The missus tootled off to Kent to see some girl mates this weekend, so rather than brood over the ease with which my better half abandoned me I decided to visit Warhammer World in Nottingham, well it was that or whittle away at the pile of minis to be painted...
After a minor diversion around Notts city centre while I orientated myself (ok I got lost but my tech level 4 road wheeler doesn't have auto-nav, and the only previous time i visited Nottingham I was very very drunk, I digress) I found the nerve centre of GW and spent a good few hours meandering around the gaming hall, exhibition, shop and Bugmans Bar. The staff are very friendly and managed to persuade me to get a copy of Black reach, for the rulebook you understand... I still use 1st or 4th ed if i ever get the chance to play which is rarely.
Anyways, the highlight for me was the exhibition upstairs where thousands of GW's archetypal minis (ie the ones you see in the codexes and White Dwarf etc) are on show, as well as showcases of our fave 'eavy metal painters and most especially John Blanche. For me ol' Blanchistu is the heart of GW's universes and he is in many ways responsible the inherent darkness and broodiness, yes his art is dismissed as messy and uncouth by some but that's missing the point, as the Warhammer universes are messy and uncouth places!
It was nice to see some of the famous dioramas on show too, and seeing the Horus diorama by Mike Mcvey was cool after spending so many hours staring at the pictures of it in White Dwarf.
Downstairs in the gaming hall some of John Blanches miniatures from the last 3 decades are on view, and MAN can this guy paint minis, as well as knocking out the odd canvas, y'know, as you do. The photos really don't do them justice, every one is a micro masterpiece and now i'm home feeling inspired!
Two things that caught my eye were these solid Landraider and Whirlwind, I'n not sure but i think these are the masters for the Epic plastics? They are massive and looked about 20% bigger than the 40k scale equivalent. If anyone could elaborate that would rock.
So all in all a very inspiring and pretty nostalgic trip to GWHQ, cheers guys ;o)
3 comments:
Very cool ... I envy you guys in the UK ... just able to hop on down to Bugmans for a pint :) Cool stuff ... good post!
It's a cool bar, with a fake dwarvish hearth to warm yourself by and tell tales of victory and defeat. GW should definately open an equivalent (or three) in the States it would go down a bomb.
Yes, but Bugmans still has some way to go, it needs to be staffed by real dwarves :)
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