I must start with an apology – I didn’t take a single photo! Luckily the Combat Company have almost 300 on their Facebook page, so check them out!

With that out of the way, here is a report from a LXG perspective:

Vendors
The vendors at CanCon had a wide variety of different board games and miniatures lines. There was one vendor specialising in dice, another in crafted leather goods, mostly fantasy, some vaguely steampunk. The vendors overall were excellent offering a fantastic range. It was like having a dozen websites in front of you at once, and without the tedious need to register your details every time you want to buy something. There were a few miniatures I have only seen on the web, never in a store, so that was nice. Even with Mil Sims choosing not to attend this year, there was a good range of board games, and something for every taste.

Games
The core of CanCon are the miniatures tournaments that take place, and this was well in evidence. The main hall must have had 300-400 gamers playing Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000 and Flames of War. The second hall hosted War Machine and Bolt Action. There were also smaller events on for historical games including SAGA, and also Malifaux and Infinity. Plenty of breadth. In addition to the miniatures, a large room in between the two halls was used to play Magic: The Gathering. This included pre-release events for the new Gatecrash set, and a Pro-Tour Qualifier event held on Monday.

Board Games
But what, you may ask in your LXG voice, of board games? If there was one thing noticeable missing, it was any kind of board game event. There were tables where you could try games from some of the vendors, and a table to try out Dreadball, but no organised events. There was a family enclosure where you could borrow board games (sound familiar?) to play within the enclosure. There was a good range of board game available, 100 or so different games, suitable for all ages. Games were signed out using a barcode and scanner system, similar to what we will shortly have for LXG. There was a charge of $10 per day to use a table for as long as you wished. The enclosure was one of the few places where you could stop and sit down, and it was soon fully occupied.

Overall
This was my second visit to CanCon, and once again it was a great event. An organised board game event or two would have been welcome. The entry fee of $0 was also welcome, and this made the event attractive both to gamers and to people wanting to visit the vendors or simply come and see what all the fuss was about.