Our Services and Resources
Games Workshop stores are not just here to provide an outlet to sell product, they are an outlet to better serve you, the customer, and your hobby needs. We offer a variety of free hobby help and workshops.
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Introductory Games
Painting Lessons and the Painting Station
White Dwarf Magazine
Hobby Help
Beginner Program
Beginner Battles
Mega Battles
Gaming Nights
If you have never seen our games before or want to try a new game out, come out and get an introductory game. Our friendly staff will be happy to show you what our games are all about, or how a new games works. This is a great way to get an idea of what we are all about or try out one of our other games to see how it works. And introductory game lasts about 15 minutes, so you always have time.
Painting Lessons and the Painting Station
Want to learn the basics of painting your very first model, or some new techniques to paint your models? Well, come in and see us for a painting lesson. We tailor these lessons to your skill level. They can be as basic as proper brush care and control and how to apply paint to your models to more advanced techniques such as dry brushing, line highlighting, layering, shading, blending, source-lighting, and wet-blending. Anyone could benefit from a painting lesson, and they are free.
Things you will need to know before coming in for a painting lesson :
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They are for hobbyists 12 years of age and older
Bring your own brushes
If it is your first painting lesson, we will give you a model
All models must be fully assembled prior to the lesson
All models should be primed/base-coated before the lesson
Lessons run 15 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the technique
Feel free to come in for additional lessons to learn new techniques
For a painting lesson, we supply the paint
Using the Painting Station
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Hobbyists under the age f 12 must have a parent present
Must supply your own paints and brushes
All models must be assembled and primed
White Dwarf is Games Workshop’s monthly hobby supplement, an essential publication for everyone who is interested in any aspect of the Games Workshop hobby. In the magazine, you can find articles and pictures relating to modeling, painting, terrain building, new rules, scenarios and more from the Games Development Studio. It even showcases some impressive models and armies to provide a wealth of inspiration and ideas to try out on your own forces. It’s also your guide to the hobby community, providing you with information about clubs, hobby centers, events and tournaments so you need never be short of an opponent or someone to talk to about the best way to win Golden Demon.
With tons of supplementary material on armies, plus Games Workshop news and details of all our latest games and models, White Dwarf is not to be missed.
These magazines can be picked up for $10 each or you can purchase a 1 year subscription for $85, a savings of $35, or a 2 year subscription for only $180, an $80 savings. Plus, with any subscription, choose a limited edition model, yours free. Well worth it. As a bonus, your subscription can be set up at your local Games Workshop in about 5 minutes.
If you have any rules questions, need help getting that stubborn model put together, looking for a new strategy, of just looking for some advice, come in an talk to us, we are always here to help you out.
For those hobbyists who are just starting out, we have a special program just for you. This system walks you through the basics of the hobby. The steps to complete this program include building your first unit, painting that unit, making an army list for your army, and playing a game with your new army. This will help new hobbyists stay on track and give them something to work towards: a finished army.
Once you have an army, but you are still just learning how to play, we have beginner battles just for you. This is your chance to come in and play against a staff member. This is an awesome opportunity to get a game in, to better learn the rules, and get some advice. Our beginner gaming is Saturdays from 10:00am until 2:00pm.
Sunday Mega Battles are another way to dive headlong into the hobby. At 12:30pm and running until 2pm every Sunday, the staff here in Ottawa will pull out two of their armies you’ve seen on display in our cabinets and invite you to play. Organized, moderated (and often incited) by one of the staff on hand, Mega Battles are a great way to see what a full sized game of Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000 or Lord of the Rings plays like. We change what game we play from week to week, so call ahead to find out what each store is running that weekend.
Of course, you may wonder why we would call it a Mega Battle with only two average sized armies on the table. Well that’s where you come in. Anyone is more than welcome to bring their own stuff in for one of these battles (so long as it’s for the correct game and the models are assembled and painted!). The more people that join in, the more fun we have. Feel free to bring in a 250pt unit for WH40K, WHFB, or up to 150pts of soldiers from Lord of the Rings. If you don’t have anything or you don’t know the rules, don’t worry – that’s why we have our miniatures & staff on hand.
An average Mega Battle has six or more people playing, so don’t be shy.
The Staff often call these Veteran Nights for good reason. These are nights where we break down some of our demonstration tables and load up our boards with scenery so our veteran players can come in and play games against other vets. Players with full armies are welcome to make use of our tables and have some fun with one-off or arranged games. The size of these games varies, but they are aimed at players with a firm grasp of the rules. Typically, games of Warhammer will range between 1000-2000pts. Warhammer 40,000 sees games played in that range as well. Lord of the Rings sees armies between 250 and 750pts in size. We’re proud to see many local tournament players join us on these nights.
Check out the Gaming Nights Page to learn more.
All of these services are FREE so as to give you the hobby support and help you require to better enjoy your games more.