Games day gone, replaced by warhammerfest

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**manrogue**

Posted on my local forum, -

http://battlebunnies.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/no-gamesday-warhammer-fest-instead-in.html
Edit - bit more digging got me this info-

Warhammer Fest will be a 2 day event covering the 11th and 12th of October!!
The usual will be there – Forge World, Black Library and Golden Daemon.
There will be a massive variety of seminars and events; you will need to go both days to do it all!!
Tickets are £20 each day!
Golden Daemon will be on display on the Sunday!
It will be a smaller event at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry!

http://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Warhammer-Fest-Sunday-Adult

Warhammer Fest

Sunday 12th October 2014
Ricoh Arena, Coventry, UK
FREE car parking adjacent to the venue
Warhammer Fest is a celebration of everything about the worlds of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000; the miniatures, the backgrounds, the stories and the games. You will encounter fantastic miniatures displays, seminars by our design teams, in-depth demonstrations and inspiring Design Studio displays.

You will also be able to pick up the latest releases from Games Workshop, Forge World and Black Library, including many items available for the first time over the weekend, along with exclusive event only merchandise. With such a wide range of activities, you can plan your day around specific elements, or just enjoy whatever grabs your attention.

Things to See and Do

Golden Demon - On Sunday 12th October, Warhammer Fest will be hosting the 2014 Golden Demon Miniatures Painting Competition, the calendar highlight for miniatures painters throughout the world. If you want to compete and showcase your painting skills, or be a spectator to this extravaganza of miniatures, then order your Sunday ticket today!

Seminars - We will be hosting a series of seminars featuring a panel of experts from Forge World, Black Library and Games Workshop. Each seminar will focus on a specific topic and we will be repeating certain ones each day, so you can choose to attend them when it best suits your plans.

Design Teams - Black Library, Forge World and the Games Workshop Design Studios will all have areas at Warhammer Fest so you can meet the dedicated teams that bring to life the worlds we all love. This is your chance to chat with them and ask any burning questions about Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000, as well as seeing their work up close and personal.

Demo Pods - These dedicated areas are spread throughout the venue and each offers a specific activity such as: painting demonstrations, gaming tactics and a series of presentations covering a range of subjects.

Things to take Home

Black Library - The brand new Horus Heresy book, Death and Defiance will be on sale at Warhammer Fest for the first time anywhere in the world. This anthology collects together five stories set across the battlefields of the Horus Heresy, and includes brand new fiction from Aaron Dembski-Bowden, Nick Kyme, James Swallow, Andy Smillie and Guy Haley.

There will be a range of pre-release titles, event exclusive art prints and more.

Forge World - Visit the popular Forge World sales area for pre-release items, including a brand new book and new models not on release anywhere else; details will be revealed nearer the event. Over the weekend you can also buy from Forge World’s vast range of models and books as well as event only miniatures, t-shirts, hoodies, bags and mugs.

Citadel - You’ll have access to the Games Workshop range at Warhammer Fest, enabling you to add the latest Citadel miniatures, books and other products to your collections.

Art Prints - Admire a gallery of art prints celebrating the stunning visual work of our design teams, with artwork showing detail beyond what you see in our publications. And if there’s something you really like, you’ll be able to buy exclusive prints of many of the pieces over the weekend.

Exclusive Event Merchandise - Get an exclusive memento of your experience with event only products to use in your games and show off to your friends.

If you want to be part of this extravaganza of all things Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000, then get your ticket now as we have strictly limited numbers available for each day.

Full terms and conditions are available here.

**Azreal13**

So, any bets on it being based at WHW?

Costs: Gotta Cut Em All.

(Which is a reference I may need to explain, as, according to Kirby, nobody remembers Pokémon)

EDIT
OPs edit invalidated the detail of my post, but evidently not the spirit. The Ricoh Arena? Really?

**manrogue**

Apparently so, surprised its not at WHW myself.....

**notprop**

WHW is I believe being or due to be refurbished.

**OrlandotheTechnicoloured**

masterminis.net showed the tickets and posted

"Games Day? Warhammer Fest? New Rumors emerge!

Now I know that this is a rumor, everyone could print up some tickets like that, yada, yada, yada....

But I think it's worth sharing: Warhammer Fest October 11-12th?
Allegedly an event at the Ricoh Arena Coventry (which seems weird) - and the event is going to be more or less a FW Open Day for the whole of GW.

I have my doubts, but stranger things have happened. Allegedly, there is also a Golden Demon during this event.

But maybe this entertains you for 42 seconds, so I thought it would be worth SHARING & ENJOYING it

We'll be at the Scale Model Challenge that weekend - you gotta keep your priorities right"

(I suspect the Ricoh Arena was really cheap to rent, as with Coventry City not playing there any more they need all the alternate income they can get)

**namiel**

warhammerfest north america???

**Tyron**

No free model?

**Tannhauser42**

Tyron wrote:
No free model?

A free model, are you kidding? According to GW, our favorite hobby is buying GW products, so why would they just give them away?

**Tyron**

Tannhauser42 wrote:
Tyron wrote:
No free model?

A free model, are you kidding? According to GW, our favorite hobby is buying GW products, so why would they just give them away?

Yeah how silly of me, the last time I went to games day was just before the wraithlord release and a golden daemon entry had one painted.

Atleast my backers get free trays which is something

**overtyrant**

Wow £20! I suppose changing the name from Gamesday so they could get away with not running any games! I envision this just being a massive day for Forge World and spending half the day queuing for the GW store (with no discounts or offers for the day).

**Azreal13**

They close their forums.

They retreat from all social media.

Now GW are literally sending their customers to Coventry.

I'm here all week...

**His Master's Voice**

As an old and jaded person, I welcome the removal of all the tiresome rabble from the event. The only worthwhile events during a Games Day were the seminars, FW presence and Golden Demon. To not be forced to wade through 12 year olds shouting Waaaaagh on my way there is a premium I'm willing to pay.

Or would be willing to pay if I had any intent of attending the event. Since I'm not only old and jaded, but also cheap and lazy, I'll just wait for someone to post the relevant bits here.

**TwilightSparkles**

Consodering the smaller venue and that the only way you could fill the day at Games Day was participating in a shouting scream fest that was one of the games and queuing for the retail stand then I highly doubt you need two days at a smaller venue, nor will I bother finding out as this is a new low for GW.

**Kilkrazy**

It is surprising how GW seem to be systematically disengaging from their former identities. Games Day had been running in the UK since the mid-80s. White Dwarf demoted. IG renamed. Games Day replaced.

Perhaps the brand had become irretrievably tarnished, as Finecast did.

Perhaps they want to concentrate totally on the core Warhammer brand, which makes sense given that it is almost their only product.

**TheAuldGrump**

Wow, WarhammerFest...

That's almost as cool a name as...
As...
As...
Gleemax?

Okay, maybe cooler than Gleemax, but, really, why move away from a successful title to one that... well, just isn't that good?

The Auld Grump

**BrookM**

I think the second day will be the busy one then, if they're moving the Golden Daemon there.

**Lovejoy**

BrookM wrote:
I think the second day will be the busy one then, if they're moving the Golden Daemon there.

It says the Golden Demon stuff will be on display on Sunday; what's the betting that you have to enter and get judged on Saturday, then pick the figures up on Sunday....

**Pacific**

@Kilkrazy - Interesting point. I wonder if we will ever see a change of company name for the same reason? There aren't really any 'games', any more (well.. barely in the plural, 40k/WFB and LoTR), and the 'workshop' component has been replaced by single piece plastics and large pieces of pre-moulded plastic that take the place of flocked MDF as a playing surface.

I'm only joking of course, but the name has become a somewhat amusing and ironic reminder of what the company once represented.

azreal13 wrote:
They close their forums.

They retreat from all social media.

Now GW are literally sending their customers to Coventry.

Haha.. very good !

Sorry for anyone here that lives in Coventry.. (but you need to move!)

**Palindrome**

TheAuldGrump wrote:
.... but, really, why move away from a successful title to one that... well, just isn't that good?

Astra Militarum, I rest my case.

**BrookM**

These last few years "Games Day" hasn't exactly been brought up or used in positive ways.

**filbert**

Interestingly, if you go to the Ricoh Arena website:

http://www.ricoharena.com/

And scroll the calendar app thing through to October, there doesn't appear to be anything booked on those dates. Might mean something, probably means nothing but it is interesting to note that other exhibitions and shows are listed. Probably GW trying to preserve their veil of pointless secrecy as usual.

**Herzlos**

Lovejoy wrote:
BrookM wrote:
I think the second day will be the busy one then, if they're moving the Golden Daemon there.

It says the Golden Demon stuff will be on display on Sunday; what's the betting that you have to enter and get judged on Saturday, then pick the figures up on Sunday....

There should be nothing stopping people taking their mini's away after judging, as I'm sure that's happened at the previous events.

But why Coventry? Just cheaper access? It seems the place has capacity of up to 12,000 standing though, so it's maybe not shrinking that much.

**notprop**

Palindrome wrote:
TheAuldGrump wrote:
.... but, really, why move away from a successful title to one that... well, just isn't that good?

Astra Militarum, I rest my case.

Neither Imperial Guard or Games Day can be Trademarked and protected. The renaming seems to be a continuation of their tightening up of terminology.

As much as the name grates at least with WarhammerFest it will do exactly what it says on the tin.

**Steve steveson**

His Master's Voice wrote:
As an old and jaded person, I welcome the removal of all the tiresome rabble from the event. The only worthwhile events during a Games Day were the seminars, FW presence and Golden Demon. To not be forced to wade through 12 year olds shouting Waaaaagh on my way there is a premium I'm willing to pay.

I agree. If this gets away from the kids screaming Waaagh and becomes an event more like the open days then I might just go. I don't blaim GW from wanting to get away from the gamesday name. It had become old and stale and had a poor reputation. If this is true they might be able to pull something out.

However, I find it odd that someone has tickets yet there is nothing on the GW website, the arena website or anywhere else. All seems very sus to me. But this would make far more sense than the NEC. Much cheaper and easier to get to for many people. The NEC by all accounts is far to expensive to rent, it is a pig to get to, because the M42 is horrid, always full of traffic and always has roadworks, and despite the vast cost of any events there they charge £5 or more for parking. The NIA is just a plane pain in the bum unless you live in Birmingham, and has almost no parking. If true it is a much more sensible place to hold an event.

£20 seems reasonable, especially when there is no parking charges, as long as there is at least a full half a days worth of stuff to see.

**H.B.M.C.**

azreal13 wrote:
(Which is a reference I may need to explain, as, according to Kirby, nobody remembers Pokémon)

Elaborate on that please...?

**His Master's Voice**

Something about Pokemon being a passing fad or some such.

Not the brightest gem of wisdom, even By Kirby's standards.

**H.B.M.C.**

Kilkrazy wrote:
It is surprising how GW seem to be systematically disengaging from their former identities. Games Day had been running in the UK since the mid-80s. White Dwarf demoted. IG renamed. Games Day replaced.

It's easier to stick a little "™" after "Warhammerfest" than something like "Games Day". But we wouldn't want to be cynical about these sorts of things now would we?

TheAuldGrump wrote:
Okay, maybe cooler than Gleemax, but, really, why move away from a successful title to one that... well, just isn't that good?

Gleemax sounds like some sort of food-processor or blender.

Steve steveson wrote:
... it is a pig to get to, because the M42 is horrid...

GW agrees. They only want M41:

Mauler from Taco Bell wrote:The first seminar was about 40k, why they're not progressing the timeline beyond where it is now and how instead GW have 10,000 years (Heresy to M41) to pick events out of to use as a basis for supplements and the like. Someone laughed and stated that if they were working backwards they there is a chance that they could revisit Squats from their time in 30k up to their demise at the claws of the Tyranids. Jes, Phil & Matt all had a good laugh, said that they could and then carried on to talk about more feasible stuff.

His Master's Voice wrote:
Something about Pokemon being a passing fad or some such.

Not the brightest gem of wisdom, even By Kirby's standards.

GW's track records with what is and isn't a fad seems to be pretty bad.

**Fezman**

H.B.M.C. wrote:
azreal13 wrote:
(Which is a reference I may need to explain, as, according to Kirby, nobody remembers Pokémon)

Elaborate on that please...?

It was in Kirby's preamble to the financial report last year:

"When will the world tire of miniatures? (It won’t; these are not fashion items, they are hobby collectibles.) Won’t all your customers move on to computer games instead? (They didn’t; most of our current customers weren’t born when the Atari ST came out.) How about other games like Pokémon or role-playing games? (Who can remember them, now?)."

I especially like how it completely ignores the existence of RPGs licenced by GW themselves!

**Yodhrin**

Herzlos wrote:
Lovejoy wrote:
BrookM wrote:
I think the second day will be the busy one then, if they're moving the Golden Daemon there.

It says the Golden Demon stuff will be on display on Sunday; what's the betting that you have to enter and get judged on Saturday, then pick the figures up on Sunday....

There should be nothing stopping people taking their mini's away after judging, as I'm sure that's happened at the previous events.

But why Coventry? Just cheaper access? It seems the place has capacity of up to 12,000 standing though, so it's maybe not shrinking that much.

There's also a smaller venue in the same building with a standing capacity of 800, which seems like a more plausible option if their main aim is to cut costs.

**H.B.M.C.**

Who can remember Pokemon? A lot of people, apparently.