The MechaniCon - West Chester, PA, November 4-6

[mechboyz]

We may be in the middle of summer, but fall is coming soon. And with fall comes MechaniCon! This year we?re especially excited to add an indy circuit Warhammer Fantasy event, and a big Privateer Press presence thanks to Chris Nanry, the Press Ganger organizing the horde of events.

Tickets are on sale now at www.themechanicon.com/1/. Check out the web site for more event information and to find out about new events as they?re added to the schedule. Hope to see you there!

MechaniCon 2011
November 4-6, Days Hotel, West Chester, PA
www.themechanicon.com/1/

Convention Badge includes access to Iron Ogre Painting Competition, Privateer Press Painting Challenge, Charity Auction Access, Open Gaming Tables, Game Demos, Exhibitor and Vendor Room, and Register On Site Games. Even if tournament play is not what you are looking for, you can join us for a single day or the weekend and participate in many gaming and hobby activities.

Main events
? Warhammer 40K Grand Tournament, an Independent Tournament Circuit event (70 players, Sat/Sun, 1850 pts)
? Warhammer Fantasy Battle Independent Tournament Circuit event (32 players, Fri., 2000 pts)
? Warmachine/Hordes - The East Coast Rumble (Sat/Sun, 50 pts)


Other featured events

Friday:
? Warhammer 40K Tournament - Forge World Army Lists are legal (32 players, 3 games,1850 pts)
? Battlefleet Gothic Tournament (16 players, 3 rounds, 1500 pts)
? Warmachine/Hordes - Highlander event (35 pts)
? Warhammer 40K Kill Team Tournaments by the Berks-PA Gaming Club
? Robotech Battles Demos


Saturday:
? Warmachine/Hordes - Mangled Metal,Tooth and Claw Tournament (35 pts)
? Philly Fall Brawl Blood Bowl Tournament
? Iron Ogre Painting Competition - categories for GW, PP, and all other manufacturers
? Privateer Press Painting Challenge
? Warhammer 40K Kill Team Tournaments by the Berks-PA Gaming Club
? Chris Bledsoe Memorial Charity Auction, benefiting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
? Robotech Battles Demos


Sunday:
? Warcaster Thunderdome event
? Munchkin Card Game Tournament
? Blackwater Gulch Demos

All Weekend:
? Open Gaming for Warhammer and 40K
? Warmachine/Hordes - Open Arena
? Heroscape events by The Mid-Atlantic Regional 'Scapers ? see web site for details
? Heavy Gear demos
? Noobhammer Podcasting - Beasts of War Radio

WITH MORE EVENTS TO COME!


Scheduled vendors and manufacturers:
? The WarStore
? Battlefront/GF9
? Mantic Games
? The Games Keep

Hotel Perks:
? Free Parking
? Free Coffee, Tea and Water available to attendees
? Reasonably priced concessions
? Bar in the 40K GT room as well as the main restaurant and bar on the main floor

Hotel rooms:
Rooms are available with a group discount rate of $89 plus tax. To receive the group rate for hotel rooms, call the Days Hotel at 610-692-1900 and mention the code "MechaniCon Conference". Any cancellations of reservations within 24 hours from the date of arrival will be billed for one (1) night's room and tax.

***Important note to our guests from previous years ? the convention is at the same hotel, it?s just under new management.***

[mechboyz]

Updated with Privateer Press info!

[mechboyz]

Some more updates:

- First off, in response to some of the questions we’ve received about open gaming….YES, it’s more than welcome and we will have tables available for you!


- Philly Fall Brawl Blood Bowl Tournament - The Adventurer's Guild Blood Bowl League returns for their third year with us. They will hold a one-day event on Saturday, November 5. Rules pack is at the link below. Tickets are $25 including a 1 day badge, or $35 including a weekend badge.

www.themechanicon.com/1/philly-fall-brawl-details-announced/2011/08/


- The Mid-Atlantic Regional 'Scapers are running Heroscape events all weekend! Tickets are $1 each to reserve your slot, and you can purchase a single day or weekend badge to meet your needs.

www.themechanicon.com/1/heroscape-events-added/2011/08/


- The Berks PA Gaming Club is joining us again this year, and they will be running three 40K Kill Team events over the weekend. Each Kill Team round is a separate event, so YES you can play in more than one round if you like. Tickets are now available to reserve your slot. In addition to the Kill Team events, the Cityfight tables will be available for the rest of the weekend for open gaming!

www.themechanicon.com/1/40k-kill-team-events-added/2011/08/


- The WarStore is now scheduled to be vending all weekend!


- The Iron Ogre Painting Competition returns to MechaniCon. All registered attendees may compete in the competition. Note that the late entry time on Saturday allows you to enter models from your army even if you are playing in the Grand Tournament. You may also enter models in both the Privateer Painting Challenge and Iron Ogre.

www.themechanicon.com/1/iron-ogre-2011/2011/08/

- The Chris Bledsoe Memorial Charity Auction returns to MechaniCon on Saturday November 5. There will be a silent auction in the Brandywine Ballroom from noon until 8pm. All proceeds will go to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. You may email Tony Spino, the auction coordinator, at [e-mail] for more information about donating items and services or any questions you have.

www.themechanicon.com/1/chris-bledsoe-memorial-charity-auction-2011/2011/08/

[jay]

is there any information on the 40k event?

[tironum]

Hey Jay,

We will have the Friday Night Fight rules pack out in the next day or so and the Grand Tournament pack will be ready this week as well.

We had a very late start this year announcing the event due to the venue being sold twice (Holiday Inn > West Chester Inn > Days Hotel) but we got our contracts wrapped up and have gotten almost every event on the website (Flames of War will be added). We have quite a lot of clubs involved this year!

The Friday Night Fight rules pack will be almost identical to last year, with the latest armies allowed updated and you can see that here:

www.themechanicon.com/1/wp-content/uploads/fnf.2010.v2.0-2.pdf

The Grand Tournament rules pack will be similar to last year which you can see here:

www.themechanicon.com/1/wp-content/uploads/2010-GT.pdf

This year we are changing the sportsmanship and painting scoring a bit based on player feedback and the way the scores end up. With it being difficult to max battle points, we are lowering the ratios of the other categories but we will still have Battle/Paint/Sports/Quiz and it will still be more of a hobby style tournament.


We also are going to be putting out a mission pack in about a week or two that will include 12-15 missions. We want them playtested by other clubs (since none of our club are eligible to play in our event) and we will tweak them where necessary. Once they are finished by the end of September the final mission pack will be available for download on the website.

Not all of the missions will be used - 3 will be used in the Friday Night Fight and 5 will be used in the GT. This will allow player feedback before the event but will not allow you to custom build an army tailored to the few missions used in the event.

You will see that the rules pack has a terrain section. This will be expanded to two pages to cover all the additional pieces for this year and also all terrain will be placed by judges based on last year's feedback. Also, all the sideboards were upgraded last year and are fully dry now! Hehehehe - Fishboy commented on the smell I think our first year - he was correct, the sideboards still smelled a bit.

Anyhow, its been crazy with my work (contractor stuff) so my schedule is always based on individual jobs, but I hope to make it up to Rochester this year. I hope you sell out quicker than last year you comp-loving gamers!

[mechboyz]

September update -

Tickets are selling well and there are slots still available for all events.

The Pod Squad will be running demos of Dream Pod 9's Heavy Gear games all weekend!
www.themechanicon.com/1/pod-squad-brings-heavy-gear/2011/09/

We are thrilled to announce that on Sunday, November 6, we will have an exclusive preview of Blackwater Gulch.
www.themechanicon.com/1/blackwater-gulch-demos/2011/09/


Don't forget to check the website for the final versions of the Friday Night Fight and 40K Grand Tournament rules packs.

Friday Night Fight rules:
www.themechanicon.com/1/wp-content/uploads/fnf.2011_final1.pdf

40K Grand Tournament rules:
www.themechanicon.com/1/wp-content/uploads/2011-GT-v1.3.pdf


We have received a ton of donations for the Chris Bledsoe Memorial Charity Auction. So far we have gaming tables, collectible action figures,, loads of old RPGs and other games, over 4000 comic books and more! Bring some extra cash and a truck because there will be a ton of great stuff to take home as well as helping cancer research.
www.themechanicon.com/1/chris-bledsoe-memorial-charity-auction-2011/2011/08/

[mechboyz]

We have been quiet on the boards but busy at the workshop. Here are some pics of prep work and some of the great donations for the charity event.

Here is workbench # 3, all ready for the next session of terrain building


Some of the new pieces being added this year


Tables stacked and ready to move out & most of the scenery packed in bins. Hmm, what is that white thing on the right side of the pic doing there?



We have received tons of donations for this year's Chris Bledsoe Memorial Charity Auction.
www.themechanicon.com/1/chris-bledsoe-memorial-charity-auction-2011/2011/08/

We have over 5000 comic books, and they will be available as lots of Short Comic Boxes (about 175 per box). We have over 20 boxes loaded with a diverse collection. All the books were donated by a close friend of Chris. Note - these boxes have a random mix of everything from the collection and many boxes include rare books.


We are happy to offer many gaming tables in this year's auction, from basic 4'x6' platforms to finely detailed gaming tables. This one is "re-charitied" and was crafted by Brian Niro from Gentleman's Ones for this year's Heroes of Armageddon which benefitted Doctors without Borders. Mike Clark, from Showcase Comics and Games and a family friend of Chris donated this half of the great display table.

A Gentleman's Ones
agentlemansones.blogspot.com/

Heroes of Armageddon
heroesofarmageddon.blogspot.com/

Doctors Without Borders
www.doctorswithoutborders.org/





We also have hundreds of old RPG books, Board, Card and Video Games, as well as loads of other cools stuff. Check out this huge Supremacy collection.




Many more projects are wrapping up for this year's event and with only a month to go it is now crunch time. We have some new announcements, some links and photos to share.

Tickets are going fast for many events, with the Heroscape events being a top seller. Tickets are still available for all events and hotel rooms are filling up very quickly. Place your order and get your reservations soon to confirm your space at this year's event.


We are pleased to report that ROBOTECH BATTLES will be demoed on Friday and Saturday at the convention this year.

www.themechanicon.com/1/another-new-indie-game-shows-off-at-the-con-robotech-battles/2011/10/
www.facebook.com/pages/The-MechaniCon/139581129046
twitter.com/#!/The_MechaniCon


The Privateer Press events added this year really getting lots of love. We have loads of loot and a horde of great gamers getting registered. This is shaping up to be one of the premier weekends for PP gaming behind other greats like Lock and Load, Adepticon, Gencon and Templecon.
You can follow the main thread for the PP events here on Dakka Dakka:
www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/391161.page;jsessionid=B17EA335C97DDED5392B85902B1B3545
The main thread over at the Privateer Press Boards can be found here:
privateerpressforums.com/showthread.php?75622-The-East-Coast-Rumble-2011-Mecahnicon-Nov-4-6th


The Noobhammer Podcast will be in attendance this year. They have been putting on a great show and have recently joined Beasts of War as the hosts of Beasts of War Radio. Meet the guys and chat about your hobby and gaming thoughts. In their latest Episode 9, you can hear the shout out about our event 23 minutes in! fnord
www.noobhammer.com/
www.beastsofwar.com/beasts-of-war-radio/announcing-beasts-war-radio/


Swag bags are getting lots of donations. Here is a pic of the tape measure for the players participating in the Warhammer 40,000 Grand Tournament and the East Coast Rumble.



We also will have T-shirts available in the next week or so. The artwork is being finalized and once that is done you will be able to buy a shirt at Printfection. We will not have a markup for the shirts, so our price is your price.


We will have more updates over the next couple weeks once we get a chance.

[mechboyz]

Update - October 14, 2011

We are getting close now, with only three weeks until the big event. Our preparations are going well and we are very excited. Tickets are selling quickly now but they are still available for all events. New scenery is being built and painted. The last of our big projects have been wrapped up and we still have even more news!

T-Shirts are now available with stunning new artwork! The Printfection store will stay open until the end of November.
www.themechanicon.com/1/t-shirts-now-available-for-mechanicon-2011/2011/10/



As a further bonus, Printfection has announced a big sale this week!

Phenomenal Sale Info

Coupon Code: SuperDuperShip
Discount: Free Shipping on Super Saver, International, and Canadian Airmail orders. No minimums

Coupon Code: SuperSave$10
Discount: $10 off orders with a subtotal of $50+

Coupon Code: Scary35%
Discount: 35% off orders with a subtotal of $100+

Dates: Today, October 13 - Thursday, October 22

Disclaimer: Please enter coupon code SuperDuperShip, SuperSave$10, OR Scary35% before completing checkout. Discount is applied to the base price and does not include taxes, or additional charges. Email us if you have questions or need help calculating the discount for customers. This offer may not be combined with other offers. If the word spreads like wildfire it's possible some orders may delayed beyond normal estimates. Coupons valid from 10/13/2011 to 10/22/2011 11:59 pm Mountain Time.

[mechboyz]

We have just under two weeks until the event and still have more news!

Tickets are still available for events. We have tons of great prizes to hand out for our events and general convention attendees with possibly more loot per person than any other event! The hotel rooms are reasonably priced, food and drinks are economical and loads of awesome rewards geared toward the hobbyist. Get your tickets now before the event you want is sold out!

Due to the tons of great support, we will be adding raffle style drawings every day for badge holders.

Secret Weapon Miniatures will be sponsoring MechaniCon again with goodies for the swag bags and other great hobby supplies!
www.themechanicon.com/1/secret-weapon-miniatures-sponsorship-announcement/2011/10/

Even more fantastic scenery is getting done for this year! We are running out of space at the workshop with all the great donations for the charity auction and the convention events but there is still room to paint...


The last bit of info for today is that Mantic Games have informed us they sending some great prizes to hand out. With all the wonderful stuff they have been up to lately it will be a welcome treat for some lucky gamers!

[mechboyz]

MechaniCon cranks it up to 11!

There is less than a week until MechaniCon 2011. There is a flurry of activity going on here getting all the details in place and all the clubs running events are doing the same. Sponsors have packages in the mail and still more sponsors are joining.

There are tickets available for all events still and a few hotel rooms as well. The online ticket sales will end on Thursday, November 3, 2011. Tickets will be available at the door - cash only.

It is amazing how so much has been added to this year's event.

-Privateer Press events are a big part, including one day tournaments, a two day championship, painting competition and loads of open gaming. Privateer Press has been a huge sponsor for us and this will be a great weekend for casual and tournament gamers!

-Heroscape is a huge hit. There is a great group of players who love this game and they have put in a huge effort to be able to enjoy a whole weekend of gaming.

-Warhammer Fantasy Battle joins for the first time. It may be a smaller event having to take backstage to the 40K Grand Tournament but the trophies, prizes and rewards are just as great!

-New games to demo and vendors being in attendance will round out the weekend. Get a chance to chat with the guys from Battlefront while you demo Flames of War or pick up some models and supplies from the Warstore.

-The Friendly Local Game Stores are participating just as well. The Games Keep and Showcase Comics are both offering specials to players who bring their conventions badges in to their stores. Getting the help from so many great organizations really helps give the players an unprecedented amount of goodies.

Here are some pics to work up your appetite for the weekend:

The finishing touches on all the new scenery for this year.


Loads of great prizes! More prizes per attendee than almost any event PERIOD! There will be random door prizes in addition to the loads of event prizes.


Just some of the swag bag contents for all attendees - including Bitz from The Warstore, bases and coupons from Secret Weapon Miniatures, a handy 6" ruler, coupons for local retailers and more on the way. GT attendees will also get this year's promo tape measure (shown in previous post) and there is even more on the way!



Ridiculous amounts of donations for the charity auction on Saturday. There are thousands of comics, hundreds of games and accessories and even fully finished gaming tables. Transportation is not included so bring a truck or make friends with someone who does!

[mechboyz]

Drop by the Facebook page and our website for all the latest media coverage as soon as it is available and stay tuned for results from all the events.
To our Staff and Volunteers, thank you again for all your generous help. You help make a great team and a wonderful gaming community.

Here are the winners of the 40K GT categories:

Overall Champion – Simon Leen
2nd Overall – Bob Evers
Best Painted – Ted Nagel
2nd Best Painted – Alex Cauldwell
Best General – Mike Ludwig
2nd Best General – Paul Parke
Best Sportsman – Mike Biancone
2nd Best Sportsman – John Tinney
Army Domination Awards:
• Black Templars – Daniel Galloway
• Blood Angels – Simon Leen
• Chaos Daemons – Chance Frink
• Chaos Space Marines – Mike Belczyk
• Dark Angels – John Cesario
• Dark Eldar – Ralph Boyd
• Eldar – Mario Rosmond
• Grey Knights – Mike Ludwig
• Imperial Guard – Bill McFadden
• Necrons – Brad Park
• Orks – Colin Jones
• Space Marines – Tim Hudak
• Space Wolves – Duncan McNeil-Burton
• Tau Empire – Paul Parke
• Tyranids – Jack Ross
Random Raffle – Eric Bates
Reinforcements Award – Joe Mattheisen
Trivia Master – Alex Cauldwell
Paint Scholarship – Bill Schopellkopf

[mechboyz]

Results and Coverage page is up - keep checking in for all the latest reports and links:
www.themechanicon.com/1/2011-results-and-coverage/

40K Scores are up as well as a link to the 28mm Miniatures review.