A visit to … X-Comics Trier
During our family holiday to Trier I visited a local gaming store in the inner city. It is a branch of the X-Comics stores, the former SpielBar.
As a local gaming store, it covers merch, comics, trading cards, board games and quite a few tabletop products, as you could see behind the second counter.
Adeptus Titanicus – Battle for Uulda IV – Part 2
I gave you a brief overview on the first evening of the Battle for Uulda Part IV campaign weekend, so let us continue to the "main event" - the gaming on day two.
This year we put a bit more effort into the narrative, adding fan fiction to the conflict. We added the Uulda subsector in the Segmentum Pacificus, and Patrick / AuxiliaryMirelurk prepared an introduction on the lore as well.
Prelude to Crisis 2024
While I already covered the visit to the actual show of Crisis 2024 in Antwerp, I'd like to give an additional insight on a few bits around it, just like I did in the past. And pardon the delay, the trip to Berlin and preparing for the Battle for Uulda postponed the release of this article.
As usual I travel to Antwerp by car, but as I drive an EV now it requires a bit more planning. But Belgium has a proper grid of ev charger stations, so that was not an issue. Others, especially the British got there by train or plane, as you can get to Brussels quite easily and then grab a connection train from there to Antwerp (and arrive at a very impressive central station).
Adeptus Titanicus – Battle for Uulda IV – Part 1
After last years gaming weekend, and my first time playing Adeptus Titanicus, the Battle for Uulda continued.For this we met pretty central in Germany and travelled from the North, the South and the West to get together to roll some dice and decide the fate of the Uulda subsector. Initially we were 8 players in total, with not only the stress of finishing the miniatures in time but as most of us are wargaming daddies, stay healthy long / get well soon enough for the weekend, with Hauke unfortunately having to cancel last minute and me held together by some meds.We had three different tables available, Uulda Prime, Uulda Minoris and the ash desert of the orbital moon, all equipped with fitting terrain.
While the others bridged the time until everybody was there with Heroquest, quickly after I arrived on Friday late afternoon we picked up Titanicus, to refresh our knowledge of the rules (as for some of us, the last Battle for Uulda was the last time, we actually played Adeptus Titanicus). In case you want to freshen or get completely into the game, these videos by Tabletop Standard are very helpful.
A visit to … Battlefield Berlin
During my visit to the German capital I managed to cross something off my long-time wishlist, paying a visit to Battlefield Berlin. In march, when I was in Berlin as well, I just couldn't fit in the detour, but this time I had a bit of time on my hands and was just one district over, so I grabbed the public transport and went to Kreuzberg.
I think I am customer at Battlefield since the mid 2000s, and there are a few things that make them stand-out from other stores. The major aspect certainly is the width of the ranges. You can order items from them, that you would otherwise had to import from the states or might just get your hands on at trade shows. And they didn't do that for two or three ranges, but really a lot of them, so they are pretty much a one-stop-shop, where you get almost everything beyond the big brands. Oh, and they actually have a lot of those items on stock, and don't just forward your order / organise group buys.
Beyond that, there might be of course bigger stores (in terms of shop space), but this is a pure miniature wargaming store, with a few board games, but not the "usual" fantasy store that has trading cards, comics and maybe a bit of wargaming. But let me show you the pictures.
Crisis 2024 – Part 1
It is finaly back - Crisis could again hosted in 2024, after the last instalment in 2019.
The break had multiple reasons, and after the forced break due to Covid, the aftermaths of Brexit made organizing an event quite difficult, especially as one of the unique aspects of Crisis was the large amount of british manufacturers and traders at the show. In 2022 and 2023 there was a smaller convention at the club rooms of the Tinsoldiers, with support of the Lardies, creating LARDwerp, which we visited as well back in 2022. And due to scheduling conflicts with the new venue, it had to be moved from the first weekend in November towards September.
What is new about Crisis? First of all, it is not just the Tinsoldiers of Antwerp hosting the show, but they joined forced with the HQ Gaming Club and used the 't Bau-huis in Sint Niklaas as the new venue. While it might (currently?) not be the at Waagnatie in Antwerp anymore, the new venue is a proper alternative for the restart. About 15 minutes outside of Antwerp, you can easily get there by train from the Central Station (with the IC-line you can drive every half an hour, and it's about 7 EURs for a weekend ticket), as the venue is just 500m from the local train station. For those of you arriving by car, there are is a parking lot and even some charging stations for BEVs.
The tickets were 12 EURs (dropped to 10 EUR, due to some last minute cancellations of vendors) and visitors under the age of 14 had free entry. Due to keeping the risk and costs as low as possible for the restart, there wasn't a show miniature this year, but that might be for the reason as well, as the show didn't have a topic this year, unlike it did in the past. So we might see that return in the future.
Crisis 2024 – Part 2
Now that we have finished the traders in part 1 of our CRISIS 2024 coverage, let us move on towards the clubs and gaming systems.
A very special guest at the show was Tuomas Pirinen with Trench Crusade. I follow this system for a while now, as they have a very active facebook group, with various conversions and I was excited to see the miniatures at show.
The setup was a bit spontaneous, as Tuomas had little time to prepare much more, as he basically finished his regular work day as Game Designer for Sony Playstation and directly jumped into a plane towards Belgium, grabbing just the few items that fit into the luggage.
A visit to…Games `n Dice Düsseldorf e.V.
Last June, I had the pleasure of being a guest at the Games 'n Dice hobby club. This name will not be entirely unfamiliar to some, as the podcast of the same name was created directly by the club members, Gregor and Benni to be precise, with whom I recorded a system introduction to Mortal Gods. Beside that, Dennis visited the club back in 2019 for the Historical Demo Day and covered the visit on here as well.
This was also the reason for an invitation to the clubs Open Sunday in Düsseldorf to play a demo game there too.
Games'n Dice e.V. was originally formed in 2010 from the community of Warmachine and Flames of War players. Of course, the focus was not limited to these two games, but at the time they formed those were the core systems. The basic idea behind founding a club was to have a fixed structure and a legally secure roof for events. The Drachental store has always been the home of Games 'n Dice. In addition to the Open Sunday, which only takes place every other weekend, there is also a hobby meeting every Wednesday evening.
The great strength of Games'n Dice is its great variety and openness to different systems. Club President Benjamin (not our Podcast Benni) answers the question "What do you play?" with "What don't we play?". Even though attention is often paid to current trends, there are also many players who turn to the "classics" from time to time and start a Necromunda campaign or like to meet up for a game of Infinity or FoW V3.
The Drachental store offers some very spacious premises for tabletop and board game enthusiasts. I really liked the store section, as you quickly get the feeling of a general store - you'll find the usual products from major manufacturers, but also some exotic items that aren't in the mainstream spotlight. The selection of board games is also wide enough to offer something for those who are not interested in tabletop games.
FeenCon 2024
Last weekend Dino and I went to the FeenCon, a convention hosted in Bonn, which went through a couple of changes over the last few years - one of them moving from the old location of Bonn Bad Godesberg towards Bonn Beuel, from the town hall to the comprehensive school.
And across the venue, the tabletop area was the smaller gymnasium, with the trade stands and board games and pen & paper in the other areas.
The tabletop area was hosted by three clubs, Bedburger Tabletop Freunde, Privateer Poza Boyz and the Tabletop Community Bonn. You might know the Bedburger Tabletop Freunde from our visit to their club house.
The other side of the Con
The Chaosbunker had a historic moment at CONflict Rheinland, where Dennis and I each gave demo games for the first time. In my case, it was the historical game Mortal Gods.
My first event on the other side of the demo table was a good experience. I think that has to do with the fact that I went into the demo day with a good concept and I want to share it. This article is therefore very text-heavy - you've been warned.
What should be shown?
Before I even actively made the first preparations for the demo, I had a few basic thoughts about the game itself. Every game has a few characteristics that will distinguish it from others and that should be reflected in a qualitative way. I came up with the following points:
- Historical setting, Greece
- Simple mechanics, yet strategic
- Easily accessible and available
Setting
It was clear to me that I had to show a credible historical context in the demo. Mortal Gods is set in the Peloponnesian War, which I solved by painting the armies differently. One side represented the city-state of Thebes (allied with Sparta), the other Plataiai (allied with Athens). This served history well enough.
In general, you can paint ancient Greeks however you like, because there was no uniform back then. In the spirit of the demo, however, I gave both armies a uniform main color.
Like us on Facebook
Follow me on Instagram
Categories
- events (185)
- fantasy (493)
- General (154)
- historical (583)
- Little Big Adventures (4)
- offtopic (5)
- reviews (442)
- science fiction (543)
- showroom (93)
- work-in-progress (364)
