What a difference a year makes. Following the abysmal 2021 with postponements and finally cancelations we entered 2022 with fingers crossed, together with hopes and dreams for a better year all round.
Can I say sitting here reflecting on the Arc40k year that was 2022 - that it was one where we managed to pull of some amazing things.
With participants able to carry over tickets from 2021 there was already a core group who were waiting with anticipation that the starting gun could be fired and we could get this event back up and running.
January saw a surge in Covid-19 cases, some of our interstate travelers uncertain if they would get in and out of Victoria, or worst still catching Covid and not knowing if they would be allowed into the state…
But we rallied, the team had an event that had been waiting for 12 months to get going and we did that. So on 5&6 March we descended on our Coburg Venue for the second time and played (total games) games of Warhammer 40,000 over 6 rounds of some amazing missions brought to the table top by long time Arc40k veteran Sam Grant.
We crowned a new series of Champions, recognised veterans and met some great new friends…
In next to no time everything started again. But with our 25th Anniversary year on the horizon there was a higher bar to get over.
In April the team started talking about supporting the event over a longer period of time. We really wanted to create a legacy where we could capture the history of the event. We wanted to capture the reflections, collect and record what people felt were the key moments that created the event.
Oh and put into print the key principles that have driven Arc40k over all those years to become the revered event it has become for the Warhammer 40,000 Hobby scene here in Australia.
This saw the birth of a new improved and most exciting version ever of our website Arc40k.com. One of the things we wanted to do was have regular updates and see it change and evolve to embrace change and announcements that would impact on the event.
Since it launched we’ve seen more than 60 articles contributed to the site covering hobby and gaming advice, army building Blogs, reviews, advice and veneration of our hobby heroes.
The quite achiever of the ArcFamily is a little event run By Rob and Andy - Arcromunda. They managed to hold two campaign weekends at the House of War focusing on Necromunda - their favorite game I’m told… This little event has managed to create a following, carve out a page on the website, and see some exciting plans being developed for next year. Bring on Arcromunda III in 2023!
Our other big moment in 2022 was the launch of ArcOpen… the team worked hard to create an open painting challenge that would fit into being a part of the Arc40k weekend as well as be an event that would capture and encourage the imagination of fantasy and Sci-fi display miniature painting in Melbourne Australia.
And then… Squidmar got on board! The world’s most subscribed Warhammer YouTuber signed on to be a part of the the Arc40k and ArcOpen weekend. Emil’s coming, along with his partner in crime Lukas to meet our Australian Hobbyist, hang out for the weekend and Judge painting!
Oh and Australian Display Painting Royalty Victoria Lamb - Golden Demon, Slayer Sword winner and long term sponsor of Arc40k - agreed to also join into awesome weekend we had planned to launch a new era of Australian Display Painting events and to be a part of the 25th Celebrations.
Look - 2022 has been hectic - Major Sponsor House of War has made a whole load of things possible. We’ve so much to reveal about prizes, awards and trophies that wouldn’t be possible without their amazing support.
And we’ve a load of returning sponsors who we are eager to share our gratitude for their ongoing support in articles and announcements through out January.
So thanks 2022 you saw Arc40k back after a year on hold, but OMG can’t wait to see what the weekend 4&5 March 2023 will see as we bring to life a celebration of the most amazing of hobbies celebrations… we’re so looking forward to seeing you all there.
