Crisis 2017 – Part I

Saturday morning, short of 10 a.m., once again we are in front of the halls of the Waagnatie Expo. Decorated with the eight large banners, that can be seen from afar. It is time for Crisis 2017.

Right before the doors opened, the Cosplayers were getting in role. You had the Space Marines and Imperial Guardsmen, and this huge custome of a troll. Just look at the sheer size of that suit. We just missed the moment, when they helped the poor fellow into the custome. Chapeau to you sir, that is one sweaty job.

And we're good to go, The doors opened and the people got their tickets and goody bags. There was a small booth to the right, right in front of the large catering area, that offered TSA merch and the additional set of miniatures to the event exclusive. The tickets were 12 EUR at the door and the upgrade, available in limited numbers, was another 10 EUR. I'll cover the goodie bag etc. in my separate Crisis haul article.

The first gaming table direct in front of the entrance, were the Wargaming Monkeys with Warhammer Miniatures using the Hail Caesar rules to promote a charity to fight child cancer. You could participate in a raffle to win a voucher and you could buy the units and terrain from the table after the show. The earnings are donated towards the charity. Great action, guys! The club also hosts their own show, so coming up, MonkeyCon on June 16th 2018 in Winksele (near Leuven, east of Brussels).

Warlord Games was just back from Spiel last week and brought their broad range to the show and even some novelties. Some may already have seen the magnificently detailled Pz. 38t, but the farm animals in hard plastic is something new. I had the chance to take a look into the new Road to Berlin book, oh boy, it is a bulky thing with lots of pages.

South London Warlords, proud hosts of Salute, hosted a game of Jerusalem (with the Swords & Spear rules by Polkovnik Productions) and some Dr. Who / Daleks scenario.

Dave Thomas, carrying Perry Miniatures blisters and such on shows, was one of my stops to pick up my pre-order. So among my haul is now the new AEC Dorchester for my Afrikakorps.

Warfare Miniatures / League of Augsburg with a scenario from the Great Northern War. I really like the central piece, looks very versatile, could see this in Bolt Action as well. In the background you can see Warbases, one of the few booth with a very good exchange rate on GBP.

Of course, Karl from Crooked Dice was at Crisis as well. Showing off their new modular demo setup for 7TV along with the Dicestarter Pre-Order for the 7TV boxed game set. If you missed it, your chance here to still join in.

Carsten, the Tighthead Prop sitting inbetween Heer46 and Freebooter Miniatures, and doing some work on Rubicon Models plastic kits. Heer46 brought along their newest PAKs and Freebooter introduced the novelties from last weeks Spiel, covering IronBall.

And a random assortment of booths and gaming tables. In hall 2, near the bring & buy, that thankfully had broader passages between the line of tables, was an assortment of several demo tables.

Blood & Plunder of Firelock Games was presented by the Leceister Phat Cats. The spanish colonial style buildings caught my eye, unfortunately we (the hosts and I) weren't sure, who produced them.

Rob seems to be involved in everything. He was at Crisis with Hysterical Games presenting Panzerfäuste (a world war high fantasy setting) and their upcoming Kickstarter for Spitfyre (starts on November 6th). Spitfyre is a 10mm air wargame, covering the factions that you already know from Panzerfäuste.

Well known for his workshops on foam terrain, Gerard Boom / ShiftingIsland with his latest set of tools, that will help you make more precise and higher quality terrain out of foam.

One of the many companies offering MDF kits is Charlie Foxtrot Models. They're from the UK and offer a broad range of mostly modern sets at fair prices.

Real eyecandy was the show car by Anvil Industries. A completely different approach to reach your customer, with a Range Rover Defender and flashy set up. Heads up for thinking out of the box.

A newcomer at this years Crisis, that caught my attention before the show via Facebook is May40 Miniatures. They cover the dutch army that fought against the German in 1940. Within the range, you'll find a Landsverk M36 AC along with matching infantry, both in 28mm scale. He even covered a piece of the Rotterdam bridge in true scale at his booth.

The halls weres slowly filling for the first hour and a half. Most likely many people were still stuck in traffic due to the road works or had to find parking, as the situation in front of the expo halls have changed since the last time. We will make short break here and continue the coverage on Crisis 2017 in part II.

Link: Tinsoldiers of Antwerp
Link: Crisis