Daily Chronicle: 'Lock & Load 2016 Recap' ~ The Old West Chronicle

I know this a few days late, but I thought I'd go ahead and write a quick recap of 'Lock & Load 2016' which took place the weekend of June 10th-12th in Bellevue, WA. along with a small photo dump.

For my son and I, this was the first 'Lock & Load' we attended. We attended the LVO back in February and previously living in the Chicago area attended AdeptiCon multiple times, but this is a first event for us in the Pacific Northwest.

When it comes to traveling, I am not a fan of flying unless I have too (not that I am of afraid to fly, it is just that I would rather drive and bring the whole 'kitchen sink' with us than forgetting to pack something for a flight). So with that in mind, my son and I took a road trip to 'Lock & Load'.

We ended up leaving Phoenix really early Wednesday morning and the plan was to drive the direct route through Nevada and straight through (with a few rest/sleep stops) and arrive in Bellevue sometime early Thursday afternoon. Well the trip was smooth sailing and we arrived right on schedule (around lunch time on Thursday). We got a quick bite to eat for lunch and then headed to the convention center to meet our friend Adam with Broken Egg Games to drop off the 50 tournament trays we were carrying for him. After we dropped the trays off we perused the hall a little bit while Privateer Press was still getting a few last minute things wrapped up.

It was then time to check in to our hotel (Hilton...about a mile away) and make some plans for dinner and prepare for Fridays events. Having a car was really nice and we were able to drive out to a Buffalo Wild Wings, along with catching a showing of the new 'Warcraft' movie.

Friday June 10th

The original plan was for my son and I to both play in the 2nd Heat of the Masters Tournament. Well since I did not get much playing time in before the event (and I was really rusty on the rules) I decided to back out and peruse the venue and watch my son play in the Masters. With a late start to the 2nd Heat (around 3:00 PM) after the second game of my son's loss he decided to drop out and we would go and get some dinner. I ended up finding a gaming store not far away that also had a restaurant and bar, what a great concept. So we headed out to MOX Boarding House for some dinner and a beer.

Saturday June 11th

With the realease of MKIII at 'Lock & Load', Saturday morning was used to wait in the store line and do a pre-order of our items. Privateer had it setup that you pre-order your items during the day, then after the keynote at 9:00 PM they had all your items already packaged for you to be picked up and the lines were broken down into groups of 50 order numbers. It was a great idea.

My son and I ended up playing a few last games of MKII in the Iron Arena (to collect some points for prizes). After dinner we headed back to convention center for the keynote and our MKIII goodies.

I ended up getting a Khador and Trollbloods Battlegroup Box (so I can have a mini rulebook of each). I did not elect to get the cards since we were going to use the Warroom app and I also did not get the full size rulebook. The new rulebook is huge and I was not going to be carrying that to the stores to go out and play. 2 mini rulebooks will be fine for me.

Sunday June 12th

The original plan for today was to play in the Speedmachine Event, but with the release of MKIII, my son and I decided just to play in Iron Arena and learning the new MKIII rules. After a game or two of just using the Warroom app, I headed back upstairs to store and came down with 6 packs of Faction Cards (Khador/Trollbloods/Minions/Mercenaries/Cygnar/Circle). While learning what the new cards can do, it was easier to physically have the cards in front of me and to be able to flip through them.

When the gaming was over for us I finished the weekend playing 7 games and going 4-3. I could have squeezed in more games on Friday, but with the release of MKIII late Saturday night I did not want to get too comfortable with MKII since I will be learning MKIII. But I am alright with that. I love attending these events for the social aspects.

We wrapped up Sunday night by walking through downtown Bellevue and getting some dinner at one of my sons favorite places, The Cheesecake Factory.

That ended the 'Lock & Load' portion of the trip for us. The plan for going back home was to go through San Francisco and see the sights for a day and half. So we arrived back home in Phoenix late Wednesday night.

So the question is.....will we be attending 'Lock & Load 2017'.....the drive is really really long.....I am going to say that at this moment there is a 50/50 chance we will go back next year.....but without the stop at San Francisco.....too much extra dollars. I will probably make a decision after 'LVO 2017'.

Onto a few photos.......