Weekly Games

Swordcraft runs regular battle games in Victoria, NSW, Queensland, and South Australia, where you and your warband can join grand armies and fight for glory. Each week you will engage in shield wall clashes, fast-paced skirmishes, or even face off against terrifying monsters.

These games allow you to improve your sword fighting, fight side by side with your warband and its allies while advancing the ongoing narrative storylines of your chapter. More than just a battle, the Weekly Games offer a fun LARP experience along with the competitiveness that a sport brings.

What to Expect in Weekly Battle Games

A Focus on Combat

Weekly Battle Games focus on intense, engaging combat while fostering a strong sense of community among players and their warbands. You and your warband will be pitted against others in the game to test your skills and coordination. It is a great physical activity that allows people of all abilities to participate, ensuring everyone can enjoy the experience.

Each week, your chapter should release the Game Plan for the night on their Facebook page, featuring the map, game modes, and any other important information you need to know.

Warbands

After your first night you should ask around and tour with different warbands until you find a warband you like and start engaging with them to create softkit and gearing yourself up for the battle.

A warband is a group of likeminded people who:

• Want to create a lasting friendship group
• Like to fight together
• Share a common interest in creating softkit of a particular interesting group from the Warhammer Fantasy setting

Having joined a warband, you and your warband will then be split with the other warbands into two larger armies and battle it out for winning that night.

We encourage you to experience multiple warbands before making a commitment—this is known as "touring." Each group has its own unique playstyle, culture, and dynamic. Some warbands may focus heavily on combat, while others prioritise immersive roleplay or community bonding. The Swordcraft community is welcoming and diverse, with many groups eager to invite new members into their ranks and share in their love of the game.

Simulated Terrain and Objectives

We dream of being able to fight in the bush with real terrain each week, as we do at our Quest Events, but realistically, this is the best we can do—a degree of suspending disbelief is required!

As we play on open sports fields, terrain is represented using bollards and cones. Bollards signify walls and solid obstacles, while cones represent water and impassable terrain. This helps us create unique battlefields each week that are constantly changing.

Key terrain features include:

• Objectives (Flags and Items)
  • Different objectives are used for different game modes.
  • Flags are used for assassination targets and base capture game modes.
  • Large barrel-like items are used in item capture games.
  • All objective capture locations will be marked clearly with red cones.
• Structures (Bollards)
  • Two or more bollards are joined together with rope or ties.
  • They are solid objects and cannot be walked through, fought over, or destroyed during battle.
  • Projectiles may be shot over walls. Any projectile that goes under the rope is counted as "hitting" the wall and does not deal damage if it hits players.
  • If you walk into the wall and bend the rope beyond its stationary position, you are dead—you have been crushed or knocked yourself out!
  • Bollards cannot be moved without a marshal's approval.
• Water (Blue Cones)
  • Blue cones represent water obstacles.
  • Entering a water obstacle instantly kills you—you have slipped and drowned.
  • Touching a cone or the imaginary line connecting two cones together counts as entering the water obstacle.
  • If you knock a cone over, do your best to reset it after combat.
  • Cones cannot be moved without a marshal's approval.
• Projectile Collection Pile
  • Players should collect fired projectiles at the end of a round and drop them off at the designated Ammo Collection Pile.
  • This is where players using ranged weapons can find their ammunition.
  • Collecting projectiles is a community effort—many hands make light work, strengthening our community.

Other features may include:

• Respawns
  • Some game modes include respawn locations, which vary by chapter.
  • Some chapters have limited respawns, while others have unlimited respawns depending on the game mode.
  • Respawns are usually denoted by yellow cones.
  • Be sure to read your chapter's weekly game plan to know which respawns are in use.
• Barricades
  • Large deployable barricades simulate wooden or stone obstacles.
  • These may take the form of wooden spike traps or portable mantlets.
  • If any player touches a barricade, they are killed instantly—this rule ensures safety for both players and equipment.

Game Modes & Structure

Most chapters follow a similar format, with warbands divided into two teams for balanced battles. These teams compete to achieve various objectives, including:

• Total Annihilation – Wipe out the opposing team to claim victory.
• Capture the Flag – Secure and return the enemy’s flag to your base.
• Assassination – Target and eliminate a key figure on the battlefield.

Read here for the full list of weekly game modes used at our games.

Story Progression

Chapters run their own storylines, usually tied to their Quest Event. Some chapters call these Sagas or Chronicles. These nights are important for players who are interested in progressing the story and engaging in the narrative.

The chapter will inform warband leaders and post updates on their Facebook pages about when these story-based battles will take place.

Differences in Chapter Weekly Games

While the above is the standard format for Weekly Battles, each chapter runs its games slightly differently. For example:

• The Melbourne Chapter focuses primarily on large armies clashing to win the objectives for the evening.
• The Brisbane Chapter has a freeform roleplay structure where warbands face challenges that must be solved on the night.
• Some chapters blend both styles!

Each Chapter across the country offers something different but just as fun as the next. Check out which Chapter is closest to you that you like the look of and get involved!

See Also

• Home
• Quest Events
• Chapters
• Combat Rules