Historicon is the largest gaming convention in North America devoted to historical miniature wargaming. It is sponsored by the Historical Miniatures Gaming Society, a nonprofit guiding organization. The New York Times has described Historicon as the "mother of all wargaming conventions."
Typically, Historicon is a four-day convention held in late July each year in historic Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Thousands of miniature gamers and military history enthusiasts gather to play in hundreds of tabletop games, tournaments, and demonstrations. The convention is accompanied by a large flea market of used gaming items and accessories, a large dealer hall offering new merchandise, a series of seminars and training sessions, painting competitions, and similar events. Over 90% of the gaming events are history-related, with the remainder being sports games and fantasy or science fiction miniature games.
Each year, Historicon has a different theme and focal point (such as the American Civil War or World War II), and many games and supporting events are geared around the theme. In 2006, the theme is "Africa's Independence – The Wars of Africa," 1905–2006. Awards are presented to the Best Theme Event, as well as best games in specific time slots and other honors for particularly popular or impressive games.
Historicon is normally held in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, at the Lancaster Host Resort, a hotel located on U.S. Route 30 in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch and Amish country.
July 20–23, 2006 — "Africa's Independence – The Wars of Africa," 1905–2006.
July 26–29, 2007 — "The Wars of South Asia: Afghanistan, Burma, India and Pakistan, 1800–2007"
July 24–27, 2008 — "The World on Fire – The first world war: The Seven Years and French & Indian Wars, 1754–63"
July 16–19, 2009 — “Ride to the Sound of the Guns… -Napoleon’s 1809 Campaign and the Spanish Ulcer ”
July 8–11, 2010 — "Pike and Shotte: Seventeenth Century Warfare," 1600–1699
July 8–10 2011 — "Brother Against Brother: The American Civil War," 1861–1865