PRINTTabled obsessions
Wizards and warriors don’t need a video screen
TONY BROWN
Travis Gibbs measures the distance his troops can move during a release party at Valhalla’s Gate for the fifth edition of Warhammer 40,000. The roll of several dice determines the movement of the pieces; a tape measure helps make sure those movements are to spec.
July 24, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
A dozen middle-aged men crowd around a large table in the middle of Mark Burton’s gaming store, Valhalla’s Gate. Burton announces: “There are no special rules and no scenarios. This is an all-out bloodbath!” And with an anti-climactic “go,” miniature models of robotic soldiers spill onto the table and are quickly arranged to resemble platoons in an epic battle.
For the World Tree Gaming Club, hosted by Valhalla’s Gate, this is a regular night of war game battle. The club meets every first and third Friday of the month, and games such as Warhammer and Warmachine unfold on tables scattered with plastic plants and rocks.
What: World Tree Gaming Club
Where: Valhalla’s Gate, 901 E. Nifong, Suite B
When: Every first and third Friday of the month
Cost: $5 for year-long membership
Call: 442-9909
What: Friday Night Magic
Where: Valhalla’s Gate and Velocity Games, 215 W. Reed St., Moberly
When: Most Fridays
Cost: Free
Call: 442-9909, 660-269-8820
More Info: valhallasgate.com
--TONY BROWN
Travis Gibbs measures the distance his troops can move during a release party at Valhalla’s ...
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Meanwhile, the back room of the store, aptly named the Play Room, fills with people casting spells and unleashing fantastical beasts with Magic: The Gathering, a collectible card game considered the first in its genre, having arrived on the gaming scene in 1993.
When Josh Bolston, 14, started playing Magic about a year ago, the game quickly became a family affair. Josh needed someone to play with, so he got his stepfather, who played Magic during his middle-school years, back into the game. Over the past month, even Josh’s mother has started to play.
“It’s very competitive around the house,” says Theresa Smith, Josh’s mother. “We play all of the time, and we really enjoy playing each other.” But the family doesn’t keep their hobby at home. They also attend Valhalla’s Gate game nights. “When we come here, there are just so many different players and styles of play,” Theresa Smith says.
Game play consists of players drawing cards from their decks of mythical beasts and inflicting damage to their opponents’ creatures with specialized attacks.
It’s much easier to get involved in Magic than it is to start out in a war game such as Warhammer 40,000. Although collecting a competitive Magic deck can cost $100 or more, most players can get started for about $40. War games, however, require a more substantial commitment, in both time and money. A fully equipped army of models can cost upwards of $2,000, says Ryan Waters, who works at Valhalla’s Gate.
“It takes a long time to make them look good,” Daniel Kohnen says, “but once you’ve got them painted, set up and ready for battle, it makes it a lot more fun than just going out and buying a model.” Kohnen has invested nearly $400 in his army. That number, he says, will grow much larger.
The idea behind most war games is “a little bit like chess,” Waters says. “And if you’ve ever played StarCraft or WarCraft on the computer, it’s a lot like that. You know where your opponents are, and you take turns moving and shooting.”
The game is played with miniature models of characters that have different strengths and attack methods. Although game play is the focus, the club also promotes the other half of the hobby — painting the models — through contests and paint giveaways.
“To me, a best-painted award is better than an overall victory,” says Chris Coffelt, a war-game enthusiast from Brazito. “When I was a kid, I liked putting plastic models together. But as an adult, it looks a little silly if you’re playing with your models without a reason. This way, I get to play with my models and play a game.”
Often, it’s the allure of playing against a live opponent that fills the store with gamers in the evenings. “It’s more social, more mano a mano,” Waters says. “A game could last a couple hours, so you really get to exercise your strategy.” He says many of the players who come into the store are avid video gamers, but the social aspect of face-to-face gaming brings them out to tournaments and game nights.
“I like the strategic part of it,” says Kohnen, on his first night in the club. “And it’s fun to go to tournaments and compete against a bunch of different people.”
The Smith family agrees — the competitive atmosphere and the chance to meet new people was what brought them out to play for the first time at the weekly Friday Night Magic tournament.
“It’s an ever-changing game, and the ways to play are about as diverse as the people who play,” Jason Smith says.
For Coffelt, the 45-minute drive from his home is worth it just to play with other war game enthusiasts. “It keeps me out of trouble,” he says. “I’m 45, happily married for 20 years, and this is my release.”
