Gen Con UK 2007
The ground floor of one building was set aside for the trader’s hall which was modest compared to other shows I have attended, but no less packed with interesting paraphernalia and gaming goodness. Racks and racks of trading cards, gaming supplements and miniatures filled the room – including this display of Narn and Centauri warships from the Babylon 5 roleplaying game.
 
Yoda was on hand to quell any uprisings at this stall which not only sold replica lightsabres (drool…) but also a selection of characters’ wands from the Harry Potter films. These were very well detailed, but having tried and failed to issue the Cruciatus Curse, I decided against buying one.
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Off to one side, this trader was selling replica weapons – all quite harmless of course made as they were of soft-foamlike material or polystyrene. Not far from these medieval style weapons, the creators of the controversial boardgame War on Terror were plying their wares. War on Terror sees players taking the role of terrorists and others taking the role of agencies out to stop the terror. As the official website proudly proclaims "It’s got suicide bombers, political kidnaps and intercontinental war. It’s got filthy propaganda, rampant paranoia and secret treaties…". Given the subject matter, this game is not without its critics, many of whom feel the whole thing to be in rather bad taste, but then this criticism could be directed at the the whole issue of wargaming itself. The creators of WoT however appear to take all this in their stride, and even have a folder containing critical press coverage as part of their desk display!
So that I might see for myself how controversial WoT might be for myself, the creators kindly donated a copy for review – so watch this space!
 
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