"Not the Dutch-Belgian board I expected!" Topic

So I thought this board was going to be about wargaming in the Netherlands and Belgium. I expected to see discussions about conventions and shows in Brussels, Amsterdam etc., and quite frankly little to no activity.

While there is some talk about the wargaming scene in those two countries as expected. To my surprise there are a fair number of Americans, Brits etc. using this board as if it is about Dutch-Belgian troops during the Napoleonic wars!

So if I go to the Australian board would I see the same thing. Americans, Brits etc. talking about ANZACS in WWI. Tobruk and New Guinea during WWII, instead of wargaming in Australia.

Would be interesting to know what members who voted for the Dutch-Belgian Board expected it to be about? Seems to be working out fine but I was just wasn't expecting it.

I actually think few people have any expectations of the board system of TMP to work at all. I mean, there are hundreds of the things, down to the most minute details of a wargaming life!

It does point out the need for a Dutch War Board and a ANZAC War board though…..

:)

I expected that the nation specific boards would have contemporary discussion about the gaming scene, current conventions, and other events/places/points of interest in the respective countries.

I have no problem with the DB Board. I have started a lot of topics there as I run the Wargamorium which is based in Belgium.

I agree with Irishserb above. I had hoped it would attract more Belgian and Dutch posters and more references to activities in either Belgium or the Netherlands but this has not happened.

However I would not like to see it disappear.

Regards

It looks more like an issue with people cross posting to more boards than they need to.

Maybe there is a need for boards representing national interests to represent those contiguous nations in a certain size ratio. So Dutch Belgian is maybe equal to France and there should be an eastern United States and a western United States board, United Kingdom in Republic of Ireland together, Scandinavia together? When I was in high schoolwe learned about an entity called the Benelux. Perhaps that's what the board should be

I'm not sure the Irish would be too keen to be combined with Britain. That sort of thing has caused some unpleasantness in the past!

In fact, we may need individual boards for England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Yorkshire, the Isle Of Wight……..

Where can I find the Bricoles Board?

Lower east side of Manhattan board, nothing north of 14th St.

I am a Belgian wargamer.

The Netherlands and Belgium together are relatively small compared to other countries such as our neigbours France, Germany, the UK. Something like 25M people altogether. That results in a smaller number of wargamers proportionally, but even less so because wargaming is still very much an AngloSaxon hobby, and hence, the % of wargamers as part of the population is even less than compared to the UK or US. Moreover, unlike a country like France, we do not have any wargaming industry ourselves (apart from a few small enthusiasts).

Also, remember that Belgium is divided roughly 60-40% between Dutch and French speakers. Dutch-speaking Belgians are very much oriented towards the British wargaming market, but a significant portion of French-speaking Belgians is oriented towards the French-published games, which constitute a wargaming scene on their own.

Also, TMP is for may Belgian wargamers not the first choice for discussing wargaming topics online. I know many who are active on LAF, but not on TMP. TMP just does not register here, except for a few die-hard wargamers.

Also, what topics should we discuss amongst ourselves? Sure, there are things like convention announcements etc., but since B and NL are relatively small, we meet each other face-to-face quite regularly during some of the smaller cons. The biggest show in the Low Countries (CRISIS, Antwerp), has ~3000 visitors each November (someone correct me with actual numbers), and I estimate 30 to 40% of all visitors are from France/UK/Germany/other EU countries.

All this to say it's a small scene …

Sounds like the Dutch-Belgians need to hit the Complaint Button when a topic is wrongly posted to their board.