Well as a 'forty ninth' birthday present to myself I went 'on the road' from my northern haven, to the metropolis, aka "London", for Connections UK 2016, where hobby meets the professional body.
http://www.professionalwargaming.co.uk/2016.html
I was sold on this idea after becoming a serial listener to previous past audio (MP3 burnt to CD in my case) in my daily trip to work in the car. Being a 'two hour' round trip I get to listen to a lot of audio! For the past few months I have regaling myself with UK Connections 2013 through to 2015. This had totally drawn me in. As a conference open to the paying public I was hooked, I had to "go see the elephant".
In addition I lucky enough to strike up a collaboration with Phil Sabin and demonstrate his Fire/Move game which I am in the process of computerising as part of an open-source project (I will post more on this later). The conference is heavily dominated by the professional aspects of this serious wargaming community. However hobbyists were viewed as an innovative, beneficial and actively welcomed. In fact the Mega-Game which was the Day One "event" was powered by and from the experiences of the hobbyists.
Far better bloggers than I have already posted on Connections, so please review:
Bob:
http://wargamingmiscellany.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/connections-uk-2016-day-3-thursday-8th.html
http://wargamingmiscellany.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/connections-uk-2016-day-2-wednesday-7th.html
http://wargamingmiscellany.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/connections-uk-2016-day-1-tuesday-6th.html
Rex:
https://paxsims.wordpress.com/2016/09/06/connections-uk-2016-civil-war-in-binni/
https://paxsims.wordpress.com/2016/09/08/connections-uk-2016-aar/
Paul:
https://wargamingcommunity.wordpress.com/2016/09/10/connections-uk-aar/
https://wargamingcommunity.wordpress.com/2016/09/11/wargaming-and-technology-innovation/
https://wargamingcommunity.wordpress.com/2016/09/13/wargaming-and-innovation-part-ii/
Pre-conference post by Phil Sabin:
ReplyDeletehttp://cimsec.org/lord-wargame-chat-dr-phil-sabin/26631
Might look at going next year
ReplyDeleteMight look at going next year
ReplyDeleteNot for the feint hearted as the days are long and intense
ReplyDeleteGetting to and from London from the North is always interesting (managed to miss one train and the other was delayed four hours on the return journey)
But that just added to the excitement of the event
I stayed at KCL Uni accommodation which helped reduce the cost
Rating - just a 9.5
To put it context ...
Losing my virginity was a 10 ;)