"Made It Ma, Top Of The World!"

I absolutely love that quote from "White Heat". And it's just a great movie beginning to end too; James Cagney in full on gangster mode, brilliant! Why hasn't someone made a Cody Jarret figure anyway?

Well, that's kind of how I felt when I saw the newest issue, #348, of Wargames Illustrated. My Chicago Way table and game from Historicon got a full page of coverage, with 4 photos and a pretty neat couple of paragraphs about it.

When the issue finally arrived in the mail, I immediately went to the Historicon coverage pages. It's always neat to flip through that section of the magazine each October and look over the photos because it's the only time I can ever say "I got see that in person" when looking through the magazine, or sometimes quite the opposite, and be like "when was that game, I totally missed that?".

I have to admit I did have a small hope that I might see a picture of my table, but even if I didn't that was ok. The three days that I had it set up, I got a ton of people taking pictures, asking questions, and giving compliments, which was absolutely amazing in itself. That definitely made it worth all the time and effort I put into the board.

I have to give a big thanks to Dave Taylor, from http://davetaylorminiatures.blogspot.com/, who I'm 99% certain is responsible for all the photos of my table. I remember talking with Dave (mostly because of that black shirt he always wears with his awesome logo on the back, plus I've seen him a lot over the years at H-con) on Thursday about the table, buildings, models, and game. And also him taking some photos of the board, and specifically moving a few models around to create a bit more of a narrative feel. So thanks a lot Dave!

Also want to give a shout out to my friend Miles Reidy, who also got a full page spread on the very next page no less! If you've read any old posts or have been following from the beginning you'll recognize the name. He's definitely someone I try to emulate when I attempt to run a game. I've even coined the term "The Reidy Doctrine" which states "We're here to have fun! I'm going to make mistakes with the rules" which I make sure to say before every game I run. I've had the privilege to play in at least one, but usually more, of Miles' games since I've been going to Historicon, and he never disappoints. Definitely check out his blog if you have the chance http://lairoftheubergeek.blogspot.com/

So of course this absolutely raises the stakes for next year at Historicon - can I make something just as good to get back into Wargames Illustrated? Hopefully. I've got three solid ideas for games and tables, and of course you've already seen one of those with Ghostbusters, so I guess we'll see!

As always, thanks for looking!

Ivor