A Journey Through Warhammer World
Warhammer World is a unique destination that captures the essence of a beloved hobby. Located among warehouses in a suburb of the English Midlands’ fourth-largest city, it serves as the heart of a major business. As I turn the corner past a carpentry depot, I find a long queue of dedicated fans stretching nearly 100 yards to enter Games Workshop’s iconic space. As a proud nerd, I join the line, eager for my first visit to Warhammer World in over a decade. The treasures inside the unassuming building are even more impressive than I remember.
I’m attending Warhammer World’s 29th birthday celebrations, which include various events. One highlight is a battle for the fate of the 500 Worlds. This event ties into Captain Titus’ ongoing saga in the Warhammer lore and complements the recently released 500 Worlds campaign book. Attendees are invited to take control of different units as part of a mass-participation game featuring the Ultramarines and their Necron adversaries. Although I’m not a collector of either faction, I didn’t expect to care about the results—until Games Workshop offered me the chance to paint a Dreadnought for the battle.
Painting a Redemptor Dreadnought
I chose a Redemptor Dreadnought and spent a few evenings painting my first ever Ultramarine. To be honest, it wasn’t as bad as I expected. I’m used to the grit of the Iron Hands rather than the blue tones of the Emperor’s Perfectionists, but I used similar sponge techniques for the armor panels, spent time on subtle object source lighting, and achieved my best freehand designs to date. I couldn’t settle on a name for him, so I decided at the last minute before packing him into a box that he would be christened Greg. Honestly, I’m kind of sad I’ll never see the big blue bloke again. But he’s in a better place now.
For the entire weekend, Greg adorned a table in Warhammer World, piloted by community legend Nick Bayton and a rotating cast of attendees. By the time I arrived at the table, he had already died twice, but I like to think he had a helping hand in destroying one of the Necron buildings that had been taken down. The whole battle reminded me of the Games Days of yore, with a Boarding Actions battle on the next table determining whether the Necrons on this battlefield would get emboldened as more ancient technology was brought online.
A Celebration of the Hobby
The whole event showed me what Warhammer has become since my last visit: welcoming. Content creator and general nice fella Jordan Sorcery was running demos of the Warhammer Roleplaying Game. There were intro games for 40k, Age of Sigmar, Blood Bowl, Kill Team, Aeronautica Imperialis, and more. Primarchs duelled to the death in a micro-version of the Horus Heresy. And my favorite game of the day was a completely custom ruleset for Gargant football. Yep, six giants kicking a classic black-and-white ball between the goalposts. What more could you ask for?
All the usual Warhammer World stuff was there too. Bugman’s bar has its own range of Warhammer-themed beers now, and the miniatures gallery has only grown since my last visit. Huge dioramas stand 12 feet tall, featuring thousands of miniatures and, probably, millions of dollars worth of plastic. From the smoking wrecks of gargantuan titans on Isstvan V, to micro-dioramas from the early days of the hobby preserved for us to see, this exhibition is reason enough to make the pilgrimage.
Whether you want to see grass-tufted hobbit holes, grimdark manufactorums, or a Bretonnian jousting match, it truly has everything. While Warhammer World is free to enter, even for the anniversary event, the exhibition costs £8.50. Let me tell you right now that it is the best, most inspiring £8.50 you will ever spend on Warhammer.
A Personal Contribution
I don’t know if Greg will earn a place in these cabinets—he’s certainly not painted to the same standard as the masterpieces therein—but I’m glad to have played a small part in marking the anniversary. From the custom games being played, to the creative kitbashes and perfect paintjobs in the Legends of Paint painting competition, this was truly a celebration of the hobby and a wonderful weekend of everything that makes it so special.
Even if Greg’s fate is to be consigned to a storage box in a forgotten cupboard in a Nottinghamshire warehouse, I’m proud that he’s squirreled away in this Nottinghamshire warehouse.
