UPDATED March 25:

Here's a summary of the updated information contained throughout this thread.

Arundel Mills GW will be open till around the end of April.

GW has still not announced the location of the the new Battle Bunker in Maryland, but friends told me the location a few weeks ago and then it leaked out to some others as well. Once someone else posted it here I decided to let fly with everything I know. Another forum member finally spotted a sign at the location posted by the shopping center management yesterday. That photo is posted further along in this thread. The exact address and associated information are shown below.

Supposedly, GW wants the Battle Bunker open around the time they close Arundel Mills, but no announcement about this has been made yet and progress does not appear to have been made to date at the new location. However, the end of April is a month away and a lot can be accomplished in that time. We'll have to wait and see.

Interviews for the Battle Bunker Manager job take place during the first couple weeks of April. Several internal applicants are vying for the job, some from Maryland and some from outside the area.

Here's the new Battle Bunker location information. There's plenty of food and services in the area both at the actual shopping center and at many locations extremely close by on Route 450 and Route 301. Some nearby restaurants and quick food options include Outback Steakhouse, 7-Eleven, Grace's Fortune Chinese Food (excellent food!), Sakura, Pizza Hut, Glory Days, Taco Bell, Popeye's, Giant Food.

Games Workshop
Hilltop Plaza Shopping Center
6820 Race Track Road
Bowie, Maryland 20715

Md Route 450 & Race Track Road, Bowie, Maryland | 800-760-7118
http://hilltopplazabowie.com/

Hilltop is is easily accessible by Maryland Routes 3, 197 and 450. With our new construction and renovation underway, and a slew of exciting new shops moving in, Hilltop truly is...Better than Ever!

It's also easily accessible from State Highway 50 which drops you on Route 3 just down the road from the junction with 450.

April 27 UPDATE:
GW's latest newsletter announces the opening of the new Battle Bunker in Maryland, though they still insist on calling it the "Baltimore Battle Bunker" in spite of the fact that Bowie, MD is a suburb of D.C., not Baltimore:

North American News and Events
Hobby Centers

Baltimore Battle Bunker opening this month! Keep an eye on Facebook and Twitter for more info! Also, we have Hobby Centers in West Vancouver, BC, Cypress, TX, Toronto, ON, Houston, TX, Annapolis, MD, and Seattle, WA celebrating the founding of their store with a Birthday party in May! These events will feature gaming, prizes and a variety of different limited edition items, so if you're in the area, make sure you stop by! For exact dates, visit the store or our website.)

May 13 UPDATE:
Opening day and hours announced too. I'm already digging that 10-10 opening day. Just like old times.

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?aId=16400045a

Bowie Bunker Opening Day

OPENING DAY! Join us at the new Bowie Bunker on Saturday, May 21st for a day of Games Workshop madness filled with gaming and hobby events! Bring your armies and prepare for battle!

6820 Race Track Rd.
Bowie, MD 20715
301-464-3246

Sat. Hours: 10am-10pm

May 13, Additional UPDATE:

Store Hours for the Bowie Battle Bunker:

Monday - Thursday 12-9
Friday 12-10
Sat. 10-10
Sunday 12-6

Remember, opening day is May 21!

BrassScorpion wrote:Games Workshop at Arundel Mills Mall is closing around Feb. 21. Apparently the Mall is raising rent on their tenants and GW was having no part of it. This is a closing, not a relocation.

However, the good news if there is any is that GW is still supposedly looking for a new Battle Bunker location in Maryland.

Probably about the time I leave...

Nice store, only shopped there a handful of times, but it sucks to see it go. I never really cared for that mall, even when it was brand new. Nice movie theater though. The Poor People Voluntary Taxation Center, aka the slots parlor, is gonna crank up the trashiness to 11 at that mall when its built.

NELS1031 wrote:The Poor People Voluntary Taxation Center, aka the slots parlor, is gonna crank up the trashiness to 11 at that mall when its built.

I thought it was a stupidity tax?

The beast goes by many names.

The bars already bring that crowd.

BrassScorpion wrote:Games Workshop at Arundel Mills Mall is closing around Feb. 21. Apparently the Mall is raising rent on their tenants and GW was having no part of it. This is a closing, not a relocation.

However, the good news if there is any is that GW is still supposedly looking for a new Battle Bunker location in Maryland.

Dang... Unless The Bunker opens up somewhere nearby, there goes lunchtime visits to GW...

Valete,

JohnS

True cygnnus, but the Columbia GW is not far off- I often wondered how 2 could coexist so closely... (although the Owings Mills and White Marsh GWs are probably a similar distance apart).

Sorry to hear this... but I have also heard that they are still searching for a Bunker location, so hopefully that continues.

Dang, I was just in there yesterday. I always stop in before I go in for a movie. I find it very hard to buy anything from them though with all the price increases that GW has done over the past few years. But it was always good to go in and play a different person other than my normal gaming group.

Beware local MD stores, with the Arundel Mills store closing, the person my group likes to call "Stewart" (from the SNL skits) will be looking for a new store to play at. If you ever see him and talk to him, you will know exactly who I am talking about. Don't waste your time playing him.

A friends of mine got a great deal on a citadel gaming board for about 80 bucks when the Franklin Mills, PA store closed. Anyone living in the MD area should become friendly with the staff if they are smart ...

MD folks who are looking for deals already got loads when the Bunker closed. Unfortunately, it's a really bad tradeoff . I didn't attend, was too sad to see it go...

BrassScorpion wrote:Games Workshop at Arundel Mills Mall is closing around Feb. 21. Apparently the Mall is raising rent on their tenants and GW was having no part of it. This is a closing, not a relocation.

However, the good news if there is any is that GW is still supposedly looking for a new Battle Bunker location in Maryland.

Just had a similar thing happen here, the local GW just closed down in December. Although there are a couple other gaming stores nearby, nothing as close to me as GW was.

Sigh, now the only one is in Pasadena for me. And that store seems to be closed more than it's open. Guess it's a good thing the DE didn't convince me to dive back in. By the time Chaos or Eldar get redone they'll probably have closed them all in Maryland.

RiTides wrote:True cygnnus, but the Columbia GW is not far off- I often wondered how 2 could coexist so closely... (although the Owings Mills and White Marsh GWs are probably a similar distance apart).

Sorry to hear this... but I have also heard that they are still searching for a Bunker location, so hopefully that continues.

'Fraid Columbia's too far for a lunch run for me... The Annapolis GW store is, almost literally, a stone's throw away from my house, so it's not like I don't have a GW option nearby, but it was kind of nice to have the option to hit GW at lunch for those impulse buys. Besides, Arundel Mills was, unlike some of other other stores in the area, open on Mon/Tues.

Kind of ballsy, though, for Arundel Mills to raise rent in the current climate. I haven't been there for a bit (Arundel Mills is the absolute last place I want to go around the holidays!), but I've seen more than a few local malls with a lot of open store fronts... Guess they're prepping for the coming self-taxation center.

Valete,

JohnS

Apparently, Arundel Mills Mall is raising rents on their tenants and demanding long-term, really long-term leases from them and they think they can get it because of the new "slots parlor" coming to that area. Seems they think it raises the value of their property. That remains to be seen, a lot of people feel the increased traffic and crime from the slots parlor might have the opposite effect.

BrassScorpion wrote:a lot of people feel the increased traffic and crime from the slots parlor might have the opposite effect.

a lot of people are not as stupid as my cynicism would believe.

Its too bad about the Arundel Mills store. I am surprised they decided to close it, considering that they just closed the bunker.

I am lucky to be in Northern Maryland where we have three GW shops. White Marsh where you can go across the street and drink, York Ridge where there is tons of space to paint and play, and Owings Mills where you can get WIFI from the coffee shop.

The thing that I will miss most about Arundel Mills spot are the Red Shirts. Well, one of them, at least. Everyone was alright, and it is unfortunate that I probably won't see them anytime soon, but I am really disliking the fact that I won't be able to see the guy that first got me into Guard. Hopefully I can get an army together in short order so I can have a play before the place closes down; I have only ever played a game in a GW once, and that was over in Columbia (and even then, it was a 200-point Killteam affair that was ended early, so I don't think it was that much of a game...)

At least the Columbia store is just about equadistance from my house as Arundel Mills is, so it won't be too much of a problem to get whatever it is I need.

Another thing I found out is how many of the Bunker staff got hired at other stores. I encountered one at the Olney GW, one in Owings Mills, and they said there were a few more elsewhere.

I believe the manager went into motivational speaking (he'd be good at it) and one staffer didn't want to continue to work for GW, but it looks like a lot of them got taken care of... which is good, since everything was so uncertain for a while there.

Hopefully the Arundel staff can find positions elsewhere, too, even if they have to re-apply like the Bunker staff did...

One guy from the Bunker did go to Olney, two others, the part-timers, went to Arundel Mills and so they are potentially losing their jobs for the second time since last September.

Sad to hear that. It was always nice to drop in when waiting for a movie there.
-Tim

Does this count as a profit?

From what I was told, the Arundel Mills store was once the number 1 store in sales, and then things went downhill fast. Rather then rehabilitate the store, they decided to close it.

What I see Games Workshop as doing is putting a store in an area, recruiting as many gamers as possible...when those gamers are saturated with product and more people cannot be recruited, and sales go down, they yank the store.

The Mall is now raising the rent by about 50% and demanding a long-term lease. GW was having no part of either, that was the trigger for the store closing at this time.

If the store was still the number 1 store in America, it would stay there, or at least be relocated. GW has a habit of getting rid of bad staff ( i.e. staff that are not selling lots of product) by getting rid of their store....

Raising the rent by a large amount, based on a casino that may bring in the wrong crowd, and being forced to take a long term lease is not a good combination. Especially in light of GW's trend to move out of malls, and going to 1-2 person stores.

'Long term' for malls means 8-10 years. That's a long time to lose money if things go bad. The casino could be a poison for a lot of businesses.

The Arundel Mills GW store closing has been postponed till April from the original Feb. 21 closure date announced last month. That's good news, two more months the store will be around.

But didn't they just open that place 2 years ago? i remember winning at the drawing they had at the grand opening.

I go to the one in Owings Mills, 25 mins away. Dave is a nice Manager. I live like 5 mins from White Marsh and 15 from the one in Timonium. Timonium is loud as hell because of the small children under 16 yr olds. Or at least they seem that way. White Marsh is jsut kinda meh.

OM just seems friendlier and more enjoyable.

Hey Smolo82, you should join the Fans of St. Thomas GW Facebook page... We're trying to help the community with communicatin'. You probably know me, but you just don't know it.

Its good to hear the Arundel Mills store will stay open a bit longer. Any word as to why the closing date was pushed back?

Hmmmm.....I might. I am looking for it right now.

Aw. That's the closest one around for me. I've never been able to find the Columbia one, actually. Glad they postponed it though. I need to pick up so de stuff, and all the flgs stores around here suck

BrassScorpion wrote:However, the good news if there is any is that GW is still supposedly looking for a new Battle Bunker location in Maryland.

I heard a rumor that GW plans to open a larger than normal 7500 square foot Battle Bunker in the Bowie-Crofton area in April-May. If true, a big announcement would be coming in March.

Logan's World Expatriot wrote:I heard a rumor that GW plans to open a larger than normal 7500 square foot Battle Bunker in the Bowie-Crofton area in April-May. If true, a big announcement would be coming in March.

I was keeping that news "under my hat" so to speak for a couple weeks now, but since you've posted it, yes, that rumor is true. GW has apparently already signed a lease for a new Battle Bunker, the real deal, here in Maryland. It will be open 7 days a week and the location is somewhere in the Bowie-Crofton area. That is why the closing of Arundel Mills was extended a couple months, to transition the customers there theoretically to the new Bunker. That also keeps the only store in that county that's open 7 days per week open till the new Bunker takes over.

Damn shame the north Maryland crowd has nothing. Harco, Baltco have plenty of rich people just waiting to get into the hobby. They should have kept the Bunker central to the state.

General Hobbs wrote:Damn shame the north Maryland crowd has nothing. Harco, Baltco have plenty of rich people just waiting to get into the hobby. They should have kept the Bunker central to the state.

I think Bowie-Crofton is a great location for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, I live there. Secondly, it's close to my house. Thirdly, it's totally sweet that a battle bunker is opening up close to my house. I could go on, but I've caught my breath so I'm going to resume running victory laps around my living room again.

General Hobbs wrote:Damn shame the north Maryland crowd has nothing. Harco, Baltco have plenty of rich people just waiting to get into the hobby. They should have kept the Bunker central to the state.

The Bunker's new location is meant to better serve D.C. and Northern Virginia, which it definitely will do. No single store can serve all parts of this state or any other completely, but this new one should do nicely where it's going for a lot of people.

Logan's World Expatriot wrote:I think Bowie-Crofton is a great location for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, I live there. Secondly, it's close to my house. Thirdly, it's totally sweet that a battle bunker is opening up close to my house. I could go on, but I've caught my breath so I'm going to resume running victory laps around my living room again.

I sure hope it's more Bowie and less Crofton! Crofton seems pretty hard to get to, especially from D.C., as you have to travel quite a ways east and it's inconveniently far from the major highways... at least the way I got there last time I was out that way (I was in a league and had to play someone with limited time at their home in Crofton).

But regardless, this news Totally rocks! Perhaps it's deserving of it's own thread? I imagine a "GW Bunker opening in MD" thread would get a lot more non-local folks interested than the news about the one in the mall closing does.

Edit: New thread posted with the above quotes from you guys, link here:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/346002.page

No offense do DC and Virginia folk, but Frak them.

Bowie takes a lil while to get to, depending on who is driving. But something that awesome being so close to those people? Poor Bunker!

Isn't Six Flags in the general area too? It's about a 20-30 minute drive from the old bunker location. I wonder where in that area it's going.

I sure hope it's more Bowie and less Crofton! Crofton seems pretty hard to get to, especially from D.C., as you have to travel quite a ways east and it's inconveniently far from the major highways.

I'll have to dispute that summation of the geography. Crofton adjoins Bowie right along route 301 and that is likely where the Bunker is going. Whichever side of the county line it's on, Bowie or Crofton, it will be 5 minutes off of the Bowie/Crofton exit on Route 50.

Bowie would be nice. College park or greenbelt would be even better

But that's great! Arundel mills was nice, but too small, IMO. It only has two usable tables, both of which are in the way of customers..

BrassScorpion wrote:

I sure hope it's more Bowie and less Crofton! Crofton seems pretty hard to get to, especially from D.C., as you have to travel quite a ways east and it's inconveniently far from the major highways.

I'll have to dispute that summation of the geography. Crofton adjoins Bowie right along route 301 and that is likely where the Bunker is going. Whichever side of the county line it's on, Bowie or Crofton, it will be 5 minutes off of the Bowie/Crofton exit on Route 50.

I was thinking more along the lines of how to get there from the north/south (i.e., 95 or 97) but you're right about route 50. Doesn't do me much good, however... last time I went to Crofton from Columbia I had to take smaller highways rather than interstates, and it took the better part of an hour.

Granted, there are probably better routes... that's just my (limited) experience trying to get out that way thus far!

All sources at this time point to Bowie or Crofton on 301 right off of Route 50.

I'm hoping it'll be on 301 either off of 424 or 450. That'd be perfect for me. Nice easy shot in from home and freedom to avoid the risks inherent on taking 50...

Valete,

JohnS

I've now been told the new Bunker location is final and it's not on Route 301, though the location is secret under pain of death (i.e., termination) for anyone to say. The lease has been signed so if anyone spots any tell-tale construction in a specific area around Bowie, please share. Square footage, about 3700 if I recall correctly. That's more than 50% larger than the old Bunker.

And check this out:

http://msn.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobDetails.aspx?IPath=CJR&APath=2.21.0.0.0&job_did=J8A2KJ73VLCBFBNPG46

Job Snapshot
Location: Bowie, MD (map it!Map it! )

Loading Map...
Employee Type:
Full-Time
Industry:
Retail
Other Great Industries
Manages Others:
Yes
Job Type:
Retail
Management
Other
Experience:
Not Specified
Post Date:
2/14/2011
Description

We are looking for a charismatic and highly motivated individual to manager our battle bunker in the Baltimore area. This individual should be an inspiring reflection of the Games Workshop brand and culture that emulates the passion for outrageous customer service and our hobby.

Key Responsibilities include:

* Become the voice and face of your Games Workshop Battle Bunker.
* Build the hobby through recruiting, educating and interacting with your community of Games Workshop enthusiasts.
* Maintain a lively and magnetic disposition ensuring superior customer service.
* Devise an ongoing schedule of explosively intriguing events, campaigns, and hobby activities that satisfy a versatile community.
* Educate and aspire hobbyists of all levels of interest and involvement.
* Lead, develop and motivate your staff team.
* Create an atmosphere of camaraderie and fun within the walls of your Battle Bunker.
* Generate excitement for all product lines, games systems, and new releases through ingenious hobby events.
* Communicate regularly with your Director for Growth

Requirements Required Experience

* Prior retail and management experience preferred
* Participation in the Games Workshop hobby

Degree Requirements
High School Diploma/ GED

Physical Requirements

* Requires hand-eye coordination, manual dexterity and the ability to distinguish letters or symbols.
* Physical ability to perform the essential functions of the job as listed, which will regularly include the ability to stand or sit for prolonged periods of time and verbally communicate effectively with others.
* May be required to push, pull, lift or move items weighing up to 25 pounds, and occasionally up to 50 pounds.
* Extensive use of the telephone and internet communications.

Honestly, it makes more business sense to put the HQ closer to the DC side of the infill than the Baltimore side. Though I don't have to like it.

Evidently, command of the English language is not a job requirement for GW's recruiters. How many typos, non-sentences, and other errors can you find?

BrassScorpion wrote:
http://msn.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobDetails.aspx?IPath=CJR&APath=2.21.0.0.0&job_did=J8A2KJ73VLCBFBNPG46

Job Snapshot
Location: Bowie, MD (map it!Map it! )

Loading Map...
Employee Type:
Full-Time
Industry:
Retail
Other Great Industries
Manages Others:
Yes
Job Type:
Retail
Management
Other
Experience:
Not Specified
Post Date:
2/14/2011
Description

We are looking for a charismatic and highly motivated individual to manager our battle bunker in the Baltimore area. This individual should be an inspiring reflection of the Games Workshop brand and culture that emulates the passion for outrageous customer service and our hobby.

Key Responsibilities include:

* Become the voice and face of your Games Workshop Battle Bunker.
* Build the hobby through recruiting, educating and interacting with your community of Games Workshop enthusiasts.
* Maintain a lively and magnetic disposition ensuring superior customer service.
* Devise an ongoing schedule of explosively intriguing events, campaigns, and hobby activities that satisfy a versatile community.
* Educate and aspire hobbyists of all levels of interest and involvement.
* Lead, develop and motivate your staff team.
* Create an atmosphere of camaraderie and fun within the walls of your Battle Bunker.
* Generate excitement for all product lines, games systems, and new releases through ingenious hobby events.
* Communicate regularly with your Director for Growth

Requirements Required Experience

* Prior retail and management experience preferred
* Participation in the Games Workshop hobby

Degree Requirements
High School Diploma/ GED

Physical Requirements

* Requires hand-eye coordination, manual dexterity and the ability to distinguish letters or symbols.
* Physical ability to perform the essential functions of the job as listed, which will regularly include the ability to stand or sit for prolonged periods of time and verbally communicate effectively with others.
* May be required to push, pull, lift or move items weighing up to 25 pounds, and occasionally up to 50 pounds.
* Extensive use of the telephone and internet communications.

We all have seen how hard the GW editors work.

GW has editors? I thought they just kinda winged it.

Hoping this is true, I'm in College Park and this would be ~10 miles away, pretty sweet!

Have they given any info on the timetable they're looking at for this?

targetawg wrote:Hoping this is true, I'm in College Park and this would be ~10 miles away, pretty sweet! Have they given any info on the timetable they're looking at for this?

Nothing official on timetable, but one may infer that it seems like they are trying to fast-track this as much as possible from the information that is available. The lease is signed, the job is posted and Arundel Mills GW closing is delayed till late April. With luck, we might have the new Bunker within about 2 months! Regarding location, while it's not on Route 301, it's apparently not far off of it at all and is easily accessible from it. It should be easy to get to from 301, Route 50, and 450 and all of that makes it easily accessible if you're coming to the area via the Capital Beltway (495) or down Route 197 in Bowie or interstates like I95 or I97.

The old Bunker was centrally located IN MD and could be reached from Delaware, Westminster and DC within 45 minutes. The new Bunker is easily an hour and a half, 2 hours from most northern MD locations. They should have just manned up and put the "Maryland" Bunker in DC or VA, as it won't be servicing Maryland, but appears to be an attempt to cater to the DV/VA crowd.

As I stated before, they seem to be like locusts...move into an area, sell as much as they can until the area dies out. I'd guess that MD north of Anne Arundel county doesn't do enough business anymore and that southern MD is ripe for the pickings. In 4-5 years when sales slack, that Bunker will close.

Well considering the location, I might go maybe once a year? If that. No point in wasting tons of time driving when I could be playing instead.

General Hobbs, no need to derail the thread with unfounded speculation... we've been over this several times. The GW stores in northern MD are doing business just fine (Owings Mills, White Marsh) as are the ones closer to me in Olney and Columbia. There is also no way that location is 2 hours from anywhere in MD other than the far Eastern Shore, or pan handle. It takes me less than 2 hours to get to Philadelphia where Showcase Comics is, and I'm well south of Baltimore.

I know you don't like the location, but it honestly makes a Lot of sense. It can service both D.C. and Baltimore from that area, whereas before it was too far to realistically draw the D.C. crowd. On the weekend when there's less traffic, it should be easy for anyone in MD to get to other than the aforementioned really far east/west areas, which couldn't have gotten to the previous Bunker location, either.

I stopped by the Arundel Mills store this weekend to ask if they could confirm anything... of course they couldn't, but they did mention they'd be able to say more closer to the end of April. Which we already knew, since they're going to put the word out before they close the store it seems!

Thanks for the update, BrassScorpion! Also, Chrispy sighting

I agree, the previous hobby center was too far for me in DC to bother going to.

This new one I'll be sure to check out and possibly go to regularly.

GENERAL HOBBS stop only thiinking about yourself. Washington, DC/NVA has a huge population of gamers with almost ZERO stores with decent tabes except for Dream Wizards in Rockville.

General Hobbs wrote:

The old Bunker was centrally located IN MD and could be reached from Delaware, Westminster and DC within 45 minutes. The new Bunker is easily an hour and a half, 2 hours from most northern MD locations. They should have just manned up and put the "Maryland" Bunker in DC or VA, as it won't be servicing Maryland, but appears to be an attempt to cater to the DV/VA crowd.

As I stated before, they seem to be like locusts...move into an area, sell as much as they can until the area dies out. I'd guess that MD north of Anne Arundel county doesn't do enough business anymore and that southern MD is ripe for the pickings. In 4-5 years when sales slack, that Bunker will close.

GW has three stores in northern maryland; St Thomas, Yorkridge, and White Marsh. GW is hardly abandoning northern MD.

We still do not know the location of the new bunker. If I were GW I would put it in the location that serves the most people who are not currently served by a GW store. Thus, if they wanted to keep it in MD then they should put it closer to DC.

Yea but some of the Northern stores are small.

Although it is funny when people come in and ask if they have a specific Wii game.

spaceelf wrote:

General Hobbs wrote:

The old Bunker was centrally located IN MD and could be reached from Delaware, Westminster and DC within 45 minutes. The new Bunker is easily an hour and a half, 2 hours from most northern MD locations. They should have just manned up and put the "Maryland" Bunker in DC or VA, as it won't be servicing Maryland, but appears to be an attempt to cater to the DV/VA crowd.

As I stated before, they seem to be like locusts...move into an area, sell as much as they can until the area dies out. I'd guess that MD north of Anne Arundel county doesn't do enough business anymore and that southern MD is ripe for the pickings. In 4-5 years when sales slack, that Bunker will close.

GW has three stores in northern maryland; St Thomas, Yorkridge, and White Marsh. GW is hardly abandoning northern MD.

We still do not know the location of the new bunker. If I were GW I would put it in the location that serves the most people who are not currently served by a GW store. Thus, if they wanted to keep it in MD then they should put it closer to DC.

I would agree, the mentality of "this is terrible" is more accurately "this is terrible for me". Remember, there's a lot of folks in southern MD without much of a place to play. I'm outside of college park as I said, and the closest stores: Rockville (40 minutes ) and Games n Stuff in Glen Burnie (45-50 minutes). If the bunker did move into the proposed location, I'll have a shop thats about 10 miles away, or more like 15-20 minutes, and will be pretty darn happy!

Remember, even if it isn't the closest to you (or as close as it was) you still are incredibly close when you think of the bigger picture of the United States. There aren't but a handful of bunkers, and you're near an east coast location. Still not half bad for a trip every now and then!

Smolo82 wrote:Yea but some of the Northern stores are small.

Although it is funny when people come in and ask if they have a specific Wii game.

It is true that some of the N MD stores are small. However, Yorkridge is currently the largest GW store in MD with three 6x4 tables, two 5x4 tables, and three intro tables, along with an enormous paint bar. It is rare that there is not space to paint or play.

I would agree, the mentality of "this is terrible" is more accurately "this is terrible for me".

Someone had to say it. I was thinking the same thing when those kind of posts started appearing here.

I've been led to believe that work has started on the new location in Bowie, though no opening date has been announced yet. Also, no word yet on who will be managing, though several very good area managers have applied.

By the way, the Arundel Mills GW store has a new manager as of yesterday for its remaining couple months. Here's a hint as to whom it is, a quote from a song by The Who, "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss." Yes, it's the same manager they had a couple years ago who was there for a few years before moving on to Bunkers till recently.

How much does it pay? I need a job and I could be enticed to move back there.

spaceelf wrote:

Smolo82 wrote:Yea but some of the Northern stores are small.

Although it is funny when people come in and ask if they have a specific Wii game.

It is true that some of the N MD stores are small. However, Yorkridge is currently the largest GW store in MD with three 6x4 tables, two 5x4 tables, and three intro tables, along with an enormous paint bar. It is rare that there is not space to paint or play.

Yea cept the only problem is those loud little bastards who get dropped off by their parents. It makes you feel like you are in a jungle gym at a McD's.

Any new info?

Killian wrote:Any new info?

At least a few existing area GW managers have applied for the Bunker Manager job, some really good ones too, though as of last week there had apparently been no interviews for it yet. Work has started on the space, but for some reason GW does not want to publicize the exact location yet. It is definitely in Bowie and it's about 20 minutes west of the Annapolis GW store. It is on a major road and near the junction of a couple other major routes. Supposedly, they do want to have it open before Arundel Mills GW closes near the end of April, but no word yet on an official opening date. When I can say more, I'll post it as soon as possible. Stay tuned.

BrassScorpion wrote: Square footage, about 3700 if I recall correctly. That's more than 50% larger than the old Bunker.

Hmm... I was hoping 7300, not 3700... heck that's still oceans bigger than the 37 square foot Annapolis store.

As far as where... A big candidate would be MD Science Tech Park off rt 50. They are still building out the office park, but a portion is complete, and businesses are moving in. The "plan" for the office park includes retail and restaurants in addition to business offices.

The location is managed by St. John's Properties - the same people who manage the Pasadena MD property, recently opened.
If we don't know where from Games Workshop by the end of March, it might slip in the St John's Properties quarterly sales newsletter.


If I remember, I'll drive around the office park and see if I see any big two headed eagles on the sides of any buildings... or build-outs with lots of glass cases and 4X6 foot tables.

Nope, not there.

BrassScorpion wrote:Nope, not there.

Dang. Thought I was on to something.

Probably south of 50, west of 301 ...

Thanks for the continuing updates, BrassScorpion!

Logan's World Expatriate wrote:

BrassScorpion wrote:Nope, not there.

Dang. Thought I was on to something.

Probably south of 50, west of 301 ...

From what I've heard (and I'm certainly not as hooked in as BrassScorpion), it's North of 50...

Valete,

JohnS

cygnnus wrote:
From what I've heard (and I'm certainly not as hooked in as BrassScorpion), it's North of 50...

Hmm - North of 50 along 197 - very few possibilies there. Only old semi-abandoned strip malls.

Oh god. I hope it's not within walking distance of the highschool.

along 197

Thankfully, not along 197.

Is it south of 450?

If north of 50, south of 450, and along 197... that must only leave a couple of choices for areas, right?

Edit: Ninja'ed, also thank goodness... so west of 197 / along what road? (193?)

BrassScorpion wrote:Thankfully, not along 197.

Hmm... 6820 Race track road is about 3700 Square feet. It's where Alliance Comics used to be a few years back. Hill Top Plaza. I dont think it's been rented out yet.

It's a very awkward store front... with a long narrow, 30 foot long hallway entrance - very uninviting. It was like walking into an alley way.

Makov wrote:
thats what i heard is the loc...

Sadly I don't remember the place being all that big. I'm guessing (hoping) Alliance Comics must have had it partitioned out strangely, with large private offices or ample back-issue storage in back. I distinctly remember the main retail area in the store being quite small - maybe 700 SF - Slightly larger than a typical mall store.

Since someone else spilled the beans, I will elaborate. There's plenty of expansion space in that location, especially since many other surrounding businesses have changed over the years and the amount of suite space they are renting along with it. Interior walls are highly mutable in commercial space.

BrassScorpion wrote:Since someone else spilled the beans, I will elaborate. There's plenty of expansion space in that location, especially since many other surrounding businesses have changed over the years and the amount of suite space they are renting along with it. Interior walls are highly mutable in commercial space.

Well, that's good news. Though the entrance still appears to be that 30ft long 3 foot wide hallway. The Hill Top Marketing flyer (in below link) still shows that layout. This is a small price to pay for a Battle Bunker close by to me.

BTW - it was the 3700 SF figure that ultimately gave it away. The "not on 197" clue only narrowed my search. After some hunting, I had found this ...
http://www.showcase.com/property/6800-6838-Race-Track-Road/Bowie/Maryland/1168620/?LT=2
... the marketing flyer, showing the layout, is on that same page.

For some reason, when I saw that it was the former Alliance Comics store - it clicked. Similar demographics perhaps?

On second look at the layout, Alliance Comics must have had 3/4ths of that shop sectioned off for back issues, offices, and stock. I remember it being wider than it was deep, and the layout according to the flyer is much deeper than wide. Or perhaps, like you say, a neighboring space was reduced in size, adding to the back. It's such a strange layout... I wonder if it was originally a utilities/maintenance space for the mall, with main entrance in the rear.

I was shocked when I was first told it would be in the old Alliance location because that was a "hole in the wall" and very small, but the same person also told me that the Alliance spot had tons of adjoining expansion space that the comic shop didn't use, but apparently GW will be using it. And given how many surrounding businesses have changed there over the past few years, who knows what else might have been made available.

OK - My OCD is kicking in... Assuming the brochure is up to date and generally correct, and armed with basic geometry and math... the store will be about 34.5 ft wide by 90-96 ft deep. The hallway opens up to the left about 6 feet earlier than in the right, as you enter...

The entrance hallway is about 60 feet long and about 3 feet wide.

I think GW should deck the long hall out in full length wall mirrors. Exit claustrophobia, enter nausea and disorientation. They could call it the Warp Tunnel.

[corrected 40 ft hallway to 60 ft]

Sounds like that's enough space, given how they lay it out... I'm tired and so what the actual space would seem like isn't clicking atm.

However, the long hallway doesn't bother me! Just plaster it with posters of all things wargaming awesomeness . Mirrors, maybe not!

The last thing I want to do is watch myself walk down a hallway...

It's not surprising they'd be moving into a space formally occupied by a similar retailer. I live in Virginia near the WW bridge so this bunker won't be that far away from me which is nice. Still not motivated to go regularly with all the other game store options available to me.

In my past though I used to game at the Glen Burnie bunker (and the store before that was opened) back when one could order bits and they spin them up them while you gamed if it wasn't in stock. Now that was a cool service that brought me back frequently. That and later on Forge World product was kept in stock somewhat which I'd buy too. I didn't know I had it so good until I moved away and now it's gone...

Wow, there seem to be all sorts of bad things about this. If a similar business went under, I certainly would not want their space, as the location may have been a contributing factor in their demise. I am not really familiar with the area, but the new location does not seem too convenient to Arundel Mills, as it is on the other side of the NSA. Worse yet it may take some business from the Annapolis store. Lastly, that long hallway sounds like a fire hazard. On the good side the hallway can be fixed I suppose, and the location serves Southern MD and DC.

Alliance Comics didn't fail, they moved, and not very far away. And the business wasn't all that similar since Alliance stopped carrying GW product years ago, though there's definitely cross-over interest between comic stores and GW-only stores.

GW got a space that will serve fairly centrally to D.C., Northern Virginia and a good chunk of the most populace part of Maryland. There are at least three open spaces at that shopping center at the moment up for grabs for anyone who can pay the rent. Well there used to be at least three, GW is now renting one of them. That's good for the shopping center, GW and the potential customers. The surrounding restaurants will benefit from the GW customer traffic for sure. The only possible victim here might be GW's own Annapolis store as these two stores are only 20 minutes apart, but hopefully that won't happen.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=167+Jennifer+Road,+Annapolis,+MD&daddr=Jennifer+Rd+to:Bowie,+MD+20715+%28Hill+Top+Plaza+Shopping+Center%29&geocode=FafqUgId5Btw-ylVlP1c1_a3iTG1nA9Ioy0F3g%3BFenoUgId0BBw-w%3BFVzUUgId2i9t-yHN10_2VNk8Xw&hl=en&mra=ls&via=1&vps=7&sll=38.985833,-76.635818&sspn=0.185738,0.308647&ie=UTF8

BrassScorpion wrote:Alliance Comics didn't fail, they moved, and not very far away. How about we avoid getting exercise jumping to conclusions and making spurious moral judgments?

They did? I know that Steve at Third Eye Comics Annapolis has some past association with Alliance Comics... Third Eye is an awesome store BTW (shout out!). Steve,Trish, and crew are so friendly and helpful - the store is clean, and smells good to boot - All comic book store rarities.

BrassScorpion wrote:
There are at least three open spaces at that shopping center at the moment up for grabs for anyone who can pay the rent. Well there used to be at least three, GW is now renting one of them. That's good for the shopping center, GW and the potential customers. No one has been harmed and the surrounding restaurants will benefit from the GW customer traffic.

And they are renting the biggest of the 3 unrented space available there.

I would think the mall would have had trouble renting out the space to a typical retail establishment. But GW isn't typical retail. Neither are comic book stores. The small storefront may scare off other retailers, but GWs customers are dedicated, and will seek out the store. In a strip mall, how much "foot traffic" would you really expect with a large inviting store front anyways. Virtually all of the people going there are already GW customers, so a 3 foot wide store front is not a big deal.

The very long narrow hallway (squeezed between a dry cleaners, and another shop I cant remember) is awkward. You can't argue that. But it's not "terrible news." Firehazard? Not likely, there will probably be an emergency exit door in the back... and of course, anything built out now will be to code.

It's also possibe there are other parts to this story yet untold. There is always the option of renting out the neighboring spaces and joining them up as they become available (though none are currently vacant).

I'm excited about the new store and I cant wait for it to open.

34 minutes from my house!


*does a little dance*

I live right next to the Mills so I am sad to see this one go, but the new bunker will not be that bad for me. I am not sure why one was complaining about the NSA traffic. If you are in Columbia, where you would worry about that traffic, then go to Columbia. People from the north will just Take 97 down to rt 3 then 450, from DC, you take 50 to 3 to 450.

RiTides wrote:34 minutes from my house!


*does a little dance*

It's about 15 minutes for me. But then again the Annapolis location is currently less than 5...

Valete,

JohnS

Im looking for a place to play with people how are more serious about play, tournaments ect.


I am fairly new and still learning rules but would a battle bunker suit me?

The Old bunker used to attracted a lot of the more serious players in the area, but you still get the people that drop there kids off their for the weekend and use it as a free Babysitter.

The do tend to do the tournaments at the bunker more often than at any of the stores. So if that is what you are interested in doing, I would say yes, go to the bunker. How new is new? I say the best thing to do is to find a gaming group and learn the rules from them.

www.InnerCircleGamingClub.com is local to Central MD and seem to be an active group, they would probably be happy to help you out.

If you're an adult with a car, I have a table in my house and would love to play a game with you, I live in Severn, which is on the other side of Ft. Meade than Bowie is. Just send me a PM if your interested, I play most of the games that GM makes.

helixthief wrote:Im looking for a place to play with people how are more serious about play, tournaments ect.


I am fairly new and still learning rules but would a battle bunker suit me?

I don't think that GWs three main games are well suited for tournament play. However, some of their specialist stuff works well. You may want to consider WarMachineor Hordes if you want a balanced competitive environment.

If it's gonna be at the old alliance comics building, that'd be great. I used to go there when they were holding some magic tournaments years ago. There should be ample space, maybe not as much as the glen burnie bunker, but enough to play. There's also a papa johns, 7-11, and mcdonalds all the same shopping center IIRC.

Unfortunately games & stuff is closer so it'd probably only be an occasional thing that i drive to bowie, unless they got some sweet mordheim terrain and set up a campaign there...

maybe not as much as the glen burnie bunker

I've been told the new Bunker is about 1500 square feet larger than the old one.

BrassScorpion wrote:Supposedly, they do want to have it open before Arundel Mills GW closes near the end of April, but no word yet on an official opening date. When I can say more, I'll post it as soon as possible. Stay tuned.

Any word on the official opening date, yet? I'm really curious if they can hold the end of April timeframe (which makes sense given the Arundel store is closing then). It seems pretty ambitious!

No word yet on a date, only that they'd like to have it open by the end of April. No "official" announcement yet about anything other than it's in Bowie.

Sounds good, thanks for staying on top of this Brass.

This is awesome news for me personally. This location (if it's 100%) would be on my way to and from work which is beyond convenient.

I'll be looking every weekday for any physical updates to the location and let you know if I see anything going on.

That's awesome, spyfunk! You'll be like... a spy, or something.

they don't do going out of business sales do they? Seeing as how GW doesn't do sales....

GW used to have crazy sales on the day a store closed, but no discount sales like that are a thing of the past along with occasional store-wide sales. After 2003, sales like that are history.

Being in Annapolis, I'm all for places closer to home. The Jennifer Square store is tiny. It'll be nice to have the Bunker so close!

So driving home this afternoon, saw two Ryder trucks in the parking lot of rumored strip mall. Also found out through some internet searches that the suite number is not available. So if anything, the space is definitely signed for from what I can tell, but I haven't peeked into the area there to see if anythings actually going on.

yay

YES

Logan's World Expatriate wrote:yay

My wife checked Hilltop Plaza last week and there was still no GW sign up there yet, so great to see there's finally some progress showing to the public. That is the suite where Alliance Comics was originally located in Hilltop, the one with the long hallway. The sign appears to have been posted by the Hilltop management. Any sign of progress at this point is welcome. Thanks for posting the photo.

Other news in the progress front, interviews for the Bunker Manager job are scheduled to occur during the second week in April.

Oh, and for those interested in Alliance Comics, they did move to another location in that shopping center some time ago and then closed. However, it appears they have other locations assuming the ones listed on this website are the same people:
http://www.alliancecomicsonline.com/

Logan's World Expatriate wrote:yay

Where is this magic door? can someone post a full address?

Note that I have just updated the original post in this topic thread with all of the latest information currently available as of this writing.

Games Workshop
Hilltop Plaza Shopping Center
6820 Race Track Road
Bowie, Maryland 20715

Md Route 450 & Race Track Road, Bowie, Maryland | 800-760-7118
http://hilltopplazabowie.com/

BrassScorpion wrote:UPDATED March 25:
There's plenty of food and services in the area both at the actual shopping center and at many locations extremely close by on Route 450 and Route 301. Some nearby restaurants and quick food options include Outback Steakhouse, 7-Eleven, Grace's Fortune Chinese Food (excellent food!), Sakura, Pizza Hut, Glory Days, Taco Bell, Popeye's, Giant Food.

In the Hilltop Center, they are building a new restaurant location, which Outback plans to move in to. The current Outback location (other end of center) will be available for a new restaurant.
There is a MOM's in the center too, next to the new GW store. They sell sandwiches, fresh fruits, and various healthy organic snacks.
... and there's always 7-11, for cheap, life-shortening fare.

About a 5-10 minute walk down the road:
Grace's Fortune is the "fanciest" place in the immediate area. They are locally owned, and serve American style Chinese food made with fresh vegetables and high quality meats. More expensive but much tastier then your average Chinese Restaurant. This is the only American style Chinese restaurant I go to now.
Sakura is next door to Grace's. They are a Japanese hibachi and sushi bar. Hibachi is always fun in groups.

Hop in a car for:
Lemongrass - Thai. Trendy atmosphere. Full bar.
Saigon Noodle House - Vietnamese. Typical Hole-in-the wall Pho restaurant. No Bar... They are OK ... But if you like Vietnamese food, and are willing to drive 5 minutes further up 3, there is "VN Noodle" ... Worlds better. Their Pho is out of this world, great extensive menu.

"Hop in a car for..." and "full bar" should never responsibly be used in the same sentence

Kanluwen wrote:"Hop in a car for..." and "full bar" should never responsibly be used in the same sentence

Clearly, they are in different, incomplete sentences.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh... Also hidden in Hilltop plaza. The John Wayne Museum. I keep meaning to pop in there...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/in-bowie-a-museum-dedicated-to-john-wayne/2011/03/14/ABGuM5g_story.html

It's also possible to "hop in a car" without being the driver, after all . Although it's always nice to have one within walking distance (like the Ruby Tuesdays down the hall from Showcase Comics )

Thanks for the updated info!

The projected opening date for the new Battle Bunker is the middle of May.

Given how badly some gamers behave in the shops when they are sober, I'd hate to see their behavior after they'd had a few. 'nuff said.

Wow, I lived in Bowie for years and I still drive through it all the time and I never knew about the odd little John Wayne museum. Very amusing. I didn't realize there was anything like that so near the Outback Steakhouse.

spyfunk wrote:This is awesome news for me personally. This location (if it's 100%) would be on my way to and from work which is beyond convenient.

I work around 9 miles away (sadly I live in the opposite direction, though!) so it's nice that it will be so close to work. I'm eager to see how this Battle Bunker works out, it'd be nice to have a regular gaming evening.

Magos Explorator wrote:

spyfunk wrote:This is awesome news for me personally. This location (if it's 100%) would be on my way to and from work which is beyond convenient.

I work around 9 miles away (sadly I live in the opposite direction, though!) so it's nice that it will be so close to work. I'm eager to see how this Battle Bunker works out, it'd be nice to have a regular gaming evening.

Ditto. I'm 10 miles away. If it opens and has plenty of gaming room, you'll see me there as well!

I drove through Hilltop Plaza this morning. There are at least two more empty suites there besides the GW one with signs in the windows posted by property management about new businesses "coming soon" so the place seems to be recovering from a spate of businesses moving out. The GW Battle Bunker should bring new customers to a lot of the businesses around there. Is it mid-May yet?

Yeah, seriously where's the "skip to" button for May.

I personally don't play, actually never have (which is sad, i know), and am much more about the painting/modelling side of things. But I'm certainly looking forward to having the battle bunker so close to home, if for anything else than just the atmosphere.

Maybe some of you fine folks can intro me into the playing aspect of the game one of these days when the BB is open.

spyfunk wrote:Yeah, seriously where's the "skip to" button for May.

I personally don't play, actually never have (which is sad, i know), and am much more about the painting/modelling side of things. But I'm certainly looking forward to having the battle bunker so close to home, if for anything else than just the atmosphere.

Maybe some of you fine folks can intro me into the playing aspect of the game one of these days when the BB is open.

If by "introduce you into the playing aspect of the game" you mean "STOMP YOU MERCILESSLY" then yea sure!

I'm just teasing of course, I'll probably swing by the bunker fairly regularly if it's a good location to game (ie plenty of space) and the atmosphere is good, since I'm only 10 miles away. If I run into you there I'd be more than happy to introduce you to the gaming/etc. aspect of the hobby!

Oh, I completely expect to be thrashed and slaughtered my first 200 times playing.

I'll just walk over to Outback and drown my sorrows in a cold one once i'm done being obliterated.

What happens to all the stuff at Arundel Mills (minis, RoBG tables, display cases) when they close? Do they get rid of them or just ship them off to the newer stores? I recall seeing one of the dudes (before he had left for TN for the new HQ) painting the RoBG tables so I'd imagine they give new ones to each store?

On another note the new bunker should be interesting, I had no idea so many people in the area posted here (probably should have, as MD seems to be akin to the beaches of Normandy for GW's american invasion...)

Radical_Edward wrote:What happens to all the stuff at Arundel Mills (minis, RoBG tables, display cases) when they close? Do they get rid of them or just ship them off to the newer stores? I recall seeing one of the dudes (before he had left for TN for the new HQ) painting the RoBG tables so I'd imagine they give new ones to each store?

On another note the new bunker should be interesting, I had no idea so many people in the area posted here (probably should have, as MD seems to be akin to the beaches of Normandy for GW's american invasion...)

There are no more blow-out sales to customers when a store closes, that ended several years ago. The stuff gets shipped out, given away to employees, thrown-out, whatever, but no close-outs to customers. However, occasionally if there's something that is not part of inventory and it needs to be gotten rid because it is not destined for another store then it may be given away to customers.

I've also noticed a lot of Maryland, Virginia and D.C. area users on Dakka since joining, the most of any of the Warhammer forums I've peaked at.

It isn't really closer to me personally than the old Battle bunker, but it is closer to DC so it seems like it might be a good location for DC people which really seems to lack for good gaming.

It isn't convenient for weeknight gaming it would seem though... :( Columbia GW I don't think is going to lose much to the new bunker.

Hopefully the Columbia GW can snag a table from Arundel Mills as they're shutting down... long shot I know, but the Columbia store Really needs another table, especially with the Bunker opening up somewhat close.

The manager there rocks, though!

Also cool to see so many gamers in the area on Dakka, as you guys mentioned

You would be amazed at what GW throws away. That is all I got to say.

RiTides wrote:Hopefully the Columbia GW can snag a table from Arundel Mills as they're shutting down... long shot I know, but the Columbia store Really needs another table, especially with the Bunker opening up somewhat close. The manager there rocks, though! Also cool to see so many gamers in the area on Dakka, as you guys mentioned

Actually that's quite plausible. All the game tables that were worth saving from the old Bunker ended up in the smaller area stores. You might want to ask Tony (Columbia GW manager) if he's planning to grab one of the tables from Arundel Mills.

As for the statement about being amazed at what GW throws away, yes indeed you would. It's heart-breaking what gets thrown out when they close a store or clear out old or dented items not in inventory.

BrassScorpion wrote:

RiTides wrote:Hopefully the Columbia GW can snag a table from Arundel Mills as they're shutting down... long shot I know, but the Columbia store Really needs another table, especially with the Bunker opening up somewhat close. The manager there rocks, though! Also cool to see so many gamers in the area on Dakka, as you guys mentioned

Actually that's quite plausible. All the game tables that were worth saving from the old Bunker ended up in the smaller area stores. You might want to ask Tony (Columbia GW manager) if he's planning to grab one of the tables from Arundel Mills.

As for the statement about being amazed at what GW throws away, yes indeed you would. It's heart-breaking what gets thrown out when they close a store or clear out old or dented items not in inventory.

Time for some dumpster diving?

When are they going to put a bunker in the DFW area :(

Time for some dumpster diving?

If you're up to it the idea has potential at least assuming the employees don't beat you to it. I know a lot of people who used to work for GW since we had the HQ here for so many years and I've definitely heard some good stories about employees making out like bandits when a store was being closed, grabbing tons of merchandise that was destined for the dumpster.

Element206 wrote:When are they going to put a bunker in the DFW area :(

Go to the Denton store. The manager there used to be our manager up here Maryland and he's awesome.

I added it to the store finder, hopefully it will be open soon.

BrassScorpion wrote:

Time for some dumpster diving?

If you're up to it the idea has potential at least assuming the employees don't beat you to it. I know a lot of people who used to work for GW since we had the HQ here for so many years and I've definitely heard some good stories about employees making out like bandits when a store was being closed, grabbing tons of merchandise that was destined for the dumpster.

Did the diving after the last bunker was closed. Got a lot of decent stuff. Just have to live with the shame of the fact I went dumpster diving. "My name is Fosner1703 and I am a Gamesworkshopaholic." A lot of old GW media in digital format was in there, but I could not find a use to keep most of it so I left them there.

I was kind of put off by the feeding frenzy that ensued when the old Bunker closed, especially when they sold the bits/sprue by the bag that last weekend. I did not go buy any; I was just sorry to see the Bunker go.

Nice to have a different ending to that story now, though!

The old bunker did like a picked over corpse after that last weekend. Lucklily though I was able to come away with a couple of the gaming table tops. I wish I could have gotten several complete tables for my gaming room though

The grab bag thing for non-inventory items on the last day at the old Bunker was definitely worthwhile. The Ork Boyz we got formed the core of my new Ork army and the Orc Warriors formed the core of my son's Orc army. We got hundreds of them. I got piles of Termagants, extra tools and a lot of other useful odds and sods too.

I drove by suite 6820 at Hilltop Plaza this morning, but still didn't see any signs of activity. Still, work should be starting soon with a mid-May target for opening.

That's about an hour away from me, but as my usual store (in Westminster Mall, MD) is about the same and my buddies live in that area, I should be down there quite a bit. I guess the Columbia store would be closest at about 30 min, but it's 30 min down the slowest road in the area, so...

Saw this on the GW website today. GW has finally formally announced the new Maryland Battle Bunker!

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?catId=&categoryId=§ion=&pIndex=1&aId=12800026a&start=2&multiPageMode=true

New Hobby Centers

As part of Games Workshop's expansion across the country, squads of Space Marines are descending on new locations! For a full list of Hobby Centers, search our Store Finder.

OPENING SOON!

Baltimore Battle Bunker
Hilltop Plaza
6820 Race Track Road,
Bowie, MD

Nice!

RiTides wrote:Nice!

It is nice, but I just noticed they are calling it the "Baltimore Battle Bunker". Bowie is a small city and a suburb of Washington, D.C. in PG County. It's a little weird, but I'm just happy we're getting it no matter what they call it! LOL.

Yesterday, April 25 was the final day for the Arundel Mills Mall GW store. It is now officially closed.

Hopefully, the new Bunker should be open in about a month toward the middle or late May.

BrassScorpion wrote:Yesterday, April 25 was the final day for the Arundel Mills Mall GW store. It is now officially closed.

Hopefully, the new Bunker should be open in about a month toward the middle or late May.

I'll be there, ready to finally get some games in that don't involve a long drive! Thanks for the updates!

14 mins from where I work on Wednesdays...


What do I do just show up when they open or do I need to pay dues or buy a membership or something?

helixthief wrote:14 mins from where I work on Wednesdays... What do I do just show up when they open or do I need to pay dues or buy a membership or something?

It's like any other GW store except far larger than most. Just show up and have fun.

Interestingly, the idea of an admission fee is not far-fetched. When GW first opened the HQ Battle Bunker in Maryland many years ago there actually was a small fee to play games in it. I think it was around $4. However, that practice was discarded many years ago.

GW's latest newsletter announces the opening of the new Battle Bunker in Maryland, though they still insist on calling it the "Baltimore Battle Bunker" in spite of the fact that Bowie, MD is a suburb of D.C., not Baltimore:

North American News and Events
Hobby Centers

Baltimore Battle Bunker opening this month! Keep an eye on Facebook and Twitter for more info! Also, we have Hobby Centers in West Vancouver, BC, Cypress, TX, Toronto, ON, Houston, TX, Annapolis, MD, and Seattle, WA celebrating the founding of their store with a Birthday party in May! These events will feature gaming, prizes and a variety of different limited edition items, so if you're in the area, make sure you stop by! For exact dates, visit the store or our website.)

Did anyone score anything good from the Arundel Mills closing?

I guess the Pasadena store is my closest one but I have no idea where it's at.

I'm OK with it being called "Baltimore"- I imagine that it's actually closer to a lot of people who consider themselves living in the "Baltimore" area, even if it's technically not, than those at least on the far side of D.C.

As long as it opens

The Pasatuckey store is as the arse end of 100 where it T-Bones into the arse end of Mountain Road. You take a left from 100 onto Mtn Road and its in that shopping center on the left where the Safeway is at.

New Battle Bunker photo showing some progress:

Hey! You can get paint and get your clothes dry-cleaned!

On a completely unrelated note, how pimptastic is it that they use the Dark Angels Librarian artwork?

Hey Brass,

Any details about who will be running the bunker? Will the manager that closed out the Arundel Mills store be running it? Any of the Glen Burnie bunker employees, the ones released/transferred when it closed, coming back?

Thanks.

NELS1031 wrote:Hey Brass, Any details about who will be running the bunker? Will the manager that closed out the Arundel Mills store be running it? Any of the Glen Burnie bunker employees, the ones released/transferred when it closed, coming back? Thanks.

I have a pretty good idea who most likely got the manager job based on process of elimination as relates to who applied for it and those I know for sure didn't get it. It's not anyone who was at Arundel Mills recently.

Rumor mill says that Duane from the White Marsh store got the job at the new Battle Bunker.

vonjankmon wrote:Rumor mill says that Duane from the White Marsh store got the job at the new Battle Bunker.

That is a pretty solid rumor.

Guess we don't know opening day yet huh?

Kid_Kyoto wrote:Guess we don't know opening day yet huh?

Once that info is available, make sure to post it whoever (probably brass!). I'm interested to head over, have a nearby place to game, and meet some dakka folks.

targetawg wrote:

Kid_Kyoto wrote:Guess we don't know opening day yet huh?

Once that info is available, make sure to post it whoever (probably brass!). I'm interested to head over, have a nearby place to game, and meet some dakka folks.

That email GW sent out last week said it would be open in May, but no exact date is available yet. If I get one before someone else shares it I will do so.

In the meantime, Annapolis is less than 20 minutes farther from College Park down route 450 than the new Battle Bunker. You might want to check out the Jennifer Square store, the manager is fantastic and the community is good.

Very Cool News. I like Duane, Seem like a big tough lug but is really a great guy. Have nothing but good things to say about him... The Bunker will be in good hands...

Even though its a haul from Columbia, I'll have to visit monthly.

Is Duane the guy with the ponytail who manages the WhiteMarsh store (who previously worked at the prior Bunker, I think). That guy's fantastic, if it's him...

I still love Tony in Columbia, though, but a bigger gaming space will be worth the (short) drive on weekends for sure!

Think any events or specials will be held for the opening?

I'm certain they'll have some special events and probably a cool grand opening a few weeks or months after the store opens. Tentative opening date is 2 weekends from this one.

And there will be some familiar faces at the store as some of the ex-staff from Arundel Mills will be working there under Duane.

Looks like May 21st is opening day, GW's site confirms it.

I'm working that day, but will definitely try to be more of a regular gamer there then I was at the Bunker in the Peoples Glorious Republic of Glen Burnie.

And the formal annoucement has it as the Bowie Bunker, not the Maryland Bunker. Good for them realizing it does not represent the state the way the old one did.

And hours announced too. I'm already digging that 10-10 opening day. Just like old times.

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?aId=16400045a

Bowie Bunker Opening Day

OPENING DAY! Join us at the new Bowie Bunker on Saturday, May 21st for a day of Games Workshop madness filled with gaming and hobby events! Bring your armies and prepare for battle!

6820 Race Track Rd.
Bowie, MD 20715
301-464-3246

Sat. Hours: 10am-10pm

The 21st ay? What time does the world end again? I think it's sundown so we should be OK.

Now to finagle a day pass from the missus.

Wonderful news!

Now we just have to figure out a way to identify who's who if anyones interested in a Dakka meetup.

I hope that this opening finally pulls away the couple of bads that migrated to my store from that area.

Battle Bunker has a Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Games-Workshop-Bowie/114192078667193?sk=wall

Tell Duane that Bob sent you!

Sweet. I may drive down for the opening.

I just got back from a business trip in Chicago where I had taken some time to drop by the Chicago Bunker. I do hope that the new Bowie Bunker is as good, if not better. IMO... The Baltimore Bunker was better than Chicago. Baltimore wasn't as big, but had a ton more eye candy and much better tables. If everything from the old bunker is transplanted into this new one then I'm sure it will be impressive.

Store Hours for the Bowie Battle Bunker:

Monday - Thursday 12-9
Friday 12-10
Sat. 10-10
Sunday 12-6

Remember, opening day is May 21!

Sigh, was wanting to head down to the grand opening, but hosting 'Ardboyz Regionals that day.

My regular gaming group and I will be there for the doors opening. Should be a fun day!

Kid_Kyoto wrote:The 21st ay? What time does the world end again? I think it's sundown so we should be OK.

Now to finagle a day pass from the missus.

That's hilarious . Just discovered this wiki page about it, too:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_end_times_prediction

Also... I can't believe I almost missed the opening day! I had stopped checking this thread and didn't know it was the 21st. Thanks for the info, and I'll be sure to stop by in the morning (although I'm heading to the O's game with a friend in the afternoon).

Fantastic!

From the Bowie Battle Bunker Facebook page:

Games Workshop: Bowie
It's been a good day 16 tables painted to day now we are on to terrain. Also there will be four tables for every one to cast there vote on the 21st for what the battle fields will look like. All ideas no matter how extreme will be chosen by the store staff then brought to reality.

and

Terrain painting is under way on the 21st we will teach everyone how we did it and let you try for your selves to see how it works.

Spyfunk says he has a pic of the new sign... I crave pictures!

Looking forward to checking it out on Saturday...

It's not a permanent sign, it's the temporary banner type sign till the permanent sign is installed.

Pics of terrain building and painting are on the Bowie Battle Bunker Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/GWBowie

Sample:

Is that a room on-site? I know the old Bunker would offer to prime things for you (assuming your bought/used GW primer ) and had a room for it.

RiTides wrote:Is that a room on-site? I know the old Bunker would offer to prime things for you (assuming your bought/used GW primer ) and had a room for it.

No, the scenery was painted at a different location while the Bowie Battle Bunker is getting its last minute finishing touches.

The room where models were primed for customers at the old Bunker was a bi-product of the store being attached to the HQ offices. The priming area was really the scenery building and painting area for the HQ. It's where Games Day tables, store scenery and other special projects got built.

I'll be there! I've already got my ride. Hopefully I'll catch some of you guys there

Look for chaos marines

So...is anyone going to go protest GW price hikes in front of their new location...

Just wanted to see if anyone got that idea yet...

WarOne wrote:So...is anyone going to go protest GW price hikes in front of their new location... Just wanted to see if anyone got that idea yet...

Definitely not. Fairly pointless. First, it's only one store out of how many world-wide? Second, the store staff will hardly be the people with whom you want to communicate your displeasure. Unless you can organize repeated large protests in front of dozens of their stores, such a demonstration would have no impact by going largely unnoticed. Best use your energy to communicate to upper management in Nottingham by adding your voice to the others who are writing to the company HQ.

WarOne wrote:So...is anyone going to go protest GW price hikes in front of their new location...

Just wanted to see if anyone got that idea yet...

Nah. I'd rather have a half-complacent reputation at a new store. Are there any stores closing? I'd protest at those.

BrassScorpion wrote:

WarOne wrote:So...is anyone going to go protest GW price hikes in front of their new location... Just wanted to see if anyone got that idea yet...

Definitely not. Fairly pointless. First, it's only one store out of how many world-wide? Second, the store staff will hardly be the people with whom you want to communicate your displeasure. Unless you can organize repeated large protests in front of dozens of their stores, such a demonstration would have no impact by going largely unnoticed. Best use your energy to communicate to upper management in Nottingham by adding your voice to the others who are writing to the company HQ.

Yep, this. Remember, decisions about price hikes are done at the upper corporate level, not be the folks working at the retail locations. From everything I've heard around the web/local area, the folks running the new battle bunker are top notch, and deserve a fair chance, not ranty gamers. I'll be starting off on the right foot getting to know them, after all, they got into working for GW probably because they have a love/passion for the hobby like many of us, not because they wanted to be the bearers of bad news from corporate.

I stopped by the Bowie Bunker today and took this photo of the outside. Under orders of the Inquisition, you'll have to make it down there yourself on or after May 21 if you want to see more.

By the way, 6818 is Eastern Delight, a little Chinese food place with tables and carryout service. One more good meal option while at GW. Outback Steakhouse's new building should be finished soon and there's lots of food right down the street.

Oh, and confirmed, the new Bunker is approximately 3700 square feet.

Wow, still doesn't look ready to open, does it? I guess GW like to keep everything under wraps!

Still, no matter what I'm walking through the door on Saturday morning!! And definitely looking forward to it. I totally agree with you guys about the local retail fellas not being the ones to take anything out on.

In particular, I'm happy about this opening with regards to the retail guys in that some from Arundel are got hired (per this thread), which is great since they were out of a job.

Tony at Columbia is the best GW manager I've come across, looking forward to getting to know these guys and giving them a chance at that spot, though .

This won't replace Columbia as "my store" I don't think... but right now my loyalties are pretty split with making the drive all the way to Dream Wizards for Warmachine/Hordes, Columbia for GW, and now the Bunker perhaps for weekend events...

Finishing touches were going on at the store today and will continue tomorrow. It will be ready to open on Saturday, though there may be some tweaks and adjustments needed to some things after the fact.

Except that the permanent sign has yet to be installed I don't think they'll be doing a lot more to the outside except posting the hours on the door and taking down the "coming soon" signs.

The store will open on time on Saturday morning.

Yes, I meant the sign... but that's no problem with me

Just had a thought- what happened to the giant space marines statue outside the old HQ/Bunker? Did it move to Memphis on a cargo truck/train or did it run free like it was meant to...

I think the outdoor Space Marine statue got shipped to Memphis. I vaguely remember asking someone about that many months ago during a visit to the old Glen Burnie HQ.

Funny... With all the recent GW shenanigans, I'm just not feeling the desire (at least right now) to pop by a new GW store, even if it's a full-on Bunker.

Guess we'll have to see how things might change by Saturday.

Valete,

JohnS

I vaguely remember from pics a month or two ago that the site layout Is it still such that the entry door leads to a hallway that then opens into the actual space. Is this true? I'd have thought they'd have wanted some window frontage to display models and such..

I was just in the Battle Bunker. Met Dave and Tom, the manager and someone who works there. They are having a preview today at 2pm EST and they open tomorrow at 10am for business. The store is already decked out and they have a complete assortment of merchandise laid out. Saw a lot of kits I had never seen before.

I was impressed for a lot of reasons. First off, it's huge. When Alliance Comics was in the space, they must have had half of the area walled off because the gaming area is genuinely gigantic.

There were at least 12 tables set up, most of them already decorated. You do walk down a hallway, which is decorated with a lot of Warhammer posters. When you get into the store itself, there is a sales area in the front and tables in the back. More than 2/3rds of the space is just for gaming tables.

Secondly, the layout is spaceous. There is a lot of free space to walk around, stools for sitting and the like. One of the issues I always had with playing at a store is that it is cramped, you can't really get around when you are in there. This place is going to have none of those problems.

Third, it looks very community oriented. They are getting together calendars today and are going to have tournaments, pyramids and ladders. There is lots of wall space for posting things, which I imagine is going to be filled up very quickly.

They did have a Finecast poster up with example minutes, looked to be at about 200% resolution. They do look fairly detailed. What stood out was the Abbadon model, same pose but noticably more detail.

Wow man, thanks a lot! That sounds great, especially that last bit.....

I can't wait to get there. What's the story on painting space? I know it's a bunker, but it'd still be nice to get some painting done :3

It's all but set in stone that I'll be there tomorrow for the opening.

If anyone cares to chat with me. Look for the guy in the brightest green polo shirt you can imagine.

Today's preview at the new Battle Bunker was by invitation, though I guess there were some people who wandered in too. My family and I were there helping them "break it in". I actually played a game on one of the new tables for most of the day. The store is beautiful and spacious and ready to go. We'll be there again tomorrow when it opens at 10 AM.

I'll be headed there tomorrow, look for the guy in the I heart NY shirt.

Wish I could make it, but I'll be out of town. I might try and check it out on Memorial Day weekend. Best of luck tomorrow!

I'll be getting there around noon with my Ultramarines and IG. I'll be the bald dude with a beard.

I checked it out this morning and it's great . Met BrassScorpion (or rather, re-met him and figured out who he is irl ) but Kid_Kyoto wasn't there when I left a little before noon. I need to find out who a few more of you posting here are, too!

The only downside was when they called for fantasy players for the "big battle" there were only 4 out of what must have been over 50 or so people there. I play only play fantasy right now, but didn't have it with me... luckily, I'm planning to pick up 40k again and so would have something to use in the future.

But at least for today, the fantasy turnout over at the Columbia GW seems to be a bit better.

So long story short, I will keep an eye out for you guys at the Bunker especially Mon-Tues if I make it out those days, since Columbia isn't open then, or on the weekend.

Yeah... Almost swung by the Bunker today, but just hit with an overwhelming sense of "meh" wrt GW right now.

Took a nice long walk with the dog and my son instead. It was a good choice...

But I'm sure I'll hit the Bunker at some point and maybe even meet a few of the Dakkaites I don't know already.

Valete,

JohnS

I gotta say, the new bunker is pretty huge. Seems like it has more tables too. Sucks that the AC wasnt working or something though.

If anyone saw, the girlfriend and I were like the only people playing Mordheim, but unfortunately arrived a little too late and had to mix up 40k terrain and fantasy fences... doh!

Seemed like a neat job they did though, hopefully it'll calm down a bit in coming weeks so I could get a 40k game in. Seems there's no way you're ever gonna play cityfight game there... not with how sparse the terrain was.

Had a blast this afternoon at the new bunker. They definitely need to get some more terrain because there definitely was a lack of stuff for the tables. I loved how open everything was and I mentioned to my buddy how it felt more like a community center than a store.

Fixing the AC really should be priority number ONE. By the time I left a little after 5 it was gross in there and started to smell of too much BO. It is safe to say that it was hotter in the store than outside and my car temp said it was 83 when I left.

All in all I can't wait to get some more games in there!

The sparse terrain is a temporary situation. Customers were actually helping build more terrain kits all day today. Remember, the store just opened and not everything is fully up to speed yet. More good things are coming.

A few people stopped by my little hobby spot today to say hello and some even mentioned that they'd been following the Bunker news I've been posting in this thread. Nice to see you and thanks for letting me know that keeping this up to date was worthwhile.

Yeah, it was getting crazy hot when I left... and that was before noon . Is the AC actually broken, or were they just not ready for that many folks? (That'd be surprising)

More terrain would be great, I'm sure they'll be working towards that but I agree that the most urgent thing is the AC...

The AC was not working at all. Luckily, the GW US executive who was there was as uncomfortable and unhappy about it as the rest of us and she was throwing her administrative weight into trying to get someone in there to fix it. Hopefully it will be sorted out quickly.

Oh yea I totally understand the lack of terrain for today. No worries!

BrassScorpion wrote:The sparse terrain is a temporary situation. Customers were actually helping build more terrain kits all day today. Remember, the store just opened and not everything is fully up to speed yet. More good things are coming.

A few people stopped by my little hobby spot today to say hello and some even mentioned that they'd been following the Bunker news I've been posting in this thread. Nice to see you and thanks for letting me know that keeping this up to date was worthwhile.

Good to hear about the terrain! Hopefully they'll have some custom pieces too, I really enjoyed the cool pink foam scenery that they had at the old bunker.

I was surprised to see the two older ladies who I assume are executives? I wonder what armies they play

I am betting on having a better time next time i'll be in there, which I think will be the 29th. I would like to meet you guys!

I would also like to mention for those who plan on coming with the intention of buying, they are missing some of the stuff that's gonna be finecast. Either that, or they sold out really fast (i got there around noon.) No hive guard, malagor(?) the dark omen, or some others. There were some surprising blisters though, I found a beastlord with additional hand weapon which is supposed to be direct only, and some others hiding in the mix.

Went today and had a good old time, Duane was a nice gent, as were the other employees, and I played three good games.

The AC made it into a bit of a gamer-funk swamp, but things happen, nothing you can do about it sometimes.

I'll be looking forward to going back, and getting some more games in. I met Kid_Kyoto, but didnt meet any other dakkaites I know of.

I was the guy in the blue t-shirt that said "Paddle Faster...", so if I played you, thanks for the games, and if not, until next time!

I came in with my Ultramarine 'scouted up' son and played in the back with some Salamanders and then towards the end of the night with my Horde Orks.

I think I met someone off of Dakka - but was concentrated on the Cake and Ice Cream too much to grab their screen name. I closed out the bunker and made a huge Forge World order before I left that will make an appearance in one of my WIP blogs.

I definitely felt uber gross by the end of the day with the crazy heat the horde of GW Fanboyz was creating. Everytime I went outside and then came back in it was like walking into a dense wall of hot air. They tried to come in and fix the AC later in the evening, but they're going to have to come back in the morning and take another look at it.

It's a shame, I'll be visiting my GF in Annapolis in the coming week or two and was originally going to try and stop by to see the new Battle Bunker with my Orks while she's working, but with all the bad news that GW's been putting out and the fact that I don't want to support a company that's making worse and worse decisions, I'll probably have to skip out. :/ It's a shame, I'd love to try and get a game in with KidKyoto and RiTides again (saw them both at DakkaCon and RiTides helped me out of quite a pickle there!) but I don't feel comfortable going to a store and playing but then turning around and saying "Sorry, I don't want to buy anything because I'm displeased with your company. Thanks for the gaming space though!"

I'd totally be up to playing at a different store or somewhere, but it's still a shame. I popped into the old Glen Burnie Battle Bunker before that closed, which also introduced me to Fantasy, and I remember how awesome that place was, and was looking forward to seeing this one, but looks like I'll have to skip.

Had a great time today! Cake, Ice-cream, ...interesting spearhead pick-up game...

I had to leave after a few hours though, and couldn't really settle in and catch up with the few staff members I knew and a friend here on dakka. The heat was just oppressive. I will be sure to call before going back to make sure it is sorted out. If anyone is looking for a good pick-up game, I'm looking to widen my hobby circle (my main opponent is in med school and so pretty much zero gaming the last six months). I'll usually be wearing a Triangle Fraternity T-shirt (big T / triangle logo, can't miss it).

BrassScorpion wrote:The AC was not working at all. Luckily, the GW US executive who was there was as uncomfortable and unhappy about it as the rest of us and she was throwing her administrative weight into trying to get someone in there to fix it. Hopefully it will be sorted out quickly.

Must've been a lovely aroma at the end of the day.

I wasn't able to make it, unfortunately. Hopefully I'll get some gaming time in on Wednesday or Thursday. Excited to see this place.

Looks like the air conditioner was unhappy with GW's announcements. Maybe GW will have an additional price hike to fix the AC.

I'm hoping to go back to the Bunker on Monday evening for the newly revived Monday hobby night. If someone is going there today, could you please post later on whether or not the air conditioning has been repaired? Thanks!

I may be able to stop by today, and if so I'll post up about the AC.

Also, two things I missed yesterday- Duane the manager (he has a ponytail, right? I did not see him anywhere) and... Cake and Ice Cream!? Dang, I must have left too soon

Although with how hot it was, I'm surprised about the ice cream!

We went to the O's game in the afternoon and I believe this was the hottest day we've had yet, so that had to have played a part in making yesterday such an oven inside, too.

RiTides wrote:Also, two things I missed yesterday- Duane the manager (he has a ponytail, right? I did not see him anywhere)

As long as I've known Duane, he's never had a pony tail. You may be thinking of someone else, or he may have grown a pony tail out, as I've only seen him intermittently the past few years. But pretty sure thats not his style.

No pony tail on Duane.. he's just a big, tall and mean looking mofo in a black shirt. Can't miss him.

DX3 wrote:No pony tail on Duane.. he's just a big, tall and mean looking mofo in a black shirt. Can't miss him.

Don't they all look that way

Tattoos? Other distinguishing features?

NELS1031 wrote:

RiTides wrote:Also, two things I missed yesterday- Duane the manager (he has a ponytail, right? I did not see him anywhere)

As long as I've known Duane, he's never had a pony tail. You may be thinking of someone else, or he may have grown a pony tail out, as I've only seen him intermittently the past few years. But pretty sure thats not his style.

I was just about to post the same thing when I saw this. I've known Duane for several years and he's never had a ponytail. He does have facial hair.

Duane posted on the Bunker's Facebook that the air conditioning was fixed early this morning.

Also, Monday night at the Bowie Battle Bunker is "Hobby Night" much as it was at the old HQ Bunker. Join Us!

I will definitely try and stop up tomorrow night Brass. I'll be in a tie in a brown jacket.

Pretty sure the infamous "Pony tail" descriptor belongs to none other than David McAlevey, who is the Hobby Center Operator of the St. Thomas Store and former Red Shirt of the Battle Bunker Under Scott. Just thought I would help clear that one up a bit.

Sadly I won't get down there until hopefully next weekend :(

I definitely had him confused with someone else- my mistake!

Hobby night on Mondays is pretty sweet... not sure if I can make it, but it's nice that they kept it consistent

And AC- woohoo!!

Hello, I'm new to the forums but have been lurking for a while.

I dropped into the Battle Bunker last night to check it out. I don't know if they got cleared out the day before, but I wasn't impressed with the merchandise they had in-stock. I was hoping to perhaps pick up a box set that the Columbia store was out of. It didn't seem like the retail selection was any different - that's fine though. I really like the huge gaming area. Oh, and the AC was working.

It was kind of odd, I asked "when do you think the new finecast minis are going to be released?"

Employee: "All I can say is keep your eyes open and check the website."

Me: "Well the poster with all the finecast minis says they are to be released on the 28th"

Employee: "Erm.. well, just keep checking online."

Does this mean that GW doesn't have its act together and may not release them on the 28th?

Also, they told me that next Saturday is a "Launch Party" and that some author is going to be there (I don't read the books, so don't ask me who). I would assume that the launch party means they are launching their new minis. I don't understand all of the GW secrecy. It's weird. Anyway, I am going to try and go to the "launch party" on Saturday and see what they actually release. I want to keep supporting my local GW (Columbia) though, so I am not sure if I will buy anything that day.

dirtycrabcakes wrote:Hello, I'm new to the forums but have been lurking for a while.

I dropped into the Battle Bunker last night to check it out. I don't know if they got cleared out the day before, but I wasn't impressed with the merchandise they had in-stock. I was hoping to perhaps pick up a box set that the Columbia store was out of. It didn't seem like the retail selection was any different - that's fine though. I really like the huge gaming area. Oh, and the AC was working.

It was kind of odd, I asked "when do you think the new finecast minis are going to be released?"

Employee: "All I can say is keep your eyes open and check the website."

Me: "Well the poster with all the finecast minis says they are to be released on the 28th"

Employee: "Erm.. well, just keep checking online."

Does this mean that GW doesn't have its act together and may not release them on the 28th?

Also, they told me that next Saturday is a "Launch Party" and that some author is going to be there (I don't read the books, so don't ask me who). I would assume that the launch party means they are launching their new minis. I don't understand all of the GW secrecy. It's weird. Anyway, I am going to try and go to the "launch party" on Saturday and see what they actually release. I want to keep supporting my local GW (Columbia) though, so I am not sure if I will buy anything that day.

I think the selection of models was due to the opening weekend craze. Since this bowie store is likely my closest now and has nice gaming space, I went out and spent ~100 on some things I needed, and I know I saw a whole heck of a lot of other people buying. I went in when it first opened in the morning on Sat., and it was very well stocked. I even managed to get a blister of the razorwing birdies for de which I haven't been able to find anywhere (for a conversion I'm doing, I'd never play those dang de!)

By the end of the day saturday...much less so.

I was hoping to get the Marneus + honor guard box set, but I had no luck. They aren't even selling it online, so they are probably done selling it in the metal format. I saw very few 40k blisters on the wall.

Hopefully they have it as finecast next weekend. We will see.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

RiTides wrote:I definitely had him confused with someone else- my mistake!

Hobby night on Mondays is pretty sweet... not sure if I can make it, but it's nice that they kept it consistent

And AC- woohoo!!

What is Hobby Night, btw?

Several items did sell out on opening day and long before the day was over. It was like a feeding frenzy of buying for some people. I even remarked about it to friends. It was like the merchandise on opening day was somehow not the exact same merchandise being sold in other GW stores just the day before. Seriously, the first few hours of the day you could barely get near the merchandise wall.

As for the Finecast minis being released on May 28, they definitely are because GW has formally announced it. I also asked the Jennifer Square store manager if he would have actual Finecast product to sell next Saturday and he said yes. But store staff in general, especially non-management staff, are being told very little ahead of time these days about anything and of course the Bunker had other priorities this past week like just being ready to be open for business.

When GW retail managers asked if the metal-to-resin rumors were true just a month ago at the factory in Memphis the guys in manufacturing denied there was any change being made at all. Either they lied about it or they were not informed about it yet either. And the lack of communication is going to get a lot worse. The rumors that GW will no longer be announcing anything about what is coming out ahead of time are true.

Now back on topic. "Hobby Night" was just a way of encouraging people to work on whatever projects they wanted to get done in a fun community atmosphere. There was usually a large number of people working on all kinds of crazy fun projects in the hobby area, encouraging each other and providing feedback when needed. In the summer of 2008 two of us scratch-converted turrets for Stormlords on top of the Baneblade kit because there was no Stormlord kit yet while someone else at the table was scratch building Titans. There were also a lot of Forge World projects going on and of course, lots of army building and painting too. It was just a fun atmosphere in which to be creative, with lots of fellow hobbyists from whom one could get good input on works in progress. Plenty of people were usually playing games those nights too back when the old Bunker's Monday Hobby Night was in full swing. It was very friendly and very fun for a couple years until the community changed. There is hope of reviving those "glory days" of hobby night at the new Bowie Bunker.

I found this list online regarding what minis are being released.

http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showpost.php?p=138341&postcount=1

Hopefully it's accurate.

Had a great time on saturday. I played a game against a GK player, and somehow managed to win! I was looking at the finecast poster they have up there, and completely disagree with whoever said that the models have more detail. They don't. Not in the least.

But whatever. Great store, and lots of familiar faces there. Plus! Right next to my favorite dollar store, the outback steakhouse, the MOMs and the TJ maxx

BTW, what time is the Monday Hobby Night start at?

spyfunk wrote:BTW, what time is the Monday Hobby Night start at?

The store is open normal business hours on Monday, 12-9, it's so great to have a 7-day/week GW store again in the area. Usually people start filtering in for hobby night when they can after daytime obligations are done, around 5 to 6:30 PM. I will be there today by around 4:30 PM.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Correct phone number for the new Bunker store is now posted on the GW website. The previously posted number was incorrect. The working number is 301-464-4651. I know it works, I just tried it. Have fun.

Also, here's a link to the Bowie Battle Bunker on the GW website's "Store Finder":
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/storelocator/details.jsp?id=12400016a&searchMode=filter&showGamingClubs=null&showIndependantRetailers=on&street=null&city=null&postalCode=null&filter_country=US&origin=&radius=null&searchFilter=MD&return=null

So no-one showed up causing a ruckus over the price hike and retail embargo?

So no-one showed up causing a ruckus over the price hike and retail embargo?

Certainly not. And why would it be better to do that at the Bunker than at other stores? It's no longer attached to an HQ, it's just another store in the chain. The HQ for North America is in Memphis, for the whole company it's in Nottingham, UK. Again, concerns should be addressed there to get attention from upper management.

How was the AC today? All fixed, I hope

RiTides wrote:How was the AC today? All fixed, I hope

Oh yeah, the AC was fixed on Sunday morning before store opening. I was there this afternoon for the first time since Saturday and it was comfortable inside.

Also, two more people stopped to say hi today, both of them saying they had followed this thread on Dakka, one a forum user and the other a former GW employee who simply lurks who I hadn't seen in a long time. Great to see and hear from so many nice people.

It is supposed to be the author that wrote all the Night Lord books on this Saturday. I might have to take the long way home so I can stop to check out these price hike causing Finecast models without my wife finding out I went.

It would be interesting to finally meet you BrassScorpion, as you are a member of a couple of boards I troll through. WIP

BrassScorpion wrote:

So no-one showed up causing a ruckus over the price hike and retail embargo?

Certainly not. And why would it be better to do that at the Bunker than at other stores? It's no longer attached to an HQ, it's just another store in the chain. The HQ for North America is in Memphis, for the whole company it's in Nottingham, UK. Again, concerns should be addressed there to get attention from upper management.

And we wonder why GW treats us like crap? Because no matter what they do people will still show up in crowds and clean the shelves. We have no-one to blame but ourselves if we continue drinking the coolaid.

SickSix wrote:

BrassScorpion wrote:

So no-one showed up causing a ruckus over the price hike and retail embargo?

Certainly not. And why would it be better to do that at the Bunker than at other stores? It's no longer attached to an HQ, it's just another store in the chain. The HQ for North America is in Memphis, for the whole company it's in Nottingham, UK. Again, concerns should be addressed there to get attention from upper management.

And we wonder why GW treats us like crap? Because no matter what they do people will still show up in crowds and clean the shelves. We have no-one to blame but ourselves if we continue drinking the coolaid.

The reason GW is able to get away with poor management of their customer base is that...no one's actually that upset. The internet rages and storms, but in real life, people enjoy this hobby, and aren't as rankled as "the interwebs" would have you believe. The other reason is that gamers typically don't do anything but rage on the internet. If they channeled that into harassing store clerks, it wouldn't help. As brass said, there's no reason to go harass any of the GW retail locations, they don't have any say in the matter. If you're upset, start hollering at corporate (Memphis or the UK base) in a coherent, intelligent manner, and things might change (or of course, vote with your wallet). Mind you, you can't be upset if other people vote "yay" with their wallets and keep purchasing.

The bunker was great is all i've got to say, and I'm tickled to finally have a LGS close to me so I can get back to regular gaming/hobbying

vote with your wallet

Indeed, over the past couple years there is an ever increasing list of items that I would like to have bought but did not simply because I felt those particular items were too expensive. After May 28, that list will be significantly longer.

Now again, back on topic. Monday Hobby Night was a little slow last night, but it was only the first one at the new store. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that the broken air conditioning on Saturday day may have contributed to that on top of the newness of the store because I've been told that Sunday was a bit slow as well. The air conditioning problem definitely is resolved and the store is at a comfortable temperature. Now we just have to fill it up with some enthusiastic hobbyists. I got some painting done on my Grey Knights last night.

BrassScorpion wrote:

vote with your wallet

Indeed, over the past couple years there is an ever increasing list of items that I would like to have bought but did not simply because I felt those particular items were too expensive. After May 28, that list will be significantly longer.

Now again, back on topic. Monday Hobby Night was a little slow last night, but it was only the first one at the new store. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that the broken air conditioning on Saturday day may have contributed to that on top of the newness of the store because I've been told that Sunday was a bit slow as well. The air conditioning problem definitely is resolved and the store is at a comfortable temperature. Now we just have to fill it up with some enthusiastic hobbyists. I got some painting done on my Grey Knights last night.

So, I've never really heard of a hobby night, is it really just: bring in some models and your hobby supplies and paint/model as a group?

Doesn't sound half bad really, I'll just have to get over my routine of doing it at my desk in my apartment

So, I've never really heard of a hobby night, is it really just: bring in some models and your hobby supplies and paint/model as a group?

Doesn't sound half bad really, I'll just have to get over my routine of doing it at my desk in my apartment

That's pretty much it, but it can be surprisingly fun and enormously helpful too. When I started participating in the one at the old Bunker after "hobbying" at home alone for nearly 15 years I also found that it improved my hobby results enormously. Getting feedback and new ideas from other creative people can add surprising new perspectives and confidence to one's hobby. I really found it beneficial as well as fun working on projects around other people. Of course, having a good, friendly, pleasant crowd of people is important. Unfortunately, the crowd of people you get in any store at any given period of time tends to run a cycle like a sine wave with its ups and downs. When it's on the up cycle it is terrific.

I should also point out that we have a similar "Hobby Night" already going at the Jennifer Square store in Annapolis and that has finally started to really take off. It's been quite full of people building and painting models the past few weeks. Whenever possible I will continue to support Thursday Night Hobby night in Annapolis GW while going to the new Bowie Bunker on Monday nights.

It's great to see more people finally painting their models!

Jennifer Square Info:
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/storelocator/details.jsp?id=24688&searchMode=filter&showGamingClubs=null&showIndependantRetailers=on&street=null&city=null&postalCode=null&filter_country=US&origin=&radius=null&searchFilter=MD&return=null

Games Workshop - Jennifer Square

167 Jennifer Road
Suite D
Annapolis
MD
21401
US

Store Manager
Kurt Pierson
Telephone
410-266-8923
Events
Armies on Parade - Display Board Weekend May 28th
Sat, 28 May 2011 - Sun, 29 May 2011

What's new at Games Day?
Sat, 30 Jul 2011

More Information

Opening Hours

Monday & Tuesday: Closed

Wednesday - Friday: 1pm - 8pm
- Store closes for lunch from 3:15 - 4pm

Saturday - 12pm - 8pm
- Store closes for lunch from 3 - 3:30pm

Sunday - 12pm - 6pm
- Store closes for lunch from 3 - 3:30pm

I think I am heading over there tonight for a game of 40k (Columbia is closed mon-tues). I probably won't get there until about 6:00.

Aaron Dembski-Bowden book signing at the Bowie Bunker on Saturday at 1:00pm, May 28. Aaron Dembski-Bowden wrote The First Heretic, Soul Hunter, Hellsreach, Blood Reaver & Throne of Lies.

Finecast is also released that day.

I actually went to this store the other day (my first time in a GW store) and it was very impressive. Not just the all the tables they had, but the employees. The staff member that helped me was excellent. He was informative without being pushy and I didn't feel like I was sold things I didn't want/need. They were out of a codex, so we ordered one online along with a few minis so I would get free shipping. He listened to what I wanted and made suggestions along the way, which was awesome...esp after reading some of the horror stories about GW employees. So if you find yourself in Maryland, you have to make a stop at the Bowie store.

BTW what do the different shirt colors mean?

Reds are employees usually and black shirts are managers. I think.

Also, I believe you can get free shipping by having them shipped to store instead of your house, no?

For some reason, they all seemed to have black shirts on Saturday, so I'm not sure of the distinction these days.

You can get free shipping to the store for any amount, but to get it to your home it has to be I believe over $30. I have stuff shipped to the GW store in Columbia somewhat often (pretty much whenever I want something that's direct only, I'll just go into the store and order it at the terminal and have it shipped there) and it's great and easy

There are no more red shirts in the USA and there haven't been for months. Several months ago GW sent every GW retail employee in North America a new black shirt that says "Ask Me" on the back. All employees in the stores, manager or not, now are required to wear those shirts. Of course, so many stores have only one employee these days that a lot of customers barely noticed the change.

Free shipping always applies if you get your order shipped to a store regardless of sales total. Free shipping also applies to shipping to your home if the order it $30 or more.

So if you find yourself in Maryland, you have to make a stop at the Bowie store.

We have multiple stores in this the immediate area that are like that. Pasadena and Jennifer Square Annapolis GW stores also have terrific and helpful operators that will assist you in getting what you need only with the level of help you actually want. We have it good around here when it comes to GW stores and the staff.

BrassScorpion wrote:There are no more red shirts in the USA and there haven't been for months. Several months ago GW sent every GW retail employee in North America a new black shirt that says "Ask Me" on the back. All employees in the stores, manager or not, now are required to wear those shirts. Of course, so many stores have only one employee these days that a lot of customers barely noticed the change.

Free shipping always applies if you get your order shipped to a store regardless of sales total. Free shipping also applies to shipping to your home if the order it $30 or more.

So if you find yourself in Maryland, you have to make a stop at the Bowie store.

We have multiple stores in this the immediate area that are like that. Pasadena and Jennifer Square Annapolis GW stores also have terrific and helpful operators that will assist you in getting what you need only with the level of help you actually want. We have it good around here when it comes to GW stores and the staff.

They had to get rid of the Red Shirts because the employees knew that wearing a Red Shirt was tantamount to a Death Sentance and they were very reluctant to go on Away Missions to the planet's surface...

BrassScorpion wrote:Aaron Dembski-Bowden book signing at the Bowie Bunker on Saturday at 1:00pm, May 28.

I didn't know that, might've come up--too late now, oh well!

I didn't make it to the Bunker on Saturday either, so I also missed the book signing.

However, I will be there on Monday, May 30. It's the only GW store open on Mondays for miles around and on Monday I have the time to be there. I will hopefully get some good painting and model assembly done.

Never done much at the stores. How does the modeling and painting work out?

Do you just bring in your model and they supply the paint? do you need to buy the model there that day?

Depending on when the family arrives tomorrow I may take a ride up there as I want to get some incubi. Tried to hit the pasadena store today after I got my haircut but they were closed for lunch and didn't feel like hanging around.

Nvs wrote:Never done much at the stores. How does the modeling and painting work out?

Do you just bring in your model and they supply the paint? do you need to buy the model there that day?

Depending on when the family arrives tomorrow I may take a ride up there as I want to get some incubi. Tried to hit the pasadena store today after I got my haircut but they were closed for lunch and didn't feel like hanging around.

Q: Do you just bring in your model and they supply the paint?
A: You can build or paint any model(s) at the store as long as it is a GW product. Some stores lend paint, some don't. Shared loaner paints can get bad due to customer abuse even when available. It's best to bring your own paint if you want to be sure of having the colors and quality you really need. Borrowing paint is best only as a last resort even at stores where it is a provided courtesy. I only borrow paint on rare occasion to try out a new color of if I forgot a specific color. That is really what courtesy paints are for. Stores where the courtesy is abused and customers start painting whole armies without ever buying paint often have the courtesy removed.

Q: do you need to buy the model there that day?
A: No. It could have been purchased that day, last week or last year. That's a good thing, if you buy an army of 200 models and want to paint it at the store it would be difficult to do that in a day!

Are they going to be open tomorrow on Memorial Day?

spyfunk wrote:Are they going to be open tomorrow on Memorial Day?

they should be but you can call 301-464-4651

They will be open tomorrow, May 30, Memorial Day. GW stores only close 3 days per year in the US and that isn't one of them.

If you missed the book signing by Aaron Dembski-Bowden at the Battle Bunker last Saturday I discovered today that they have some signed books for sale from that event. The number left is obviously limited so if you would like one you might want to head over there this week.

Had a great time stopping by yesterday, and finally matched name-to-face for Duane (the manager).

Good times... they also have a large selection of most of the new finecast boxes, which is good due to the potential for miscasts right now.

I also picked up my first finecast blister... am reasonably happy with it, but there were some errors that I don't think would be on a metal model (particularly the shield- one spot so thin you can see through it, and a corner of it not fully formed and missing a bolt head... not a really big deal, but not what I'd call "finely cast" either :-/

Still, nice to have the selection since if anyone does run into problems, they can easily exchange, and it seems like they've done so without problems.

Will probably be in again on Thursday

I am going to try and swing by the bunker this evening and get a big game of 40k in (~2500 pts). I got some new finecast minis I would like to try out.

If anyone wants to set up a game for around 5:30-6:00, shoot me a PM, otherwise I will probably be showing up around that time looking for a random game.

My high school is closed for graduation on friday, so I might be there How's the finecast selection up there? I was thinking about picking up an Abaddon People have been ranting about how great these new casts are, but I need to see for myself, having painted that model numerous times.

I picked up Marneus + Honor Guard and it's a bit of a mixed bag. Some air bubles screw up some of the detail a bit. The detail looks great (IMO), however I haven't started painting them yet - I will probably wait until I have better painting skills.

The Bowie Bunker had a ton of Finecast models to choose from when I was there yesterday. They had a relatively slow weekend so it's not terribly picked over for product.

I might stop by there again this afternoon. Still painting Grey Knights and working on a new conversion for Daemons.

Yes, there's a Lot there... and imho Samus_aran, Abaddon is one of the casts that seems to come out really well in this process. I checked a few Abbadons out through the blister while I was there and they looked spectacular, as have the pics of it I've seen online from people who picked it up. Seems to be one of the good ones, generally...

As someone said above, with the subpar casts it's not the detail that comes out that's the problem (as it's excellent)... it's the propensity to have detail not come out whether due to air bubbles or the mold not filling (or releasing the part) properly that's been a bummer...

Also, the daemon conversion BrassScorpion is doing is sweet and well worth checking out while you're there if he is (finecast skulltaker on plastic juggernaut).

Nurgle's Head Cheese wrote:
They had to get rid of the Red Shirts because the employees knew that wearing a Red Shirt was tantamount to a Death Sentance and they were very reluctant to go on Away Missions to the planet's surface...

And black shirts have better associations?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackshirts

A few more people are showing up at the Bunker now than the first week. It seems a lot of people just don't know it's there yet, especially a lot of the more occasional game store customers or kids who are dependent on their parents to get there. Slowly, word is getting out though. And I've see some local Dakka members in there regularly now.

I finished the main conversion work on that Finecast Skulltaker Mounted On Juggernaut tonight.

BrassScorpion wrote:The Bowie Bunker had a ton of Finecast models to choose from when I was there yesterday. They had a relatively slow weekend so it's not terribly picked over for product.

I might stop by there again this afternoon. Still painting Grey Knights and working on a new conversion for Daemons.

I picked up a finecast mini there on Memorial Day. I figured I'd give one a shot. Meh. For the one model I got at least, too many bubbles on corners and tips of things. The smaller fiddly protruding bits are apparently fragile. I initially thought the model had a miscast (missing) thumb, but then (miraculously) I found it, disembodied, in the blister pack. I spent a good 10 minutes trying to glue a 3 mm thumb back on tiny thumbless hand, with way too much superglue, and with eventual success. After that, I didn't have the mental fortitude to repair all of the large miscast corners with green stuff.

Superglue is not my bailiwick. At one point I had the Icons of Vilification glued to my left index finger.

On the positive side: The resin seems to "take" the superglue much faster than metal. Also, the resin is easy to work with. Mold lines seemed easier to scrape off than on plastic. The flat grey is easier to see detail on when working off flash, mold lines etc.

My suggestion: Consider buying these in a store (not on line), so you can give them a long hard look before buying. Look at corners/edges of things to make sure they are filled up, finger tips, sword tips, sharp corners. The flat grey makes these easier to pick out than semi-shiny metal (I wish I had done this).

That conversion looks fantastic . Having just struggled through getting a metal ogre's legs far enough apart to sit on a baby rhinox, I can appreciate how convincing that looks... and apparently it was pretty easy with the finecast model, which is even better .

Unrelated to the above- any advice on opening finecast "blisters"? They basically have to be cut open, right? I mauled the first one I bought, but would like to do a better job of it in the future (especially if I end up getting a miscast and want to return it... even if they'll take it with bad packaging, I'd rather not risk it).

RiTides wrote:That conversion looks fantastic . Having just struggled through getting a metal ogre's legs far enough apart to sit on a baby rhinox, I can appreciate how convincing that looks... and apparently it was pretty easy with the finecast model, which is even better .

Unrelated to the above- any advice on opening finecast "blisters"? They basically have to be cut open, right? I mauled the first one I bought, but would like to do a better job of it in the future (especially if I end up getting a miscast and want to return it... even if they'll take it with bad packaging, I'd rather not risk it).

Thanks for the comments on the conversion.

As for the "clampacks" or clamshells as they are more commonly referred to throughout the retail industry, I definitely cut them open. I cut all clamshell packaging open rather than try to tear it. I saw a documentary last year that was done with some humor about "worst consumer ideas ever" and clamshells were a nice long segment on the show. Of course, manufacturers and sellers like them because they do well at their intended purpose which is to prevent packaging being easily opened in stores by thieves who want to pocket the contents, but they are nearly impossible to open without cutting them open. Several hundred people each year end up in hospital emergency rooms because they chose to tear them manually and the ragged plastic severely cuts their hands open. There's even a secondary industry spawned by the problem as there are tools on the market specifically designed to open clamshell packaging. Scissors work just as well as does a nice sharp knife. I used my hobby knife to open the Skulltaker clamshell. For larger packages like the ones containing the Citadel movement trays I use scissors and cut my way around the edges.

My Space Ork army is being photographed at the GW Bowie Battle Bunker today. I've never taken all 200 models to the store at once before and it is proving to be an interesting challenge of packing and transport.

Mmmmm, I'd have liked to see that! Unfortunately I don't think I'll be out that way today- made the trek on Thursday, and the traffic was pretty crazy on a weekday to get there.

Not that it's not crazy everywhere else in this state around that time

Depending on when we pick up my dog from the vet, I may make it out there this weekend finally. I still haven't seen it.