Warhammer40k in IFMO

… or how to dive in wargames and swim back

Greetings yet again to all our readers! Today we are going to talk about a popular boardgame aspect, which is often underlooked by gamers — wargames! Here am I for you — Antero — an IFMO boardgame club’s Warhammer40k guide, and i’ll show you everything you need to try!

Wargames are large-scale battle simulations, using miniatures and advanced (or not) terrain. One of the most common is Warhammer 40k — a game set in a distant future, where there is only war. Here you’ll encounter a variety of fractions, from regular human army to xenos species, genetically-enhanced marines, immortal robots, space elves, bugs, a whole pantheon of gods and their slayers and much more!

However… people get scared of this! Why? Well, There are three main difficulties when coming into this world:

• First is, well, miniatures itself. They are expensive, difficult to paint properly and sometimes hard to find. The answer to each of these problems can be a topic for another story, but…
  You don’t really need all that! If you are unsure of your skills or financial availability and just want to try, you can just show up here in IFMO and say “Hey, Antero, I want to chop some Space Marines” and “tässä se on” — you get my personally-designed Mechanicus army to cut out some GMO-boys!

Sicarian Ruststalkers — when I need light infantry removed with s t y l e

Heavy support here — a battery of custom Skorpius Duneriders

• Second, is terrain. Glorious battles feel much better, when conducted in depths of hive cities or on praries of outer planets, with monstrous buildings towering up, not on the desk with piles of books (which is another quite atmospheric way of playing, that i REALLY appreciate.) We are yet in progress of creating our own, modular battlefield, however, we often gather in SPb’s biggest clubs like Anclave or HobbyStation, where all the terrain is at our disposal!

Mechanicus Rangers stand chest-to-chest with Eldars to repel enemy force (not heresy, I tell you)

Necron of the Black Garden are retrieving their construct, stolen by T’au

• Rules. Oh, it’s the most difficult part. Wh40k rulebook is so thick that you can punch someone with it and probably deal a concussion. That’s another reason why I am here — we are organizing novice games, where we teach you everything step by step! You’ll be in hands of a 5-year-experienced Warhammer addict, who witnessed whole editions of rules and played/hosted campaigns, tournaments and tens of games!

So, you want to just start your wargaming career, find opponents or train for tournaments? Come write us, and you’ll find everything, from hobby equipment like paints and knives to skilled champions with well-mustered armies! Most fractions are at your disposal to try out, I myself possess Necron, Mechanicus, Custodes and Tyranids for you! If you want something special — feel free to ask. We are a community, and we’re always glad to help you try out something new!

Our events include:

• training grounds fro noviece players to try out
• experienced player’s regular battles
• tournaments (sometimes — with prizes, we know you like those)
• hobby evenings — painting, assembling, finishing your models
• campaigns — glorious and epic long-term events with lore entries and unit development
• Apocalypse games — large-scale warfare, usually played 5v5 for maximum massiveness and destruction. Titans included!

So, as you see, all this is just scary at first glance — from the inside, wargames are an exciting and diverse hobby, where anyone can find something for themselves! Looking forward to seeing you on the battlefield!

Me enjoying my Black Garden Vanguard

Me looking at it after second turn and Castellan robots’ fire

P.S. just a little idea of me playing against a personally-trained Mechanicus player