Questions about FLGS's outside the US.

[biffster666]

Greetings folks. I've been doing some research on FLGS's in the US, but I'm also interested in FLGS's around the world. So far I've contacted over two hundred stores in eighteen States. It didn't surprise me that in Sacramento CA we're pretty spoiled because we've got a store that can handle over forty 6x4 tables with room to spare. Even though we have a lot of FLGS's in the US, most are small and only have room for five tables or less. I've put them into three groups. 1-10 tables, 11-20 tables and over 20 tables.

I'm very curious about FLGS's outside the US, so I thought it would be a good idea to put the question to BOLS. What's the FLGS 'scene' like in your neck of the woods? How many 6x4 tables? Are multiple game systems supported/played? Does your store support regularly scheduled 'game nights' and/or tournaments?

Thanks in advance! I'm very interested about FLGS's around the world!

[interrogator_chaplain]

I frequent a place in Northern Ontario, Canada and we've got room enough for about 8 or so 6X4's at our FLGS. Even so, most of that is used up by people who play historical games and Warhammer Fantasy. It's a rare occasion that more than 3 40k games are happening at the same time.

[BananaDynasty]

In the UK FLGS cater almost exclusively to TCG's and the occasional board game. You'd be hard pressed to find one that does war gaming.

[Darren Richardson]

Dark Sphere in Lambeth, South London has several tables for gaming, it's moved from Waterloo to bigger premises under the railway arches, a big improvement.

[Morgrim]

Here in Perth, Western Australia there is a GW store with three 6x4 tables set up with terrain so all local Warhammer takes place in there. The independent store around the corner has low tables and chairs aimed at various TCGs and occasionally boardgames. Theoretically you could probably play a different tabletop game but you'd have to bring your own terrain etc.

[Wolfshade]

There are 5 brick and mortar GW stores closer to me than my nearest FLGS...

[John Bower]

At the moment I have 1 that can handle a single table; but they are kitting out a shed to handle up to another 5 I believe. Further out another is in a café nearby, and he can do up to 5 tables at a push. Both have dedicated game nights, one you can go 'anytime' and pay to play on the tables (I understand this as they do belong to the club rather than the shop and it helps to maintain them), while the other nearer to me is free.

As said DS in Waterloo area has loads of larger tables, I think you can get around 6? At the size you mention, but each of their tables is maybe double that lengthwise, so easy to do an Apocalypse on.

[Voltigeur]

The FLGS in my area are pretty small, 1-5 tables each. Warmahordes and X-wing are king. While 40k and Fantasy are played almost exclusively in the local GW.

[biffster666]

A few people have told me that in the UK at least GW 'hobby centers' far outnumber the FLGS's. Do any of the GW shops have five or more tables or are they like the 'shoebox' shops here in the US that I've been told have at most three tables? Is the historical game that folks are playing Flames of War or are there others? So far all the shops would fall into the 1-10 tables group. Do any of the FLGS's support tournament play by renting out a hall or similar venue, or is it mostly/all GW with their 'Throne of Skulls' type events held at Warhammer World? Do any of the FLGS's in Australia rent out a hall or similar venue for tournament play?

X-Wing was big the day it launched (duh, hehe), the only speed bump seems to be FFG keeping up with the demand for ships. Warmachines/Hordes is also popular. Have Star Trek Attack Wing, Infinity, Dropzone Commander or Malifaux gained much of a following? Infinity exploded onto the scene here and it looks like Dropzone Commander is about to as well. Star Trek started off slow, but is picking up speed. I haven't checked out the local Malifaux scene in Sac., but I did check it out at the Las Vegas Open and had a nice chat with Mack about the game.

Thanks again for all the info provided so far folks, it's very helpful!

[Wolfshade]

They seem to vary quite dramatically between the small single man shops to larger ones with two or more tables.

Then there is Warhammer world....

[Absolon]

I'm always amazed out how few tables some stores have. I keep 3 tables set up at my house and have another 2 in storage.

[BeardMonk]

I have two GW’s within a short drive of my house but I never go to them. I do all my shopping at independent stores and online so i can get 20% off the price of whatever it is im buying.

There are a number of local clubs in our area too. One has space for 7 tables but at any one time 3 of them are taken up by Magic players. The others are being used for Bushido or other such. It’s rare to find anybody willing to play anything by GW. They were pushing W/H recently but very few people seemed interested.

The second one (the one I have just started attending) is much bigger, with about 10-15 tables. Heavily into W/H and 40K with a decent smattering of WHF. Some other specialist games like Bllodbowl Gorkamorka, BFG and Inq are also played as well as some of the other smaller games systems. Tournaments and the like run regularly as well as attending national competitions.

The third is exclusively 40K with a very large number of tables.

Working in London I often pop out to Dark Sphere during my lunch break to buy stuff. They have a number of very nice looking tables but I have yet to play a game there.

We have enough mats and scenery to change our kitchen table into a decent size playing surface suitable for wargames.

[Wolfshade]

The other thing that I wonder, there are a lot of gaming clubs over here that meet in church halls, social clubs, pubs, school halls etc that are not focused on a shop/store so is that also a thing in the rest of the world?

[biffster666]

We actually have a number of clubs in the Sacramento area. A few of them have t-shirts/hoodies with their logo's and turf. I've been tempted to ask them where the Sharks/Jets are hanging out, but figured I'd mostly get strange WTF looks, heh heh.

I'm actually not surprised to hear that most shops have very few tables, space costs LOTS of $$$$. How much actual play space does Warhammer World have? 10k+?