Saverne. 120 army commanders competed with Warhammer figurines at the Cosec

Organized by the Saverne association Donjons et Darons, the Open du Grand Est (Ogre) has become, in three years of existence, one of the largest French tournaments for the famous Warhammer 40,000 miniatures game. It brought together 120 players on the weekend of August 30 and 31, a limit set by the organizers, who still had "around forty registered on the waiting list," explains Pierre Louvel, president of the organizing association.

The players, almost exclusively male – only three women were involved in the games – came from various regions of France, from the Grand Est of course, the Paris region, Brittany, the South, as well as from neighboring countries including Luxembourg, Belgium and Switzerland. The main challenge of the tournament was to obtain one of the two tickets distributed at the end of the tournament to participate in the world final organized in Atlanta, in the United States, from November 6 to 9: "A golden ticket for solo play of the most beautiful army," explains Jonathan Leconte, secretary of Donjons et Daron. In addition, a miniature painting competition was once again organized, under the aegis of two judges on the podium of the Cosec des Dragons .

Around thirty volunteers from the Saverne association, supported by their friends from the Niderviller Rigged Dice Guild, worked to welcome the competitors this weekend. The competitors played five 3.5-hour games, based on a score of 100 points and objectives, which were converted into a score out of 20.

Among them, Loukas Benard, from Haute-Marne, fielded an army of around one hundred miniatures to earn 2,000 points. During the Sunday morning battle, his opponent had opted to field only thirty miniatures. The fighting was fierce, oscillating between the three universes of chaos, humans, and aliens. With dice rolls and surprise effects, such as entering through the sewers, a clever mix of strategy and randomness adds spice to these games.

Strategy board game enthusiast Lina Monpontet, from Lorraine, one of the three women competing in this tournament, rediscovers her passion for strategy in Warhammer 40,000 miniature battles. Her chaos army is titled "The Death Guard," a sure warning to her opponents!

The Saverne association Donjon et Darons, which has around fifteen members, meets on Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. at the Îlot du Moulin sociocultural center. It resumes its activities on September 9.