Not Now, I'm Busy

Is it the Games-Workshop APOCALYPSE?

Anyone who has been doing the rounds of the local Games-Workshop stores around Sydney will notice a changing landscape. Alright so not many of us actually thought a games store in Bankstown Square would work in the first place, but I’m sure at least a few of you felt an undercurrent of pride seeing the tabletop format expanding across the somewhat less hospitable “Border Princes” of Sydney.

That all changed when I revisited the sight just after Christmas to find no sign of the store. It had closed down. Initially this realisation saw a regression to my previous assertions which I voiced prophetically (albeit after the fact) ‘I knew a store in Bankstown would never work!’ Then something else happened, something which shook my very Warhammer-loving world to its core. The Miranda Westfield Games-Workshop posted signs about their own inevitable close. This was the first Warhammer store I had ever been in. I learnt that Orc’s were green, and performed the first of many begging tantrums for my parents there  (Either to buy me something, or to let me stay to finish my game.)

When the tears had subsided I approached the manager of the store to ask in a whimpering voice what was going on. He assured me that they were simply relocating. This greatly alleviated my pain right up until I asked the details of the move. They were moving out of the nice, clean, close to food court and amenities shopping mall, and into a street side shop attached to one of those old dingy arcade-style collection of shops. Not only this but they would no longer be open a full week, or trade as many hours.  (In fact they would also close for lunch every day!)

I was dumbstruck, and after some time spent collecting myself, I managed to ask after some Dark Eldar models I had come to purchase. (You remember those guys? From my first two articles… Long story There will be more articles/battle reports to come I swear !) The Friendly manager then dragged my already distraught ass to a computer screen on one of the store walls. Noting my bemused expression he explained that by simply logging onto the Games-Workshop website creating an account with username, password and email address, I could then place an order from the store, that order would be shipped to the store and in 1-2 weeks I could come back to said store and collect my models.

W.T.F!

Only once this explanation was finished did I realise that this was not the first time I had heard this. I had seen the in-store computer being installed on a previous visit, and gotten the run-down on how it would work then. I was just as dumbfounded and (to be honest) pissed off. I came to the store to buy models then and there, not wait up to a month. What’s more they were regular models! Not old obscure “hard to get your hands on” models, so who the hell thought that gamers would want to go to a store so that they could order models from a computer when we can do that from our own home. Don’t get me wrong I worked in retail for 6 years and I realise how much of a stuffy customer that sounds like, but where not talking kitchens or mower parts here. It made no sense whatsoever, and while I’m sure the idea isn’t solely responsible for a recession in store traffic; it’s as close to a billboard reading ‘STAY AT HOME AND ORDER YOUR MODELS!‘ as they could have gotten.

The other, and probably more telling factor in the decline of walk in Warhammer stores is the strong Aussie dollar. Going online and doing a bit of hunting it’s pretty hard not to find a better price on models than what the stores are offering. This is great news for starting new armies, but horrible news if you’re trying to sell your old models to pay for one. Who’s going buy your poorly painted first ever space marine models when they can get brand new ones for peanuts.

The landscape around table-top gaming is certainly changing, and with the latest announcement of Warhammer Finecast… Wait for it. A rehash of old models in a new resin with finer detail… Wow boys that will save the day. Let just see if there’s a price hike coming.

So what does it all mean.

Short term not a hell of a lot. Most table-top gamers being somewhat competent in the use of computers have been successfully ordering online for years, and the hunt online for that extra special bargain is nothing new either. In fact with the growing popularity of such sights as ForgeWorld, with its models and tack-on game systems (Apocalypse, Epic 40,000 etc) the Warhammer game itself is in no danger of becoming boring, and it’s certainly no more difficult to collect. (although the Games-workshop is going after European sellers and online retailers with new contracts, to enforce who can sell what to which country in an order to curb some of this.)

Long term however if the trend does continue we could be seeing the end of the local Games-Workshop store. The place where ‘social’ gamers (yes we do exist) could flock to connect with the wider games community. A friendly place where tournaments could be played, NOOB’s trained and girls gawked at when they unwittingly wandered in to collect their younger brothers.  Without the atmosphere of the Stores there is less chance of roping in those new players who press their faces to the glass windows to check out what all the excitement is about. Just as I had done on that fateful day some fourteen years ago.

As you can see my article is a lot of opinion and personal observation, with no hard figures or interviews with actual Workshop staff. So I am keen to hear your thoughts, or inside knowledge if you possess any.

Have more stores closed or relocated?

When’s the last time you went to a store and were blown away/disappointed? (and by what?)

What’s you fondest nostalgia riddled memory of your Workshop store?

Till next time.