The Stars Have Aligned

It's been a while since I've posted and a lot has been happening gaming-wise for me. Since my last blog post I've attended my second gaming convention. It was UberCon XIII held November 5th-7th in Edison New Jersey! Had a blast but didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked! Played lots of different games from minis, boardgames, console games through RPGs. UberCon didn't seem quite as big as DexCon but it had a very friendly vibe and I will probably attend again next year.

I also got a chance to play a demo game of Ex Illis while at that con and I've got to say I think it is a fantastic game, especially when used as a gateway game to introduce new gamers to the world of miniatures war gaming. It really abstracts the rules of the game and allows you to concentrate on strategy instead. The content-to-price value of the starter set really eases the start up cost of getting into this hobby and the hybrid use of computer software and physical miniatures is an interesting approach. I will be posting pictures and battle reports as soon as I'm finished painting my starter set.

The biggest news for me is that a brand new local hobby shop opened up! It's called Close Encounters Comics and is located in the Toms River New Jersey area. The proprietor, Marc, is an avid board-gamer and has opened the store with the goal of making it a place where people gather to play games of all sorts. He's been very amiable and open to new gaming suggestions which leads me to the biggest point of my post. I'VE GOT A NEW GAMING GROUP! Finally, after a ton of failure-to-launches, it looks like I've found a place and group of people to game with!

After a flurry of email exchanges we all met at the store (see pic below) and decided that we would start with Shadowrun. We are playing Saturday afternoons and once I get this group established and rolling I want to start another gaming group on Sunday afternoons!
I will be posting details and session notes from our games in the future so stay tuned for more!