The other side of the Con
The Chaosbunker had a historic moment at CONflict Rheinland, where Dennis and I each gave demo games for the first time. In my case, it was the historical game Mortal Gods.
My first event on the other side of the demo table was a good experience. I think that has to do with the fact that I went into the demo day with a good concept and I want to share it. This article is therefore very text-heavy - you've been warned.
What should be shown?
Before I even actively made the first preparations for the demo, I had a few basic thoughts about the game itself. Every game has a few characteristics that will distinguish it from others and that should be reflected in a qualitative way. I came up with the following points:
- Historical setting, Greece
- Simple mechanics, yet strategic
- Easily accessible and available
Setting
It was clear to me that I had to show a credible historical context in the demo. Mortal Gods is set in the Peloponnesian War, which I solved by painting the armies differently. One side represented the city-state of Thebes (allied with Sparta), the other Plataiai (allied with Athens). This served history well enough.
In general, you can paint ancient Greeks however you like, because there was no uniform back then. In the spirit of the demo, however, I gave both armies a uniform main color.
Internal CONflict Rhineland 2024
The Internal CONflict is actually the first wargaming event I participate in this year. Due to multiple schedule collisions I wasn't able to visit any shows early to this date, as you can see from my event schedule. What does Internal mean regarding the CONflict? Well, it is not an open event, but internal affair and you have to be invited to tag along.
But (!) this is the first time, that I will host a demo table as well and I'm really looking forward to it. And obviously, we wouldn't show up empty handed, so we packed the car with some snacks (make sure those are non-greasy, as you don't want Orange Cheeto Dust on your miniatures) and drinks, as well as gaming materials. I'll go into that later, what my essentials for a convention are.
Regular readers know - no event report without a proper parking lot picture, and as the CONflict is held at the clubhouse of a local rifle club, parking is not an issue. Beside that, the hosts provide us optionally with a full catering, (breakfast, lunch and dinner from Friday afternoon until Sunday morning, along with a broad variety of drinks).
Internal CONflict Rheinland 2023
CONflict Rheinland returns for the weekend of May 12th to 14th, once again as an internal affair. And I was there for the third time, after last year's show and the last public one in 2019. And with it being held in Langenfeld, just north of Leverkusen, it is a one-hour drive for me and much quicker than that for the people joining in from the Ruhrarea or Cologne.
And obviously, we can't cover an event, without covering the parking lot first. Lots of space right in front of the venue.
Giving Spectre: Operations a try
Depending on how you count, giving this game a try is years in the making. I've stumbled across Spectre Operations in 2016, when I saw the booth on Salute in London, and covered their miniature range in review the same year. But the rules or setting really caught my eye, on Crisis a year later, in 2017, when I saw the gaming table build by Ivan / ThreadHeadz on Lead Adventure and recognised it at the show.
Internal CONflict Rheinland 2022
Finally - an update in the event category! Conflict Rheinland returns after a 3 years break with a private event, and 2019 was our last visit to the event in Langenfeld. Yet, the return is a bit special, as this is not a public event, as they had to cancel that format about a month ago and went for an invite only meet up of some of the hosts and clubs, that would just do a private get-together.
Torsten kindly invited me to join that round of wargamers and I happily accepted the invitation as it would be my first wargaming event in over a two years (my last wargaming road trip was January 2020 to Nottingham, visiting Warhammer World).
CONflict Rhineland 2019
Today and tomorrow the CONflict Rheinland (Rhineland) will be held in Langenfeld near Leverkusen, between Cologne and Dusseldorf. As such it was a short and straight trip for me, 5 minutes to the Autobahn, 1 hour on it (just the A3, no changes...) and roughly 5 minutes to get from the exit to the venue.
The venue is the marksmen's club house St. Sebastianus Reusrath. Tickets are 5 EUR for a single day ticket and 8 EUR for both. Parking is free and available plenty right in front of the venue. As a club house, it has a bar counter, where drinks and snacks are available and as a marksmen's club house, it has a small shooting range, that was repurposed as an additional gaming area.
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