FeenCon 2024
Last weekend Dino and I went to the FeenCon, a convention hosted in Bonn, which went through a couple of changes over the last few years - one of them moving from the old location of Bonn Bad Godesberg towards Bonn Beuel, from the town hall to the comprehensive school.
And across the venue, the tabletop area was the smaller gymnasium, with the trade stands and board games and pen & paper in the other areas.
The tabletop area was hosted by three clubs, Bedburger Tabletop Freunde, Privateer Poza Boyz and the Tabletop Community Bonn. You might know the Bedburger Tabletop Freunde from our visit to their club house.
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).
SzenarioCon 2024
My first visit to SzenarioCon in Hackenheim was just a year ago and yet the event has managed to become one of my favorites in a very short time. The reason for this is obvious, the range of gaming tables is very extensive and the gaming clubs really go out of their way to offer something special. Together with Jens, the head honcho of Chefoberboss, I visited Szenario again this year and would like to share my experience a few of the tables that were on display at the con. For a general look and a few more nice impressions, you can also take a look at Jens' YouTube video or directly go to the Szenario Facebook page.
We were there quite early and so I managed to take a snapshot in good time, when the hall wasn't filled to the brim. The number of registered guests and latecomers was between 250 and 300 people.
You can already see here that the many panels only allow a little more space for further exhibits. However, as the con has grown very steadily and, above all, successfully, an additional hall will be opened for exhibits next year.
SPIEL 2023 – Recap
After a 5-year pause, we return for the Internationale Spieltage, or how it is more commonly known as SPIEL 2023 in Essen.
And quite a few things have changed since the last time. This is the first show under the new ownership, as the Friedhelm Merz Verlag, who is the organiser of the show, was bought by the Spielwarenmesse eG, who hosts the International Toy Fair Nürnberg. This means, both events, the largest show for consumers and largest show for traders, belong to the same company.
Other things have changed as well. The ticket to the last show I visited in 2018 were 13 EUR, and now you have to pay 22 EUR for a day ticket. And I remember that in the past, you were able to park near the show, but that's off the table if you don't have access to an exhibition parking ticket. You are redirected to a park & ride parking lot, that is handled incredibly inefficient, park your car, stand in line to pay 8 EUR, get a token, that you hand back once you leave the parking lot after the show. Usually, you pay when you enter the parking lot, or when you leave it, without the additional queuing in front of a container. Never the less, the park & ride shuttle was on a good schedule, yet adding further 10-15 minutes each way to your travel.
9th Rhein Main Multiversum 2023
Hessen is calling! The 9th Rhein Main Multiversum was hosted by the Tabletop Club Rhein-Main in Nidderau.
The Multiversum is back, with traders and at a new location. The venue was moved from the Willi-Salzmann Halle to the Kultur- und Sporthalle Heldenbergen within the same city, but different districts. This venue is part of a small shopping park, which meant that not only parking was available abundant, but discounters and drink cash & carry were nearby as well.
Throwback – RPC 2010 Cologne Tabletop Demo Area
I somehow missed the proper opportunity for this throwback in 2020, as it would have fit the 10-year anniversary.
During my studies, while I was editor-in-chief for a German wargaming portal, I was approached by Michael Kränzle, back then with Leuchtameisen and owner / editor-in-chief at GamesOrbit, before being head of marketing at Pegasus Spiele and now fulfilling this role at Heidelbär. GamesOrbit was one of the media partners of the RolePlayConvention that moved from Münster to Cologne in 2009, and the show had its troubles to integrate tabletop wargaming into its portfolio.
Michael has a soft spot for miniature wargaming and wanted to push that hobby within the spectrum of tabletop games and was looking for somebody who could support that vision. And for that reason, he got in touch with me. He thought of some kind of christmas market, with small booths and lots of space for participation area. And that was kind of a problem, because usually you book a booth at a fair and depending on the pricing or the size of your booth, the venue may give you some space for that kind of activity. But it's usually pricy.
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.
Hamburg Tactica 2023 Loot
After the event coverage, here's my loot post from Hamburg Tactica 2023.
I got myself some reinforcements for World War 2, adding the Bofors gun by Rubicon for my 8th Army and got the new Sd.Kfz. 250 plastic kit for review purposes. The large Start Collecting! Box for Age of Sigmar covering the new mortal Chaos, was something I got from Fritz the Brushzerker, I've been tempted by that box for a long time and the updated range really speaks to me. Maybe we will see more of them as I got my hands on the army box, including the new Daemon Prince as well.
Hamburg Tactica 2023
After 4 years, we're back at TACTICA in Hamburg! Our last visit was back in 2019.
TACTICA is Germanys largest wargaming convention and usually held in february (this varied in the last years a bit) in the Wilhelmsburg Community Center. I'll talk about how to plan a trip and combine the show with other things in Hamburg in a separate post. The show is open two days, Saturday and Sundays and usually the first is the more crowded one.
TACTICA covers trade stands and participation / demo rounds of various games, in different scales and settings. You'll find historical as well as ficitional setups, with detailed tables and many wargaming clubs work all year to prepare their demos for the show.
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