Kick Off 2026

Welcome to 2026, everyone! I hope you all had a smooth start to the new year.

You can read our recap of 2025 on the blog, and listen to a special episode of the Games 'n Dice Podcast about it.

Shows, Conventions and real-life gaming meetups

I had the chance to visit a few events last year and I'm already planning the event schedule for 2026. The first event of the year starts next week at SzenarioCon, where I'll meet with Dino, Robert, Haucke and Holger.

• January 9th to 11th - Tabletop Szenario, Hackenheim GER (visits 2013, 2015, 2023, 2024 and 2025) BOOKED!
• February 21st - Dutch Oldhammer Games Day, Almelo NL (New Event) IN PLANNING
• March 7th to 8th - BembelMiniatureCup, Rodgau GER (2025) IN PLANNING
• March / September TBA - Bitbox, Mülheim an der Ruhr (visit 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017) IN PLANNING
• April 18th to 19th - Chaosbunker Classic (New Event) BOOKED!
• April 24th to 26th - Warhammer Netherlands Open, Maastricht (New Event) BOOKED!
• May 9th - Ad Arma Con, Landau (visits 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2019) IN PLANNING
• May 29th to 31st - CONflict Rheinland (visits 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025) BOOKED!
• September 12th - 13th - Rhein Main Multiversum 2025 (visits 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2025) BOOKED!
• November 7th - Crisis, Antwerp BE (visit 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019,  2022 and 2024) IN PLANNING
• November 27th - 29th TTW Maltreff, Lützensömmern GER (2024, 2025) BOOKED!

Unfortunately, we weren't able to squeeze in a (private) short trip during the Christmas holidays. However, there will be other travel opportunities this year. Depending on how busy autumn is, the Scale Model Challenge could be an option for a family trip, as it was in 2015. However, it coincides with the autumn school holidays for us and is close to the family trip to Antwerp in November. As for SPIEL, it just doesn't offer enough content that is relevant to me, and the kids are too young to enjoy it. Intermodellbau clashes with Chaosbunker Classics this year.

Starting Q1 2026

The focus at the start of 2026 will clearly be on the Chaosbunker Classics. I'm hosting a small Oldhammer event where we'll play some narrative games of Warhammer 40k's second edition. I'm currently busy preparing for it, building an army of Imperial Fists and sourcing the necessary materials. This will feature heavily in the coverage over the next few weeks and months, up to the event in April.

As this is the pilot for the Chaosbunker Classics, the format is closed/invite only. I am delighted that Team Würfelkrieg, Zigor and Flip from TTC Rhein Main, Fritz, Indigo and Celebration Parallax, to name a few, are on board!

We are partially entering the Cowabunga Army Challenge to motivate ourselves further. However, the narrative games of the weekend will tie into the 'Siege of Brakkar Chain' story arc, and we will submit the results. The players' pack will save me time and provide us with appropriate guidelines for the games. Most participants have chosen their factions, and once they have logged in, I will prepare some lore similar to what we did for Battle for Uulda IV.

This kind of article will accompany my army building, but only for Imperial Fists. To help me stay focused, we will be covering fewer reviews during this period, but I have prepared unboxings of the 40k starter set, as well as Dark Millenium. From January to April, therefore, expect more retro 40k and Imperial Fists content and fewer review articles.

Additionally, I intend to declutter my studio and my mind by reducing the number of wargaming items I own. I don't have time to paint all my miniatures and terrain pieces, let alone use them on a table. Regarding Warhammer, most, if not all, of the newer items will be sold. For example, the commemorative miniatures.

New Projects for 2026

There are not really any "new" projects for 2026, but rather the completion of ongoing project.

After the Chaosbunker Classics, the next event is CONflict, Celebration Parallax and I will host an Adeptus Titanicus table. While he will lead his Legio Tritonis into battle, this is the perfect opportunity for me to finish Legio Astraman and House Moritain. With a two Direwolves, two Warhounds, a Warbringer and a Warmaster Titan, there is certainly still some work to be done.

As all of this should be well documented, I have added some items to my camera gear. I bought an EF/RF adapter ring so that I can use the EF lenses I already have, as well as a pancake lens. I am still looking for a longer telephoto lens (around 100–400 mm). However, I mostly need to familiarise myself with this camera, as it operates differently to the 750D.

As you may recall, we gave you a behind-the-scenes glimpse of our Mortal Gods battle report, which is still in progress. Post-processing took a lot of time for me, as it was a trial-and-error process. I wasn't happy with some of the results I got, so tried out various tools. After using Photoshop in combination with textures and various map makers, I decided to use Inkarnate to illustrate the map and I'm happy with the result. I used a vector program to draw the unit icons and now I just need some iconography to depict actions such as movement and attacks. But we're getting there.

Below, you can see the table in its original form, the Inkarnate recreation and the addition of the mission objectives as well as units.

Why do I put so much effort into it? Well, the Mortal Gods report is a pilot for this format that I intend to use for Chaosbunker Classics and other battle reports in 2026. For example, there's the Stargrave/Star Wars Mash up.

Final words

I could probably just copy and paste what I wrote last year. It's still difficult to coordinate the schedules of wargaming dads. We're not childless students anymore, and everyday life keeps us busy. I can very much understand the appeal of other hobbies that have a much lower entry barrier. Activities that you can pause, that take up far less space, or that are easier to set up. We started playing Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition over the holidays, as it was challenging and something we could play for an hour or two in the evenings. But isn't that time I could use for painting or working on my armies? In theory, perhaps, but my ability to paint after 10 pm is poor, so this kind of gaming works better for me than late-night painting sessions.

Beyond that, I am looking forward to the various events this year and spending a good time with the people around me. I hope you are too! See you at the next event or in the comments!