Michael and Christina King (kingcm_at_...) said:
>Thanks for the response, since I don't have the priviledge of attending
>the UK Games Day could you fill me in on some of the details,
>impressions??
There are over 100 GW stores in mainland Britain, so most people get to
Games Day by making their way to their nearest store, then travelling to the
event on coaches organised by GW.
The one overwhelming impression: crowded. There are queues for everything,
from queues right around the venue just to get in (and that's for the Golden
Demon entrants; I dread to think what the queues for the majority of Games
day visitors are like) to queues to see a casting machine work. There are
crowds round any display, so the best way to see the big displays shown in
WD is just to wait for WD!. When the doors open at 09:30 (-ish), I tend to
hand in my Golden demon entry, then have a good look at the other entries.
Once everyone else is let into the building at 10:00, there's little chance
to see the miniatures. Initial judging of the mass of miniatures is
10:00-c.13:00. Those not selected for further consideration are released to
be collected by their owners. The remaining entries are judged 13:00-15:00.
All but the final three in each catagory can then be taken away.
[Generally, some of the best miniatures can only be seen on the day, since
GW no longer take photos of the entries during Games Day. Yes, the top
three in each catagory are later photographed for WD, but what about the
excellent ones which don't quite make it to the trophies? That's what
really frustrated me about the coverage of this years US Golden Demon -
there must have been some great miniatures there, but the finalists shown in
WD 215... well, the less said the better.] If your miniature is still in
the display cabinet after 15:00 or so, you've won something, though you're
not told whether Bronze, Silver or Gold until the presentation.
I then head straight for the Design Studio section, in a smaller room away
from the main hall. There are more queues to get in, but once in, it's not
bad. The chances to see forthcoming miniatures, work in progress, and to
talk to the staff are the main attractions of Games Day for me. Jes Goodwin
usually takes his sketchbooks along, so that fills an hour or so! This is
also the chance to argue about rules interpretation with the designers, and
realise they don't know either! The design staff tend not to just sit and
sign autographs; the artists are sketching, the miniatures designers are
demonstrating their techniques, the games developers are discussing
potential rules situations with gamers, and the 'EavyMetal team are
painting. During Games Day '97, they painted an entire WH40K Sisters of
Battle army, from undercoat to completion, in the course of the day.
The Design Studio accounts for a few hours, leaving a couple of hours to
wander around the rest of the event. There are several participation games
going on, though I haven't managed to get involved in one since 1991 or so!
For those wanting to spend, there are retail stands selling pretty much
everything GW produces, though I can't see the point; after the event, the
coaches return to the stores around the country, and, at least in Preston,
the manager then opens the store for half an hour or so. Why buy, say, E40K
and carry it round all day, when it's available near one's home a few hours
later? GW take along a few blisters of miniatures well ahead of their
proper release date, but they sell out quickly. I managed to get some of
the EPIC Eldar Exodite Dragons one year, which was pretty good when GW later
decided not to release them for the foreseeable future!
Once hot, tired and thoroughly pissed-off at the people shouting 'Waaaaa!'
every few seconds - you know, the ones wearing 'Games Workshop Staff'
T-shirts - I head for the bar, blissfully out of range of the PA system.
Around 16:00, all the finalists assemble in a quiet corner, with Mike McVey,
Alan Merritt, etc., and the Demons are presented. Yes, that's right;
effectively in private. Everyone then moves down to the side of the main
stage. The Golden Demon winners go up on the stage, and the winner of the
Slayer Sword is announced. Then, GW having made as much money as they're
likely to, Games Day ends, and everyone is thown out of the building, to
wander around hunting for coaches.
Cheers,
NRT
Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead
Received on Mon Oct 27 1997 - 19:28:11 UTC
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.0
: Tue Oct 22 2019 - 13:09:59 UTC