Warhammer contests, conventions, and competitions are the highlights of the hobby calendar for many players and hobbyists – getting together with like-minded players to throw dice, forge new friendships, and create lasting memories of battles fought and won.
For years, competitive Warhammer has been championed by the International Tournament Circuit (ITC), and we partnered up with them a couple of years ago to further support organised play around the world.
Well, we have an update! The ITC is now becoming an official part of Warhammer Events, giving us the chance to make our games more accessible than ever before.
Over the years, the ITC’s passionate team of staff at Frontline Gaming have helped event organisers around the world introduce more people to Warhammer. Games Workshop is now assuming management of the ITC as part of our continuing program to support organised play, tournament organisers, and the global hobby community. Independent events are a vital part of the events ecosystem, and we want to do everything we can to back them up.
But what does this mean for you?
We’re well aware of the importance of the International Tournament Circuit, and how crucial it is to players and organisers alike. You won’t be seeing any major changes in how things are run for now – except that Warhammer staff will be there when ITC awards are handed out this weekend at the Las Vegas Open.
Beyond that, we’ll be taking input from players and event organisers around the world on how the ITC is working now, with an eye to making measured improvements where necessary.
The biggest change you’re likely to notice in the near future is that the global rankings will move from Frontline Gaming onto Best Coast Pairings. BCP is the most popular global platform for Warhammer tournaments (as well as other game systems), and we’ve formally partnered with them to help in this bright new future.
A little further down the line, we’ll be looking at regional rankings, and how different circuits are weighted and integrated. We know that the tournament scene in, say, Germany, is very different to the one in the United States, or the United Kingdom, or Vietnam – so using the same rankings algorithm in each region might not make sense. The “I” in ITC stands for International, after all, so we’ll be looking at how best to celebrate the tournament scene in different countries. It means we can also take a look at how things like hobby scores are tracked and rewarded, too.
We want players to have access to more events, more connections, and more hobby support. And that means better integration with the World Championships of Warhammer too – so one day you can aim to compete on the world stage with the best of the best, if that’s the flavour of Warhammer you prefer.
For tournament organisers, there’ll be a greater emphasis on making sure the games are event-ready out of the box, with more coordination and greater efforts to get feedback and provide support.
Playing at Warhammer Events is going to be even more exciting, so stay tuned in the months to come!