The Second Saturday Scrum Club rejoined the fray on April 8, organizing and hosting Scrum Con IV in Silver Spring, Maryland. Although we ran a surprisingly successful virtual convention in 2021 that took advantage of its online format to invite all sorts of participants we couldn't have otherwise (Dirk the Dice of Grognard Files in the UK ran a game, and I interviewed wargame/RPG historian Jon Peterson via livestream), Scrum Con IV marked our return to an in-person format. Because Scrum Con 2020 ducked right under the pandemic lockdown on the last weekend of February that year, we were anxious to see if anybody would remember us.
Turns out any fears were misplaced...because Scrum Con sold out again this year!
In fact, every in-person convention we've organized has sold out, but this year's Scrum Con IV was almost 70% sold out of its 225 badges in the very first week, a pace that frankly caught us off-guard. About a week before the show, we had sold enough badges that every seat in every game was filled by veteran Scrum Con attendees and new folks who had just recently discovered that there is a cool wargaming and role playing game convention right here in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
The Second Saturday Scrum Club is not the kind of group that likes to "phone it in," and planning for the convention took weeks of work. While I ostensibly lead the charge, the convention simply would not have happened without a number of club members stepping up, especially in the last couple of weeks when my day job took an unexpected turn for the crushing. Whether it was updating websites, designing and ordering t-shirts, writing and sending newsletters, answering daily queries, organizing the registration booth, recruiting GMs, negotiating with the facility, buying supplies, assembling print programs, documenting the day in pictures, or seeking grant support, the Scrum Club not only stepped up, but executed at a level that did us proud.
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| (right to left): Zach, Francesco, and Rachel working the registration booth in the morning. |
Speaking of support, the Historical Miniatures Game Society again stepped in as a sponsor, helping us spread the word and covering a portion of our outlay. It's this kind of support that gives Scrum Con a safety net to operate at the standard it does. The HMGS conventions many of us organizers attend are a big inspiration for us trying something like this in the Washington, DC metro area, and we appreciate HMGS's confidence in us as we try to create an experience that grows the hobby.
Of course, without the amazing GMs offering up their time and talent, Scrum Con simply wouldn't be. This year we hosted more games than ever (around 40), meaning we had more GMs step up and run amazing games for attendees. Some were returning veteran GMs who have run games at every Scrum Con so far, and others were bright creative souls we were lucky to bring into the Scrum Con constellation. Our motto ever since Scrum Con 2019 has been "curated for quality," and that paid off again this year...every single game at Scrum Con got high marks in our post-con survey.
And the community of players that attend Scrum Con are special in their own right. We strive to cultivate an inclusive vibe, and the photos below will give you a sense of the diversity we've cultivated, especially across gender and generational lines. I think we saw more parents introducing their children to miniature games and RPGs than at any previous Scrum Con, and that made me particularly excited for the hobby. We still have more we want to do to make Scrum Con feel as inclusive as possible, but I feel like every year we get closer to the goal.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention one special attendee: my dear childhood friend Sally Mittler (née Remmers) again made the journey with her entire family to Scrum Con all the way from Santa Fe, New Mexico. She and I played D&D together in Dayton, Ohio in grade school and beyond (circa 1980-86), and I count myself lucky that we're still in each others lives decades later. It was literally D&D that brought us back together in 2020 after not having seen each other in over three decades. Thanks for coming, Sally, and let's see if we can get your brother and Casey and Allan Dean to attend next year for a full on childhood D&D reunion!
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| Sally and I first started gaming together over 40 years ago! |
Part of the fun of Scrum Con is our No Hassle Flea Market where we had about 40 attendees drop stuff off to sell for the day. Folks brought a lot of cool stuff priced to move. I'd say about 80% of the flea market stuff found new homes, and a lot of consignors left with fatter wallets. Scrum Con prides itself on drawing game makers to run and play at our convention, so I especially like that the flea market gives all of the game designers who GM at Scrum Con a chance to sell some of their published work, too, without having to pay for and sit behind a booth all day. For example, attendees who played in Chris Sellers' Raccoon Sky Pirates game in the morning could come over to the flea market and pick up their own copy in the afternoon, and Justin Sirois had all kinds of cool gaming material in the flea market he's created over the years via his Severed Books.
In the end, this community is inspired by a love of tabletop games and gathering together to play them. As a scrap book for those of you who attended and a window into the convention for those who missed it, below are photos from as many of those games as I could get my hands on. My sincere apologies to those who ran games that are either un- or under-represented by photographic evidence below. There was a lot going on that day! My wife Ellen took about 90% of the photos below, but a few are from the dab hand of others kind enough to post them in our two Facebook groups (Scrum Con and Friends of the Scrum Club). If you want me to credit one of your photos here and I haven't listed it, I'd be more than happy to (just let me know!).
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| The love of my life... |
THE GAMES
Below you will find descriptions of the games from Scrum Con 2023 in no particular order followed by photos from that session. Intermixed throughout are some "scene-setting" pics of various attendees and gaming spaces. [Click on any photo to enlarge.]
The Combat of the Thirty
Miniatures • Historical
Rules: Chainmail (1971)
GM: Eric Hoffman
An emprise, fought with the Chainmail man-to-man rules, recreating the arranged battle during The Breton War of Succession in the Hundred Years War.
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| Eric Hoffman running Chainmail, which he also ran at the virtual Scrum Con in 2021 to plaudits (watch here). |
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SIS/TR: A Rare Geometry
Role Playing Game • Sci-Fi Horror
Rules: Mothership 1st Edition
GM: Justin Sioris
A menacing ship-crawl with a massive borg-like boss causing horrific havoc.
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| Justin Sirois is a gaming powerhouse...he's a prolific publisher and relentless builder of community around games and game designers. He's also just an all-around great human being. |
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Chaos in the Suburbs
Role Playing Game • Suburban Comedy/Talking Animals
Rules: Raccoon Sky Pirates
GM: Chris Sellers
Tonight, you’ll fly across town, raid a suburban house, and try to escape without exploding.
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| Chris is one of my favorite GMs, and I was honored he was willing to make the trip from Ohio for Scrum Con. I played in one of his games at Origins 2018, and knew I had to try to recruit him for Scrum Con (this was his second time back!). |
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| It's always great when you make a real friend at work. It's better when you find out she and her husband are both gamers, too. Thanks for coming Larry and Camila (it sure was hard going back to work on Monday, eh?). |
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Brave the Sewers of Kowloon
Miniatures • Serial Film SkirmishRules: Fistful of Lead: Core Rules + Horror
GM: Ed Watts
Rivals of Indiana Jones seek The Old Ones & renown.
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| It's hard not to like Ed Watts and his beautiful games. Another Scrum Con veteran we are lucky to have! |
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The Forgotten Smugglers’ Cave
Role Playing Game • Fantasy
Rules: D&D Basic (Holmes)
GM: Zach Howard
Search a long forgotten smugglers’ hideout for their lost treasures.
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| Fellow Scrum Clubber Zach Howard continues his creative embellishments to the Tower of Zenopus in the Holmes' edition of the basic Dungeons & Dragons boxed set. Here he's running players through the new network of caves he's added to the setting. |
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| One of several examples last weekend of parents sharing the hobby with their children at Scrum Con! |
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| How many of these foolhardy souls survived the smugglers' caves? |
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Action in the Argonne Forest
Miniatures • Historical SkirmishRules: Combat Patrol
GM: Duncan Adams
October 1918—An American infantry platoon takes on the deeply entrenched Germans as the Allies drive the invaders out of France.
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Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride
Role Playing Game • Weird FantasyRules: Dungeons & Dragons 1E
GM: Levi Combs
Tales of the accursed pyramid of the infamous Mummy Bride have long been a traveler's tale, passed along by wayward explorers and greedy plunderers alike.
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Three Curses for Sister Saren
Role Playing Game • Weird FantasyRules: Dungeons & Dragons 1E
GM: Levi Combs
What rests beyond the hadowed steeple of Crow’s Rest... and what terrible secrets do its inhabitants hide? As demons, goblins and worse flood the once peaceful valley, the search is on for the mysterious final resting place of Sister Saren, a pious cleric who made the ultimate sacrifice years earlier. What secret lies with her... and can it save the people of Crow’s Rest from their doom?
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| Levi Combs publishes his work through his Planet X Games. His players all seemed to be enjoying the hell out of his games! |
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| First adventure completed! |
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| Another adventure completed! |
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ScrumCon Deathrace 2023
Miniatures • Post-ApocalypticRules: Gaslands
GM: Mike Colton
Through the shimmering haze of the broken, steaming asphalt, we see our steel-eyed competitors lined up, with engines rattling and teeth gritted, waiting for the checker flag to wave the start of the 2023 racing season.
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| Michael Colton returns again this year with the crowd favorite, Gaslands. This game was the first to sell out at Scrum Con this year! |
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Exit 23
Role Playing Game • Paranormal ParanoiaRules: Alternity/Dark Matter
GM: Rich McKee
A group of strangers are stranded in a highway reststop in a blizzard, and there’s something out there in the snow.
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| If there was some sort of Iron Man competition for gaming, my money would be on Rich. He runs more games in a week than I play in a month, and it's not unusual to see him running games at cons around the country with a dozen players at the table. He's a fellow Scrum Club member and friend. |
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Theodore Roosevelt vs. Dracula
Miniatures • Horror
Rules: FFOL Tales of Horror
GM: Ed Watts
Roosevelt carries a Big Sharpened Stick, Dracula plays for Blood.
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A Winter’s Tale
Role Playing Game • Nordic HorrorRules: Vaesen
GM: Zachary Tenney
Cross the Baltic Sea and brave the wintry forests of Ingria, where an unknown being stalks the night beneath glittering stars.
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| One of the things we do at Scrum Con is try to have a healthy mix of new games alongside the classics, and Zachary Tenney helped with the former by agreeing to run the recent Vaesen (and later Alien). |
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Civil Strife in Arden
Miniatures • RenaissanceRules: Homebrew
GM: Rob Dean
Muskets, Pikes, and some odd Leonardo Technology.
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| Rob Dean is one of those GMs who mounts beautifully crafted games with thoughtful scenarios. Who wouldn't want to try their hand at a battle involving Leonardo DaVinci's war machines? |
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Reavers of Ke’anu
Role Playing Game • Modern/Sci-Fi
Rules: Savage Worlds
GM: Scott McKinley
Come play as Keanu incarnations John Wick, Neo, John Constantine, Ted “Theodore” Logan (and more) in this surreal adventure.
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| Scott hasn't missed a Scrum Con yet, and if I have my way he never will. His scenarios are always imaginative fun, and this year was no exception. |
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Escape the Death Star
Miniatures • Sci-FiRules: Star Wars Miniatures
GM: Jeff Hoffman
Are you a righteous member of the rebellion saving a princess, or a loyal Imperial storm trooper ridding the universe of scum and villainy?
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| You really only need one Star Wars game at your convention when it's as cool as Jeff's (standing on right). |
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Chariot of the Gods
Role Playing Game • Sci-Fi HorrorRules: Alien RPG
GM: Zachary Tenney
Explore a derelict ship in deep space carrying something bizarre, twisted, and alien.
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| Zachary Tenney game mastered the only role playing game that has ever actually made me kinda scared when I played it over the pandemic with the Scrum Club online. His players got a treat with this one. |
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| Jimmy Cox was a player with me in the first convention game I ever participated in back at Historicon 2018. I'm glad we've stayed in each other's orbit, my friend! |
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Pest Control
Miniatures • Sci-Fi
Rules: Xenos Rampant
GM: Brian Cantwell
An uneasy alliance of galactic powers come together to eliminate the scourge threatening to overrun them all—the humans!
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| GM Brian Cantwell (not pictured) had a rough go of it the week of the convention, so we're really glad he was able to get his beautiful game on the table anyway. His players seemed to really dig it! |
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As in Days of Old
Role Playing Game • FantasyRules: Swords & Wizardry
GM: Tony Marano
Grab a torch, hand your henchman a 10’ pole & search for treasure & riches.
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| Like me, Tony isn't old...he's old school. He's also a fond friend, and longtime Scrum Con supporter. If we only lived closer and could game together on the regular... |
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A Devil in Jersey
Miniatures • Black Powder FantasyRules: Silver Bayonet (modified)
GM: Jeffrey Wasileski
Monster Hunting in Colonial New Jersey during the Revolutionary War.
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| I've said it many times on this blog, but Jeff is a goddam gaming treasure. Nobody else even tries to pull off what he does, and it's probably smart because they would suffer from the comparison. His games bridge the imagined fault lines separating role playing and wargames, usually with a healthy nod to literary sources and/or musical theater! |
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Exhuming John Barleycorn
Role Playing Game • Appalachian FantasyRules: Dungeon Crawl Classics
GM: Jeffrey A. Regner
The good folk of the Shudder Mountains panic as people start disappearing in the moonlit night.
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| I had never met Jeffrey (far right) before this day, but I knew anybody who could take Dungeon Crawl Classics and twist it to run his soon-to-be-published module of Appalachian fantasy needed to have a seat at a Scrum Con table. He also ended up being a lot of fun as a player in my Sons of Mars game later in the day. |
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On the Sorcerer’s Isle
Miniatures • Fantasy SkirmishRules: One Page Rules-Skirmish
GM: Steve Braun
The agents of Melnibone and Pan Tang search for a forbidden tome!
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| I first met fellow Scrum Club member Steve at an HMGS convention. I now count him amongst my closest friends. That's the power of gaming together at a good convention. It's what I hope happens for somebody at every single Scrum Con. |
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Rahasia
Role Playing Game • FantasyRules: Dungeons & Dragons (5th edition)
GM: Jared Smith
A young elf asks for your help to rescue the elves of her village.
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| Fellow Scrummer Jared...one of my oldest friends in Washington, D.C. Twenty years strong! |
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Triumph! Epic Conflicts of History
Miniatures • Historical BattlesRules: Triumph
GM: Terence McPartland
Take command of an ancient or medieval army in a fast-play rank and file battle with Triumph! rules
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| We were glad to finally get Washington Grand Company and its Triumph crew under the Scrum Con tent. Here's looking forward to more opportunities for us to turn some new players on to your system, Terrence! |
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| One of my favorite photos of the entire convention. I feel ya, fella! |
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Electric Dreams, Case File 01
Role Playing Game • Sci-FiRules: Blade Runner the RPG
GM: Michael Colton
Los Angeles, May 2037. Toxic rain is pouring down over the city, where gigantic buildings dwarf ancient skyscrapers.
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| Michael Colton is a double threat, effortlessly pivoting from running an RPG in the morning to a miniatures game in the afternoon. Thanks for exemplifying the best of both! |
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| My dear friend Kaysha (right) started playing D&D for the first time during the pandemic with work friends online, and now her daughter (left) has caught the bug and is dungeon mastering a group of school friends. Fun to see different folks in my life converge at Scrum Con like this! |
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A Dark and Stormy Nightmare
Role Playing Game • Gothic HorrorRules: Astounding Tales
GM: John & Virginia Montrie
The town’s quietest citizens are climbing out of the ground, and it’s up to the morticians to put them back.
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| Virginia and John are my favorite gaming couple. It makes me happier just being in the same room with them. They're those kind of people. |
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In Debt to a Wizard
Role Playing Game • FantasyRules: Tunnels & Trolls
GM: Matt Kirkhart
To pay off a debt, you and your companions find yourselves venturing into the burial mound of a wizard.
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| One of my only regrets about Scrum Con IV is that I somehow failed to cross paths with Matt because he's both a great guy and has an amazing aesthetic to his games that's unlike anything else out there. I was so happy to get him to Scrum Con this year! |
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The Trolls Are Hungry
Miniatures • Fantasy
Rules: Blood & Swash (Fantasy)
GM: Eric Schlegel
It’s been a rough Winter & the Trolls are hungry, so they’ve come down from the mountain for a quick meal.
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| Eric Schlegel's games are always crowd pleasers, and I make it a special point to recruit him for every Scrum Con. |
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Juvenile Delinquents vs. The Hyper-Reptiles
Role Playing Game • Fantasy
Rules: Dungeon Crawl Classics
GM: Noah Stevens
Guide your surly teens and/or cave-people against the wicked psychic pterasaurs!
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| I wish I had some more shots of Noah's fun game, but I did end up with at least this one of some of his more adorable players. |
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Search and Rescue, 1914
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| Neil is a scholar and a gentleman, and he's been with us in the Scrum Con trenches since Day One. That deserves a medal of some sort! Thanks for your service, Neil! |
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Mad Max: Fury Road
Miniatures • Post-Apocalyptic
Rules: Homebrew
GM: Peter Megginson
Blood and fire on the Fury Road: Max and Furiosa have “stolen” the five wives of Immortan Joe. Joe and his Warboys want the wives back.
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| Peter (left) running his epic Mad Max: Fury Road game. Frankly, I like his game more than George Miller's movie. Peter became a member of the Scrum Club last year, and we couldn't be luckier to have him. |
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In the Jaws of the Scrap Wyrm
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| Joey's games are shockingly beautiful to look at, and just as fun to play. The Scrum Club was pleased to add him as a member of the crew in the past year. Sorry Joey...no tradebacks! |
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The Sword of Damocles and Cybertanks
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| It was fun watching fellow Scrum Club member Walt work on this OGRE passion project throughout the pandemic. Now his players get to enjoy the fruit of his labor! |
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| Where's your Scrum Con Staff shirt, Walt? |
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Sci-Fi Battle Royale
Miniatures • Sci-Fi
Rules: Star Schlock
GM: John Sears
Inspired by sci-fi of the 70s and 80s, try the upcoming Star Schlock tabletop battle game!
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| I could write an entire blog post about my respect and admiration for fellow Scrum Clubber John Sears. He's a powerhouse and a friend. Thanks for being my co-conspirator in all things Scrum Con. |
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I Am Spartacus!
Miniatures • Historical SkirmishRules: Sons of Mars
GM: Joe Procopio
Pit your school of gladiators against all comers in a bid for fame and glory!
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| A lot of work went into this game just before the pandemic shut down all of the conventions for three years, so Scrum Con was my opportunity to pull it out of mothballs and run it again for players. |
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| Was fun getting to play this game with my childhood friend Sally! |
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| My wife Ellen listening to me chat with some curious onlookers as I set the game up for play in the afternoon session. |
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| Cheetahs! Nobody said there would be cheetahs! |
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PARTING THOUGHTS AND CLOSING SHOTS
Scrum Con is a passion project. We do it because we love gaming, and we love bringing people together.
There are enough unnecessarily erected barriers between all of us in everyday life. Games can knock those down. Even in these hyperpartisan times, games trump politics. But even in gaming spheres you'll find annoying, stultifying tribalism, whether it's the edition rivalries between Dungeons & Dragons players, the tensions between historical vs. "genre" games in miniatures wargaming, or even the weird rift that exists between wargamers and role players. The latter is particularly befuddling for me given both types of games share so much of the same DNA. That's always been one of the motivating conceptual forces behind Scrum Con: Creating the opportunity for cross-hybridization, giving people a safe and fun way to see and try a game they might not otherwise. It always gladdens me at Scrum Con to see a veteran role playing gamer get seduced into trying a miniatures game and finding out how much fun it is, and visa versa.
It's simple, really...tabletop gamers prioritize communal pleasures, and help make the world a better place.
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| Until next year, I salute you! |
Well done, sirrah!
ReplyDeleteSome great photos. I really like the variety of closeups, pulled back shots and "portraits"(for lack of a better word) shots . They show everyone having a really good time.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words, and for noticing my deliberate approach to the photos, I really do spend a fair amount of time thinking about the sequence and rhythm they create on the blog, and I spend more time than I care to admit cropping and finessing them. Glad you enjoyed them!
DeleteGood beans, Joe. Looks like there was much rejoicing. I like the playmobil arena. For a second when I saw Sons of Mars, I had to access my sanity and think back on my life. Also, maybe I will make it to your con next year. Valar willing. 🙏🏻 👼🏼🙏🏻
ReplyDeleteHI
ReplyDeletei m a french player and interesting by Sellsswords & spell RUN FROM THE DEAD.
You publish a post .... in 2018 !!!
Want if it s possible to take your all card in pdf
thank you and sorry to distirb your post...
F.