Pyrkon 2025 has come and gone, and once again the Poznań International Fair turned into one of the most crowded, colourful, and overwhelming conventions in Europe. This year’s edition was record-breaking (again!). According to the official post-event announcement, 66,785 people attended the festival, with around 2,400 programme points taking place across the weekend.
That number is worth pausing on. Pyrkon is no longer just one of the bigger European cons. With attendance approaching the scale of major American events and sitting in the same broad conversation as giants like Gen Con, it is now a genuinely world-class fan convention. Gen Con still remains ahead by current attendance numbers, with its 2025 edition reporting nearly 72,000 attendees, but Pyrkon’s growth is impressive by any standard.
And you could feel that it was huge. The convention was absolutely packed. Corridors were dense, the main halls were loud, and moving between attractions feeels logistical exercise worthy of a campaign map. But how was it for wargamers?
Here are some highlights – it’s in fact much more than just an RPG and wargaming event.
Did Pyrkon 2025 deliver for wargamers?
As in previous years, the wargaming section was lively, busy, and full of activity throughout the weekend. Pyrkon’s Board Games, Wargames and Card Games Zone is built around exactly the sort of hands-on tabletop experience that makes conventions worthwhile: demo tables, approachable volunteers, intro games, painted miniatures, and plenty of opportunities to stop, watch, ask questions, and roll dice. The official zone description specifically highlights wargame demo tables where experienced players can teach visitors the basics and run introductory games, which is exactly the kind of setup that helps grow the hobby.
Wargaming can still be intimidating from the outside. Big rulebooks, expensive armies, painting requirements and unfamiliar etiquette can all make the first step feel difficult. But at the con that barrier is definitely lowered. You can simply walk up to a table, look at the miniatures, ask what is going on, and often get shown the game by someone who actually wants new people to try it.
Archon Studio and Masters of the Universe Battleground
One of the more nostalgic attractions this year came from Archon Studio, which ran demo games for Masters of the Universe: Battleground.
This was a smart convention choice. The game has immediate shelf appeal: Eternia, colourful miniatures, and a licence that instantly catches the eye even of people who are not already deep into the wargaming hobby.
Masters of the Universe: Battleground also represents a slightly different gateway into miniature gaming. It is not another grimdark army-scale system asking players to commit to years of collecting. It is bright, character-driven, and rooted in nostalgia. That makes it a strong demo table candidate: easy to notice, easy to explain, and fun to watch even before you know the rules.
For a convention audience, that is exactly the point. A good demo game needs table presence, recognisable figures, and a promise that players can get into the action quickly. Archon Studio’s setup seemed to understand that well.
Archon Studio run demo games for their new Masters of the Universe wargame
For the Emperor! Warhammer 40,000 and the big-system tables
Naturally, there was no shortage of Warhammer 40,000.
At this point, any major wargaming area without 40K would feel incomplete. The game remains the dominant visual language of the hobby: Space Marines, Chaos, xenos armies, tanks, monsters, objective markers, dense terrain, and players measuring firing lines with the seriousness of field commanders. At Pyrkon 2025, the 40K tables were busy and clearly drew plenty of attention from both active players and passers-by.
That is one of the advantages of Warhammer at a large convention. Even people who do not play often recognise it. A well-painted 40K army has enough visual impact to stop people in the aisle, especially when the table is full of ruins, vehicles and large centrepiece models. For dedicated players, it offers the familiar comfort of the world’s biggest miniature wargame.
But while Warhammer had the expected presence, it was good to see that Pyrkon was not only about the biggest names.
Conventions are always a great opportunity to play massive, multiplayer 40k games such as this one
Smaller games, no less fun
One of the pleasures of a convention wargaming hall is seeing smaller systems get table time. Pyrkon 2025 had that as well, with games such as One Page Rules drawing busy tables and plenty of interest.
This is healthy for the hobby. Warhammer may be the flagship, but the wider wargaming world is much richer when alternative systems are visible. One Page Rules in particular has become popular because it offers a more streamlined, accessible route into sci-fi and fantasy battles. It is the sort of game that works well in a convention environment because it is easier to teach, quicker to play, and less intimidating for someone who is not ready to dive into a heavy ruleset.
Seeing those tables busy was encouraging. It suggests that the Pyrkon crowd is not only there to admire the big brands, but also willing to experiment. That matters, especially for independent games and smaller communities trying to build momentum.
A convention like Pyrkon gives those systems a chance to be seen by thousands of potential players in a single weekend. For a wargame, that kind of exposure is priceless.
Even historicals were represented, with tables for Warlord Games’ Black Powder and Bolt Action. This weathered T-34 was one of the entry for the paining competition.
The Elder Scrolls on the tabletop
One of the most impressive visual pieces in the wargaming area was a large-scale Elder Scrolls diorama.
It served both as a striking display and as a promotion connected to Modiphius’ The Elder Scrolls: Call to Arms miniature game and The Elder Scrolls Online video game. And it did exactly what a good convention diorama should do: it pulled people in before they even knew the details.
Large dioramas have a special place at wargaming events. They are not always “games” in the practical sense, but they show what the hobby can become when painting, terrain building, world design and fandom all meet in one place. The Elder Scrolls setting is particularly well suited to this treatment. Ruins, monsters, adventurers, fantasy architecture and dramatic terrain all translate naturally to the tabletop.
For many visitors, this kind of display may be more memorable than a tournament table. A battle in progress is interesting, but a full scenic build can become a landmark inside the hall: something people photograph, return to, and point out to friends.
The ESO diorama, with figures from Modiphius’ Elder Scrolls: Call to Arms coop wargame.
The painting competition
The painting competition was another highlight of the wargaming side of Pyrkon 2025.
The cabinets were filled with miniatures across several categories, including single models, units, and large models. Entries came from a wide range of games and miniature lines, with plenty of Games Workshop representation: Warhammer 40,000, Warhammer: The Old World, and Age of Sigmar were all clearly present. There were also some very interesting 3D prints, which is always good to see, because 3D printing has become an increasingly important part of the modern miniature hobby.
Painting competitions are valuable because they show a different side of wargaming. Not every hobbyist is primarily a competitive player. Some people are painters first, collectors second, and gamers third. Others play regularly but still see the painting desk as the heart of the hobby. A strong painting display recognises that breadth.
The best entries were not only technically impressive, but full of personality. Units showed consistency and discipline. Single models gave painters room to focus on character, contrast and small details. Larger models offered the spectacle: big surfaces, dramatic poses, weathering, freehand, basing and all the tricks painters use to turn plastic or resin into something worth staring at.
It was also good to see variety. Warhammer still dominates, naturally, but the presence of 3D prints and other miniature lines helped the competition feel like a broader celebration of miniature painting rather than a single-company showcase.
Pyrkon’s official wargaming zone also highlights a miniature painting station, supported by The Army Painter, with brushes, paints and figures available on site — another sign that the convention understands painting as a core part of the tabletop experience, not merely an accessory to gaming.
The paining entries were absolutely fantastic, and most importantly, they covered not only the mainstream minis, but figures from many of the obscure games or lesser known manufacturers…
…such as Corvus Belli – Infinity seems to be still relevant in 2025.
Dreadnoughts are often centerpieces of the army and offer a lot of opportunites for bases and weathering
Packed halls, strong energy
The wargaming area was lively all weekend, but the convention as a whole was very busy. At peak moments, the sheer number of people made navigation slow and occasionally tiring. That said, the crowd also created the atmosphere. Empty tables would be worse. Pyrkon felt alive because every area was full of people doing things: playing, painting, shopping, taking photos, watching demos, talking lore, checking army lists, and discovering games they had not seen before.
For wargamers, this is probably the most important takeaway. Pyrkon is not a quiet specialist event. It is not a small tournament weekend. It is a massive pop-culture festival where wargaming has carved out a visible and energetic space. That means noise, crowds and distractions — but also reach. Lots of people who might never attend a pure wargaming convention will pass those tables, look at the models, and maybe try a game.
The debrief
Pyrkon 2025 was huge, crowded, colourful and exhausting. For wargamers, it was absolutely worth it.
The combination of Warhammer 40,000, smaller systems like One Page Rules, Archon Studio’s Masters of the Universe demos, impressive dioramas, busy tables and a strong painting competition made the wargaming section one of the convention’s most interesting areas. It had the right mix of spectacle and participation: enough impressive displays to draw people in, and enough playable tables to keep them there.
The event also confirmed something that has been increasingly clear over the last few years: Pyrkon has become one of the most important places for tabletop gaming visibility in this part of Europe. It may not be a wargaming-only convention, but that is part of its strength. It puts miniatures in front of a massive audience of fantasy, science fiction, RPG, board game and video game fans, exactly the sort of people most likely to become future players.
So, did Pyrkon 2025 deliver for wargamers? Definitely. It was packed, sometimes overwhelming, but full of dice, painted armies, demo games, hobby displays and enthusiasm. And in the end, that is exactly what you want from a convention battlefield.
Start clearing space in the calendar for next year. The armies will march on Poznań again.
