Warpcon is Cork's biggest gaming convention, and has been Ireland's largest student-run gaming convention. Beginning in 1990, it is run every year, during the last weekend of January. WARPS is the organiser of the event and has grown it from a small student event into one of the biggest conventions in the country. Each year Warpcon hosts, RPGs from a plethora of systems, CCGs, tabletop wargaming, LARPS and more games over the weekend.
Events and Features
Warpcon plays host to a world-renowned charity auction where all manner of things are sold, including signed first-edition or pre-publication books, slots to appear as drawn by John Kovalic in a Steve Jackson Gamescard game or in Dork Tower, rare collectible cards, Jayne Cobb's hat, and even the first ever My Little Cthulhu toy and more are among the Items sold in auctions. It takes place on the Saturday night of Warpcon and is held in aid of Cork children's Charity The Warpcon Pub Quiz has been a fixture of Warpcons Friday night for many years. The quiz usually features esoteric questions on nerd culture over eight rounds. Each year various CCGs from Magic the Gathering to Yugioh are hosted at Warpcon. Warpcon 28 featured a regional event for L5R which attracted over two hundred people. RPGs and LARPs from many different systems are run each year, with some based on the theme of the convention. Wargames at Warpcon usually consist of Warhammer 40,000, Warmachine, X-wing, and historical wargaming. Warhammer 40,000 tournaments has been a draw at Warpcon for most of its existence, with some past tournaments exceeding 100 people. Warmachine tournaments have been a small but steady contributor to the life of the convention since the games launch. X-wing is a relative newcomer to the Convention but has been growing significantly nearly doubling for 2017 to 2018. Every year Warpcon brings along writers and artists who have contribute to nerdom in some way or another as special guests. They are given a table where they are available for signings, occasionally run events such as games making workshops, and dinner with the special guests is one of the items regularly sold at the Warpcon charity auction. The closing ceremony of warpcon is where the awards from the event are handed out, these include best trader, best RPG scenario, best LARP scenario, and best staff member. It is also where the Spirit of warpcon is handed out, a perpetual award given out each year for contributions to gaming in Cork.
History
Warpcon was a joint winner, along with Gaelcon, of the Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming for the charity auctions run each year. Warpcon was known for its Saturday night Club Warpcon event where the convention sold tickets to a private night club in Cork city. Previous special guests have come from a range of different backgrounds. Warpcon 17: John Kovalic, and Gar Hanrahan. Warpcon 18: John Kovalic and gameworkshop's Jervis Johnson. Warpcon 19: John Kovalic and David Nykl. Warpcon 28: John Kovalic. Warpcon 29: Ross Mullan. Warpcon XXX Diarmad O'Donoughe As a part of previous Warpcons, on the lower grounds of University College Cork - National University of Ireland, Cork, the UCC Medieval Renaissance society has run The Battle of the Flags event. The 'Flags', as it was commonly known was the 'rebated steel' medieval combat competition open to anyone who has fought or trained with the society previously. Though the rules changed from year to year, up to twelve teams of up to eight fighters took each other on in a melee. The aim was to capture as many other teams flags as possible, by tagging each member of the opposing teams with 'kill shots'.
