Isn't it funny how the coolest things might be happening right next to you and never really notice them? I only learned of Crisis Antwerp a year ago. It isn't a freshly established fan fair or what have you taking its nascent steps; it is a single day convention on its 20th iteration already, with many successes and countless memories to participants and visitors alike. Talk about banging my head on the wall. Without a helmet.

First pleasant surprise: the friendliness of the people behind it. Second pleasant surprise: its diversity, patiently waiting crowd and lively participation. I tweeted all day long on Saturday the 7th of November in the hopes that, with a picture being 1000 words, I would have less explaining to do here. For those who missed that however, Crisis Antwerp is a dedicated wargame convention organised by the Tin Soldiers of Antwerp, a Wargaming Club based in Ekeren, Belgium which, by its own account, is the biggest wargaming club in Europe. The convention is mostly oriented towards wargaming (d'oh!), miniatures, terrain and all the relevant paraphernalia. This does not mean that it is devoid of boardgames, cardgames or RPGs, just that they are less common than its main focus. It's exactly this focus however that allows you to see with fresh eye things that you might have missed in a bigger and substantially more commercial fair like Essen Spiel.

Starting alphabetically from what appears to be the exception, Columbia Games was there with its own booth showcasing quite a few games. No Harn or the heavier Euro Front series this time (no selling either, just showcasing), I have reasons to believe however that their future appearances will be a lot more agressive than this test show.

Dust Tactics is back with a vengeance. The amicable separation process is proceeding steadily with Battlefront, and hopefully both companies will be able to do their own thing after setting the record straight with that ill-fated kicstater's backers. Forget the past, the glory is in the future. Lead designer Olivier Zamfirescu has a lot of plans. Even before 2016 we will be able to freely download the games (new?) rules. As expected, all miniatures will remain playable and compatible irrespective of edition. He was very happy with the treatment that Dust gets in the soon to be released RPG from Modipihius, and what are these news I am hearing about a potential Dust Hollywood movie by Lionsgate? Should that come about, be it in two, three or more years, it might make Dust one of the best known miniature IPs on the planet.

I picked the discussion with the people behind Freebooter's Fate exactly where I left it in Essen Spiel. Another eight new characters are in the process of being released, with the whole bunch of them coming out until February. That is not all however, seeing how the rules about fighting on boats continue to be secretly, or not so secretly, playtested, with the final product being ready in May 2016, just in time for Cologne's RPC. And if that deadline is missed, hey, these guys are pirates; did you expect any better?

Guildball from Steamforged Games was one of my most interesting finds in Crisis. No, this had nothing to do with the fact that it is an extremely addictive game to play as a demo nor with the fact that it won Crisis' Most Innovative Game 2015 by unanimous decision. Guildball is effectively mob football (the real football, not the American version), played by opposing guilds in a medieval setting, 'with elements of A Game of Thrones', as Rich Loxam, the lead designer, explained. The Alchemists will fight the Butchers, the Brewers will play the Fishermen and so on and so forth in a game that scoring a goal is as useful as killing an opponent. Steamforged Games might be only seven months old when it comes to being in the retail businness, the guys however appear to know what they are doing. Guildball follows the freemium principle; all rules, tokens and what have you can be downloaded free of charge. You only have to pay for the miniatures. With eight factions of seven figures each, the cost in playing is nowhere near prohibitive. The game is expanding fast; it performed fantastically in Essen Spiel and has big plans for the future. Two releases per month until September 2016 at least means setting the bar really high. Season II brings in more miniatures, while you will be likely to find their products in an ever increasing number of shops thanks to their distributor deals. These guys are very proud of not giving discounts through their own webpage, prefering to supportibrick and mortar shops and the community.

Kraken Wargames impressed me with their incredible quality mats, which they were not even selling. The demonstration of the prototypes on the show that was run for me was more than convincing however, both when it comes to quality as well as design. You might think that this snowy background is a boring, computer generated image? Think again. It is real ice, coloured water, sugar, washing powder and anything holy and unholy that you can imagine, being used in every single wrong way imaginable and photographed with extreme precision before applying any effects and filters. In short, their imagery comes from real objects that are photographed first and processed later. The results were outright stunning, but don't let me ruin that for you, find it out yourself. Their kickstarter for the ominous-sounding Kraken Mat is up until the 29th of November 2015. If you take your wargaming seriously, you'd better take a look.

Prodos Games is probably one of the most aggressive companies I know, with some of the friendliest designers around. No wonder how easily I threatened them into buying me a beer at the con. Their agreement with Fox for AvP is progressing as smoothly, with the company having quite a few things in its mind: the Royal Guard, Utani Commandos, more Marines etc., and these only for the present AvP game. Another game, with PVC miniatures, not resin, will hit the market for the mass audiences that are not be interested in assembling their minis and might wish for easier rules. Even more so, a purebreed wargame will also hit the market when the stars are right.

When it comes to Warzone Resurrection, the v2 edition of the rules is now sort of expected around April 2016 in more than one languages. English aside, safe bets include German, Spanish and Polish. The game doesn't lack cow-bell but it's rather sparse on vehicles, so expect a lot of them in the future. Prodos does not only work alone however, but cooperates with Modiphius for their upcoming Siege of the Citadel, another game with Mutant Chronicles at its roots. Their RPG miniatures line supporting Mutant Chronicles, also from Modiphius, is doing very well, and is one of the biggest things they have done in a single month with 21 different items.

Even though in the surface everything will continue appearing as it is now, under the hood things will change. The whole company will move to Poland (a part of it is now in the UK), leading to a sleeker company and a faster customer service, as I am assured. If it also leads to less random prices in EUR, preferably rounded down, I will be a very happy man!

The Plastic Solider Company is another unit I miraculously missed in Essen Spiel, even though they produce games that appear to have been written with me in mind. Take Richard Borg's Commands & Colours: The Great War as an example. For a short puzzle, combine the company's name with the C&C credentials and guess what the game doesn't contain (hint: cubes) and what it does (hint: plastic soldiers). Expect a review of this beauty soonish. Of course, I might be slower than the company itself, which has quite the release schedule. Tank!, the first expansion for the game is scheduled for 2015 already. 2016 will see them, amongst others, publishing a swathe of games, including Battle of Britain (a reboot of TSR's classic game), C&C: American Revolution, C&C Modern: War 84, as well as Battles in a Box – Hunder Years War by Dan Mersey. That might be a game that the Memoir 44 crowd will want to check out, seeing how it will be addressed to a substantially larger crowd than wargamers only. As for 2017, 2018 and 2019 (yes, the guys appear to have planned that far), I see all sorts of stuff for C&C Great War, as well as games by Martin Wallace (namely Lincoln and For King And Company, a reboot of Struggle of Empires). Honestly, where were these guys before and why did I miss them?

Warlord Games, finally, was more than happy to celebrate the release of Beyond the Gates of Antares. For those not in the know, this is the brand new sci-fi game of Rick Priestley of WH40K fame. The starter set along contains a full hardback rulebook, two opposing forces, dice and counters to ease you into the game. The game will be supported by releases every month for at least the next six months. That was not their only product there, seeing how they had a lot of material from the Pike & Shotte, Black Power, Bolt Action (their biggest thing right now) as well as Hail Caesar Lines. I decline to comment on rumours that they did not bring materials from their Judge Dredd Miniatures Game due to fear that I would keep on pestering them for review copies. What I can comment on however is that in 2016 the first products of their Doctor Who miniatures game will start hitting the market, following their agreement with the BBC. That would be an agreement for any and all Doctor Who series and episodes, mind you. More news on that in April 2016.

And that was it from Antwerp and its 2015 Crisis. Short and sweet, or, as one participant put it, 'a holiday for British participants in a convention as comfortably messy as a British one'. I took that as a compliment for the organisers, who amongst others, also had the weather on their side. Who knows which other conventions this intrepid reviewer will attend? How many, and which, happless companies' products will fall into his hands for merciless playtesting and reviewing? Two things are certain: death and taxes. In gaming life is full of surprises.