NWA Despatches – January ’23


Welcome everyone to the first monthly newsletter that the Club will produce for the foreseeable future. This is a new concept for which I have to thank the former and current secretaries, Mike and Lorne, for the inspiration and impetus for.

The committee formally meets on 4th Thursday of every month and uses WhatsApp to coordinate and action various matters on pretty much a daily basis; working fairly constantly to do its job for you, the members.

So “NWA Despatches” is a way for the committee to update members of some of the issues and matters that we’re chewing over, as well as keeping you informed of what is coming up for the club.

If you have any ideas or issues to raise with the committee please email president@nwa.org.au or secretary@nwa.org.au

Recruitment Update and Meeting Attendance

Attendance at the two Blackburn and Croydon club meetings was really strong for a start of the year with 30 odd people signing in on all three days. It has been great to see lots of members returning and there has been a steady influx of new people visiting the club and taking the opportunity to participate in and run their own games.

After three years of COVID induced disruption and no membership fees, it is terrific to see over half our old members renewing their membership and a decent number of new first-time members to the club. By the end of January were on track to achieving the bottom end of our membership target.

If you know anyone who hasn’t renewed or wants to join the club, remember to send to the membership form on the website.

In any regular month the club meets 4 times with 30-40 individual games being played across Blackburn and Croydon locations. Each month we plan to highlight a couple of games which looked spectacular, gained lots of interest and most importantly gave participants a lot of fun.

The standout game at Blackburn over January and February is John Shaw’s game of the Anglo-Zulu wars using the rules Men Who Would Be Kings by Daniel Mersey. All who’ve played have had a great time and the games generate a lot of happy noise.

At Croydon the most notable game so far this year has been a difficult choice between different ends of the hall. For this first set of despatches it’s going to Fly for his Great Airfield Raid game. He used a series of innovations this year to change the game up, including individual and secret orders to different players, beefing up the defences, and placing far too many flamethrowers in one dugout. The presence of a C-130 always makes for a noticeable game.

Constitution Update

The Club will reach a culminating point next Saturday when we have a Special General Meeting to vote on the new Constitution. The result of a damn fine effort by Neil G and hard work by the rest of the Committee, the option being presented combines the essential elements of who our club is with what’s required under the Act of law that covers our association. Everyone should have received a copy of the proposed constitution, but if you haven’t then email secretary@nwa.org.au to get a copy.

The Committee has deliberated on updating the club logo. This is a result of the club both slowly evolving, and the membership needing addition for renewal. It doesn’t change who we are, but updates how we present ourselves to the gaming and greater community. Everyone has had a chance to see the logo worked toward, but if anyone else has a burning concept they wish to submit for consideration then send it to president@nwa.org.au or secretary@nwa.org.au for the next, February, Committee meeting.

There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes focused on growing the membership base and making the club a fantastic place for people of all ages to play games and socialise in a fun and supportive environment.

Some examples include:

  • Building a relationship with Bunnings Nunawading’s community outreach team for sponsorship and support, e.g. BBQ fundraising
  • Pursuing options to rebuild club terrain so that members don’t have to haul boxes of terrain to the club every meeting
  • Coordinating new club shirts, the Autumn Sale and coordinated gaming activities for Medieval May
  • Reaching out to local schools to promote the club as a means to support teenagers interested in gaming related activities. Piotr has done excellent work in creating a new flyers for distribution like the A5 one below


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