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I used GW's site to find the stores within 50 miles of where I will be moving to in July (Simi Valley, California) and got an exhaustive list of 5 GW stores and 13 Independents. I have never had the pleasure of living in a city where there was a official GW store much less more than a dozen other stores within 50 miles of me! Needless to say I'm excited about getting into the new scene including tournaments and whatever else is going on across the desert there in sunny California. If anyone can comment on or suggest places to dig up more info I would appreciate it. Thanks!

FLGS that will be near me:
A Hidden Fortress
Paper Heroes
Kit Kraft
Aero Hobbies
Emerald Knight
Knight Ware, Inc
The Last Grenadier
Dragon's Den
Seth's Games
Game Empire
Third Planet
The Warhouse
Battlegrounds

Games Workshop Stores:
Oakbrook Plaza
Ventura Village
Central Ave
Park Plaza
Buena Vista

Any reviews, websites, forums, clubs, tournaments, campaigns, stories, or challenges are welcomed!

Thanks again!

A Hidden Fortress is awesome. Great vide in the shop, and 15% off retail on boxed sets. No game table, though.

GW in Thousand Oaks is fine. Manager is real nice. Younger crowd.

There's a battle bunker someplace in burbank or something, but I've never been there.

Several other hobby shops in the area that sell terrain and modeling supplies, not specifically warhammer, but I play orks, so it's all 40K to me. Also a Michael's craft store in Moorpark for craft type supplies.

I know there's some shops in the valley, but between A Hidden Fortress, GW in T.O. and craft supplies from Michaels, I don't typically have to drive far.

Great, thanks for the info. Look forward to throwing dice with you sometime soon.

I'm looking forward to checking out Game Empire Pasadena and the LA Battle Bunker based on what others have said.

GE in Pasadena is a fine store, with lots of playing space. Driving from Simi to Pasadena is going to be a bit much for typical games, but they run tournaments and leagues so I would suggest that.
I game at Emerald Knights in Burbank when I have time. Nice store with lots of room (and high ceilings/multiple levels) so its a nice environment to play in. Not many tournaments/support for 40k but have a good stock of GW and other games.

Those are the two on your list I have the most experience with, for what its worth. I'm sure Dok or Blood Lord Soldado can tell you more about GE, they play there often.

As a former resident of sunny Southern California, I did really enjoy visiting the LA Battle Bunker. The name is slightly misleading though, it is actually located in Westminster, which is right next to Long Beach. Westminster is in Orange county so it is a bit of a drive, about 70 miles from Simi Valley. I would recommend going at least once though, their tables are cool.

Thanks for the info all. 70 miles is no big deal, I grew up in Kansas where it's 300 miles in any direction to something interesting. I'm hoping to get in with a good group near where I live for garage gaming and hit one or two tournaments a month at local shops. Only really one and a half FLGS in Vegas, it's going to be nice to be able to go to official GW stores as well as over a dozen LGS. Excited to face all the new armies and meet all the new gamers. Thanks!

Well, the distances in SoCal are more complicated then the distances in Kansas. You have mountains and city and traffic, oh my... anyway, average speed for those 70 miles will make it feel like the 300 back in Kansas.

Good luck, and perhaps one day we will do battle.

What Magister said! And for the love of the Emperor do not use the 405 in rush hour!! You will learn exactly what road rage is.

BladeWalker wrote:70 miles is no big deal, I grew up in Kansas where it's 300 miles in any direction to something interesting

Yeah, driving down there will take you ~2h or so. Maybe a bet less, but possibly more. Traffic through that area is a bitch and a half.

I was gonna make a new post, but I might as well just piggy back on this one since its the same general area.

There just doesn't seem to be a LFGS in this area that fit my tastes.

I like Game Empire in Pasadena, but I just can't make it out there on the weekdays and the weekends seem to be for scheduled events, of which only one a month is a 40k tourney.

Are there any stores or gaming groups that people know of where there is regular 40k playing going on over the weekends?

I have been on a bit of a tournament kick lately and I really need to get more practice games in.

I'm actually going to be much closer to the beach (about 300 yards from the sand) in Port Hueneme now that we finalized our place. I'll probably be hitting up the Ventura GW and Seth's Games first off since they will be very close. Game Empire tournaments seem well organized so I hope to hit some of those. Seems I'm moving to where there are not as many places but I can be in Santa Barbara pretty quick from where I will be so I will have to check that scene as well. Thanks for the warnings on traffic all, I'm hoping I will usually be trekking to game stores on weekends and avoiding the worst of the worst.

Well, I haven't had much time to game in quite some time (sold my house, moved into a new place), but I highly recommend Emerald Knights as a play space!. It doesn't seem to have a huge amount of 40k players going through, they mostly do mtg and some RPG's, but I cannot recommend enough the location, environment or staff. It really is a top notch place.
I wish I could say "hey, lets play next weekend" but I still am forced to pack my weekends to the gills with "Grown up stuff" and can't go play with my little toy soldiers unfortunately. When I finally get calmed down I would be happy to game with either of you dudes (I typically play with a small group of my own friends, who also are in this area. Nerrik, Dok and BloodLordSoldado among them.)

BladeWalker wrote:I used GW's site to find the stores within 50 miles of where I will be moving to in July (Simi Valley, California) and got an exhaustive list of 5 GW stores and 13 Independents. I have never had the pleasure of living in a city where there was a official GW store much less more than a dozen other stores within 50 miles of me! Needless to say I'm excited about getting into the new scene including tournaments and whatever else is going on across the desert there in sunny California. If anyone can comment on or suggest places to dig up more info I would appreciate it. Thanks!

FLGS that will be near me:
Emerald Knight
Knight Ware, Inc
The Last Grenadier
Game Empire

Knight Ware and Last Grenadier are both almost dead stores (by the looks of it at least). They're also small, dirty and are pretty unfriendly tbh. Knight Ware does have some gaming space and Last Grenadier stocks alot of obscure/ less main stream games.
Games Empire is a really cool place, lots of gaming space and it looked like an active 40k enviroment (Been once, 2 games while i was there and their was terrain/ armies EVERYWHERE). I like it but its too out of the way for me (i've been blessed with having a wargame store within a 1/2 mile of me my whole life)
There a GW up in Glendale, it sucks. Super small. iirc they don't have tables too.

Emerald Knights. WOW. I cannot say enough good things about this store. I guess i'll start with it has alot of gaming space (alot of space in general, its a lot less cramped than the other stores near Burbank). Nice family enviroment, well lit, clean and i'd say best of all the people there are really nice. No tables dedicated to 40k, but there is in store 40k terrain/ mats to use (your welcome as i was part of getting it there )
There is one 40k group as of now, The SoCAl freebootaz play once a month i think. A friend told me (crazythang on the forum) that they're starting another group so we'll see if that goes anywhere.

Suffice to say, Emerald Knights and Game Empire are your best bets, imo. Although i say Emerald Knights is better because well its my local store so i'll advertise for it any day.

Seth's is ok but they aren't crazy friendly and don't stock much GW last time I checked. Let me know Blade when you get out that way. I'll hook you up with at least one buddy who still lives in Ventura and who tries to play competitively when he has the time.

Game Ogre in Northridge is owed by an ex GW DM and is great from what I hear. Aero Hobbies is home of the Sprue Posse and they run regular events. Port Hueneme is hard since you're way out of the way, I used to live right on the water about 10 years ago.

Can't speak to the local GW's but that's cause most of them opened after I was out of the area. Game Empire is amazing in Pasadena and run monthly RTT's. Great crowd.

Those are the good stores at a reasonable driving distance. There are another 2-3 stores that run RTT's in SoCal but you're starting to look at a 2-3 hour drive at that point from Port Hueneme.

I've only been to Game Ogre once, but my main issue is that the 2 tables they had set up for wargaming were right at the front of the store surrounded by merchandise. I just feel like it would be a little cramped as anyone browsing the stuff on the racks would have to maneuver around the people playing.

I am very intrigued by Emerald Knights. I think I might give it a look this weekend. My friend and I are planning on trying to get a game in at a couple different stores this weekend.

skrewpa wrote:
I am very intrigued by Emerald Knights. I think I might give it a look this weekend. My friend and I are planning on trying to get a game in at a couple different stores this weekend.

For the record, theres usually space EXCEPT when theres a big magic thing and a smaller event at the same time. Check out there website at http://ekcomicsandgames.com/ or call for table avaliablity.

Went to Emerald Knights over the weekend and it is a cool store. I really like that there was an upper level of playing area away from the merchandise. Unfortunately there was some event going on so there was no space to play at the time, but I still really liked the store.

Went out to Game Empire afterwards. It was a little crowded with people playing various games, but there were still a couple open tables.

While I like both stores I have to say that I like Game Empire better. They have a ton of terrain and seem more wargame oriented while Emerald Knights kinda splits between gaming and comics. I also got a sweet deal on a bag with a full Monolith and Destroyer kit, still on the sprues, for only $30.00 total.

Awesome, thanks for the scouting reports guys! Anyone play at the GW Ventura Village? Do the GW stores ever run events other than the official stuff? I only ask because it's so dang close! I will for sure be hitting a tourney at Game Empire at the first chance. Really looking forward to it. Is there no gaming in Santa Barbara?

@Hulk: You moving back to the area at some point?

we have a decent size group of friends that get together fairly often. we usually play at hidden fortress, or the GW at the oakbrook plaza in thousand oaks. we play on sundays at GW, and mondays at hidden fortress. mondays are just a game night there though. so some times we play heroclix sometimes warhammer.

I play frequently at Game Empire in Pasadena. They know their stuff and the people that run the events are good people.

The store owner, Chuck is big into board games and stuff, but his right hand man, Travis (Disdainful) is a great event organizer. Weekly campaigns are Tuesday nights, and are fun and well thought out with 15-20 people playing actively.

2nd Saturday tournaments are always good and go smooth as hell. ( I even managed to win last months )

I feel you on the drive, I am coming in 50 miles from the east so it hard to make the trek in traffic, but the thing that sets Game Empire apart from the rest of the shops in So Cal for me is their play area. ( I guess Travis is a pretty close second, hes a great TO and a real dude. Not some uptight store butthead.)

They have like 9 tables or so and enough terrain to fill all of these tables adequately.

A further shot from you is The Realm in Brea. Its also a decent event on the 3rd Saturday of the month, with alternating 40k and fantasy, though they might be dropping fantasy.

PM me if you have any other questions.

I hope Travis reads this... Where my PR Discount.. LOL

Blood Lord Soldado wrote: I even managed to win last months

Battlewagons are so angry.

They are fierce, but I was totally afraid of your Necrons, and I still think you should have got best army. Your orange is amazing!!!

NicMonsteR wrote:we have a decent size group of friends that get together fairly often. we usually play at hidden fortress, or the GW at the oakbrook plaza in thousand oaks. we play on sundays at GW, and mondays at hidden fortress. mondays are just a game night there though. so some times we play heroclix sometimes warhammer.

Hidden Fortress has tables? Did they relocate because I was in there a few years back and it was really small. I'd love to go there since my wife's family lives literally down the street from there. The all the time discount is especially nice...


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@Blood Lord: I hope to see you the second Saturday of August for some 40k if we can get all settled by then. One good tourney a month and a few local games is going to be some good times.

BladeWalker wrote: Hidden Fortress has tables?

I assume they must set them up in the back room where they do magic drafts and stuff. Even then, that is a really tight squeeze.

@Bladewalker

Not for at least a few years buddy. The plan is around 4-5 years and then we'll back. We're shooting for sooner though, the wife and I miss the lack of weather

BladeWalker wrote:
Hidden Fortress has tables? Did they relocate because I was in there a few years back and it was really small. I'd love to go there since my wife's family lives literally down the street from there. The all the time discount is especially nice...

they dont have an actual GW table, but they have fold up table's and they have a peice of ply woof with a grass mat glued to it and then you can bring some extra terrain and place where you want. but yeah if you ever wanna pick up a game there lemme know. we are all fairly new player but we understand most of the game now. i am using ork's, my buddy's are using, greay knights, crimson fist space marines, chaos space marines, tau, and i think we have an eldar player also.

Awesome Nic, thanks man! Maybe a meet up at Ventura Village GW some weekend after I get there, I'll holler at you for sure. Thanks again to everyone... I'm still surprised that Santa Barbara has no 40k gamers so far...

NicMonsteR wrote:
they dont have an actual GW table, but they have fold up table's and they have a peice of ply woof with a grass mat glued to it and then you can bring some extra terrain and place where you want. but yeah if you ever wanna pick up a game there lemme know. we are all fairly new player but we understand most of the game now. i am using ork's, my buddy's are using, greay knights, crimson fist space marines, chaos space marines, tau, and i think we have an eldar player also.

Ah, ok. That makes more sense. Playing in the back? Or out front?

I'd love to play a game or two sometime as well. Maybe in the evening after work.

Orks vs Orks is double the hilarity, and I have a bunch of terrain that I can bring.

I live in Simi Valley, pm me when you get here, I have an Army, friends that play, and a table, terrain, etc...

There is a new store http://www.thegameogre.com/ about 30-45 min away from you. It has two 4x6 tables in front and six 3x6 tables in back (they have 4x6 tables in the office that they will set-up on top of the 3x6 tables in back for you.), lots of terrain etc.

Needs an active 40K group, they are trying to start one...

Always a work in progress...

The Bunker is worth the drive if you get a group and spend all day, leave EARLY to "beat" traffic (even on weekends), go out to breakfast when you get there, game all day, come back after traffic...


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All you Simi Valli-ite pm me, if you wish...

I might check out Game Ogre if they run a tournament on a weekend day. Thanks for the info, I think I looked at their website and thought it was too small for very much 40k. It clocks in at 46 miles from me so I could do that for a day of gaming sometime. Thanks again guys, keep the thread going... still seeking gamers actually in Ventura/Oxnard/Port Hueneme. A few more weeks!