Compass Games Expo 2019
November 8-11
Red Lion Hotel Cromwell Ct.
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| John Kranz and Carolynne Thomas (Bill's better half) |
Fall is in the air in New England. That means the leaves are changing to pretty colors, and clogging everything known to man in the process. It also means the blue hairs are out in spectacular numbers. When it takes an hour for a ride that usually takes twenty minutes, you know you are behind a foliage gawker. Do everyone in New England a favor and stay home and look at pretty pictures of the trees on the web. But I digress. It is also time for the Compass Games Expo at the spectacular Red Lion Hotel in Cromwell Ct. Grognards come from far and wide to revel in the wargaming, camaraderie, and banter. The Red Lion Hotel is filled with any amenity that you can ask for. Through Compass Games you can also get a deal for staying there overnight or for the entire Expo. The Expo costs $20 for a one day pass, and $45 for the full four days. That is a very good bargain for the amount of gaming you can get in. This year the Expo actually increased in size to take over another large room for even more gaming. Santa hasn't forgotten us wargamers either. Compass Games had a sale for fifty percent off at the Expo (they also have a sale going on through their website until 1/31/2020).
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| These three are upcoming games |
Compass Games was started in 2004 by Bill Thomas as really just a hobby. He is an accountant by trade (you know the kind; they are always the party poopers: you can't afford that, etc). The first two games that Compass published were Silent War and Bitter End: Attack to Budapest 1945. About two years ago, Mr. Thomas decided to make Compass Games a full time endeavor. It was a labor of love for Bill (and his family at times), but now he wanted to make Compass Games a big player in the wargaming business. He has greatly succeeded in that effort. Compass Games has released a ton of new games over the last few years. These releases have also been mostly excellent wargames. Compass Games has really made large strides in the wargaming market, not only in volume but also in quality.
Compass Games also had a few games on display that are coming through the pipeline soon. Dawn of Empire (Spanish-American War) and Napoleon's Eagles: Storm in the East (Borodino and Leipzig) just to name two. They have two games that I cannot wait to get my hands on. They are Pontiac's Uprising and Western Front Ace: The Great War in The Air, 1916-1918. Unfortunately those two are not going to be released until later in 2020. If you have not seen it or played it do yourself a favor and check out their game series Red Poppies Campaigns. The first volume was The Battles for Ypres, and the second volume was Last Laurels at Limaowa. The third volume is: Assault Artillery! which is due in the first quarter of 2020. I own Ypres. I think it is one of the best wargames ever. It doesn't hurt that the game comes with three full maps covering the same area in the different battles. 'Wipers' covers the battles of 1914 (Kindermord), 1915: the first German use of gas, and the horrific battle in 1917. You may want to also check out their series of games about the wars in Europe in the late 17th and early 18th centuries: Nine Years: War of the Grand Alliance 1688-1697, No Peace Without Spain, and A Pragmatic war. Paper Wars is Compass Games magazine that is now up to issue 93. These contain reviews, but also come fully loaded with a wargame. I just received issue 93 today (my first), and I will be posting a review of the magazine and the game (Wagram) shortly on the blog.
Here are a bunch of pics of the multitude of players at the Expo doing exactly what they like to do in their spare time. As you can see the grognards (grumblers) do not live up to their nickname. All I saw and dealt with were happy and friendly people. Strangely, I did not hear one argument about rules while walking around the Expo.
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. As my head swirls with counters of Napoleon's Imperial Guard, we bid a fond farewell to the Expo and the happiest group of grumblers I have ever seen. It is back to the backyard to start filling bags with leaves again. Those of us with dogs will also know the adventure of unluckily finding land mines. The best you can hope for is that it is on a shoe and not in the pile of leaves that you just picked up to put in the bag.
As an aside, Bill likes glazed and chocolate covered donuts, and despises Munchkins.
Link to Compass Games:
https://www.compassgames.com/
Robert
Compass Games also had a few games on display that are coming through the pipeline soon. Dawn of Empire (Spanish-American War) and Napoleon's Eagles: Storm in the East (Borodino and Leipzig) just to name two. They have two games that I cannot wait to get my hands on. They are Pontiac's Uprising and Western Front Ace: The Great War in The Air, 1916-1918. Unfortunately those two are not going to be released until later in 2020. If you have not seen it or played it do yourself a favor and check out their game series Red Poppies Campaigns. The first volume was The Battles for Ypres, and the second volume was Last Laurels at Limaowa. The third volume is: Assault Artillery! which is due in the first quarter of 2020. I own Ypres. I think it is one of the best wargames ever. It doesn't hurt that the game comes with three full maps covering the same area in the different battles. 'Wipers' covers the battles of 1914 (Kindermord), 1915: the first German use of gas, and the horrific battle in 1917. You may want to also check out their series of games about the wars in Europe in the late 17th and early 18th centuries: Nine Years: War of the Grand Alliance 1688-1697, No Peace Without Spain, and A Pragmatic war. Paper Wars is Compass Games magazine that is now up to issue 93. These contain reviews, but also come fully loaded with a wargame. I just received issue 93 today (my first), and I will be posting a review of the magazine and the game (Wagram) shortly on the blog.
Here are a bunch of pics of the multitude of players at the Expo doing exactly what they like to do in their spare time. As you can see the grognards (grumblers) do not live up to their nickname. All I saw and dealt with were happy and friendly people. Strangely, I did not hear one argument about rules while walking around the Expo.
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. As my head swirls with counters of Napoleon's Imperial Guard, we bid a fond farewell to the Expo and the happiest group of grumblers I have ever seen. It is back to the backyard to start filling bags with leaves again. Those of us with dogs will also know the adventure of unluckily finding land mines. The best you can hope for is that it is on a shoe and not in the pile of leaves that you just picked up to put in the bag.
As an aside, Bill likes glazed and chocolate covered donuts, and despises Munchkins.
Link to Compass Games:
https://www.compassgames.com/
The Battles of Ypres:
My unboxing of Ypres:
My review of Night fighter Ace:
Robert
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