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Hey all, I just moved to the Boston area and I'm looking around for any local communities. I know there are a few shops in the area and I've been to the hobby bunker (but it was empty).

Interesting, I will be moving to the Boston area in about 2 months. Maybe we can get a game or two?

The Hobby Bunker in Malden does 40k games from 12 noon to 6PM on Sundays. There's a pretty large following, from what I remember.

There are a couple other stores in Boston itself that do Warhammer, but I'm not familiar with when they meet.

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:
Interesting, I will be moving to the Boston area in about 2 months. Maybe we can get a game or two?

I'd certainly be up for it. I'm a lot less gruff in person .


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 Baron Von Eptastic wrote:
The Hobby Bunker in Malden does 40k games from 12 noon to 6PM on Sundays. There's a pretty large following, from what I remember.

There are a couple other stores in Boston itself that do Warhammer, but I'm not familiar with when they meet.

I moved into Malden so that's convenient. The hobby bunker is probably the largest and most well stocked hobbby store I've ever been in.

The Boston area has a few different places you can go to find a game of 40K currently... though not as many as 5 years ago.

Here we go:

the EvilDIce guys www.evildice40K.com play out of Hobby Bunker on Sundays. Great guys and great approach to the game.

Battleground games and hobbies has a story in both Abington MA and Plainville. Chase runs the Plainville store and is very active with tournaments and such... I don't know too much about the Abington store but I know they do the popular games like 40K and WarmaHordes

The Whiz, which is out on the 495 belt, is also getting more 40K up and going. check them out at www.thewhiznet.com

Pandemonium Books in Cambridge houses Da arvard Ard Boyz, the former GW store club. Also a good group of dedicated GW players... www.arvardardboyz.com

I play with the DorkaMorka guys at a private, 21+ club in Watertown on Thursday nights. www.dorkamorka.com

If you don't mind 35 minute rides you can also find quite a few places in southern NH to get games in, you have Myriad Games/Double Midnight up in Manchester and Game Castle in Londonderry, both have good gaming groups going that stretch a variety of different systems. Dakka's own Mannahin plays in that area....

There's a lot of us Dakkaites in the Bashston area, Welcome!

That private 21+ isn't the Hibernians next to StopnShop is it?? I'm literally ten minutes walk that would be wild, had no idea

Different place.

Malden's a good location, Shuma. My wife used to live there before we got married.

Dainty has covered pretty much all the local options. Are you going to be keeping a car?

 Dainty Twerp wrote:
The Boston area has a few different places you can go to find a game of 40K currently... though not as many as 5 years ago.

Here we go:

the EvilDIce guys www.evildice40K.com play out of Hobby Bunker on Sundays. Great guys and great approach to the game.

Battleground games and hobbies has a story in both Abington MA and Plainville. Chase runs the Plainville store and is very active with tournaments and such... I don't know too much about the Abington store but I know they do the popular games like 40K and WarmaHordes

The Whiz, which is out on the 495 belt, is also getting more 40K up and going. check them out at www.thewhiznet.com

Pandemonium Books in Cambridge houses Da arvard Ard Boyz, the former GW store club. Also a good group of dedicated GW players... www.arvardardboyz.com

I play with the DorkaMorka guys at a private, 21+ club in Watertown on Thursday nights. www.dorkamorka.com

If you don't mind 35 minute rides you can also find quite a few places in southern NH to get games in, you have Myriad Games/Double Midnight up in Manchester and Game Castle in Londonderry, both have good gaming groups going that stretch a variety of different systems. Dakka's own Mannahin plays in that area....

Thanks, that's great info and really helpful!


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 Mannahnin wrote:
Different place.

Malden's a good location, Shuma. My wife used to live there before we got married.

Dainty has covered pretty much all the local options. Are you going to be keeping a car?

Yeah, Malden is nice. I had been rooming in Somerville for the past month and I like the "neighborhood" fell that Malden has by contrast. I am going to be keeping a car for as long as it's feasible, but I'm out here trying to scrape by an existence while I locate career work, so keeping the car is iffy.

What's your career?

 Briancj wrote:
What's your career?

Graphic design and Social media marketing. I was working at an advertising agency in Maine for the last year, but they hit hard times and I got laid off. I only have a year of experience via that job since I graduated in '11, and that's making it hard to get full time employment. The advertising industry still hasn't really recovered from the recession. I'm kinda out here on a shoe string trying to "make it work", since there's no actual advertising industry in Maine (business taxes are too high and the talent pool is very shallow).

Moving to the Boston area was a good choice. NYC might have been better, but the competition would probably be more. Be sure and hit up http://boston.craigslist.org/med/ in your job search!

I can attest to Pandemonium, everyone there is pretty cool. Wargaming is usually on Thursday nights, but you can sometimes get a game going other days. They're open until 11 at night Thursdays, though membership lets you stay later if there's a staff member still there.

The Hobby Bunker in Malden is also full of really nice folks, though if you're more of a competitive player, it may not be the place for you. They stock weird stuff for 40k, though their selection of other hobby related things is not to be scoffed at.

If you come by to Pandemonium on a Thursday night, my small Tau force would love a game.

 Briancj wrote:
Moving to the Boston area was a good choice. NYC might have been better, but the competition would probably be more. Be sure and hit up http://boston.craigslist.org/med/ in your job search!

Yeah, NYC has a much larger design community, but I had human capitol to work with in Boston. I otherwise wouldn't have been able to move due to my rough financial situation. I've hit the design section of craigslist more times than I would have liked. I've sent over 60 resumes now in total, at least a third of which is to jobs via craigslist.


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uberjoras wrote:
I can attest to Pandemonium, everyone there is pretty cool. Wargaming is usually on Thursday nights, but you can sometimes get a game going other days. They're open until 11 at night Thursdays, though membership lets you stay later if there's a staff member still there.

The Hobby Bunker in Malden is also full of really nice folks, though if you're more of a competitive player, it may not be the place for you. They stock weird stuff for 40k, though their selection of other hobby related things is not to be scoffed at.

If you come by to Pandemonium on a Thursday night, my small Tau force would love a game.

I'll see about stopping by this Thursday. Do they have parking? The idea of taking my army on the T isn't one I like.

They have parking, but it is limited. Also, Exchange Street is one way, so check your maps before meandering into the maze.

Pandemonium is easier for parking evening during the week than it is on weekends. The last time I went to a tournament there I had to keep running out to feed the meter. Kind of sucked.

Pandemoniums parking sucks as i hate paying $8 just to park. Also gaming is till 9pm on Thursdays unless your an ardboy and if your not a club member you can get kicked from your table if their is none as they have.priority. i was recently at the battleground on a thursday and they had a large crowd. The whiz is on Tueadays but will be a hike for you from Somerville. I used to live their on 44th st just three blocks.from Davis Square...hmmm good times.

I don't suppose any of you have any info on warmachine communities in the Boston area? I stopped in at the Hobby Bunker today (sunday) to see the size of the 40k crowd and it wasn't small, but I didn't see any warmachine games being played. Sixth edition hasn't been kind to my enjoyment of 40k, and I've been getting pretty heavily into warmachine/hordes lately.

This might not be the right board for info on warmahordes though.

Pandemonium and The Whiz have the largest PP crowds in the area i have.found.

 Empchild wrote:
Pandemonium and The Whiz have the largest PP crowds in the area i have.found.

Do you know if they go in on certain days?

I think Hobby Bunker's PP crowd is on Saturday. Check with Evan, at the bunker, as he knows all. Sees all.

Hey guys, Im in a similar boat as Shuma, except I am here for school. I brought up a handful of my 40k models and was interested in finidng some clubs or w/e to play a game or two if I had a free weekend.

I read some of the above posts but those seem kind of far to take my stuff on the T (I don't have a car). Are there any smaller clubs or people meeting at non commercial locations?

-VardenV2

nice to see plenty of people here in boston who are into gaming. I moved here like 4 months ago and have been wondering if I would ever get a game. I have been to Pandemonium since its like 15 min away from where I live. I am, 40k wise not in a state where i can play yet, but for warmachine I can play small scale like beginner box small scale (never played it before as well ) so PM me if you are interested in getting a game (warmachine/hordes) at Pandemonium. Bunker is out of the question since public transport is a no-no for me and I dont have a car!!

There is a new store in Lowell MA, called Tabletop arena. They're trying to get a 40k event for October 27. 1,500 points

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:
Interesting, I will be moving to the Boston area in about 2 months. Maybe we can get a game or two?

Wait, MeanGreenStompa and Shummy in Boston? I've gotta game with you guys! I can get to the Hobby Bunker for 40k pretty easily. I can't say nice things about Pandemonium, but I've liked Hobby Bunker the times I've been there.

Is anyone still alive in MA?

Vaguely.

Gaming Groups are centered on Pandemonium (Central Square, Boston) Thursdays and Saturdays, as well as groups in the two Battleground Games locations outside of Boston, and Hobby Bunker (Malden) on Sunday.

I'm also thinking of trying to start up a Boston Skirmish Gaming Group, patterned on the Chicago Area Skirmish Group, and/or a rotating group of casual gamers.

--Brian

Neat! How's the communities in those groups? I don't particularly have the time to check out every one of them :/

Hobby Bunker:
This store is the warehouse for an internet-based store, but it is MASSIVE. They have about ten tables, lots of terrain, and an active club. It is a basement full of man-toys. Mix of 'hard core', some WAAC. Club website: http://www.evildice40k.com/. Some people don't like to atmosphere, because it is a basement, and it looks 'shabby'. YMMV. Store hours on Sunday are 12-6.

Pandemonium:
Purely Brick-and-mortar, suffers from the same 'shabby' issues, and an uncaring/not-very-knowledgeable staff. However, it is the 'home base' for the 'arvard 'ard boyz, so there is definitely a major 40K presence.Club website: http://www.arvardardboyz.com/ The 'ard boyz are a mix of hardcore and casual, and I think they try and put down any WAAC tendencies.

Battleground Games:
Well outside the Bsoton Metro area, getting there is a slog. However, both of their locations have high quality tables, good staff, etc. I'm not aware of any clubs that operate out of there.

---

Watertown is home to the "Dorkamorka" club, and they meet in one of the local rotary/knights clubhouses. Club Website: http://www.dorkamorka.com/ I feel these folks are hardcore/waac, but other people have told me that has changed and/or I just had a bad experience.



I do not have a lot of personal experiences with any of these clubs/groups. Take the above info with a container of salt.

If you have transport, I highly recommend Battlegrounds down in Plainville (and Abington, though I haven't been to that location). I make the two hour drive to get to BG's tournaments because the events are well-run, the store clean, well-stocked, and has very nice terrain, the organizers do a good job, and the crowd is always big, friendly, and competitive.

Also if you have transport, coming up here to NH for events at the Game Castle in Londonderry may be worth your time. That's my local.

I haven't been to Hobby Bunker though I'd be curious to check it out if they have any tournaments open to the general public.

I've known a bunch of the DorkaMorka guys for many years. They can be a bit insular, and were famous for a long time as the bastion of fluff-defenders/"comp-nazis", guys who hated "tournament style" min-maxed armies and powergaming. I think over the last few years that attitude has perhaps softened a little and they've opened up to a bit more variety in gaming styles, though I think they still tend to shun repetitive or maximized lists and are not shy about shunning players who field them. Their forum is a fun, adult, profanity-laced venue for chat and humor. I've always found them a good crew of guys, and when I've attended events they run I specifically modify my lists to have more variety in units, more fluff, and be less maximized. Their venue is 21+ only, has inexpensive beer and last I saw they've got a bunch of really good tables with excellent terrain.

I don't know the Ard Boys (which is the club based at Pandemonium) very well, but have generally found the members I've met at various events to be friendly, normal gamers. I've attended one event there in the last couple of years, and it was fun. Had some unique, imaginative scenarios, and some good competition. The three lists I faced were all strong/fairly maximized, so it was quite competitive. The venue was fine, although perhaps a little cramped in with the retail space. I rather like the store. They've got a good variety of stuff and I like the large secondhand/OOP sci-fi and fantasy book section.