While it may not be tabletop gaming, this still hurts the hobby in general. Hooligans smash model railway convention, destroying years of hobbying.
In case you haven’t heard, there was a model railway exhibition in Stamford, U.K. which had some troublemakers come in and destroy all of the trains, terrain, and tabletops. The damage they caused was monumental.
Read on about how you can help our fellow hobbyists recover.
Stamford Railway Convention Gets Destroyed
Market Deeping Model Railway Club lost years of work in the raid at Welland Academy in Stamford on Saturday. Its chairman Peter Davies, 70, said exhibits were smashed, thrown around and stamped on, including a locomotive unit worth about £8,500.
Although the damage was horrendous, they’ve already arrested four people that are thought to be involved. At least there’s a silver lining, right?
Like we said above, this incident might not directly involve our tabletop game, but we are all hobbyists in a giant family at the end of the day. We can definitely feel their pain as we realize that a full 2,000 pt game of 40k can mean that there’s around $3,000-$4,000 total on the table. That price can only go up if it’s painted above tabletop quality too.
The amount of love and dedication that went into these trains and display boards have all been thrown away just because of some bad apples in the area. It’s a shame that there is a lack of respect for someone’s property like this. It’s one thing to steal somebody’s things. But to just mindlessly wreck it for no other sort of gain is appalling.
Models that were made over years were trodden on and thrown around. It’s a total wanton destruction of the highest order. I’ve never experienced anything like it. A hurricane would have done less damage.
Support Recovery With Hobby CrowdFunding
There’s already been some movement to help our fallen hobbyists through a Just Giving page. They’ve been receiving donations since this tragedy has happened.
Market Deeping Model Railway Club
The Club was founded in 1976 and meets regularly on Monday nights. Full details are on our website www.mdmrc.org We run not only our show in Stamford but also attend and exhibit many others around the country bringing pleasure to many model rail enthusiasts.
At the time of writing this, the page is already at 77% of their goal. So let’s help them finish strong and get our fellow hobbyists back on their feet.
Has anyone ever attacked your models like this personally? How much time have you put into your tabletop army? Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group.
About the Author: Wesley Floyd
Wesley Floyd
Job Title: Staff Writer
Joined: 2018
Socials: @RealmbrushPainting
About Wesley Floyd: Wes has been in the Warhammer hobby since 2015 and joined the Spikey Bits writing team in 2018. He is known for his satirist takes on trending topics and imaginative yet amazingly affordable hobby solutions to painting Warhammer miniatures.
Imperial fanboy, tabletop fanatic, and the self-proclaimed King of Sprues. He knows for a fact that Mephiston red is the best-tasting paint and is the commission painting equivalent of a Wendy’s 4 for $4. If you like what he writes and want to contact him or have your tabletop minatures painted (to a mostly okayish standard), message him on Instagram.
