Warhammer World 2020 – Hobby Centre, Gaming Area & Bugmans Bar

Here I am, back in very early 2020, once again in Nottingham and once again at the headquarter of Games Workshop, the Warhammer World. But this time not as part of a gents trip, but on a family vacation and I brought along my wife and daughter. My last visit was in April 2018 during our Salute trip, and the first time I was here was in the late 90s over Easter with my parents.

It's the sunday after Warhammer World Open Day 2020, and even within the last one and a half year a bit has changed at Warhammer World. They moved the Space Marine statue (which has been around for at least 2 decades) from the opposite side of Bugman's Bar balcony to the place next to Rhino, just below the Imperial Aquila.

Did you know that they included the Warhammer World and Games Workshop HQ buildings as an easter egg in a Genestealer Cult miniature? Well, now you know!

The access to Warhammer World is free, so you can go around the store, the gaming area (where you can reserve a gaming table for free as well) and the bugman's bar. Only the exhibition costs an entry fee and that is incl. in your tickets if you participate in special events, like the Open Days or several tournaments.

The store inside the Warhammer World includes a corner for the Black Library, and multiple cabinets. Towards the gaming centre is a cabinet with the changing novelties on display.

Warhammer World covers multiple exclusive items, that are only available here in Nottingham and sometimes on events like Warhammer Fest. It is a bit hard to get a proper overview on what they have and what's in stock. As they don't communicate that properly on their website. The most prominent one is the Space Marine command tank bundle, but I think that this might have his days counted with the rubicon of the Primaris (vehicles).

They have released reprints of three old, iconic Warhammer books, the first one was the Rogue Trader rulebook (which I didn't see on shelf anymore) and the two Realm of Chaos books, with the second, The Lost and the Damned being reprinted last saturday on its 30th anniversary. Something that was only announced after the Open Day in the evening in a facebook post of the Warhammer World page (not the Age of Sigmar or 40k pages though). There are a few miniatures, like Bugman of multiple editions, a range of several exclusive regular GW and Forge World miniatures (but those seem to change from time to time) and pins. Beside that you get Bugman merchandise, but the offered range changes due to availability (there are mugs, cufflinks, tankards, but unfortunately no longer the beer gift set).

The gaming area which is set in the courtyard of an castle since two decades (the stores were the major changes in the last few years). Yet it was slightly modified and the gaming tables in different order compared to last year. It was missing the very impressive custom tables, like the slain Warlord Titan or larger tables (you can see them in the 2018 coverage). I don't know if this is permanent or they were just temporarely removed to make room for the open day. You can read all about booking a table and events on here.

As they were celebrating 20 years of Warhammer World on the open day, they had a throw back through the old variants of Warhammer World. I wished they had shared more of these pictures on the Warhammer Community page or facebook. In fact, that is something that come's a bit short and could be shown more prominently. I knew the very old Warhammer World in the late 90s, when it was more like a community hall, incl. a simpler but still impressive exhibition, incl. the store on the ground floor, that even had a spin casting cabin. Early 2000s they did an update, that you can see in my coverage from 2004.

The gaming area had to free up quite a bit of square feet to make room for the Forge World store, that is there since the last bigger rebuild of the Warhammer World. And it is more prominent and with everything not being a core game, like Age of Sigmar or Warhammer 40.000, being moved to "Specialist Games" / under the lead of Forge World.

So beside the classic resin range of huge items and Horus Heresy, all of Adeptus Titanicus, Blood Bowl and Necromunda is found here. Unfortunately stock can be a bit of a problem - especially after special events like yesterday. So it is either best to give them a call in advance, so they can bring your products up from the hub or use their postal service, to have it send home afterwards. The later is a great service that is offered by all stores in the Warhammer World, in case an item is not in stock or you can not carry it with you (for example because of travelling by plane).

One of the general highlights at Warhammer World is certainly the Bugmans Bar. It is great for a break between games, shopping and going through the exhibition. It offers a broad selection of drinks and food. Including vegetarian and vegan options, warm and cold beverages, as well as alcoholic options (that are even listed on Untappd in case you're using the app). While we were there, four other young families were there with their kids and strollers. Bugmans Bar is a great place to stay for your non-hobby friends and family, during your shopping and such, as mentioned above they not only provide snacks, but proper meals and even free wi-fi on top.

We grabbed something to eat before we headed back and our daughter had the chance to socialise with the other wargamers offsprings, which is great as you need to provide a break for them after sitting in a car seat for a bit.

So beside showing my better half and daughter the Warhammer World, I picked up a few things. I was very happy, that my assumption, that we'd see the reprint of the Realm of Chaos book, The Lost and The Damned, was true and I picked up a copy for myself.

Beside the book, which is reasonably priced at 35 GBP (take a look on eBay what the originals go for, easily 70-100 GBP in a halfway decent condition and with 30 years on their back those are hard to come by), I got myself the second edition of the Warhammer World diorama book (will go on that later), and a few pins. As my shopping exceeded 50 GBP I got access to a reward (they still had lots of them over from the Open Day and offered additional goodies if you spend 50, 100, 150 GBP and more). I chose the art prints.

It was a nice visit and well received by my family. I was hoping to buy some Black Library merchandise (an Imperial Fist and Chaos Legion t-shirt), but they weren't in stock / sold out. Yet, they had the christmas sweater, which is a funny idea (if I didn't just buy an ugly christmas sweater, I would have bought one) and I already got a lot of the merch in my past visits, so my overall costs in shopping were not that high. It would be great, if they would more transparent communicate, what their range cover or what they currently have to offer. Especially with the exclusives, as I was asked to bring items along as well.

Of course I went into the exhibition again and took a couple of pictures, so that we'll have a lot to look at in combination with the two 2018 articles, on the exhibition centre and dioramas.

So if you're in the area, take the chance and drop by, it is worth the visit, even if you're not that into Warhammer. I'll write up something on planning a trip to Nottingham, from two perspectives, one as a wargamer and one as a family man. So stay tuned for that.

Warhammer World offers enough parking (incl. handicap spaces and barrier free access to most parts) and is open during the whole week, with longer times in evening towards the weekend. Just make sure to check on their event schedule, so your plans do not collide with tournaments or other special occassions, that may block parts of the venue.

Link: Warhammer World