Today’s blog post is a spotlight on Perth table top gaming club, Outpost 6030. As we get closer and closer to Southern Hemisphere Open I am taking some time to chat with those involved. One of our aims with SHO is to increase gamers awareness of the resources available in the community and one of those resources is the gaming clubs. We really hope that SHO is a great way to connect like minded gamers and it is brilliant to have some of the gaming clubs in WA along to help facilitate that.
Outpost 6030 is one of those that is dear to our hearts, not only is it run by amazing people, it has been around for many years and Mike was responsible with Bob Grey (any many others) for opening the Outpost South branch and it was at Outpost 6030 South that I assisted with running my very first event (a million years ago), with a very swish at the time excel spreadsheet. Prior to this events had been scored using pencil and a piece of paper. We thought we were pretty onto it! So enough about us, onto chatting with Jacob from Outpost.
Tell me a little bit about you?
I’m Jacob Hawkins and I’m a long-time gamer, having played a wide variety of games over the years, most of what I’ve played in the last year has been 30K, Malifaux, and Infinity. I tend to spend most of my hobby time these days running Outpost’s 30K Leagues or coordinating the 30K events for our bi-annual Skulls Tournaments.
I moved to Perth from California back in 2013 and was impressed by the number of gaming clubs and the sheer number of gamers here! We don’t have anything like Australia’s club culture in the US. Most gaming revolves around stores and from my experience, doesn’t get nearly as many players regularly as the clubs here do. After checking out a number of clubs, I found that Outpost’s Tuesday club nights fit my schedule – I was lucky enough to get a pick-up game my first night. I lost badly, but there was such a welcoming atmosphere at the club, I looked forward to coming back each week.
How long have you been associated with the club and in what way/s?
I’ve been a member of Outpost for 4 years now. After participating in a 40K Escalation League run by Peter Hartree, I realized I wanted to run a similar Escalation League for 30K. That led to me taking over the Skulls 30K Tournaments from Troy Keally not long after, I’ve run four since then and am running my fifth one in October. Somewhere in there, I wound up being the Secretary for the Outpost’s Committee and then last July, I was elected Outpost’s Chairperson, taking over for Outpost’s long-time Chair, Adrian Scott – they’re big shoes to fill. Adrian did a lot for the club.
Tell me a little bit about your club history?
Outpost 6030 was founded in 2001 by David Capon in Mindarie, which has the 6030 postcode. Given the remote location, the club members decided to call the club an “outpost” – thus Outpost 6030 was born. Over the years, Outpost has called a few locations home and for a while even had two locations – Outpost North and Outpost South. We’ve re-consolidated back to a single location, though, and have been meeting at the hall in the South Perth Community Centre for quite a few years now.
What games are supported at your club?
On any given Tuesday night, you’ll see people playing:
– Warhammer 40,000
– Age of Sigmar
– Warhammer 30,000/Horus Heresy
– Kings of War
– Malifaux
– Infinity
– Bolt Action
– Blood Bowl
– X-Wing
– Star Wars Armada
– Song of Fire and Ice
– Adeptus Titanicus
– Necromunda/Kill Team/Gorka Morka
– Shadowspire
What are the membership and entry fees for the club?
Membership is $35 per year – with that your entry fees are $4 per night rather than the $7 non-member entry fee. Additionally, membership gets you a 10% discount at Tactics. Somehow I can see members making that membership back pretty quickly with that 10% discount! It really does pay for itself very easily and all the funds from the membership go into the not for profit club!
What are the benefits of attending the club?
In addition to people playing nearly any miniature game you would want to get a game of, it’s not hard to get other club members interested if you’ve got a new (or even an old game) you want to play. There are also a lot of beautifully-painted armies that people bring to Outpost.
If you want to skill up your painting, people are always happy to share their tips and techniques – my own painting has improved leaps and bounds since coming to Outpost, in large part because the players here raise the bar. Similarly, from a skill perspective we have some amazing players.
Some of our regular members are among the best in Australia and for a few games like Malifaux and Infinity, we have world-ranked players – and the best part is, they’re great people who love to help players learn the games.
When and where does the club meet?
Outpost 6030 is open most Tuesday nights from 7:15-10:45 at the South Perth Community Centre on the corner of South Terrace and Sandgate Street, South Perth. If you want to check out the Outpost calendar to find out which Tuesdays they are open etc you can find it here.
Who is welcome at the club?
Outpost 6030 welcomes gamers of all ages, though visitors under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Club association with SHO in the past?
Last year, Outpost 6030 set up a booth with some of our terrain and displaying some of our members’ beautifully painted armies. Outpost’s volunteers also ran demos of Warhammer 40,000, Horus Heresy, and X-Wing at our tables.
Outpost at SHO 2017
What will you be running at SHO this year?
Once again, we’ll be setting up a booth to show off the club’s terrain and some of our members’ models. We’ll be running demos of Warhammer 40,000, Horus Heresy, and Kings of War. Additionally, we’ll have a team of Outpost members representing the club in SHO’s tournament events this year. If you want any information about Outpost head on over the their booth at SHO, they are all lovely, approachable guys who are more than happy to chat to you about gaming, hobby and the club. Outpost is very welcoming to new members and they actively encourage new members.
*I realised that I have said ‘guys’ last year Jacob was at SHO with his two daughters Rilyn and Carys, who are also lovely and approachable. Last year they were more than happy to talk about their experiences building terrain and playing in different gaming systems. They are Outpost regulars so if you happen to see some girls/ladies at the Outpost booth I am sure they will be lovely too! If you want some information on introducing kids to gaming it could be a good idea to chat to Outpost volunteers at the booth, or chat to Rilyn and Carys themselves and ask about their experiences of gaming from a young age!
Outpost Malifaux terrain that Jacob, Rilyn and Carys built and discussed at SHO 2017!
Anything else you want to tell me?
In addition to our weekly club meetings, every few months Outpost 6030 hosts a Bitz Night where we encourage gamers from all over the area to bring their bitz boxes, their spare models, and their armies collecting dust on the shelves to bring them in to buy, sell, and swap with other gamers – I think we had over 60 people for our last Bitz Night in August. There are always incredible deals to be had. Honestly, Bitz Nights are always my favourite nights of the year at Outpost – BITZ FOR THE BITZ GOD! GLUE FOR THE GLUE THRONE!
To find out more about Outpost you can find them on Facebook.