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Hello everyone, we have a quick update for you all. Games Workshop have informed all of their managers to remove any and all GCN Club adverts from their stores and to not inform the clubs themselves. As we have found this out we have decided to keep you informed as to whats happening especially as we know there are some of our clubs who rely on the advertising Games Workshop have at times provided. If you have any questions let us know through here and we will do all we can to answer them

hmm .. most odd indeed.

Hope this is just a misunderstanding and something easily fixed or solved.


The GCN is a fine group of people who do a lot of good work.

Can't be having people led astray by those evil people who don't only game in the GW store I guess... And especially not now you apparently have to pay to do so in many stores (through skull/throne/etc tokens "earned" through purchases).

Humor me, because I unfortunately don't know much about this- what is GCN?

http://gaming-club-network.blogspot.co.uk/p/about-us.html

The Gaming Club Network (GCN) is a voluntary organisation, created in 1999, set upon the idea of bringing together like-minded people to encourage others to try our hobby. Our purpose is to provide the opportunity for individuals and member clubs to participate in the hobby of collecting, painting and gaming with miniatures, table top games and role play games.
The GCN strives to meet the following six objectives:
To assist running local gaming events
To support club activities
To assist running games at local and national levels
To provide a forum for gaming clubs
To facilitate club development
To promote good communications between Gaming Clubs, and games originators, manufacturers and retailers
Our member clubs all adhere to certain standards which set them apart as safe and fun organisations to be part of. All GCN member clubs have:
A committee of at least three members to run affairs openly
Public liability insurance to protect members against accident
A good standard of club rules and a club constitution
A child protection policy
A policy of submitting the committee for Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) Disclosure

So, the GCN's purpose is to do everything GW fails at? Yeah, I can see why GW corporate wants to get rid of them.

Free advertisement? SCREW THAT!

GW is run by a bunch of monkeys. Always told ya so.

Could be some stupid petty thing on GWs part

(eg them advertising 8th Edition WHBF games/tournaments when GW wants it gone)

Could be parts of the GCN have been posting stuff they weren't meant to

(eg perhaps stuff for sale/trade rather than just events)

we'll no doubt find out eventually

May be a blessing in disguise.

I'm relatively heavily involved with running the local club, and we looked at getting GCN registered so,e time ago.

Lots of what felt like pointless bureaucracy like needing CRB checks when we were "grown-ups" only, requiring the club to have a public liability policy despite that being included in the rental of our venue etc etc.

With hindsight, that all smells very much like GW demands, so, assuming I'm right, a divorce from GW could actually mean a new lease on life and a period of growth for the,

My club is withdrawing for the GCN.

They have fallen a long way from whence they were.

I'm not at all surprised that GW has cut strings from them.

They used to be a really useful resource but the last AGM was appearantly a shamefully bitter affair that virtuously degenerated into a fistfight with accusations of mismanagement and incompetency. Sadly it has been like this for sometime the last AGM being the final straw for us.

We only stayed wih the GCN because of the insurance cover they arranged, but on investigation this was easily found elsewhere.

Sad but GCN have made themselves virtually useless.

Why would a game club need insurance? Probably just not getting what kind of insurance is meant here hehe

I mean what kind of accident are you going to have while playing a game of 40k?

Insurance for collections, perhaps, maybe even public liability insurance if you run an event such as a show.

I'm just guessing.

PL for gaming nights at rented venues, events organised by the club and trips to other clubs/event.

 SilverMK2 wrote:
Can't be having people led astray by those evil people who don't only game in the GW store I guess... And especially not now you apparently have to pay to do so in many stores (through skull/throne/etc tokens "earned" through purchases).

Holy crap, really? I'm happy to make some purchases at the shop to help it make sales targets and stay open, but if it went down the crass road of explicit pay to play, I'd go straight to internet and other shops in the area, exclusively.

shade1313 wrote:

 SilverMK2 wrote:
Can't be having people led astray by those evil people who don't only game in the GW store I guess... And especially not now you apparently have to pay to do so in many stores (through skull/throne/etc tokens "earned" through purchases).

Holy crap, really? I'm happy to make some purchases at the shop to help it make sales targets and stay open, but if it went down the crass road of explicit pay to play, I'd go straight to internet and other shops in the area, exclusively.

It doesn't really apply to the US. Some of the UK shops are having that setup of you need to have "bought" something there to play, from all accounts posted.

number9dream wrote:
Why would a game club need insurance?

Public Liability Insurance is pretty much a requirement for any organised group these days, due to the potential for litigation if someone injures themselves and decides to hold the organisers of the event responsible.

 Azreal13 wrote:


Lots of what felt like pointless bureaucracy like needing CRB checks when we were "grown-ups" only, requiring the club to have a public liability policy despite that being included in the rental of our venue etc etc.

With hindsight, that all smells very much like GW demands, so, assuming I'm right, a divorce from GW could actually mean a new lease on life and a period of growth for the,

Nope, all those things are GCN requirements. But they are also the thing that meant GW would only advertise GCN registered clubs.

From what I understand it is something to do with CRB checks and GW's HR department, rather than anything more strategic over their perception of the GCN.

Any organisation that regularly has adult members overseeing the activities of children must under UK law have a system for the adult overseers to get CRB certificates.

This naturally would apply to games clubs as well as schools, sports clubs, dance clubs or whatever.

GW's prime target market is 10+ year old boys. GW will therefore insist that any non-GW organisation wishing to get some kind of 'official' recognition and support from them, must have a proper process for doing the CRB checks.

Actually it is called Disclosure and Barring Service Checks now. The name was changed a couple of years ago.

CRB has changed a lot in very-recent years, as said.
I had to have it to do any short-term work at schools, but not any more.
It seems now to just be a background check on previous bans or offences.

GW's decision about the GCN may be that any 'protection' the CRB once gave is now their responsibility.

Either way, I'm sure people can understand our frustration at requiring CRB checks for a club with a stated 16+ attendance requirement and a PL policy when we were already covered.

If going forward, assuming they do, they decide to relax these requirements, or at least be more flexible, then that will be a positive from my perspective.

 insaniak wrote:

number9dream wrote:
Why would a game club need insurance?

Public Liability Insurance is pretty much a requirement for any organised group these days, due to the potential for litigation if someone injures themselves and decides to hold the organisers of the event responsible.

I see, thanks

 Azreal13 wrote:
Either way, I'm sure people can understand our frustration at requiring CRB checks for a club with a stated 16+ attendance requirement and a PL policy when we were already covered.

If going forward, assuming they do, they decide to relax these requirements, or at least be more flexible, then that will be a positive from my perspective.

The checks are not only needed for under 16s, they are also needed for working with 'vulnerable adults' (Who is or may be in need of community care services by reason of disability, age or illness; and is or may be unable to take care of unable to protect him or herself against significant harm or exploitation)

and depending on their particular problems those are the sort of people who might just attend a wargaming club, and, superficially just seem a bit odd/overly intense/childish/OCD or whatever, so having the policy just makes sense to cover both those running the club and those renting premises to them

I imagine this is probably to reinforce the fact that "GW is a models company, not a games company"

If there really was a fist fight at the last AGM (I would love to see footage as it would be hillarious) then I don't blame GW from cutting their ties with the GCN.

As I say 'virtual' rather than actual.

They are generally seen as unprofessional and they no longer offer any tangible benefit to membership.

The GCN used to be a good conduit between Games Companies and Gamers. We used to be sent starter sets and the like to clubs to showcase and promote but this ceased to be the case a while back.

To be fair to the Games Companies they now get in contact directly and send over stuff further taking GCN out of the loop.

 Looky Likey wrote:
If there really was a fist fight at the last AGM (I would love to see footage as it would be hillarious) then I don't blame GW from cutting their ties with the GCN.

Fist fighting over toy soldiers. Grown men. Fighting. Plastic toys.

 Fenrir Kitsune wrote:

 Looky Likey wrote:
If there really was a fist fight at the last AGM (I would love to see footage as it would be hillarious) then I don't blame GW from cutting their ties with the GCN.

Fist fighting over toy soldiers. Grown men. Fighting. Plastic toys.

"You can't fight in here, this is the War(game) Room!"

Have you seen how heated the arguments get in the YMDC subforum?

Statement from the GCN President
This morning, I was informed of a thread within a forum which
stated that Games Workshop was ordering the removal of GCN posters from all GW stores. Having checked the validity of this, it is fact that this had been promulgated in an internal GW store newsletter.
The GCN had already agreed to a meeting with GW management to discuss future relations, which included such areas as advertising and child protection policies. As far as I was aware any changes would rest on the decisions of that meeting (which in the case of the GCN would have required a vote of the general membership) and this statement has come as a complete surprise.
This is especially disappointing considering the tumultuous year the GCN has endured following the sudden death of the last president which has involved a complete restructuring and creation of a new website, due to come online by the Autumn. We have also expanded the number of companies and manufacturers we are involved with to whom we have a policy of favouring no one over any other.
The meeting on the 8th August has not been cancelled and we will, of course, inform you of any developments.

It is a shame that crb's apparently have to be obtained seperately for each "role"; I am covered by one at work (as are several other people) but would need another if the club I am currently part of wanted to apply to the gcn. That is one of the things that has stopped us applying for membership in the past.

Yeah, CRB is job/company specific, and having one already is not any use when somewhere else ask you to get one.
It's fairly intrusive, too. I had to explain to my employer about a personal issue that the CRB referred to.