SUNRAYSIA gamers celebrated coming out of lockdown by drawing swords and lining up for battle in Merbein on Saturday.
After six weeks away from one another, the gamers met at Redbelly Games to take part in a league event for the fantasy game, Warhammer Age of Sigmar.
Age of Sigmar is a tabletop game in which players battle through armies of miniature figures, mostly painted by the players. While the battleground is a board, there are no set positions.
Players choose locations, and make moves using rulers, rolls of the die and a set of skills attributed to different characters.
One of the biggest figures played on the day was a figure called Morathi the Shadow Queen, which Redbelly Games owner Glenn Norris described as "a snake-cross-human-cross-dragon".
Despite the grounds for conflict, Mr Norris said the league day was intended to "boost morale" and there was a lot of laughter from the four gamers on the day, including one who returned after a five-year absence.
With the reopening of many retail and hospitality venues, many families were able to spend time together, and Mr Norris said gamers were "rapt" to be with each other.
"Some of these guys don't have families to go to. The gaming community is their family.
"And so (events like today are) all about giving these guys who don't have anywhere to go somewhere to go and socialise with other like-minded people.
"The guys are really, really happy. A lot of these guys have been complaining that they couldn't get out of the house or (that) Merbein was too far to drive because it was outside of the radius to do things."
Redbelly Games opened in April 2020 three days before lockdown. As a gaming venue, it had only ever known "COVID regulations".
But Mr Norris said there was continued support from the gaming community, who would call asking if the shop needed money "to get through until we (got) out of lockdown".
Mr Norris said interest in the gaming events came from people in Mildura, Red Cliffs and as far as Broken Hill.
"We've got one guy in here at the moment who's just starting out into the games, and he's coming out to watch a couple of games, just to get into it."
Mr Norris said Warhammer Age of Sigmar game days ran every fortnight, and alternated with game days for the card-playing community.
He said hoped these league events could uphold his vision of creating a "community spot where (gamers) feel comfortable – like it's someone's home, but in commercial premises".
