VLOG: Building The OnTableTop Visitor Centre
November 15, 2018 by crew
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![Warcradle Studios Reveal TINY New 10mm Festive Marker! [Updated]](https://images.beastsofwar.com/2025/11/christmas-kyle-main-600-338.jpg)
Of course they will want to meet the team, they may leave screaming!
And if they are good at model making John may never let them leave!
Talking of John will there be a glass cubicle placed round him do we can press our faces against it and watch him paint. Maybe for £5 we can buy models and throw them into the cubicle and watch him paint them.
and force him to do them in pink? 😉
that’s evil … pure evil.
Maybe he can be in a back room where you pay by the minute to watch him paint. Little rooms with shutters that open up.
could we afford the tissue box bill???!!
I work for a company who makes tissues………………..
i`m bringing all my tanks, getting them all done at once.. do it John..
that is the best circus idea ever, John we coming for you…
If I ever manage to make it to norther Ireland I will definitely stop by. Very nice set up and the “store” looks great.
I agree, this could be a great holiday. A great initiative guys, love it.
Hope to see you soon guys! 🙂
Re: the 2’x2’ boards, if you’re planning on making more, have you considered making them so that they link up with the others so they can be put together to make larger boards for games in the members’ suit when they get rotated out from out front? Eg with the AoS board having a forested board where the elevated sections along one edge line up with those of the graveyard board so the two can be put together to make a 2’x4’ board.
Re: Primaris and drop pods, do the Primaris actually have to be coming out of the drop pod? Couldn’t the narrative be that there are wounded regular smurfs sheltering in it after their own assault failed and the Primaris are swooping in to their rescue?
Yup going modular is an option, primarily though the two by two approach allows us to do a lot more detail which we think could make for good content 🙂
Good point on the primaris, but there is something epic about the doors of a drop pod dropping open lol
The 2 x 2 table I’d really like to make is the battle of Amon Hen. That way you could have some epic heroes from the Fellowship fighting against a tide of Uruk Hai. I reckon it would be a good introduction to the different rules and would satisfy the imperative that Sean Bean has to die.
Iirc back in the 1st ed SBG rulebook (the one that came in the green box set with Moria Goblins vs the Last Alliance minis), there was a pair of linked scenarios on Amon Hen with Boromir, Merry and Pippin on one board and Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli on the other; if you can dig out the rulebook you could do those scenarios with one on one board and the other on the other but instead of playing them sequentially play them simultaneously. 😉
Man, that’s an excellent setup! If ever I am in Northern Ireland, I’ll find a way to pop in!
You make sure you do! lol
Perfect deadpan, John!
Isn’t this how you guys got in trouble in Essex?
Not exactly, e ought has changed over the years to allow us to have a crack at this.
Obviously stuff can change back again though so you are bang on the money having it raise a flag for you!
Now my curiosity has been peaked… what happened in Essex? Or better: tell all backstagers in a video 😉
Happy to talk privately about it, the world has moved on from those days and publicly racking it all up again is probably not going to serve much purpose, but again I’m always happy to discuss these things over a pint or three … hint hint 😉
Well… when will you be here in Germany again? 😉
ha ha, it was worth a try lol
Unfortunately, after my last trip to Berlin, they are unlikely to let me back in the country mate? (Incident with copious beer, a bathtub full of bubbles and fire that smelt like a bad fart, and a rack of delicious meat… and some dancing ladies too now that I remember)
We will have to meet halfway – I suggest coleraine! 😉 – and I’ll buy the first round! 🙂
If beer mishaps would lead to anything bad here the Octoberfest would be a prison camp. No worries mate. You’ll get a pad on the back and a “don’t do it again *wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge*”
Should I ever cross the channel again (if I ever happen to have time and money to do so) I’ll probably end up in Eastbourne again. Was a lovely trip… some.. 28’ish years ago… they had a nice small gaming store if I remember correctly.
I was thinking the same. Plus if you don’t sell some manufacturers products are they going to want to engage with OTT
Hi Tonka73 🙂
There are a few bits in and around this great question.
1) We have practically zero gaming community and culture around here, so we are starting from scratch so diversifying a tiny community from the outset is going to make a hard job and impossible one.
2) We only have a limited budget to do this so picking one range and doing it exceptionally well made more sense than doing a bad job across multiple ranges.
3) We picked the range that we have the least commercial engagement with, that way we didn’t prioritise one partner over another at this early stage. And all of our partners have been in the game so long they will know fine well that to start a minis gaming culture from scratch is a huge undertaking and requires a very strong focus on a game that ‘recruits’ (and we and our partners all benefit from the recruitment engine that 40K etc provide)
4) The prostore is a very local initiative and doesn’t impact on what we are doing strategically online, other than hopefully allowing us to recruit and train up a bunch of new talent for the future.
Hopefully that gives a bit of insight into the decision making process mate 🙂
2×2 boards look great & the whole set up looks excellent.
+1 lordofuzkulak comment re potential to link them together.
If you’re planning tutorials for them can you consider a desert/WWX themed one?
looks awesome, the folk local to you are lucky.
Looks great. Can’t wait for my next visit.
@warzan You say 70 miles is a bit far for a gaming centre, I’d gladly travel the 500 miles to come visit you guys again.
Well once we have this up and running you dont need to wait for an invite lol 🙂
But it takes ages to drive 70 miles. Will you be doing mail order?
I’ll gladly pop along, roll a few dice, drink a few beers
That shop looks bigger than the local GW shop we have in my city …
The paint tutorial stations are a really cool idea. One has to wonder if that bit can be patented and franchised across the globe.
Ditto on that first point.
Our local Warhammer store went through a bit of a change recently, returning a lot of product to head office and putting in a drop for Kill Team, which has taken off in our area.
I noted in the OTTer store (perhaps you could sell plush otters) that there didn’t seem to be a Kill Team presence.
Hmm…new site mascot? BOW the otter?
Great… Now I have a 2×2 table to make. Love em! Look the perfect size for an introduction and for showing off a small force! I wish the shops around here done this as they all seem very much more limited in size than the space you have. This would be a great introduction to new games. Hope it works out and GW is not the first and last stop in your vision.
Fantastic!!!!!!!! The store looks superb and the concept of the suite is excellent…. Can’t wait to see it all up and running. Nice to see Gerry taking a bigger role as well… Look forward to coming across and maybe playing some Strongsword ?
Well, he wasn’t going to take on a smaller role, was he? 🙂
Only by cutting my legs off. And that would leave me arsing around
Excuse me Sir. You are violating my domain here. This is unauthorized usage of puns. If this happens again, I’ll call the BBC and take you off air. Now carry on!
The best thing about a 2×2 table is Bushido!
there’s also “the walking dead: all out war”, Infinity, and pretty much any skirmish game.
#deadzoneislife
So will there be an additional fee to be a member on top of the backstage membership fee?
Looks the business ??.. I’ll be up that neck of the woods in July next year for a bit for The Open so I’m looking forward to dropping in. Hope it all goes well.
Looking forward to seeing you @goggs!
@warzan cheers mate.
Great so now when I come over from Canada next year, I can drop the wife of to shop and come and game.
I think you mean the wife can drop you off at Warren’s crèche while she goes shopping.
Heh, put like that, that could be an advertising angle for you @warzan – target gamer’s wives billing yourselves as a husbandminding service while they shop. ?
lol – marketing genious @lordofuzkulak
In that case I demand a consulting fee – a free game against an OTT crew member of my choice in the members’ suite if I am ever to visit your store.
?
Deal mate 😉
That was too easy – damn, knew I should have demanded one a pet Sam, Justin or Ben as payment (probably Sam as he takes up the least room ?).
?
Just don’t feed me after midnight.
What about getting wet? I’m in Wales so not getting wet is kinda not an option.
?
@warzan you are a sexy beast!!! 😉
Great a new GW STORE. But perhaps more. I love the idea of the members suite. Perhaps 3′ X 3′ tables for the shop would allow space for other, and smaller, or even board games to be featured. Now if only I had someplace to stay, Inn-keeper did you let the lease fall through your fingers. Congratulations and best wishes on your new venture, even on the day of the “last May Brixet”.
Looking fantastic! If I’m ever in Northern Ireland I’ll have to make the effort to drop by. Don’t want to put a downer on things as you’re doing a tremendous job, shop area looks excellent, my only concern is for one of security. May want to consult a local security specialist as the place looks potentially vulnerable to theft – valuable merchandise, plenty of electronic equipment. Sadly, you can’t be too careful – especially when you’ve put so much effort into it.
We will spend some time looking at security @bigdave 🙂 thanks for the heads up mate!
Time to paint up more Nerf guns!
Who says they’re nerf guns ? 😉
Do you mean pay the paramilitaries for protection?
Shoplifting hit a friends business so hard that combined with high rents the shop was no longer viable and they’ve moved online. Sad really… Couple of cameras and a Beasts of War guard dog perhaps?
Good points mate
I now have somewhere to visit if I plan a holiday to Ireland.
Very impressive team! Obviously a lot of thought has gone into this and I find Warren’s desire to grow the gaming community in Northern Ireland very laudible. Sincere best wishes in this venture and when I eventually get around that way , I shall certainly pop in ….(I’ll give you notice so you can barv the door and pretend to be closed 😀 )
lol
What is ‘Cult of Games’ we ask?
But seriously, interesting move and not one that I would have guessed at. Branching out into retail is going to carry some new risks but I hope is successful for you. I guess it depends whether there is enough footfall in Coleraine to support a dedicated store. I understand the GW approach and this makes sense but would also suggest a board game approach might also open up a wider market – unless that’s what the Cult of Games is for… 🙂
I suppose in part it depends on the balance of goals. Is the store there primarily to make money to pay for online content, or is it there primarily to serve the goal of growing a local community?
I’m guessing the later, and that as long as it more or less covers its cost it’ll be fine. I don’t imagine it will be a big income generator.
Yeah its more the later 🙂
Super exciting to see this 🙂 A 40k collector, and NI resident, BoW fan, oh do things get any better?! 🙂 Maybe I can finally turn myself into a 40k gamer as well!
Great update guys!
Looks incredible guys – any chance you could move it all to next door to my house?
Maybe you have a spare room? 😉
Buy merch!
This is brilliant and you have progressed so quickly well done. Cannot wait to visit with my boys in the future.
Can’t wait to get you guys over!
ooh a BOW store nice.
Looks awesome!
Wish I lived close by, (as in, I’m here in the middle of America). We have zero hobby stores in my hometown. The nearest store to me that is full service is 70 miles away. There is a store closer, (about 30 miles away), but they only play one miniatures game at this time and then lots of “cardboard crack”, (aka collectible card games).
On the tour of the ‘Pro Shoppe’, we see only GW stuff. I realize you folks are only starting out in this endeavor, but as you grow will you be handling other games as well?
Say for instance Firelock Games, FFG SW:Legion, Studio Tomahawk’s SAGA, Mantic’s Kings of War or Corvus Belli’s Infinity and Asteria?
If we can establish a gaming community large enough to support it down the line that may be an option. 🙂
you keep scheduling the boot camps for weekends that I can’t attend. so this is a very interesting prospect. Love the dedication and generally the direction your love of the hobby takes you. Keep riding that wave.
Looking good. I love the idea of the painting stations, though I doubt they will stay that pretty once people start painting at them.
My only concern is that I am only seeing GW games and game tables. Will people be able to buy non-GW products/games and play on non-GW 2×2 tables?
In the members suite people can play whatever they like 🙂 – The prostore is focused for resons i’ve just detailed (after you posted this) in a comment on the firstpage @gladesrunner 🙂
I really don’t want to sound like an old guy sitting on my porch talking about back in my day, up hill both ways to school etc. And yet I am shocked at this video (in a good way) what a change a few years can make. After the original BOW Brexit and the return to NI I feared for the continuation and growth of the “little site that could.” Here we are a community that has grown and grown with GW products being sold and promoted. Maybe the Mayan calendar was correct and the world ended and we just didn’t know.
From that dark time of goodbyes and rebirths, from firesides and picnic tables, and from a shed to a commercial complex Beasts of War has become stronger than ever imagined.
Keep up the good work of building bridges of understanding and mending the issues that try and tear us apart.
Thank you @lloyd and @warzan
Thank you @ghent99 – we appreciate this comment very much mate 🙂
I’ve had a busy couple weeks at work, so I had been out of the loop. I come back and find all these changes! I feel like I had been in a cryochamber for few years. These all seem great changes. Best of luck with the store front and community building in person, not just online. Keep us updated on the progress with that too, as far as how the north coast takes to your aspirations.
We will of course @petey9 🙂
Looks awesome guys
I had to laugh at the “Time to kick some sheet!” it’s the battle cry before launching into extreme laundry duties.
Stormcast Cleaners, have hammer, will launder. It’s Sigmars Soap Sud guarantee!
seems like lots of good stuff is happening, by the way I am claiming copyright on the Unplugged Bootcamp idea 😉
Also does that mean the Army Painter Store is going to be disappearing? After all people will want some better paint than GW stuff to use 😉
Great idea having a “Visitor Centre”, now i can visit with out getting under your feet. Will look at having a “LOONNNGGGG” weekend in the near future, and finally get to meet you guy
s. The 2x2 tables are a good idea and as space is limited it makes sense, maybe having a few of them dotted around the visits area will feel more relaxing to someone new whos looking in to the hobby and may get them wanting to have a play through.Good Luck guy`s, see you in the future.
Super exciting! It’s such a relief to know that there’s actually going to be somewhere just down the road so I’m not having to journey to Belfast or source something online for crazy prices. Very exciting folks! Can’t wait to pop in!
Seems like one of us needs to win the lottery so the BoW gaming complex and hotel can start getting built. The one stop vacation spot where all your gaming fantasies can come true.
now I need to make my way back one day looks awsome. by the way warren how was the rye.
@johnlyons I assume you painted the Ultramarines shown on here? Love the Blue!! What ones did you use? 🙂
That’s not the easiest question to answer as I’ve never painted Ultramarines before so I was “winging” it 😉
The blue basically happened like this:
Ultramarine Blue base over black primer.
Guilliman blue wash. (didn’t like the finish I got)
A second wash of Secret Weapon Blue wash.
Hard edged highlights done with Army painter crystal blue.
It gave such a clean and rich blue I kinda fell in love with it myself 😀 Hope this helps.
Thank you sir! I will have to give it a go, my Ultramarines look a little flat I think so this might change them up a touch!
Are we going to get a demo of the nighthaunts getting their sheet kicked in?
impressive, most impressive. good luck. I do hope other lines next to GW are carried, such as warlord, firelock ,reaper , ffg and battlefront. terrain should also be represented, 4ground, sarissama ( hope I spelled it correctly ) and others. if a small section was specialty merchants, i.e bad squiddo , spectre and eureka and empress just to flesh it out.
maybe make it a drop off place, people come in, place orders and pick up when it arrives, that way you get traffic, merchants get space and people can paint and play and organize there.
all best on a great idea and future vacation spot
This looks great, particularly like the idea of the painting stations with the touchscreen tutorials.
Now all I need to do is find a way to get the wife to agree to a trip to Northern Ireland, any ideas?
I cannot see the video, it says because of it’s privacy settings. Any idea how I can see it? Never had this happen before.
Might be an idea to post the problem on the technical support thread
lets hope it goes really well
So glad to see you getting stuck into this. Knowing the passion you all have for sharing the tabletop gaming hobby (or hobbies), I think this’ll be a great thing to not only grow the hobby in Northern Ireland, but to give you a fresh perspective and a fresh drive too.
Very exciting!
My bank account is already crying for the future Dave 😉
This means I can now come over and spend a week at a paint station 😀
It has lights!
Both boards look wonderful. And I really like the drop pod. There just is no cooler way to arrive on a battlefield or at any other place or function to be honest. And just like I refuse to acknowledge, that Space Marines were ever smaller than the Primaris, I refuse to believe that they don’t come in drop pods.
Why would they not? If you have drop pods the rule of cool says that you use them at any opportunity that presents itself.
Just imagine a bright young aspiring space marine, fresh out of the 10th, his black carapace still a bit itchy. And then the sergeant tells him: “Sorry lad, we gave you that fancy new primaris gene seed, you don’t get to go on the drop pod ’cause you are too tall. Now get in line at the thunderbird!”
No. Just no.
I’ll need to give my tutorials in front of real pupils, then ! Make it a real class ! 🙂
Exactly what I have in mind mate 🙂
So exciting 🙂
I’ve done it before, you know. To friends, and also in my local brick and mortar store. It’s just being a friendly neighboor. Same thing with RPGs in librarys and the like. Fairly easy !
Creating/finding a gaming community is sort of the big bugbear of the hobby, too bad Northern Ireland is such a long walk for me. Pretty big swim too now that I think of it 🙂 It’s looking great already and those demo tables are sweet.
Simply put, this is bang on and looks awesome.
So now to me summer holiday planning.
Will be coming from Old Blighty, best ferry route? From mainland to Larne, or Belfast.
Best location to stay locally.
This will form part of a planned family holiday to visit the Celtic part of our family (Galway) and for them to meet the Scandinavian part.
excellent mate 🙂
Great to seeing things progressing rapidly. I guess I have now a good reasons to come over with my whole tribe. The girls will appreciate the sightseeing and shopping opportunities while daddy can learn how to play 40k ?
A cunning plan for the next holidays is forming..?
I’m really pleased about that mate 🙂
I think we’ll have a stab at creating a summer activity pack for non gaming partners etc to help out on that front
Congrats on a great project… (maybe you could’ve done it as a project lol)!
Love those 2 demo boards, congrats on the idea Jerry.
It’s still in the plans for me to visit BoW/OTT one of these days and we’ll have a great place to hang out!
Oh, thats such a great idea. Opening a store yourself where there is none and opening that gaming area is such a great move. I would like to com to your store one day.
I am very happy to see, that you are making this step forward. To travel to a Bootcamp from outside of the UK is a bit more complicated, so I will be happy to visit you in the future, when I can arrange my travel in time.
look forward to stop by sometime
now i have more of a reason to travel to Ireland… ahhhh i love this.
Going to visit tomorrow at 1000. Looking forward to it!
How much many are we giving you guys! lol ;p
I’ll have to pop by some time I’m in need of new primer and maybe some new mini’s
Looks great. Wish I lived nearer…
Well receiving one of the sets, they look brilliant.