Dreams Come True
Pao School's Rediscovered Warhammer Legacy
The video was filmed in the 2024-25 academic year by the Pao TV club at the Songjiang campus.
In the Songjiang campus library, books are quietly displayed on the shelves. These books have witnessed generations of students reading and growing, and they carry endless wisdom and inspiration. On the magazine cabinet, lies an old blue and black magazine with a slightly curled corner. Opening this booklet reveals articles about Warhammer games, and between the yellowed pages, fragments of time suddenly surge forth. It documents the activities of the YK Pao School Warhammer Club while introducing the captivating world of Warhammer. Set in a distant future, Warhammer is a tabletop strategy game where players paint their own miniature figures and then battle them on the tabletop. The club and this magazine share an almost legendary origin.
During the summer between Year 6 and Year 7, Joshua Zheng received a special gift—a set for the popular British tabletop miniature wargame Warhammer 40K. Joshua Zheng quickly became fascinated with the game, and came up with an idea: why not start a Warhammer club at school so that his classmates could experience its delights of creativity, competition, collaboration, and strategy? Picking up his courage, he submitted a proposal to the school, based on the idea of including Warhammer as a ‘co-curricular activities’ (CCA) option.
Group photo from the early days of the Warhammer club
On the eve of the new school year, middle school approved the proposal, and granted Joshua Zheng permission to establish a Warhammer club, with Mr. Yarroll, a humanities teacher and an experienced Warhammer player, as the club’s advisor. Special funding was provided to purchase relevant teaching materials. By its second year, the CCA had attracted over 40 students to its separate painting and gameplay courses.
Photo of Warhammer Club members with Ms Sharpay Cao at the Middle School CCA Fair
The Warhammer club’s influence continued to grow as its members entered high school. They produced impressive displays for the school’s art exhibitions and participated in official competitions. They hosted and then won the first International School Warhammer League Championship in Shanghai, which testified dramatically to their rapid progress. Over the years, club members found their own niches and advanced their skills in many different directions. Joshua Zheng improved his leadership skills by managing the CCA’s operations, which included annual planning and course preparation. His friends Henry Yang, Austin Fang, and Ryan Xue learnt with him. Henry applied his video editing skills to enhancing the creativity of the CCA’s promotions. Austin refined his painting skills through diligent art study. Ryan raised excitement within the team by enthusiastically developing new strategies and approaches to gameplay. Together, through their collaboration, they built confidence and learned the meaning of responsibility and teamwork.
“Whilst you’re here, what can you do, and how do you contribute to the school and the local community? It’s about leaving your footprint, and the depth of your footprint, as you go through school, even if you come through from Wuding or Hongqiao, even up to Songjiang, is a marker of how much you put into it. My belief is that the more that you put into a school, the more you will get back from it. You will grow so much personally.”
——— James Lyng, High School Principal
Warhammer Club Model Painting
Group photo of the Warhammer Club
competing against other schools
Exhibited at the Art Show
Beyond Campus
Competitions, Exhibitions, and Legacy
In Year 8, members of the Warhammer club stumbled upon a blue-black magazine from 2012 called ‘Black Ork’ in the high school library. This periodical chronicled the story of the school’s first Warhammer club, founded by seniors Tom Zhou and Mike Yang. Despite the twelve-year gap, the words and photos resonated deeply with the new-generation club members.
The 'Black Ork' magazine produced by the first generation of the Warhammer club in 2012.
Inspired by their discovery, they decided to build upon this legacy and leave their own mark on the school. After six months of hard work, they completed ‘Black Ork 2’ and donated it to the school library. The two Warhammer clubs were thus bonded across time, bringing their members together in their shared passion for the game. To tell this story, the new club collaborated with Pao TV, supported by its President Mark Rao and host Elsa Yun, to create a documentary entitled ‘Twelve Years of Warhammer at Pao School.’ This documentary further encouraged students to innovate, explore, and development a remarkable legacy.
Warhammer Club photoshoot for Black Ork magazine
Season 2 of the Warhammer club's 'Black Ork' magazine.
"When I learned that students at YK Pao School had formed a new Warhammer club, I was taken aback—not just by the club itself, but by the coincidence that they discovered our magazine in the library and realised there was a similar club here a decade ago. While it may not be a direct continuation, it’s wonderful to see that we share the same passions across different generations."
——Mike Yang, member of the first-generation Warhammer club, Class of 2018
A match between past and present presidents Joshua Zheng and Tom Zhou, Class of 2018
*A special thank you to Joshua Zheng (Y10) and the Warhammer Club for their contributions to this article.
