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-Loki- wrote:In Australia I encountered the hobby in 1991, though it wasn't through a store. Someone at school gave my brother a copy of white dwarf. The first GW store we went into was in 1992 when we bought Titan Legions, then 1994 I think when we bought 40k 2nd edition.

GW stores were pretty sparse until about 2000, at least around Sydney. In the 90's I don't reall many people in the area knowing about the hobby. Since about 2000 the amount of stores has skyrocketed, and I see them everywhere now. Indie stores were pretty common in the 90's, but seem to have mostly died off.

Yes. Exactly. Though, the return policies in GW stores is better than FLGS in general.

-Loki- wrote:In Australia I encountered the hobby in 1991, though it wasn't through a store. Someone at school gave my brother a copy of white dwarf. The first GW store we went into was in 1992 when we bought Titan Legions, then 1994 I think when we bought 40k 2nd edition.

GW stores were pretty sparse until about 2000, at least around Sydney. In the 90's I don't reall many people in the area knowing about the hobby. Since about 2000 the amount of stores has skyrocketed, and I see them everywhere now. Indie stores were pretty common in the 90's, but seem to have mostly died off.

I doubt you got Titan Legions in 92, I believe that's the year they switched from the Space Marine(epic) edition to Epic2nd edition.


I discovered GW in 89-90. I saw the 'new' space marine libarians (books,swords & power armour whats not to like?) painted the set of the 4 of them (only paid 8$ for 4 metal marines =o]) and was hooked.

The company opened 3 stores in north america during the first or second wave (Vancouver,Toronto and Maryland (glen burnie? I think that was GW NA HQ) and I discovered this wonderful world then. Sadly Mr Wells doesn't seem to want me as a customer anymore so well....-shrugs-

Rouge trader was pretty big when i was a kid. that s when i became aware of 40k and warhammer.

I got into 40k when the old rhinos were sold 3 to the box for $12 ( 1989-90 ) then started selling 1 for $9 and the Landraider Mk1 was expensive at $18.
Saw the White Dwarf( #109 ) and fall in love with the whole 40k universe.

Grey Templar wrote:
its fairly easy to switch the distances over to metric. 1"=2cm. It isn't exact, but its the best way to keep things even.(BTW, thats the measurements they have for the LotG skirmish game. for some reason they have that system use both inches and cm)

Hehe, you might want to check your ruler. It's 2.54cm. Someone's getting ripped off

Varrick wrote:

Adam LongWalker wrote:@ Varrak Where did you get this information from?

Very curious.

That EA would close the game when ToR came out? Quite simple. EA is your stereotypical corporation; the one that wants its favored son to be the shining example of awesomeness. What stays in its way? another game under their roof that might sap launch numbers from the game. They cannot and would not tolerate it. Also why would they make any updates for a game they intended to execute? The game still pulls in cash and that cash is better suited for a project that they expect to bring in much more cash. Only reason WoH is being made is so they can keep getting money off of GW's IP when they turn off WaR.

Makes sense to me.

So basically you've got reasons to back up your opinion, but no sources to promote these as fact. Not saying you're wrong, per se, just picking up the grain of salt now.

Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play have been on the shelves of our FLGSs for decades at this point. I bought the WHFRP book as a change from D&D and FASA Corp's Earthdawn in, like, 1990, although I had been aware of the game for several years before that. Concurrently, I got into Blood Bowl

How it's viewed? Well, other than the fact that the book is written in the Queen's English, and it's much grimmer than most of our other, mainstream RPGs, it's always been fairly well-regarded amongst the gaming community. Of course, being that it's not a popular TV show with much violence and naked bodies, it's virtually unknown in the mainstream society. This is not surprising, really, as even Dungeons & Dragons is beginning to fade from the collective culture.

MightyGodzilla wrote:

Varrick wrote:

Adam LongWalker wrote:@ Varrak Where did you get this information from?

Very curious.

That EA would close the game when ToR came out? Quite simple. EA is your stereotypical corporation; the one that wants its favored son to be the shining example of awesomeness. What stays in its way? another game under their roof that might sap launch numbers from the game. They cannot and would not tolerate it. Also why would they make any updates for a game they intended to execute? The game still pulls in cash and that cash is better suited for a project that they expect to bring in much more cash. Only reason WoH is being made is so they can keep getting money off of GW's IP when they turn off WaR.

Makes sense to me.

So basically you've got reasons to back up your opinion, but no sources to promote these as fact. Not saying you're wrong, per se, just picking up the grain of salt now.

Its good to take up that grain of salt; though with it remember its not a long shot to expect from EA.

I remember, back in my middle school days (so about 2002-ish), there were 40K tournaments in a mall hobby shop near my house. I never knew what it was until I entered college and started playing for myself; I do *distinctly* watching a Space Marine player back in middle school during a tournament (and I'll admit it; at the time, I was only there for the Yugioh cards).

Mikhalia's Showcase Comics has apparently been around for a long time, and doing GW-related stuff for quite some time (they're my FLGS).

Only a few people I know are even aware of 40k where I live (Eastern shore of MD), but there is a GW store across the bridge thats 20-25 minutes away. My local Hobby Town closed recently, so now I have to go to a GW store to get my models. The Hobby Town didn't have much in the way of playing 40k though .

DoctorZombie wrote:Only a few people I know are even aware of 40k where I live (Eastern shore of MD), but there is a GW store across the bridge thats 20-25 minutes away. My local Hobby Town closed recently, so now I have to go to a GW store to get my models. The Hobby Town didn't have much in the way of playing 40k though .

I know how you feel; the closest store that is supposed to sell GW minis is a Hobby town but they have no Gw minis. Everything but GW minis are present; yet the GW site says that store sells them.

Varrick wrote:

DoctorZombie wrote:Only a few people I know are even aware of 40k where I live (Eastern shore of MD), but there is a GW store across the bridge thats 20-25 minutes away. My local Hobby Town closed recently, so now I have to go to a GW store to get my models. The Hobby Town didn't have much in the way of playing 40k though .

I know how you feel; the closest store that is supposed to sell GW minis is a Hobby town but they have no Gw minis. Everything but GW minis are present; yet the GW site says that store sells them.

A lot of the selection at the hobby town was getting slim when they started going down hill. The gaming was restricted to only one night (on a weekday, no less), and they didn't have any permanent tables set up, either.

-Loki- wrote:In Australia I encountered the hobby in 1991, though it wasn't through a store. Someone at school gave my brother a copy of white dwarf. The first GW store we went into was in 1992 when we bought Titan Legions, then 1994 I think when we bought 40k 2nd edition.

GW stores were pretty sparse until about 2000, at least around Sydney. In the 90's I don't reall many people in the area knowing about the hobby. Since about 2000 the amount of stores has skyrocketed, and I see them everywhere now. Indie stores were pretty common in the 90's, but seem to have mostly died off.

GW stores in Sydney were the most common ones - since the head office for GWAU is in Sydney (well, very outer-suburban-Sydney, anyway).
Sydney city CBD, Miranda, Chatswood and Parramatta all started pre-2000. Hell, Newcastle opened in 1994 (it turned 17 this year). Wollongong around the same time period (mid 90s?).

I discovered it in an indy game store back in 1987. That store no longer exists - in Sydney - but it does still exist in Melbourne. Most of the indies in Sydney were killed off in the last couple of years via a combination of strong dollar and international sales. They couldn't compete. The indies that currently exist, only do so because they carry other games where the international mark-up is not as extreme and they can compete with those.

Actually no. The game doesnt feel British at all and from what i can tell is almost thought to be American by some users. I my self didnt know it was British till a few mounths after starting the hobby. The only thing that has a slight British flavor are the books ( stuff from the black Library).

I think the liberal sprinkling of words like "armour" and "gaol" make it fairly obvious that it's a British game.

gorgon wrote:I think the liberal sprinkling of words like "armour" and "gaol" make it fairly obvious that it's a British game.

As well as "whilst", "colour" etc.

I "discovered" GW around 1987-88. It was at a games store called "Gamesmaster" at the local mall. I got some Rhinos, a box of beakies and a WD. Got it for the models, hadnt heard of GW or RT at the high school I attended.

It never really has gotten "main-stream" popular in the US as far as Im concerned. I used to travel extensively in my last job (worked in the continental 48 states) and would make it a point to look for/visit GW or game stores. Id have to say almost all the game stores I visited (from 1998-2004) had GW in them from one degree to another. I've dealt with adults in my travels, and it was rare to find someone who knew of GW or the TT gaming hobby itself, and very rare to find someone who was still involved. Some had children who had a passing interest in it, but nothing that said "here's a vibrant gaming community".

Now that I've become more settled in, and now living in a rural area, I havent seen a vibrant GW community. We do have BF and some other 15mm games, and there are a few who do play 40k and Fantasy, but the closest store that sells 40k is about 30 miles away, and the closest registered club is 23 miles away, and the closest GW store is 520 miles away round trip (still within my state though). I make my purchases online (as the instore price is too much to pay IMHO) and now rarely play with my children in the house. As winter sets in though, I think we will be spending more time in doors, so Im hoping we get to play more.

Mastiff wrote:

Grey Templar wrote:
its fairly easy to switch the distances over to metric. 1"=2cm. It isn't exact, but its the best way to keep things even.(BTW, thats the measurements they have for the LotG skirmish game. for some reason they have that system use both inches and cm)

Hehe, you might want to check your ruler. It's 2.54cm. Someone's getting ripped off

I know 2.54cm=1"

its rounded down to 2 for simplicity sake, and like I said, its what the LotR book has.