Our Story
Battlecry LARP and it’s companion events didn’t just happen in a day. This quickly growing empire took years of dedication, hard work, setbacks and triumphs. Below is a short tale of how we came to be, Battlecry!
It was January 2016. Sparked by the idea of a Live Action Battlegame, resurrected from the ashes of the previous iteration in Melbourne in 2012 (Legends of Markoth). The vision was for a central game, eventually building to a focal point of LARP in Sydney, perhaps even New South Wales. Those who saw the vision came to the table and each laid down their plans, but it was not to be so. When push came to shove, the work to get things off the ground proved too much, for so few. The LARP fell on its face, burning bridges and money with it. It would be 17 months before anything would be tried again.
June 2017 arrived, and new energy was found. The paperwork was submitted, the fees were paid and councils were contacted. The groundwork was getting under way. Weary of the reliance on others, the team of two sought to build this entirely themselves. A bank loan was taken. Weapons were ordered and paid for. $25,000 was spent in preparation for this eventuality. The first event was scheduled at Domain Park.
The morning of the initial event arrived November 19th 2017, with 22 people registering interest. None showed. Our team of two stood bewildered and crestfallen at the idea that this costly endeavor would be their last attempt. But like those we read of in the history books, failure is the next launchpad!
December 2017, a media campaign was launched, with a photoshoot, and flyer drops. New Councils were contacted, and negotiations for the events were made (with many raised eyebrows). We sold a single ticket! One person purchased a ticket to the initial event. Turns out it was one of our friends, who wanted to support us. But, as the date of our first – paid – scheduled and advertised event approached (Jan 19th, 2018), the weapons had not yet arrived from the overseas manufacturer, and were stuck in customs in Hong Kong. It looked like failure was imminent.
As the date rolled up and the event came around, it was confirmed the weapons would not arrive. No further tickets had sold, and there was trickling interest, but well below what we had promised the bank. By sheer luck and generosity, a saviour came (Thanks Herbie) through with some LARP swords we could borrow for the event, and we collected them the morning of the game. We set up the tables, rolled out the cones and set up a field, not knowing if a single person (apart from our friend) would show.
17 people turned up to our first game. And you couldn’t wipe the smile off our creators faces for the next week!
Since that point, we have had ups, downs, collapses and rebuilds. We have come to the brink of closing our doors to the most incredible highs of being on TV around the world for Game of Thrones, Medibank and Amazon! We hope in 10 years to celebrate the achievements and our journey toward another 10 years.
We are incredibly lucky, and it’s the people who attend our events that we wholly and solely attribute our success.
We love you,
The Battlecry Team