"Wellington NZ -- tell me about your gaming!" Topic

Ahoy! My wife and I have been thinking seriously about where to relocate to when we "retire" at the end of this year and along with some cities in the northern USA I am open to the idea of foreign climes (Canada, Ireland, Scotland) and that definitely includes Kiwiland, altho' that would be a long and difficult relocation to make. But I am very impressed with what I read about Wellington in particular so this is where I've come to learn more about its gaming scene. What would my lifelong hobby of boardgaming and miniatures gaming be like in Wellington? Stores, clubs, conventions, community? I would be coming from Austin, Texas, where we are spoiled by some excellent game and hobby and comics/games stores, vigorous gaming groups, and regional conventions.

I don't know anything about NZ but do know Austin and Texas would be greatly diminished by Piper and Mrs. Piper relocating.

I looked into NZ emigration once. IIRC, at the time, they didn't accept retirees. I was told I must find a job there and get a work visa. Perhaps you could get a very, very long travel visa?

Have you looked at the Caribbean or Central America? I've heard there are some very nice, inexpensive American enclaves that cater to retirees. Perhaps you could start a gaming club there?

If you bring enough money we will let you in. Pretty mercenary, but we are getting quite a few Chinese retirees coming to the country now, so it is possible.

Wellington has no gaming stores, you will have to buy everything on-line.

There are two reasonable sized clubs in the region. Wellington Warlords, the oldest club in NZ, and based around the city and immediate suburbs. I haven't been a member there for years, so can't tell you much about it. But they play a host of fantasy and sci-fi games, plus the ever present Flames of War. There are also some members playing DBMM primarily in 28mm, and some playing FoG ancients in 15mm.

The Hutt Club in the outer suburbs is the one I belong to. Again a host of fantasy and sci-fi games (not being derogatory, but apart from Warhammer, I can never remember the names of the others). We also play a lot of FoW, and a lot of DBMM in 28mm, plus some DBR in 28mm. Some of us are working, slowly, on a DBMM inspired revision to DBR as well.
We also have people playing other historical perios, SYW and Napoleonics feature in 28mm. Some of us are working (again slowly) towards ACW in 28mm as well (on my part, lots of emphasis on slow).

There are smaller casual clubs around the lower north island as well. In particular the Kapiti Fusileers who are "up the coast" (west coast of lower north island) have a good thing going. No doubt Roly (Arteiis) will respond to your questions in time.

Wellington is a great little city. The weather can be fantastic and appalling. It is also known as the windy city, as are Chicago and Southampton in the UK. I worked in Southampton briefly and I can assure you, they just get a mild breeze. From what I have heard of Chicago as well, Wellington is the real Windy City.

But again, a beautiful place, with a very eclectic population.

Could go on for hours, but hope I have answered some of your questions.

If you have Facebook the Warlords post photos of the meetings.

link

I am a Warlord but play mainly at home with a couple of friends these days.

I have a Blog ifs that of any interest to you with some photos of the Call to Arms convention.

link

Sounds like you have a great gaming scene already with a decent climate. Why leave?

Dan.

Great climate? Only if you like 90 degrees F plus for nine months of the year, plus multiple allergens in the air and a bug season that never ends. We're enduring an historic drought now as well, and water is going to become a crisis for this state. And I could go on and on about the cost of living, utilities, taxes, insurance rates, traffic congestion (4th worst in No. America and climbing). But this is a digression… obviously no place is perfect. But I do yearn for a change of lifestyle: smaller, quieter, cooler.

Thanks for the info, Phillius! I am impressed that the New Zealanders have responded faster than folks in other areas I've floated similar inquiries to. A fact-finding mission to Wellington and Auckland is definitely in order sometime for 2015-16… nothing beats a personal reconnaissance.

We'll bring our own money, you bet!

Yep, the Warlords and the Hutt clubs are thriving wargaming clubs here in Wellington.

The Kapiti Fusiliers are only an informal group, not a club – and we are pretty spread out these days, so you could say it is rather defunct. However, there is a burgeoning new club in Kapiti – the Kapiti Wargames Club.

Our only dedicated wargames supply shop in Wellington closed down some time ago. But mail order from manufacturers is no problem these days, and everyone here uses that.

I can't speak about NZ's immigration policy for retirees, as I don't know it. But if you are really interested, I can do a bit of research for you.

One thing about the weather here is that it is very changeable. So you can never get sick of one type of weather! But, as they say here, "You can't beat Wellington on a good day".

Here's a good site about living in Wellington:
link

Ah, so the vision of Texas we see on film is not true then?

Don't forget about the Stadium if you are interested in Rugby, Sevens, Soccer and a bit of limited over Cricket.

westpacstadium.co.nz

I am happy to say as an Australian (and if you know anything about our shared history you will know that this is a big ask), that Wellington is a really great city, cosmopolitan on a human scale, and that if I was forced into exile to the wee islands to the right it would be my first, second and third choice of domicile.

Come to Christchurch. The buildings can't fall down in a quake as those that would already have.

Two wargaming clubs with a few miles (and numerous private game groups) and the city as easy to get around.

Wellington has no gaming stores, you will have to buy everything on-line.

The Evil Empire have 2 shops, one in the central city CBD, and one in Lower Hutt (about 25 minutes out of the CBD).

There is a hobby shop in Kilbirnie called The Hobby Stop ( thehobbystop.co.nz ). They supply Evil Empire toys plus Flames of War, and Infinity, possibly others.

A new gaming shop has opened up in the CBD called Cerberus Games ( cerberusgames.co.nz ), but that doesn't appear to mention wargaming. I haven't been to this store yet.

Looks like Mack's Tracks ( mackstrack.co.nz which used to be in Johnsonville) has moved to Plimmerton. A wee way out of town, maybe about 40 minutes at a guess. They are mainly trains, but also stock FoW, and will have plenty of terrain and hobby supplies.

A couple of other similar shops are Modelcrafts and Hobbies ( modelcraftsandhobbies.co.nz ) and Not Just Toys in Lower Hutt ( notjusttoys.co.nz ). Both of these are focused on model kits/trains, but they are excellent for hobby supplies like tools, paints, terrain, etc.

There are also several places online you can buy which are local/national.

TradeMe is a local auction site like eBay, focusing on NZ.

Slave to Painting ( slavetopainting.co.nz ) is a big wargaming supplier.

Battleline Miniatures ( battleline-miniatures.co.nz ) is a NZ miniature manufacturer who is mostly 15mm, but has some 28mm too. Excellent range. They're based in Auckland.

Mighty Ape ( mightyape.co.nz ) is an online gaming store mostly catering to movies and electronic games, but they do board games and are stocking wargames too ( link ). Dust Tactics being a big one as that is distributed by the NZ company Battlefront. Mighty Ape do overnight delivery.

Then there's Battlefront, but last I heard they were planning on shifting everything to Australia from Auckland.

This is a fascinating discussion and I'm going to save it all for reference! Thanks again everyone who has weighed in. When the Aussies are praising Wellington, I know it's a great place. I sure look forward to visiting, at the least, and if I'm there on a game club day maybe I'll be allowed to sit in on something (I'll wear the initiation beanie and buy rounds of drinks).

Note to Arteis -- yes, obviously I'll have to research quite a bit about residency requirements, health care coverages, tax liabilities -- it's difficult enough to try to collect these sort of comparatives between US states, let alone foreign nations. Luckily I've got a few years of grace period before this all becomes crucial. We may have to move as a stopgap, within Texas, before we look outside this state for a more long-term location. I see letters to consulates in my future, along with much web crawling.

I migrated to NZ from the UK 15 years ago
its a wonderful place. My sons live in Wellington and like all young people they seem to love it. I'm further North in Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty – weather is a bit warmer here.

If you need any specific advice about the healthcare system I'd be happy to help