"Wargame shops in London" Topic

Can anyone tell me where to find good wargame shops in London preferably with a good WW2, 28mm stock.
Also are there any wargaming events / club meetings this week?
Thank you in advance!

hmmm thats a hard one – surprisingly I visited Madrid and it had three fantastic wargames shops – London surprisingly is not well served. Some general games shops like Orcs Nest, Dark Sphere (in Waterloo) and Leisure Games way out in Finchley but don't think they do 28mm WW2. You can check out their websites.

If you want to be adventorous you could do a train ride to Essex Minaitures and see their showroom – it doesn't take long from London Fenchurch Street and a short bus ride at South Benfleet.

>Also are there any wargaming events / club meetings this week?

There are many. The Central London Wargames club meets Mondays and Thursdays in a pub

clwc.org.uk

There is also the South London Warlords (who run the Salute show), the South East London Wargames Club. Probably dozens more.

Found this list on the Orc's next web site

orcsnest.com/clubs.htm

I think London has a wealth of little stores that are just about surviving.
Unfortunately they don't seem to have hit the internet to take advantage of the wide consumer base it offers and as such are not well known.
Gothic, I can recommend Northfields model shop, Northfields (near ealing-west london), pop in, it's full of surprises and the guy running it is more than happy to look through his hundred or so unlabelled boxes of miniatures for what you need, just be willing to engage in conversation – the guy's a talker.

Cheers

Matt

I have visited the CLWC gang once and will certainly do it again next time I'm in London. Check their yahoo group to see what's on for Thursday night.

I think London has a wealth of little stores that are just about surviving.

Well, where are they then?

This was an interesting shop round the back of Oxford Street.

traditionoflondon.com

Also, The Armoury in the Piccadilly Arcade (off Piccadilly)has another shop to browse.

armoury.co.uk/#/home

Russ of Battersea rise (clapham junction) he definitely stocks wargames figures, I haven't been in 5 years but phoned for 20mm ww2 a couple years back and he had them.

Northfields model shop

There's also Harris collectibles of windsor street Uxbridge, his stock varies wildly from month to month but it's a 20 min drive for me so I often visit.

I wouldn't be surprised if comet miniatures of lavendar hill were still stocking historicals, I haven't been there for 15 years but they had them then.

You get the idea – they do exist, how many TMP'ers were aware of the first three?

Granted, they're hard to find when they don't have websites but there are more out there.

Cheers

Matt

London is a big place there are many clubs – where abouts in London do you want to play?

Don't know about the other shops mentioned but I remember going to Comet Miniatures, maybe 10 years back, when my son was going through his sci-fi models phase. They had a fantastic collection of sci-fi and horror models in plastic and resin but they never had any wargames figures. Their current website( link ) only lists Gamesworkshop minis, so if you were looking for 28mm WW2 you would be out of luck there.

Thank you all very much I will be visiting this week!

Doctor I would like to go to shows,shops and clubs so as to feel the market's vibe first hand! Closest to the Fulham area would be nice but the tube is there (although I don't really use it) I can also take the bus/taxi!

In terms of shops close to Waterloo station there is the Dark Sphere ( darksphere.co.uk ) that has been mentioned above. There is also the Ian Allan Bookshop ( link ) that stocks some 28mm miniatures, along with a range of plastic kits.

The Exiles club ( link ) meets on a Thursday evening in the basement of a pub, close to Waterloo. If you are around why not come down for a game, we would even buy you a beer or two.

Ezza

Russ of Battersea rise (clapham junction) he definitely stocks wargames figures, I haven't been in 5 years but phoned for 20mm ww2 a couple years back and he had them.

Northfields model shop

There's also Harris collectibles of windsor street Uxbridge, his stock varies wildly from month to month but it's a 20 min drive for me so I often visit.

I wouldn't be surprised if comet miniatures of lavendar hill were still stocking historicals, I haven't been there for 15 years but they had them then.

You get the idea – they do exist, how many TMP'ers were aware of the first three?
-----------------------------
whilst I did not know of these, there is a strong possibility in the wargames/model world that shops that were on the high street 5 or 15 years ago might well not be there now and googling them for a phone number might be advisable – I can think of at least 2 shops in my area that have disappeared in the last 3 years and have over the years have trekked out to a fair few shops only to find them more gone than the remnants of Xanadu.

We meet in North London (Enfield) on most Tuesday nights and play wwii skirmish amongst a horde of other stuff of course!

Those suggested by Matthew83 all have phone numbers so fingers crossed – though the last looks to be a comics and fantasy type place (though even some of them now sell hard plastic historicals if one can wade through all the (to me) gruesome horror models etc)
Russ of Battersea Hill
020 7228 6319

Northfields Model Shop
020 8840 8822

Comet Miniatures
020 7228 3702
link

Thanks a lot Ezza!!!Just might go and have that beer with you guys!!!GNREP8, Surferdude! what is the name of the pub so I can find it?

Gothic, I met Ezza a while back and although I have yet to make it to the Exiles game night, it is something I will most certainly do in the future.

Hello Thomas Nissvik!Good to hear from you!Sounds like a fun,some wargaming here is also leaving the shops and starting to find alternative places to have the games played, some in clubs but also in museums!

Orks nest had a good few of the Bolt Action WW2 28mm boxed sets and blisters in last time I visited, about 13 months ago.

orcsnest.com/shop.htm

Tradition of London – never a war game shop per se – closed up its shop by the end of 2012. They sell on-line only.

Sign of the times.

Blast, I really enjoyed my visit to that shop and was looking forward to a visit next time I'm in town.
Thanks for the update, Asterix.

Oh that is so sad – I'd been going there since the early 80s.
Always a treat when in that part of London.

Was in Orcnest recently – they were fairly candid in saying that they were doing a lot less wargaming stuff now as they couldnt compete with online retailers.
They are doing well with boardgames, but I suspect they will eventually slip away from miniatures.

Shame Orcs nest don't discount slightly then. I find them top'ish on pricing consistently. I know they have rents to pay, but more sales at a small discount may (may) be better than less/no sales at higher prices.

Also, they never seem interested in the miniatures ranges, so I struggle to find anything. These days I tend to go down to Waterloo and Dark Sphere.