The "Action 2008" in Rheindahlen
24.03.2008 Deutsche Version bitte hier klicken:
Surprise success on the Easter front
A tightly filled convention agenda and many club members' military assignments left no other choice but the Easter weekend. But, surprisingly, even more visitors than the year before found their way to the Rheindahlen Wargames Club's „Action 2008“ in NATO Joint Headquarters (JHQ) near Mönchengladbach.
From friday to sunday, gamers from UK, Belgium an the Netherlands as well as Germans from many parts of the country came together on the Rheindahlen military compound despite unfavourable weather. Even some Americans from a garrison in southern Germany and members of a gaming club from Denmark attended to the annual wargames spectacular - widely considered as one of the best in continental Europe.
They were offered a good mixture of historic wargames from all eras as well as Fantasy- and Science-Fiction games, with dinosaurs being this year's top topic: Many a gamer showed off one or the other miniature giant lizard, and Magister Militum from Salisbury offered with „Dinomight“ an accompanying set of rules.
Start slideshow by clicking on the thumbnails below (22 pictures).
For the first time ever, „Action 2008“ sported computer based wargames. „The 1809 Society“ had come over from Cambridge to bring classic miniature wargames and their PC variant together. „Traditional wargames are a bit on the downside“, says Adie Russell, Chief Stewart in the Action's organizational staff. „On the other hand there are many, mostly younger gamers who love computer-wargames without even realizing that they are actually wargaming. We as a Club want both sides to learn about each other.“
Next year will see another "Action", but the future seems uncertain. The British Ministry of Defence considers to pull some of the headquarters concentrated in JHQ back to UK. This would mean the end for Rheindahlen Headquarters, as the remaining units would than be dispersed over other facilities throughout Germany.
But as yet, nothing is decided, says Adie Russell: „There will definitely be an 'Action' in 2009, and chances for 2010 look quite good at the moment."
The "Action 2008" in Rheindahlen
