Strange Night with Miniature Figures

Last night we counted out the money we’d saved up in the Heroscape jar. There was over sixty dollars in coins, plus some bills. Enough for D2 in Canadian funds. My eldest son is suddenly on an orc rage and wanted to head down to the LGS and see if they had an orc pack left, as well to see if D2 was in yet, and check it out if it was. We had to pick up my daughter from her class (she’s working on her black belt) so we combined the trips.

The game store is at the mall so we usually look around and then also visit the Games Workshop store. We don’t go that often because looking and not buying is only fun so many times, and then it just gets depressing. But this time was going to be different- the Games Workshop store is closing and last night was its last night. We’d already asked if they were going to be having clearance specials and sales and they said no, they weren’t allowed. They’re hoping to open somewhere else cheaper than the mall.

Well the game store had some orcs, elves, Romans, a whole lot of Mohicans and D2. They only had the goblin blister and the wyrmlings out so we had to ask if they had anything hidden behind the counter. Well they had a bunch more goblin and wyrmling packs, and only one of the unique pack and the veterans of the last war. They have a deal- you get 8 bucks off if you buy all four.

I have to admit I’m not in the mood to spend much money these days, but I thought we should go for the special and get all four. My eldest son has made a custom goblin army out of Warhammer figures, and said he didn’t like the goblins and we didn’t need them. My other son expressed his disappointment with the Wyrmlings. This was unusual- usually they’re eager to buy more Scape- so I tried to get to the bottom of it.

Was it the sculpts? They said the sculpts were just okay.
Were they worried about spending the money right now? Not so much, they said, they just wanted to spend carefully.

Finally my elder son said it was the cards- the stats- he didn’t think much of them. They’ve be going to the library and checking out this site and knew all about the boosters. I said it didn’t matter because we always customize them anyway. So we did what we usually do- we went for a walk to Games Workshop and look at their stuff while we think it over. Usually the high GW prices make us think more favorably about Heroscape and we come back and make our purchase. But last night was different.

The first clue was a bearded man with a GW bag, an armload of books and a big smile on his face – he passed us as we were walking through the food court. I said to the boys “something’s happening at Games Workshop.” We walked quicker.

There was a crowd inside. Maybe thirty people. I have never seen that many people there before. And they were just giving stuff away. Not packaged merchandise, but their painted display models. Terrain. Trees. Lords of the Rings miniatures still on the sprues. Slightly used books. Nice posters. Buildings. More figures. The atmosphere was heavily charged- like some sort of crazed carnival. Everyone was kind of weird looking, and some were very aggressive and loud. The employees were also feeling weird- it was all over for them. Emotions were running high. I made sure to shake the hand and thank the guy who had always been so nice to me and my kids.

They were just giving things away, and if there was big demand they’d write names on slips of paper and have an instant raffle. My younger son understands the power of cuteness (he’s a cute kid) and did his best to ask for things and say please and my older son just tried to be in the right place at the right time.

We picked up a bundle of stuff- mostly odds and ends, but wow. It was almost like Christmas. We got a bunch of space marines and helicopters which will become soul bergs, and some 40000warhammer Orcs which my daughter has asked me to modify to Valhalla Society standards (off go the guns, on go the shields). Two sets of the Fellowship of the Ring, four books, one poster, one box of odds and ends, 18 nicely painted models, three buildings, some terrain rocks, trees-and a special treasure- a real paint brush. One of those 15 dollar ones, tucked away in the bottom of the box. We usually buy the dollar store brush pack to paint our customs and they aren’t really so hot. This is a real brush- sable or something like that. It even has a tip cover.

Looking at all of the stuff kept us up until midnight – examining things we’d never seen and wondering at the possibilities. It was a most excellent evening. Who would have imagined such a thing could happen?

We forgot all about D2.