Advertorial: Battle Bunker

Written by Mu Yao, Photos by Xin Li

Xin Li & I got a chance to check out this interesting hangout called Battle Bunker located in Funan DigitaLife Mall, courtesy of Sherwin & Calvin from FYI Group.

On first sight, this shop sandwiched between 2 others selling figurines could be mistaken for another those run-of-the-mill figurine collection stores found with your average neighbourhood stall, but there's more to that. The friendly owner Kenny first opened this store 2 months ago on 15th August to encourage members of the local 'tabletop gaming' community to set foot here to play.


As you can see, this shop really attracts people of all ages!

For the uninitiated like me and Xin Li, tabletop gaming involves moving a large set of your painfully self-assembled and painted figurine soldiers/monsters/guns across a elaborately (or sparsely, if you wish) sculpted landscape through the use of dice. The dice determines how far across the board each figurine can move, how far it can attack or whether it can be used to wound a person. Something between a more kick-ass version of military masak-masak or a board game version of WoW.


An elaborately modelled castle, with "historical references from 1500 medieval england." Your cuppa tea?

We gathered from Kenny the reason why they decided to start this up was that they saw a need for local hobbyists to play together in a convenient and accessible location after excruciatingly assembling and painting their hand-crafted armies. "People couldn't find a place to play - unless you had a friend who had a really big house; or you couldn't find anyone to play with without your armies collecting dust. This place is intended for them.", says Kenny. And so the Battle Bunker came about, driven by the red-hot passion and dedication to share the joys of this exotic and eclectic hobby before it gets lost in a world of mindless computer games on PCs.


A few words with passionate gamers sharing their works of art

When asked what skills a tabletop gamer may gain or exercise during the course of his game - we were told that this is a pretty intense experience. "All your moves, including counter-insurgency procedures must be decided upon and rationalized amongst other factors in a bid to train up critical thinking skills like analysis, decision making and calculation." It is no wonder this passionate owner wants this interesting hobby to be spread and be known amongst schools and allow students to come experiment with this hobby. While local schools have not taken the plunge yet, some international schools have, which must be reassuring news to Kenny.




You gotta have passion for this one, mate.

What's so good about this place is the added convenient location as well. Located right in the central area of City Hall, this enables a wide mix of people (from lawyers and doctors to students and NSFs) to come by and try their hand at tabletop gaming. No experience is required of course, although you do need quite a bit of moolah on hand. Depending on what you do and how much you build, it can cost anything from $30 from a monster figure or up to $800 for your very own battalion of toy soldiers. And don't worry about them looking plain and you not being able to make them your own - there are painting workshops (paint and brushes not included). So yes, for the uninitiated, this is a pretty expensive hobby...



Painstakingly modelled and hand-painted armies of your own. No mean feat, this is serious business people.

Battle Bunker is located at Funan DigitaLife Mall at #05-42. As you all might know, Funan is home to a slew of the latest electronic gadgetry, but besides that, it's nice to know that they have a nice range of other lifestyle-related shops too! From social hangouts like MindCafe, niche bookstores like the Riceball Photography Bookstore to even a 24/7 Heart Springs Spa (who'd have expected that, seriously!) to cater for late night massages after a tiring day of work. Oh, in case you didn't know already, the ubiquitous Challenger is now open 24 hours. Top this with free parking after 10PM. What's not to like!

Check out their facebook page here!