‘All the pieces are on steroids’

Published 5:00 am Saturday, April 30, 2005

Warhammer lures island teens into fantasy strategy game.

Galactic mayhem has come to Bainbridge Island.

But most people are unaware.

The phenomenon unfolds at the Boys and Girls Club on Sunday afternoons, when Woodward eighth-grader Zane Sackett and his buddies go to war with hand-painted armies made up of fierce warriors, vicious aliens and humanoids with gargantuan upper bodies that make Arnold Schwarzengger look like a wimp.

The teens maneuver these tiny figures in battle against other grotesque fantasy armies in a tabletop game of tactical strategy, imagination and intrigue known as Warhammer.

“It’s strategic and fun and the guys look really cool,” said Warhammer devotee Paul Depew, 14, one of 14 kids in the Warhammer Club that meets from 3-6 p.m. Sundays. “It’s pretty complicated and it takes a while to remember the rules.”

On a recent Sunday afternoon, six teens arrived carrying special boxes, which carry their armies of superhuman warriors, armored tanks, and the paints and tiny brushes used to color the battlefield figures.

Players also set up elaborate scenery they’ve made themselves, using styrofoam, wood and paint.

It took more than an hour to set up for play, and then, with a role of the dice, the game began.

Unlike video games, Warhammer is slow and requires quite a lot of consultation before a move is made.

“It’s slower than golf,” cracked Chuck Depew, who accompanies his son Paul to the club meetings. “It’s the teenage equivalent of ice fishing.”

Consulting 64-page war rule books, called codexes, the boys took turns methodically maneuvering their troops and tanks, firing imaginary shots, and accumulating points, based on the value of each tiny figure crafted of plastic or metal.

Many of the figures have special powers, and not all are soldiers. Some are mystics, sages and hierophants, who aid the more muscular creatures — some adorned with skulls and splashed in make-believe blood – in their army.

“It’s enjoyable. You get to build and paint everything, and it’s fun to test them out,” said Dan Callan, 13.

The War­hammer Club was established on Bainbridge with the help of Juliette Perez, Zane Sackett’s mom. Her son was an avid player in Friday Harbor, who learned with men in the club there. When Zane and his family moved to the island, he and a few Warhammer pals began playing in the living room.

“Most of these kids really like video games, and this gets them away from the screen and interacting with one another,” Perez said. “There’s an artistic element too, because they put these tiny pieces together and paint them. Then they bring out their rule books and engage in this game of strategy.”

It was clear before long, as the group grew, that they needed another space to gather.

“At home, they might take five hours to play a game that moved from one room into another,” Perez said. “And there’s a lot of eating in between.”

To test the interest for a club on the island, Perez and her son held a meeting at the library, got a positive response, and the Boys and Girls Club donated its facility on Sunday afternoons.

“It’s grown through word of mouth,” said Perez, who recently accompanied her son and other players to a “Conflict” in Seattle, in which dozens of clubs from around Puget Sound battled one another.

In a sea of men and boys, there was one lone girl player, dressed in Gothic black. Although there are female Warhammer army pieces called “Sisters of Battle,” girls are clearly in the minority when it comes to Warhammer.

Although few girls could be found at the recent Warhammer tournament at NASA space center in Houston, New York Times reporter Julie Salamon wrote that the game involves “mental ferocity and a certain delicacy,” with “The players – some overweight, some string beans, clean-cut and tattooed, boys and men – toted their miniature warriors as carefully as little princesses carting collections of fragile dollies.”

The game and playing pieces are manufactured by a British firm called Games Workshop, which does no advertising. Warhammer has been popular in England, Australia and throughout Europe for 20 years, and it’s fans are expanding in the United States, where 57 stores sell game pieces in 16 cities.

There are thousands of miniature army pieces, and dozens of armies to choose from — including a new “Lord of the Rings” set – with starter games costing about $80, and some speciality pieces selling for up to $45 each.

Stephen Vassiliadis, 14, has about $150 worth of Grey Knights, while others in the Warhammer club have Space Marines or Daemonhunter collections.

“There are phases of popularity in the characters,” said Chuck Depew, whose son collects the Daemonhunter genre.

When asked if Warhammer had inspired them to seek careers in the military, the Bainbridge Island club members looked bored and said “Nah.”

Then they got back to their war books, discussing which move to make next, in order to scorch their opponents on the tabletop battlefield.

“It’s more complicated than chess,” said Richard Murphy, 13, an Odyssey student. But in this game, “all of the pieces are on steroids.”

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Pound away

The Warhammer Club of Bainbridge Island is looking for more kids to come play the game from 3-6 p.m. on Sundays. For further information, call Juliana Perez at 842-0954.