Crisis 2026 – Part 1
Last weekend, on Saturday November 7th, Crisis 2026, the Air Power Edition, was hosted in Sint-Niklaas, for the third time at the new location of 't Bau-huis. Crisis isn't hosted by the Tinsoldiers of Antwerp alone; once again they teamed up with the local HQ Gaming Club.
We travelled by car and, as you could read in Arriving in Sint-Niklaas for Crisis 2026, spent the night before in the town centre, so it was just a short drive to the venue in the morning. Admission was 15 EUR, and you could park for free right at the hall, with more spaces in the surrounding side streets.
Lots and lots of traders, as you can see on the floor plan, and plenty of gaming clubs as well. And as usual the club provided proper catering, with a bar for drinks and food, along with a frituur right in front of the venue.
As for the theme, I didn't really find much of the Air Power Edition at the show. Apart from Air Raid at the Ambush Miniatures table, it barely showed, and to be honest I had expected a lot more dogfights, dragons battling in the skies or something along the lines of Crimson Skies.
Crisis 2026 – Part 2
Now that we have covered the show and the traders in part 1 of our CRISIS 2026 coverage, let us move on to the clubs, their tables and the two trophy winners.
The Dutch/Belgian TooFatLardies Network, also known as Lard Arnhem or ClogLard, had It's not easy being King by Jasper Oorthuys on display, covering Dauncey's last stand at Oosterbeek, part of the Battle of Arnhem in 1944.
The scenario was played using the Chain of Command rules, and if you are interested in the Lardies rules, give ClogLard a try next year. It's an event for everybody who plays TooFatLardies games or wants to get to know them. You don't have to know the rules or bring miniatures, the game hosts take care of that!
Arriving in Sint Niklaas for Crisis 2026
Friday afternoon, around 3 pm, we arrived in Sint-Niklaas. Florian and I met up with Tobias and Evelien of Team Würfelkrieg and Torsten of CONflict Rheinland, and I was really happy that a proper tour worked out again. In the last years there were always some short notice cancellations among the people joining me, like back in 2022, when I ended up being the only one arriving from our area for LARDwerp. This time the whole crew made it, and like in the Prelude to Crisis 2024, I want to give you a little insight into everything around the show before we get to Crisis itself.
Sint-Niklaas has the largest market square in all of Belgium, and our hotel was located right next to it. Very convenient, as the car park is just beneath the Grote Markt, so we could leave the cars there and explore the town on foot.
October 2026 review
Welcome to November!
In brief, I was on vacation in October, and as my birthday was late in September, I only got around to using some of my presents last month. One of them was a toolbox by Allit, which I wanted to use as a miniature case for Gaslands. And to my delight, it came prefilled with some snacks and drinks, thanks to my in-laws. As you can see, it has already been put to use, and I have to say it has a practical side effect: as I come across Matchbox cars on sale more often than I need them, this is a physical limit. If there is no more room for more cars, I can't buy more (or I have to find a discreet solution with my son to make room for more...).
Reviews
In October we had time to publish some of the reviews, among them the Graal Miniatures Kickstarter for the Legends of Rome, which was funded successfully, as well as the new second edition of Oathmark by Osprey. We will cover more Osprey books in the future: next week I'll publish the review of the latest Stargrave supplement Acceptable Losses, and I'm on the final steps of the Silver Bayonet review series.
As I'm currently preparing for Lützensommern, my lead time for reviews has shrunk a bit, but I'm working on the Warlord Games items and will cover Warhammer 40k Munchkin as soon as possible.
Dead Man’s Hand – Standing Horses
Great Escape Games has sent us one of their novelties for Dead Man's Hand. It is a scatter terrain sprue covering standing horses with a few extras, and we're going to take a closer look at it.
The Dead Man's Hand - Standing Horses set covers four standing horses (two sprues) at 13 GBP, and there are bundles of 3 sets for 33 GBP instead of 39 GBP and 5 sets for 50 GBP instead of 65 GBP. Each set includes two of the sprues shown below, along with another sprue of 5 oval bases.
Casting overall was solid. Crisp details, but mould lines were an issue, as they were quite present. This might be due to the fact that we got an early production sprue for the review and they are still dialing them in. Nevertheless, all the details were captured properly and removing mould lines is less time-consuming than filling in gaps.
Graal Miniatures – Marius Mules Legends of Rome
Earlier this month we gave you a short introduction to Graal Miniatures, and today we are taking a closer look at the infantry from the currently running Kickstarter, which covers Romans in 32mm scale. We have a few of the characters in blisters and a unit from one of the boxed sets on the desk.
Although Graal Miniatures also offers digital products via their Patreon, the crowdfunding campaign is purely about physical, resin 3D-printed models, intended for game systems such as Saga: Age of Caesars, Hail Caesar or Swordpoint.
But first, a bit of context, because Romans are a safe bet in tabletop gaming and are already available in 25-32mm from plenty of manufacturers, in metal as well as plastic. But not all Romans are the same. We will keep this brief and simplified to give you a quick overview, rather than turning it into a multi-volume master's thesis. Simply put, when people talk about Rome they usually mean the period from 509 BC to 476 AD (referring primarily to the Western Roman Empire, as the Eastern Roman Empire, or Byzantium, lasted until 1453). That is a span of roughly 1,000 years, and we will leave the Regal Period before the Roman Republic aside for now.
The Roman Republic, from 509 to 27 BC, can be divided into three eras: the Early Republic, in which Rome gradually conquered Italy, the Middle Republic with the Punic Wars and expansion across the Mediterranean, and the Late Republic, which includes Caesar, the Roman civil wars, the Marian reforms and the Gallic Wars. Even these three phases show differences in the soldiers' armour and weapons. The Republic was followed by the Imperial period (27 BC until the division of the empire into West and East in 395 AD), during which the Roman Empire reached its greatest extent in 117 AD. After that comes Late Antiquity, lasting until the end of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD. To simplify things once more, in tabletop terms you can roughly split them into Republican Romans and Imperial Romans, which is where the most obvious visual differences lie. Set apart from those are the Late Romans of Late Antiquity, who look quite different again.
Graal Miniatures – Marius Mules Roman Kickstarter Teaser
Graal Miniatures is a new name, and Marius' Mules: Legend of Rome is its first project. Behind the label is Quentin Renaud, a French 3D artist who sculpts every miniature himself. The Kickstarter went live on Tuesday, 6 October, and Quentin was kind enough to send me a broad selection of models in advance, from regular legionaries to several character models.
Which Romans?
The range covers the late 2nd century BC, a period that rarely gets attention in 28mm. This is the army of Gaius Marius during the wars against the Cimbri and Teutones, the moment the Republic's legions began turning into the professional force that would later conquer Gaul. The name is a nod to the nickname Marius' soldiers earned for carrying their own kit on the march.
The range is designed as a complete army rather than a handful of display pieces. It includes legionaries, cavalry, auxiliaries, officers and historical characters. A command group with centurion, signifer and tubicen is part of it, and characters like Quintus Servilius Caepio and Lucius Cornelius Sulla show where the range is headed. Poses and equipment are modular, so your units won't look like twenty copies of the same man.
September 2026 Review
Alright, here we go, the real home stretch for this year, because we've hit Q4!
September had a pretty good run of events. Holger and I went to the Rhein Main Multiversum and the Bitbox 2026. Both trips were well worth it. It felt good to see everyone again, even though we just missed Flo, so that reunion will have to wait for Antwerp or Lützensommern.
I still need to process the haul, i.e. strip the paint and sort everything into the relevant projects.
42 – the answer to the question of life, the universe, and everything
I'm 42 now. Full stop. No, I don't feel the need for a sports car, I'm not going to get myself an espresso machine with a portafilter, and no outdoor kitchen either (although an Ooni pizza oven would be a nice thing to have). I also don't think that, as a hobbyist, you need a midlife crisis to become aware of your own mortality. The Pile of Shame makes that clear enough, and if you divide your monthly painting output by the size of your own miniature stash, you get a figure that even life-extending measures / becoming a Vulcan etc. probably couldn't get you through. For some people, the rumor is that number comes out at around 270 years.
Dino’s Miscellaneous 2026 – Part 2
About two weeks ago, I told you about the projects I currently have on my table that are sure to take shape in the near future. Well, in the meantime, good old Robert from Wolpertinger Miniatures put me to the test, he still needed ten zombies for the Rhein Main Multiverse, which was still in the works at the time. Anyone who's familiar with my work knows that ten miniatures in two weeks is a huge undertaking for me. On top of that, I still had to finish the Rhapsode for Mortal Gods, since the new Theban army was set to be presented.
So, let me just say right off the bat, yes, I've finished the Rhapsode:
At first, I wasn't sure whether to paint the cape red or brown, but after a few mini brainstorming sessions during painting sessions on Discord, I decided to go with a neutral shade of green, and I'm happy with the result.
Bitbox 2026 – Tabletop Flea Market and Haul
After a pause that was far too long for my taste, last Sunday, September 20th, it was finally time again – time for the Bitbox! Franz invited us to Mülheim an der Ruhr, to the children's and youth center St. Barbara, or "der springende Punkt" as it is now called. It has been the same trusted location for a good 10 years, and there were plenty of familiar faces, too.
Over the years the time window has been tightened a bit, since a few hours are plenty for both visitors and sellers. These days it runs from 10 am to 1 pm. Right at 10, Franz opened the autumn Bitbox 2026 and the rooms filled up quickly. As always, the long table of Franz and Werner stood at the head of the hall in front of the stage, and once again there was plenty of pewter and plastic with a lot of history to be had.
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