> >< SPALDING]WARGAMES CLUB) ‘The trials and tribulations of the SWC have been balanced by plenty of fun in the fens, as Spalding’s “accidental” local club ‘celebrates its first birthday. Spalding - you are perhaps reaching for Your maps to work out where that is. That's no surprise; itis a smal, rural town in the fens of Lincolnshire in the UK. It's perhaps nota hotbed for ‘wargaming. Nevertheless, the own has a thriving club and we are welcoming new members Prete Maa ov ialty Deke The Vis ad Pore aN CLUB MEETING DATES & TIMES er Rone ent CONTACT PORT ee eto) ear eo Spalding Wargames Club was formed by Martin Jackson and came about almost as an accident, The fledgling gathering of gamers reached its fist anniversary at the end of 2018, prompting Chris Peat to speak to Martin about how it came to be and what challenges and tribulations there are running a club in a quit market town, Like many gamers, Martin started his hobby at a young age, but had a lull in yeurs. He broke out the paints and dice again in his mid-20s. It wasn't until afew years later that he met Cra Jackson (no relation), his co-conspirator in forming the club. The mutual love of wargaming went unnoticed by both for the first few weeks of knowing each other, It wasn't until Martin noticed a ‘Games Workshop app on Craig's phone that he realised theis shared hobby. Delighted at this discovery, Matin sai ‘jst went: You're one of us! He knew some other people who played and Introduced me to some totally different games I didn’t know, like Bolt Acton. We just thought, there must be other ‘people in town who were playing in their garages like us 100.” met ALMOST BY MISTAKE “The Forming ofthe club was, ina way accidental. Martin explained: “I:ried to set up a message thread on Facebook between me and Craig, I jokingly called it Spalding Wargames Club and thought itswas a private group on Facebook I then left it, Thad to go to a meeting Craig tok it as a green light 1 put the word out.1 got back and my social media account was going mad with ‘messages. Turned out it wasn'ta private Then it was just a case of vep, I guess I'm going to have to start a ‘wargames club, ‘There were three main challenges when setting up the club, the fest being fining the venue. Martin said: “Any good, cheap venue is full all the time. You're going to be paying over the odds fora church hall. Another hurdle was devising a time Jor putting it all together and making it viable. Then there's getting the tables and terrain, ‘But we solved all three. The venue, m inlaws were stewards at a Methodist Churce which 1 tw could be hired. ThePP. ss z “ scenery, I begged and borrowed: i gave tus some basic terain. I posted a thread up on a closed group on Facebook for all of us interested to meetin a pub; the “dea being that people turn up and talk and schedule some games. thought it woulda’ be as daunting asus turning tupas strangers for our ist game. Nine ‘people turned up tothe pub and after ‘some beers, we were all best friends ‘Two weeks later, we were meeting up ina ‘church hall throwing dice together.” "The group meets weekly on Wednesday nights, 7.15pm until around 10.30pm. ‘or often later if a game takes longer. Afterwards, many of the club-goers head. to the pub to celebrate their victories or lament their defeat overs pint with their fellow gamers “After a positive start with a good tur ‘ut, the hunt was on fora bigger, cheaper venue. Marin sad: “Craig called all the halls, bars and clubs in town.” Eventually the Vista Hall, near Spalding’s historic Ascoughee Hall, ‘proved an ideal space. "Now we have ‘a cheaper deal with the owners and i's more financially viable,” Martin explained. Italso has @ lock-up inthe basement, ‘where the club's collection of scenery, gaming boards and miniatures are kept ‘The terrain and board collection has ‘grown, through investment by the elub ‘and kind donations by its members Fostering a community spirit club-goers ‘often take home pieces of terrain to paint, Improving the club's provisions fora ‘The club enjoys a healthy turn-out considering its locaton ina small town, but attendance has understandably lagged ‘occasionally. For instance, January and ‘Valentine's Day saw poor attendance. GAMES SYSTEMS Anyone turing up can be assured of a friendly handshake and weleome from Martin, He is keen to ensure attending the club proves a friendly experience. “Those turning up play various systems, with all wargames welcomed Games Workshop's products are well epesented, Warhammer 40k is perpetually popular and the new, smallscale version of it Kill Tear, has no shortage of fans. The now discontinued Warhammer Fantasy is kept alive a the club with several games of it played sporadically. There was a splurge of Moret, the skirmish game based on Fantasy, played ths summer. Games of Warhammer Ancient Battles have been planned too, with Dark Ages conic a erotic: ng Senos an agi As cas OT CU Be Ye Danes ge acros the tatefeld in of weekly gaming how docs Martin ) Tomah Studio's Sap a wel fel abot how tis al going? “de® e ] Stanhip conta isrpesentd wih SIP ae fe net The Wing rm Fantasy igh Games -1HCOWPleofmonth went ely wl py Wing rom Fanny Fight Gm vas exited. Then elif takes over 5 proving popula ‘and mid-week became dificult for Q onniseurfr this system people. said give i tree mons 9 Catisvor Miniatures‘ anthropomorphic andi don ake ofl sion SKimisher Burrows and Badgers.has accomplished. sil di A Gained inerest Kat McMicaefasUyre = fuelled this, bringing his gorgeously en aeaeetne mo pained miniatures tothe club. He isthe The clu did ndeed take of and here are " resident painting expert. aspirations to push it even further. Maria explained: "The dream isto become Digger stil. would like to get tothe point where we could run a joint event with other clubs in the area. Club versus lub, tournament-syle events; that’s what would like to be the nex step.” Karl has also been running afew games of Frostgrave, interestingly using 15mm figures rather than the usual 28mm for this system. It seems to scale down nicely and is proving popular, (One of the uniting systems between almost al clu members is Warlord Games’ Bolt Action, with Russian, British, Japanese and German armies He notes there area lot of lite lubs in neighbouring towns, but the wargaming scene in the area isa sparse one. "Our nearest stockist of Warlord Games has recently closed,” lamented Mart, regularly baling. 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Wednesday, the presence of a game Every time someone comes in, they're anyone can jump-in on means wargamers welcomed; there's no cliques, ‘who have not gota game organised can still come and enjoy themselves, Martin said: “Ir means if your opponent cancels, you can still nur up and wil have something to do,” [Abenefit of the club i how ithas opened 8 up new games to attendees. Matin st: “People come down and they will give games they perhaps have never played before a go. Now I play absolutely Jon is also veteran role-playing anything.” gamer, even having his own campaign settings published. He has been Games Mastering for the club's D&D campaign Right: X-Wing action, Below: The club steampunk syle)