Lock & Load GameFest 2018 is fast approaching, and as is typical during the pre-Christmas-esque-type rush leading into one of the biggest events of the year for us, I find myself in rare moments of calm reflecting on the last seven years of Lock & Loads past.

It’s been one of the biggest joys of my ten years at Privateer to have worked on Lock & Load since the very beginning. It’s been an incredible journey watching the show grow from humble origins to the multifaceted, three-day extravaganza it is today. There’s truly no other event quite like it.

While Lock & Load is the cornerstone event for all-things Privateer Press, however, it wasn’t the first event Privateer hosted that brought players and staff together to celebrate the games we all love. Before Lock & Load, Privateer used to host the Privateer Press Invitational. It was a small affair held every year within the very halls of Privateer and brought together our closest friends and family for a day of Lock & Load-style gaming and camaraderie.

Just like Lock & Load, the people participating ultimately made the Invitational great, but it was always our goal to make sure each Invitational offered an experience you could find nowhere else. Which brings me to the point of this Insider.

For the 2010 Invitational, we did something that, at the time, we thought would be a fun and unexpected surprise for the attendees and their games. While brainstorming, we hit upon the idea to do a set of alternate-reality warcasters and warlocks. To ask and answer the question “What if…?” with some of our most iconic characters. What if Leto’s Lion Coup had failed and Vinter remained on the throne? What if the Old Witch had thrown her lot in with the blackclads of the Circle Orboros instead of Khador? What if Eyriss had been corrupted by Everblight and become one of his twisted warlocks?

We hoped the people who attended the Invitational would have as much fun exploring this strange alternate world as we had had coming up with it. What we didn’t expect was how those simple, off-the-wall alternate-universe characters would become, given their extreme rareness, one of the biggest legends in Privateer history.

Many times in the eight years since, I’ve been asked about those mythical alternate-reality warcasters and warlocks and if their rules would ever be released to the community at large. It seemed like the chance to explore the question of “what could have been” sparked the imagination of anyone who’d ever played in the world of the Iron Kingdoms. Each time I would have to disappoint someone with an answer of no.

Until today.

With WARMACHINE celebrating its 15-year anniversary, it seems like the perfect opportunity to use these characters to help celebrate the amazing history of the game. As part of the group who originally worked on them eight years ago, I could not be more excited to finally see them step from the shadows and onto tabletops everywhere.

While these alternate models are not tournament legal and are intended only for casual games, we still want to give them a bright spotlight after all these years. So, I’m happy to announce that these alternate characters will be taking center stage in this year’s Summer Rampage event. And because of that, we are going to be going back and creating alternate-reality warcasters and warlocks for the Factions that didn’t have one at the time. So, Convergence of Cyriss, Grymkin, and Minions can also join in on the fun of the world that could have been. These three new alternate warcaster and warlocks will have rules released this June alongside Summer Rampage 2018.

For now, you can view the original cast of alternate-reality warcasters and warlocks RIGHT NOW in War Room. So, pop out your smart devices, get into War Room, and show us your alternate reality lists on Facebook and Twitter using the #IKalthistory.

Step 1.) Build an army

Step 2.) Click on the filter button

Step 3.) Choose "Alternate History Caster" and hit apply

The casters will now appear in your caster tab!