Posts Tagged ‘Keith Rocco’

I am not a “wargamer,” so the Historicon event on 8-11 July, 2010, at King of Prussia, PA, was totally new to me, and I had no idea what to expect. I was surprised, pleased, amazed, and pretty much blown away. Apparently there are three of these wargaming events each year on the east coast: One I’m not quite sure about I believe called “Cold Wars” in the April timeframe, Historicon in July, and an event called Fall-In, October 29-31, 2010. The major focus of these events is on wargaming various military battles in history on large tables.

The dedicated participants use small figures of various sizes to depict companies of troops, regimental units, or even armies – depending on the battle. Very detailed and elaborate sets are constructed on which to fight – from Medieval castles, to Viking raids on villages, to desert warfare, and, yes, even the skies over Britain for the battle thereof – using model aircraft, flying and fighting at different altitudes no less. This is an over simplification, but combat movements, engagements, confrontations, and the like, are decided by a roll of the dice. These folks really take their work seriously, and one movement or confrontation might take an hour or more to accomplish while they move the various pieces measured distances around the table.

Wargaming Hall

Historicon this year was located at the Valley Forge Convention Center, and it needed the space. They filled two major hotels, and rooms were scarce throughout the entire area. There were three primary features to the event. The foremost was the wargaming activities not only in a huge room full of tables, but in smaller rooms, passageways, and even various hotel rooms. The second feature was an enormous vendor area, sectioned off, which included sellers of everything one might need to wargame from miniature soldiers, to tanks, to planes, to set construction materials, to military history books, and on and on. To my delight, this area hosted such fine historical military artists as Keith Rocco, and Peter Culos, as well as sculptors like Terry Jones. The third activity at Historicon was the “War College.” This was an on-going series of talks by military historians throughout each day of the event and into the evenings.

Notice the detail in this Viking ship

Actor and military consultant for the film and TV industry, Captain Dale Dye, USMC (Ret), was Guest of Honor speaker. The quest speakers included such notables as Rene´Chartrand, former Chief Curator, Parks Canada; Colonel David Glantz, renowned expert on combat studies; and Angus Konstam, former Senior Curator of Weapons, Royal Armouries, London. There were numerous other speakers – including your humble servant. I was asked to give a presentation on the Battle of Balaklava in the Crimean War. When I did so, I discovered, again to my delight, that the folks who enjoy wargaming are not only gaming enthusiasts, but extremely precise and accomplished historians in their particular historical period of interest. My audience asked some excellent questions, and their interest was intense.

All in all, Historicon was a first-rate experience, and I look forward to attending next year. The theme for next year is the American Civil War, and I have been asked to give possibly two talks. One on the impact of the Crimean War on the American Civil War, and the other on Lincoln’s personal security, comparing it to personal security provided modern leaders.

I should also mention that I’ll be busy at the wargaming event in October (Fall-In at Lancaster, PA). The theme there this year is the US Marine Corps, celebrating its 235th Birthday. The US Marine Corps Historical Company will be setting up a massive display to illustrate the theme with uniforms, equipment and weaponry from the Revolutionary Marines to the Marines fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq today. In addition, GySgt Tom Williams, Director, USMCHC, and I will present talks on the Marines at Harpers Ferry and the Marines at First Bull Run.

The Theme for this year's Historicon was 17th Century Warfare

Battle of Isandlwana - January 1879

Keith Rocco - Historical Artist and good friend.

Typical photo shoot set up in confined area

I spent much of today getting my camera equipment ready for a photo shoot coming up soon for a good friend, Keith Rocco, a fine historical artist.  This means making certain cameras are clean, loaded, and with charged batteries.  It also involves cleaning and checking out lenses, exposure meters, lights, backdrop stands, and various other photographic paraphernalia.

This may sound strange, but doing so invariably reminds me of the cleaning and checking out process with weapons and the equipment needed for a military operation or a law enforcement raid of some kind.  In my past I’ve done both.

I find guns and cameras a captivating contrast, with interesting similarities.  When I was in the military, and later in law enforcement, checking your weapons and equipment was essential to survival. They had to be checked and checked again to be certain, if needed, they would be available and properly functioning.  If you had to use a gun, however, the outcome was hardly creative.  The results were more distructive.

In photography, your equipment still has to be available and functioning, but the end result is quite different.  Rather than possibly destroying something or hurting someone, you are creating images people might enjoy or use productively.

It is the professional tasks of cleaning and functionally checking the tools of your trade where I find interesting contrasts and similitudes.  In the long run, I find what I am doing now in photography a more personally satisfying end result – - – but, then, in the past, I wouldn’t have wanted to run into a bad guy in a dark alley when all I had was a camera

I still can’t get over the book launch for my new release. It was more than fun. Folks came expecting merely to see me signing books, but we gave them an entertaining time as well. The food was delicious, our ‘marketeers’ –  the great people from 3rd Idea here in Gettysburg –  organized it and their own Mak McKeehan acted as MC. My lovely wife, Rosemary, introduced the festivities.

There was a “Conspiracy Cocktail” for one and all present, which was received with gusto…and no, I can’t divulge the recipe – not yet. Keith Rocco, the acclaimed historical artist, was also there as my special guest. I’ve known Keith for many years, and he was kind enough to allow me to use his painting, The Last Stand, for my cover art. Bob O’Connor, a fellow Infinity Publishing author also joined us.

Decked out in my family’s plaid (the MacDonald Clan) to honor my main character, Ian Carlyle, a Scotsman of course, I read my novel’s first chapter. After all, they say if the first chapter doesn’t grab you, the rest of the book is likely to put you to sleep.

Ach, but my reading wasn’t the hit of the evening by far. Jim Getty has been portraying Abraham Lincoln in Gettysburg for more than thirty years, and for many, me included, he is Lincoln in voice, dress, and demeanor. He was kind enough to read a very poignant portion of my book in which Lincoln speaks with great compassion to a severely wounded soldier. He read it as Lincoln, in first person. Where it would read Lincoln said, _____ – he would say “I said.” The audience was in stunned silent, listening to his every word, taking themselves back in time. For me to hear my words read like that was electrifying.