Alberta Wargaming Grand Tournament set to start in August
Two Calgary gamers are working together to bring back to Alberta a massive table-top tournament event.
Matt Lau and Ryan Trott, both students at Mount Royal University, say that the substantial upfront costs of the game, Warhammer, scare off potential players from taking up the hobby.
Lau and Trott have stepped up to try and fill the void that was created, when Games Workshop stores across Calgary closed their doors.
“The stores used to be where players would gather for large events and tournaments,” Trott, 23, says. “After the stores closed, the company also stopped hosting tournaments for Warhammer players.”
The tournaments used to attract players of Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40, 000 – both tabletop miniature games produced by Games Workshop.
Emerging in 1987, Warhammer players construct, paint and play a myriad of different armies against each other, using dice, rulebooks and measuring tape. The first edition was set in the grim dark future of the 41st millennium — and the other game — in a J.R.R. Tolkien-inspired fantasy setting.
“It’s about creating an environment where players can come compete and grow in an environment that we don’t really have in Calgary anymore,” says 22-year-old Lau.
Lau is the head organizer for the Alberta Wargaming Grand Tournament.
A second year student in the nursing program at Mount Royal University, Matt Lau, contemplates his next move in Warhammer, a miniature tabletop war game.
Photo by Danny LuongHe says, “Players can come out and expect a friendly environment that promotes the growth of the scene as a whole.”
Lau says he feels that growing the player base should be a priority for all tournament organizers.
He believes that with enough support from the community, storefronts and hobbyists alike, new faces will begin to show at tournaments.
The tournament is set for Aug. 17-18 in Edmonton, with more than 40 people confirmed to be attending according to Lau. Information about the tournament is available at www.albertawargaminggt.com.