What’s the best thing to do in Spain? Visit Barcelona, Sagrada Familia, Madid, Prado Museum, Granada, Alhambra Palace, Segovia, Roman Aqueduct, Seville, Alcázar, Cordoba, Toledo, Valencia?
No, my friends, the best thing to do in Spain is go to a board game convention in Badajoz! For me, it’s been since 2019 for a game convention (GenCon and WisconsCon). I really enjoyed spending a long weekend making new friends in Spain while playing some historical board games.
First up…why is a convention named for an acorn? Well, Badajoz is famous for producing Iberico Jamón (ham from pigs fed on acorns). Badajoz has been settled since Neolithic times, with several Dolmen and Roman ruins nearby (it was part of Roman Lusitania).
It was also a Muslim Taifa kingdom, so has medieval ruins to explore as well. The convention takes place in January, which is great because Badajoz can get really hot during the summer.
Picture of Convention Registration with Iberian Pig in background
I found out about the convention through my connections to GMT’s Levy and Campaign Series of games. If you have not tried out Nevsky, it’s an operational level medieval board game (Teutons vs Rus) by Volko Ruhnke, the COIN designer (Andean Abyss, Falling Sky, Fall of Saigon, Pendragon, and others), which fills a niche I do not recall ever seeing before. Nevsky is the first, but a second one, Almoravid, is hopefully due to come out in April (on the ship from China now).
I am currently helping proof and playtest the third volume of the series (Inferno – mid 13th century Tuscany) and working on my own for the future (Lauria – War of the Sicilian Vespers). I brought both to have some demonstration games for the series. Essentially, following in Volko’s footpath when he demonstrated Almoravid here in 2020.
On Thursday, I set up my table and walked around to get a feel for the show. Attendance was restricted this year per Spanish Covid regulations. Pictures are from the entire weekend.
Setting up my demos…turns out 10:00 am is a little early in Spain. That’s Lauria on the right and Inferno on the left. Hand-crafted Artisanal games!Demoing Inferno, new volume of GMT’s Levy & Campaign Series. Currently 2 players and a watcher. Inferno includes some new elements of play that make it unique in the series – notably the Treachery rules (bribery and revolts). Many of the attendees had attended two years ago when Volko Ruhnke demonstrated Almoravid (Volume 2 of L&C), so they were familiar with the system. Some had already played Nevsky and were interesting in seeing what was currently in the pipeline.
Demoing my Design for Levy & Campaign – Lauria: War of the Sicilian Vespers. These two sat down and started playing right from my materials. Experienced playtesters from Almoravid, they were excited to see another game with a bit of Spanish flavor even though it takes place in Italy.
The War of the Sicilian Vespers saw the King of Aragon seize Sicily from Charles Anjou after a revolt in the name of his wife, Konstanze Hohenstauffen. It includes new elements for increased use of sea forces (Ships & Galleys) as well as the mighty Almogavars.
Prior to coming, I mentioned on an online forum that I would be bringing both games, so I had some folks come up and talk about both. Many had played in the 2019 demonstration of Almoravid, so were also excited to talk about when it would become available. There was also a demonstration of Plantagenet, another P500 L&C game from GMT.
Plantagenet: Cousins War demonstration game of another GMT Levy & Campaign game. Plantagenet takes place near the end of the medieval era and this volume of the L&C series includes an influence mechanic as each House tries to win support for the King or the Usurper.
When I was not demoing my games, I did some general walking around to see what else was going on. There were plenty of games familiar to folks in the US that might be at any FLGS, like Dune, Successors, Commands & Colors, and many more. I did not take enough pictures.
Advanced Squad Leader sighting! Several of these games going on during the Convention. The reach of this classic game is really great.
Steel Inferno: Verdun by Fellowship of Simulations. This is a card-driven block game from a French publisher. It simulates the Battle of Verdun and the back and forth of the German offensive and French counter-offensive. Play alternates card and block movement with artillery bombarding in front of an Infantry advance. If you can get a hold of a copy, I cannot recommend this game enough. It is really, really good.
Monster game – War Room by the designer of Axis and Allies. Wow! I don’t have a copy of this one, but I have a friend who does! I think they played the whole day, but really, why not when you are at a convention!
See more on Twitter with #BellotaCon22 or check out the Stuka Joe YouTube channel. He did a lot of interviews and just walking around over the convention to see all the games being played.
Stuka Joe in pictures – that’s him with the camera on the right looking over some giant maps!
303 Squadron from Draco Ideas – Spanish publisher. It’s in English and Spanish and looked fun and not super complicated (it’s rated 10+). If I had more room in the suitcase, I think it would be a great game for playing with my kids.
NAC Wargames demo area is in the background. There were a bunch of games here I would have liked to try like Von Manstein’s Triumph, Asedio a Al-Andalusia (3 player game Medieval 12th and 13th century), or El Otro Lado de la Colina. Most of the games I asked about, like 3 Kings are published by NAC in English and Spanish. They also publish Spanish versions of other publisher’s games for the Spanish market. NAC Wargames is a division of a larger Spanish game company. Nice to have some bigger pockets to help publish for us historical gamers.
Asedio a Al-Ándalus – Siege of Al-Andalus. This is a prototype game coming from NAC. It is a 3-player game with Al-Ándalus between the Christian and Moslem sides vying for control of the Iberian peninsula. The game combines strategy and diplomacy and good 3-player games are hard to find. I saw this game get a lot of play time whenever I walked past it.
La Conquista de Canarias cover art.
La Conquista de Canarias. The game covers the conquest over a period of almost 100 years to simulate the conquest of the islands from its inhabitants the Guanche warriors. The game offers a preview of what awaited the Americas just a few years later after the conquest. Another game that was always filled up when I went past.
The Charge of the 3 Kings (NAC). This is a single battle game, but with cards that make it play differently each time you play it. The art of the game is really cool! I was tempted to buy the Charge of the 3 Kings for just the artwork! Fabulous stuff by Iván Cáceres, but I did not have room in the suitcase.
Board and counters of 3 Kings.
Rulebook and cards in English! This is a very good idea.
El Otra Lado de la Colina. Now this one I really wanted to play, but it was booked up all in Spanish for the weekend. It is a one to four player semi-cooperative AND semi-competitive game where you play one of the factions within the German High Command during WW2. You try to win the war and become the most powerful faction. From watching some of the play it looks great, and I hope to see it in English soon. Well, the author has promised me he will try anyway.
300: Earth and Water, a game about the Persian invasion of Greece. It is a card-driven game with a nice short playing time. Not every game needs to be War Room. Currently only available in French, hopefully, it will be back in English soon. Nuts! Publishing does the English, French, and now the Spanish edition.
FITNA (Nuts! Publishing) is a 2-6 player card-driven game depicting warfare in the Middle East (2012 to future). I had dinner with a couple of the players, and they think it is very good. They had played some of the scenarios with fewer players and specifically blocked out time at the convention to get a 6-player game going. The game designer is a military researcher for a French War College, so the game has grown out of his research. My understanding is if President Macron has a question about the Middle East, Mr. Razoux is his guy. I seriously should have brought an empty suitcase.
FITNA with 6 Players.
Closeup of the FITNA map.
This War without an Enemy (Nuts! Publishing). A two-player block-style game depicting the English Civil War. It is card-driven with regions and areas that you move around whilst trying to win control of England. Very nice-looking game that anyone who likes block games would like. My understanding is Ares Publishing should be handling distribution of this to the US soon.
Saigon 75. This is a prototype. It was a funded Kickstarter, but you can still pre-order it on the Nuts! Publishing website. I watched a game when I had some spare time. It is a fun and nice-looking strategy game where players play the end of the conflict after the US has left. I am looking forward to this one as well, as it did not seem to take a super long time. The South has to survive and hold Saigon during the 8 turns of the game while the North attempts to gain more and more control of the countryside until they can win the battle of Saigon.
I think conventions like BellotaCon are a tremendously important part of our hobby. There we can meet new people, spend time playing face-to-face, and try out new games that we might buy at our favorite retailer. If you are working on a prototype of a game, having folks come and try it is tremendously helpful.
They offer the opportunity to teach your game and spend some time building a rapport with a potential audience. I really enjoyed my trip and highly recommend attending if you plan on going to Spain anytime soon. Visit in January and stop by BellotaCon on your way out to the more tourist-like attractions (see the first paragraph).
