GW Stores - I see a trend

As you may have noticed from the pictures over the last three blogs, these GW stores look very similar. GW must have a formula when creating these stores, because they share many of the same traits--here is what I've noticed so far:
1. They are each shaped like 20'x80' hallways with product on the walls, a demo table near the front, and the open table gaming at the rear.
2. They each have a painting table near the center of the store with one or two carousels of paint pots (which are free to use if you bring your own brushes, etc)
3. The staff is amazingly friendly. Although they never let you forget that there are wondrous models, books, and supplies to be purchased; they are constantly looking for a way to answer questions, get customers involved, and keep the store energized.
4. Each store boasts a month-long calendar full of events. Days that aren't occupied with gaming events host painting or assembly instruction classes.

It makes me sad and a bit curious why there are zero GW stores in Florida. These stores definitely seem to inspire a very "Hard Liner" style of hobbying: solid painting/modeling, friendly gaming, and enthusiasm for sharing painting/playing experiences/skills. I guess the area needs to reach a certain population density and/or have a significant number of foul weather days during the year (to keep people involved in indoor activities). Most of Florida fails to meet either criteria and I guess areas like Orlando, Tampa, and Miami, although crowded, are still too spread out to meet critical mass.
Although I’ve just begun to explore the local hobby scene, my initial impression has made me very optimistic. Although I don’t anticipate playing in the stores frequently, I do look forward to a regular visit to find new opponents and participate in the store’s various painting challenges.

GW Store Sugarland - Grand Opening

June 13 and 14 marked the grand opening of the GW store in Sterling, VA (Sugarland Plaza). Throughout the day they offered various gaming events, challenges, and raffles. I arrived late in the day while a 40k Apocalypse game was well underway and a scenery “make and take” challenge had just begun. Both events were fully booked yet there was amble staff to greet each new customer and explain the hobby. The store was a little too crowded for idle exploration so we decided to come back later to watch the “speed demon” painting competition and play in the multiverse (LotR, Fantasy, 40k) character battle.
The speed demon competition gave each competitor a bare plastic space marine model and two hours to create the best painted character. I would have liked to participate in this challenge but players had to supply their own paints and brushes and mine were unfortunately waiting to be delivered with my other household goods. As a side note: the judge turned out to be the same guy that judged my army during the Baltimore GT last year so I’m not sure my model would have done well. There were a total of 10 competitors, some sitting and some standing (which seems impossible to me), during this two hour challenge. The resulting models were diverse but not entirely remarkable (which is understandable given the time limit). Most models were simply base-coated and washed. I saw no blending (aside from one flame shoulder icon) and zero hard lining. The model that placed first had a simple base coat but also had a hand painted crimson fist icon on his shoulder. The second place model had a very rough base coat but an extreme amount of weathering. Just goes to show that those extra runes, icons, and emblems shouldn’t be skipped (if being entered into a painting competition).
The multiverse character challenge was a neat idea that fell prey to the standard multi-player problems (progressed very slowly and subject to player grouping biases). The idea was that each model (from any of the three game systems) competed in a battle to the death while picking up characteristic boosting tokens along the game board. All characters started with the exact same stats and weapons, so choice of model was completely unimportant. I formed an alliance with my closest two neighbors and ended up being one of the last three (out of 20) players remaining even though I was the only one on the board not to get a power up token (because my starting location was crap). Perhaps my lack of stat boost kept me from being a target. Nevertheless, the game was a good time and the store left a very good impression.

1st Visit to GW - Fair Oaks, VA

The Fair Oaks store shared much of the same enthusiasm and quaintness as the Spring Field store, but had many more curious bystanders--due to its location in the middle of the Fair Oaks mall's food court. Consequently, the front table was dedicated to instruction gaming and had terrain and miniatures representing the three main game systems: Lord of the Rings, Warhammer, and Warhammer 40k. We visited the store on a Friday evening and the instruction table saw three different visitors during our 30-minute evaluation.
As expected, the walls were overflowing with merchandise. A table in the middle of the store had five stools and two racks of paints to host the several painting and assembly instructions they provide throughout the month. Nevertheless, nobody was using this table during our visit. The remaining two tables in the back of the store were each hosting a game of 40k. The first game was an annihilation mission between an orange and black-themed Space Marine army and a tank-heavy Eldar troop. Both players were friendly and the models were fully painted. The back table was just getting started between two learning space marine players. Both armies were in various stages of painting completeness but neither player had completely set up by the time we left.
In a nutshell: this store seems like a nice place to visit and meet similiary-minded gamers. I have every reason to believe that GW's multitude of gaming and painting instruction has created a huge community of friendly hobby-ists and perhaps future Hard Liners. Unfortunately, I found the store a little too crowded for me to play at regularly.
Tonight we visit the grand opening of the Sugarland store and soon....the Battle Bunker in Glen Burnie, MD.

Hardliners Outpost: Alexandria, VA

To no surprise to the wife, we absolutely DID stop by the closest GW store within days of arriving to Virgina. After our very first day of (unsuccessful) home shopping, we stopped in to visit the Springfield Plaza store. What the store lacked in size, it made up for in enthusiasm. There were three staff members attending to player/customers at all times and there was activity everywhere. As you can see from the picture, all three gaming tables were being used while I was in the store. The first two tables were hosting, what looked to be, an "introduction to 40k" game for some younger players. There was a staff member walking 4-5 players through the rules and game mechanics. The back table was hosting a pickup game of 40k. Finally, an older gentleman in jewler-goggles was focused intently on the model he was painting (seen in the foreground of the picture) but it was not clear if he was part of the staff or not. The models on the game tables did not have a noteworthy paint job and I didn't make an effort to examine the gentleman's efforts. Nevertheless, I'll get a great opportunity to see the local talent on 28 June, when the store will be hosting a painting contest; which I am already signed up for :-). Tina, the staff member at the counter, told me that the only requirement was that my submission had to be painted by me and not have been entered at this store before. The category is "single miniature" and the prize is a blister pack worth up to $25 with the option of having it painted by one of the staff members. Since we have yet to find a new home, I find it very unlikely that I'll be able to paint up a new model for this contest, therefore, I'll be using one of my recently painted Eldar models--perhaps the Fire Dragon Exarc (since he was the most recent model I finished).