Reapercon 2018 - Part I

Miniatures. Gaming. Fun.  That about sums it up.

I've started typing this post a few times to consolidate some of my Reapercon thoughts.  Nothing I've written yet really conveys exactly what happened to us.  "We had a great/wonderful/excellent/terrific time" is kind of cliche.

So, I'll start with a post I wrote for another forum and then modify/merge and turn this into sort of a mini-review / how-to at the end.

We signed up not really knowing what to expect.  What we found is that Reapercon is first and foremost about the painting aspect of the hobby.  Secondarily, it's about D&D and a smattering of other tabletop systems.  I saw just a handful of board games in play, but there were tons of tabletop RPGs.

But painting, lots of painting.

The Trip:

Anyway, we opted to drive. People called us crazy, but I really wanted the "road trip" feel to our experience.  And I really detest airports.  Between our home and the Texas destination there were a couple of states that I've never physically been to, except perhaps during a layover for a flight.  And I really detest airports.  Did I mention I don't like airports?

We set out after work on Tuesday evening and set our destination for St. Louis and the physical store for Miniature Market.  I've used MM over the past several years as a source for all kinds of things, and it was super fun (and a little surreal) to park our car in the front row beneath the MM sign.

The store was really cool, and I would recommend stopping by if you are in the area, but wasn't a mega-mart by any stretch.  Huge for a gaming store, and well stocked, but much of the obscure stuff that I know they have is managed out of the warehouse - which is a separate address.  We bought a few things and chatted up the store staff - they seemed impressed and honored that we made them part of our road trip.

Initial Destination:  Miniature Market physical store in St. Louis.

We arrived in time for the Wednesday night pizza party to kick off the event.  We randomly sat next to other people from the Reaper forums, and that served as a gateway to meeting many (many) more people throughout the weekend.

We signed up for 3 classes spread throughout the weekend (more on this later), registered for a run-thru of the Pathfinder 2E scenario, and we did the Reaper factory tour.  All of this was good fun and quite worthwhile.

Aaron Lovejoy giving a class on NMM.

My rough NMM attempt in the limited time we had; focusing on lighting and colors.

Setting up for the "Everything Chibi" course.  Here I've basecoated the Reaper figure.

The factory tour, in particular, was fantastic.  Reaper is a small shop in the grand scheme, and it's apparent that they've grown very organically over the years and figured out what works best for them.  I've been in/around large and small manufacturing since my first job in my teens and the sad/sterile/lifeless corporate factory is far too common.  Their entire factory just oozes with personalized touches and customized processes.  It made me want to work there.

Shifting topics:  the people that attend Reapercon are a tight knit crew and quite fantastic.  It's not a "small" con, but it's far smaller than PAX-U, and it goes on for 4+ full days (with most people arriving Wednesday evening for the pre-party and some staying through to Monday morning before setting off for home, so it's almost 6 days for many).

Convention Layout. We had most of the convention space but there is room to grow.

Registration desk.

Vendor area. Two short rows of booths (this is not Gencon) but there was good variety and things worth looking at.

General 'free area' for painting, gaming, or sitting down to chat or have a bite.  I'm showing maybe 1/3 of the available space.

Here's the part that I have trouble describing:  we got adopted by two groups and then met friends-of-friends and friends-of-friends-of-friends.  After 5 Gencons, 3 Blizzcons, a PAX-U, and random visits to the game stores near us, I feel like I can find common ground and have a pleasant conversation with most nerds.  But in the small confines of a mult-day event, those incidental encounters were compounded with repeat conversations.

Fort Wappel is a gathering point for many painters and social hijinks. We spent a lot of time here.

I grabbed reference photos of this dragon for my KDM Dragon King. 

Face detail on the dragon. Those eyes!

We started Wednesday night awkward and anonymous, but went up to our room on Sunday with handshakes and hugs.  It all happened in a blur, but looking back at how the weekend evolved, it couldn't have happened any other way - and could have never been planned or premeditated.

So, we had a great time; already talking about next year.