Call to Arms 2002

- By Hagen Kerr (Club President)

At the more spacious and comfortable St Pats College, Call to Arms, the Warlords' annual convention was yet again a great success. Over 150 wargamers participating in their favourite games always is a fantastic event! The Warlords made a modest profit at the convention and existing members (now over 100!) seemed to have a good time and were enthusiastic to play more.

A big thank you goes to those who travelled from all over the North Island - especially Auckland, Waikato, Hawkes Bay, Taranaki, Christchurch and Manawatu. It's always a good feeling to see regular (and therefore familiar) faces coming together to enjoy their respective hobbies.

The umpires will no doubt submit reports on their competitions (some have already), but mention should be made again of the demonstration and participation games. Once again these were an important part of Call to Arms. They give visitors to the convention the opportunity to learn a bit about the hobby of wargaming, and they certainly do a lot for the advancement of the hobby in general. Rhys Batchelor and co. won the prize for best participation/demo game for their massive re-enactment of the Battle of Crete. Well done! I must say all of the demo/participation games looked excellent, and thanks to the guys (and girls) who took time to talk to visitors and explain what its all about.

Out of the trade stands, Mack's Tracks could only make it to the Sunday, but had a good day selling lots of product (particularly Battlefront miniatures).

This year the committee decided to invest in some hired muscle to shift the ever-increasing amounts of tables. Thanks goes to Shift-A-Flat for doing this for us, it has to be one of the most sensible and effective investments we have ever made for a tournament (and highly recommended for future events). The support provided by a number of Warlords members in helping set up the tables on Friday night (and pack up Sunday) was very appreciated. On the down side, some periods did not have any of their participants helping out, so please take this as a heads up for next year.

While some people voiced concerns that there was a lack of readily available food (not noticeable last year as the location was so close to a supermarket and café), the committee will be looking into a couple of options for 2003. These will either be an honesty box system (like we have done with the cans of drink) or getting in a caterer. We'll especially be asking the people selling the fundraising chocolate bars to return again next year (and with more chocolate!) J

We hope you all enjoyed yourselves over the weekend, and look forward to seeing you all again next year!
 

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