Wow, lots to say!

Ok, I attended the Gaming in Education day in Baltimore on Saturday, and I for the most part, liked what I saw. The vendors area was predictably blah, I was hoping Wargamers was going to bring some 20mm, but sadly, only their Essex 15mm made the trip. I did have a good day in the Flea Market, and found some items I could use for 20mm WWII. As for games..the pickings were good, if sparse, and I did three games yesterday. The first was an Ambush Alley game where we insurgents were pretty hapless till our mortar finally found the range. I then played a MTB game hosted by Buck Surdu..it was a bit confusing and the rules were a little too loosy-goosy and card dependent for me. Then, I played in a North Point scenario (there were THREE North Point games that day), it was fun, but the homebrew rules were meant to handle larger units I think and the scenario was a bit more smash mouth-frontal assault than most of the GMs work, but hey, I like buckets of dice games! But, yeah, the casualties were reaching ACW/WWI levels.

What did I think overall?

Pros:
- Easy access to public transportation and food, with good airy venue that was well lit.
- More space= More events
- Security was in evidence.
- Staff was knowledgeable and friendly.

Cons:
- Food at the convention hall wasn't cheap.
- It's a hike to the amenities (Starbucks, ATM, etc).
- Parking might be a challenge, though it is said the Orioles are going to be away this H-Con.

My recommendation? If you're coming in from DC/NOVA, or local..park your car at BWI or a point along the Baltimore Light rail. It's a real easy thing to deal with, passes are $3.50 all day and the stop's across the street. The train runs till 12:35 AM and if you're staying that late, you might wanna reconsider driving. BWI's parking is $8 a day uncovered and $10 a day covered..if you want to go totally public transport...take the B30 express from Greenbelt metro to BWI, and catch the light rail from there..be advised though..the last bus back to Greenbelt is 10:45 PM. But, it got me there and back with very little fuss. Cost one way? $3.50 for the light rail day pass, $3.00 for the express bus one way and $1.85 on the metro...$8.35 is my total 1 way cost for a trip of about an hour and a half, including wait time.

I'll have some pics up soon, but I think all in all, we're looking good for 2010 and 2011. I canceled my hotel room and plan on shuttling back and forth for my con attendance.