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DIXIECON

Well, everyone knows that Dixiecon really begins the night before, as the early arrivals begin gaming on Thursday as soon as critical mass is achieved.  Dixiecon 24 was no exception.

The gaming began in earnest as soon as David Hood and Bruce Allen got to Granville Towers that evening, where David Maletsky and Graham Woodring were set up and ready to play.  There was the obligatory Puerto Rico to get the appetite whetted, and then the gamers hit the big time as Bruce brought out one of the most popular titles of all time.  Yes, you guessed it:

Leaping Lemmings.

Actually, it was pretty fun, and was destined to be played again at least once before the weekend was over.  Rich O’Brien showed up as the lemmings were jumping off the cliff for points.  The fivesome then partook of Republic of Rome and Titan before turning in for the night.

Friday am gaming saw the addition first of Justin Thompson, then many more players as the action proceeded through the afternoon.  Games played included Ticket to Ride, Acquire, Hansa Teutonica, Magic the Gathering (if you can believe it), Bang and The Golden City.  Several players adjourned to Dixiecon restaurant par excellence, Time Out, for country food and other munchies while a few actually made it to watering holes to, ahem, “prepare” for the Diplomacy event to begin at 6pm.

The traditional Friday afternoon basketball event this year involved several rousing games of Horse played by Hood, Steve Koehler and Brian Ecton.  Mainly this involved a lot of missed shots by all concerned, but it was good to get out in the sun for a few minutes at any rate.

When the Diplomacy action began that evening there were four boards announced, including five former Dixiecon champions (Chris Martin, Doug Moore, Ecton, Jim O’Kelley and Tom Kobrin).  By the time the dust cleared that evening all five would be included in the draws on each of their respective boards.  Board 1B had none of these former champs, and was the only one with a win opportunity, as Chicago Weasel Peter Yeargin made his Dixie debut by getting to 16 as Austria only to fall short and have to settle for a five-way stalemate.

The Iron Man of Gaming event also got underway on Friday evening, as the non-Dip gamers began to fill up the venue with all sorts of boards and all sorts of players.  Ravindra and Mary Prasad made their second Dixiecon, and would make their presences felt throughout the weekend along with perpetual contender Kevin Brown.  Seen that evening were Manifest Destiny, Wasabi, Strozzi, more Rico, Ticchu, and Citadels, in addition to a very popular game at the last three Dixiecons, Here I Stand.  Since Bruce Duewer did not make Dixiecon for the first time since the Vietnam War ended, Hood had no one to suicide against on the Here I Stand board and thus actually won for the first time.

Saturday morning saw the Diplomacy Team Tournament, which also doubles as the second round of the regular Diplomacy event.  Winning the team event hands down was Team Brick, consisting of Ecton, Richardson and Woodring.  Other important results included another good round for Yeargin as his France reached 13 centers, and an RT two way draw at 14/14 centers between Woodring and Steve Cooley which would become crucial in the hunt for the Dixiecon title.

The non-Dip gaming was particularly wide-ranging on Saturday as a big game of 18Coast to Coast took up two large tables, with other games including Ra, Here I Stand, Mustang, Outpost, Wasabi, Agricola, Tigris & Euphrates, Leaping Friggin Lemmings, 2nd of Mayo, St Petersburg, Stone Age, Puerto Rico, Macao, Kremlin and Settlers (whew.)  Longtime Dixiecon and/or Hickcon people also began to make cameo appearances as the day progressed, including Heath Gardner, Aaron Dixon, Steve Nicewarner, Michael Lowrey, and the only other 1987 attendee still at Dixiecon after all these years, the multi-talented Bob Odear.

After the traditional 5pm barbeque dinner, this year again featuring Bojangles fried chicken in addition to eastern NC pork BBQ, more Iron Man gaming commenced as the last Dip game was ending.  All available space in the lounge area was taken as the 55 Dixiecon attendees competed.  There was also a little poker, and a lot of debate about poker…

Sunday morning the Diplomacy tournament began again in earnest as three boards started the only timed round at Dixie.  By tournament rule it must end between 4 and 6 pm.  As in the past several years, however, all the games were complete well before the time was called.  All concluded in three way draws, with highlights including another great game by Yeargin at 13 centers and Ed Prem working his way into the top board at his first Dixiecon.  The Iron Man gaming added another of the usual NC gaming crowd, Dave Long, as well as the annual obligatory game of Princes of the Renaissance in addition to Twilight Struggle, Puerto Rico, St Pete, Titan, Carson City, Dominion, Power Grid, Roll Thru the Ages and Acquire.  After awards were announced, many headed to a group dinner at the Japanese steakhouse after which some Congoers departed for home and others returned for Sunday night open gaming.

Where the most awesome event of the entire weekend occurred.  If you have been to Dixiecon in the last 10 years or so you know that it is traditional for a game of American Megafauna to be played on Sunday night – the game that is not a Game, but more of an Experience.  This year we actually had TWO BOARDS of this game going on at the same time, which I suspect has never happened before in the history of the world from the beginning of the evolutionary cycle depicted in, well, the game itself.  Since there were probably 4 or 5 copies of this game ever sold period, this was a monumental piece of gaming history…

And that is all, another Dixiecon in the books.  Stay tuned for next year as Dixiecon will celebrate its 25th anniversary with some special promotions and attractions.  A teaser – the event will host the All Time Greats, a round within the tournament where all the boards will be filled with players from the Dixiecon Hall of Fame (i.e. the top three finishers each year) with the best seven results advancing to the All Time Greats final board on Saturday night where it will be the only Diplomacy game going so that other players can kibbutz and watch the action if they wish.  There will be communications about the event that will go to all past Dixiecon attendees that can be found with modern technology – and that’s a lot of folk back to 1987.

You will not want to miss this event!  Make plans now for Memorial Day 2011.  Also, if anyone reading this is interested in our North Carolina housecon called Hickcon, which is now in its 21st year and to be hosted this fall at the Hickory home of Debbie and Ken Gutermuth, please contact David Hood.