Auckland Wargaming Club

The Christchurch Wargames Club is starting to publish details on-line for the Nationals in Easter 2011. Player packs look to be available for several fantasy systems as well as 15mm DBA and 15mm DBR. For more information See Here.

Events being offered are: Warhammer Fantasy Battle ; Warhammer 40k; War of the Ring; Lord of the Rings; Flames of War; FOG; DBA; DBR; DBM (apparently not DBMM); Bloodbowl; & Warmachine. No scales specified, except 15mm for DBA & DBR, so unclear exactly what scales are being played for the Historical (Ancients) rule sets (but sounds like 15mm only)...

The second 'Postcard' from AWC Member Ben Hill at the Derby Convention in the UK.

Can I just say two words, Wargasmic Retail! This is one of the biggest trade shows/competitions in the UK. Salute (April) and Warfare at Reading (later October) are bigger but I ain't seen nothing like this before. I would estimate 30 or 40 trade stands with everything from haystacks to 54mm plastics. Gripping Beast, Musketeer, Magister Militum, Donnington, Hasslefree, Adler, Front Rank, Baccus and many more plus a bunch of retail outlets and web shops selling all sorts of different things including figures by unit or even individuals.

AWC Member Ben Hill reports in from Oxford, UK, on the local wargaming scene there:

Herro AWC,

In March this year, my wife and I moved to Oxford in the UK. We will be here for a several years while my wife does genius things that I do not understand, similar situation to my wargaming.

I miss the AWC and its excellent members not to mention my Romans and newly painted ACW army. However, with England being the home of toy soldiers I have an excellent opportunity to buy buy buy. With that in mind, I visited the Foundry in Nottingham on July 23 for their open day with Sean (who was visiting the UK). Firstly, Nottingham has very few trees, no men in tights, no sheriff, and maid Marion had no teeth but she knew where St Mark’s road was luckily.

Combat Tanks Collection Magazine from the UK is now available here in NZ - you can subscribe on line or pick it up from Whitcoulls or similar book stores. Each issue includes a 1/72nd Scale Die-Cast Model similar to those produced by Dragon Armor; Forces of Valor; and similar. The magazine covers World War II and more Modern Vehicles. This is a great way to get some good quality models for Wargaming World War II & Modern conflicts in 1/72nd (20mm) scale. Issues cost NZ$19.95 each so you get the model for half or less what a Dragon Armor or FoV model would cost; albeit the models aren't quite the same quality as the latter 2 manufacturers (e.g. no weathering effects). The publication has been running for about 24 months in the UK and over 12 months in Australia with 2 issues normally coming out each month. The following is an approximate list of what models have in been each issue in the UK...

Mark's Supplies is a new operation based in Auckland and intending to supply all New Zealand Wargamers, and any wargamers worldwide, with cost effective basing & flocking materials and accessories. Mark's Supplies specialise in inexpensive modelling terrain materials as well as supplying useful tools such as hot wire cutters for polystyrene foam. For flock & scatter material they guarantee to offer more than twice the amount of product for less than half the cost of the 'big name' brands in the usual hobby & model shops...

The AWC held its AGM on Sunday 6 December 2009. The President, Secretary, and Treasurer all presented their reports generally outlining a reasonably successful year although the experimental Friday Night meetings earlier in 2009 had not proven cost-effective despite early indications of support. The club generally experienced a downturn in numbers attending & activity over most of the (southern hemisphere) winter, and total outgoings for hall rental slightly exceeded revenue from membership fees. However, 'the drinks trolley' and other fund raising initiatives, such as bulk magnetic sheet sales, more than made up for the shortfall.

Our friends down at the North Shore Wargaming Club (NSWC) look like they have been sneaking in some DBMM240 practice for the tournament this weekend...

Three games were played at the NSWC's first November meeting and another 4 games at the following meeting (this weekend just passed) - sounds like some serious preparation down at the NSWC! Check out the NSWC Site for the results...

Veteran actor Edward Woodward has died aged 79, his agent has confirmed. Woodward was famous in wargaming circles (like Robin Williams also) for being a celebrity/high-profile actor who participated in the hobby...

Read More at the BBC Website.

REMINDER: This Event is this Sunday (22 November 2009).

FRI 13 NOV UPDATE: The CityGuard Bring & Buy will now run until 7pm on Sunday. Also there are some special Warhammer events being organised for those interested: The 40K folks are organising a special 500pts 40K in 40mins event, the Fantasy folks are organising a special 500pts baby league event, and the Warmachine folk are organising a special 15pt event. There will be a BBQ operating from around 5.30pm with sausages, drinks, etc, for sale... Get along and support the CityGuard if you can!

One of the big challenges facing the club today is the debate in Ancients Gaming between DBMM and FOG. As in many other clubs and wargaming groups around the world at present there is a split between gamers who prefer FOG and those who prefer DBMM - luckily the AWC at least has no odd Ostriches still sticking to DBM (of course there is nothing really wrong with that if its your thing, but its a position causing a 3 way rules-set split of gamers in some areas so doesn't help unify the scene)!