Ever since WARMACHINE/HORDES was introduced to China back in 2012, the competitive scene has been growing steadily here. The brutal gameplay, the clear rules, and the exciting organized events soon took hold of a lot of Chinese players, leading to the thriving, welcoming, and competitive community we have today.
Back in the old days, the entry barrier to WARMACHINE/HORDES was unfortunately high for Chinese players—there were no Chinese translations of the rules, and at that time, it could take months for the minis ordered from abroad to arrive. But thanks to the enthusiastic players and supportive gaming clubs, the community has come a long way. Now, anyone traveling to China can find WARMACHINE/HORDES events in major cities like Shanghai and Beijing, and for tournament fanatics, we have annually organized national championships as well!
The first Chinese Steamroller tournament occurred in Shanghai in 2014. Players quickly became addicted to the Organized Play format, which has always been a strong suit for Privateer Press! It was also in 2014 that Chinese players joined the fantastic World Team Championship for the very first time, competing with teams from all over the world. The following year, the first inter-city team tournament was held in Tianjin, and after that, the first Shanghai Team Open (STO) took place in 2016, which has since become the biggest WARMACHINE/HORDES tournament annually held in China.
STO welcomes all Chinese and international players. The event has been and is currently run by Iron Kingdom Café, a main wargaming club in downtown Shanghai. Many of the WTC Team China players came from this club, and they’re excited to welcome players from abroad to visit Shanghai! In 2019, the fourth STO will be held on June 14th – 16th by the same team and will be welcoming teams not only from Mainland China but also from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, etc. It is the wish of the Chinese WMH community that STO and other events offer players from all over the world another competitive stage on which to enjoy the game. We are looking forward to seeing you there!