Manticoran News Bureau: Gladiators in Germany

“Die Badende” (The Bather) sitting in the Rhine River in Hamburg, Germany.

Gladiators in Germany

2014.07.09 CE / 346.04.06 AL (MNB) – The crew of SMS Budderbrock have a major obstacle when they attend a con—how do you dress in uniform when you don’t have a uniform? This didn’t stop members of the local chapter from attending NordCon, an event for fantasy and games from June 13th—15th held at Schule Beim Pachthof in Hamburg, Germany. This con had a different twist, covering a wide range of interests, from the fantastic-medieval market with music, jugglers, and crafts… to a vast gaming room, with some fantasy author panels sprinkled in. \

Between the attendees going to the many offerings of the extended program, including the New Releases Show and the Art Gallery, the event even had a big closing ceremony with the Gladiator's Contest… and the organizers even gave away a Best German Game prize. However, one of the most notable offerings was for their younger visitors. On Sunday afternoon, the con held a Kobold Adventure, where Marco Ansing held a staged reading. The Goblin needed to build a bridge in the quirky world of fairy… and laughter abounded.

After listening to panels from known fantasy authors such as Wolfgang Hohlbein, Markus Heitz and Thomas Finn, the spacers attending made sure to make their presence known. The Buddenbrock came together to meet as a crew in one of the game room; as one of two IAN ships, they took the initiative to gather cosplay proposals for implementing future uniforms. Without a brand to display, the Andermani spacers were not discouraged—one of them did make a groovy hat with the ship name and registry number.

Non-canon cap made for the occasion by Oberbootsmann Matthias Leuser as a gift to the attending crewmembers.

But the greatest adventure for the crew was attending a demonstration of the Artemis Bridge Simulator. A group of fans of the game had put up an entire bridge and had offered it to con attendees to try out. Each session included a "quick-and-dirty" introduction into each station's functions and off the crew of five with a captain from the organizer team went to boldly conquer space. The crew of SMS Buddenbrock was provided a special "night slot", due to the fact that the ships Bosun had announced our coming, but once we arrived, all regular slots had been booked already. So, in the dark of the night, starting at 22:00, the crew undertook two adventures under heavy fire (at difficulty level 7!). The organizers even renamed the ship from Artemis to SMS Buddenbrock for the occasion. Bosun Oberbootsmann Mathias Leuser manned the science station, while the guns were in the steady hands of Obergefreiter Martin Holst. Gefreiter Mirko-Sebastian Lüschen kept the comm lines open, Gefreiter Mads Krohn was the chief engineer, and Kapitän der Sterne Laura Lüschen took the helm of the ship. The initial game was a test—and sadly—ended in Buddenbrock's destruction. But the second adventure was passed with flying colors and a happy grin all around!

“I thought it was great!” Mike Krzywik-Groß exclaimed. “Please keep the role-playing game prize and the reading stage.” All told, NordCon was a meeting of games for all their guests, regardless of experience or skill. It is a fun event where there is everything to discover, potential to experience new ideas… and isn’t that what fantasy is about?

From left clockwise, crew of SMS Buddenbrock: Gefreiter Eric Grasselt, newest recruit Gefreiter Mads Krohn, Executive Officer Fregattenkapitän Ekkehard Rolfs,

Bosun Oberbootsmann Matthias Leuser and (with back to camera) Obergefreiter Martin Holst.

Article Copyright © 2014, Bureau of Communications, The Royal Manticoran Navy: The Official Honor Harrington Fan Association, Inc.
CPO Caitlyn Miller, Manager, Manticoran News Bureau, BuComm. All pictures used with permission or used in a way that qualifies as fair use under US copyright law.