Statement Regarding the Midwest Conquest 2021
Dear Midwest Conquest Attendees and Fans,
Back in March, when we cancelled the 2020 Midwest Conquest, we were hopeful that this would be a one-year bump in the road, and that we would be back in May 2021.
Unfortunately, that will not be the case. We are officially cancelling the 2021 Midwest Conquest. This will likely be the end of the Midwest Conquest as it was… but hopefully not the end of the event itself. There are a number of reasons that we came to this decision.
The first, obviously, is the ongoing COVID pandemic. While the initial vaccines are now approved and are starting to enter distribution, it’s unlikely that enough of the population will be vaccinated by late spring 2021 to ensure that we can run a safe event. The space where we’ve held the event for the past few years is effectively a sealed box without the best airflow, which is less ideal than some of the other locations where events have been held over the past few months.
The second reason is that we have partnered in the past with a local science fiction convention, and they are making their own determinations on how they want to proceed in 2021. With the general uncertainty of holding events right now, we do not want to promise to hold an event when the possibility exists that we would have to change or cancel it at the last minute due to decisions made by the other convention. We feel it would be irresponsible to promise something that we might not deliver.
The third reason, and the one that has the biggest long-term impact, is that our staff is no longer at critical mass to organize and run a set of wargaming events. This isn’t because anyone has left the team, but rather that our team is now split up over three separate states. We are no longer capable of running an event of this scale without greatly overextending our local resources.
However, we do want to give hope for future Midwest Conquest events. We are currently in discussion with a local gaming store, and by extension the 40K club that calls that store home, to take over the Midwest Conquest mantle. Early talks look promising, and more concrete decisions will likely be made after the holiday season. We would love to see the Midwest Conquest return to the Kansas City area by 2022, or possibly even by the fall of 2021 if at all possible. As soon as we have more to announce, we will let you all know.
Finally, if you are one of the people who rolled their 2020 registration into a 2021 ticket, we will be contacting you to set up a refund of your ticket. Please feel free to contact us so we can process your refund as soon as possible.
Thank you for making the last four years of the Midwest Conquest wonderful. We hope to see you all at the gaming tables again soon.