When Canterbury teacher Matty Manzl took up the boardgame Warhammer as a youngster, he never imagined it would one day take him to the world champs.

The Woodend School teacher qualified for the world championships in August and will become the first New Zealand representative to compete in the Warhammer underworlds category in Barcelona, Spain, in December.

“I was lucky enough to take the win, which earned me the golden ticket.”

But the prize came with no sponsorship or airfares and he has to fly to Europe to pick up the “golden ticket”.

Underworlds is one of four Warhammer games. Warhammer is a tabletop miniature, dice-based wargame played on modelled battlefields, where enthusiasts paint their own plastic miniatures.

Born in Australia, Mr Manzl received his first Warhammer game set, a box of five models and a paint brush, from a cousin when he was 6-7 years old.

“He had been playing for so long and he had this massive army.”

It wasn’t long until Mr Manzl was hooked.

His wife Sophea is from Rangiora and “she wanted to come home”.

“She likes boardgames, but not Warhammer. But she is very supportive.

“When I qualified for the worlds, she said ‘it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and we’ll make it happen’.”

While relieving at Woodend School in 2022, Mr Manzl says he overheard some students talking about Warhammer and decided to start an after school club.

After returning to Australia for a year, Mr Manzl joined the Woodend School teaching staff in 2024 and revived the Warhammer club.

The club is free to join and Mr Manzl tries to provide as many games as he can.

“It’s really nice to see these kids participate in a competitive outlet which isn’t sport.”

The original students who helped found the club in 2022 have since moved on to Kaiapoi High School, but return on Wednesday afternoons to support the newest Warhammer gamers.

Ben Maley remembers overhearing Mr Manzl talking to some of his classmates.

“I said ‘did you say Warhammer’ and then Mr Manzl asked if we wanted to start a club.”

He remembers Mr Manzl bringing his miniatures, including an “elf army”, to school.

The students said they enjoy putting aside their devices to play Warhammer. They like the competitiveness and connecting with others in the real world.

Others prefer to spend their time painting the plastic miniatures.

Warhammer reinforces their learning, as it involves maths, lots of reading and problem solving, Mr Manzl says.

He is thankful for the support from the school and the families of his students, who have been helping fundraise.

He is planning a raffle, quiz night, a pizza day and making an “I’ve got your back” t-shirt to raise some funds.