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Plastic warriors will fight for tabletop glory in Dunedin this Labour Weekend.
The Otago Miniature Tacticians Society is holding its annual Red October wargaming convention at the Edgar Centre on Saturday and Sunday.
Players from across the region and further afield will gather for a range of tournaments.
Club member Jonathan Cweorth said the event combined model crafting with battlefield strategy.
“It’s the pleasure I suppose of pretending to be a general where you have to have an overview of your whole army and make sure the different elements are working well together,” Mr Cweorth said.
Competitors will pit their forces against each other in one of four games: Warhammer 40K, Age of Sigmar, Lord of the Rings and Konflikt ‘47.
Konflikt ‘47 will make its Dunedin competition debut this weekend, bringing futuristic technology and zombies into a World War 2 setting.
“It is based on a system called Bolt Action, which is a straight World War 2 recreation, but it is introducing science fiction elements into those rules.
“There’s a whole background where Hitler is overthrown by a group of occultists who then establish their own sinister puppet state.”
Organisers will award prizes for category champions alongside honours for sportsmanship and painting.
“It’s such a great hobby because you can connect with people straight away.
“You’ve got a shared interest so there is a sense of community throughout the country and indeed right around the world,” Mr Cweorth said.
Society president Kelly Gragg has played tabletop battles for 30 years and will bring a customised Warhammer 40K Death Guard detachment to the gathering.
“They’re all deceased and corroded,” Mr Gragg said.
His collection features decayed fighters such as a blightlord terminator equipped with a flail of corruption and a poxwalker in a blue trench coat wielding an improvised sledgehammer.
Mr Gragg converts standard grey model kits by swapping parts between sets and sculpting details with putty.
He applies layers of paint and glazes to create weathering and lighting effects.
“I have kind of taken it off an existing colour scheme, but obviously modified it for my own.”
The society was founded in 1969 as a historical wargaming group,
“It was really probably like Napoleonic-era and World War 2 kind of wargames, I imagine.
“As the games have developed, it has moved into fantasy and science fiction and other things,” Mr Gragg said.
The society welcomes new members to its club days at the Dunedin Gasworks Museum on the second and fourth Saturday of each month from 10.30am to 5pm.
Otago Miniature Tacticians Society
Red October wargaming convention
9am-5pm
Saturday and Sunday, October 24 and 25
Edgar Centre
Free entry
