Quote:Howdy All,


The Collector's Trove and Gary Con would like to announce a new series of events at Gary Con that pay special attention to the early days of wargaming prior to the introduction of Dungeons & Dragons. The special events will be gathered under the aegis: Legends of Wargaming. These events attempt to bring Gary Con attendees the classic board and miniature wargames that were a staple during the early days of the Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association (LGTSA), International Federation of Wargaming (IFW), Castle & Crusade Society, and Gen Con. Each event will exhibit a history of the game and its significance to the hobby of wargaming and even role-playing games. Also displayed will be various memorabilia and photos and original rules, figures, and accessories used during play. When possible, the events will involve individuals who played, refereed, and authored the games during this golden age of wargaming. This is your chance to experience what it was like to play these games at the earliest Gen Cons and Gary Gygax’s own basement in Lake Geneva! The games will be taught and refereed so interest is all that is required by players. Even if you don’t sign up to play be sure to stop by to view the displays, ask questions, and watch the fun of classic wargaming!

The following are the Legends of Wargaming events currently scheduled for Gary Con IV:

Chainmail Fantasy (Referee: Paul Stormberg)
Chainmail Jousting (Referee: Paul Stormberg)
Dawn Patrol: Fight in the Skies (Referee: Mike Carr)
Don’t Give Up The Ship (Referee: Mike Carr)
Dungeon! (Referee: Dave Megarry)
Giant Lemans (Referee: Mike Carr)
Siege of Bodenburg (Referee: Paul Stormberg)

The Collector’s Trove is working with Gary Con and several VIP’s to bring you new Legends of Wargaming each year. In addition to the well attended offerings from previous years we have two new events added to Legends of Wargaming (both by two of TSR’s earliest employees): Mike Carr will be running a game of Don’t Give Up The Ship! for up to 16 players and Dave Megarry will lead up to 16 players playing the classic Dungeon! boardgame.

Don’t Give Up The Ship!, is one of the classic miniature wargames of the early 1970’s. Co-authored by Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson, and Mike Carr, this Age of Sail, ship to ship combat game recaptures the excitement of the time period and such works of fiction as the Master and Commander and Horatio Hornblower novels. The event will be taught and refereed by co-author Mike Carr as he recreates the experience of many such games run at early Gen Cons.

Dungeon! is the fantastic board game that is an ancestor of Dungeons & Dragons. Designed by Dave Megarry this game represents Dungeons & Dragons in its purest form – the dungeon delve! Players take on the role of a Hero, Elf, Wizard, or Superhero and adventure their way through the dungeon-themed gameboard. In their explorations they fight monsters, avoid traps, and find fabulous treasures! Gary Gygax loved to play this game, playtested it extensively, provided design input, wrote several articles, and created several variants for the game. The event will be taught and refereed by designer Dave Megarry.

In addition to these two new events The Collector’s Trove is proud to sponsor the first ever Gary Con sand table! That’s right, a six foot by ten foot sand table just like the one Gary had in the basement of his home at 330 Center St. in Lake Geneva. The same size sand table that was used by the LGTSA to playtest Chainmail and Tractics! While only a single Chainmail event is currently planned for the table, scheduling is underway to add more events using the table. If you want to plan your own event using the sand table, please feel free to contact me via messaging here on the forums or at stormber@cox.net.

In 2013, The Collector’s Trove hopes to bring a game of Tractics to the sand table. Tractics, co-authored by Mike Reese, Leon Tucker, and Gary Gygax, is the miniature wargame of mechanized armor warfare. This event will use a WWII armor scenario originally played at Gen Con IV to premier the rules set in August 1971 and will be run by the game’s co-author Mike Reese! WWII armor games were a particular favorite of Gary’s and you will soon have a chance to find out why!

Here is the tentative schedule for the Legends of Wargaming events:

Thu./Fri./Sat. (All Day) Chainmail Jousting: Gary Con Jousting Tournament (Paul Stormberg)
Thu. Eve (6pm-12pm) Chainmail Fantasy: The Battle for the Brown Hills (Paul Stormberg)
Fri. Day (2pm-6pm) Don’t Give Up the Ship! (Mike Carr)
Fri. Day (2pm-4pm) Dungeon! (Dave Megarry)
Fri. Eve (6pm-12pm) Siege of Bodenburg: Siege of Bodenburg (Paul Stormberg)
Sat. Day (2pm-4pm) Dungeon! (Dave Megarry)

...also look for the scheduling of Mike Carr’s Dawn Patrol and Giant LeMans as those times become available.


Legends of Wargaming Event Descriptions:

Event Title: Don’t Give Up the Ship!
DM Name: Mike Carr
Game Type: Miniature / War Game
Game System: Don’t Give Up The Ship!
Date: Friday
Time: 2pm-6pm
Duration: 4 hours
Required Skill Level: Beginner
Number of Players: 12-16
Event Description: This is your chance to learn to play Don’t Give Up The Ship!, one of the classic miniature wargames of the early 1970’s. Co-authored by Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson, and Mike Carr, this Age of Sail, ship to ship combat game recaptures the excitement of the time period and such works of fiction as the Master and Commander and Horatio Hornblower novels. The event will be taught and refereed by co-author Mike Carr as he recreates the experience of many such games run at early Gen Cons.


Event Title: Dungeon!
DM Name: Dave Megarry
Game Type: Board Game
Game System: Dungeon!
Date: Friday, Saturday
Time: 2pm-4pm
Duration: 2 hours
Required Skill Level: Beginner (kids with adults welcome)
Number of Players: 12-16
Event Description: This is your chance to learn to play Dungeon! from the original designer, Dave Megarry! After a brief introduction on the history of the game’s design by Dave Megarry, he will lead up to 16 players simultaneously on 4 boards!

Dave took part in playing fantasy adventures in Dave Arneson’s original Blackmoor, a game that incorporated much of the Fantasy Supplement of Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren’s Chainmail Medieval miniature warfare game. Dave took these experiences and codified them in to a much more regular, but still dynamic, board game.

Players take on the role of a Hero, Elf, Wizard, or Superhero and play their way across the dungeon-themed gameboard. In their explorations they fight monsters, avoid traps, and find fabulous treasures! Dave made an offering of the game, titled Dungeons of Pasha Cada, to Don Lowry of Guidon Games but it was ultimately decided that it would be too expensive to print the maps. Later the Game was picked up by TSR who put it into production in 1975.

Gary Gygax loved to play this game, playtested it extensively, provided design input, wrote several articles, and created several variants for the game.


Event Title: The Battle for the Brown Hills
DM Name: Paul J. Stormberg
Game Type: Miniature / War Game
Game System: Chainmail
Date: Thursday
Time: 6:00pm
Duration: 6 hours
Required Skill Level: Beginner
Number of Players: 6
Event Description: Test your tactical skills in this exciting miniatures game that is the roots of the original Dungeons and Dragons game. This classic Chainmail scenario, originally designed by Gary Gygax, will be played on the first ever, Gary Con Sand Table! That’s right, a six foot by ten foot sand table just like the one Gary had in the basement of his home at 330 Center St. in Lake Geneva. The same size sand table that was used by the LGTSA to playtest Chainmail and Tractics. The Battle for the Brown Hills was first played by members of the Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association and the Castles and Crusades Society in 1971. This game will feature 40mm Elastolin figures by Hausser and dimestore conversions of vintage plastic figures for fantasy creatures – just like Gary used in the early 1970’s before the advent of fantasy gaming miniatures.



Event Title: Siege of Bodenburg
DM Name: Paul J. Stormberg
Game Type: Miniature / War Game
Game System: Siege of Bodenburg
Date: Friday
Time: 6:00pm
Duration: 6 hours
Required Skill Level: Beginner
Number of Players: 6
Event Description: Wow! This is the game played by Gary Gygax in 1968 at Gen Con I. It was this game that inspired him to form the Castle & Crusade society and later write Chainmail and D&D. This game uses a set of rules created by Henry Bodenstedt for use with gorgeous 40mm Elastolin castle and miniatures. A fantastic and fun game with gaming history and nostalgia too!


Event Title: Gary Con Jousting Tournament
DM Name: Paul J. Stormberg
Game Type: Miniature / War Game
Game System: Chainmail
Date: Thursday-Saturday
Time: All Day
Duration: 5-10 minutes
Required Skill Level: Beginner
Number of Players: Unlimited (two at a time)
Event Description: Step up to the list and see how you fare in the second annual, Gary Con jousting tournament! A dedicated gaming table will be set up with beautiful Schleich figures and self guided instructions to play. Face off with one of your friends or make a new one and challenge him to a tilt! The top, point-scoring competitors from jousts taking place prior to Saturday, noon, will enter into the second round of the tournament. The second round of the tournament will face off the four best knights (White, Blue, Green, and Red) in an elimination round. These top knights will fill out a form indicating their aiming points and seating positions for three tilts. The winner will be determined by comparing these selections in a semi-final and elimination round. The same method will be used to determine the top Black Knight — representing the best knight of the LGTSA, IFW, Castle & Crusade Society, ex-TSR employees, original Greyhawk campaign players, and Gygax family members! Then the two finalists will face of in the Grand Tournament! The winner of this final joust will have their name entered in the rolls of honor as they hold aloft the trophy helm!

In the inaugural year of this event (2011) there were nearly one hundred participants in the tournament. The final joust and Tournament Champion was Jon Pickens, a long-time TSR employee and reputed Black Knight! Congratulations to Sir Jon!


Futures Bright,

Paul