Optio at ICON

[Justin Swanton]

ICON is annual gaming event at Durban, featuring amongst other things re-enactment fighting, tabletop gaming and zany pop art stuff, and zanier people who like dressing up.

Quite big by Durban standards.



Non-cerebral wargaming.



The locals.



And a jolly good game of Optio. I played Rome as usual, my playtester Peter stuck with Carthage. He killed my general, destroyed my cavalry and Auxilia, isolated my legions and claimed an average victory.

Deployment.



There goes my left flank.

[Martin Smith]

Good to see 👍🏼. Many traders 'of interest' attending, Justin?

[Erpingham]

Looks appropriately weird. I'd read that SA has an active Hema scene, so nice to see them in action in your back yard.

[Justin Swanton]

Here is the full battle report.

[Justin Swanton]

Good to see 👍🏼. Many traders 'of interest' attending, Justin?

All kinds of traders. Those that vaguely intersect with my fields of interest are the Warhammer and boardgame distributors. Nobody who actually sells Ancients stuff - we have to import or make all that ourselves.

[dwkay57]

Interesting battle in terms of the Roman confidence rising and falling. The legions seemed to take quite a battering and might have welcomed some support on the right flank to turn the battle.

Did any of the "zany" visitors take an interest in the "two old dudes playing with toy soldiers"?

[Justin Swanton]

Interesting battle in terms of the Roman confidence rising and falling. The legions seemed to take quite a battering and might have welcomed some support on the right flank to turn the battle.

Did any of the "zany" visitors take an interest in the "two old dudes playing with toy soldiers"?

They were doing their own thing. We were in a room with (I think) Magic the Gathering players. Several normal-looking visitors came by to watch our games.