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NOTHING BUT
STACKPOLE AND BATTLEFRONT II
 It
was a beautiful spring morning and after successfully navigating my
S.C.A.L.P. land cruiser through northern Illinois and the watchful
eye of the imperialistic IPASS cameras I managed to arrive early. I
suited up with fellow members and assisted in our best imitation of
the greeter at Wal-Mart. I waited for Dustrho to show up, after not
being there the previous day I wanted to help him and others back
through the maze that led to our staging area. There were just as
many people at the tables on Sunday, in fact I was pretty surprised
that people dressed as Stormtroopers would have such difficulty
getting their attention, I’d have to wager the games were very
interesting. After the remainder of the group filed in and got ready
for action, Dustrho and I attended to “securing the area” for a
discussion Michael Stackpole was delivering for the convention which
dealt with not only Star Wars but many aspects of role-playing
games.
 The
Battlefront II Tournament was held away from the main gaming area
and the Midwest Garrison
did its absolute best to hold its own against some of the show
attendees. There were quite a few other games to enjoy as well,
however I’m not too much for dancing and the guitar seemed to always
be taken! It was certainly a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
The camaraderie of the Garrison was at an all-time high in the
moments leading up to the tournament. Sadly the Fighting 501st even
employed the cheap tactics of flying into the enemies hangar and
simply bombing all their ships before they take off! Whatever it
takes to win, and all in the good name of charity! I’ll have to say
it’s not as easy as you’d think playing Battlefront with your bucket
on, but I didn’t compete, as my mission would take me elsewhere. I
did see Dustrho get in on the action by obliterating some poor kid
only to lose the next match. I’ll never know if the kid beat him or
he let him win!
 I
returned upstairs to see if I could grab
a few minutes with Mr. Stackpole as our forum member Rogue Jedi Princess was able to
provide me with a little ammunition for the interrogation of the
mind behind Rogue Squadron. I always find such great pleasure
hearing from someone else how much Star Wars means to them, and how
it’s changed their life. Our Commanding Officer of the Midwest
Garrison showcased some of the “traveling Troopers” to Michael and
gave him a little bit of back story of these 12-inch figures that
are at more events than a good percentage of the Legion-wide roster!
After the interview concluded it there was just a little bit more
Trooping to do down in the gaming area. Shortly afterwards, the
platoon of Troops packed it up and made way for the sanctity of
their bunkers. While this show didn’t have too much to offer as far
as things to spend your money on, I think spending time with
friends, whether in armor or around a table is more rewarding in
some cases than blowing tons of money or grabbing an autograph. I
had just as much fun here as I have some of the other events we’ve
covered, although it’s usually not where you are, it’s who you’re
with! It was a great time getting to know some of the Midwest
Garrison members better as well as hanging out with dustrho and
having a good time, because usually we’re doing more work than play! We’d
like to thank all the Staff at Codcon and Michael Stackpole for
agreeing to our interview. Special thanks to RJP for assisting in
the interrogation!
PHOTO GALLERY
To see the photo gallery
containing 11 photos click
here.
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