Wellycon

What went down at Wellycon

2011-06-25T10:23:00.016+12:00

I want to tell you a little story about the little con that could. I want to tell you, so that you'll come to the con next time and not miss out on one of the highlights of my year. I want to tell you about the numbers, not to brag or boast, but to convince you that you should come. I want to tell you so that Wellycon will be bigger and better and more inclusive than ever before. That’s what I want to tell you.

The little con that could began in 2008 on a badly lit school stage overlooking the throngs of the great unwashed that was the miniatures convention known as Call to Arms. There were 30 of us that year, some of which returned the next day and all up we probably had 50 people through to help us cover the cost of a few tables and chairs. We had one of only six worldwide copies of Endeavor available that year and the set was played constantly all Saturday. In 2011 word has spread and we had 120 people through on day one and probably more on day two suggesting anywhere up to 160 people through the doors. In 2008 we were a rather homogenous bunch, in 2011 there were families, and babies and both girls and guys in healthy balance. So whatever you like, whatever your gaming fare, there is a place at Wellycon for you.

Wellycon had a new home this year, one with carpet, with a café, with ambient (ahem) lighting and space to relax, spread out and store your stuff. This had not always been the case, and so this years venue represented a significant improvement. Meals were available on site (albeit with some timeliness issues), unlimited parking was provided and a range of spaces and tables were available for play and relaxing.

The support for Wellycon was huge. Tim Tripp at Pixel Park [www.pixelpark.co.nz] stepped up big time to provide us with a prize pool of more than 40 games. Every hour someone would stand up to draw a lucky raffle ticket from our custom Wellycon tile bag. The prizes created a real anticipation, and a solid quarter of the audience ended up taking something home. This support was augmented by All Aboard [www.allaboard.co.nz] and BoardgameRentals [www.boardgamerentals.co.nz] who took it on themselves to run the family session on Sunday afternoon to great effect. Pitchcar (a dexterity based racing game) was a big hit, as was the Adventurers and Forbidden Island. Kids ages 5 and up enjoyed the session and many went home with a prize. Thanks to both our sponsors for their prizes, and support running the event. Also a big thank you to Seriously Board [www.seriouslyboard.co.nz] who made the road trip down to supply us with some games to buy if the mood took us. Thanks for the support from everyone.

We featured a couple of tournaments this year, Endeavor on the Saturday and Tichu on the Sunday. Both had about 20 participants, with Endeavor being taken out by Anthony, last years runner up. Tichu was won by the stellar pairing of Jarrat and Tim, who then played off in a fierce game of rock-paper-scissors for the prize. Tim won on the third attempt and took the prize, but many newbies enjoyed this ladder style trick taking game and some great stories were made.

The game library was larger this year, perhaps ominously so with more than 200 games. We might need to think about a two tiered system next year so that the range of choices is not so overwhelming. 7 Wonders was by far the most popular game of the con, with Saboteur, Tichu and Endeavor remaining popular. Dominion was still on many tables but was less popular than in previous years.

A couple of prototypes were also played including Dawn of Nations, a free print and play dice game. If you didn’t get to try it, then can I make a personal plea for you to follow the link above and download it for free from the attachments and leave a rating and comment. Wellycon is all into supporting our local designers and this is a simple way to help out. If you want to just go and rate it a ten without playing, then thats just fine too. The designer of Five Men Standing was also there, and you can pick up your copy before the Rugby World Cup at Toy World or Whitcoulls.

A community is building around this event and the Memorial Board organised by Minty Hunter was another sign of the growth. In 2009 we lost both Wesley Broughton (an exceptional young gamer) and Sami & Pauline (lively French tourists) from our community. The board served as a reminder to take a moment out to remember friends from the past. At the same it made me more appreciative of all the faces old and new that I was able to meet. Some of my highlights included meeting Alistair and his wife who were down from Auckland and playing Lords of Vegas with Jason, Johnny and Martin who also made the trek to be part of the con. To be part of further part of the community join our guild and subscribe. We are going to make an effort to post regularly to the guild and free up the NZ board a little. Utilising the guild is an easy way to build the community and keep enthusiasm for the gaming going.

Those that made the trek from out of town also came away with a free custom dice continuing the sequence of custom memorabilia. The embroidered tile bags were definitely a step up in this respect and many thanks to Peter for putting theses together. If you still want to get one, that are so handy for many many games, and we have a handful left for purchase.

The feedback for the con was great, and although there are plenty of details for us to improve on I want to thank the team for all their dedication to this convention and community. Peter, Ceedee and Ian threw their all into making this fantastic, and they deserve all the credit for a huge weekend. A number of others also stepped up to assist or organise games and tournaments, for which we are very grateful. A custom dice is such a small reward but hopefully you got some games in too.

The spirit of Wellycon is second to none, and I was so encouraged when Simon said to me on Sunday that he appreciated people teaching him new games so much that he was making an active effort to teach others. Some things were misplaced as they always are and since returned but nothing was stolen, nobody stormed out after throwing a board in the air and hardly a cross word was spoken all weekend. [ED: except maybe by me when that stupid purple card wouldn’t come up and pay me what I deserved!].

Thanks for being part of a fantastic con, the hangover is gone and I can’t wait for the 2012 event. And if you are in the Auckland Area in the first weekend of July then don’t miss out on Boardgames by the Bay which promises another weekend of wall to wall boardgaming with the same friendly atmosphere. I would be there if it wasn’t for a small little thing called a Wedding Anniversary which I wouldn’t miss for a copy of Lord of the Rings Collectors Edition.

Game on
Andrew Rae

Details of Wellycon 2011

2011-05-17T07:40:00.021+12:00

Wellycon 2011 is only three weeks away over Queens Birthday weekend (Saturday the 4th and Sunday the 5th) and it is high time we announced the programme, and gave you all the details you need to make your weekend at Wellycon the best yet.

This year we are located at:

Student Common room, Level 1,
Student Service Trust Building,
Massey University, Entrance E,
Tasman St,
Wellington

There is plenty of parking right out front of the Tussock bar and cafe which is the ground floor of the Student Service Trust Building, so we strongly advice that you enter from the Tasman Street side unless you are taking public transport.

If you are taking public transport the number 10 bus is the best. It does not run directly down Tasman street, so you can attempt to walk through Massey from the other side or get off near the top of Tasman street and walk to Entrance E or simply walk from Adelaide Road.

The Common Room entrance is on the right hand side of the Student Service Trust Building.

Food will be available on site over lunch each day (12 - 2 approx). Drink and snacks will be available for the duration of the convention from us or from a bank of vending machines. We will also take prepaid orders (approx $10) for dinner each night. You are welcome to bring your own food to the venue. Food and drink don't mix with board games, so please don't eat or drink at the game tables.

There will be a number of features:
Trading session (Sunday 12pm): Bring along those unwanted games
Prototype play-test (Saturday 3pm): Open to anyone keen to play or demo prototype games, be sure to bring your latest creation.
Pub quiz (Saturday 7.30pm): Test your gaming and general knowledge in a 30 minute quick fire quiz.
Family session (Sunday 2.30pm): Especially for families with kids ages 5 -10 (discounted admission)

Published designers will be on site during the weekend, as will some of your favourite vendors. We will have more volunteers this year to organise and teach games. This is all in addition to our excellent game library crammed full of gaming goodness.

While stocks last we will be giving away our commemorative dice for free to any first time attendees and anyone that travels from outside of the lower north island. Bring a friend that hasn't been before and you also receive a free dice. Otherwise you can pick up your dice for $3 each (limit 5).

To fast track your registration you will want to register by sending an email to our special registration address wellycon2011@gmail.com , with your home town, names of the people attending, which previous Wellycons you have attended and your Boardgamegeek user id if are a member. This will ensure you avoid the queues and can get into gaming as quickly as possible.
We are ready and rearing to go for a fantastic weekend of gaming. Check out the schedule above and be ready for prizes, personalities and plenty of Pandemic. Bring some friends and some games and we'll see you there.

Full program

Saturday
10.00am  Doors open
12.00am  Lunch available (until 2pm)
 2.00pm  Endeavor Tournament
 3.00pm  Prototype demo and play test session
 5.00pm  Prize giving
 6.30pm  Dinner (orders confirmed by 5pm)
 7.30pm  Pub quiz
10.00pm  Lights out

Sunday
10.00am  Doors open
12.00pm  Trading (swap or sell your games)
12.00am  Lunch available (until 2pm)
 2.30pm  Family session
 5.00pm  Prize giving
 6.30pm  Dinner (orders confirmed by 5pm)
 9.30pm  Pack up

Announcing Wellycon 2011

2011-04-17T13:08:00.008+12:00

The Wellycon team is pleased to confirm that Wellycon 2011 is officially locked and loaded for the Saturday 4th June - Sunday 5th June 2011 (Queens Birthday Weekend). For those of you that pencilled in this date you will be pleased to hear about the additions to this years convention.

1. Venue - We have secured our own dedicated venue for 2011. The venue is near new, carpeted and has a three conjoined spaces for us to use through the weekend for our events and gaming. Unlike past conventions the event will be dedicated to modern board games and will be bigger than comfortably bigger than Thistle Hall without being so large as St Pats College. All in all this is a big upgrade that will suit our purposes to a tee.

Level 1, Student Common Room,
The Student Services Trust Building,
Massey University,
Entrance E,
Tasman St
Wellington

For those from out of town Massey University is about 5 minutes from the centre of town on the way to Newtown.

2. Hours - Wellycon is over Queens Birthday Weekend and so we will extend our Sunday hours to 10.00am - 9.30pm for a full day of gaming. This will represent better value and more opportunities for all.

Saturday 4th - 10am - 9.45pm
Sunday 5th - 10am - 9.30pm

3. Price - We have made a committment to seeing the convention remain at $5 a day for individuals or $15 a day for families in 2011. You can be sure that it remains accessible and affordable.

4. Family session - This year our dedicated family session for 5 - 12 year olds will be held on the Sunday. This an excellent opportunity for you to introduce any young ones to a bunch of new games and to play with some new people. Our venue has an area with bifold doors to enable a safe and hospitable venue for our families.

5. Games library - Our library has grown again this year and there will be more games available to learn and play. This year we are aiming to have more avid gamers available to teach you classics and the new hotness, so don't worry if you don't know that many games. This is the place to be.

The Wellycon team remains committed to a fun, friendly convention dedicated to board games. Last year our numbers went well over 100, including 10-20 out of towners and we hope to repeat that feat again this year.

Andrew and the Wellycon team.

Announcing Waitangi Wellycon (5 February 2011)

2011-01-13T20:49:00.013+13:00

Have you had too much sun, sand and surf? Do you want a break from perfecting your suntan? Tired of your new bikini, sunnies and surf board? Bored with mowing the lawn, painting the roof and perfecting your BBQ technique?

How about spending a day inside board gaming instead?

We'll be having a one day board gaming event on the Saturday of Waitangi weekend, the 5 February from 10am -10pm at Thistle Hall upstairs on the corner of Cuba St and Arthur St (aka The Bypass).

No pre-registration required, just show up on the day. Entry remains an affordable $5 for the day or part thereof, so we hope to see a good turn out.

Waitangi Wellycon
Saturday 5 Feburary 10am - 10pm
$5 per person
Thistle Hall
293 Cuba Street

See you there.
The Wellycon team

p.s. Wellycon 2011 itself will be at Queens Birthday weekend, venue TBC.

Wellycon 2010 Photos

2010-08-28T23:14:00.002+12:00

New photos from Wellycon 2010 are up on BoardGameGeek

Browse Photos

Many thanks to Jim Simmons for a bunch of these.

The Wellycon 2010 Report

2010-08-22T21:41:00.090+12:00

Wellycon weekend was a cold grey drizzly Wellington winter weekend. I hoped the weather was miserable enough to encourage people away from outdoor pursuits but not so bad that they would stay at home, and I think my wish was granted.

Saturday

Call to Arms (a miniatures wargaming convention we were sub-leasing space from) occupied three quarters of the school hall plus the stage with their large green tables covered in hand painted miniatures. The Wellycon area with its plain tables initially looked boring by comparison, but once people started playing games we looked more colourful and more crowded.

Over a 100 people made it to Wellycon 2010 and played over 70 different games. We started with 15 gaming tables but ran out by lunch time and had to put out more. There was a good mix of beginners who were keen to find out about games, casual gamers who wanted to wanted to increase their experience and try stuff out and the “usual suspects” - people who play games regularly and were our main source of games and rule experts.

Due to the number of people wanting to learn games we had to rely on impromptu teachers pitching in to help out. We might have to be better organised next year as learning new games is one of the things that people going to Wellycon are very keen on.

Last year Wellycon scored a coup by having the first copy of Endeavor in New Zealand. This year Andrew Rae and Jarratt Grey organised an Endeavor Tournament (Wellycon's first tournament). Twenty people entered and the winners in the first round got to play in the final (on the left). The scores in the final were:


Jarratt 53
Anthony 52
John    45
Sam     42
Juliet  40

Jarratt also brought along prototypes for a couple of alternative boards for Endeavor and a set of alternative counters to replace the original blue extra action counters. Shem Philips conducted a play test of the prototype of his game Selandia. Last thing on Saturday night Andrew Rae brought out the prototype of Extravagances, a Pit-like negotiation filler game to finish off the evening with. This play testing of prototype games by local game designers is becoming another Wellycon tradition, and provides the designers opportunities to test their games with a wider audience and give attendees a chance to see what may end up in the shops one day.

The food and drinks being sold from the Hall kitchen for reasonable prices ($1.50 for a hot drink, 50c for a refill, $3 for a hot pie etc) by Call to Arms were a popular lunch and snack option.

The $2 Family Session organised by Minty Hunter and Andrew Rae, helped by Minty's son Sam, attracted about 14 kids. They played three games of Halli Galli, one game of Happy Sheep, three of The Adventurers and lots of Toppletree. I'm sure there were other games going on too. The session went on an hour and a half longer than planned and Minty saw two young kids learn Adventurers and then go on to teach it to some adults, and he saw one adult sit down alone with Toppletree obviously thinking "Hah, how hard can it be to build a tree?". A few seconds later he was picking up pieces off the floor. The noise of happy children and sound of Toppletree falling over was obvious evidence of how successful the session was.

After dinner Quiz Master Andrew Rae ran a team game of Wits and Wagers involving everyone (about 40 at that time) with simplified rules and New Zealand oriented questions. He ran into controversy and lack of nerve over how many NZ mountains were over 3000m.

The rest of the evening was free for gaming until 10pm.

Sunday

On Sunday we arrived to a health and safety issue of a dangerously dangling light fitting. Apart from that things were less chaotic for the organisers as many of the people were returnees from the day before, and we managed to play some games ourselves.

Wellycon tradition dictates that there is a fire alarm on the Sunday. Tradition also dictates that gaming continue outside. So half a dozen of us played the push-your-luck game of Zombie Dice in the drizzle while the alarm blared in the background. The aim of this dice game is to collect more brains than other players and stop before you get hit by three shotgun blasts. The "all clear" came before we could start a second game.

At lunchtime there was a popular swap and sell session which had the feeling of a bazaar with people hawking their pre-loved games and haggling over swaps and prices. We will have to hold the trading session in a larger space next year.

One feature of all Wellycons has been the prize giving. We gave away prizes supplied by David Taylor of Seriously Board, Robyn and Graham Macgregor of All Aboard and Peter Noble of BoardGameRentals.

This year the Best and Fairest Award won by Sam Whitely. The Gamers Gamer was presented to Ceedee Doyle who scored the copy of Power Grid: Factory Manager donated by Frank Eisenhauer (ex-Wellington now Kazakhstan). Both were well deserving and enthusiastic all weekend.

All good things come to an end and as 4pm approached people switched to shorter filler games. The Call to Arms caterers came around offering free pies as people were packing up.

There were a few things left behind, so if you are missing something please contact wellycon at gmail dot com.

Let us know what you thought of Wellycon 2010 and help us make Wellycon 2011 even better. More Tournaments? Trading on both days? Another Family Session? Leave a comment telling us what you liked, disliked, what we could do better and what you’d like to do next year.

Guide to Wellycon

2010-08-06T19:05:00.029+12:00

This guide is mostly for people who haven't been to Wellycon before.

What is Wellycon?
Wellycon is a two day event for people who want to play board (and card) games. Games are provided and there will be people to play with but you are welcome to bring your own games and/or gaming buddies.

Cost and Registration
$5 per person per day (to cover the cost of hall hire). Pay at the registration table, which is where you sign games in and out of the Game Library.

Where?
St Patrick's College Hall
Evans Bay Parade
Kilbirnie, Wellington
(Wellycon is sharing the hall with Call to Arms)

Parking
There is parking on both Evans Bay Parade and the school grounds.

Food and drink
Food and drink don't mix with board games (sticky cards are no fun), so please don't eat or drink at the game tables. You are welcome to eat and drink away from the games. There will be a vendor selling coffee and tea in the hall, and it is a short walk to the Kilbirnie shops and fast food outlets.

Who do you play with?
The chances are that there will be other people around looking for a game and if not, it is likely that one of the current games is close to finishing. Either way it is generally easy to find people to play with and the organisers will often try to play matchmaker. The more challenging problem is deciding what to play.

What games will be played?
The games played at Wellycon belong to you and your fellow gamers, so be kind to them. Generally the games are modern (from the last 10-15 years), and people often bring their newest games (the ones they are most excited about). This makes Wellycon a useful place to try out new games. There will be older games as well.

Game Library
This year there will be a game library at Wellycon. This is a table of games that people have lent to Wellycon for the weekend. To play one of these game, sign it out at the registration table and bring it back when you have finished.

What games got played last year?
There isn't a full record of the games played last year. Its safe to say that the biggest category was 1-3 hour board games including: Agricola, Endeavor, Expedition, Full Metal Planet, Goa, Palazzo, Puerto Rico, Steam, Through the Desert and Ticket To Ride.

Card games played include: Battleline, Die Sieben Siegel, Dominion Intrigue, For Sale and Frank's Zoo.

Cooperative games included: Pandemic and Battlestar Galactica.

There were some wargames played: Memoir 44 Overlord, Combat Commander, The Kaiser's Pirates, Manoeuvre.

For people with a good trigger finger there were Sorry! Sliders and Pitchcar.

And Shem Philips was demoing a prototype of one of his games.

But I don't know these games
One of the reasons people go to Wellycon is to play games they haven't played before. So it is typical that at any given table there will be people who are learning the game for the first time.

If you or a group of you want to learn a game, it generally works best if you play with someone who is happy to teach. The organisers may be able to find a teacher if you let them know.

Kids gaming
Saturday afternoon 2.30 - 4.00 there will be a special family session, with games to play with children. If you want to attend this session only it will only cost you $2 each (if you want to stay on and play more games we can upgrade you for another $3).

Wits and Wagers team tournament
Saturday evening 7.30 - 8.30 there will be Wits and Wagers team tournament using New Zealand designed questions and the Kids version rules. So be there to test your New Zealand knowledge against other gamers.

Wargaming at Wellycon
David Rauscher has kindly offered step to coordinate wargaming at Wellycon 2010. If you are interested in this specialist area pop over to David's thread on Boardgamegeek and let him know.

Long games
Because the Saturday session lasts 12 hours it is a good opportunity to play that long rail game, civilization game or wargame. It might be wise to at least partially organise beforehand (the Wellycon registration thread on Boardgamegeek is a good place to find other players before 14 Aug).

Trading
On Sunday noon to 12:20pm there will be a session for people to swap, or buy/sell games with other people. So bring games you have finished loving and swap (or sell) them.

Wargaming at Wellycon

2010-07-19T12:42:00.002+12:00

As the Wellycon organizers are not experts in the field of conflict simulations, David Rauscher has kindly offered step to coordinate wargaming at Wellycon 2010. If you are interested in playing wargames at Wellycon then pop over to David's thread on Boardgamegeek and let him know who you are, what you are interested in playing and when you intend to show up.

(If you are not registered on Boardgamegeek and don't want to join BGG then reply to this message and I'll let David know)

The Wellycon 2010 Flyer is out

2010-07-13T21:29:00.005+12:00

The Wellycon 2010 flyer is done and dusted! Look out for it in your local board game store.
If you've found us via the flyer already, Hello! We hope you are excited as we are about this year's convention and look forward to meeting you very soon. Don't forget to leave a comment with your real name or BGG username to get your Wellycon 2010 custom dice on the day.

Announcing Wellycon 2010

2010-06-25T09:08:00.004+12:00

I'm pleased to announce that we have confirmed dates and venue for Wellycon 2010.

Wellycon 2010
10am - 10pm Saturday August 14
10am - 4pm Sunday August 15

St Pats College
Kilbirnie
Wellignton

Saturday afternoon 2.30 - 4.00 : Kids time, special section and session for the family ($2 only).

Saturday evening 7.30 - 8.30 : Wits and wages team tournament using New Zealand designed questions and the Kids version rules.

Cost is $5 per person per day.

Register for either the Saturday, Sunday or the weekend by confirming your attendance in this thread and you will receive a free Wellycon custom die. Last years dice sold out quickly, so registration is a great way to guarantee you get one of these hot commodities. It will also get you a customised name badge for the weekend.

Although the venue is the same as the past you can expect a different set up and some improvements to the venue. More space, more people, more gaming.

Last year we had more than 300 games, but as always if you get in touch with me we will make sure a particular game is there for you to play.

Ian, Peter and myself look forward to seeing you at Wellycon 2010.

Thanks
The Wellycon team