Another experience I didn’t want to miss was all the miniature wargaming companies in the UK, specifically in Nottingham. We have very few miniature creators in Australia and it’s an opportunity to visit all of the places that design and create the models. There’s a high density of miniature companies in Nottingham because quite a few people have left the largest, Games Workshop, to create their own companies
There were four companies in Nottingham that I wanted to visit:
– Warhammer World (Games Workshop)
– Warlord Games
– Mantic Games
– Games Foundry
Unfortunately we didn’t get to all of them, more on that later.
The first one we visited was Warlord Games. They mainly create historical miniatures which aren’t really my thing, however I still wanted to have a look. We walked down the canal of Nottingham into the start of the industrial district and found a games store attached to a warehouse. Inside the store it was packed, turns out we had chosen a good day. There was a narrative WW2 event using Flames of War and some impressive terrain. In addition one of the best miniature painters in the world was running a drop in lesson. I would have loved to sit in but unfortunately we’d got into Nottingham a bit late and we still needed to get to Warhammer World. We took a final look around the shop and headed out.
Warhammer World was pretty impressive from the outside, logos mounted on the side of the building, a space marine statue and a life sized tank.
Inside we headed to Bugmans Bar to get some food and drink before heading to the exhibition hall. I always love a themed pub and this was Warhammer themed. Even better.
Refulled we entered the exhibition hall. This included both displays of Warhammer models through the ages and large dioramas containing thousands of models. These dioramas were incredibly impressive and easily my favourite part of the day. My favourite was a 360 degree multi-level diorama of a crypt with skeletons assembling for war. It had nooks and crannies with different things going on so there was always something different to see from wherever you a looked. Here are some of my favourite dioramas from the day:
After the exhibition hall we sat down and assembled Amanda’s first model. She’s painted some before but this was the first time going through the whole build & paint process.
I have a mixed relationship with Games Workshop products. On one hand it’s very nostalgic for me as they’re the company that got me into the wargaming hobby and what I splayed during my formative years, but on the other hand I find the games too bloated, miniatures too expensive and the company too corporatised. However despite this I still greatly enjoyed my time at Warhammer World. It reawakened a lot of the nostalgia within me, especially all the displays of older miniatures.
I was happy to join my husband on the quest, but turns out I had lots of fun myself. My favourite was all the tiny tiny things- mushrooms, trees, my new bestie the nurgling!
As an outsider, it was an interesting display of painting skill and unit placement that was impressive and well worth the day. I love creativity and really enjoyed painting a little dude (even if it was not nearly as impressive as the displays)
Our hostel was really fun, themed again and plants painted on the walls. We walked the streets and the gardens seeing the castle and castle sized houses, robin hood statue and an impressive war grave site.
Nottingham goes okay from a non-war gaming girl.
Amanda’s brief imput
Declan again: Unfortunately there were a few places I wanted to get to but wasn’t able to. Mantic Games was closed because we arrived on a weekend, I was pretty disappointed about this because this is the only company in this list whose games I still play. In addition Games Foundry is just a bit outside of Nottingham but it was too hard to get to in the single night we had.
While up there we also discovered the UK board games expo was on in Birmingham the next weekend. If only!
I’m also going to take a slight diversion to go back to London and talk about Orcs Nest, a board games store in London as that seems relevant here. Orcs Nest has a bit of a following, I’ve heard recommendations to visit there when in London. It was a tiny shop but packed full of board games, indie RPGS and miniature agnostic wargame rules. I had a fantastic time looking over all the shelves and finding RPGS I’d never heard of before. I’d definitely recommend having a look if you’re in London!
I wanted to buy one of the smallest RPGs I could find so I wouldn’t have to lug around a large book for the rest of the trip. I ended up with the Cthulhu hack! A Lovecraftian RPG based off the rules from the Black Hack. I also couldn’t resist these mission cards for Stargrave.
Thanks for joining me on my nerdy miniatures journey. Up to Scotland next!
Tune in to the Harps 