Being a primary school teacher, a father and one of the best Warhammer players in the world is no easy feat. But that is the life of 41-year-old Mike Porter.
Last month, the Bolton Primary School teacher finished third in the Warhammer International Tournament Circuit (ITC) that saw him travel to places like Austria, Spain, Canada and America. Beating almost 3500 players, he finished the tournament in third place during a tense final in Las Vegas.
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Originally from Southport, Mike fell in love with the board game through his older brother when he was just 11-years-old. After catching the bug he spent his youth in Warhammer stores up and down the North West, like Stockport’s Element Games, honing his craft.
“It’s a wonderful hobby, you paint, you build and you make figures. There’s so much to do in the social aspect as well as the gaming aspect.” He told the MEN.
“We meet up first thing Saturday morning in the early hours, five or six o’clock. Go to a McDonald’s and get breakfast then go to our venue which was an old mill in Stockport," he said.
“It was very run down and you get 50, 60 people in there, all piled in playing the game you love. You get there at nine in the morning and be playing until seven, eight at night and then you’d get up the next day and do it all again.”
“There was the typical ‘you’re playing a board game, you’re a nerd," Mike added.
“I grew up with high level sports, I represented my county at hockey, football and athletics. I’ve always been very competitive and competed at a good level. There certainly was a stigma but when you get past that college, university stage, everybody accepts everybody for what they like.
Despite his great love for the game, Mike did stop playing for a while, distracted by the pressures and joys of university life. After graduating he got back into the swing of things thanks to a colleague’s husband who had carried playing the game well into adulthood.
“I had a brief hiatus at university as there were obviously other things to focus on with studying and the social side," the father-of-two said.
“I probably had like a three to four year break and a teacher’s husband was playing it and I got back into it through them.
“I kind of went on a journey discovering what the scene was about. We realised there was this whole world out there and it wasn’t just you playing your friends in their garage, there was tournaments, there was international fixtures and you could represent your country.”
What is Warhammer?
Warhammer is a table top miniature wargame that was created by three staff members at Games Workshop, the wargaming company founded by former pupils of Greater Manchester's Altrincham Grammar School for Boys.
The game involves a player taking command of an army of humans, elves, orcs and other creatures. Players collect miniature plastic models of these characters and use them to simulate a war played on a makeshift battlefield.
It shares similar traits to popular board games but the pieces aren’t restricted to particular movements. The game, which was created back in 198, has a deep and illustrious lore with each model having it’s own stats and abilities.
During lockdown the most popular iteration of the game, Warhammer 40,000, saw a massive rise in popularity, further boosted by celebrity players like Ed Sheeran and Henry Cavil professing their affinity for the game.
The surge in popularity meant the game Mike returned to was drastically different from the one he left - a much more professional scene with sponsorships and international tournaments that had finals in Las Vegas, Nevada. “I used to watch it from a distance, via streams at home in England of the tournaments around the world," he said.
“I was a bit envious really, thinking I’d never get to do it myself. To actually be in the place that I used to look at almost in awe when I was little is pretty much a dream come true.”
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Mike’s success has seen him not only become the third best in the world but also represent his country. The Year 6 teacher also coaches other budding players but despite the temptation of going professional his heart is still very much in teaching the kids at Bolton School, which he joined September last year.
Mike will soon be leading a Warhammer club at the school after his success inspired a lot of the students. In the club he will be teaching them how to build and paint models and play the game.
“As soon as I mentioned that I play Warhammer and I’m doing well in the rankings, they took an interest," he said. "Since I’ve come back from Vegas a lot of the children have gone out and bought Warhammer things.
“I’m really excited to bring on the next generation.”
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