Warhammer — Attraction in Loveland

I will preface this review by stating that Warhammer 40k as a whole is a wonderful, fun, and inclusive hobby that has brought many people together over the decades it has existed. It has its rough points, however, and this was reminded to me abruptly today when I attempted to play at this store for some practice for an upcoming team event.

My group of 4 set out early Saturday morning to meet at a local game store between all of our houses and were dismayed to find all the tables occupied by an event that wasn't posted on the social pages for the store. So, in a rush to find a place to hopefully play 2 back to back games to practice, we ran over to this Loveland Warhammer store. One of the people in our group knew the store manager and frequented the store, and he suggested it would be a good fit for our group.

Upon arriving, we introduced ourselves to the manager and sat around for a bit, dismaying the fact that there were only 2 tables to play at, and one of them was taken by another group. We didn't mind too much, though, and were ready to rock it on one table, taking turns between the 4 of us because the day was still young and the vibe in the store seemed welcoming.

During this time, we talked about our armies, and the store manager, Brandon, was part of the conversation. I brought up how a chunk of my models were 3D printed but that I really liked the prints and thought they did a service to the aesthetic of my army. The store manager made a joke along the lines of "Oh well, I'll pretend I didn't hear that!" I didn't read too much into it at the time.

We rolled off to see who would play the first game since we had 1 table for 4 people. I won one of the spots. We began setting up the table, and this is when the first issue emerged. Upon measuring the mat, I found that the play space was about 43" by 59.4". Just shy of a legal tournament playmat. This was fine. We were only here for practice, but the issue would be inflated by the following issues.

Issue number 2: the terrain. The terrain was all stuff you could find in terrain sets purchasable from GW, which is expected as this was a GW store, but it was hardly "competitive" terrain. Not a layout to be found, and we had to cobble together a WTC terrain layout with what was available. This took about 20 minutes. I was ready to forgive this, and the small mat, but alas...

Issue number 3, the killer of the day: Once we finally got the map built and ready to play, rolled off for defender, and began our game, we were so relieved to finally be playing 40k. We had both deployed about half of our armies when Brandon (remember him?) came over and took a look at my army. He leaned in really close and seemed interested. I said, "You like my catachans? they're pretty cool, I think, " and he said "yeah you definitely didn't need to tell me they're catachan. I could tell. But... which models are they?" I said, "They're those 3d prints I was telling you about! I think they're awesome!" He stood up and looked at me with a hawty attitude and said, "You can't play with 3d prints in this store. We only allow games with true GW models. If someone were to take a picture of this game, I could lose my job."

I was flabbergasted. This is the same person who sat there for nearly an hour shooting the wind with us while we figured out our plan for the day and made no indication that we would have a problem playing. The person I was playing in that game also showed him a China-print model he intended to use for gameplay that day. I don't know why he waited for us to be about to start battle round 1 before killing the game, but he had ample time to inform us of that (in my opinion) ridiculous store policy before we got everything together.

And so, overall, I rate this store a 0/5 stars as long as this troll is the manager. Unfortunately, I have to give 1 star just to warn people away from this experience. Take the extra 25 minutes to go to Gryphon Games in FoCo. They'll...

I started playing Warhammer when I lived in Boulder, back in 2017. And it was difficult to get into, in no small part thanks to a very competitive audience and and intimidating store staff. But that changed when I moved to the Loveland area, and started going to Warhammer Loveland.

The store manager, Brandon, is easily the most friendly and inviting manager I have ever met. I don't even think of him as just a store employee, he's my friend. He's enthusiastic and always willing to offer suggestions and advice, be it on painting (btw he was a professional painter, he is AMAZING), building models, army set up, or even just lore! He keeps a very friendly work environment, too. All of his customers are friendly and when he can't answer a question, he's always very quick to suggest one of them.

Not to mention, Brandon is always running events, from painting challenges to game tournaments to friendly Killteam leagues, and anytime there's new stuff coming out, you can bet that Brandon will have something to do with it happening at the store.

the selection is, as far as I know, more varied than other stores. Brandon always tries to stock what is in demand, what people want, and he tends to keep other kits that people might like in the back, including ones that are no longer being made! He will go out of his way to make sure you are getting the kit you want, or at least know what to get next time.

You cannot go wrong, going to this store. The hobby may be expensive, but you will make friends, and he will make sure you...

Back in the mid to late nineties I used to daydream about visiting a store like this. Of course, that would've meant getting a passport, and a ticket to England. Now, we have a Warhammer store in Loveland! The staff, (all one of him,) is passionate and responsive to customers. I've been in there when it was busy, and never felt ignored!

My wife and daughter have entered the hobby thanks to Branden's enthusiasm, and the quality of the product. He kindly listens to the old-timer, (me,) wax rhapsodic about the old days, then amps my family up for this current iteration. This is an expensive hobby, but this is a wonderful store, with an amazing manager, and what seems to be a welcoming community.

If you missing playing with army men...this is a great hobby to get into.

If you're curious about this hobby, visit the store, Branden will make...