Wednesday, November 7, 2018

My First Visit to Warhammer World

Hey Everyone!  Today I want to share the exciting day I had on my first trip to Warhammer World during my recent adventure to England.  Having made my pilgrimage to Warhammer Mecca I can safely say it is well worth the time, energy, and cost to visit the home of the game we love so much.  I want to give a special thanks to Mitzy (from The Mitzy and Jimbo Show) for setting up a fun day by reserving game tables and inviting friends to help make the day great, seeing people come out mid-week to play games and hang out really meant a lot.  I also want to give my thanks to the staff from Games Workshop for saying hello and having me on the Warhammer Live Stream that night for a game of Age of Sigmar.  It was a memorable day and I cannot wait to make a return trip.


My day began in London and quick Tube ride to Kings Cross for my train up to Nottingham.  After asking some helpful folks which train I was supposed to be on I was able to board with my army and settle in for some lovely views of the countryside.  After a change of train midway, I made the rest of the trip to Nottingham and headed for the tram to take me to Warhammer World.  Coming from America the Tube, Trains, and Tram systems of England are a thing of wonder as I am used to simply driving everywhere I want to go.  People were very friendly and I felt comfortable asking anyone I saw to ensure I was headed the right way.


After I disembarked from the tram I made a short walk to Warhammer World and I had to take the typical tourist pictures in front of the Liberator Statue as well as grab a picture of the Rhino parked out front.  You don't make it far in Warhammer World without seeing world-class dioramas and as soon as I entered there was a few to see as well as the old Space Marine Statue that used to occupy the podium out front.  I was also pleased to see Morathi decorating the walls by the stairs headed up to the main hall!


I walked into the main gaming hall and saw everyone hanging out playing some games and I was immediately taken to Bugman's Bar to grab my first Bugman's Special.  Bugman's Bar was everything I had hoped it would be and I wish I lived close enough to hang out here with friends to talk hobby more regularly.  The beer was tasty, the food was good, and the company was great.  I also took the time to grab a few Warhammer World exclusives, but I left a few items I wanted on the shelf to give me a reason to come back in the near future.


After settling in it was time to get some games in at the table.  Ben Smith offered to throw down with our lists for the upcoming Realms at War event.  We rolled up a narrative mission and deployed our forces and then had a good laugh when a bunch of Witch Aelves stared down a horde of Gryph-Hounds.  Battle was met and by the end, the Hobby was the winner.  While it was a mismatch in armies we both had an enjoyable time rolling dice and getting to know one another.  The Witches won the day, but as you will see in my upcoming Coverage from Realms at War the Dogs will have their day as Ben and I meet once more on the table! 


As my game against Ben was wrapping up it was time to head into the Exhibit Hall and I want to offer a big thanks to Martin for gifting me a ticket to enter the hall.  It was an unexpected and incredibly kind act that I will not forget.  The hall completely blew me away.  The scale of the dioramas are incredible and there are hidden details throughout each one that shows how much the teams creating them care about the lore as well as having a bit of fun.  The next part is a picture dump that does not do any of the model's justice and I found myself getting lost in many of the displays, especially the High Elves as they were my first army and first Warhammer love.  Seeing the models which filled the old Army books was both fulfilling and a bit overwhelming.  I could have stayed there for hours, but I did my best to keep moving (and thankfully Mitzy was along with me to keep me from getting lost forever).


After seeing the exhibit Mitzy challenged me to a game seeing his Ironjaws racing to get to grips with my Daughters of Khaine.  Mitzy is one of the happiest people I know and his enthusiasm shows at the table.  After an early push by my Daughters, I felt I was in a great position to control the game, but Mitzy kept storing up his Command Points for a late game WAAAGGHHH.  I felt comfortable that I could handle it, but Gork (or possibly Mork) had other ideas and with a mighty series of rolls the Foot of Gork shattered my Hag Queen on Cauldron taking her from full wounds to none in a single Hero Phase...then the green wave came with their mighty WAAAGGHHH!  Mitzy won the day in true Orruk fashion and it was one of the greatest games of Age of Sigmar I have ever played!


After his stunning victory, Mitzy took to the battlefield against Nathan P. (from The Honest Wargamer) and his Ironjaws.  The two unleashed the mightiest WAAAGHH I have ever seen, but I was unable to see its conclusion as I was scheduled to play my friend (WHTV) Dan in an International Battle on Warhammer TV's Twitch Stream (if you subscribe you can go back and check the battle out!).  Dan was putting Stormcast with an incredible four Knight-Heraldor's up against my Witches in what was sure to be a great game. After some pregame chat, Dan and I got after it and Dan began his massacre!  Dan is an exceptional opponent with a lot of skill and knowledge of the game.  When you pair that with the dice god's abounding me you get to see Witches felled like wheat before the Scythe.  I have been on both sides of one-sided fights, but never before have I had so much fun in one.  We laughed and cheered one another and Dan took the battle while giving me a wonderful memory and a great play experience.  I really hope the joy of the game came through on stream as it was such a fun game between friends.  Playing a game with Dan while also hanging out with Martin and the Stream Chat will always be one of my top moments in this Hobby!



I can say without a doubt that if you have never been to Warhammer World before you absolutely must find a way to get there at least once in your Hobby life.  It is welcoming, thrilling, overwhelming, and one of the greatest experiences you can have if you have any love for Miniature Wargaming, Miniature Painting, or the Hobby in general.  It was amazing to be in Warhammer World and playing Age of Sigmar and I want to thank Mitzy, Gary, Nathan, Paul, Ben, Rob, and everyone at Games Workshop (Pete F., Ben J.,James K. Jes B., Dan B.,Pink Rob, and Martin M.) for saying hello, hanging, and making my visit as memorable as possible.  I cannot wait to return there in the future.  Happy Hobbying!

Chuck Moore