Poldercon 2016
PolderCon is a Dutch wargames show which takes place on the first Sunday of February. It is held in the city of Utrecht in the Netherlands. For the second year running, I was invited to attend as part of the Karwansaray team and so I took the opportunity to run Osprey Black Ops (and there the plug for my game ends!).
I must confess I am enamoured with the concept of PolderCon. The premise is much like the traditional show in the United States - every game was playable. Some time before the show, gamers sign up to the games they want to play. I consider that a very useful feature. Not only does that assure you of a spot at the game you want, you can also ‘try before you buy’ a few of the dozen rule sets which were played at the show. In fact, I understand many people bought rules sets after liking what they had just played!
The show also featured painting & modelling workshops and seminars, which were run by Richard Clarke (of TooFatLardies fames on rules writing) and by Andrew Chesney (from Warlord Games on trends).
Mo’s Kitbash workshop was particularly fascinating, teaching how convert and use parts from a dozen kits to combine them in unique ways. These were truly gamers after my own heart, except most of them were much better than me at converting! Hmm ‘obviously’ they had a greater selection of plastics to work with than I do… that must be the reason… Clearly I need more!
The entry fee for the show was €18,50. This included 4 gaming sessions and a buffet-style lunch (which had a good selection and was very nice).
PolderCon is still a small show, with some hundred people booking for the show and and more popping to see what was going on. It is however one I expect to see grow and grow. This year was busier than last year and I’d expect 2017 to be even busier still.
