What's AdeptiCon? It's wargames meets art and it's coming to Schaumburg

Some could say that this week's AdeptiCon miniature wargames convention in Schaumburg lacks diversity just because 90 percent of the players are men. But that's not quite right.

“I would say it's 90-plus percent male,” quips Greg Sparks, 42, a spokesman for AdeptiCon, who quickly notes that the expected crowd of 4,000 will come from across the globe and bring with them multifarious interests, including strategy, fantasy, history, storylines, hobby crafts and even fine art.

“One of the cool things about AdeptiCon is that it represents the whole spectrum of the gamers,” Sparks says of the gathering that includes more than 450 tournaments and events and 80 exhibitors. “I grew up with 'Dungeons & Dragons,' but this is different.”

For instance, Sparks is still buzzing about Kirill Kanaev, a sculptor and painter from Balashikha, Russia, who spent three years sculpting and painting a “Crimson Fists 1st Company Captain” figurine from a Warhammer 40K game that won Kanaev the $10,000 Crystal Brush award at AdeptiCon 2015. In addition to that art competition, 256 players will be trying to come up with the best strategy to a miniature wargames tourney, while others might come in costume and bring handcrafted figurines to play in another tournament that features 132 teams and 528 players. And the entire convention floor is free for people who just want to gawk at the displays or watch the games.

“There are people who put a lot of effort into it,” says Richard Kurtin, manager of the Games Plus store in Mount Prospect. The store opened in 1982, when Kurtin was an 18-year-old part-time employee and games such as “Dungeons & Dragons” and “Risk” dominated the market.

Games Plus, which will have a booth at AdeptiCon, boasts shelf after shelf of new and old board games and tabletop games, as well as tens of thousands of miniature battleships, X-wing fighters, World War II riflemen, tanks, zombies, swords, dragons, giants, trolls, reapers, mercenaries, storm troopers, landscapes and characters both familiar, such as Darth Vader, and esoteric, such as Waiqar the Undying. Games Plus will unveil the new Star Wars Legion miniature game ($89.95 for the core set with plenty of accessories available) at the convention.

“A lot of people will play it because it is Star Wars,” says Kurtin.

Others seek more obscure games.

“Some of it is the aspect of creating your army and making it look nice,” Kurtin says, noting people can buy pieces of the game and give them custom paint jobs.

The classic world domination board game of “Risk” featured a map, plastic tokens to represent armies and five dice to determine the action. In modern miniature wargames, polyhedral dice and elaborate stories might dictate the moves, and “you are using a ruler to determine how far something moves” in some games, Kurtin says. “The complexity of the rules vary wildly.”

While first-person-shooter wargames designed for game systems or computers feature stunning graphics and real-time results, there is something special about playing a miniature war game with pieces you crafted on an actual table sitting across from another human.

“It's a social interaction. The face-to-face interaction is part of it,” Kurtin says.

A player can buy five 1/285-scale tanks for $10, or buy one larger-scale tank for $40, depending on how he likes to watch the game unfold.

“You can be sitting up on the hilltop and seeing the whole mess, or be in among it,” Kurtin says.

There are seemingly thousands of options as every year brings new figures and new games.

“We started out with about 88 attendees and now we're closing in on 4,000,” says Matthias Weeks, one of the co-founders of the first AdeptiCon in 1982. “It's just four days of like-minded people getting together and having a great time.”

Miniature wargames attract big crowd

What: AdeptiCon, a miniature wargames convention

When: Exhibit Hall open from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. today through Saturday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday

Where: Schaumburg Convention Center, 1551 N. Thoreau Drive, Schaumburg

Cost: Free entry for adults and kids. Fees for some games

For info: Visit adepticon.org