Event List - July through November

Historicon just occurred (July 13-16), and it was (at least for now) the last one in Fredericksburg.  I was able to attend for one night only, and saw some great games, including watching ODMS member Mike Bates play Kings of War against Ralph Krebs.  A very interesting game, and they had a pretty good time.

There was a most excellent selection of games being hosted, and the tables and terrain were great, but the convention hall was not as comfortable as the convention spaces up at the Lancaster Host.  Now, I know that there are a lot of valid complaints about the facilities at up in Lancaster, but other than spots of bad lighting, the gaming space and the dealers hall are very nice.  The hotel rooms, on the other hand . . .

But, that is behind us.  Moving ahead we have some great events that ODMS members will be attending, no doubt.

Guns of August - August 25, 26, 27 - to be held at the Virginia War Museum.  ODMS is proud to be putting on many games and events at our summer convention, this year hosted at the War Museum.  This will be a great event, and will feature (we hope) a lot of community attendance.  Great news for gamers - no attendance fee other than the very reasonable fee for entry into the Museum. And GMs get a discount.  Please write to me if you are interested in running a game, or being a vendor.

Southern Front - October 6-8 - to be held at the Holiday Inn North-Midtown, in Raleigh NC.  This is (and has been for a long time) a great little regional convention, that ODMS modeled their two shows (Guns of August, and Williamsburg Muster) after.  We eventually acquired a flavor of our own, but that does not detract from the experience at Southern Front, which has it's own (in my opinion, excellent) flavor.  Big enough for a great variety of games and vendors, small enough that you can have a great conversation with just about anyone there.

Fall In! - November 3-5 - to be held at the Lancaster Host Resort, in Lancaster PA.  This is the fall event put on by HMGS, now many years old, and still a great convention.  Not as crowded as Historicon, but still an extremely wide variety of games, tournaments, flea marketeers, and vendors.  A great show.

And on the long event horizon . . .

Watch for news about the 2018 Williamsburg Muster, and the 2018 Cold Wars.  Big ODMS events planned for both.  Equally, look for some smaller ODMS events (large weekend game days, maybe starting in September/October).

ODMS restart

With the passing away, a few years ago, of Carl Sciscio, the club stopped meeting and gaming on a regular basis. Gaming was pretty regular and constant at Carl's house, in his game room/garage.

Now, the club has started meeting again, and I have to say, it has been a great reboot.  The club started up in the 1980s, informally, at Campaign Headquarters in Newport News (a now closed, but once great, gaming store).  It formalized sometime (more or less) around 1990.  In 1992 the store was sold and became Gamer's Guild.  A few years later it merged with World's Best Comics. Through that whole period, and up until maybe the early 2000s (maybe 2004) the club met every week, with a large attendance (several dozen on some nights) at World'sBest Comics. Then the group started meeting at Carl's place, and attendance remained strong, but not the peak level. At Carl's place, however, there was gaming maybe four nights a week.  Carl grew sick in 2014, and after his passing away, gaming sort of stopped, except special events and at conventions.

Around 2008 the club decided to host a local convention - the Williamsburg Muster. That grew to two conventions, and despite some hiccups, are still going strong.  But now, local gaming has returned.

ODMS crosses the Alps

In the interim, there was always the local Wings of War group, organized by former ODMS president John Snelling, and also the Battletech and X-Wing groups led by member Jack Hollingsworth. But not general gaming.

On June 22, we met at World's Best Comics again, for a great game of Wings of War, and followed up by a game of "The Rules With No Name".  All told, about ten gamers and a handful of spectators.

Deadly action in Stephen's Cowtown

My band of cold-hearted cowboy killers

On June 29, we met again, for "1754:Conquest", "Frostgrave", "Bolt Action" and "Hatfields and McCoys".  A great turn out, close to 20 gamers.

John, Justin, Dave - 1754 action

John D learning Frostgrave

Bolt Action pictures by John H

More to come, much more. July 6 will see ancients in 15mm (DBA, including armies for beginners) and maybe a session of Neil Thonas' introductory rules for medievals. Other games anticipated.

The week of July 13 will probably be light, as many members are attending the last Historicon in Fredericksburg, but the following week should be great with more games, and people showing off the games and miniatures they get at the convention.

Lots of planning for the near future - Ancients(28mm and 15mm), Napoleonics, Fantasy, SciFi, Car Wars, board games and more. Come check us out. You'll find something to like.

We are looking for a weekend venue also (Saturday and or Sunday) for larger more serious gaming - maybe a community center or a meeting room. If you have any ideas leave a comment or post an email to cturnitsa@gmail.com.  Probably a monthly event on the weekends.

Looking for articles about gaming, history, fiction etc for the new ODMS website.  Rules, campaigns, army lists - whatever you like.  New website will be posted here.

Check out the ODMS Facebook group.

Also, be sure to attend Guns of August (August 25,26,27) at the Virginia War Museum in Newport News. Lots of gaming, and the only cost is entrance to the Museum ($8, with several discount categories).

Virginia War Museum