Demo Day #2

Erik (right) teaches MERCS to a new enthusiast.

We had a successful event this weekend for our second Demo Day.  Attendance was a little lighter for this Demo Day, in terms of both players and game-hosts, but there were enough of both to give a good vibe throughout the day.  I certainly met my goals, which were to:

• Meet new players and game-hosts, and help them do the same.
• See what MERCS was all about.
• Finally try out Dust Warfare.
• Check out other folks' painted models.
• Shop  ;-)

We had three folks, including Erik, one of our game-hosts, drive all the way up from Richmond to participate.  They were a great group, and they made up our "core" throughout the day.  Erik introduced MERCS to around a half-dozen people, including me, so he certainly met his objective.  He and I threw down for a fast and furious learning game of Dust Warfare, and that was an absolute blast.  As I expected the game is clean, streamlined, believable, well-paced, and very cinematic.  I'm a fan.  

Erik and I were both surprised when my first action of the game totally destroyed his walker all the way across the table.  I was wondering if the game was too fast and perhaps would suffer from a snowball effect, but the game evened out overall, and Erik was able to make a comeback and win the game.  The game ended in a showdown where my lone soldier was desperately running from 3 German combat zombies and was taken down while trying to gun them down with his submachine gun.  Classic.

I didn't take enough photos of the event, but here are some shots of Erik's excellent MERCS minis.

That T-shirt is painted freehand!

And here is a "shot" (ha, ha) of an Imperial Navy Arquebusier, sniping from an ideal perch on the ruins of an old cathedral.  Our Freebooter's Fate game-host, Brian, scrambled to prepare this great terrain piece just in time for the event.

And here are two very thematic game-boards for Hell Dorado.

And pics from the combined Dystopian Wars / Uncharted Seas demo:

Our Dystopian Wars game-host, Aaron, and I wrapped up the day and recapped the event over drinks at a nearby bar.  A very cool day!  Aaron is already planning a similar 2-day(!) event for November 17th and 18th, down at the Game Vault store in Fredericksburg, Virginia.