The idea was simple to run a day meet up, with games in the morning and afternoon, to celebrate Go Play Manchester’s 1st Anniversary.
Two months of constant publicity, on Twitter, Facebook, word of mouth through the shop at Fanboy 3, later and suddenly on Saturday 11th at 10 am when I walked through the door 40 odd people were already there eager to get on with the gaming. And after my brief introduction, they did, sorting themselves out with tables and getting down to the hard work of rolling dice and describing their characters actions. I joined John Ossoway’s River of Heaven game and had a cracking time being a space marine in a slick sci-fi action thriller (read my review here).
Even due to last-minute dropouts we ran 13 games over the two slots
The Mermaids of Magda, The Guns of Olympus Mons, Only Fools Rush In, Fire, The Great Wain Robbery, Legions of Gold (Redux), Murky Waters, Breakout!,
Manta Prowl Tank Down., Hostile Negotiations., Captain Moonray and the League of Unspeakable Evil., GoblinQuest., The Rumble in the Bronx (Marvel Superheroes FASERIP).
Fanboy 3, as usual, were excellent hosts. I cannot emphasise how much of Go Play’s success both at Winter Con and during the usual monthly meetups are down to Hedi and her staff. It’s a lovely, comfortable venue, where the game shop side of the business is neatly pushed to the side to allow a massive amount of organised play as well as pick up games in-store. The games side of it is well maintained and fantastic, with a wide range of boardgames and RPGs. My wallet is significantly lighter after browsing the excellent selection of RPGs during the con.
We took an hour for lunch which gave folk time to socialise as well as decamp to local eateries nearby in the Northern Quarter and Piccadilly Gardens. After the con was over a large group of us went to the Port Street Beer for a few post-con real ales 😊
Will we be doing it again this time next year? Hell yes! It’s inspired me to run another one day con later in the year (details to follow because it is still in discussion), as well as commit to more regular afternoon meetups which starting next month.
Note, there have been two changes in how we organise things that arose from the day.
- Saturday suits us so much better than Sunday, and more importantly Fan Boy 3, who run regular D&D events on Sunday. We were struggling for numbers and they were struggling to fit us in alongside the D&D. So while neither side is not ruling out Sunday Go Play’s in the future, in the main, we shall now be meeting on Saturday afternoons.
- To help with the increased attendance, and if I can’t make it on the day, Roderick, who some of you have had the pleasure of playing in his WFRP/W40K, is going to be my deputy.
Thanks to everyone who came along and played or ran a game at Winter Con and made it such a triumphant day.
Enjoy
;O) Newt
Other reviews of the day:
A gallery of photos from the day.
