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paulson games wrote: There used to be a game store in Naperville called Game Warden which was located about two blocks away from the college and downtown area. They ran a huge vampire game that was pretty much out of control and had hundreds of players that spread all over the downtown and riverwalk area. The town was pretty much looking for any means they could to shut down the store and the game as it was contributing to all sorts of vandalism and townspeople being harassed etc. They didn't have to work too hard as the store owner was incapable of keeping things above board, despite making money hand over fist from the game he hadn't paid his back taxes owed his employees for about 3 months worth of pay, and apparently had been using the game as his private meat market for underage girls. (he was in his late 30s) He also had a hidden bedroom tucked away in the rear of the building where he'd take his underage friends. (serious creeper style)
I was at the store card gaming with one of my friends who worked there when he got a call from the owner saying he was leaving town, he'd knocked up one of the girls, there were multiple warrants out for him and that the store was being seized in the morning. Nobody would be getting paid the wages they were owed so whatever is still there in the morning the cops are going to take, which was his indirect way of saying if you want for your overdue wages you better loot the place.
The whole experience left such a stain with the town that they haven't allowed any gaming stores in the downtown area since (and it's been close to 17-18 years at this point) A bunch of people who were entirely unconnected with Game Warden have tried to open stores but the town keeps denying them business permits. Some stores have opened since but they are all out towards the mall or in other areas well away from the downtown & college.
The more traditional gaming like ccgs and minis that were confined to the store itself were fine and didn't cause any of the disruption. The vampire game that basically devolved into mobs of unruly underage drinking and petty criminals are what doomed that place and the city rightfully looked at the store owner as the ring leader and all around total scum bag.
Wow Paulson... Just wow. I know there are some donkey cave owners out there. I just wasn't expecting an episode of America's Most Wanted. It's gonna be hard to beat that one.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/12/19 05:33:41
"Because we couldn't be trusted. The Emperor needed a weapon that would never obey its own desires before those of the Imperium. He needed a weapon that would never bite the hand that feeds. The World Eaters were not that weapon. We've all drawn blades purely for the sake of shedding blood, and we've all felt the exultation of winning a war that never even needed to happen. We are not the tame, reliable pets that the Emperor wanted. The Wolves obey, when we would not. The Wolves can be trusted, when we never could. They have discipline we lack, because their passions are not aflame with the Butcher's Nails buzzing in the back of their skulls.
The Wolves will always come to the heel when called. In that regard, it is a mystery why they name themselves wolves. They are tame, collared by the Emperor, obeying his every whim. But a wolf doesn't behave that way. Only a dog does.
That is why we are the Eaters of Worlds, and the War Hounds no longer."
- Eighth Captain Khârn
I think Paulson wins this thread unless a certain Dakkanought who's store tried to kill them turns up.....
As for me it has to be Worthy Gaming.
Before Worthies there was only a small GW in my local town and a card gaming shop. Then one day it came, the golden light of a true FLGS. There where many games and within a week our club had formed there. It introduced us to Warmachine, Dark Age, Bolt Action and many more.
Sadly though this age of enlightenment was not to last for just a few weeks after Yuletide things started to go wrong. Orders where not fulfilled. New stock was not replacing the purchased stuff on the shelves. The staff where looking worried.
That Summer the truth came out: The owner had been using the store to bolster his failing painting business and this had been dragging it down. What is more he had also 'borrowed' money from it to fund some holidays in exotic places.
That Summer night we played our last games. I was one of the last to leave but for those of us whom had stayed on unto the final hour was nigh there came a reward: 90% discounts on everything. I walked away with three Dark Age armies and a few other things.
The store was to bite us one last time though: The clubs funds had been held within a safe in Worthies and when the manager and bookkeeper came to collect them they found nothing, not a penny in there of the several hundred pounds that had within there lain. Only an IOU note lay within the barren metal wasteland, unsigned.
This was on top of the hundred or so pounds that the club was already owed. Worthies owner got out of that one by claiming some terrain one of the staff members had generously painted up for us had paid that debt for him. Neither the club nor the staff member whom had painted it where impressed.
As it was hope was to be in sight for Harlequin's (the card gaming store) owner was a friend of our managers and he wanted to expand into TTG's. He took us in and we have been based at Harlequins ever since.
But we have not forgotten and nor will we. Worthies still stands empty to this day, nearly three years later. The old sign still hangs. It is now nought but a wasteland of laminate flooring and white walls.
Free from GW's tyranny and the hobby is looking better for it
DR:90-S++G+++M++B++I+Pww205++D++A+++/sWD146R++T(T)D+
You mean you knew the business was failing and money was being looted out of it like pirates looting a treasure galleon... and you left your club funds there anyway?
Vulcan wrote:You mean you knew the business was failing and money was being looted out of it like pirates looting a treasure galleon... and you left your club funds there anyway?
I am notthe manager and at that point we did not know how bad things were and nor was there an alternative place to store it. Once it was realised how bad things had gotten... Well, you read what was found.
BrookM wrote:I've heard the story of Worthy before, but never read it in such a flowery way.
Good sir I am glad that your perusal of my post did humour you in some way Just curious, was it from me or someone else?
Free from GW's tyranny and the hobby is looking better for it
DR:90-S++G+++M++B++I+Pww205++D++A+++/sWD146R++T(T)D+
About a decade ago, there was only one FLGS in my city (that I knew of). I never bought anything there because, well, you just couldn't buy anything. The owner was the only employee there 90% of the time, and he couldn't be bothered to get up from playing Maple Story to go run the cash register.
When I came back from college it was under new ownership, and had much more helpful staff.
Current Armies
3000 pts
2500pts (The Shining Helms)
XXXX pts (Restart in progress)
500pts
Nothing as crazy as others, but when I was younger the seemingly nice FLGS owner screwed me out of a lot of stuff.
I was getting out of MTG and transitioning into 40k and some Mage Knight on the side as there weren't many 40k players in my area at the time, but the store had Mage Knight tournaments.
So, I traded in all of my MTG cards (which was a vast amount) for store credit. Mistake 1.
As 40k was growing and the need for terrain, I made a lot and kept dragging it to the store and back home. The owner said if I didn't mind others using the terrain I could leave it all there. I had no problem, less stuff to carry and might get more people into the game if there was ready terrain there. The store had none of it's own and I could really fill 2 tables with all the stuff I had for terrain. - Mistake 2
The store didn't stay open long after that. I still had around $100 store credit left to spend AND he took all of my terrain to wherever the hell he ended up.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/12/21 23:34:34
easysauce wrote: Was playing a 40k game once when one of the workers there walked by the table and knocked off a bunch of my models with his protruding belly.
As I was working through the shock of seeing my forgeworld models in pieces he told me "You really shouldn't have models that close to the board edge."
I just stood there stupefied that he would consider models that are in *my deployment zone* to be at fault as opposed to hi own carelessness in where he swung his gut.
Its a good thing I didn't have my metal dread in a sock handy or I might be typing this from prison to this day!
Although if I got a few players on the jury I am sure they wouldn't convict
I hope you got some compensation.
...You did get compensation, right?
He did allow me to use some of the store's flue to fix it..... free of charge of course.
I don't have a horror story about the store owner as much as the store I went to before it closed.
There was a game of 40k going on between a veteran player whom I will call Bob and a new player I will call Jim. Jim was playing Dark angles and Bob was playing Blood Angels in a monthly tournament the FLGS held (was a whole month so some players from out of town could participate). Jim was new and making a few mistakes and Bob was really rubbing it in being salty. It all went to heck when turn three came around and Jim assaulted with his terminators. Jim made some spectacular rolls and Bob made some horrible ones. To make a long story short, Bob lost the majority of his army. Jim made an off color comment (insert menstruation comment here) about Bob and his Blood Angels (the things Bob was saying was worse). Bob came unglued, accused Jim of cheating (which Jim did not do, but Bob was with the fudging of rules to his advantage), and when Jim told Bob to grow up take his turn or concede, ole Bob drew a knife on Jim saying he was going to kill him. Jim told him to go ahead, Bob backed off. The owner meanwhile had been trying to calm everything down, and when Bob pulled the knife, the owner told Bob he was no longer welcome and was banned for life. Bob refused to leave the police were called. Bob was escorted out in handcuffs after flipping a few tables including the one the game was being played on (ironically only Bobs miniatures got destroyed).
That was the second time in the store's history the police were called. The first being when undercovers tried to buy drugs from the store owner in a "sting" operation. The store owner called the police to tell them an unsavory character was in the store trying to buy drugs. Police never came. All because the store owner was part of a weekend bike club, and the police decided they were a hardcore bike gang because they wore leather vests and drove motorcycles.
Twinkle, Twinkle little star.
I ran over your Wave Serpents with my car.
easysauce wrote: Was playing a 40k game once when one of the workers there walked by the table and knocked off a bunch of my models with his protruding belly.
As I was working through the shock of seeing my forgeworld models in pieces he told me "You really shouldn't have models that close to the board edge."
I just stood there stupefied that he would consider models that are in *my deployment zone* to be at fault as opposed to hi own carelessness in where he swung his gut.
Its a good thing I didn't have my metal dread in a sock handy or I might be typing this from prison to this day!
Although if I got a few players on the jury I am sure they wouldn't convict
I hope you got some compensation.
...You did get compensation, right?
He did allow me to use some of the store's flue to fix it..... free of charge of course.
Jesus, man, I would've had a meltdown.
Then again, I guess it depends if it's FLGS or GW and if there were any others nearby.
NorseSig wrote: I don't have a horror story about the store owner as much as the store I went to before it closed.
There was a game of 40k going on between a veteran player whom I will call Bob and a new player I will call Jim. Jim was playing Dark angles and Bob was playing Blood Angels in a monthly tournament the FLGS held (was a whole month so some players from out of town could participate). Jim was new and making a few mistakes and Bob was really rubbing it in being salty. It all went to heck when turn three came around and Jim assaulted with his terminators. Jim made some spectacular rolls and Bob made some horrible ones. To make a long story short, Bob lost the majority of his army. Jim made an off color comment (insert menstruation comment here) about Bob and his Blood Angels (the things Bob was saying was worse). Bob came unglued, accused Jim of cheating (which Jim did not do, but Bob was with the fudging of rules to his advantage), and when Jim told Bob to grow up take his turn or concede, ole Bob drew a knife on Jim saying he was going to kill him. Jim told him to go ahead, Bob backed off. The owner meanwhile had been trying to calm everything down, and when Bob pulled the knife, the owner told Bob he was no longer welcome and was banned for life. Bob refused to leave the police were called. Bob was escorted out in handcuffs after flipping a few tables including the one the game was being played on (ironically only Bobs miniatures got destroyed).
NorseSig wrote: I don't have a horror story about the store owner as much as the store I went to before it closed.
There was a game of 40k going on between a veteran player whom I will call Bob and a new player I will call Jim. Jim was playing Dark angles and Bob was playing Blood Angels in a monthly tournament the FLGS held (was a whole month so some players from out of town could participate). Jim was new and making a few mistakes and Bob was really rubbing it in being salty. It all went to heck when turn three came around and Jim assaulted with his terminators. Jim made some spectacular rolls and Bob made some horrible ones. To make a long story short, Bob lost the majority of his army. Jim made an off color comment (insert menstruation comment here) about Bob and his Blood Angels (the things Bob was saying was worse). Bob came unglued, accused Jim of cheating (which Jim did not do, but Bob was with the fudging of rules to his advantage), and when Jim told Bob to grow up take his turn or concede, ole Bob drew a knife on Jim saying he was going to kill him. Jim told him to go ahead, Bob backed off. The owner meanwhile had been trying to calm everything down, and when Bob pulled the knife, the owner told Bob he was no longer welcome and was banned for life. Bob refused to leave the police were called. Bob was escorted out in handcuffs after flipping a few tables including the one the game was being played on (ironically only Bobs miniatures got destroyed).
This is insane.
Eh, buddy of mine had a knife pulled on him during a casual game of mtg. He didn't stab him, but he did cut a Ball Lightning to pieces.
NorseSig wrote: I don't have a horror story about the store owner as much as the store I went to before it closed.
There was a game of 40k going on between a veteran player whom I will call Bob and a new player I will call Jim. Jim was playing Dark angles and Bob was playing Blood Angels in a monthly tournament the FLGS held (was a whole month so some players from out of town could participate). Jim was new and making a few mistakes and Bob was really rubbing it in being salty. It all went to heck when turn three came around and Jim assaulted with his terminators. Jim made some spectacular rolls and Bob made some horrible ones. To make a long story short, Bob lost the majority of his army. Jim made an off color comment (insert menstruation comment here) about Bob and his Blood Angels (the things Bob was saying was worse). Bob came unglued, accused Jim of cheating (which Jim did not do, but Bob was with the fudging of rules to his advantage), and when Jim told Bob to grow up take his turn or concede, ole Bob drew a knife on Jim saying he was going to kill him. Jim told him to go ahead, Bob backed off. The owner meanwhile had been trying to calm everything down, and when Bob pulled the knife, the owner told Bob he was no longer welcome and was banned for life. Bob refused to leave the police were called. Bob was escorted out in handcuffs after flipping a few tables including the one the game was being played on (ironically only Bobs miniatures got destroyed).
That was the second time in the store's history the police were called. The first being when undercovers tried to buy drugs from the store owner in a "sting" operation. The store owner called the police to tell them an unsavory character was in the store trying to buy drugs. Police never came. All because the store owner was part of a weekend bike club, and the police decided they were a hardcore bike gang because they wore leather vests and drove motorcycles.
Pulling a knife on someone over a fething GAME!? Come on, is it really worth someone's life? Or getting arrested? It is poetic justice that only Bob's miniatures broke when he flipped the table.
So glad the players at my FLGS are relatively normal and the staff are cool people. No crazy stories like this from me!
My armies (re-counted and updated on 11/1/23, including modeled wargear options):
Dark Angels: ~15000 Astra Militarum: ~1200 | Adeptus Custodes: ~1900 | Imperial Knights: ~2000 | Sisters of Battle: ~3500 | Leagues of Votann: ~1200 | Tyranids: ~2600 | Stormcast Eternals: ~5000
Check out my P&M Blogs: ZergSmasher's P&M Blog | Imperial Knights blog | Board Games blog | Total models painted in 2023: 40 | Total models painted in 2024: 12 | Current main painting project: Dark Angels
Mr_Rose wrote: Who doesn’t love crazy mutant squawk-puppies? Eh? Nobody, that’s who.
Second was a smelly over zealous furry. Who made sure to let everyone know he was a furry and to call him by his true name, every chance he got. No one really cared he was a furry but he made sure to shove that fact down peoples throats and thats when people get annoyed.
Must've been a herbivore.
"Holy Sh*&, you've opened my eyes and changed my mind about this topic, thanks Dakka OT!"
I've been relatively lucky. I've of course got the "man stank so bad they had to find a new venue" story that i'm sure everyone has experienced.
Probably the "scariest" time I've ever had in an FLGS was when we had a tornado roll through a couple hundred meters away. Half the store was glass windows, and the couple of minutes of the event were a bit tense. Several cars in the parking lot were crushed by a tree that had been knocked over, but everyone was fine.
Does a store manager using female customers billing info to turn up at their homes uninvited at night count?
Store now closed, but all involved still in the community, so that's as much info as I can share.
Buttery Commissar wrote: Does a store manager using female customers billing info to turn up at their homes uninvited at night count?
Store now closed, but all involved still in the community, so that's as much info as I can share.
Creeeeeeeeeepy. How did the manager think it would turn out? "Oh, I'm so impressed by your amazing subterfuge skills! Let's date RIGHT NOW!"
We were once so close to heaven, St. Peter came out and gave us medals; declaring us "The nicest of the damned".
“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'”
Buttery Commissar wrote: Does a store manager using female customers billing info to turn up at their homes uninvited at night count?
Store now closed, but all involved still in the community, so that's as much info as I can share.
Creeeeeeeeeepy. How did the manager think it would turn out? "Oh, I'm so impressed by your amazing subterfuge skills! Let's date RIGHT NOW!"
I believe he would turn up with game/book posters of the persons interest (unreleased Merch promotional materials) as an opener.
These days you'd call the police. Back then it was just awkward as feth by all accounts.
Buttery Commissar wrote: Does a store manager using female customers billing info to turn up at their homes uninvited at night count?
Store now closed, but all involved still in the community, so that's as much info as I can share.
Pfft, we just call that having mad game skillz, yo. A restraining oder just means she's playing hard to get!
Never had many horror stories save the occasional assclown that'd throw his models if he lost.
Some of these are plain amazing; especially the one where fatbody just knocked a bunch of gak on the floor and then berated player for 'leaving it near the table edge'.
Yeah, I'm not proud to say it, but there would have been a fight not long after that comment.
Shadowkeepers (4000 points)
3rd Company (3000 points)
FLGS in my hometown (can't mention specifics since it's under new management) had two employees: the owner and a guy who lived with him.
The story goes that the guy tried to steal some MTG cards or packs, got caught, and instead of calling the police and pressing charges, the owner makes him work off the debt as an employee.
Well, that was about 96 or 97. The guy must have tried to steal every Black Lotus ever printed because he worked at the shop for at least 10 years. Some where along the line the employee ended up living with the owner and his family; husband, wife, a boy and three girls.
Seems kinda fishy, but whatever. If the guy wants to be a modern day indentured servant, at least he's getting three hot meals and a bed right?
Not long after the shop moves across town, we start to notice the employee is sporting some fresh bruises and a couple of shiners about three or four times a month. Someone finally gets the nerve to ask him what happened and he claims that he's sparring/boxing/MMA training with the boy. IIRC, the owner's son was into some sort of fighting; karate or whatever. So his story wasn't that far fetched.
As time goes on, this turns into double shiners, broken nose, busted teeth... you get the picture.
Sadly, we often joked that the employee was probably the owner's gimp, but only one of us really knew what was going on.
Years after most of us left town for college, jobs, or career changes my buddy finally tells me what he learned. The owner used to get pissed at the employee and just beat the ever living tar out him on a somewhat regular basis. My buddy went to the shop one day to purchase a copy of MTG Online, back when you could buy the CD to install on your computer. He told me that all hell was breaking loose in the office and no one had noticed he walked in. He quietly slipped back out of the store and stopped being a regular attendee at the place.
Not sure if that's the weirdest part or this is: if you never saw the bruises and whatnot, you'd swear the two were best buddies in an Odd Couple sort of way. They got along with each other, had a good rapport, were always quick with a story to tell.... Looking back, that was the weirdest part for me.
Interesting story about the Game Warden. Moved to Naperville in 1980 and graduated from WVHS in 1984. There was another store that opened shortly after Game Warden closed, and was owned by one of our former teachers, in the center just across from White Fence Farm a little bit further up Washington. Can't remember the name of the store, but Lon got me hooked into MTG for a while (made quite a nice profit when I sold my cards about 2 years ago to a store here in Madison). At least he pretty much kept the skanky Vampire LARP'rs out his store while it was open.
Mostly lurk here without logging in. Just want to say thank you for bringing back some cool memories of learning how to play AD&D in 1980 from all of the kids that Lon got hooked on the game (know it is tangential to the thread, but it is what I 1st thought of when I saw "Game Warden & Naperville").
Not sure if any of you guys would call this a horror story, but one time last summer, I played a game of Orks vs Ravenwing (which I won). However, there was a thunderstorm, and a flash flood warning was issued. We had to wait the heavy rain out before we could leave.
INSANE army lists still available!!!! Now being written in 8th edition format! I have Index Imperium 1, Index Imperium 2, Index Xenos 2, Codex Orks Codex Tyranids, Codex Blood Angels and Codex Space Marines!
PM me for an INSANE (100K+ points) if you desire.
We've had shoplifters try and hide their loot behind the shelfs at our nearest GW. Store security and police came to get the guy... the store was really cramped... quite some stuff got broken as they tried arresting the guy... Flying metal models ensued.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/12/24 01:50:13
Poor ignorant guardsmen, it be but one of many of the great miracles of the Emperor! The Emperor is magic, like Harry Potter, but more magic! A most real and true SPACE WIZARD! And for the last time... I'm not a space plumber.
Chute82 wrote: There is a game store in Cleveland, Ohio that looks like a tornado went through the shop. My older brother lives in the Cleveland area at took me to this game shop when I was in town. As you walk in the front door the first room you enter is just filled with junk and there is a path through the junk that leads you into the back part of the store. Boxes on top of boxes of stuff all the way to the ceiling. It is just a mess, display cases just filled to the top with used models. Nothing has a price on it you just grab it and find the store owner for the price. Then he qoutes you the price which is more then the retail value. I have never seen anything like this store just crap everywhere and tons of it.
Would you be willing to PM me the name of said store? I'm going to be in Cleveland in a few months and I'm curious lol.
As for my own experience, the first store I ever played at was the Hobbytown USA in Mason, OH. We had some real winners playing there, mainly three guys in their mid-30's who you could tell were just real winners. Here's what made them "winners":
- One believed he was a cowboy vampire, and he wore leather bracers, a duster, and a cowboy hat. Dude was like 5'4" and maybe 100 pounds soaking wet. Creepy because he would hiss at people, and showed an odd interest in the high-school aged boys in the store. He was an donkey-cave because he would throw a fit because if his gakky spruecron/Gundam army started to lose, he would throw a tantrum. He (and one of said highschoolers) would write really bad fanfiction set in the 40k universe.
- The next was a nasty guy, he reeked of cat urine and had the social skills of a rock. On more than one occasion, when a friend and I went to go get lunch, this guy would follow us out and try to get in the back seat of my car to go eat lunch with us, all without asking me. He also never even played, he was more or less a very nosy rules lawyer who butted into others' games.
- The last one wasn't ever really there much, but he was the worst habitual liar I had ever met. Dude claimed to have been in the Marines, that he owned a 50k point Tyranid army that his mom "threw away" when he joined the Corps, and finally that his family was some odd religion (that I had never heard of), and that he was worshiped as their deity. Right before he left town for a while, he actually got an assault charge against him for smacking the crap out of one of the younger kids that was playing at the time. Not sure if that's why he left.
Thank god I found a real store to play at though, I'm not sure how much more of that place I could have taken. I can't tell you how many times a kid would walk by, grab one of my figures that I was modeling/painting, and they'd drop it on the floor and then bolt to their parents.
Holy ! I played there! I was one of the high schoolers that frequented the shop at the time. I can picture each one of these guys still. The leather bracer guy always gave me the creeps when he was there... Funny fact, the habitual liar (which he was completely) was right about one thing: he did have a nid army. It wasn't 50k points , but I know he had one cause I traded for it before I left for school. Check my sig.
But man, that store was a mess. It was my first gaming store, so I didn't know that there were better options out there. I recently went back this year out of morbid curiosity. The store is still there, but they got rid of all the gaming tables because they were "distracting the customers."
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/12/24 04:55:36
I played at the Hobbytown USA there in Mason once many, many moons ago back when they were still next to Barnes & Noble. It was when GW was doing their road tour for the Armageddon Worldwide Event, so that would have put it in late 2000.
'It is a source of constant consternation that my opponents cannot correlate their innate inferiority with their inevitable defeat. It would seem that stupidity is as eternal as war.'
- Nemesor Zahndrekh of the Sautekh Dynasty Overlord of the Crownworld of Gidrim
3000 pts
2500pts (The Shining Helms)
XXXX pts (Restart in progress)
500pts
(more)
(building)
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10000
2700
4000
3800
3000 
~15000 Astra Militarum: 
~2000 | Sisters of Battle: 
~1200 | Tyranids: 
3rd Company (3000 points) 
1K Vostroyan Firstborn
2K Flylords
600 Pts Orks
3K Ad-Mech 
! I played there! I was one of the high schoolers that frequented the shop at the time. I can picture each one of these guys still. The leather bracer guy always gave me the creeps when he was there... Funny fact, the habitual liar (which he was completely) was right about one thing: he did have a nid army. It wasn't 50k points , but I know he had one cause I traded for it before I left for school. Check my sig. 