Spectacular dioramas, beer, and just a teasing hint of nostalgia. My thoughts on a recent visit to Warhammer World.
Bumped into Horus and the Emperor at Warhammer World. I get the impression things aren’t great between them.
After a 20+ year break from the hobby, I decided to pick up a paintbrush again. I quickly discovered that there’s more to life than Games Workshop, though the company, their games, and their lore are still a massive part of my childhood.
My hobby journey started in the early 90s. Citadel Combat Cards, Battlemasters, HeroQuest, White Dwarf, Warhammer Fourth Edition, Epic Space Marine, and Warhammer 40k Second Edition. Like most other kids growing up with this stuff, I lost interest in my early teens. And just like many others, I came back into it again as a “grown-up”.
I’ll admit that the modern Games Workshop stuff doesn’t appeal to me very much. I miss the old colourful and fun aesthetics. But, I know that things change and move on. You can’t argue with the company’s size, success, and the mark they’ve made.
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So even though I’m unlikely ever to play a game of Age of Sigmar, or buy any new miniature from GW, I still jumped at the chance to visit Warhammer World when the opportunity arose.
Visiting Warhammer World
I knew very little about Warhammer World beforehand, so wasn’t sure what to expect. The building is split into different areas, you have the exhibition, the shop, the gaming area, and Bugman’s Bar for your refreshment needs.
See my full gallery of pics from Warhammer World.
My main aims here were to see the exhibition and to get a couple of pints. I still had a wee look around the gaming area though, and it had some pretty impressive tables.
Tickets to the exhibition were a very reasonable £7.50, and you could go round it as many times as you wanted.
It’s a place packed with vast, world-class dioramas. Seriously impressive stuff on that front. There was the odd classic on show, too. Mike McVey’s Emperor Vs Horus from 1994, and John Blanche’s 1982 masterpiece March of the Undead.
My one small gripe (if you could call it that) was that I was hoping for more of a museum or “through the ages” experience. There were some great wee 80s and 90s bits and pieces here and there, but they can get lost amongst the epic sprawling warzones of the modern era. It’s almost as if the company want to pull you back to the present day as quickly and as regularly as possible. I suppose that is how they make their money, after all.
In any case, this didn’t spoil my experience, and I had a great time. We finished up with a few beers, a walk around the shop, and then back off to Nottingham town centre via the excellent Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem (England’s oldest Inn, apparently!).
Also on this episode of the Tabletop Miniature Hobby Podcast:
- Miniature hobbyist magazines – I had a lot of feedback and recommendations from my previous episode, and have since subscribed to Miniature Wargames
- The Minimum Effective Painting Method
- mtgcardsmith.com – see them in action in my Dungeons & Badgers post
- The October painting challenge in our Discord channel
- Monster in my Pocket
