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Maybe its just me but I have noticed that at the GW stores I have been to if you not playing a fluffy list there seems to be a level of disdain. No one is outright rude but their seems to be a certain level of Elitism that I haven't noticed at FLGSs. Now I admit I am a competitive gamer so I figured I was just bringing a list that where too upgeared and wasn't balancing for the situation right. So I asked if should tone down my list and what would be more "fluffy" options I got a few suggestions but then a lot of comments that my list wasn't Tournament Quality yet too good for casual play. This struck me as quite odd.

At the other fairly local GW a friend of mine (Who is a strictly casual player) started coming up with the Idea of an Ork Clan that took slaves (Mainly to teach them how to fight so the would be good for a round or two) so he could run some fun orky conversions of other armies in his Ork army as count as. This was immediately and brutally rejected by most of the players there.

I'm just curious what other have noticed and if this just happens to be unique to the GW stores I have been to or if they seem to draw a slightly different base.

I wouldn't judge all GW stores too harshly, its possible you caught it on a bad day.

If your friend is a casual gamer i would encourage creative ideas. The game is supposed to be fun and that means different things to different people. Maybe dont show up to a GW tournament with it..

This may be uniquely to your GW. I've been to a few and the opinions can vary wildly. One GW insisted that all models you play there must be painted and based, while another one only one highway exit away is completely fine with half-built models. One GW is ok with a massively and heavily converted count-as army, while another one insists on being completely strict to the fluff and rules.

It all depends on the manager and crowd there.

The majority (if not all?) of the GW retail stores in the US have moved to the "single man store" kind of thing, so you'll have a vastly different feel to almost any store you go to. It'll depend heavily on the manager (they have maybe 2-3 part timers who occasionally cover shifts from what I've seen).

GW stores will be a bit more uptight because when gaming in their store you are part of the advertising. Hence the requirement for painted models, no third-party bits etc. It's a trade off. You get free table space, they get to advertise and try to keep a "buzz" going on in the retail space. Very much their house, their rules - and I'd argue rightfully so.

Personally I don't bother with GW stores - no real need.

 Elbows wrote:


Personally I don't bother with GW stores - no real need.

This is me too. I play at home or occasionally at my flgs, perhaps more now that their scene is reviving GW games. The only time I go to GW is if there is a paint I want RIGHT NOW or my mail order guy can't get an exclusive mini.

Like others said, GW stores will vary wildly depending on the manager. My GW store actually allows limited non-GW bitz, doesnt care about painted models, and really just has a policy of "as long as both players are having fun then anything goes". So a hyper-competitive "spammy" list is perfectly fine permitted your opponent is good to go. No one really cares that much.

I've not gotten to experience playing at a GW store, given that all the places I've lived in have been relatively rural and GW store's in Canada tend to only be in major cities... But my experience of FLGS's tends to align with how people in the thread feel about GW stores. Everyone is different.

One store I've frequented is very accomodating to 40k players, constantly has events and tournaments, very casual when it comes to what's on the board while maintaining a semi-competitive environment for pick up games...

While another, 40k is shunned for Kings of War, even though far more people in the area want 40k. Makes it hard to find game times. And if you come in with models not bought through that store, you get semi-guilt tripped for not supporting the store. And FW models are 'heavily discouraged'. I'll avoid going in to details and anecdotes however.

Each store is different, and likely more so for FLGS's than GW stores, because an FLGS isn't representing a major company and having to adhere to all its policies.

In my experience outside of a couple of GW stores, the major differences between them and the flgs are:

The GW's don't have more than 1 4x4 table to play on and there's a queue out the door waiting to use them.
(The exceptions were the 2 "battle bunkers" that had 6-8 tables available to play - but there were only 2 in Sydney and they were on opposite sides of the city).

The FLGS have 6+ tables and terrain, and there's usually at least 1 table going spare for anyone to use (and that's been pretty much all of them). Even on their "busy" nights.

Then again, I have ONE GW store nearby (the ONLY one between Sydney and the QLD border) and 3 FLGS within a 1 hour drive (1 local, 1 30 minutes away, 1 an hour's drive). There are more GW stores in Sydney than there are in the rest of the country.

Gw store is really nice - chill - and welcoming were I live the flgs is next door and about the same size but over run by yugio or how ever it's spelt.

The GW's where I am (Seattle-ish), I've had bad experiences in. Small, managers putting a lot of pressure to buy - I literally turned my back to one and he wouldn't leave me be in the 5-10 minutes I was in his store. FLGS tend to be much larger, more friendly.

In answer to the original poster, my local GW has four 6x4 tables to play on, in addition to the demo table and two paint tables. Oddly enough, it has more play space than ALMOST any non-club/tournament venue in the city [a large Canadian city]. There's one store with a lot of tables, but it's way out in the suburbs [like, nearly an hour away via transit].

The games there are often, but not always, on the casual side. People still learning the game, and people who don't go to tournaments often. But that isn't a guarantee of how strong the lists will be. Some players are more aware of strong stuff, and bring powerful units. Thankfully, pretty much everyone I've encountered is cool, and let people know beforehand.

People don't really care about fluff that much [I mean, they gab about it and such, and some will even have a cohesive color scheme/unit choices to fit], and the staff [of which there are 3 full time] are cool with players using anything [as long as it's not fully 3rd party].

None of the three staff are all that pushy. I mean, they'll ask how you're doing, and if you need help/looking for anything in particular, but beyond that they leave you alone.

I haven't been to the GW in Victoria [a nearby city], but, despite it being a smaller store, it's similarly casual and cool. FWIR, the manager of the Vancouver store trained the employee at the Victoria store.

 chromedog wrote:
In my experience outside of a couple of GW stores, the major differences between them and the flgs are:

The GW's don't have more than 1 4x4 table to play on and there's a queue out the door waiting to use them.
(The exceptions were the 2 "battle bunkers" that had 6-8 tables available to play - but there were only 2 in Sydney and they were on opposite sides of the city).

The FLGS have 6+ tables and terrain, and there's usually at least 1 table going spare for anyone to use (and that's been pretty much all of them). Even on their "busy" nights.

This is pretty much my experience as well, except for the queue out the door. Playing in most of the GW stores around here (outside the battle bunkers) just isn't practical.
And by 'around here' I mean a 1 to 3 hour drive away.

My FLGS is hyper competitive meta even "casually" so you bring a list to win. Casual friendly games need to be told in advance and even then expect shenanigans.

My GW is so small its a miserable experience to try to fit in, and they only have 2 4x4 tables, so I go there only when I absolutely must (now that they are no longer carrying the hobbit stuff, its now never)

Khadorstompy wrote:
So I asked if should tone down my list and what would be more "fluffy" options I got a few suggestions but then a lot of comments that my list wasn't Tournament Quality yet too good for casual play. This struck me as quite odd.

Classic casual at all costs mafia.

Let me translate that for you. "You're a bad person for bringing a list that's more powerful than mine. The correct power level is like mine but slightly worse. I'll throw in a comment about tournament lists just to give myself some credibility even though I'm terrified to play in a proper tournament since I won't be able to impose my army standards on everyone and will probably get soundly beaten."

The whole trying to set a standard for casual power level lists is ridiculous unless you're playing in a tight knit group at which point it becomes a huge barrier to outsiders. (which is often the objective of the one or two individuals pushing it - they want a means to exclude people that threaten their big fish status) How powerful is the correct power level? How do you even communicate it?

The only standard that everyone has are the limits imposed by the codexes / indexes.

Go to the FLGS if you want to play Magic, Pokemon etc.

In NZ those games are what keeps the lights on, that's what the tables are for.

While every store is going to have it's own atmosphere (GW and FLGS included) I have had really good experiences with my FLGS and heard only garbage about the GWs. I just avoid them all together.

The difference between a bad GW, and a bad FLGS.

Bad GW?


Bad FLGS?




Both excruciating in their own ways.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
The difference between a bad GW, and a bad FLGS.

Spoiler:

Bad GW?



Bad FLGS?




Both excruciating in their own ways.

I think I just lost 5% of my grey matter after indulging in both. I lost another 5% when I remembered I have met people like that in real life.

Fortunately my current job does not require higher brain functions.

There are 5 GW shops in driving distance from me. Each one has a different vibe when it comes to the nature of your list. I really believe it's all about the manager as to how competitive lists should be.