All of us remember Star Wars Episode IV. It has become part of our collective story. So many of the moments have become part of our culture.
For me there is a single moment that I believe is relevant to our current situation. At the end, when the valiant few have returned from their triumphant attack on the evil tyrants, there is a medal ceremony on the steps of a great palace.
Luke and Han receive medals from the beautiful princess. Whilst Chewbacca looks on, medal-less.
If that scene taught us anything, it was this : only pretty people get individual rewards.
Thankfully this is not a problem we have with our 40k team of ugly reprobates that ventured into Wrexham and returned victorious with Ash, The Deeside Dragon.
Congratulations to everyone involved in the team. And I do mean team.
A year ago Josh approached me about a “team tournament”. To my shame I didn’t really think much about it. 40k not being my thing, and not really understanding the tournament scene. When Josh suggested that we get some trophies made, I did think that was at least something I could do to help.
Josh gave me an STL file of a dragon head. At full scale it was about 3” tall. I printed three of them gold, silver and bronze for the top three individual players. I clearly didn’t get the team thing.
Over the next weeks it slowly became apparent to me that the tournament was a bigger deal than I realised, and it gave us a great way to reach out beyond the club, compete with others and strengthen our community.
Belatedly I looked at the trophies we’d made and realised that teams don’t get individual rewards. They compete for shared glory. They share the pain and they share the success.
I took that tiny dragon, embiggened it, cut it into half a dozen pieces and set the printer running. 3 days of printing, filling and sanding later I smuggled the result into the club under a blanket to give to Josh just 2 days before the event. That was the first time he’d seen it.
On the day of the tournament Josh brought the dragon in and showed me the brilliant paint job he’d 'slapped on it’ in just 48 hours. As coolly as we could manage, we welcomed Wrexham to Wales’ Premier Gaming Club, (an off-the-cuff comment I may yet live to regret) and unveiled the trophy.
A silly plastic dragon.
That dragon quickly got a name: Ash.
Suddenly there was something to play for, bragging rights and a cup to lift aloft.
That first loss hurt.
But over the last 10 months we responded to that hurt. The best twelve of us (that were available), took getting our silly plastic dragon back very seriously. They’ve been cajoled by me, pushed by Josh, organised by Ben & Matt and encouraged by everyone.
On Saturday, our ugliest twelve went to right a wrong. I don’t think they went to win a dragon back. They went to support each other, knowing they ALL had a job to do. They went as a team in a way they weren’t a year ago. Stronger friendships, greater community.
Despite all of our banter and rivalry, Wrexhammer are gracious hosts and a part of our extended community. They only differ from us by virtue of having been unfortunate enough to find themselves in Wrexham and joining Wales’ Second (Third?) Best Gaming Club.
Our Twelve went into the dark, and they won back the silly plastic dragon.
This might only be a silly plastic dragon.
But it’s OUR silly plastic dragon. Welcome home, Ash!
I’d love to be able to say we planned all of this, meticulously and with care. It’s true that the committee hoped that we might build regular competition with other cubs and build a strong community within our club. But it would be a complete lie to suggest that we knew entirely what we were doing. We have such a great set of members, and a willing rival club in Wrexham, that would take the vague idea and turn it into something real and far more successful.
None of this is down to the committees of either club. Its down to the camaraderie, friendships and community we get from playing games with like minded people.
2025 is going to be one hell of a fight.
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