‘Why Henry Cavill is right about Warhammer’
Kerriss BrownIf you were watching the Graham Norton show over the weekend, you'll have seen him laughing as Henry Cavill described his love for Warhammer.
It's a fantasy war game where you can paint miniature figures, and have them battle each other.
There are lots of complex rules and variations of the game, and battles can go on for a number of hours.
"You do fly your nerd flag with pride," Graham told Henry.
Confusion and a sense of mocking is something player Kerriss Brown is all too familiar with, when she tells people she plays it full time.
"I'm head over heels in love with the Warhammer community and game," Kerriss tells Newsbeat.
"Graham Norton was sort of portraying it as a little peculiar, or weird. Almost like, 'haven't you got better things to be doing with your time?'
"That was definitely a shame."
At the start of last year, Kerriss was working in retail. Now she does Twitch live-streams of herself painting the miniature figures and discussing the game, and it's her full-time job.
"Warhammer has had a weird reaction from people, people don't really understand what it is.
"When you say to somebody you knit, or you crochet, there's a physical product at the end of that you could wear or you could show off.
"For some people, they question why we would be so proud of a tiny miniature model."
But for Kerriss, it's a way to be completely immersed in another world.
"I remember playing the game and stepping back, and not realising that I've just moved miniature models for three hours.
"It was like the whole battle was in my head and I could see everything."
Matt Crossick/PA WireNot only does she enjoy painting the miniatures and playing war games, Kerriss says one of the best parts for her is the community that comes along with it.
Three weeks ago she met up with some other fans who she had started speaking to online during the pandemic.
"I cried most of the weekend, I was so happy to see them. I have made friends for life.
"We really support each other, but I think that's because for many years, so many of us have been outliers. The community is the best thing that could have ever happened to my life."
Will ChampionWill Champion is used to having people not understand the game he "lives and breathes".
He works as an events coordinator for a collectables shop and also volunteers as the secretary for the Great British Hobbit League. That's a specific group of war game fans who get together to run tournaments and meet-ups.
"My brother really likes cars, my sisters really like Coronation Street and EastEnders. So when I start going away for weekends with my friends to go to these tournaments, my family, they just don't understand it at all," he says.
But Will never lets it bother him. He says being called a "nerd" didn't wash with him.
"I was quite happy in myself," he says.
"A lot of people don't know that this even exists. So they're going to be confused by the idea that someone paints toy soldiers and plays games.
"The best thing that you can do is just see that as an opportunity to invite them to join you and show them how fun it is."
Will ChampionIt's the tactics of the game that Will finds so enjoyable.
"In a similar way to chess, you have to put a lot of thought into what you're taking and how you're going to play."
When he goes to tournaments, he says knowing that the person playing against you is "just as excited about being there as you are is quite a magical thing".
"You might have only met these people maybe 10 times over 10 event weekends, but you feel like you've known them forever because everybody is so welcoming."
