Day 1 went well with a good group of folks showing up to take part in the first day of Tiller Con 3.
I arrived a tad late (7:45am or thereabouts) to find that our guys had opened the doors and had gotten things underway. Rich Walker and Rich Hamilton were helping folks get oriented (badges, pc internet issue resolution) and the event was in full swing.
I got to finally meet up with several folks that I had typed with for years, they being Gary McClellan, Joe Amoral, Mike Avanzini, Mike Mihalik and others. Gary was gearing up for a game of Midway with Mike Cox. I watched for a bit while he did some preliminary moves in a Wake Island game. Very much interested to try this one out this weekend.
As usual, Ernie Sands and his wife were there. She provided backup (as usual) for the Rich's for the evening dinner that John Tiller provided to his team. Much thanks again to Mrs. Sands for her help!
Ken Miller had created a version of the Murfreesburg battle while was played MP style (2 vs. 2). They were well into turn 13 when around 5pm we had a power outage! It lasted for about an hour. That gave folks a good excuse to take a dinner break.
John Tiller gave a discussion group on future work. No, he did not name future titles, just some concepts of what he would like to do for future work. This was open to all that attended. Several comments on his game ideas were given by participants which John duly noted for future consideration. All of the attendees gathered around. Several of the folks that John contracts with were in attendance and gave some input as well. (I will not elaborate much on this - I will let Rich Hamilton or one of our reps add in any details as they deem fit). John wanted to emphasize that his ideas are for work he is doing and do not in any way speak for what HPS Simulations is planning, John Tiller Software being his own private venture of course. All in all a very open ended discussion that leaves much of us looking forward to seeing what John's creative mind will be bringing us in the future. He emphasized the military's continued interest in wargaming projects and that his work with them has permeated the junior ranks of the US Air Force (for instance: his Modern Air Campaigns is used by a large proportion of the junior officers in the USAF for training purposes). He let us know that the military is showing continued interest in his efforts and that he had just returned from a trip with a prospective customer. Work is out there - he is out trying to broaden his base of military clients.
Gaming included ACW, Naval Campaigns and Panzer Campaigns for the most part with some folks looking over Squad Battles, M&P and many other games in the HPS line of games.
We are right across the hall from the registration desk for Nashcon so we saw alot of their attendees come into take a look at what HPS is all about. The Rich's and others helped them see how the products worked. Several purchased games and in one case I got to help a fellow learn the Squad Battles series (he bought Eagle Strike and the Pacific War titles as well as the Midway game).
It was a good time to talk with each other - Mark Adams, Mike Avanzini and Joe Amoral and I got to discuss artwork for future products for instance.
It was a good starting day for the event. Several folks made short excursions to battlefields (Franklin and Murfreesboro and Nashville) in the area as well as the usual shopping trips by the gals.
And of course there was the usual joking between Ernie and myself (with Mike Cox adding in alot of choice barbs too!).[:D]
Colonel Bill Peters, 17th Dragoons, III Corps, French Army
HPS Napoleonic Scenario Designer (Eckmuhl, Wagram, Jena-Auerstaedt, Austerlitz and ... more to come)
Swiss-Swedish Army CinC, Musket and Cannon Game Club - Come over and see what we are all about!
NWC
Login
FAQ
</center>
