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Lot of local stores in the area seemed to have moved a decent amount (not sure on their initial order size). Local facebook game groups seem excited. Local GW was apparently swamped on release weekend according to people on those same groups. We've got 2 slow grow/escalation leagues starting in the next two weeks. Overall it's more action/movement than I seen in Fantasy in a long, long time.

In the US with single man operations it is hard to run a store and paint multiple armies when you are the only staffer. Some succeed, others fail miserably.

In my area one store didn't even carry AoS, but has a growing group of Kings of War players who are old WHFB players who wanted to play a better game.

The main GW focused store in my area has sold a few, but even the owners think the game is junk without a lot of effort put into balancing and fixing it first.

So in general a whole lot of Meh around here.

Haven't had a chance to make it into my local, but they only got 4 boxes in (one was mine). My friend's store in NY also only got 4 boxes. And other stores I've stopped at while on the road for work said it really hasn't picked up any traction. So between 5 different stores, 2 in CT, 1 in NY and 2 in Georgia, the experience has seemed to be pretty meh overall. If the gorgeous sculpts haven't made people go crazy and buy up a good deal of a box set, I'm afraid for its (and WHFB) chances.

 Skriker wrote:
In the US with single man operations it is hard to run a store and paint multiple armies when you are the only staffer. Some succeed, others fail miserably.

In my area one store didn't even carry AoS, but has a growing group of Kings of War players who are old WHFB players who wanted to play a better game.

The main GW focused store in my area has sold a few, but even the owners think the game is junk without a lot of effort put into balancing and fixing it first.

So in general a whole lot of Meh around here.

Are all GW stores in the US single man operations? I only ask because when I went into my GW store (for the first time in... a year or more), there were at least two staff

I would be shocked to hear a GW employee actually call Age of Sigmar junk. Would be a quick way of getting fired, one would think...

 Talys wrote:

 Skriker wrote:
In the US with single man operations it is hard to run a store and paint multiple armies when you are the only staffer. Some succeed, others fail miserably.

In my area one store didn't even carry AoS, but has a growing group of Kings of War players who are old WHFB players who wanted to play a better game.

The main GW focused store in my area has sold a few, but even the owners think the game is junk without a lot of effort put into balancing and fixing it first.

So in general a whole lot of Meh around here.

Are all GW stores in the US single man operations? I only ask because when I went into my GW store (for the first time in... a year or more), there were at least two staff

I would be shocked to hear a GW employee actually call Age of Sigmar junk. Would be a quick way of getting fired, one would think...

If it's a one-man store, who's gonna tell on him?

 Talys wrote:


Are all GW stores in the US single man operations? I only ask because when I went into my GW store (for the first time in... a year or more), there were at least two staff

I would be shocked to hear a GW employee actually call Age of Sigmar junk. Would be a quick way of getting fired, one would think...

A vast majority are one man setups. You misunderstood my comment I said the "GW focused store", so no not a GW employee calling AoS junk, the manager of a store in my area that supports a lot of GW gaming.
Sorry that could have been clearer. Since the actual GW store in my area moved to a place not near any highways, with minimal hours with a single staffer I haven't set foot into it. Probably about 6 years or so now.

 Skriker wrote:
In the US with single man operations it is hard to run a store and paint multiple armies when you are the only staffer. Some succeed, others fail miserably.

In my area one store didn't even carry AoS, but has a growing group of Kings of War players who are old WHFB players who wanted to play a better game.

The main GW focused store in my area has sold a few, but even the owners think the game is junk without a lot of effort put into balancing and fixing it first.

So in general a whole lot of Meh around here.

here is a question, if KoW is a better game why did they not play it before AoS or was 8th superior to KoW in which case why was WHFB failing so badly in sales?

bitethythumb wrote:


here is a question, if KoW is a better game why did they not play it before AoS or was 8th superior to KoW in which case why was WHFB failing so badly in sales?

The Kings of War group has been playing for quite some time now. AoS had nothing to do with them switching games. All had given up WHFB as junk and started realizing they could dust off their old WHFB figures for Kings of War instead. There is zero interest there for AoS, because zero GW gaming has happened in that store in years. Warmachine, Malifaux and X-Wing (and its Star Trek and D&D based followups) are the games seen most often with Kings of War growing. Flames of War also raises its head from time to time as well. So the switch had zero to do with anything GW has done lately.

 Skriker wrote:

bitethythumb wrote:


here is a question, if KoW is a better game why did they not play it before AoS or was 8th superior to KoW in which case why was WHFB failing so badly in sales?

The Kings of War group has been playing for quite some time now. AoS had nothing to do with them switching games. All had given up WHFB as junk and started realizing they could dust off their old WHFB figures for Kings of War instead. There is zero interest there for AoS, because zero GW gaming has happened in that store in years. Warmachine, Malifaux and X-Wing (and its Star Trek and D&D based followups) are the games seen most often with Kings of War growing. Flames of War also raises its head from time to time as well. So the switch had zero to do with anything GW has done lately.

so 8th edition was a crappy game and WHFB was more or less dead so GW decided to do something drastic and make a skirmish version which is easier to maintain and update.

WHFB 8th has an extremely good reputation among competitive players.

 Skriker wrote:

 Talys wrote:


Are all GW stores in the US single man operations? I only ask because when I went into my GW store (for the first time in... a year or more), there were at least two staff

I would be shocked to hear a GW employee actually call Age of Sigmar junk. Would be a quick way of getting fired, one would think...

A vast majority are one man setups. You misunderstood my comment I said the "GW focused store", so no not a GW employee calling AoS junk, the manager of a store in my area that supports a lot of GW gaming.
Sorry that could have been clearer. Since the actual GW store in my area moved to a place not near any highways, with minimal hours with a single staffer I haven't set foot into it. Probably about 6 years or so now.

My local gw in Plymouth, Uk , is a 3 man store. Each staff member is very good. They are starting a 6 week long campaign for AOS and if all other campaigns they run are anything to go by they will get a very good uptake. They will have a big end game which involves using realm gates to go between realms also. Honestly.......they are very good and the uptake among casuals so far is very good, everyone is dusting off their WFB armies and just going to town. A brief chat prior to sort out army sizes etc and away we go.

In my experience the staff at GW shops vary considerably in quality, and you need to be lucky.

 Kilkrazy wrote:
In my experience the staff at GW shops vary considerably in quality, and you need to be lucky.

Yeah, definitely. Though the same can be said about independents. I am REALLY annoyed when I hear bad airbrushing advice, or terrible painting advice. Some of my favorites are:

- "Oh, the paintbrushes are basically all the same."

- "You really want a Single Action Airbrush because they're MUCH easier to use, and you'll never need a Double-Action"

- "Siphon Fed is WAY better than gravity, because you'll run out of paint with a gravity fed airbrush almost instantly"

- "Why do some of the Citadel paints say base or textuture or technical?" Answer: "They're just fancy labels for different colors. Some of them might be a little thicker or thinner, but that's it, except for the shades."

The difference betweeen Indies and GW is that GW's core business competency has been retail since 1980 and they really ought to know how to recruit and train staff.

That's why I have been surprised to see the fairly crappy displays of AOS in local GW shops. It is the biggest release of the past 15 years, that is supposed to lead on the awesome figures, and two shops I visited had just given them a quick blast of spray paint.

I aim to go back to Chiswick this week and see how they are doing over there. It is a very small shop in an unfashionable (i.e. cheap) area, but the manager seems to have his head screwed on.

 Kilkrazy wrote:
The difference betweeen Indies and GW is that GW's core business competency has been retail since 1980 and they really ought to know how to recruit and train staff.

That's why I have been surprised to see the fairly crappy displays of AOS in local GW shops. It is the biggest release of the past 15 years, that is supposed to lead on the awesome figures, and two shops I visited had just given them a quick blast of spray paint.

I aim to go back to Chiswick this week and see how they are doing over there. It is a very small shop in an unfashionable (i.e. cheap) area, but the manager seems to have his head screwed on.

really? that one is closest one to where I live but I have never been to it, usually go to the Putney branch... well at least I know which shop I will visit next .... I got a load of old school minis I am trying to give away to people with better art skills (free of course) I feel sorry for them not being used and hope someone can paint them well and display, the Putney store is kinda meh about it, maybe someone at Chiswick will take over... or I could give them to you if you are any good

In Fayetteville NC we had a pretty happening Fantasy scene. Now its totally dead. My shop has sold one box so far.

cleaned some minis up... old stuff, hoping someone want these (or needs them) just a waste for them to collect dust, I gave them a dettol bath...hopefully someone at chiswick or putney branch GW will want some of them, some I am keeping for myself.. pm me if you live near to those branches or SW London in general sorry for the poor quality ... if not for AoS they would all still be in storage.

I like research. I'm a hack historian, but a historian nonetheless.
Over the course of three weeks, this is what I've noticed. (The FLGS is literally four minutes from my home and I stop in all the time.) Also, assume there were a bunch of Magic players in the other room. I don't pay attention to them, but there are a ton of them.

Week 1
WM/H night: Thursday. Six players with three games. Seventh player hanging out until opponents switched.
40k night: Friday. Four players. Two games.
Saturday. Four people playing Hero Clix. Two people playing AOS. I spent a half hour there and they spent the entire time discussing how to make even armies. I left before they started playing.

Week 2
WM/H night: Thursday. Eight players with four games.
40k night: Friday. Four players.
Saturday. Two groups of four playing Hero Clix. Two people playing some card based Pathfinder game.

Week 3
WM/H night: Thursday. Six players with two that came in later for one game.
Friday: Two people playing Hero Clix. ( It was 4th of July weekend so maybe that accounts for the deadness.)
Saturday. Two 40k players. Four Hero Clix players .....why the freak is this game so popular here??

We'll see how it goes for this week.
My old FLGS back in Virginia had a good group of Malifaux and Infinity. :(

I was in High Street Kensington today and decided to go and see how AoS was doing at the GW shop in Lancer Square, Kensington Church Street.

But it has closed down.

I was a bit sad because that is where I was enticed back into 40K in mid-2004, when 4th edition was released

 Kilkrazy wrote:
I was in High Street Kensington today and decided to go and see how AoS was doing at the GW shop in Lancer Square, Kensington Church Street.

But it has closed down.

I was a bit sad because that is where I was enticed back into 40K in mid-2004, when 4th edition was released

its ok, you want some metal minis? like old school necrons? cypher? wyches (sexy ones)?


I do not remember which branch it was but it was inside a shopping center near a crystal ball lady that I first saw GW :/ they apparently closed down as well... I think, maybe, still remember talking with the managers about tau.

My local area had an already decent WHFB scene and AoS has had a bipolar response.

Several players are upset since they thought 8th just needed a few updates and not a total shake up.

Several are happy that the rules are more streamlined and everything basically got an update at once.

In terms of play, every weekend night there have been a handful of players getting AoS games in and the playtesting response has been positive. Obviously there are already several house rules in force.


The local facebook group has come up with a warscroll comp system, and a tournament is being planned for next month to give it a whirl.

In terms of sales, the FLGS I go to bought 30 something boxes of the AoS boxset and he said there are only 3 remaining. I'm not sure how the rulebook or individual models have sold, but I will say many of the local players that weren't even interested in playing AoS bought the box set only for the models, particularly the Khorne models. Our shop is very heavy in MTG, and even some of those players that we would never see playing a model based game have gotten involved since the cost to play has gone down significantly.

bitethythumb wrote:

 Kilkrazy wrote:
I was in High Street Kensington today and decided to go and see how AoS was doing at the GW shop in Lancer Square, Kensington Church Street.

But it has closed down.

I was a bit sad because that is where I was enticed back into 40K in mid-2004, when 4th edition was released

its ok, you want some metal minis? like old school necrons? cypher? wyches (sexy ones)?


I do not remember which branch it was but it was inside a shopping center near a crystal ball lady that I first saw GW :/ they apparently closed down as well... I think, maybe, still remember talking with the managers about tau.

Thanks but I've got more metal figures than I know what to do with.

bitethythumb wrote:
cleaned some minis up... old stuff, hoping someone want these (or needs them) just a waste for them to collect dust, I gave them a dettol bath...hopefully someone at chiswick or putney branch GW will want some of them, some I am keeping for myself.. pm me if you live near to those branches or SW London in general sorry for the poor quality ... if not for AoS they would all still be in storage.

Aw, that's some groovy ol' stuff. I see some WH40K, some Blood Bowl - hell, you got all kinds of good ol' stuff in there. Wish I was on the other side of the pond!

*edit*

Oh, yes - GW doesn't care about these awesome old miniatures, because you didn't buy them in the last six months. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU DESERVES AoS!!!

The West Tokyo Wargamers are doing oldhammer now all the way back to 3rd ed. No one has even brought it up as a game to do at our monthly pubcon. Quite a few of the group feel that GW has really jumped the shark with this one.

At my club there is...suddenly a whole lot of interest in KoW and WM/H....

It has become pretty popular where like several others experiences have mentioned, many have dusted off their old Fantasy models and are starting to play games, however there is one pretty big issue. Its almost split half and half but some people want a point system in place to balance the game and others who feel that a point system is not needed. This has sadly split the gaming group in two with several players refusing to play or even get into the hobby unless there is a point system in place and those refusing to play them with one as they prefer to not use a points system. Personally I will play anyone with either format and in regards to AoS I actually really enjoy it but would enjoy some more framework to balance some games. However like others I will not be getting a large force, I am looking at maybe 75 models total using the Island of Blood High Elves and will see how the game holds up and if it hangs around.

It has done what no other game has managed to do at my FLGS: freed some of the tables from the tyrannical grip of M:tG. It's been solidly popular since the weekend the rules were released and hasn't shown any signs of slowing down.

In my local area, I would say it's gaining steam as people get into playing it. I am picking up daemons (granted they double for another 40k army too ... but still ) and from what I have seen it should do well in my area.

The game seems to have brought a lot of old players out of retirement in my area...even converted some from 40K, so from my perspective in talking with gamers in the area, AoS is being enjoyed. A few have quit playing for the time being (none of them even giving the rules a try) but I can't say I will miss any of them. Personally, despite my dismay over the changes to the Old World that I was very fond of and the simplifications of the rules, I like AoS.

It's going pretty hard at my FLGS.