Conquest 2001 is over, but what a con!  2001 was its first year in a new location, the old but lovable Hyatt Ricky's in Palo Alto, CA, and things went much smoother than could be expected.  All the usual faces were in attendance, as were many new ones, and a good time was had by all (even Mayonnaise Boy!).

Following are some pictures of the event, for your viewing pleasure.
 
Russell Thompson's Ragnarok game using the Taiko! rules.  If I'm not mistaken, it was Vikings versus Saxons in this 15mm battle.  I had one of the Viking players, John Schmidt, come up to me to inform me that most of the Viking side had failed their order rolls and had either quit the field or had joined the Saxons!  I had no idea while designing Taiko! that it would have some use in simulating Dark Ages combat as well...
 
 
 
 
This is a shot of Cliff's colonial era wargame using 15mm figures.  His set-up was pretty awesome, with an old fortress overlooking the town, as natives poured in.  When I peeked in the British Post Office troops were trying to sort themselves out...
 
 
 
 
 
Here is a picture of John Sanchez' 20mm colonial game.  John used the upcoming Rampant Colonialism rules, in this battle pitting natives versus colonial French.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Legionnaires advance against the Arabs and their less fortunate native allies.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Dave Worley action photo!
 
 
 
 
The French river boat chugs up river in the face of somewhat less than effective native fire.  Their objective was to get around the flank/rear of the natives in an attempt to ease pressure on the advancing Legionnaires...
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Arabian cavalry charges through town to the rescue!
 
 
The Dervishes attempt to hold ground at the wall...
 
 
 
 
Flea market action photo!  Is that Russell Thompson in the foreground?!?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The reason I have so many gray hairs...
 
 
And a shot from another angle.  Actually, we were fairly happy with the way the booth looked, and business certainly seemed to reflect that all our effort was worth it.  Our official helper, Reuban McKenzie, was a huge help and we can't thank him enough.  Thanks to him, we may just be able to have a booth at most of the Northern CA conventions now!
 
 
 
 
 
Another CGC member, Doug Coronado, was also in the Dealers' Room with his array of dragons!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
Bill Edwards had a very impressive booth!
 
 
A shot of Charlie Hooks' Bunny Ship, which he entered into the painting contest.  I actually took photos of a lot of the entrants, but they came out blurry so I have declined posting them here since you can't tell what they are!
 
 
 
 
 
 
Dave Love's Red Planet game, using "The Laser & the Flame"!
 
 
An up-close shot of some of the humans sent into the meat grinder on Mars.  As always, Dave put on an exceptional game.  I had to breath a sigh of relief when he didn't show up with his samurai this year, as it would have completely overshadowed my game!
 
 
 
 
 
 
And speaking of my game, here's a shot from my Taiko! game this year.  As most of you know, I put on a historical recreation of the battle of Nagashino, with hundreds of figures and a custom built battlefield.  This shot is of the Oda-Tokugawa side deployed behind their bamboo wall.  For more shots and a battle report, you'll have to go to our Taiko! web page (look for the report sometime in the week of 9/17/01).
 
 
 
 
 
 
A shot of local great, Anthony Hanner, owner of Mangrove Games, the best game store on the planet!  Anthony and the rest of these guys are playing in Armorcast's big game, which they seem to run at all the cons I manage to attend.  I have to admit that it gets more impressive every time I see it.  It is so cool that it almost makes me want to play WH40K!
 
 
 
 
 
 
Tanks and Titans rumble in the streets!
 
 
You know, I can't help but ask myself, "Why isn't GW letting these guys make Titans anymore?"  Armorcast's quality is over the top, as you can tell from these pictures.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Big Red the Gargant stalks the city streets.
 
 
Here's a shot of some infantry running around in the town.  What those poor slobs were doing there I'll never know.  Next to them, just behind the building in the center of the shot is some kind of Eldar walker thingy (see how much I know about 40K?).  Most of you know what my opinion is of Elves, regardless of where they fit into the Fantasy/Sci-Fi Timeline, so I can only hope that the infantry were able to take out the Space Hairdressers' mini-Titan before they got stepped on.
 
 
 
 
 
A shot from the impressive Brother Against Brother game.
 
 
Here the Confederates carry the wormwood fence...
 
 
...and the Yankees swarm down the hill!
 
 

 
 
 
 
Nils Hedglin & Bat Action Photo!
 
 
 
 
From left to right, Nils Hedglin, Dave Worley, John Sanchez, Dave Wilhelm, Thomas Foss, Stanley Stinnett, and Herb Gundt of HG Walls.  Herb was visiting from back east as a guest of the South Bay Game Club.  The truly attentive will notice that he is wearing a "Hey... This Game Sucks!" FSG T-shirt, the apparel of choice for discerning wargamers...
 
 
 
 
 
 
A not-overly-good photo of my partner and friend, Thomas Foss, looking serious as he makes plans for his soon-to-start Pirates! game.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A wild west game using Darryl Empey's scratch-built terrain.
 
 
Another piece built by our friend Darryl Empey, this time it's a little something less than historical - an Ork Island Fortress!  This was really something to see close up, and my poor photographic skills failed to do it justice.  A truly awesome piece of terrain, and another testimony to Darryl's skill.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gators and Goblins - oh my!  More Pirates! fun.
 
 
Thomas's Dwarf island fort.  The fortress is an old Ian Weekley piece, heavily built up and modified and placed on a scratch built island.  As with my photo of Darryl's Ork fort above, this photo does not do the piece justice.  Thomas is another master of the craft, and we are pretty fortunate to have guys like him, Darryl, Terry Matheny, Harry Wommelsdorf and many others here in Northern CA to inspire us and to let us play with their really cool toys!
 
 
 
 
A shot of Terry and Harry's Screaming GI's game.
 
 
A German tank cruising through shell-torn land!
 
 
Aaaahhh!  A giant arm threatens a T-34.
 
 
Conquest 2001 was an awesome convention in many ways.  Although I was at first leery of the miniature's room separation from the rest of the convention, it turned out to work very well.  I am very much looking forward to next year!