As mentioned here, I made the pilgrimage to Regina, Saskatchewan this weekend for a very pleasant weekend of gaming. For my non-Canadian readers, the distance between my home in Medicine Hat, in the SE corner of Alberta, and Regina, in the south centre of Saskatchewan, the capital of the next province to the east, is about 500kms, roughly a five hour drive. It's a large enough distance that I travelled from spring back into winter. Med Hat was about 15C on Friday, with not a trace of snow in sight, and Regina is still being buffetted by winter storms. The only people who seemed happy about that were the cross-country skiers I saw in the parks while there. It was a shock to go from a dry, clear road to a 60km winds blowing snow from the flat prairies onto the highway and choking it from two lanes to half a lane, making the last hour of the drive there a white-knuckle affair. The drive back was kinder to me today. Oh Canada, how I love you.
Curt and his radiant wife Sarah could not have been kinder hosts, and made me welcome in Schloss Campbell-Hanks, their lovely home. We got three games in, ranging from Curt's patented Great War In Grayscale to a terrific Old School game with Curt's pal John's own sculpts and castings, all gorgrous figures, to a 1940-41 Med naval game run by Peter Douglas, the admiral of the prairies. Curt will be sending some pictures once he fights clear of announcing the results of his painting challenge, and I'll get some batreps posted here in due course.
Followers of Curt's blog will recall his announcing two new additions to his family. Here I am with Felix, a demure and patient soul who was happy to pose for my iPhone.
And with Oscar, who doesn't respect the formal portrait but who is lavish with his affection. Dog germs, blech!
Too charming lads to be sure. If I wasn't married to a hardcore cat fancier who lacks the canine appreciation gene, I'd have some of my own.
After the final game, Curt (left) and me (right) model our Posties Rejects shirts on either side of Peter, the Single Handed Admiral. Yu can see what winter in Regina looks like from Peter's blog.
More to follow.
500kms for a game?! We have a club member who drives 250kms every fortnight for a club, game and he cites the bonhomie as much as the game itself as a draw-card, so Curt and Peter must be top-notch upstanding chaps to travel that far!
ReplyDelete500km for a weekend?? That's almost a round trip Madrid to Valencia and for me is like an expedition to a far away land!!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fun weekend and I look forward to reading the AARs.
ReplyDeleteThe big question is - did you observe the Rejects' rituals properly?
Most folks have NO idea how big Canada really is. I don't think I do either. Of course, in my area, some folks won't go from London to St. Thomas (25km) because it's "too far."
ReplyDeleteBlimey, the UK is tiny. I thought a 100 mile drive from London to Nottingham was too far to make. Good show sir! And good games, by the sound of things.
ReplyDeleteMike
ReplyDeleteGreat to have you in town - hopefully we'll get a chance to game face to face again before you ship out.
It's always interesting to see the different persepctives on the scale of Geogrpahy. And yes to a western canadian a weekend trip to a city is of the ho-hum variety. From Regina you have to go further than Calgary (8 hours) before anyone takes much notice. For some a 100mile drive is a morning commute and 250kms is a day trip for almost all Canadians.
For the "folks from away" the other thing that gets missed is the emptiness. If I drive from Regina to Calgary there are only a few "bolt holes" along the way in case I need a washroom, gas, coffee or a motel if I get caught in a storm. From East to West they are Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Medicine Hat, Brooks (rather a disappointing name given the rest of the sequence) and Strathmore. Try google mapping these points to get an idea of the scale. And yes your directions will include "drive 800kms west on TransCanada #1"!
Cheers PD
I thought the bit about distances would get the attention of our non-North American friends! For Canadian gamers, because we are so spread out, if you are not in an urban centre where there is an established club, one develops networks of friends who are often a fair ways away and makes the effort to go game with them. I quite envy our British friends with their many excellent clubs and regional gaming conventions.
ReplyDeleteCome this fall, I will be only a half hour drive to a node of gaming friends, and I will doubtless remind myself that a half hour drive is nothing compared to this last weekend.
It was a pleasure being able to have you out for a visit Mike! Oscar and Felix are already missing your excellent company. I hope the next trip will be in warm sunshine and we're playing on the back deck with boat-drinks in hand.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you had fun-the mind boggles at the geography of Canada, I could walk to all of my regular gaming friends houses in under an hour... Still you made the most of the trip with three games, waiting on the game pics.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Pete.
Very attractively attired fellows ther Michael.
ReplyDeleteNice to see the Canadian Chapter together for a game!!!
ReplyDelete