Who's going to Warhammer Fest 2023 - Manchester UK - 29th April to 1st May

[Mr. Oddity]

Unfortunately I'm on the wrong continent, so I'll be enjoying things secondhand after the online previews drop later this evening/morning. Hope all the frater attending today have a good time!

[aa.logan]

Goodness me, that was busy.

[Burni]

Eeek really? Got my 8 year old with me tomorrow. How bad was it? Am I going to be pushing through crowds to see things?

 

I’m not going to bother with the demo games or reveal events. My son just wants to see all the painted models and the new nids plus some of the licensed video games. Is it going to be a slog based on what you experienced?

 

Also what was the shop like? Are they selling old exclusives like the Primaris company champion? Easy to get the new exclusive commissar?

 

Apart from the crowds I hope you had a good day. Thanks for any insights on the above!

[aa.logan]

I’ll be fully honest, the morning, for me, was horrible. I’m no stranger to crowds (I’m returning to Warhammer Fest tomorrow before and after going to watch United at Old Trafford) but it was too much. I got there at about 10, assuming that the initial rush would have died down but no. There was a huge, slow moving and ill-defined queue for the shop, running at least half the length of GMex. There were reasonable crowds around the Golden Demon cabinets and the licencee stands, but the tournament area was relatively calm. I did a couple of circuits, decided I had batter things to do than spend my Saturday queuing so went home.

 

I returned at around half five and it was a completely different experience; much quieter hardly any queues and very pleasant indeed. There were plenty of this years exclusive miniatures available; I also noticed the Kruleboy one but wasn’t looking to see if there were Primaris ones too. Other stock was a bit depleted but still there. Regular stuff that had run out could be ordered at terminals with, I think, free postage. The 10th Ed tables were very busy still at this point but the miniature cabinets were uncrowded. 
 

The pub quiz was well attended; I formed a team with another solo attendee (hello, Tom!) and we did better than expected. It was well-hosted and a lot of fun. No spot prizes, but the top three teams were showered with stuff. 
 

I’d either go, and be prepared to leave to come back or try to get there later in the day if I were you, depending on you and your son’s tolerance for crowds and milling about. The mobile reception is patchy in there, so definitely save tickets to your phone’s wallet or have paper copies too.

 

Photo taken at 10.15, to show how cool the terminator is, but also shows o. The left the density of the queue.

[Ubiquitous1984]

13 hours ago, Burni said:

Eeek really? Got my 8 year old with me tomorrow. How bad was it? Am I going to be pushing through crowds to see things?

 

I’m not going to bother with the demo games or reveal events. My son just wants to see all the painted models and the new nids plus some of the licensed video games. Is it going to be a slog based on what you experienced?

 

Also what was the shop like? Are they selling old exclusives like the Primaris company champion? Easy to get the new exclusive commissar?

 

Apart from the crowds I hope you had a good day. Thanks for any insights on the above!

I took my three year old in a pram (and six year old who was walking) at around 3pm on the Saturday and it was easy enough to navigate.  The shop was packed but I suspect post-Saturday it will be quieter.  People were generally respectful of the pram and made way for the kids, despite it being busy.  I think you'll be fine!

[Nexus17]

Queues. Queues everywhere!

 

There's a decent amount of general circulation space but any activity attracts a sizeable queue - the reveal sessions were all full at least half an hour before they started and the 10th demo game is the wrong end of a 3 hour+ wait.

 

Otherwise decent enough; fairly typical 'pour people interested in x into a space where x is going on' type of thing, but very loosely organised.

[Orange Knight]

I did enjoy the cosplay parade. I even spotted Louise donning the guise of a Sister of Battle.

 

 

 

I also had a lovely chat with Mikey from Hellstorm wargaming, as well as a few other YouTube personalities, and walked past a man I was 99% sure was Dan Abnett - but didn't strike up a conversation. 

Edited April 30, 2023 by Orange Knight

[Burni]

My son really enjoyed it today but yeah, the queues were silly. 3 hours for the 10th demos, 1.5 hours for the hang out and paint. Too long to wait with an 8 year old so we missed out on those. 

 

Couldn’t even get near the golden demon cabinets either. They need to work out a better way of displaying them for next time.