ARGENTORATUM 2008  

 
Strasbourg WAB Weekend   
(20 & 21 September)

The Place

The war gaming club in Lingolsheim (near Strasbourg, France) "les Grognards d'Alsace a Lingolsheim" organises a war games tournament on the 20th and 21st of September. They do this every third weekend of September, and it is getting a bigger event every year...

It took us 5 hours to drive to Strasbourg. But is was well worth the trouble. The hotel at three minutes drive from the club was good and cheap. There were players from France (quite a few we met in earlier campaigns in Paris), Germany, Belgium and the UK.

Strasbourg is situated quite centrally in west Europe. Everybody spoke English, or at least the few words that were needed for a wargame: I charge, flee, rank bonus, heavy throwing spear, panic test, etc. and the organisation had printed the scenario rules in French and English. 

The clubhouse in Lingolsheim is the largest permanent game room I have ever seen, with a private parking spot... and with a bar! Everything a war gamer really needs in life, isn't it?

19, rue de Geispolsheim 67380 LINGOLSHEIM
Notice that there is a roadsign for the club!!

Have you ever seen something like that??

The WAB tournament
For only € 30,00 the French offered us 5 battles for 20 players spread over 2 days, with breakfast, lunch and supper with very friendly opponents in exiting scenarios. The players were tough, but fair playing. And the advise that, if the game should become too exiting, to stop playing for a while, and have something to drink at the bar, was not needed. Although the gamers often did have a friendly drink after the battle.

(a permanent clubhouse with great scenery)

With about 70 people attending, and about 20 playing WAB is was a great success. It is, in price and organisation equal to the famous WAB Weekend in Nottingham at the Games Workshop headquarters, and the organisers aspire to make it the mainland incarnation of it's British counterpart. We hope they succeed! They are well on their way.

The Battles

For WAB there were 10 tables with were nice scenery, some of the best I have ever seen. And that sort of finishing touch is like the cream on your dessert. You wouldn't want your nicely painted army to fight on a green (or even worse) white table cloth.

The organisation came up with some interesting scenarios for every table; starting the battle with a duel of the generals or make a secret part of the table your goal of the engagement. These were all unknown scenarios that made you reconsider your old an tried stratagems. And encounter some nasty surprises...  ;-(

I could not resist to enter with my Pyrrhic army again in the Classical tournament. I think I have a weak spot for the Epirote king. Who wouldn't with a brilliant general, who became famous for loosing his most important battles...  ;-)

But there were also another successor army, a late Greek army, two Persians armies, two republican Roman armies, two early imperial Roman armies, a Carthaginian army and an Indian army.

The dark ages tournament had fantastic Saracen, Byzantine and Norman armies. Unfortunately we did not have too much time to stay and watch the other games for more than a few minutes at a time.