Despite its considerably smaller size, Ireland’s second city has the run on the capital when it comes to table-top games. Germana Alencar talks to the business-owners behind Cork’s rebel game explosion.
You’d hardly believe it, but Dublin and Cork have table-top gaming communities that are about the same size.
From the most commonly known board games such as Risk to hobby gaming such as Warhammer, Cork is nowadays the Irish table-top gaming capital. Despite having about one-fifth of the capital’s population, Cork has a number of active gamers about the same as Dublin, according to Dylan Murray, 21, associate of the game and comic books shop Comic Vault.
“Cork and Dublin gaming community are definitely comparable in size. Mainly Warhammer – the whole Irish Warhammer Team is from Cork. Dublin has a big scene, obviously, but especially among Irish communities, the groups that are more active are from Cork, Limerick and Galway”, Dylan said, “but the groups from Limerick and Galway are smaller.”
Dylan explained that the term table-top game concern much more than board games. “RPGs (Role Playing Games), board games, card games, war games and all that stuff, they all come under a blanket called ‘table-top gaming’. They are games you play on the top of the table.”
“And they are not all the same, going around the board. There are different stories to go with.” Each different table-top game has its own storyline, with a set of different characters, rules, goals, systems and dynamics.
Warhammer, or Warhammer 40K, is a 2 player miniature war game that simulates terrestrial battles between futuristic armies. The playing area is a model of a battlefield, with miniatures of buildings, hills, and trees. The gamers take turns to move their army across the battlefield and take actions, such as move (measured in inches) and attack (measured in hit units), and the outcomes are determined by dice rolls.
Dylan is a gamer since his 10 years of age, and debuted on the table-top word when influenced by his friends, he bought his first edition of The White Dwarf, a war gaming magazine that had a couple of miniatures and little paint tubes as a complement.
Ever since then Dylan has been involved in the table-top gaming universe. He started frequenting Other Realms shop as a client, worked there for a few months, and after that he worked at GameStop before opening Comic Vault.
Comic Vault was opened in June 2017 by Dylan Murray and Cathal Travers, but they were active on the scene for a few years. The duo has been frequenting gaming and comic conventions for 4 years. In January 2016 they decided to open an online shop and, identifying a great customer base in Cork, they opened the physical store.
The oldest hobby shop open in Cork is Other Realms. The hobby shop that sells a lot of geeky gaming material, from board games to card games, and miniatures, paint, graphic novels and comics opened about 14 years ago. Along with it, Tabletop, Warhammer and Comic Vault are today the main hobby shops in Cork city.
Dylan now runs a couple of gaming groups. One of them is the Brethren Wargaming Club, which he started over two and half years ago. “The scene, especially in the war game, is very fragmented. I started the group to pull together everybody interested in Warhammer.”
With over 280 likes on the Facebook page, it is now one of the biggest war gaming clubs in Ireland. The active members, a little over 40, meet up every other week at Cork’s Community Center to share knowledge of miniature painting and to play the game. “And it is not only Cork city, people come down from Macroom and Kerry to attend the group”, Dylan said.
Cork also hosts Ireland’s largest student-run gaming convention. Warpcon, which is also Cork’s biggest gaming convention, is organized annually by University College Cork’s students. Running for the last 28 years, it happens during the last weekend of January.
UCC WARPS (the UCC Wargaming and Role Playing Society) has been organizing the event that grew from the usual student event to one of the biggest conventions in the country. Each year Warpcon runs, among others, RPGs from a plethora of systems, CCGs (Collectable Card Game), HeroClix, table-top wargaming and LARPS (Live Action Role Play Society).
Curiously enough, in the digital era, one of the most analog type of entertainment is experiencing skyrocketing sales growth. In 2017, board game sales in the U.S. grew by 28%, according to National Purchase Diary Group, and global sales increased to $9.6 billion in 2016 from $9.3 billion in 2013, according to Euromonitor International. The biggest online retailers are reporting huge growth with Amazon growing 39% from 2017 to 2018 and eBay that reported 11% growth for the same period.
But for Dylan and Cathal online shopping does not seem to represent a threat. “The physical store is a community thing, people come to the shop as a social place. People don’t come only to buy, they also come to chat and play with friends”, Dylan said.
“It’s all for fun really, to play with your friends. Maybe just a little bit of escapism – and it is not just Monopoly!” Dylan Murray
According to the duo that runs Comic Vault, there are plenty of people in Cork interested in the fantasy universe. Events have been popping around, for the last year or so, to help all these people to meet. From gaming groups to signing events, festivals and conventions, gamers residing in Cork have a choice of places to go almost every day of the week.
Savvy? Chose a group, show up and roll the dice!
UCC Warps meet in UCC every Thursday at 7 pm. Everyone is welcome, people are usually willing to teach and it is free in.
Tabletop Cork is a coffee shop recently opened with a large selection of games. The owners are lifelong gamers, it is open every day, “all-you-can-play” for €4 per person.
Got Game? runs dozens of board games at The Rising Sons pub. It happens every second Monday from 8 pm, free in.
Cork Action League also has available a large selection of board games in The Mardyke Complex. Every Monday from 7 pm and, free in.
Dan Lowrey’s Tavern has a weekly gaming group. They meet on Tuesdays from 7:30 pm, also free in.
Cork Games Guild meet in Cavanagh’s for board games and RPGs. Every Wednesdays from 5:30 pm, also free in.
Not sure what to play?
Check out Dylan’s suggestions of Top 3 table-top games.
Geeky – Warhammer
It is the most popular miniature war games in the world. “My favorite is The Age Of Sigmar which is high-fantasy, with orcs and goblins and all this `kinda craic`. It is not only buying and playing the game, but you are also getting the models, building them – it’s a hobby. Painting, building, mashing up and making conversions and playing.”
Intermediate – RPG Vampire the Masquerade
“I would say any RPG, really. But my favorite is Vampire the Masquerade.” A “gothic-punk” version of the modern world, on Vampire the Masquerade players assume the roles of vampires and deal with their own natural urges, vampire hunters and each other. “I played a 2 and half years campaign. It is very much like you are diving into the universe.”
Introductory – Carcassonne
“It is one of my favorites of all time!” A tile placement game, the rules are so simple and the game never repeats. There are so many different probabilities because there are so many tiles. Board games are in general more introductory, anyone that has played any board game before will understand the rules.
“But when it comes to all these different systems, all the levels are present in each one – there is the super-geeky aspect, the intermediate aspect and the beginner aspect for each one.” Dylan Murray
Anywhere, really 