Nov 20, 20224 min read

Squidmar is Coming

That’s right YouTube sensation - as well as being an extremely versatile, talented hobbyist and a really nice bloke - Squidmar is coming to Arc40K weekend in 2023 thanks to our Major Sponsor The House of War.

This is certainly a moment to savor for Australian Independent Hobby Events. With more than 460K subscribers to their channel the celebrity factor of this visit is HUGE!

It’s amazing that we can announce that Emil and presenting partner Lukas will both be coming along to double down on the enormity of the experience.

Emil and Lukas will be our Judges for ArcOpen, Guest Judges at Arc40k, and hang out with participants of both across the weekend, as well as present some prizes at our Awards Ceremony. There's going to be loads of opportunities to meet and interact with these Hobby celebrities.

So, the story began when Squidmar ‘Emil’ set himself a challenge to acquire and paint the most expensive Games Workshop Model of all time - the legendary metal ThunderHawk gunship. There’s a series of Youtube videos chronicling his acquisition, building and painting of this legendary miniature. They are great fun

to watch and you can start with the first installment here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyy9MfHdrC8

But then it came time to sell it to support expansion of his Youtube channel…

Well that’s when the owners of the biggest Gaming Venue in the Southern Hemisphere stepped in and slayed the field of bidders to secure the Most Expensive Warhammer Model ever sold on ebay.

The Thunderhawk Model now proudly sits on display at House of War in Ringwood.

‘It’s one of the most iconic models and the exposure of purchasing Emil’s masterpiece was an opportunity,’ explained House of War Owner Riordan. ‘I hoped to show that House of War was focused on supporting the Warhammer Community.’

The relationship between Arc40k and House of War became close when they hosted the event in their store in 2016. ‘We’ve sponsored Arc40k over the past few years,’ explained Riorden. ‘We are always looking at ways to give back to the community that makes our business a success.’

‘Having something spectacular in store was too great an opportunity for us’, he said. ‘We wanted customers visiting our store to see something spectacular. So we bid to win Emil’s Thunder Hawk. And now we are able to share it with everyone.’

It’s proudly on display in it’s own cabinet and a visit to House of War can include viewing this awesome model.

Riordon and his wife Deb got to know Emil rather well through the process of landing the purchase - there were many emails and online meetings to ensure this awesome piece made it’s way safely from Sweden to House of War in Australia.

When the team at Arc40k wanted to look at adding ArcOpen to the mix of activities and that 2023 would mark the milestone 25 Year Anniversary of the event Riorden and Deb were quick to steps in and suggest a celebrity guest to Judge all the painting and escalate the whole event to another level through their presence across the weekend.

’Emil has an amazing YouTube channel that inspires hobbyists worldwide’, said Riordon. ‘He’s also a really nice Guy! Thankfully our relationship with him provided the opportunity to invite him to come to Melbourne and be involved with Arc40k, ArcOpen and House of War. It’s just great that Emil and Lukas have accepted our offer.

House of War has created this amazing opportunity for the Australian Hobby Community to come to Melbourne in March 2023 and meet the Squidmar team at Arc40k and the ArcOpen.

So, that’s some of the behind the scenes to what is the most sensational announcement any independent hobby event in Australia has ever had the pleasure to make! With more than half a million followers on Youtube Emil is by far the most significant Hobby Personality to visit Australia and he’s coming to Melbourne for Arc40k and ArcOpen on 4&5 March 2023.

We’ve more planning to put into place regarding what Emil and Lukas will do while attending the event weekend. But we can tell you that they are excited to be Judging all three ArcOpen Categories on Sunday morning and presenting awards later that Afternoon. They have also asked to be involved in judging Best Painted Army at Arc40k so expect them to be touring the tables and looking at all the armies on display during the Parade of Armies on the Saturday Morning.

There’s plans for Emil and Lukas to do a workshop weekend at House of War - more to come on that awesome announcement. The ArcOpen and Arc40K team are finalizing their timetable for when they aren’t judging or presenting - so that as many participants as possible get an opportunity to meet them. But rest assured the most exciting thing is that they are coming and they will be at Arc40k and ArcOpen.