Enemy at the table, friend in life

In his annual review of 2018, Dennis mentioned that he wished that the tabletop community in Germany would move closer together again. I liked this section, because I think it's one of the biggest strengths of this hobby, which often goes unnoticed. Enough reason for me to take a glimpse into the past and shed some light onto a story, which only our hobby can tell.

In 2011 I was still quite active in the tabletop forum Tabletopwelt.de, as I finished my career as an active American Football player in the same year and became an analyst for my former team. Of course, all of a sudden I had some more free time and filled it with the hobby, while I worked on my undead team, the Golden Vultures. The following year, I noticed that one of the forum participants was commenting on my Blood Bowl posts quite actively, and during the conversation it turned out that he was active in Football as well. Not only that, he was actually playing for a team in Nuremberg that my own team would encounter this season.

Since I traveled all over Germany for my Blood Bowl project to play a total of ten games and to write some match reports, this seemed like a great opportunity to kill two birds with one stone - play some Blood Bowl and coach at the game in Nuremberg the next day.

In the evening I competed against the NAFL Legacy Team...

...and in the morning against the most sympathic Defensive Line player of Nuremberg

As I was about to find out over the course of time, it was the usual chaos with Swarley. On a Saturday morning I had traveled to the Nuremberg main train station and waited for Swarley to be picked up. Just as ingenious as Swarley, of course, I had not thought very far ahead when it came to private activities and had no charged mobile phone at hand. So, after some time had passed, I had to march into an internet cafe and write to him via Facebook. As it turned out, dear Swarley had overslept and now rushed to meet me. Since I know from my own experience that thoughts wander off before a Football game, it did not bother me, but of course, years later it's still a great anecdote and it`s always fun to tease him with that old story again.

What emerged from this was a friendship that has continued since then and has continued to grow over the years. Since we live pretty far apart, we have made it a habit to meet often at events that we share interests in. Last year, for example, we were together on the road for the Duke of Bavaria and were taking a stroll through Ingolstadt at the same time.

Suck in the belly!

It has also become a tradition to meet at the Role Play Convention in Cologne (RPC) every year to play a game against each other ... or a couple more.

Starting this year, the RPC will be part of the Comic Con Experience (CCXP) and we are still undecided whether to visit or not. We do not really know if the tabletophoppy will be represented there or not. Additionally Swarley married his lady and will soon become a father as well. He`ll finally be playing in the premier class of hobbyists! More plans, even less time. But no matter how turbulent the upcoming days will be, one thing is certain ... the battle on the tabletop will last, as well as our friendship!

Greetings from the Chaosbunker
Dino