Northeast Wars X

Concluding our brief series on maps of things in and around the Essex, we thought we’d take a stab at answering one of the most frequently-asked questions at a convention. No, not “Can I tell you about my character?”

Rather, “Where’s there to eat around here?”

Convention cartographer Geoff spent some quality time with Google Maps, marking nearby restaurants and such to aid conventioneers in their quest to cram food-gathering into the all too brief span between gaming slots. There’s even a grocery story conveniently marked, if you forgot to pick up some non-perishable items for our charity food drive.

Go check it out here. See you tomorrow evening at the convention!

Our impromptu series in cartography continues, this time with a quick overview of the terrain surrounding the Essex, our hosts this weekend. Again, we thank our unofficial cartographer, Geoff, for his skill at making ink marks look like things. Folks coming out of town may find this useful in finding their way to the convention — or finding their way out again afterward — particularly if coming from the east along Route 15 or the southwesterly direction of Essex Junction and points beyond.

The whopping big X marks the spot of Northeast Wars. Slightly to the north and west of the Essex is the Essex Outlets shopping center. There are many fine places to find sustenance here, which we’ll get into tomorrow when we wrap up this little series.

When embarking on any expedition, it’s vital for the well-prepared traveler to know the lay of the land, especially in the kind of environ best described as “a maze of twisty passages all alike.” This phrase can be applied to both great underground empires and many aboveground hotels with equal accuracy.

And thus, to aid those peripatetic souls who have not yet ventured into the realm now known as the Essex, we offer this preview of a most excellent cartograph prepared by Geoff Duke, someone with much experience mapping lairs of creatures both eldritch and fearsome. Be sure to keep an eye out for the secret tunnel. Guaranteed to be free of giant spiders!*

* 90% of the time. Okay, maybe 80%. 60%, absolute minimum. 45%-ish.

Reserving your room for Northeast Wars IX just got a little sweeter. Any conventioneer who rents a room from the Inn at Essex for the weekend of the convention can get $10 off their next purchase from Quarterstaff Games.

Any time after checking out of their room, conventioneers can bring their official Inn at Essex receipt to Quarterstaff Games and get $10 off whatever they buy from the store. This offer applies during the convention as well, so out-of-towners can get in on the savings as well.

Visit the Location page for information on how to reserve your room and take advantage of the convention rate.

A few weekends ago the NE Wars ‘Gang of Four’ (as in there were 4 of us and we have so much street cred that we must count as a gang) walked through the rooms that in a few months time will echo with the mighty battle cries of boardgamers, roleplayers, and wargamers.

This room, the Atrium, is the proposed site of the miniature war games and any overflow from other rooms. It’s a very big room that has the potential to be a knock out site for the mighty struggles Good vs Evil, Order vs Chaos, North vs South, and Unladen African Swallows vs Unladen European Swallows. Continue reading

For our out of town guests, we’ve worked up a set of driving directions to the Inn at Essex that cover the most popular approaches to the greater Burlington area. You’ll find them on the Location page.

For those coming from farther fields, we have also included a Google Maps widget on the page. Just type in your point of departure, click the button and you’ll have a detailed set of directions to get you right to the Inn at Essex’s front door.

Long live Northeast Wars!

This year we have a new location: the Inn at Essex. The inn is located at 70 Essex Way, Essex Junction, VT 05452. To make your reservation, please call 1-800-727-4295.

Come for a weekend of fun and excitement. Miniature tournaments, board games galore, role playing games and card games! We might even be some fun ropes course adventures.

Pre-registration for the whole weekend is $45.00. A great price for some great gaming!

See you there,
Krug the Troll