Dubai wargaming enthusiast finds his forte with Battlezone shop

Olivier Gheysen found his calling when he opened his shop Battlezone in Park N Shop in Dubai. Jaime Puebla / The National

DUBAI // It has suffered with something of an image problem for many years but fantasy wargaming is slowly becoming more mainstream.

Vin Diesel is rumoured to have a Blood Angel army, and Robin Williams used to make his Eldar Guardians talk with an “old Jewish man” voice during games.

In the UAE, the numbers of people who play games such as Warhammer 40,000 as well as card games such as Magic the Gathering, has skyrocketed in the past few years.

Behind that growth is a small shop called Battlezone, nestled in a small corner of Park N Shop, on Al Wasl Road.

The owner of that shop is Olivier Gheysen, 33, from Belgium, who has himself been playing wargames for more than 25 years.

Mr Gheysen has worked in the UAE for 11 years, flirting with careers as varied as oil and gas procurement, planning engineering and teaching. But in setting up Battlezone five years ago, he said he has finally found his vocation.

“I think I’ve found something that I really love doing,” he said. “My greatest joy is to see people trying new games and enjoying themselves.”

Miniature wargaming has been around for many years. The author HG Wells is credited with creating the hobby in 1913, using historical miniatures to represent armies, in an elaborate game of chess.

The most popular game today is science fiction-themed Warhammer 40,000, followed closely by its older cousin Warhammer Fantasy. Both games were created by UK model company Games Workshop.

The models themselves come in 28mm size, and are typically made of plastic and resin. People buy the kits and assemble and paint them themselves.

“The model making and the painting are a hobby in themselves,” said Mr Gheysen.

“There are painting competitions around the world, and the people who get really good charge thousands of dollars for their work on a commission basis.

“It’s probably a one-year project to build and paint an army. But it’s incredibly rewarding to play a game with a beautifully painted army that you’ve worked hard to make.”

Alongside Games Workshop kits, Battlezone sells little silver foil packets of cards used for games such as Magic the Gathering. The game has proven immensely popular in the UAE, more so than miniature wargaming.

“Before we opened the shop, there were around four to six people we knew of playing the game,” said Mr Gheysen. “Now, there’s around 150 people.”

He said the growth was due to the passionate community as well as the shop’s role as a meeting place.

A small group from the UAE travelled to Russia in June this year to take part in a Magic the Gathering grand tournament.

Both miniature wargaming, as well as card gaming, had stalls in Comic Con this year and last and there was huge interest for both. A sign, Mr Gheysen said, of the hobby’s growing mainstream appeal.

“Are we geeks? Yes, totally we’re geeks,” he said. “But now it appears that geek culture is mainstream.

“You’re now seeing hundreds of thousands of people attending Comic Con every year. There are mainstream movies about comic books that were fringe when we were younger, and the Hobbit is now a huge franchise that everyone is interested in.”

Even so, it’s clear that wargaming can – like all good hobbies – grow to become all-consuming. Mr Gheysen’s wife, Marianne, is not a wargamer herself, and although she is sympathetic to her husband’s hobby, she does try to set boundaries in the house.

“Sometimes, it will just spill over,” she said.

“Now and then, I’ll find orks in the bathroom.”