Words by Tim Franklin
■ The Spanish team huddle to discuss tactics for fantasy wargame The 9th Age. (ETC)
Wargamers are some of the most competitive gamers around, alongside chess grandmasters, CCG champions and your nan during the annual family Monopoly game on Boxing Day. They tweak their armies and hone their strategies for days on end, removing every weakness and claiming every advantage, striving for victory in the next clash of toy soldiers. Kitchen table battles are hotly contested, and tournaments resound to the noise of dozens of gamers rolling dice and pushing plastic, steam whistling from their ears as their brains overheat.
An army of club, tournament and convention organisers help make this happen; volunteers who work long and hard to give players a place and a reason to play. Yet there are some members of the community whose efforts aThect players of their game all across the globe, and enable competitive gaming at a higher level.
KING OF THE HILL
Competitive wargamers can usually name a handful of top players in their local scene, players who have mastered the game and crush all opposition. But singling out the very best player in the country would be a contentious matter for most people – a threepint problem for the after-tournament pub session, sure to generate a heated dispute.
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