
- Historical Unit/War Machine – 25mm+ Winner: Chris Velas
- Historical Unit/War Machine – Small Scale Winner: Ed Kee (also won Best of Warlord)
- Fantasy Single Miniature Winner: Andrew Waxtel
- Fantasy Unit/War Machine Winner: Aaron Simmons
- Sci-Fi Single Miniature Winner: Andrew Waxtel
- Sci-Fi Unit/War Machine Winner: Andrew Waxtel
- Youth Winner: Nicholas Jensen
- Diorama Winner: Aaron Simmons
- Open Winner: Gregory Zuniga
Check out this drop box folder to see some of the Award Winners and their submissions:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/nzy72exm303fmmcdk61ns/ALeEAmEdMfo_iketVkkE1pY?rlkey=0t3f5cllijl205jav6oi4r6m8&st=uk0bnb8e&dl=0.
Don’t forget to look for an article in an upcoming Wargames Illustrated issue featuring the winners, and if you see the winners at another convention or club event, congratulate them on a job well done!
Tournaments
Tournament Coordinator: Steve Holder
The HMGS Tournament Program spans all periods past, present and future and involves a dedicated crew of gamers and volunteers to engage folks throughout the convention. There were over 23 different Tournaments (some rules have multiple tournaments) run throughout the course of the weekend. Tournament specific attendance fluctuates year to year based on player availability, rule changes/age and many other factors. This year, tournament participation was a bit mixed with some tournaments having a full set of players (with some above capacity) with others lacking some players. These are areas we try to track with the Tournament Coordinator to help make sure our attendees that are interested in Tournament play have space at the table.
Attached below is the tournament tables-by-day, with the planned number of players (table allocation) and then actual attendance in parenthesis.
| Game | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|
| ADLG | 48 (24) | 48 (28) | 24 (28) |
| Warrior | 18 (12) | 18 (12) | 18 (12) |
| TY/FoW (Battlefront) | 48 (16) | 48 (16) | 48 (16) |
| Bolt Action | – | 32 (28) | – |
| Warhammer Historicals | – | – | 8 (6) |
| LOTR | – | – | 32 (28) |
| Heavy Gear | – | 12 (16) | – |
| Wargods | – | – | 4 (N/A) |
| Saga | – | – | 12 (8) |
| MeG | 12 (0) | 12 (0) | 12 (0) |
| Blood & Plunder | – | 12 (18) | – |
| Cyberpunk RED | – | 32 (10) | – |
Exhibit Hall
Exhibit Hall Manager: J. Kimmel
HMGS is proud to offer such a wide variety of Exhibitors, with 62 different vendors providing everything you need to make your gaming possible from figures, terrain, paints, brushes, dice, tools, rules to game every period in every scale. We continue to see a variety of new and returning vendors that are constantly working to bring you the best the hobby has to offer. Many vendors are gamers as well and they are stepping up to feature walk-up demo games right in their booths, to show off their new games/figures/rules, or just to lure you into their gaming addiction. Walk-up demo games are becoming more popular to get that quick gaming fix waiting between games or to take a break from shopping overload, and they are an excellent way for you to spend that hidden money in your wallet you have been saving for something you know you don’t need but you have to have. Look for featured Exhibit Hall walk-up demo games listed in the Convention Program. No sign up, just walk up, ask and start rolling the dice. The Exhibitors help to make our conventions possible, and your support to them keeps them coming back to our shows. Finally, the Exhibit Hall also featured a podcast by Lead Pursuit that included a live, walk-up, aerial wargame as well as interviews with players, attendees and HMGS Staff. Please see our Social Media Section for more information.
Hobby University
Our Hobby University program continued its outstanding program of teaching a broad palette of classes focused on the arts & crafts side of our hobby; from making complex buildings and terrain, making and assembling figures and models, 3D printing fundamentals, airbrushing techniques, to the finer points of painting detailed miniatures of all sizes.
- Total Class Attendance: 263
- Thursday: 103
- Friday: 90
- Saturday: 70
- Total classes: 49
- Paint ‘n Take participants: 63 (with a few additional walk-ups, probably over 70)
- Iron Paintbrush competition: 6 teams with a total of 21 participants.
While Hobby University did some Facebook posting, Cat, Steph and the Social Media Team did an amazing job taking action photos of the Hobby U. team in action teaching classes and helping out the attendees, and posting them to social media.
Dr. Mark Franke was very touched with his custom road case (designed/made by our very own Todd Pressley) and has donated compressors, rinse jars, and airbrushes to hobby university. Thank you Mark for your generous donation.
Expanding HMGS Outreach activities, Hobby U. lent 3 “Paint ‘n Take” kits to the HMGS Next Gen teams to get our Next Generation of Wargamers ready not only for the game table but also the painting table. The mission of both Hobby University and Next Gen are a perfect fit for growing the interest and involvement in our hobby.
Finally, the Hobby University crew stepped up once again and held their ever-popular Iron Paintbrush competition on Saturday night. It was a flurry of paint, glue and kit bashing as the teams went at it for a couple hours of fun, taunting, bad jokes, and general distractions that lead to some perfect and not so perfect artistic masterpieces (or pieces of something). If you haven’t at least seen the Iron Paintbrush in action, try to catch it next year on Saturday evening, and if you think you can handle it, bring a team of your own.
2025 will be the 20th Anniversary of Hobby University and we plan to work with Greg and his team create a masterpiece of a celebration! Stay tuned for details.
War College
HMGS’s “institute of higher learning”, our War College, provides some of the best lectures in Military History from Ancient time periods, through the introduction of gunpowder, to modern day battles. Our lectures are from a wide variety of distinguished speakers, game hosts, historians, authors, and even tales from some who were actually there. With 22 different lectures this year on an array of topics, the War College is something that should be on everyone’s convention bucket list.
| Time | Lecture Title | Lecturer | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| THURSDAY | ||||
| 1pm | Wargaming Alternate Military Technologies at Gettysburg | Sean Barnett | 26 | |
| 2pm | Festung ’44—The Fuehrer’s Fortress Folly | Jeff Schultz | 25 | |
| 3pm | Operation COBRA from the Ground Up | West Point Prof. John Stapleton | 24 | |
| 4pm | Lt. George Wilson’s War, 1944-1945 | West Point Prof. Steve Waddell | 26 | |
| 5pm | D-Day Disaster | Pete Panzeri | postponed | |
| FRIDAY | ||||
| 9am | Jeff Davis Takes the Train: Railroads in the Civil War | Al Nofi | 20 | |
| 10am | Tricks of the Trade: Wargaming Tactics & Techniques | Al Nofi | 13 | |
| 11am | From Hollywood to Historicon: Life at the Sharpe End – The Sharpe Story According to Rifleman Harris | Jason Salkey | 23 | |
| Noon | Buford’s Cavalry at Gettysburg | John Priest | 27 | |
| 1pm | Military Iconography in 13th Century Byzantium | Sam Cowell | 26 | |
| 2pm | Attu: The Japanese Side of Death Before Surrender | Prof. Ted Cook | 30 | |
| 3pm | Hunting U-boats: Allied ASW in WW2 | Marty Fenelon | 29 | |
| 4pm | The Dacians: More than Barbarians | Payton Kelly-McNally | 28 | |
| 5pm | Rosebud to Little Big Horn | Pete Panzeri | 24 | |
| SATURDAY | ||||
| 10am | Red Sea Crisis: The Houthi Problem | Chris Carlson | 29 | |
| 11am | From Hollywood to Historicon: Life at the Sharpe End — The Sharpe Story According to Rifleman Harris | Jason Salkey | 38 | |
| Noon | Iverson’s Assault at Gettysburg | John Priest | 21 | |
| 1pm | Commerce Raiders: 1862—1943 | Jeff Schultz | 28 | |
| 2pm | The Machinery of Victory in WW2 | Connor Marsland | 28 | |
| 4pm | Daylight Bombing in WW2: Formations and Tactics | Marty Fenelon | 22 | |
| 5pm | German Troop Types in the Herero War | Roy Jones | 16 | |
| 6pm | HMGS Wants You!–Volunteering at HMGS | Frank Luberti | 0 | |
Total War College Attendance: 503
HMGS Social Media Team
Team Leads: Cat Hultberg & Stephanie Clark
Overall, the social media coverage for Historicon 2024 was far more comprehensive than it was in 2023 (the first year Cat Hultberg was taking pictures and posting them to social media). That is in no small part thanks to having an additional social media volunteer (Stephanie) and having a bit more prep time before the convention. There were more social media posts made prior to the convention, including the information about the Swag Bag, becoming an Awards Judge and advertising both the Wargames Illustrated Painting Competition and Hobby U’s Iron Paintbrush, both of which had more participants this year than in previous years. During the convention, in addition to covering the gaming space, the team was able to coordinate with the Awards team to cover the PELA awards and the Game Master of the Year presentation. The team also did photo ops with the Convention Special Guest, Jason Salkey, and posted the daily schedules for both Hobby University and the War College.
We also featured a number of Podcasts at Historicon. Lead Pursuit did another livestream featuring “air combat” games as well as interviews in the Exhibit Hall. The Next Gen team brought their 20-sided Gamified Podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/20-sided-gamified-podcast/id1675149554) to feature Next Gen games they ran during the Convention. Finally, there were a number of post-convention U-Tube/Video reports including this great one from Marks Game Room: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILPT2O-bzbI). We will continue to work with all of these and many other platforms to highlight the great games and activities at our conventions. If you would like to connect with our social media team or work with us to feature the convention or just games you are running during the convention please let the Convention Director or the Social Media Team know and we will work with you to connect your posting to the greater HMGS community.
Board Game Library
Come discover the American Board Game Library!
The American Board Game Library is a free board game lending library. They brought over 500 games to choose from, varying in genre from military, strategy, educational, family, fun, and even kids games. When not gaming miniatures and having some spare time, attendees visited to peruse the board games, and maybe play a game or two. The games varied in length of play time from 15 mins to several hours and in number of players.
The game library also offered many scheduled gaming events throughout the weekend. These events were available on a first come first served basis, with ticket holders having priority.
The Board Game Library’s dedicated staff and volunteers were available for assistance in learning a new game; sitting in a game as a player; helping to locate a game; or just to answer questions and chat. Just ask!
Convention Director's Final Thoughts
I want to thank all of the Historicon Volunteer Staff that worked tirelessly before during and after the convention to make “America’s Flagship Historical Wargaming Convention” a success. I also want to also thank the HMGS BoD for having the confidence in our outstanding Convention team to run another convention, Historicon 2025. We couldn’t have done it without their support. All of us hope that you had a great gaming and convention experience at Historicon 2024.
We continue to collect feedback from folks to help improve all HMGS Conventions, including working closely with the Fall In! 2024 team as they introduced our new game and convention registration system Table Top Events (TTE). This is a tremendous step forward for all of our attendees and our HMGS staff to be able to provide a system that you can access from your computer, tablet and even smart phone in real time to see what games are available, what classes you can still get into, or where to go for your game or to just buy some HMGS swag or even a Flea Market Table in real time while you are sitting at a game or at the bar. No more spending valuable convention time trying to see if a game ticket is still available on the board for a game in an upcoming time slot, if it is open you can reserve a seat on your phone get a confirmation, walk up to the game table, show the GM and you are in. The greater world of gaming is also open to you once you register for a TTE account, since it is the de-facto standard for most of the greater gaming community. So make sure you get your TTE account ready early, keep an eye out for a notice when the Hotel room blocks open (January 30th, 2025) and we’ll see all of you across the gaming table at the Lancaster County Convention Center for Historicon 2025, July 16-20. The Convention Theme will be celebrating the 250th Birthday of the United States Army. So get out your Green Army Men or those Rev War troops that you haven’t put down on the game table in years and let’s get ready to game. Thank you again everyone for making Historicon 2024 a memorable convention for all of us, and Happy Gaming!
