Andrew Galea and Gav Clarke (the guys behind Irresistible Force and RankingsHQ) have hung up their swords and shields and withdrawn from running the WHFB Australian Masters. This has caused some disquiet (mild description) in the Oz Fantasy scene, mainly it appears because they were less than 3 months out from the 2011 event. Thankfully, Good Games in Canberra have picked up the baton.
Andrew has run the event for 7 years and in that time legitimised the rankings system. The blueprint he used I shamelessly copied when I set up the NZ Masters in 2008. In recent years Andrew was joined by Gav and they provided the showcase event for the Australian Fantasy Community.
I was lucky enough to attend two of these events and I regard them as two of the highpoints of my wargaming experience. At those events I met a lot of people I regard as friends and got to test myself against them.
In the early years the guys had a sponsor who helped them out financially paying for the cost of flights and accommodation of those who attended. As one of the recipients of this I would like to acknowledge his efforts (thanks Baron!). However they also committed both financial and time resources to ensuring the event was a success.
I subscribe to the theory when it stops being fun it’s better to walk away.
So thanks Andrew and Gav. You made my hobby a better experience.
Good luck to the new organiser.
Those guys have had a pretty full-on year by what I can gather.
ReplyDelete/salute
Wow, That was a hilarious thread on Wargamerau! Some people don't quite appreciate what they are given, apparently...
ReplyDeleteGav and Guns are great guys, so it's unfortunate, but I'm not exactly surprised. It's kinda hard to organise things like this from the other side of the planet.