DISCUSSION: Forge World Open Day 2016

Games Workshop's head office in Nottingham. Subtle, guys.

On the 17th of July, I attended the Forge World Open Day 2016. Apparently this is the tenth iteration of this event. It's the first one I've been to, and only the second time I've been to Warhammer World at Games Workshop's headquarters in Nottingham. (The other time, incidentally, was the first ever Black Library Live event way back in 2009.) The Forge World open day is something different to what I'm used to. Having been to several previous Games Workshop events, I had high hopes for this one. It was a good day, but I'm not sure it lived up to them...

The Forge World Open Day 2016
Best of Show trophy

The main reason I went to the event was for the painting competition. Having earned a finalist badge at Golden Demon in May, I bought my ticket during that initial wave of excitement. The open day painting competition is much smaller. There are no categories, and only one trophy and one winner. My entry was the Ultramarines praetor I've been working on since WarhammerFest. I'm really proud of it and think it represents some of my best work, but I knew going in that I wouldn't win. The competition, while small, was fierce. Several of the entries were breath-taking. I follow a lot of exceptional painters on Instagram and already knew there would be better entries than mine there. It was a joy to see them in the 'flesh', having followed their progress for weeks or months beforehand, and an honour to have my own work in the same cabinets, let alone the same competition.

My entry on the shelf.

The eventual winner was a massive warlord titan, which the painter had fitted with flashing LEDs. It was a great model, and the person who made it had obviously gone to a lot of effort, but I know the decision was somewhat controversial. While the conversion work was impressive, this was billed as a painting competition and I think it's fair to say that there were several much better painted entries. I was baffled that none of them won instead. The conditions for judging weren't ideal though. The painting competition took place in a small, badly lit space off the side of the main hall, near the exhibition rooms. Unfortunately it's not great for showing off beautifully painted models and unless they were held up to the light, some of the efforts would have been missed. As ever, though, the judge's decision is final, and the winning entry certainly wasn't without merit.

The highlight of the rest of the event was the studio area. Lots of designers, painters, writers and artists were there to answer questions and show off a handful their new and up-coming projects—not quite as many previews as I'm used to seeing at other events, but a few all the same. Sadly the rest of the event relied too heavily on the appeal of the venue. The focus was almost entirely on the sales area and Bugman's Bar—both of which, but for a few special editions or new releases, you could visit on any other day at your leisure. All of the previous Games Workshop events I've been to have had at least a couple of seminars. This one had none. That's a shame because the seminars are often the highlight of any event. Instead it relied on people being kept occupied by buying things and looking around the admittedly impressive exhibition halls. Having not seen most of it before (the exhibition hall was a single room the last time I went—now it's five), it was easy to kill an hour or two. If I was returning after only a short absence, however, I'd quickly have gotten bored. Bugman's Bar was far too busy to get a seat, let alone order food, which meant sitting around in the middle of the studio area next door to wait for the 'painting' competition to be judged. Sadly I didn't win the titan raffle either—this year for a warlord titan instead of the usual reaver—but that was always a long shot.

The day's haul, including several limited edition pieces.

Despite its shortcomings, I would still recommend the day to anybody considering attending in future. I would, however, caution against expecting too much from it. There are a lot of simple things that Games Workshop could do to improve this event, but it isn't bad as is providing you know what to expect in advance. If you're content to catch a glimpse of a handful of future releases, appreciate the facilities at Warhammer World and queue up to spend potentially obscene amounts of money, definitely go. For me, it was nice to go back to Warhammer World and see the changes they've made. The addition of the Black Library and (in particular) Forge World stores is a huge plus, even if I didn't envy the staff for how insanely busy they were. The exhibition halls are a must-see if you like beautifully painted models or huge dioramas and—if you can get a table—Bugman's is pretty decent. Just be prepared to run out of things to do fairly soon after your wallet is empty.