MOAB 2026 - Mother Of All Battles this October long weekend

MOAB 2026

The main hall's retail area at the front.

This year's Bring-n-Buy bargain buy area located in the main hall.

MOAB has been on this long weekend. The Southerland Shire Wargaming Clubs Mother of all Battles, Sydney's largest wargaming convention is always well attended. Once again, I made the long journey to visit and spend way too much money on cool stuff. But it is always worth it. I managed to get around the main hall and some of the side galleries. But didn't get to see all the games in action. Here's the photos I took on the Saturday.

Chain of Command

Warmaster

Ogre Kingdoms

Star Wars

Display and Historical Games

This table was a display game for Fjord Serpents and Blade Wrath.

Ma.K. in both 28mm and 15mm from Slave2Gaming.

This was a 15mm historical game from Two Fat Lardies, I believe.

I have an interesting observation on MOAB recently that I shared in another post. But that's it for this year's MOAB.

MOAB - an observation

The game table allocations at MOAB 2026

Where has all the Warhammer 40k players gone?

I've noticed a trend at MOAB the last few years and it's been reflected in the mid-year ShireCon event as well. Warhammer 40K used to dominate the table space every convention. However, I noticed its footprint decrease over the last few years. Now, at this latest MOAB, its nowhere to be seen.

What am I missing here? I don't play 11th Edition. I stick to 3rd Edition as its still slightly gonzo (not as wonderfully gonzo as 2nd Edition however). I also play it in 15mm scale for that more epic feel.

I know 11th Edition is now more designed to be a tournament game rather than a fun wargame played with mates over the home gaming table. But to be non-existent at MOAB. What happened?

The Bring-n-Buy has always been packed with 40k models and they sell very well. So, I don't think the game has died. It's just no longer appearing at MOAB and perhaps 11th Edition isn't what players are gravitating too.

Warhammer 40k tournaments aren't even listed at MOAB this year.

So, what happened?

No painting competition

Sadly, there was no painting competition at MOAB this year. There is usually one with the finalists displayed in the glass case for all to marvel upon. But nothing this year. So that's a bummer. Some truly excellent paint work has been on display in previous years.

Rise of the Other Games

I noticed more of a presence of games like Warmaster, Turnip28, Bloodbowl, The 9th Age, Warhammer Fantasy 8th Edition, etc. What once was dominated by Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40k is now taken over by Flames of War, Chain of Command and older GW games. That's a lot more choice and very welcome to see in my opinion.

Anyway, just an observation from a MOAB attendee.

MOAB 2025 - Mother Of All Battles this October long weekend

 MOAB 2025

Once again, this long weekend, MOAB has returned for 2025 thanks to the Sutherland Shire Gamers association. 

Though the numbers may seem a little down from last year, the event is actually spread across a few floors and other buildings. So, numbers are the same in my view. Just spread over a wider space. The Bring and Buy was packed, as usual, and I managed to spend more than I should have. But I did get some nice classics. But that's for another post.

However, here are some of the games and exhibitors present this weekend.

This area was a WW2 skirmish game by TwoFatLardies if I remember correctly. The table here caught my eye for its impact and detail.

This was an Old World Warhammer game. The Shoggothy thing in the middle really caught my eye. Interestingly, Warhammer (AOS / Old World) has been supported heavily in previous games. This year however, it was relegated to the mezzanine level over the main hall and there were probably only twelve tables being played.

Star Wars Shatterpoint / Legion was way more popular as far as I could tell. I also didn't see a single Warhammer 40k table in the main hall. But those tables may have been either on the stage or in one of the other buildings where Marvel Crisis Protocol was being played last year's MOAB. AOS and 40k usually dominate. But they were visible by their clear absence from the main gaming space. That said, the Bring and Buy sections had heaps of Warhammer 40k and AOS / Old World for sale. So maybe there's been a bit of a falling out of love for Games Workshop of late.

This was a massive game of Sword & Spear in the centre of the main hall. There were other historical games being played on the level below the main hall.

Fjord Serpents Vikings at War was up for sale here and being shown off with a demo game. The demo models are eye catching also. You can get it from the web site or from OCKER Games.

Star Wars Shtterpoint and Legion was front and centre in the main hall on Saturday. Very popular. The terrain here is from the excellent Brutal Cities MDF terrain maker.

Bolt Action was also a key game played in the main hall. Bloodbowl had a few games going on as well. The buildings above are from Dark Castle Terrain. I've bought a stack of MDF stuff from their store in the past and its great price and quality. Check them out.

Now THIS seller is top notch. I was tempted to buy some of their orcs, but I have too many orcs already. Can you have too many orcs? But these would fit in easily in any Middle-earth setting and have the feel of the classic Ral Partha style of miniature. They were about $18 for four miniatures and look fantastic. Currently they are doing classic Fantasy, Medieval and Australian Army in WWII. Give Medbury Miniatures a drop by to view their excellent miniatures.

Slave2Gaming was present as well. They were demonstrating their MA.K 15mm game and miniatures. Last MOAB I bought a whole bunch of the 15mm minis for the Grunts15mm ruleset. Again, top notch miniatures and some fun Elvis and Alien Overlords stuff. Their goblins I really like as well.

This independent seller is Ex Manus Studios and is a one-man operation that makes some truly wonderful miniatures that make for fantasy and steampunk style adventurers. I have a few of his miniatures that I use for my Roleplaying group, and I can't praise them enough.

I bought three sets of these little Gembot Work Crew models. You can see two above in the front row. They would work great for 28mm to 10mm, even Epic scale. They come in packs of three with the other sculpt holding a shovel. They make for great automaton miners that can be pesky nuisances for the player characters if they try to steal their gems.

Finally, here are some shots of the painting competition. Apologies for the frosty images as these were all behind glass and it was hard to get a decent shot without some reflections getting in the way.

So, there you go. Got there for Saturday. But it's on all long weekend. And, of course, I spent too much as usual.