D-7
After being under a spell (of the flue) for about 4 days I finally surface behind my computer only to find app 500 mails in my inbox………. Somehow Geralds ISP managed to keep sending me the same message once every 5 minutes, for 8 days in a row !!!……. on the bright side…. Looks like everything is ready on the Austrian End of things.

 
D-5
With the Activity logs done and all the tiles reproduced in duplicate that part of the work is done. Two major jobs left: creating the last parts of the subterranean boards and capturing all the tables and rules on a two-sided reference sheet for distribution amongst the teams….. Luckily Roel is very adapt at interpreting my construction diagrams and hard at work on the scenery

 
D-2
With Roel going AWOL to help me with the last bits we managed to get al ready and packed. Notwithstanding last minute obstacles: need to get foreign money, an Vignette for the car to travel in Austria and new toner because all 3 !! printers bailed out on me in the last bit of printing I think we are all set…… the only thing I am a bit apprehensive about is the lack of feedback and questions from the Austrian players

 
D-1
5:00 Roel (who decided to stay up during the night, claiming he would sleep in the car on the way in) wakes me. By 6:15 we are driving, First stop Venlo to pick up Harrald and Remi (it feels good to meet up again) Then, with a HUGE effort from Harrald we make good time and find Austria swatted in the last vestiges of summer with a goodly 21+ Celsius when we arrive there in the evening. More old and new friends to meet, a good an hearty eat and a first sit-in with the rest of the organisation 8-) The bad news is that we lost two "evil" players and need to do some shuffling around. We also decide to change the original Victory Condition for the High Elves (which would pit them against the Wood Elves from the start) into what best can be described as SFOR troops, general support against all the "evil" kinds hanging around, trying to reclaim as many Magick Items as possible. The last decision, before us leaving Sia's to hit the hotel and the beds is to distribute the team-starting-packages amongst the players.

 
D-day
A false start (expecting breakfast before 8:00 in the hotel 8-) sees us up early and rearing to go to the Event location, a short drive from the hotel. Mark and Cam have sneaked in sometime after midnight so it looks like we are all complete. I did half of the realms map last night and early this morning at the hotel so we need to finish that and identify starting locations and answer umpteen questions but finally get the show on the road in start the first Battleround. Then, with me still reacting to incidents and thus not totally in control yet, and not being able to actually do rounds and correct things on the fly, things go horribly wrong. Firstly we kind of oversaw the fact that the Green Tide/Moon Empire (Orcs and Goblins) totally consists of local players and thus lacks the support from someone already versed in this kind of event. They have put themselves in a position where they are almost out-of the game before they started and to aggravate things there is a real foul mess-up on one of their starting tables.

 
Here what should have been a tight, but winnable game against the Dwarven defenders of the Great Wall (and what a GREAT piece of work had Gerald delivered for our pleasure !!) sees them up against far too many allied and Mercenary contingents in a battle that becomes un- doable and at least is partly responsible for a decided lack of interest for one of the players of that team for the rest of the proceedings. So more the pity, as the rules are actually quiet clear at least in this area…..

 
After the first round of battles and the first order-phase we slip into a comfortable ritme that allows us to play 4!! 2 hour battles during this day……… we do adjust, try to clear up the contingents joining rules, wchich also involves speeding up set-up as some players seem to need upto 45 minutes to set-up their armies !!. Eventualy, to maintain the overall game-balance we need to "kick" the Woodelves from being part of the "good guys" to being a neutral force (with some highly desirable goodies to be gotten from) and allow the Moon Empire to restart together in a different part of the Realm. The day is then topped of with a good meal in a local eatery and a quick death in the DungeonQuest game back at the hotel and sees us in bed at around 1:00

 
D+1
Time to sleep in today, knowing that breakfast is NOT until 8:00 anyway…. Then after that and packing the cars my adrenaline levels rocket shy-high, when not only reception is not opening before 9:00 (at which time we SHOULD have been back at the Event location), but also the lady at reception insist in ALL of the internationals staying at the hotel register and then proceeds to hand-write our hotel bills…. Luckily I had grabbed Geralds cell-phone number last night and managed to inform them of our delay…….

 
Just before 9:30 we hit the hall and the tables and our next battle round. It quickly becomes clear that most players now have a good grasp of the game mechanics and with our international travellers setting our death- line (or rather deadline) at 17:00 we manage to whip in another 3 battle rounds before 16:30. Highlights of the day are the fierce fighting of Dwarves and Orcs on the subterranean tables (THX guys, at least we did not bring them in vain 8-) and an undecided 3 way battle (HE vs WE vs Chaos) for one of the woodelven glades and the artefact kept there. Then a quick calculation on victory conditions met (or not) allows us to do the "awards" ceremony in the nick of time.

 
After that there are some quick and some more leisurely good-byes. And then we hit the road again……..after a little detour on account of me missing an off-ramp we drive will into the evening and find us dinner at a nice restaurant just shy of the German border. Upon leaving there Harrald and Remi drive through most of the night, seeing us safely back in Venlo at the brink of dawn and allowing me the rest to drive the last two hours to BoZ….

 
D+2
Where we arrive just in time for breakfast and stories, lots and lots of stories, me wanting to post an Email to announce us save at home, more stories as my eldest son also awakes and joins us and by the time I get tired it is 23:30 in the evening……. Well it is a know fact that the elderly need less sleep 8-), but I know better…. The Rush of having been part of such a great event is still coursing through my veins (and probably will for a day or two more 8-)

 
D+10
Sitting down writing this brings back fond memories and smiles, sure we did some things that we could have done otherwise, but we live and learn…….. and all of you there at EuroGT will find some proposed rules changes in the mailbox sometime this week…… after all, I just talked to the GT Hotel and we are already into gear for the next event………

 
Lex