WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM | JULY 23 - 29, 2021 | 13
COVER STORY
As pandemic ebbs, popularity of tabletop games is on the rise Veer Mudambi Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK
With the prevalence of massive multiplayer online video games and the ability to create and control everything from small bands of heroes to vast armies in the digital realm, one would be forgiven for assuming that physical models and inperson games were essentially obsolete. Why spend money and time to build and paint each new character when you can make a one-time purchase and have it all at your fi ngertips? And that’s not even including traveling to meet your gaming group. At the very least, video games are fairly pandemic-proof. But looking beyond the surface, the eff ort is what makes it special, as demonstrated by the Worcester Wargaming Group — the local tabletop gaming community. Dan Dudley, tabletop hobbyist, feels these games have teachable moments where one can learn life lessons about winning, losing, teamwork, friendship and sportsmanship. “Games are meant to be fun but also learning experiences so when you are fl oored by the game you are in, where you’ve spent all your eff ort, your paint, your time — learning to deal with that is pretty important for growth and being a decent human being.” Dudley and his friends play a specifi c game — "Warhammer: Age of Sigmar" — where players construct Tolkien-esque armies of fantastical creatures to do battle over a tabletop battle-
Christopher Clofft and his son Michael started the hobby together. Here they’re setting up their respective armies. VEER MUDAMBI
fi eld. Its science fi ction spinoff , "Warhammer 40K," has also proved phenomenally popular with its armies of Space Marines, war machines and vicious alien hordes. There are
other such games, but the experiences of WWG, which focuses on AoS, clearly refl ect the feeling of isolation and disconnect of the wider tabletop community during and after the
pandemic. Miniature wargaming is a complex pastime and one can spend years playing but barely scratch the surface, due to the combinations of models and
strategies. In addition to the games themselves, there is a modeling and artistic aspect which is a craft unto itself. The See GAMES, Page 14
