Pen and Lead: Recruits! March 27-29, 2009 Lee's Summit, High School, Lee's Summit, MO

I had an opportunity to attend Recruits this past weekend, but didn’t quite make it as planned. Recruits Con is a tabletop war-gaming convention focused on getting the younger crowd and those who aren’t familiar with the hobby interested; hence the name, Recruits.

Recruits is held twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall. Traditionally, the dates are in late March or early April and late August or early September. Spring Recruits occurred on March 27-29^th, 2009 in, as always, the Lee’s Summit High School field house, in Lee’s Summit, MO. Duane Fleck, a teacher at LSHS, runs the Organization of Strategic Gamers, a game club at LSHS, and hosts the convention. Students of all ages get in free, while the admission fee for the rest of the population is only $5.

My role this year was to run the Warmachine and Hordes events on Saturday and Sunday in addition to the Steve Jackson Games demos on Friday. On Friday, I took a school van and three students with me. Two were new “recruits” while one was a veteran of the convention. Once there, I met and talked to a few people, demoed some SJ Games events, and participated in the guest of honor’s demo game, Ambush Alley, by Sean Carpenter. I had talked to Sean via email a few times about Gorilla Con, and he kindly donated four PDF copies of his rulebook for the charity auction. Since learning he was going to attend, I could not wait to meet him and play his Ambush Alley game. Also, Sean had Ambush Z, a new, stand alone supplement focusing on a zombie infestation across the US.

Sean Carpenter of Ambush Alley Games

Also that evening, I picked up several figures for Warmachine and Hordes at 50% off retail from a great dealer and LGS owner, Andy of Pulp Fiction Games and Comics in Lee’s Summit, MO.

We knew there was an impending snowstorm, which was to sweep across the Midwest, and as my kids and I packed up the van to head home, the misting rain turned to sleet. My original plan was to head home Friday (a two and a half hour trip), return on Saturday, run my events, stay the night, and play again on Sunday.

Saturday morning at 6am found me bleary eyed and tired. Reviewing the weather, I thought it best if I not make a multi-hour trip to the Kansas City area with a possibility of multiple inches of snow and ice. Having a family (wife and two kids) who depended on me for support swayed my decision to stay home instead of trooping across Kansas to get to Lee’s Summit. Plus, the sleet and rain from the previous night had coated the roadways with ice.

The Warmachine and Hordes events ran with Matt Kotovsky, another Press Ganger who was in attendance. He ran the scheduled 500 point SR 4 event, the 350 Mangled Metal Tooth and Claw, and the 350-500-750 escalating event on Sunday.

I played hooky from the con and waited patiently for Sunday to come around. Although I didn’t make it back early on Sunday, my wife wanted to go shopping, so we met her sister in Lee’s Summit, and I was able to pick up a few things from a friend and say hi to Sean Carpenter, Duane, and the rest of the Warmachine/Hordes crowd.

Recruits Purchases and Trades:

Rorsh and Brine- 50% off

Cryx Blighted Trollkin Bloodgorgers- 50% off

Revenant Cannon Crew- 50% off

Legion Cav Blister- 50% off

Uncharted Seas starer (Iron Dwarves)- Trade

Uncharted Seas rulebook – Trade

No Quarter # 23- retail

Metamorphosis- Trade

Ambush Alley print copy- retail

Ambush Z print copy- retail

I really look forward to trying out ambush Alley and Ambush Z on my own, now that I’ve had a chance to see the game and play in a demo. The great interruption and reaction mechanic is awesome. Look for a review in the near future after I run through a few games.