This article was in my head about a week ago, however November has been such a crazy month that it’s take until now to get it down in print.
SCGCon is sort of PunchedCon’s little brother. Second Chance Games (SCG) are co-organisers of latter, and last year they ran the first SCGCon in Liverpool. I’d heard good reports, so I crossed the Pennines for this year’s iteration.
The event took place from 14-16 November 2025 in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Speke, near to John Lennon Liverpool Airport. Well, actually, the hotel used to be the airport terminal back in the day when this was Speke airport. It’s a fine building in the Art Deco style that’s been tasteful updated.
The main gaming room is spacious and has good lighting. There were ample tables of varying sizes for all sorts of games. There were about 70-80 people in the room at the busiest times. We snaffled a big round table on Saturday for all the paraphernalia that goes with Virgin Queen. I also saw Inflection Point and Battle for Normandy that took up several tables each. And, a small scenario of Red Strike hogged a couple of tables. I think the table legs were groaning under the weight of the counters.
In addition to the gaming room, there was a bar area next to it. I think the bar was open in the evenings but as I wasn’t drinking I’m not sure. Anyway, the main attraction in this bar area was a display of minis from the Liverpool Wargaming Association. Some of their members were also playing board games during the con.
My train delivered me to Liverpool Lime Street, which in retrospect was the wrong place to go. I should have got a train to the parkway station nearer the hotel but, as I’ve never been to Liverpool before, I thought I ought at least have a quick look around. Er, it was unnecessary and it meant I had a very long bus journey through some gritty inner-suburbs. I decided not to take the detour to the William Huskisson – he of Congress of Vienna and train accidents – memorial.
So, I pitched up in the main bar on Thursday and managed to hook up with a few friends for a Dune game. I think it was Dune: A Game of Conquest and Diplomacy. Anyway, I’m not usually one for IP tie-ins but this was a nice tense time filler with area influence and card play. More conquest; less diplomacy. Good start.
Friday, we convened for a bash at Successors. This was my third time playing this game revolving around the wars following the death of Alexander the Great. It’s a classic card driven game with point-to-point movement, some gnarly minis (painted by Dave) and elephants! What’s not to like. You need a simple and sound strategy, a steady nerve to choose the right moment to go to battle, or, like me, you can sit back and let the funeral cart come to you. My opponents seemed keen on knocking spots off each other while I held on to the key area of Makedonia. Mike made a beeline to bury Alexander in Pella, right in my backyard. We had a winner-take-all battle, and I filched the funeral cart and won to take a rare legitimacy victory. Sheer fluke but beautiful chaos.
With time to spare in the evening, Mike threw B’Twixt, a Game of Thrones card game, on the table. I’ve played this once before at Mike’s house and enjoyed it immensely. It’s got a higher-lower scoring system which means you’re always trying to balance ally cards you’ve won between your two neighbours. It’s sort of like a trick taking/bidding game though you have to manage your hand carefully so sometimes you just opt out of the bid process. Another perfect time filler.
As per PunchedCon, SCG ran a raffle and there was a (smaller) bring and buy table. I had to resist an unpunched copy of The US Civil War. And, of course, there was the SCG shop which seemed to be doing good business.
Thankfully, I didn’t win anything in the raffle as I was short of space. But I did pick up Grand Havoc from the Blind Swords series. I’ve been reluctant to play US Civil War games until now but I’ve not got two in the Blind Swords series, plus online access to Rebel Fury.
On to Saturday for the big Virgin Queen game. There was plenty of Here I Stand experience around the table but not much of VQ. It was suggested that we try the tournament scenario in order to finish within 12 hours, or just finish. In the end, we played the full game. Three hours later, we finished turn one. In the end, we called it after four turns and twelve hours. I spent most of the game not fully understanding the rules applicable to my faction, the Protestants. If I had, I think I could have threatened a win.
I can’t add much of a review of the hotel, other than the public spaces, as I stayed elsewhere to save a few pennies. Next year, though, I do intend to stay on site. The main bar was nice and you could order food there. I didn’t sample the main restaurant as I’d bought stuff from the M&S Food across the road, part of the large retail park with a couple of chain restaurants.
On Sunday, I finally got to play a face-to-face Stamford Bridge game, as Daniel joined me in Norman Conquests: Men of Iron Volume V. The Norwegians took one hell of a beating as my lines disintegrated. But, I did fight back and inflicted some heavy blows on the Saxons. It’s jolly good fun, even if the archers are ridiculously overpowered.
Finally, the remnants of the convention gathered for a truncated game of Ponzi Scheme, thanks to Dangerous Dave. Although I thought it had the feel of an 18xx game, it was a straight up bidding and trading game. I’m rubbish at these kind of games as I always want to hoard cash to stave of a rainy day. Anyway, Dave had to rush to catch a train before we could finish.
I’d had a few reservations about going to Liverpool but I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend, despite terrible weather and the schlep across the Pennines. As with other events, I got to meet new people and potential opponents. I played some great games and won Successors. Result!
Thanks to Second Change Games and all my opponents for a fun weekend.
Next year, I will try to give Wm Huskisson Esq a visit.
