A roll of the dice in Black Hill

SIX large tables adorn Bloc Theatre Company’s main rehearsal space on Saturday evenings, dotted with miniature models that lay waste across cardboard battlefields.

The Black Hill facility is hosting a different kind of performance, one in which the clattering of dice determines the outcome of simulated warfare.

It’s an the average meeting for Ballarat Fellowship Gaming, a collective of many of the city’s wargaming enthusiasts.

Founded last year, the non-profit group is preparing to host its first major event, a campaign based around the Warhammer 40k franchise.

The campaign will begin on Saturday, 5 March and span three months.

Club secretary Campbell Rowe said the event is being spearheaded to rekindle interest in the group following interruptions due to COVID lockdowns.

“We want to give people a reason to come out again and play some games as opposed to the scattered community we normally have,” he said.

Players will begin with a limited set of models with which to act out their battles, and their collections will expand in size as the campaign continues.

With the Warhammer rulebook as a guide, players will be able to create their own narrative, shaping their characters and battalions within an established fictional universe.

Group president Adam Mitchell said the ambitious length of the campaign will allow players to feel an organic sense of progression.

“People will be asked to bring their own backstory, and over time there’ll be battles, people might play certain opponents or develop grudges,” Mr Mitchell said.

“There’ll be really cool moments in the game that you can plug into your narrative and that’ll progress as the campaign goes on.”

Mr Rowe said their choice of campaign is driven by the community, and that despite frequent trends in interest, Warhammer 40k is “probably the most popular wargame around.”

BFG aims to provide a space where board gamers of any experience can meet to play their favourite wargame, with talks of expanding to include role-playing and other tabletop styles.

“It lets us cater for a broad range of tastes,” Mr Mitchell said. “You’ve got fantasy settings, future settings, big games, small games, and everything in between.”

Beyond wargaming, the group seeks to foster a creative hub where people can work on their painted models and trial their own independently developed games.

Mr Rowe said he hopes the increasing interest in the upcoming campaign will foster a sense of camaraderie and friendship within the community.

“We’d like to see people playing games against people that they wouldn’t normally play with,” he said.

“It’s about creating that community and getting people to make new friends, and just to get out there and have some fun.”

The group meets every Saturday at 608 Peel Street North, Black Hill and plays from 6.30pm until 11pm.

Prizes will be awarded at the end of the upcoming Warhammer campaign for categories of painting, war-themes and sportsmanship.

Participation for each weekend is $10, and those wishing to spectate must offer a gold coin.