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The Origin: Danny's First Move
The History
In May 2012, I, Danny van Rol, unfortunately became unwell due to unforeseen circumstances. It took five months before I finally regained some mobility. During this time, I had plenty of time to think about what I wanted. Having my own business was very high on my wish list, and in November 2012, I started a general partnership with someone else. We made furniture and sold aquarium fish, specifically marine fish. Unfortunately, the partnership quickly fell apart, and in June 2013, I took over my share of the business and moved home. I converted my bicycle shed there so I could eventually store 3,000 liters of seawater for selling fish and corals.
Trading live animals presents unique challenges. Imagine going on vacation with so many animals and coral to care for… And what if a disease got into your tanks… Just before my wife and I got married, we decided to sell our business, and in July 2015, we managed to sell everything. After three years, we almost broke even.
By then, I had a good job as a personal banker at a large bank, and life was better. In August 2015, I married my wife Tanja, and she quickly became pregnant with our first child.
But something kept nagging at me. Despite a well-paid and challenging job, I missed the freedom to do what I wanted. Plus, my illnesses were lingering in the background. I was certain that if I got as sick as I was in 2012, I wouldn't want to be stuck on the couch again; I wanted something to do. An online store seemed ideal; after all, packages were delivered to my home and could even be picked up. I could build and maintain a shop from my bed. In short, ideal, but in what???
The Idea
Tabletopper was finally born at the Militracks event in Overloon in May 2016. A good friend, his brother, and a buddy of his went to Militracks. Just for fun, and it was an opportunity for my friend and me to score some Bolt Action, because with 150 dealers selling all sorts of things, there had to be someone selling them…
Not so. To our utter surprise, there wasn't a single 1/56 box available at the entire fair! Not even in the shop at the museum! So I exclaimed: "I'll be here next year with a stand selling Bolt Action!"
A few days later, the name Tabletopper was conceived and added to my Chamber of Commerce (KVK) registration number. I figured out how I wanted to start and which platform to use. Construction had begun, and in July, I was ready to place my first order for Warlord. I contacted Warlord Games, and they referred me to the Dutch distributor. Unfortunately, I was told they didn't want to supply online stores. So back to Warlord games, they finally delivered my first order of Bolt action to me in early August.
The first trade show, disaster strikes, and growth
The first trade show was the Tank event in Soesterberg. I had a 4-meter booth, 3 meters of merchandise, and a demo table with 4ground houses. I'm standing next to Gert Hamminga from modelbouwhobbyshop.nl, who sells standard model kits and gives me invaluable tips! At this trade show, we placed a pre-order for the new edition of Bolt Action and Toon In Zet (Setting Up). We sold 7 Band of Brothers boxes and 24 new books that weekend! Some of those customers are still regulars to this day.
Tabletopper grew rapidly in 2016; 4ground, The Army Painter, and Rubicon soon followed in the shop.
But disaster also struck. The original idea for which Tabletopper was conceived—to keep me busy during my illness—came to fruition. A series of events and complications surrounding the birth of our son ultimately led to my resignation from the bank. Illness is revealing its dark side again, and years of pain medication are taking their toll, and just before Christmas, the candle is extinguished. Despite this, the shop is steadily continuing, and we end 2016 as the 3rd largest seller of Warlord games in the Netherlands in terms of volume.
2017 started very slowly for the shop, but also for me. In March, things started to pick up again. I'm now receiving unemployment benefits. In April, I'll also start a new job at a major insurance company. But I got sick again, and in August, I fell back on unemployment benefits and soon after, on sickness benefits. 2017 continued to grow steadily, with brands like Ares Games, Osprey, and Battlefront appearing in the shop.
In May 2017, I fulfilled my promise to be at MIlitracks. My father and brother and I had a booth at the event. Enjoyment is the only word that matters here. A wonderful trade show, fantastic sales, and I even met Gert. Gert van Olst also deals in model making and now owns dutchmodelshop.nl.
A few unique brands will also be added to the shop, the first of which is May'40 miniatures by Sander van der Ster. A beautiful brand that was first available in 2016, I now have a complete stock of, and it's starting to sell well. Stoessi's Heroes and Heer46 will also be added to the shop as special additions.
At the end of 2017, I independently initiated a meeting with the UWV (Employee Insurance Agency), because I can't just hold out my hand and accept money; that's not my style. With the help of a very supportive coach, we quickly concluded that, given my past illness, it would be very difficult for me to return to paid employment. However, because the shop is designed to accommodate my illness, Tabletopper is being used as a reintegration program. This idea was quickly approved, and I can go all out in 2018! Warlord Games is still my largest product group and revenue generator. Our revenue has grown more than twice compared to 2016 and we are by a wide margin the number one seller of Warlord Games in the Netherlands.
2017 also saw the first collaboration with CCG store. I wanted to exhibit at Comic Con, but it was too expensive. I'd met and spoken with Maikel Tichelear a few times, and together we embarked on this adventure. We've done this at several other trade shows, and I think the future holds many more.
Never thought…
2018 is considered the point where I could really go all out with the business, but we NEVER imagined it could grow this big at home. The goal was to keep me busy during difficult times, and as we said to each other at the time: "It would be nice if we could take a vacation from it sometime." It's become much more than that. The reintegration project is a huge success, and the shop is growing online and at trade shows. Brands like AK Interactive, FFG, and related board games and gaming items are starting to fill the shop. My goal has always been to have 90% of what I offer in stock, and that's working very well. I'm most proud of the fact that everything worked out without any external loans.
In 2018, Arena Rex arrived from the US, and it was an immediate success. A very unique and easy-to-learn game with eye-catching miniatures. Halfway through the year, we're getting into RC model building to celebrate Militracks and other Amry shows we're exhibiting at. This branch of our business will have its own shop in 2019. At the end of the year, Blood & Plunder will arrive in November. A little joke on my part, because there were some Dutch people there... We sold out 95% of our entire inventory in less than an hour at the Crisis show in Antwerp. In the days that followed, we sold 27 sailing ships online for Blood & Plunder! It was one of the highlights of 2018, along with Spiel in Essen, which attracted 200,000 visitors and was an overwhelming experience. I had made several growth plans compared to 2017, but I didn't achieve a single one; they were all crushed. Tabletopper grew again, 1.96 times compared to 2017.
2019 was a different year. I decided that we needed a physical location for visitors. A section of the store has now been rented as a "shop-in-shop," which gives us access to another branch of this wonderful business I'm involved in: Games Workshop...
For now, this is the story of Tabletopper...
Reinforcements: Now it's Alex' Turn
On May 6, 2025, I, Alex Tas, proudly acquired Danny van der Rol's webshop. Since then, Tabletopper and Tasmodelshop have combined to form Tas eCommerce.
By joining forces, we not only offer an even more extensive range of tabletop wargaming products, but we can also better share our passion for history, military vehicles, and battles with you. With fresh energy and years of expertise, we are ready to provide you with sound advice, competitive prices, inspiring projects, and a reliable wargaming partner.
We are convinced that the future of Tabletopper is full of challenges, opportunities, satisfied customers, and creative and inspiring wargames. How do we achieve this? Through a genuine passion for history and wargaming!