Show Report: 1. Tabletop Gameday Sigmundsherberg

 

Aaaye, it's been a while since we've done one of those, right? The simple reason being that I hadn't been at any shows in more than two and a half years due to the Covid.

At some point though it was time to dust off the wargaming show stuff and get back out there, and what better occasion than 1. Tabletop Gameday Sigmundsherberg.

Preparations were a bit bumpy. No shows in over 2 years got me rusty in that regard. On the plus side I finally managed to finish the illumination on the Detolf glass cabinet I take with me to these occasions, which was a bit tricky, ... 

(c) Denis Ismagilov/123rf.com

....but dearly needed. Lighting on these shows usually is pretty sub-par for displaying figures.

The drive was lovely; just an hour outside of Vienna, nice weather, passed towns I'd never heard of (shout-out to Burgschleinitz).

So I arrived, hellohellohello, setupsetupetup, and we're off!

Bernhard 'Maniac Eyes' and Gregor of Diceillas (the organizers) gave a rousing opening speech. You can see that they put thought into this, and the above picture shows just one of the reasons why: That lovely, big light installation right in the middle. A true MVP of the day, which lit the whole room magnificently. And had the event put in the local newspaper.

Not only that, they even organized an all-day supply with drinks and a stunning array of delicacies made by Bernhard's wife and friends.

Before we get to the gaming tables, let me mention the trader who was present on the day: Chris-Figurenshop, who have been an institution for decades and have been on the show circuit for equally long. 

They had tons of merchandise with them. You just have to have a trader at your wargames show, right? I don't know, to me it just improves the experience. Of course there's no point in too many traders, but 'round here we don't have that many anyway, and especially since Chris and his wife carry products you usually don't run into (on top of staples such as paintbrushes, tools, paints, 28mm plastics ...) it makes good sense having them there. And they're lovely people as well, so it just works. 

I'll be completely honest - especially at such smaller events there isn't that much of a point in having a paintyperson such as me with all the paint stuff there. The focus is always strictly on the gaming tables and the games, naturally. Especially now, that many of us spent the past years bunkered-in, painting (at best), they wanna get out, play, meet people; all of the good stuff. 

That being said, I think it adds to a show (no matter the size) having one or two showcases of nicely painted figures to look at and maybe somebody swinging their brush around, just to have every aspect of the hobby represented. Just like the (other) traders, I'll be carful not to take any space away from the gaming tables, but I think that figure showcases (and possibly a paintyperson and the chance to paint something) adds to the whole experience. 

Okay, NOW let's get on to the proper interesting things - the gaming tables.

Infinity

Three Infinity tables we had on the day. At times too few players to have all of them going at once, but the guys who played did so tirelessly, which is pretty impressive, if you're familiar with Infinity. 

I love a good Infinity table, and this one especially was just cool looking. Infinity has one of the sexiest range of figures. That's an undisputed fact. Everybody likes them, and with good reason. Not stopping there though, they also are masters of understatement, since for large chunks of the game the figures are hidden behind tokens of all sorts of shapes and sizes. Which is a sign of class and reason. Only people who don't have quite enough of 'it' insist in flaunting it. The good people of Infinity (are they still calling themselves Corvus Belli at all?) know how good their figures are.

Anyway, I spent a good while at the table, trying to re-familiarize myself with the rules. It's a cool all-round package, that Infinity, isn't it.

Saga

Saga was another focus of the show, with two tables and various backup armies present. I saw Greeks (featuring an elephant!) vs. Mutatawwi'a, Vikings take on Last Romans and I think something else as well. Anyway, good fun, several games were played throughout the day.

Star Wars: Legion

I'm rather sure that there's just two sorts of SW:L tables: Tatooine and Hoth. But that's okay, because desert tables always for an attractive view, especially if they look as nice as this one.

Dead Man's Hand

Christian of Hüpfi's World ran a Dead Man's Hand table, and well at that! Wild West tables are always a major draw. From what I gathered, people had a blast playing the inventive scenario too. All is well.

One point on the two ladies playing Dead Man's Hand there: Throughout the day they had pretty much every game demo'd to them. Pretty cool. That's a thing the organizers very much focussed on - have every game be a demo game and very much open to visitors who want to give it a go. Which of course is a good idea for a Tabletop Gameday.

Warcry

It's always a good sign if a table has more people around it than figures on it. 

The Lads, Crying War.

Muskets&Tomahawks

Tabletop Wien West were present as well, because of course they were. For the past six or so years they've been everywhere, tirelessly running demo games, and doing community-building and whatnot. A truly positive force in wargaming in the East of Austria.

Unfortunately they had a last-minute drop-out, so Andreas ran it solo.

It was nice seeing historicals being represented beyond Saga and Dead Man's Hand. You gotta have at least one table covered in musket-smoke, right?

There also was a 3d printer there.

Me, I did a little painting, did a lot of chatting, met many new people. Good times. The LED lights on the glass cabinets worked as well; very happy with them now.

Most amusigly, I set up the stairs display thingy wrong. :)
The mirror sides though be behind the figures of course. Oh well, the rustiness.

.

Anyway, a good time was had. The event originally had been planned to happen in 2020, but couldn't be done then. Good thing the organizers stuck to it, and finally made it happen now. Still, not the perfect time yet, and I had some reservations about it beforehand due to covid infection numbers and so on, but I felt that I had to get back in the loop finally. 

It was nice to see people playing games again and enjoying themselves. I hadn't seen that many people in one place in a good while, so it was a bit surreal for a moment. 

Anyway, big shout-out to the organizers for making the show focused on visitor-friendliness, that magnificent light and keeping the troops well-fed. There wasn't a huge amount of visitors, but a good few, and the atmosphere was friendly and fun throughout the day. The venue wasn't huge, but perfectly fitting, and most of all: Very easy to get to from Vienna. Wargames events in Vienna itself are very tricky, because space is a real issue. Or rather, affordable space. The show I've been to a few times before at Vienna Army Museum (magnificent surroundings) went the way of the dodo due to financial things, which is a great shame. As wargames shows around here usually are rather small, venues about an hour outside of the city really are a viable way to go.

Also many thanks to everybody who ran games, to Chris-Figurenshop, to all the visitors and helpers. A great show to get the ball rolling again, and I'm looking forward to TGS 2!