The Vale Renegades gaming club has been a fixture at Firestorm Games for many years, and its members are regularly seen taking over the Battlefields with legions of grimdark miniatures and oodles of Warhammer 40K action on Tuesday and Friday evenings. But what is Vale Renegades exactly? What games do they play? How do you become a member? And, perhaps most importantly, what's all this buzz around their upcoming Echoes of War event? We talked to long-time member Ben Griffiths to find out!

Firestorm Games: Hi Ben, thanks for talking with us! First up, what’s your history with tabletop wargaming? How did you get into it? What games do you play and what have you been up to recently? Tell us everything!

Ben Griffiths: I started playing Warhammer 40,000 as a twelve year old at the Cardiff Games Workshop, mainly because I picked up some of the Black Library books at a bookstore and had also played the Dawn of War games. Of course seeing the models in the window and liking the books and games I had to get involved.

Since then I've branched out from just 40K into many GW and non-GW games including the Horus Heresy, Age of Sigmar, Star Wars: Legion, Marvel: Crisis Protocol, and even some historical games like Black Seas. At the moment I'm trying to finish off some Horus Heresy Blood Angels, Imperial Guard for 40K, and looking forward to the upcoming Star Wars: Shatterpoint game.

FSG: Wow, you're a busy man! So what’s your relationship with Vale Renegades?

BG: I've been a member of the club since 2014, and since around 2016 it's been a pleasure to run the club and its events alongside my good friend Andy. Recently a few more of our great members have stepped up to help us with the running of the club and its events, and we're looking forward to offering even more to our members and the wider community.

FSG: Sounds great! For the uninitiated, can you tell us what is Vale Renegades exactly?

BG: We're a gaming club that was created to foster a welcoming and friendly environment originally for Warhammer 40,000 players to get together and share our enjoyment of the game in Firestorm Games, Cardiff. Now we are one of the largest wargaming clubs in the country with many active members playing many gaming systems beyond 40K, enjoying our online community on our Discord, and of course we offer events both to the public and exclusively to our members. However, we pride ourselves on doing all of that whilst still being a welcoming and friendly place for any and all gamers from any background - and of course still being based in the fantastic setting of the new Firestorm Games venue in Cardiff.

FSG: You're making us blush! Could you tell us a bit more about what Vale Renegades does games-wise? What games do you play, when, where, how often and so on?

BG: For anyone in the South Wales area we have regular gaming nights on a Tuesday and a Friday at Firestorm Games in Cardiff. The Friday is officially our organised 40K night, however often members will come down and play other games including Age of Sigmar, the Horus Heresy, MCP, Star Wars Legion and many historical games including Flames of War, Team Yankee and more.

For more organised play we run monthly Warhammer 40,000 one-dayers which are aimed at our club members and often form linked series where your best results place you in a cup play-off at the end of the series. Also for our members we run a competitive Warhammer 40,000 Battle League - the highlight of our members' calendar. Our last league saw over forty players battle it out over five seeded divisions for bragging rights to be the best in the club. Featuring promotion and relegation from each division, it's hotly contested at all levels but, as many of our league players will attest, it's also a great way to get into more organised 40K play and suitable for newer players to enter into the lower divisions for a taste of the game.

Finally, we often have individual members in the group who will run organised play across many gaming systems - be it a weekend of 40K Apocalypse, a narrative Horus Heresy campaign, or an interlinked campaign across multiple WW2 historical games.

For non-members in the wider community we run several public competitive Warhammer 40,000 events through the year at Firestorm Games in Cardiff. At the moment the main two events are the two Renegades 40K Opens: Echoes of War (a Warhammer 40,000 competitive singles event held in Q1 of each year), and Seeds of Destruction (a 4 man Warhammer 40,000 competitive teams event held in Q3 of each year). In the past we've also run less competitive singles events and doubles events and I'm sure these will return to our calendar in the future. We're also looking at running public events in gaming systems other than 40K and are working with our System Champions over the coming years to facilitate this.

For anyone with an interest in gaming at all we also have a very active Discord server where we chat to each other about anything and everything - including the various games we play, hobby advice, video games, movies, and anything you can think of. No matter where you are in the world you're more than welcome to join our Discord and get involved!

FSG: That all sounds amazing. So aside form access to those members-only events you mentioned, are there any other benefits to being a member of Vale Renegades?

BG: Primarily it's access to a welcoming community that's based around our shared interest of the hobby. We have people from all walks of life in our group and so it's a very interesting melting pot of ideas - and great humour! It's a supportive community where we work together to build the group and what it does, and where we seek to encourage and grow everyone's love of the hobby.

FSG: How can someone who’s interested join Vale Renegades?

BG: It's very easy! Simply join our Discord Server, introduce yourself in the introducing thread, and get stuck in! As mentioned earlier members are welcome from any background as long as they bring with them a positive and friendly attitude to everyone else in the club. 

As we use Firestorm Games as our venue we don’t charge a membership fee - instead members pay for their Battlefields ticket and pay ticketed entry for events as they attend them. 

FSG: What can you tell us about your upcoming Echoes of War event? That's happening pretty soon isn't it?

BG: Echoes of War is one of our two Renegades 40K Open events - our flagship Warhammer 40,000 events. Held over two days on the 18th and 19th February at Firestorm, players will play five 2,000 point games using the Arks of Omen GT pack combined with our own terrain layouts. The event will feature prizes for gaming results including best in faction prizes for factions with two of more players representing them, so there’s something to play for any players! The event will also be submitting ITC points.

In addition to gaming prizes there will be a player-voted Best Sport award - always a large aspect of the event where a positive and friendly atmosphere is very important for us to provide. To represent the hobby aspect there are two player-voted painting competitions - Best Army and Best Individual Miniature. 

Prize support and sponsorship is being provided by Firestorm Games, KR Multicase, and Kromlech. Our trophies are once again our unique 3D printed trophies provided by Whitefoot 3D. 

FSG: Remind us, do you have to be a member of Vale Renegades to participate in Echoes of War?

BG: Nope! Any of our events that have a ticket on the Battlefields website are open to the public!

FSG: What are some of the things you’re most looking forward to about Echoes of War?

BG: As a TO I really enjoy simply seeing our players having a great time. As my fellow TOs will know it’s a very satisfying feeling walking around the tables and seeing so many people - mostly of course all strangers from one another - interacting and having a good time together at our events. It can also be very thrilling at the sharp end of the event where the top players with the toughest lists often have nail biting and close games to decide who’s coming away with our trophies. We also always see some truly outstanding hobby on display from lots of players so I love to see what people have created. 

FSG: What would you say to someone who maybe hasn’t attended a tournament like this before and might be feeling hesitant about signing up?

BG: I’d first suggest you sign up to our Discord and ask any of your queries about signing up to the group. Many of our members first came to us through our events when they were new to the hobby themselves and have ended up staying with us for many years after! Whilst these events are competitive they are absolutely suitable for any level of player - and we regularly have newcomers attending these events as their first ever tournament and having a great time. 

The field of players at our events is very varied and many players are there just to have a good time and do their best - and thanks to the Swiss pairings method after your first game which is randomly paired you’ll play players at the same level as you. So don’t be concerned that you’ll be the only fresh face there - we always have new players! 

Finally, from personal experience, I love to set goals with my wargaming and I think tournaments are a great place to do that. Whether it’s trying to win say three of my five games, completing a new army in time, or going for one of the hobby awards. If it’s your first time set yourself a small goal and go from there!

FSG: Brilliant, thanks for giving us the lowdown Ben! Anything else you’d like to add?

BG: Hopefully people have read this and are intrigued to know more! If you are then please head to our website, Facebook page, Instagram, and of course the Discord and get involved however you’d like to. And hopefully I’ll see some of the readers on the Battlefields at Firestorm Games soon!