Looks like the embryo Kapiti Wargames Club is taking off. The following article about it appeared in today’s Kapiti News.
There have been previous wargames clubs in Kapiti, including the old Kapiti Wargaming Club a couple of decades ago, the Kapiti Fusiliers (which was only really active as bricks and mortar club for a year) and lately the Severed Hand (awful name!) which has now become the new Kapiti Wargames Club. Hopefully this is the start of a mainstream club in our area.
I’m going to pop along to the club night tomorrow after work to have a look. A regular club night might get me more enthused and involved in actually playing more wargames.
The club appears pretty heavily Games Workshop orientated at the moment, but hopefully they’ll be able to cope with a few historical players!
DRESSING THE LINES 
Hi Roly, yes, this is expanded and upgraded ‘Severed Head’. Most players are still mainly GW, but we all agreed to braoden and welcome all wargamers and wargames – creating a “fun, inclusive and safe” enviroment for us all to enjoy our hobby.
We still have a strong youngsters and teen base and intend this to continue – and of course many of these know only GW; although we had a new member do a demo FoW last week, and there was much interest! We also have two youth Role Playing groups (Fallout) that have been going for the last two months. Some of us of course are long term gamers from way back with our own stories to tell.
The Community centre has been a big help – they like the youth aspect in particular – and we now have the place for ourselves each Thursday night. The number of tables is limited (9 6’x4′ and several smaller) but it is a great facility.
We have an elected committee, constitution, membership, playing rules and etiquette and that sort of good stuff. We are putting into place other things as we can – each month/week brings new things as we get more organised. So yes, we hope this is the beginning of a long-term mainstream club too.
Happy gaming, Mark
Thanks for the comment, Mark … look forward to meeting you tomorrow night.
Having said that I am a historical gamer, there are a couple of small (but old) Warhammer Fantasy Battle armies (Empire and orcs) in my display case, which haven’t seen the light of day in about a decade!
I popped along to the club this evening, and, wow, it was great seeing so many people of all ages playing war-games. I never knew there were so many gamers in Kapiti. Great work guys! I’ll be back …
Actually, I thought this club derived from the group Steve Sands, Stephen McPhail, Gordon Roach and co were involved in, which meets at Kapiti College. But it turns out this is a totally separate group. So that means there are even more wargamers out there in Paraparaumu!
And that’s not counting the remnants of Kapiti Fusiliers, too!
Roly,
What a great opportunity to get more gaming. I’m sure you will be able to inspire some of the younger members of the club towards historical gaming with your finely painted armies. The future of the hobby is reliant on young people being involved….and from my experience they tend to be excellent terrain makers!
Yes, that’s true, Wayne. There was already some great scenery there, too – though some of it has been bought by the club.
Thanks for the exposure Roly. We welcome all gamers and games systems, inclusive of role playing. Our junior membership has really taken off, and interest in FOW is building. We already have a Warhammer 40K and Fantasy League Rolling, and (dare I say) possibly a FOW league, that is to say if we can get enough interested players… We are planning an expo for later in the year, and would be keen to have some historical games in addition to the fantasy games. We’d like to showcase what a great hobby Wargaming is to Kapiti. (Put away that Playstation!)
Herman (Kapiti Wargames Club Events and Tournaments organiser)
Thanks for that, Herman. Life has got in the way for me the last two Thursdays, but I hope to front up again soon. And I would love to be involved in an expo.