More Than a Game: Forging the Trophies for the Traunstein Cup
What makes a wargaming tournament a great memory?
It’s the awesome games, hanging out with other players, and a great community vibe. But the prize you take home should feel just as special as the event itself.
When Alexander, the organizer of the fantastic Traunstein Cup in Austria, approached us, we knew we had to create a set of custom tournament trophies that were truly worthy of the champions.
In this blog we want to show you exactly how those trophies turned out and take you behind the scenes of the event with a full interview with the organizer himself.
The Spoils of War: Crafting our Custom Tournament Trophies
Our task was to create the awards from the ground up.
This project went beyond miniature painting and into the realm of custom fabrication. We handled the entire process, starting with the 3D printing of the unique designs sent by the organisers. The concept was a mountain peak, one for each of the top three places, symbolizing the climb to victory. Each peak was topped with a set of dice and featured a custom plaque with the event’s name.
For the best details we’ve decided to print those trophies in epoxy. After printing, we gave them a full, display-quality paint job to turn each award into an awesome model in its own right, a permanent reminder of a hard-won victory at a fantastic community event.
This is actually the second year we’ve had the pleasure of creating the trophies for the Traunstein Cup! Below you can see the trophies we created for last year’s tournament.
Behind the Event: An Interview with Alexander
To truly understand the spirit of the Traunstein Cup, we went straight to the source. We had the pleasure of sitting down with the organizer, Alexander, to talk about his vision for the event, the challenges of building a tournament from scratch, and his plans for the future.
Hello Alexander! Thanks for making this interview possible. Every great event starts with a spark of an idea. What was the inspiration behind starting the Traunstein Cup?
The idea for the Traunstein Cup actually came, because I wanted to start a tournament series for the community in Upper Austria. In Austria, there is the Alpin Cup in Leoben and, starting this year, in Graz, which is an internationally renowned singles and team tournament, as well as several larger and smaller tournaments in Vienna and Salzburg, but relatively little in between. The Traunstein Cup was intended to fill this gap and also bring new local players into the national tournament scene.
Players often just see the polished final event, but we know a massive amount of work goes on behind the scenes. Could you walk us through one of the biggest unexpected challenges you’ve faced while organizingthe Cup?
The biggest challenge for a tournament of this size is the location. This is not only about size, but also about infrastructure such as accessibility, parking spaces, toilet facilities, catering and much more. Terrain and mats quickly come to mind, but you also need tables of the right size and seating for playing – if the location doesn’t have these, you have to source them externally, which quickly adds a logistical component that often poses a problem. When everything goes smoothly, the players arrive and you see that everyone is happy, you know you’ve done a good job.
As a painting studio, we’re naturally drawn to the visual aspect of the hobby. Have there been any particular armies from past events that have truly stood out in your memory?
There is always a wide range of armies. From ‘simply’ painted models to truly well-thought-out themed armies, there is something for everyone here, and choosing the ‘Best Painted’ prize is always a big challenge with so many beautiful armies. Incidentally, every year there are also armies that have passed through your hands 🙂 I currently use the WTC grounds with the kind support of the Alpin Cup team, which also provides great support to local tournament organisers such as the Traunsteincup.
Beyond the tactical gameplay, tournaments are about the people. Could you share a favourite story of sportsmanship or a memorable player interaction you’ve witnessed at the Traunstein Cup?
I can’t really pick out individual moments, but I always think it’s great when I see players having a good time and often playing with each other rather than against each other. The players don’t just pay an entry fee, they also sacrifice an entire weekend. This makes it all the more important for me as an organiser to provide a relaxed and pleasant environment and to offer a supporting programme after the official games where people can get together and have a good time.
It’s always exciting to look ahead. What does the future hold for the Traunstein Cup?
After the overwhelmingly positive feedback this year, there will be a third edition of the Traunstein Cup in 2026 – the first weekend in October has already been reserved for this. We will be offering a few more tickets than this year, but I don’t want the cup to become too big, because that quickly leads to a decline in quality. Tickets for the Traunstein Cup will probably be available again from January 2026 at www.traunsteincup.at.
Your Vision, Our Workshop
Collaborating with passionate organizers like Alexander on projects like this is one of the best parts of our job.
It’s a chance to be part of something bigger and help build the wargaming community we all love. Our skills go beyond painting armies; we can make any project real. It can be a set of unique objective markers for your gaming club, a diorama for your display case, or even your own set of custom tournament trophies, we have the tools and expertise to make it happen.
If you have an ambitious idea that needs more than just a paint job, send us a message. Let’s build something incredible together.
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