Spiel 2015 Preview

On thursday, october 8th, the Internationale Spieltage or short Spiel in Essen start again. The largest show for boardgames goes on for 4 days and there is going to be a lot to see.

As a wargamer, in the past the interesting products had been cramped in hall 6 with all the other "odd" stuff, not sorted, just thrown in there, mixed up and some of it tricky to find. The new layout of the fair, the larger hall 2, with broader passages, makes the whole experience much more pleasant. What am i excited about and really looking forward to?

Warlord Games will be there, Hall 2 E114, and will bring new stuff for all of their main ranges. I am especially looking forward to the new plastic Fallschirmjäger, the Empire in Flames Expansion for Bolt Action and to see a glimpse of the upcoming Gates of Antares starter set.

Fantasy Warehouse / Warehouse Games from Iserlohn, Hall 2 C118, will be there as well. Carsten grew from a ambitious trader to a distributor and publisher in the last years. He invited Rubicon Models, who will have their latest plastic kits (i dig that Opel Blitz!) and even some previews on Q4 releases. Gripping Beast will be covered as well, so get ready for some Saga coverage and novelties. And as a publisher, they are going to announce some german translations.

Asmodee is going big this year, they invested a lot into the (german) market and the growth shows. Among their broad range of board games, there a few miniature based games, like Blood Rage. It is a kickstarter, so i have a bit of mixed feelings about it, but the gorgeous artwork by Adrian Smith makes this game so interesting, i will take a closer look. Similiar, the Conan Boardgame, is another Adrian Smith project, that is supported by Asmodee and will receive my attention.

Asmodee hat dieses Jahr richtig aufgefahren, und einiges in den deutschen Markt investiert und dieses Wachstum zeigt sich. Unter den vielen Brettspielen, finden sich auch ein paar Miniaturenspiele, so wie Blood Rage. Es ist ein Kickstarter, daher habe ich ein wenig gemischte Gefühle, aber das großartiger Artwork von Adrian Smith macht das Spiel sehr interessant, und ich werde es mir näher anschauen. Ähnlich sieht es mit dem Conan Boardgame aus, ebenfalls ein Adrian Smith Projekt, das von Asmodee unterstützt wird und das wird auch meine Aufmerksamkeit erhalten.

Another manufacturer, Freebooter Miniatures is a regular at the show, in Hall 2 D152. I am really excited about the lovely pirate themed booth. Werner and his crew, will show a new limited miniature, actually it is more of a diorama. And of course, expect the new expansion for Freebooters Fate, Tales of Longfall #2 - Corporate Piracy.

Prodos Games will be there, in Hall 2 E175. I like the Warzone reboot, but there has been a lot of controversity in the last months. Problems with the kickstarter delivery, missing parts and repacks.

The Heidelberger Spieleverlag has a lot of novelties, heavy on the board game side, but with the Star Wars Movies upcoming, i am sure to see a lot of nice things for X-Wing, Armada and other branded games. Rumours are, there are going to be some delicious mega deals. But it's rumours from my knowledge 😉

If you're looking for Frostgave, take a look at Osprey Games' booth in Hall 7 J111. Not only are they going to have the rules for the North Star cooperation project, but will have some of their latest releases, like Secret Santa and the King is dead.

And a couple of newcomers, but i want to make up my mind of those companies, before i say something, so stay tuned and wait for my coverage.