Seven weeks to go...
What: Ground Zero Games East Coast Convention V
When: February 21 - 23, 2003
Where: Hotel Brunswick, Lancaster, PA
Convention URL: http://www.warpfish.com/jhan/ft/gzgecc/
Signups URL: http://home.nycap.rr.com/davisje/gzgecc/
For pregistration, please send to davisje@nycap.rr.com, the following
information: Name: Address: City:
State/Province:
Zip/Postal:
Country: Phone: Email Address: Emergency Contact and Contact Phone: Events you
wish to play: Ship image for your convention badge:
NAC,ESU,FSE,NSL,KV,IF,SV,PH
Payment of the $20 preregistration fee may be made by check or Paypal.
Check payable to: GZG East Coast Convention 1415 Rocco Drive Schenectady, NY
12303
Jon,
Do you have a count on current T-shirt orders so that I can get the
final numbers to our publisher? I will plan on adding some extras to each,
like last year.
Nicholas Caldwell clcaldwell@kreative.net
[quoted original message omitted]
Whoops -- that should have gone just to Jon. At least I didn't do
something stupid like put my credit card number in the email. Anyone who would
do that probably has rocks in his head. Or fell off a rock onto his head.
Nicholas Caldwell clcaldwell@kreative.net
[quoted original message omitted]
> On Thu, 9 Jan 2003, Nick and Laurel Caldwell wrote:
> Whoops -- that should have gone just to Jon. At least I didn't do
I heard that....
8 weeks to go...
What: Ground Zero Games East Coast Convention VII
When: February 27 - 29, 2004
Where: Hotel Brunswick, Lancaster, PA
Key events:
Jon Tuffley, guest of honor
Stuart Murray's CineGrunt game - The Mysterious Island of Dr. Carter
A painting seminar by Rick Rutherford on Saturday morning.
FMA Sheep II - "They're Baaa-ck" with Laserlight and TomB
Convention URL: http://www.warpfish.com/jhan/ft/gzgecc/
Signups URL: http://home.nycap.rr.com/davisje/gzgecc/
For pregistration, please send to davisje (at) nycap.rr.com, the following
information: Name: Address: City:
State/Province:
Zip/Postal:
Country: Phone: Email Address: Events you wish to play: Ship image for your
convention badge: NAC,ESU,FSE,NSL,KV,IF,SV,PH, NI, IJN
Convention golf shirts will be available, as in previous years. They cost $15.
Please let me know your size if you want one.
Payment of the $25 preregistration fee may be made by check or Paypal. As in
previous years, volunteers and gamemasters will receive a $5 rebate at the
conclusion of the convention. Due to the banking fees associated with
international checks, Canadian attendees are encouraged to use Paypal or pay
the
Six weeks to go...
New Events!
Dean Gundberg's Sci-Fi Crossover Full Thrust event - Saturday Afternoon
Fleet Book 3 Public Playtest events - Sunday morning
What: Ground Zero Games East Coast Convention VII
When: February 27 - 29, 2004
Where: Hotel Brunswick, Lancaster, PA
Key events:
Jon Tuffley, guest of honor
Stuart Murray's CineGrunt game - The Mysterious Island of Dr. Carter
A painting seminar by Rick Rutherford on Saturday morning.
FMA Sheep II - "They're Baaa-ck" with Laserlight and TomB
Convention URL: http://www.warpfish.com/jhan/ft/gzgecc/
Signups URL: http://home.nycap.rr.com/davisje/gzgecc/
For pregistration, please send to davisje (at) nycap.rr.com or
drwhom_2000 (at) yahoo.com the following information:
Name: Address: City:
State/Province:
Zip/Postal:
Country: Phone: Email Address: Events you wish to play: Ship image for your
convention badge: NAC,ESU,FSE,NSL,KV,IF,SV,PH, NI, IJN
Convention golf shirts will be available, as in previous years. They cost $15.
Please let me know your size if you want one.
Payment of the $25 preregistration fee may be made by check or Paypal. As in
previous years, volunteers and gamemasters will receive a $5 rebate at the
conclusion of the convention. Due to the banking fees associated with
international checks, Canadian attendees are encouraged to use Paypal or pay
the
> New Events!
> Jon Tuffley, guest of honor
Three reasons to go and I can't [cries]
Speaking of which....
I was speaking to the manager of my FLGS the other day (Abington Games and
Hobbies, just outside of Philadelphia), and he mentioned that he was going to
be attending GZGECC as a dealer. And so I told him, in the spirit of
pleasing as many people as possible, that I would ask the list what kind of
items they would like to see him bring to the show.
Al of the GZG stuff that he has, obviously, will be coming along. Along
with Armorcast, and JR Miniatures, and dice and such...but what other Stuff
would the attendees like to see? And buy?
> Fleet Book 3 Public Playtest events - Sunday morning
And I thought Allyson Hannigan and Drew Barrymore were reason enough to wish
to be born American, but now this! I am left with no option but to stand to
attention and let my bottom lip quiver ever so slighty in an outrageous
display of emotion in public!
Regards,
> John C wrote:
He is? Okay, cool. I didn't know.
> And so I told him, in the spirit of
Along
> with Armorcast, and JR Miniatures, and dice and such...but what other
He is aware that Jon T of GZG will be coming and bringing his bag of GZG
stuff, as well? Not that I know how MUCH Jon will be bringing, just that he
will have along.
What does he have in the way of terrain? I'm looking mostly for stuff in the
15mm to 6mm scale. Also, any GHQ WWII stuff? Buildings?
Mk
> Three reasons to go and I can't [cries]
You're not the only one. Not only am I still broke at the moment, I won't get
any time off until next December! *sigh*
_Maybe_ next year...
> He is aware that Jon T of GZG will be coming and bringing his bag of
He does know, but he's still got a decent amount of stuff left over from the
GeoHex era. You can't have too many GZG minis, after all!
(Now, if only I could convince the wife that this was true....)
> What does he have in the way of terrain? I'm looking mostly for
Armorcast for sure, and JRminatures, along with a couple of other different
companies. Terrain was definately on his list. I know that he has some
GHQ, but I don't know what -- not my area of interest, I confess. I'll
relay this on to him, though.
> He is aware that Jon T of GZG will be coming and bringing his bag of
Realistically, I'm not going to be bringing all that much in volume -
probably just some special things like NEW products that may not even be on
general release before the Con! So anyone bringing old or existing stock won't
be any problem.
I'm coming to chat to people and have fun, not to run a trade stall -
I have to do that FAR too much at the UK shows....! ;-)
Jon (GZG)
> He does know, but he's still got a decent amount of stuff left over
> Realistically, I'm not going to be bringing all that much in volume -
So that means you have a secret pile of Skirmish books waiting to be sold?
Great...sign me up for two of them.:)
Would it be out of place to make requests for stuff?
---
Damo
> > Realistically, I'm not going to be bringing all that much in volume
No, not books - sorry! But expect some all-new FT ships...... ;-)
> Would it be out of place to make requests for stuff?
Well, you can ask, but I can't guarantee what I'll be able to bring
with me.... to be fair to everyone, I can't really take pre-orders -
whatever I can bring along will be on sale strictly on a first-come,
first-served basis (unless bribery is involved of course....<GRIN>).
> No, not books - sorry! But expect some all-new FT ships...... ;-)
<sigh> Okay. I'll give you *another* year then. My printed hack-job
will have to do for the time being I guess...
> Well, you can ask, but I can't guarantee what I'll be able to bring
Hmmmm...what airport are you landing at?;)
---
Damo
> >
Sorry, Indy's got in there ahead of you - he's picking me up from the
airport.... <GRIN>
On Fri, 23 Jan 2004 22:24:22 +0000 Ground Zero Games <jon@gzg.com>
writes: <snip>
> Sorry, Indy's got in there ahead of you - he's picking me up from the
I can see the international bidding war starting now.
Not to mention how the Intelligence Community will begin to wonder about a
terrorist connection to the UK with all this money being offered to an obscure
(well, to them) Brit that is flying to the USA.
Not to mention what the metal detectors in the USA will do with all that metal
in suitcases! [Yes, I know, you are not really bringing much but it was a
'...can't pass...' target.]
Please consider what you are carrying on your person when you hit the states!
One of our Chinese translators got the red card for some innocuous personal
thing he was carrying to D.C. for a TDY assignment
from the midwest recently. Missed his co-worker on the same flight
because he missed his plane while being interviewed/patted down/given a
thorough inspection with the wand/etc., was re-routed via another city
because he missed his plane (added 6 hours to his flight,) had to rent his own
car (he had the authorization for the rental, she got there hours earlier, had
to get the authorization switched, sent the agency into a tizzy when he came
up 'unaccounted for' [not as bad as confirmed 'missing'] and when he got there
he was without a car... typical "Charlie Foxtrot" situation.] You would think
a 'certain kind of agency of the federal government' employee on official
business, not that he could identify himself as such in public of course,
might be given some discretionary treatment but apparently not. Depends a lot
on the
paranoia/attentiveness of the personnel at the airport. Books would fly
through, boxes with metal components will stand out on X-ray even if in
check-in luggage (which was what flagged him.)
Beth, et.al., do I need to translate "Charlie Foxtrot"? It's phonetic
alphabet - the "C" - "Charlie" - stands for Cluster... the "F" is
typical military shall we say?
Jon, I want you to come (even if I can't get there) but I feel obliged to tell
you the problems our agency people have encountered flying in the USA
recently. Hopefully you won't have any problems to deal with. I advise fly
'light' and tell them up front (and show them even, if that's practical) about
any 'sales samples' you are bringing. Yeah, I'm paranoid but it's an
occupational advantage.
Gracias,
From: <warbeads@juno.com>
> Beth, et.al., do I need to translate "Charlie Foxtrot"? It's phonetic
Please make sure that you either have the right visa, or don't need a visa.
Note that although Australians don't need a visa (generally), if they're
doing anything remotely work-like (and showing off sales samples MAY
qualify) then they do. And if they're interviewing someone, then they need a
different visa again. *CHECK WITH THE US EMBASSY*
2 Australian TV personalities (not journalists as such) including Australia's
answer to Jimmy Saville, ended up handcuffed, body searched etc and deported,
simply because they had an XYZ-123 visa (for business) or no visa at all
(for tourism) rather than an XYW-321 one (for journalism).
Brits are in the same category as Australians for this. And being
straightforward
> On 25 Jan 2004 at 1:57, Alan and Carmel Brain wrote:
> Please make sure that you either have the right visa, or don't need a
Jon, as a Canadian now living in the U.S., I _strongly_ advise you to
heed Alan's advice. America's Customs service and BCIS (formerly the INS) have
always been more worried about people working and making
money in the U.S. than anything else. 9/11 has only given them more
tools to be a pain about it.
First, check to see if you need a visa. The convention is next month? Chances
are you're not going to have time to get a visa. If that's
the case, do _not_ take any figures, books, etc. with you. Simply
state at Customs that you're here for a game convention and to do
some touristy stuff. (Note that Lancaster is _very_ close to
Gettysburg; I'm not saying you lie if you have no intention of touring the
area, but you're going to be in Civil War country, so it's not like you're
planning to go to, oh, the middle of Nebraska as a "tourist").
If you want to have figures at the con, find someone (Indy, perhaps?) that you
can trust and ship the stuff to them as a gift. Will Indy sell them? Does Indy
owe you money? Beats me. I don't care and I
don't want to know. I don't know your non-business monetary
arrangements with your American friends. Customs doesn't need to know either.
Well, they'll say you do but that's between you and them.
For that matter, if you plan to just give stuff away as prizes, shipping them
to one of the Americans showing up is probably just fine; you're not getting
anything of value for them.
Obviously bringing the figures over and selling them here would save a lot of
money in shipping for con goers, and would have them right there at the
convention. If you don't have the right visa, you could have the goods
confiscated and you shipped back on the next plane.
> The system is set up with little latitude for discretion or common
I've had to wade through the BCIS morass. There are usually good reasons
behind the mountains of bureaucracy, even if those reasons themselves get lost
in that same mountain. Why kick out a journalist who doesn't have the right
visa? That seems stupid when common sense could allow them in on a business
visa. Could it be because a journalist's credentials lets you get to public
buildings with a camera and ask pointed questions? Could it be because someone
feels that a terrorist could pose as a journalist to get access with film
equipment and go unbothered by local police? Could it be because only
_real_ journalists can get a journalist visa but a wider range of
people could get a regular business visa?
My point is that one person's "common sense" is another person's security
breach. No one at Customs and Immigration wants to let another terrorist into
the country on their watch. The U.S. government feels it's under siege. The
country itself is quite safe, and you won't have any problems once you clear
Customs.
Just remember that if you play by the book you'll have no trouble. I had the
right visa and paperwork when I came into the country and it was the only time
Customs officials were outright friendly to me.
They see _so_ many people trying to get away with something, from
something as innocuous as trying to slip in illegal pepperoni, to something
serious as coming in with forged documents. Like all law enforcement types
everywhere, they see "bad guys" first until you've proven otherwise.
> On Friday, January 23, 2004, at 05:24 PM, Ground Zero Games wrote:
> Sorry, Indy's got in there ahead of you - he's picking me up from the
Who said anything about picking *you* up? <double grin>
Damo
Thanks for the comments and concern, everyone - I do appreciate how
the security situation is at the moment, and the reasons for it -
believe me, I'd rather fly knowing that security is tight than otherwise!!
I'm already planning to ship whatever is ready in time by mail in
advance; the only stuff - if any - that I'll actually have in baggage
(checked-in, not hand luggage, to avoid any problems about pointy
metal bits...) is perhaps a few advance samples of any last-minute
releases that miss the postal consignment, and of course they will be gifts
for the friends I'm meeting over there...
I DON'T intend to have a lot of stuff there, either shipped in advance or
brought with me. That's what the dealers are coming for, I'm just a guest! Any
few bits that I do sell, I'll probably be spending the money on stuff for
myself before going home anyway, so
it all stays neatly in the US economy.... ;-)
The visa situation seems pretty clear, as it is a pleasure trip (hey, you
think I'm coming over to WORK....??) one is not needed. At least,
not yet - there is a big row brewing about the US's demand that they
be introduced for ALL visits for holders of any new UK passports issued after
October 2004, unless the passport has all the new biometric data, which won't
be feasible till 2005 or so.... guess
what that'll do to Florida's tourist industry.... :-/.
I will double-check with the travel people to make sure that
nothing's changed since I booked.
> Ground Zero Games wrote:
> PS: does anyone think it is worth me shipping just a few copies of the
> rulebooks over, or will everyone who is coming to the Con already have
> the ones they want? What I don't want is to ship a load of stuff that
> no-one wants, unless one of the dealers would take any unsold copies
I know that some folks are interested in DSII rules, but I couldn't tell you
who specifically. Are they still in print?
> Ground Zero Games wrote:
> I'm already planning to ship whatever is ready in time by mail in
A polite warning, John (yes, yes, another one). Put any miniatures in
something easily opened and checked through - and bear in mind the
people who will be doing the looking. Last summer I took a small cache of
miniatures to GenCon in my checked luggage, all in (labelled)
carboard boxes lined with bubble-wrap, clearly telling everyone what
they were and not having any trouble...until I ran into a guy at San Diego
aiport who gleefully upended the lot onto a solid metal table, shaking the box
repeatedly to make sure every small piece of
easily-damaged metal fell out. It didn't think you /could/ bend a IJN
DN's forward hull...and naturally a few pieces were lost forever >.<
Sorry to add yet another scare story to the list, but if these are
all-new stuff or prototypes...
> I'm coming over to meet some friends (Indy, Jon et al) and attend a
They might do, actually - in fact, I had more trouble explaining the
concept of a convention than what went on at it! If in doubt, grit your teeth
and say "like Games Workshop stuff"...
> Ground Zero Games wrote:
Sorry, no - we're completely out of them. There ARE, in theory, still
a number of copies (at least 100+) in the USA, as bankrupt stock
following the demise of GeoHex - but no-one seems willing to admit to
where they currently are.... :-/
We could bring/send some FT, FB1 & 2 and SGII, but it would only be
worthwhile if anyone going to ECC actually needs copies.
> Ground Zero Games wrote:
[DSII rules]
> Sorry, no - we're completely out of them. There ARE, in theory, still
> currently are.... :-/
My FLGS has two copies of DSII (last I checked). THey're going for $26 as I
recall. If anyone going to ECC VII needs a copy, I'm sure we can work
something out.
CHeers
> Ground Zero Games wrote:
It will only be castings, not anything that can't be replaced. All will be
packed in clear polybags so that they can examine them to their little hearts'
content, and even open them individually if they have to.
I take it yours were assembled and painted stuff? (Well, at least
they WERE assembled...) :-(
Did you even get so much as an apology...?
> I'm coming over to meet some friends (Indy, Jon et al) and attend a
> Ground Zero Games wrote:
> I take it yours were assembled and painted stuff? (Well, at least they
> WERE assembled...) :-(
Yes assembled/painted, no to the apology...and much as I wanted heads on
pikes there wasn't time before the flight to do anything official.
Saddest loss was the bridge section of a hard-to-replace SBFBS Andromeda
2, although I rebuilt it when I got home (using one of your NAC SDN weapons
diamonds, I might add). It now sports a much more, ah, "weathered"
paintscheme...
> --- Ground Zero Games <jon@gzg.com> wrote:
One of the more amusing airport security scenes I have seen in my travels was
on my return home from Hong Kong at the end of
2000 -- a guy was apparently carrying a couple GW boxes of
WH40K/WHFB Greater Demons home that I guess he found somewhere
there, and made the mistake of putting them in his carry-on bag,
not his checked luggage.
> From the expression on the security officer's face, she *really*
Kinda like Terry Pratchett book covers here, the publishers seem to like
toning things down for the US market, very disappointing sometimes!)
'Til later,
> I'm coming over to meet some friends (Indy, Jon et al) and attend a
You'd be surprised.
In 1996 I went to GenCon, driving to Milwaukee from Canada. On the way back, I
hit the border at Sarnia, Ontario. I picked a short line and waited my turn to
drive to the booth. Once I got there, the Customs agent told me to wait
for a second and closed his booth. It re-opened with a different agent.
Checking my watch it was 4 p.m., so probably the end of a shift. This agent
was younger, in his early 20s, I guessed.
He asked the usual: citizenship, where'd you go, how long were you gone. He
then asked what we were bringing back into Canada. Before I could say
anything, my friend called out, "Gaming supplies." There was a pause. The
agent looked at me and said, "What _kind_ of gaming supplies?"
At this point I was certain we were going to be searched and was ready to beat
my friend rather severely about the head and facial area. "Gaming supplies."
The guy probably thought we had roulette wheels, or dismantled
slot machines in the car! (It was a Honda Civic, so there wasn't _that_
much you could cram into it. At this point my friend recovered and said,
"Gaming supplies, like dice, miniature figures, rule books."
The agent looked at me and asked, "Where were you, again?" I said, "Milwaukee,
for GenCon, a game convention."
The agent looked at something on the monitor (probably getting a report back
on the car) and said, "I've always wanted to go to GenCon. How was it?"
"Pretty good," I said with obvious relief, "but not quite as good as last
year."
"Who was the guest of honour?"
"Walter Koenig," I replied.
He nodded a couple of times, then asked if we had any tobacco or alcohol. We
responded in the negative, and then without a word he just waved ust through!
This was a good thing, as I was _way_ over my duty free limit on "gaming
supplies", and this is the one agent who would know that a set of styrofoam
painted green and brown and glued with model railroad flock was probably
closer to US$20 than US$5!
So, while it's unlikely that they'll know what a game convention is, you
might be surprised.
> PS: does anyone think it is worth me shipping just a few copies of the
> Con.... :-/
Spoke to Bob at Abington, and he said that they'll be happy to take a few
copies of the various books after the con is over. If any remain, of
course....
> On Sun, 25 Jan 2004 10:47:43 +0000, Lachlan Atcliffe writes:
Recently a friend of mine returning from Japan was stopped at customs in the
US (and he's a US citizen) and they confiscated a reasonable sized box of
random Japanese snack foods. They claimed these were 'agricultural products'
so not allowed in (like most of the stuff in a snack food was grown in
anything besides a vat). We just decided that the security guards were hungry
that day, but you never know what they'll do.
Reminds me of a local personality who popped over to New Zealand for
convention quite a few years back. In answer to the usual question "anything
to declare", the answer was "guns, knives & armor". They thought he was
joking; until the full scale replica
of an Aliens Sentry Gun went through the x-ray machine!
A 30 minute photo shoot then ensued with the gun set up pointing at the
walk-through metal detector (rather disconcerting for any passengers who
knew what it was!)
Brendan 'Neath Southern Skies
> -----Original Message-----
The
> agent looked at me and said, "What _kind_ of gaming supplies?"
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I am not sure if that answer was cocky, humorous or stupid; in the St.Louis at
the airport definitely the latter. You WILL be arrested and
charged. Ditto the R.A.Y. building - federal employees including
immigration and, IIRC, the IRS. No sense of humor at all. Perhaps
understandably. Made me turn on my Cell Phone... to make sure it realy WAS a
cell phone.
Gracias, Glenn
"Half the Harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to
feel important. They don't mean to do harm - but the harm does not
interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they are
absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves." T. S. Elliot
On Tue, 27 Jan 2004 11:04:04 +1100 "Robertson, Brendan"
> <Brendan.Robertson@dva.gov.au> writes:
You bet they checked cellphones at high alert levels.
http://www.strategypage.com/gallery/default.asp?target=cell_phone_gun_1.
htm
Heavier than a cellphone should be, packs 4 x.22 cal. Outstanding
assassination tool. According to the article The Proper Authorities have
been watching for these for a couple of years now.
> warbeads@juno.com wrote:
> I am not sure if that answer was cocky, humorous or stupid; in the St.
> I am not sure if that answer was cocky, humorous or stupid; in the St.
The first thing I thought of was, "How did he get away without being
arrested?" They take things very seriously at the airport. So seriously that
if we ever fly anywhere with our oldest, we'd be tempted to duct tape his
mouth shut before hand.
They made me turn on my Palm PDA to show that it worked, too. Then they put
it through the x-ray machine, which apparently showed it was nothing
more than a screen and circuitry.
The worst thing to happen to me at customs was in Scotland in 1992. I shot a
roll of Kodak black and white infrared film while in the Orkneys. This stuff
gives a black and white image, but heat sources come out bright and cold
objects (such as the sky) come out dark. This stuff is very susceptible to
heat and light. I loaded the camera in a make-shift "dark bag" made from
my jacket and a fleece sweater, it's that sensitive. When I got to the airport
on the way home I figured it would be wise not to send it through the
x-ray
machine. I stupidly handed over to a Customs guy to hand inspect. Of course he
opened the container marked "do not open except in total darkness" and
looked at it. Then he threw it in the x-ray machine. Geez. When I got it
developed, the images were badly fogged. I did manage to "fix" one or two
pictures. Next time I'll just get the film developed in whatever country I'm
in and take the prints home.
(If you're interested in seeing one of the repaired pictures, you can see it
here:
textfilter: chose text/plain from a multipart/alternative
I'll be there, dragging Doug and my friend Kevin who made one years back and
won a bunch of stuff in the painting competition that year. Figure every once
in a while Stewart and Martin should have to work for the prizes!:0)
Mark, I'm pretty sure your Canadian might not be up to snuff, so allow me to
translate for Jim...
Jim: "Have a great time and you have my permission to shot JP." Translated:
"Have a great time and shoot JP!"
Jim's just being polite, but really its more of an imperative.
T.
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Tomb, my Canadian was more than up to par for translation. I could easily
read and understand Jim's response. :-)
But given that I'm running two games again this year (really, I've got to cut
back) and doing the painting contest organizing, odds are my getting in
on a game with JP are slim. Luckily for JP. :-D I've got a ton of
dice to throw 1s at him.
Mk
> On Fri, Jan 27, 2012 at 7:44 AM, Tom B <kaladorn@gmail.com> wrote:
> textfilter: chose text/plain from a multipart/alternative