Warhammer World is part of Games Workshop’s HQ complex in Lenton, Nottingham, UK. It’s the public face of GW headquarters, a mini tourist destination and the venue for many GW events, containing an event packed with gorgeous wargaming tables, an exhibition of incredible miniatures and dioramas, the themed ‘Bugman’s Bar’ pub, and two, dangerously tempting, gift shops.
Warhammer World Nottingham
If you’re visiting the UK from the USA, Canada or Australia, you’re likely to start your journey around the UK in London. You can travel directly from London Kings Cross station to Nottingham train station. Train tickets in the UK are much, much cheaper if bought well in advance.
If you’re staying in Nottingham city centre, you can reach Warhammer World by tram, train, or simply by walking – it’s a twenty minute walk along canal paths from the city centre to Nottingham.
You can park for free, on-site at Warhammer World. If you’re driving around the UK, Nottingham is just off the M1 motorway. Visitors from the USA, Canada and Australia may find that the English south and Midlands are geographically compact but heavily built up and populated, so relatively short distances will take longer to travel through than you’re used to.
Warhammer World Address and map
Warhammer World
Willow Road, Lenton
Nottingham, England
NG7 2WS
Warhammer World Nottingham map
Warhammer World opening times
Warhammer World and Bugman’s Bar are open from 10am to 6pm GMT most days, staying open to 10pm on Thursday and Friday and 8pm on Saturday. Food service at Bugmans ends before the bar closes. Events can affect these timings.
Warhammer World Exhibition
The exhibition at Warhammer World costs $9 / £7.50 per adult and $6 / £5 for children aged 12 and older at time of writing. Any parents bringing children should make sure the younglings have an empty bladder and appropriate blood sugar levels before you go in, or you could find them hurtling through when you want to linger and look.
The exhibition begins with a small collection of relics from the early days of Games Workshop: DnD miniatures that predate the Warhammer world, the earliest Warhammer 40k miniatures, and dioramas by Mike McVey, sure to bring a nostalgic sigh from vintage wargamers.
Next are several halls containing the studio armies used in White Dwarf and product photography, and some gob-smacking dioramas, most of them about the size of a decent wargames table and packed with miniatures and surprising details. These dioramas get updated and refreshed semi-regularly. There are also exhibits of community miniatures, which are incredibly varied and change all the time.
The most impressive exhibit is the Battle for Angelus Prime, a diorama the size of a shipping container that depicts an epic battle between the Ultramarines and the hordes of Chaos, a mix of Chaos Space Marines and Daemons. GW maintains that there’s an Imperial assassin hidden in the vast diorama somewhere – with hours spent squinting at it, I’ve never spotted the thing, but perhaps you’ll have keener eyes than me.
Warhammer World shops and exclusive miniatures
Warhammer World has two shops, one with the complete line of Games Workshop miniatures and the other with the current stock of Forgeworld products. That includes web-exclusive models and event-exclusive models, and limited edition models that were released in stores but have sold out elsewhere are sometimes still available at Warhammer World. Warhammer World also stocks some exclusive products, which include:
- Warhammer 40k Rogue Trader, a reprint of the first Warhammer 40k rulebook
- Slaves to Darkness, a reprint of a classic rulebook for Slaanesh and Khorne warbands
- Lost and the Damned, a reprint of a classic rulebook for Tzeentch and Nurgle warbands
- A Chaos Dwarf hellsmith
- A unique Warhammer Titan head
- Space Marine command tanks
- Horus Heresy traitor librarian in Cataphractii armour
- Horus Heresy praetor with thunder hammer
- A variant Horus Heresy Land Speeder Proteus
Warhammer World gaming hall
The Events Hall at Warhammer World is a large, castle-themed hall, packed with gaming tables. While some are normal gaming tables made up with well-painted Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40k terrain, others are extremely high-quality, bespoke tables for specific themes, such as a huge Warhammer 40k table for apocalypse games, or incredibly detailed and 3D Necromunda tables.
If you’ve visiting Warhammer World Monday to Friday, you can contact the Warhammer World store on +44 (0)115 900 4151 to book a table slot for the day.
Because the gaming hall is used for events on most weekends, Games Workshop advise that weekend visitors who want to game should contact [email protected] well in advance, giving details of; “the day and time you plan to visit, type of gaming table you’d like, and gaming system you’re playing”, to find out what tables are available.
Warhammer World Events
Warhammer World hosts events for many different Games Workshop games. That includes competitive GP tournaments, narrative events, as well as open days for Forgeworld and the Black Library. Each event has its own entry fee, rules and itinerary, and you’ll need to book in advance if you want to attend. The Warhammer World website has an events calendar with all the info you need about upcoming events.
Warhammer World Bugman’s Bar food and drink
Bugman’s Bar is a theme bar, that theme being “dwarf fortress” – there’s an anvil by the hearth, an Orc head mounted on the wall, and the bar itself is named after Joseph Bugman, a famed dwarven brewmaster from Warhammer: The Old World. As the on-site catering at GW HQ, you’ll sometimes see Warhammer Community presenters, Warhammer 40k books authors, and famous Game Designers in Warhammer World.
As on-site catering goes, Bugman’s does the job well. The food is solid pub grab, the drinks are decent. It’s not a gourmet eatery, but it certainly fills a hole after a day of gaming. If there’s free space you’re allowed to play any GW board game, like Warhammer Underworlds, on the tables.
If you’re visiting Nottingham from abroad, I will recommend another addition to your trip that’s much more fantastical. Tucked away in the lee of Nottingham Castle, Ye Olde Trip to Jurasalem is the oldest pub in Britain. Built in 1189 when people were small and timber was crooked, this is the place to go to feel like you’re drinking in a real, Dwarven tavern.
Is Warhammer World worth visiting?
If you’re a tourist to Nottingham with no particular plans, Warhammer World is a half-day attraction: linger over the exhibition, grab a late lunch in Bugman’s Bar, make your wallet wince in the incredible gift shop, then head off to explore Nottingham.
If you’re at Warhammer World for an event, that will have its own itinerary. Make sure you plan time around it, either to go out for a meal or drinks with friends, or to visit Nottingham itself if you’re travelling from afar.
Warhammer World is also a great place to meet up with Warhammer-playing penpals and internet chums. Provided there aren’t events on for the day, you can use the excellent gaming tables in the event hall for free, so rock up with an army and throw down for a game.
With thanks to Craftybeardguy, Brambleton, Facesnbases, and Finraer, for their photographs.
Source: Wargamer
