This year marks the 50th anniversary of Gen Con, and Privateer Press has been a part of Gen Con Indy for the past 15 years. I thought we should take a trip down memory lane before jumping into what new hotness we are bringing this year.

2002 saw the debut of WARMACHINE. Sorscha, Stryker, Kreoss, and Deneghra launched at the helm of our flagship game, and thousands of models went home with journeyman commanders eager to take the fight to their brand-new opponents. Each battlebox came with this awesome ruler, complete with the AP listing for various power attacks and actions. The game has evolved quite a bit since then.

The first year I went to Gen Con, my good friend Will Shick and I journeyed from Minnesota to Indianapolis. I had my army bag filled with my Cryxian forces; Will had his Cygnar army; and both of us were excited to take part in our first WARMACHINE tournament at this level. Jason Soles announced the round pairings had gone up, and the tournament was off to the races. The second day was the exhibitor hall, checking out the amazing P3 Grandmaster entries, and picking up prereleases. Will even got a picture with Quicksilver (he may kill me for posting this photo).

When the doors opened Thursday morning—it was the year Privateer Press released the Iron Kingdoms: Full Metal Fantasy Roleplaying Game— Creative Director Ed Bourelle was standing at the booth to act as the line manager. As the crowd began to surge toward him, he realized how many of us there actually were. Mobbed on all sides, he threw his hands up in the air, bellowed, “I AM THE BACK OF THE LINE!” (in his best Judge Dredd voice), and proceeded to run for the door, the crowd following behind him. The line stretched around the booth and several neighboring booths, out the door, and up the escalator.

It’s another year, and it’s midnight. Omega Protocol has just released, and neither Ed Bourelle nor Executive Director Will Shick can stop playing. They’ve gathered a crowd of people and are simply playing game after game after game, with attendees swapping in as games finish. Will Shick is on fire as the Overlord—in the end, he manages to go undefeated in 13 straight games. The game finally wraps up at 3:30 in the morning so that Ed and Will can get a nap in before having to be back at the booth at 9:30.

They proceed to do this again the next night.

And the next.

All this brings me to this year. I think this is one of the most memorable years for Privateer Press. This year will see the horror of the Grymkin unleashed on the masses of Gen Con. From the Cage Rager to Zevanna Agha, every model from this assemblage of nightmares will be available. And for those who missed the full-art card deck at Lock & Load, we will have a limited number of them available at Gen Con. Spend $100 or more at the booth, get a free full-art Grymkin card deck.

Alongside the twisted creatures of the Grymkin, the full might of the Cygnaran trenchers will be making their debut. Siege returns with upgraded armor, the Patrol Dog joins your team, and the Express Team takes aim at the many enemies of King Julius. Cygnar also sees the release of their newest Gen Con RAM beer model, the Voltaic Vixen. A take on the beloved Squire, this model is definitely one to show off in your minis collection.

For those of you looking to get into the events, we still have a handful of slots open. We will have both Masters and Champions, and each now has the potential to secure you a spot at our Iron Gauntlet world competition at Lock & Load next year. Our Iron Arena will be up and running with a selection of new prizes and offerings, and the Three Commander tournament should be notably interesting, based on the teams I know have signed up already. And because he gets everywhere, here is Privateer Press’ head judge, event organizer extraordinaire, and a Lord of the forums Travis Marg with some key tips for those of you joining us in events.

Hello, everyone! We’re looking forward to seeing you at our events this year. So, I’m here to offer you some tips for the events at Gen Con to make the weekend as simple and easy as possible. These guidelines come up often and have proven to improve players’ experiences.

• Bring a writing utensil. If you are playing in an event and didn’t print your sheets out ahead of time, you’ll need to write them down. The events desk rarely has enough writing utensils to cover everyone, so bring your own and be that much further ahead. It’ll make registration and recording rounds much easier for both you and your opponent.
• Print your lists; they’re valid at the event. If you determine your lists before you travel, print them out and we’ll accept them. Remember to print two copies—one for you and one for us to hold onto in case your copy gets lost.
• If you are playing a theme force, list your bonuses for you and your opponent. It will make the communication before the game better!
• Plan a break during your day. Your mental health is just as vital as your physical health, so take a break to mentally recover. Listen to some music, read a book, meditate, whatever you need to do to recharge, but find some time to do it.
• Bring water and/or snacks. There aren’t any lunch breaks planned for the event, so be sure your body doesn’t complain about going the duration without food or a drink. Just doing this will make your event much more enjoyable.
• Figure out what to do with your stuff. We won’t be able to watch your bag in the event space, and be aware that we can’t hold them for liability reasons.
• Get those generic tickets! If you’re planning on playing in the Iron Arena, generic tickets are your friend. Each game you play is a generic ticket and doesn’t lock you into a time slot.

There is a lot do at Gen Con, so enjoy it.

Thanks, Travis!

We are all looking forward to seeing you at the show. Please stop by and share some of your favorite Privateer memories from the last 15 years. All the Privateer Press folks at the booth and in the events have favorite memories of the show, too, be it with attendees or even just the action of setting up and running the booth. Like, this one time that Brent took his [REDACTED FOR LEGAL REASONS]. And then he [ [REDACTED] with this great big [REDACTED], and it didn’t even have a logo on it or have its own [REDACTED AND UNDER INTERNAL REVIEW] . Brent even still has the outfit!

Okay, see you all soon, booth 533 at Gen Con!