With “Last of the Mohicans” theme song faintly playing in the background, FHS sophomores Guthrie Quist, Jeff Eayrs and Marc Antonietti prepare for battle. The battle is “Warhammer,” a strategic war game Quist compared to the board game “Risk.” It involves battle on a four-by-six-foot game board equipped with natural topography such as mountains, forests and low grasslands. “It’s really quite a strategic game,” said Eayrs. While traveling in Australia two summers ago, Quist noticed Warhammer’s popularity. “I first heard about it in Australia and I became interested in it,” said Quist. “Then I went back (to Australia) and got a game board and game pieces so I could learn how to play.” When Quist returned to the U.S., he introduced Warhammer to his friends Eayrs and Antionetti. “It took about a month after Guth got back to start playing because it takes a long time to paint everything,” said Eayrs. Two armies fight for their own causes in Warhammer. Each side has rules about its characters’ strengths. Players can add more characters to their armies by buying more armies and painting the characters by hand to add creativity. “It’s neat because you can create your own style — it really is quite an accomplishment,” said Eayrs. Another addition to the Warhammer game is Warhammer Magic, which includes more than 200 magic items that can be used along with more than 80 spells to add complexity. The game is popular in Europe and Australia, said Quist, but the three friends are on their own for now because the game’s lack of popularity in the United States hinders the number of playing companions. “It really isn’t that popular here (in the U.S.) yet except in the big cities,” said Quist. “I’m hoping that it’ll get popular here too so we can play with more opponents.” Quist said he enjoys the thought Warhammer requires. “It’s really cool; you get to test the strategic part of your brain,” said Quist. “You have an entire army at your fingertips.” |
