Wellywoodstock ’26: A Weekend of Necromunda in Sydney

Two of my Enforcers and their pet had fallen more than seven inches from a railway, in separate incidents, onto the same spot. My opponent and I left the minis face down on the table, a small monument to my attempts at taking the objective. We were fighting over a dance floor. At least I got to cross something off my Bingo card!

On the first weekend of October 2026, Wellywood, aka Damon, kicked off the first Wellywoodstock, a Necromunda weekender in Sydney, Australia. The event brought together 52 players, each more enthusiastic than the last, who arrived with 33 boards for five games over the weekend. Living in Sydney, I was lucky enough to have only a 40-minute drive. Others had made considerably more effort.

The calm before the storm

Two days before the event, I borrowed some terrain from my local club, Exiles Gaming Club. The club’s owner kindly let me take it along and fix some of the damage it had picked up over the years. I spent Friday painting and fixing things to make sure it was ready for the weekend.

That same evening, the night before the event, Wellywood organised a get-together over drinks and food for those who were already in Sydney. I’ll admit I had to push myself to go. I’m sociable once I know people, but walking into a group of strangers is not something I like to do at all. I was very reassured to see some familiar faces, including my mates Trughart and OdyCay, with whom I’ve played many campaigns in Sydney.

It was great to meet other players in a smaller group and start getting to know each other away from a Necromunda board. The food (Korean BBQ) was delicious, and I was particularly struck by meeting Wintermutant, who’d come all the way from North Carolina in the USA. Someone had crossed the world to roll dice with us! Yes, we’re definitely a dedicated crowd!

Welcome to Wellywoodstock

It’s Saturday morning, it’s 7am, and I’m asking myself why I’m waking up so early to play Necromunda. I pack up, drive to the venue in Sydney’s beautiful weather and arrive just 30 minutes before the event starts. I’d thought there would only be a few of us, but not at all! As soon as I arrive, I notice how buzzing the place is. There are already so many smiling faces and boards being set up. The venue’s huge warehouse is filling with the sort of badzone scenery most sensible denizens of Necromunda would try to avoid.

Damon welcomes each of us as we sign in and gives us a goodies bag containing custom event dice, two gauges, some event tokens, some basing bits, a painting handle and a sheet of posters made for the event by my friend Carl (Underhive Art). Most importantly for a sugar addict like me, there are lollies, and it takes me only ten minutes to get through them all (I try hard to make them last, but to no avail!). Damon knows his audience. Or at least he knows how the French like sweets :p

Damon also gives us Bingo cards rewarding misfortune. We can cross off squares by having bad things happen to our fighters during our games, such as falling and going Out of Action or missing three separate ranged attacks in one turn. Completing a row earns us a small prize. Over the weekend, I managed both of those disasters, but was otherwise quite lucky, so no Bingo for me. Apparently I couldn’t even fail properly.

Thirty-three reasons to get into Necromunda

Seeing 33 boards together was quite a sight. One board even came all the way from the USA, thanks to ethmongul-Dale. The dedication people put into this hobby is out of this world. Each table was a display of love for Necromunda: gritty and dark, with bits of humour and colour everywhere.

We were lucky enough to have Pigment Pig and his board with us. It had already won two awards in a terrain competition my friend MundaStories ran earlier in the year. You can keep staring at it and still discover more and more details.

There was a vending machine with a broken window, cans, rubbish, bins, a food joint and a small motel. My favourite detail was a pair of shoes hanging from a line between buildings. The attention to detail is insane. I can’t imagine how many hours went into it, and it’s also modular and installed on a lazy Susan!

Another board had a cyberpunk feel, with a maglev-style train, plenty of food shops at ground level and a dance floor at the top of a building. Flickering lights and blue LEDs made it look fantastic. I’d get to play on that one, though my fighters spent rather less time admiring the view.

So many other boards were phenomenal too. It was hard to know who had made which one, so if you recognise your board in the photos, please let me know and I’ll credit you!

The Pain Killers make their rounds

As a gang, I brought The Pain Killers, a Palanite Enforcer gang with the outlook of a thoroughly delusional Badzone patrol. Isolated deep in the underhive, they’d decided the best way to bring peace to its suffering hivers was to give everyone a permanent rest. Doctors Without Orders would have been a good name too.

Leading this questionable healthcare service were Endo ‘Instant Rest’, my melee champion Sgt. ‘Acute Trauma’, and my Sanctioner Automata, ‘The Joint-Breaker’. The gang composition was very close to what I’d played in my last N23 campaign, as I wanted to compare how it performed in N26.

Getting used to N26 together

Wellywoodstock was originally planned for N23, before Damon made the switch to the 2026 edition, N26, which had only been released about a month and a half earlier. I was a bit sceptical about that decision, having spent so much time playing and arbitrating campaigns using the previous rules. I had no idea how the new rules would play or be received by everyone.

It turned out to be the best decision for this event. Plenty of us were still learning N26, so our levels of knowledge weren’t that different. It put us more or less on the same level.

My games moved faster and had a better pace. I enjoyed how combat was resolved: it felt less deadly, but also less gamey and less open to cheesy strategies. I really liked Trade Points too, which seemed to help stop gangs becoming overpowered too quickly and snowballing. I spent surprisingly little time checking the rule book. Those are impressions from one weekend, but I left the event very happy that it was all done using the N26 rules. Very wise choice, Damon!

The five games formed a short campaign, with injuries, credits and advancements carrying over. The campaign pack made the post-battle sequence easy to follow, with custom rules allowing smooth progression for everyone. Swiss pairings meant that, as the event went on, you played people with similar results. There was no overarching story to follow, leaving us to create our own through our games. And we certainly did.

A little retrospective on my games

Game 1 – Live to enforce another day

My first game was against Y1’s Escher, on the board I’d brought from Exiles. We were both playing some of our first games of the edition and cautiously positioning fighters while trying to control our own objective and capture the other’s.

Y1 kept me pinned and under pressure, preventing me from moving forward while his most dangerous fighters advanced. My blast weapons weren’t achieving much, but my sniper, Officer ‘Lethal Shot’, brought down his Death-maiden and helped even things out. With the Escher leader also wounded, I felt I might have a chance. Time was running short, though, and chasing a Pyrrhic victory in game one didn’t seem wise. I voluntarily bottled, preserving what I could for the games ahead.

Game 2 – A few more rounds, for practice

My second opponent, Lords of Ruin, brought the Golgotha Tenement Slavers, a Venator gang already badly depleted by its previous game. They were new to Necromunda, and things went downhill quickly when, after some lucky rolls on my side, The Joint-Breaker took out their leader and pet.

Once we’d called the game, we agreed to play a few extra rounds that wouldn’t count towards the campaign. We both enjoyed it and learnt more about the rules. I was glad we could try things out and get more familiar with the mechanics.

Game 3 – We all love a good plasma pistol until…

Game three was against RebelBrCo and his Escher gang, Mattel’s Nightmare. He surprised me by greeting me in French as I said hello! His accent reminded me of a Swiss accent, and I was completely caught off guard when he explained he was Australian and had spent a few months studying in France.

His smile, attitude and willingness to play for fun made him my favourite opponent of the weekend. One particularly funny moment was his prospect killing herself by firing her plasma pistol. He’d used Athera’s miniature to represent her, which made such a poor performance from such an impressive model even better.

Game 4 – Fighting for the Dance Floor

Sunday started with Damon explaining that some people couldn’t make it for the second day, which had caused a few pairing hiccups on Saturday. He’d fixed everything overnight, and it hadn’t disrupted our games at all. A lot of work on his side that made things easy on ours.

My first game that morning was against Belak’s Delaque gang, Back in Delaque: The Clan of the Appropriated Mind. We were on that board with the lighting effects and maglev train, and decided the dance floor would be our objective to control. My Sanctioner Automata tried to fight off his Piscean Spektor, with both deployed there at the start of the first round.

My Sanctioner didn’t survive the encounter, and I had to send my fighters towards the objective as fast as possible. Unfortunately, getting shot while running along an elevated railway has fairly predictable consequences. My leader, his dog and a champion became the pile of corpses I mentioned earlier. We left them there, face down, as a display of my gang’s lack of good judgement (theirs, not mine!).

The attempt to take the dance floor wasn’t going well, but the story was excellent, and it earned me a square on my Bingo card!

Game 5 – Five rats on the payroll

My final game was against Just_Ice_au’s Ironhead Squats, the Diamond Dogs. We were playing on an Ash Wastes board, trying to cross the battlefield and escape through the opposite side. That meant working around rocks, through incoming fire and eventually through each other.

The opening exchanges were all shooting before the battle turned into a series of close fights and counter-attacks. Neither of us made progress easy for the other. By then, Acute Trauma had acquired five giant rats, adding more game after game. They’d become enthusiastic interns, providing palliative care to the enemy fighters, including some Strength 5 Squats! Apparently the answer to inadequate strength is more rats.

We could have kept going for a while, so after plenty of rounds, we called it a draw. The Pain Killers’ standards of care had developed considerably over the weekend. I felt the N26 Enforcers played very much how I’d expect them to, given their theme. They certainly didn’t disappoint!

Meeting the community

I already knew nine attendees through playing locally in Sydney, but none became my opponents. I was glad about that because, surprisingly, I wanted to meet new people! Everyone was friendly and open, and talking to each other felt easy. Meeting people from all over Australia was great, and it was awesome to chat with those who’d travelled from overseas.

As one of Munda Manager’s admins and developers, this was also a special experience for me. Munda Manager was the gang and campaign manager for the event, and I’d contacted Damon beforehand to see what he needed. Our team also paused updates around the weekend to help avoid disruptions.

Erroneous, who runs campaigns on the Central Coast (NSW, Australia), told me how much it had helped his new campaign run smoothly, then introduced me to members of his group. Hearing that appreciation in person felt amazing. Behind the app are extremely dedicated people giving their time to build something for the community, and moments like that mean a lot to us!

Damon also invited me to be one of the people interviewed for his event coverage. I’m grateful I could share my experience of the event.

There was plenty of time to socialise away from the games too. An ice cream truck came on Sunday, allowing us to get our sugar fix and some well-deserved refreshment right at our doorstep. A nearby burger place gave us a chance to enjoy lunch in Sydney’s sunshine. Necromunda and the event were obviously perfect icebreakers, but it was lovely getting to know a little about the people too.

Prizes, drinks and goodbyes

Damon had been an excellent host throughout the weekend, addressing the crowd, throwing in jokes and making everyone feel welcome. It all felt very natural and helped create a chill and inclusive vibe, despite many of us not having met before. But now it was time to hand out the prizes.

There were heaps of prizes, recognising things such as best table, furthest travelled and favourite opponent. Winners could choose from Necromunda boxes, terrain, an airbrush and even a haircut voucher for Damon’s salon. He’s a barber, and my mate Trughart picked that prize. I can’t wait to see his new haircut and decide whether I want one too! (Though, I mean, look at Damon’s hair. He has taste, somehow!)

I particularly liked that the Favourite Opponent was one of the most important awards. It recognises something we all value a lot when we play a game. And if I hadn’t played with Josh, the winner, they definitely gave off a friendly, fun and relaxed vibe. I really wish I had!

Afterwards, some players started playing skirmish games, while a few of us ended up at the brewery next door, enjoying a drink outside with live music and talking about the event, terrain and what we wanted to build for the boards we hoped to bring to the next Wellywoodstock.

I left the event very happy. I’d pushed myself to attend, including Friday’s gathering, but felt at ease throughout the weekend. By Sunday morning, I no longer felt the need for any pre-emptive Valium. My Enforcers were ready to prescribe me something, I’m sure, but no, I was doing fine.

Thank you to Damon for being such a great host, and to everyone who brought terrain or attended the event, particularly those who shared a game or a conversation with me. I reckon we all made it easy for each other to feel good and relaxed.

Don’t miss Wellywoodstock ’27!

Damon has confirmed that Wellywoodstock ’27 is definitely happening, probably on the last weekend of August, with the exact date still to be confirmed. Whether you’re experienced or just starting Necromunda, I’d absolutely encourage you to join us. It’s an incredible experience to spend a weekend with so many friendly people who share your hobby, admiring their work and creating a few stories together.

Follow Wellywood Wargaming on YouTube and Instagram for announcements. Once the dates land, start planning that trip to Australia you’ve always dreamt of! Sydney is an absolutely beautiful city, so come and enjoy a unique Necromunda event and combine it with a holiday to discover our landscapes, beaches, iconic Opera House and Harbour Bridge, and wildlife you won’t find anywhere else. It’s worth it.

PS: thanks to Trughart for the copy editing! <3