Throwback – RPC 2011 Cologne Tabletop Demo Area

With the concept of the Role Play Convention returning in a re-boot as the Role Play Verse, it is a good opportunity to cover the Tabletop Demo Area of 2011 and 2012.

I went into detail about the beginnings of the T3G (TabletopTestGelände, German for Tabletop Demo Area) in the Throwback of the 2010 show, but to sum it up briefly, the Role Play Convention (RPC) was a show in Cologne (the first two years in Münster) covering various role playing contents, from video games, to LARP/cosplay and tabletop games (board, role playing and miniature based). In this wild mix, we had the great opportunity to introduce people to our hobby. We had a large area of 400m² / ~4,300 sqft area for our tabletop area and I coordinated various clubs, traders and manufacturers for the event.

We learned a lot in the first year. One of the key things was, more people per table. We had some very motivated people doing demos, and they certainly did a great job, but some tables were hosted by a single person and that bonded them to that table without the opportunity to have a look around, take a proper break and get more for themselves from that weekend.

Along with the second aspect, that I enforced stronger on that show - keep it short and simple. This is something that I try to communicate as an expectation when I visit shows and fairs, unless I go for a gaming convention where I am dedicated for gaming, I want to experience as much as I can, and for example if I go to SPIEL and take 1,5 to 2 hours per game, I won't be able to experience that much in the 7-8 hours they are open. At a gaming convention it is a different thing, but here it was something where the visitors of the event would dip their toe into something new, catch a taste of everything the show has to offer. Don't go all overboard and explain the system 20 to 30 miniatures before the first dice are cast. Give the people a brief intro on the setting or scenario, assign the warbands / forces to the player and get them going.

But most off all, the entire Tabletop area would not have been possible if not for all the great clubs, communities and individual people, who joined in. Our editorial staff, local gaming communities and long time friends all were part of it, setting up tables, hosting games, helping visitors out if they needed directions or information.

With RPC being very focused on the Role Playing in all different kinds, the amount of cosplay all over the show was impressive. Back in the 2011 event we even had the outdoor area with some food stands, and among the cosplayers were quite some people doing 40k and Warhammer Fantasy inspired costumes, next to the impressive 501st German Garrison, who is always present at these kind of events.

On the 400 m² we had once again covered, we had more than 35 different demo tables, with nearby support of various traders and manufacturers.

• Aeronautica Imperialis
• Anima Tactics
• Dystopian Wars
• Freebooters Fate
• Guided Lands by Smiling Monster Games
• Hell Dorado
• Infinity
• Kings of War and Dwarven Kings Hold by Mantic Games
• Level 2 by Flying Games
• Pulp City
• Reanimated
• Uncharted Seas
• Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40.000
• Warmachine und Hordes
• Heidelberger Spiele with Horus Heresy, Chaos in the Old World und Runewars
• Wings of War

We had displays at our booth, showing various miniatures from our team. Those were from our personal projects, items we covered in reviews and a really colourful mix from all kinds of genres and settings.

And in a time before Gaslands, we had our own Mad-Max style post apocalyptic car game with house rules. And that game caught the eye of multiple Larpers in that setting, like the Army of Steel and Lost Ideas.

Right next to us was the painting community of Das-Bemalforum, and exhibited their various painted miniatures and busts, in all kinds of scales and settings. Along with having an open ear for questions and live painting. A lot of familiar and well-known faces, among others Dirk "Brushguy" Stiller, Sven "Vulture" Wichert and Reiner "Spikertron" Schmitz among others.

Of course, Freebooter Miniatures was there. Always thematically fully commited into the pirate theme and a stable pillar of our hobby.

The entire weekend was packed with gaming. Some clubs brought their own rule sets along and weren't promoting commercial products, which was a great addition to show how broad and flexibel our miniature hobby is.

Due to our contacts, we had a very generous display again by Ziterdes. As NOCH discontinued their daughter company, you can get some of the items through TORU-Tech.

And while we had people from all across Germany hosting games, our travels to the UK beared fruits, and Mantic Games' boss Ronnie came along, covering a booth with some (back then) novelties as well.

It was once again a very labour intensive weekend, and I was very about the feedback that we got. The hosts were content, as it was less stressful than last year and they had more time to participate themself. And among the more than 20,000 visitors a lot people gave the participation rounds a try, from complete newcomers to others who only knew the major games like Warhammer - that's another success for our intention to broaden the taste palette of the wargamer community.

Yet, the major bottleneck is financing such an endeavour. Without the horde of people, lending out helping hands for free and voluntary work, this would not be possible. Not to forget, the space alone we got at the show was subsidized by the video games in the other halls. We managed to cover some of our expenses, like the display cases (renting such gear from the fair is incredibly expensive), but everything else like gas and most of the hotels, came out of our own pockets. Beside selling advertisement, there weren't that many options for us to monetize such an event. Maybe merchandise, but that would cause costs upfront and it was rather unlikely that people new to the hobby would buy a shirt of the organisers, but rather one of the games they played.

Anyhow, it was an interesting experience and I learned a lot about project management and coordination, and that has value of its own and for me mostly manageable as I was still a student back then, with more flexible everyday tasks. I signed up for one more tour, organising the event for a last time in 2012 - and I'll do a recap on that as well.