Still super pumped!!!

On saturday night, I went to the game shop.  It was nearly 11pm and I was in the middle of movie-time with my family.  But I would not be deterred.  In fact, I'd even written it into my planner.  I walked into the game shop, watched the shop owner fidget with his Warhound Titan for a bit (that was a nice surprise), made small talk, and made my way to the counter.  The owner pulled out the very last book in stock.  He even suggested that I buy the limitted card set to go along with the book.  After agreeing, I purchased Storm of Magic and the Spellbook cards.

For this post, I'm gonna pimp the hell outta the Storm of Magic book.  I'll even let you know what my concerns are.  Overall, I just wanna tell you everything you need to know.  So let's get started:



Notice how the 'front' and 'back' of the book are flipped?



The first thing I noticed was, of course, the cover.  It has beautiful wrap-around artwork and uses a very cool new format.  Because the spinner for the Winds of Magic is three-dimensional, the book had to make room for it.  GW did that perfectly by placing it inside the front cover, and then making it fold out to the right instead of open to the left!  Ingenius.  The book still uses 'perfect' binding for the pages, but I suspect that the 'box' made by the cover will protect the pages better than sewed binding.  Again, ingenius.

Another great part about this non-traditional cover is the ability for a player to mark their page.  I was initially going to complain that GW didn't include a page-ribbon (or whatever that thing is called), but then I found that using the front cover was just as effective.  Imagine this:  the front cover is slimmer than than the pages, so it never reaches the binding or spine.  You can leave the front cover as a page marker and risk little damage to any part of the book!

But here's my favorite part about the cover- it's magnetized!  That's right, when you flip the front cover back down, a magnet inside the boards pulls the front together and holds the book closed!  This is quality, if you ask me.

It's pulling itself together!

I can't talk about the cover without talking about the most important part of the book- the spinner!  This is actually well-made.  The spinning-needle isn't loose in the hole nor is it too tight.  I have had no problems spinning while the book was held upright.  I don't know if GW did anything really special but I CAN say that this part of the product is far less chincy than I thought it would be.  Again, this is high quality if you ask me. 

The artwork inside is some of the best artwork GW has ever put out.  I gotta admit that I even saw some pictures in the book that weren't as...  Games Workshop IP as what I'm used to.  But all the artwork is still very dark, malicious, and downright scary- as fits the GW way!  I highly suggest picking up the book if you like fantasy artwork; it's that good.

I'd like to show off one particular picture from the book- it's, by far, my favorite.  Being a High Elf guy and having loved Dragons for longer than I've been able to read, this picture 'struck my fancy' immediately.

Notice my fingers?  That's a HUUUUUGE dragon.

On top of the fantastic artwork, GW made sure to include a photo of tons of wizards.  As soon as the rules start, every page's margin is decorated with various wizards from every race.  Of course they're well-painted.  Of course GW is trying to sell more models.  But let's be serious for a moment- aren't we all happy to just stare at beautiful models sometimes?

The rules for Storm of Magic games are simple: 

• After deploying terrain, also deploy 4 or more Arcane Fulcrims onto the table.  They count as buildings and my be occupied by ANY wizard (even mounted on a Dragon!!!). 
• Wizards on Arcane Fulcrims my change the Winds of Magic, utilize Cataclysm Spells, and gain additional protection.
• ALL Wizards also know Cantrips.
• When choosing an army, a player may include an ADDITIONAL 25% of their points just for Artifacts, Monsters, or Pact Allies.  There are few limits and every army has access to almost everything.
• The game is then played as normal with some additional magic rules (TWICE as many dice and no casting limits!).  At the end of the game, the player that controls the most Arcane Fulcrims wins.

The coolest part about Storm of Magic is the ability of armies to include monsters from around the Warhammer world.  From the lowly Chaos Warhound to the mighty Emperor Dragons, they're here.  Check out the list to the right there.

In addition to being able to include all kinds of monsters, Wizards are allowed to use Cataclysm spells.  These spells are very powerful and can change a whole game if used properly.  Luckily, the casting value is usually very high so they should be rare.  However, SoM games give players tons of dice and even gives bonuses to casting based on the Winds of Magic. 

Speaking of the Winds of Magic, would you like to have a +5 to your casting value for that almighty Lore of Fire spell of doom?  Yeah, that happens.  Add your level, magical items, and any other bonuses and that Wizard will suddenly find magic a bit easier to toss around.  But be careful, many a sorcerer has passed into legend the hard way when he got just a bit careless...

Lore of Fire- for when you really gotta burn down that village.

The book isn't only cool artwork, some monsters, and some new spells.  It also has a couple of cool scenarios that really represent the Warhammer World at its best.  My personal favorite is Scenario 1:  The Mad Mage. 

In this scenario, two armies are clashing while searching for a Fulcrim.  Unfortunately, deep in the haunted forest where they've marched is a Sorcerer of great power that attacks anything nearby.  This scenario is great because oodles of models will die just trying to take the Fulcrim while still showing off the looney, chaotic universe that IS Warhammer.  It should also be noted that this scenario is great for newer players since you'll only need a few woods, a single Fulcrim, and one random Wizard model to play.  On top of being a simple mission, it's also a great distinction for the setting.  If I ran a game store, I might use this scenario as an Intro Game.  But that's if I ran a game shop...  :-)

Before I wrap up my final thoughts, I'd like to go a little 'outside the box' for a minute.  I know a lot of gamers that aren't simply Warhammer or 40k gamers, but play anything they can get their hands on.  In fact, for alot of my friends, GW games were not the FIRST games they were into.  SHOCK!!!  I know, but I'm one of them too. 

I have been an avid DnDer since '87 and that will always be my first love.  But I do love the Warhammer world alot.  I've spent the last decade thinking of a way to translate Warhammer into DnD.  I KNOW there's a Warhammer RPG out there, but I never really liked it.  It was too dry.  DnD has done a great job injecting ACTION into the rules (that's all 4E is, in fact), but there's no stats for monsters and races for Warhammer.  Every online adaptation I've found has been terrible.  The only answer I've figured out is Warhammer Skirmish (you'll find that in the back of the 5th, or maybe 6th edition rulebook (it's been a long time) as well as a whole booklet on scenarios and special rules (I even got credit in that booklet!  Go go gadget game publishing on my resume!).  In any case, the Storm of Magic book makes a fantastic 'Tome of Artifacts' as well as 'Monster Manual' for the world of Warhammer.  Any DnD-playin' Warhammer gamer should appreciate the hell outta that.

So let's get to the point with a couple of shots of the monsters:

 The cool part about the Chaos Spawn is that GW didn't just include the monster but also included the stats for the relevant Marks of the Gods as well as the stats for a monstrous Spawn!  This Spawn has 3d6 random movement, 2d6 random attacks, a Toughness of 7, and 5 Wounds!!!  If you are a Chaos player, then you probably have a ton of bitz from Spawn left over.  All you need is a basic body and some glue and I think this'll be monster that we may see alot!!!  I plan on using a toy elephant for mine...

For the longest time, there was a rumour that the Zoats and Fimir were going to make a comback into the Warhammer World.  Then, the rumour shifted to there being 'ally' units in the SoM book for armies.  As I happen to own five copies of Heroquest, I became very excited.  As it turns out, there is only these two creatures (neither of which I have).  But because I love you guys, I figured I'd post these pages so y'all can see 'em yourselves.

I do have some concerns over this book, though.  There are mainly two:
1.  The cheezy factor.  Including the rules for FW models such as the 4 Greater Daemons of Even Greaterness or the Emperor Dragon makes me think that the 'richest' gamer will win games of Storm of Magic.  I've fought Angrath AND an Emperor Dragon personally and there was nothing fun about it.  They killed me, killed me some more, and then killed the rest of me.  Why anyone would want to face such broken monstrosities is beyond me.
2.  There's a few monsters that aren't represented here:  the Thunder Lizard, the Roc, the Gorgers, the Varghulf, etc.  I understand that GW likes to keep things to release online later on, but c'mon.  Why do I have the ability to use a Stegadon in my army but not a Treeman?  It's not a huge deal, but it does seem odd.
But that's it!  Not alot to complain about, all in all.

To wrap it all up nicely:  I think the Storm of Magic book is well-worth every dollar it costs.  You'll still need to buy Arcane Fulcrims and may need to buy some extra monsters or even Wizards, but it's well worth it.  Here's why:

• The setting is very enriched by these games.  Nothing says 'Warhammer' like your own Fireball blowing up in your face while a Manticore is also eating your face.   
• The battlefield itself is affected muchly by the rules here, making objectives a viable victory condition.
• The quality of the book, the spinner, the artwork, and the presentation is above the quality of anything ANY other game company has put out.  While still being a GW product, this book smacks of Fantasy Flight-quality.  And FF is never playing around with their quality...
• This book is finally a comprehensive Bestiary for Warhammer, something that has been missing since 3rd edition. 

Moral of the story, GO BUY THIS BOOK!  And Happy Gaming!

A matter of survival

I've been an avid 40k fan since nearly the beginning.  For a long time, I loved the game- strategizing, army-building, and rolling dice.  Slowly, as I learned how to, I began to like painting more.  Then I went to work for the Emperor himself and got into the aspect of teaching.  But above it all, I have loved the fluff- the story, the background, the setting.

It's a dark universe.  Warhammer 40,000 is gothic, teeming with danger, and science fiction taken as far as it can go.  There's ALWAYS something big happening somewhere in the universe.  All-in-all, there's no setting for any game system that is as in-depth or controversial (in that thought-provoking kind of way).

How does 40k do that?  So few of the gamers have actually thought about the setting of 40k as a whole.  Everyone knows the basics- in the grim darkness of the future there is only blah blah blah.  Some, most of whom have played the Dark Heresy or Rogue Trader RPG, have thought about the setting in the more 'local' kind of way.  But even then, everyone naturally thinks of the obvious- everyone worships the Emperor and life just sucks.  But there's more, isn't there?  

For this article, I'm gonna work up the scale of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.  I want to show off just how detailed and rich the setting truly is, from bottom up.  This won't be complete (20 years of monthly revisions and three RPGs have failed to do that so far), but it'll be a great attempt, and maybe even useful later.  As always, let me know what y'all think! 

________________________________________________

As a citizen in the Imperium of Mankind, there are some things that are canon.  The planet you live on is part of a massive Empire that encompasses all the stars in the sky.  There is a diety, named the Emperor, who lives on Terra and His vision has united ALL humans together for mutual survival.  And your lot in life is one you cannot change.  Fate and luck are the greatest tools in the Imperium.

This is the planet you aspire to.  As a child you were serenated with stories of the glory of Terra.  The blackened landscape, devoid of water or vegetation.  The ENTIRE planet is covered in buildings, each built thousands of stories tall.  Gantries, suspended miles in the air, allow millions to pass from one mighty building to another without ever descending floors.  The sky is brown- long choked with noxious gases and barely breathable to un-enhanced humans.  And religion is everywhere- this is the Throne-planet of the God-Emperor after all.

You see, for ten millenia (and many before that), humans have been building and destroying society piece by piece.  Terra may be completely preserved from any meaningful change for all history, but every other planet in the galaxy is oooooooold and has never remained the same.  The planet you live on only has history stretching back three millenia, but it's been occupied by humans for four times that age.  What happened only a thousand years ago is already legend and myth, corraborated only by archeological digs.  Ancient buildings and long-forgotten technology are the only clues to things that happened before memory.

In all that time, mankind has been busy.  They've built and rebuilt, demolished and restarted, and adapted to whatever the conditions heppened to be.  In almost every case, each planet had a history of being verdant and beautiful.  Thousands of years of development have destroyed that, replacing continental forests with massive arcologies.  In those hundreds of centuries, humans have made the planets of the galaxy into something useful, utilitarian, and even spartan.  And so have terms, such as 'verdant' and 'jewel', disappeared. 

Because of this hostile galaxy, mankind has had to stretch beyond the mortal realm.  You may never see a machine or medicine in your meagre lifetime but billions of humans unshackle their mortal bodies all across the Empire.  On the most 'civilized' Capital Worlds, swathes of the population have enhanced their bodies with bionics.  Many more have experienced the most base and advanced drugs mankind has ever developed, leading to inhuman dregs on one extreme or centuries-old Oligarchs barely recognized through all the mechanical parts.

The mutating affects of poisonous atmospheres and lethal radiation from countless suns have affected mankind everywhere.  Just as often as a human baby is born with all appendanges in the right place, so too is a human baby born with some mutation or degeneration.  Most of these children are discarded immediately- some being lucky enough to be transformed into techno-religious artifacts.  Worse, some mutations aren't visible.  These humans turn out to be mankind's greatest threat and are yet undetectable except through horrific ritual and surgery.  So do most 'Psykers' grow up to randomly manifest their powers- much to the danger of the local population!

Your planet, for the time being, is one of the most peaceful in the galaxy.  You live a full life of five or six decades.  Your towns house a few thousand people each, all trying to survive in a rustic wilderness of technology and colonialism.  But this is almost unique.  Where millions live in small communities, billions OF BILLIONS of souls live crammed into dirty, degraded, gothic cities.  The scale of those cities is outside imagining.  You may never see an Imperial Basilica, but most will never get to see the sky. 

You may be lucky, as a citizen of the Imperium, and gain permission from your Lord to make a pilgrimage.  Although you've spent the majority of your life working in the same factorum or plantation as your father's line, you may gain enough freedom to finally see the greater Empire.  The life of a citizen is one that demands total subservience, but that subservience is for good reason.  The cultures of a million worlds varies alot, but the faith is ALWAYS the same.  All humanity follows the God-Emperor.  It is said that He has smited all the enemies of mankind- from aliens to ignorance.  You are taught that His very existance keeps the horrors of this vast galaxy from swallowing your species.  

You'll never see the Emperor.  But He's real.  You'll never know why he's so important, but He is more important than anything else in the universe.  It is this very faith that connects you to the stars.  As a citizen, you are not taught philosophy.  You are not trained in the vocational arts or given the freedom to pursue dreams and goals.  You are a single human, fit to the purpose of your Lord, who enacts the Will of the Emperor.  It is that will that allows you to know that the stars are full of people like you.  It is His plan that allows that Empire to succeed in a dark and horrible galaxy.  Your faith is your key to survival.

That faith will be tested one day.  It will be tested when the sky turns red and streaks of lightning begin to fall from the heavens.  These streaks may turn out to be an alien invasion.  It may turn out to be a sorcerous phenomena.  Or it may turn out to the dimensional rifting that defines the 40k universe.  A mutated human somewhere in your population just manifested psychic powers- only to have a Warp-spawn rip through to our mortal dimension from his mind!  There is no warning, no defense, and no hope against these horrors alone.  But the God-Emperor has provided the means for you to survive.

Enter the Imperium of Mankind.  Your insignificant existance serves only to perpetuate this galaxy-spanning Empire.  From His throne on the holy planet Terra does the Emperor command the mightiest military force anywhere.  Your planet has a fully trained and equipped Defense Force.  Your citizenship requires you, as it does all male citizens (and females as well on some planets), to serve in the DF.  You are trained in basic combat doctrine, organized into local units, and given the dependable laser gun as a weapon.  Every planet even maintains fighting vehicles in the form of APCs and battle tanks.  But your planet is not alone.

Your planet is already barely hospitable, and it's one of the nicer planets in the Empire.  Growing enough food to feed all the humans is difficult for your world, but your planet is rich in ores.  There's a global industry in mining ore and the Imperial Governor (Lord of all on this planet) manages the interstellar trade for food.  As long as this contract is kept, your planet can expect protection and military aid.  The Imperium based massive weapons batteries on your planet and provided means for the Defense Force to fight bravely.  With time, massive armies will be mobilized from other worlds and sent to your planet to aid in its defenses. 

Being proud of your ability to fight, you'll find the off-world armies much more competent that you'll ever be.  Your limitted existance will be tested as humans of completely different cultures will tread your world, better armed and far more veteran.  They'll disrespect you, they'll cajole you, and they'll discredit your world at every chance.  But they'll defend your world as their own.  You will find them seated next to you in the Temple on the eve before battle.  They will even fight in your very house, as you would in theirs.  All humans share this common goal and exercise it as mutual defense.  It is truly an Empire.  

The massive distances between the stars means that you'll see other humans very rarely.  It takes thousands of years to travel from one star to another.  But humans, ever adaptive, have found a way to conquer this as well.  It is said that the Emperor created certain psykers, called Navigators, to carry His starships across the galaxy by ripping holes in the universe and driving through them.  They travel through this other dimension, known as the Warp, at great peril.  The creatures that live in the Warp are soul-eaters.  A man cannot survive against these except through his unshakeable faith in the God-Emperor.  

If your world is lucky, it will be saved.  But the Imperium is massive.  War is beset upon a thousand worlds, while the Empire streches for a million.  Millions of humans are lost to the ravages of war, disease, and Warp-spawn every day.  But billions more are born and His vision continues. 
If it is not lucky,  you will see war.  Your planet will be reclassified as a War-World and the population will become expendable to the extreme.  You will see the horror that mankind endures constantly.  In the grim darkness of the 40k universe, there truly is only war!



Fate and luck are the greatest tools in the Imperium.  Fate controls all and only the God-Emperor knows the results of his plan.  Luck is a matter of circumstance and only the Imperium can be prepared for the horrors that await the unlucky.  You, as a citizen, are beholden to both.  Unfortunately, you control neither. 

Good thing there's an Imperium. 

Super pumped!!!

Tomorrow, I go down and spend more money than I have at the game shop.  I'm only gonna drop between $50 and $100, but it's alot of money to me right now.  It's money that I wasn't planning on spending three weeks ago.  But I'm too excited not to.

Storm of Magic, I believe, may be the thing that finally topples 40k's dominance here in America.  I know we like our big guns and high tech, but the American fascination with Medieval Fantasy is what got me into gaming to start with.  Unfortunately, Warhammer has failed to capture the imagination of the gamers here.  I'm not saying there are no Warhammer players in the US- that would be completely false.  In fact, I've personally recruited and entertained thousands of 'em!  But I can't refute the fact that my 40k Game Nights were ALWAYS more packed than my Fantasy Nights.

However, that may end.  The scale of Warhammer has crept up from 2000 point games to 3000 pts.  That makes us High Elf and Warriors of Chaos players really happy!  The game is now more random- somewhat neutering the power gamers out there- which makes it more fun for us hobbyists.  And Warhammer rules are very intuitive now- 2nd rank attacks and shooting, strength in numbers, badass-ness of monsters now!  And a rulebook to be proud of (especially after the cost of that behemoth)!

I don't play these games anymore, mostly because my LGS is full of uninspired hobbyists (most of them don't even paint their own armies!!!).  But it doesn't take alot to get me back into the shop and rolling dice.  New supplements always work.  A renewed interest in an army works too.  Cue 'Storm of Magic' and my revitalization project on my High Elves...

While playing Storm of Magic, you must bring 25% more in points just for monsters and magic items.  You also get to set up additional pieces of terrain- all of which look amazing!  Each player receives up to twice as many magic and dispel dice and wizards gain access to over-powered spells that can destroy entire units or summon random allies!  Finally (as if that's not enough), monsters are covered!!

I wanna take this moment to speak to all my Dungeons & Dragons-playing friends:

The Storm of Magic book is a perfect 'Monsters Manual' for Warhammer.  It makes that loony idea of 4E Warhammer RP so much more enticing.  Just tossing that out there...

I have an Empire army with a Steam Tank.  I have a WoC army with a Shaggoth.  But above them all, suddenly, is my High Elves with their Griffon, couple of Dragons, Great Eagles galore, and more Mages than you can shake a wand at.  Good rules in Warhammer and now a supplement for just that stuff? 

Oh yeah.  It is so on now;  I am super pumped!

In service of the Empire

Not too many of you will know this but yesterday was my 10th Anniversary of signing on with GW.  Ten years ago, I started a story that any hobbyist would kill to have and yesterday got me wanting to share that story. 

First, I have to tell you the story of how it all started.

It was June 2001.  For the many years leading up to this point, I had enjoyed weekends at my game shop.  It was my release from a taxing school schedule and, later, a harsh job in a factory.  On the weekends I had spent so much time there that I was used as the 'walking encyclopedia' for the rules and eventually even teaching newbs how to play.  I wasn't a leader in the community; I was more like 'furniture'.  But those weekends were important to me, so I asked my girlfriend to find a game shop up in Buffalo.  The call came, I moved to join her and, on my second day there, we travelled to the Walden Galleria Mall. 

She swore to me that she saw a Games Workshop store, but I assured her that it could not be.  I had checked in the WD and saw no listing for Buffalo, NY, and GW shops were rare in the US.  As we rounded the corner and walked through the food court, we were greeted by the shop.  I quickly admitted I was wrong and we entered the mystical GW...

The shop was tiny.  There was one red-shirt, named Dan, sitting behind two 4' by 4' tables and painting Space Wolves and Tyranids; otherwise the shop was empty (it was 11am on a weekday, to be fair).  The models in the figure cases were painted well, but nothing close to the high-quality images seen in WD.  The terrain was fantastic and everything was CHEAPER than my game shop back home!!!  (I didn't know that my shop overcharged until that moment, and that was a kick in the pants.)  In any case, I looked around, eyeballed some stuff, and then went to leave with a feeling of disappointment.  That was when my girlfriend reminded me that I needed a job and I should apply.  "Sure", I thought.  It couldn't hurt, I know the rules and I am an amazing dood when it all comes down to it.  So I walked back into the shop and asked Dan, "What do I have to do to apply here?"  Before poor Dan could answer a tall black-shirt leaped out of the back room and greeted me emphatically.  He even insisted we sit down for an interview right then.  There's a story:

An hour before we walked into the shop, the black-shirt (Manager) had to fire his assistant manager (an appointed, non-rewarded position back then) for coming into work looking as though he'd been in a fight.  In fact, that staff member had stayed out in the bars all night and had defended someone's honor not too long before work- but he was still in his uniform shirt!!!  Worse yet, Gamesday '01 was in three weeks, and Dan would be gone on vacation at that time as well!  Suddenly, the Manager had no staff to run his shop while he was  away.  And in I walked.  It was almost as though it was fate.

I worked with some great guys.  Todd, my Manager, was the calmest kat I knew.  Shane was the other Full Timer and his hobby skills made me feel insufficient.  Shane also loved to party and  I took full advantage of that.  There was Dan, the Key Timer, who could sell ratty sneakers to Michael Jordan.  He was young and impetuous, but he was good.  Then there was Bonan the Barbarian (I honestly don't remember his name anymore, it's been that long.  But I DO remember his nickname), who walked around the shop with two measuring sticks and would randomly attack the tables.  I do that to this day myself.  This staff was amazing!  GW Walden Galleria (the 108) hummed and I couldn't have been more proud to be a part of it.  Being one of only 12 shops in North America, our shop regularly posted 3rd against the rest. 

It was great times, and I wore that red shirt proudly.  So proudly, in fact, that I changed my name just for GW.  At that time managers contacted HQ for everything, from hiring paperwork to uniforms.  But the company started the second Great Expansion here in the US and support operations slowly shifted onto the managers in the field.  Todd was never quite clear what became his responsibilities and so continually asked for my nametag for months.  (Remember, red-shirts don't get a nametag for the first three months, they're called 'Scout'.  It's cool and accounted for the tradition of service back then.)  I finally became so exasperated that I found an old staff shirt in the back room with a 'Jay' nametag on it.  Figuring it was close enough to my real name, I wore that tag and forever was my identity changed.  And so it was that in October of 2001 was Jay born, he who writes this as you read... :-)

While there, GW taught us many things. 

It wasn't about slick sales techniques or over-the-top promotions, it was about the character of the staff.  The very first thing that we learn when we open our Training Codex (yes, we call our manuals 'codex' as well.  Again, I loved this back then) was that "Being the best means being obsessed".  The was all about focusing that passion for the hobby into our conversations with hobbyists.  We were even issued a 'Black Book' (and later, the 'Red Book') which contained the Emperor's wisdom for behaviors.  GW was very big about our culture, and that culture was centered on the hobby first, great people, and lots of fun.  In fact, our measurables for success weren't based on sales back then, they were based on selling starter kits and like-for-like growth.  Nothing else mattered as long as we introduced more people to the hobby and were doing better than the year before (Grow the hobby!). 

And we did.  The small GW company of those days made so many new hobbyists (we all aimed for 480 a year in each shop) that we ADDED 70 shops in the last nine years!!!  That was not because of profit, either.  In fact, GW America didn't make a profit for the first time until 2006 and it was less than my monthly salary as a black-shirt.  GW was focused on growing the hobby so much that staff practices were based on great conversations, running great events, and just asking people if they wanted to buy.  It wasn't hard, it was fun.

But that all changed.  GW became more focused on profits when we appointed a new COO, whose history dated back to being a CFO at Mattel.  This guy knew business and it completely changed GW America's business model.  That business model changed to being focused on merchandising for selling, sales conversations, and focussed promotions-to-sales.  It wasn't a huge difference in how we staff operated, but it was a massive change to GW's focus.  We, as staff, noticed it and  I was a Manager myself.  I could only describe the good 'ol days to my guys.  I won't say that I hated the new GW.  After all, it worked so well that GW openned 70 new shops in nine years.  And that's a couple thousand miles from corporate HQ in England.  That's not easy to do, if you know business.

By 2004, I was fully immersed in this change of business practice.  I still trained my staff according to the old ways and my staff saw great success.  I was in my third shop, managing for the second time, and the corporate evolution was going on all around us.  We had to catchup if we wanted to stay competitive in the company.  I learned how to watch specific sales and be able to tell what the weaknesses are in my staff just from those figures.  I learned how to 'read the bones' and control my business. 

For example, I had a month where my boss called me and informed me that I'd only sold four paint kits that last period.  I had focused my staff onto Starter kits and army-building, so we had forgotten to push painting in there.  My boss told me that we'd have a drop in core regiment sales that next period.  Sure enough, he was right.  It was that moment that I realized just how exact a science business could be.  

In 2006, I transferred to Milwaukee and openned up the new 'flagship' store.  I was given orders that I 'held control of the future in my hands, which means you'll be watched every minute of every day', and I took that seriously.  My boss there was very helpful (um, in this regard) in that he taught us the other half of business- the customers/stakeholder!.  Where I'd spent many years learning how to develop and manipulate the staff to get the results I wanted, I'd never thought that I could ever successfully 'herd the cats'.  But he taught us how to lighten the load on the staff by utilizing the passion in the customer base.  He taught us how we were little different than the customers themselves. 

For example:  We only recieved a potential hobbyist once or twice a day at my location but, when we did, we were able to dedicate hours to them.  My staff were outstanding teachers and just downright 'cool guys', which made keeping our customers easy.  But with so few new people it was hard to grow the hobby.  Worse, there were times when my staff and I were too busy to run a newb through a demo game or even get an event running on time (thanks, less staff)!  I trained some of my regulars to run demo games and activities.  It wasn't long before they were jumping on new customers.  There were times that I had to intervene, but it was great having an additional resource.  And better yet, these helpful customers didn't do it for reward or anything, they did it because they genuinely wanted the shop to succeed.  That's loyalty, and that's a real secret to business.

I learned much more while working for the Emperor, but I wanted to keep the minutae out.  It only matters that my time with GW was productive.  I honestly thank all those who gave me something.  Without those lessons, I'd probably still be a factory worker somewhere.

Honors to all.

There's MUCH MUCH MUCH more to my story of service to the Emperor than this.  But for now, I wanted to celebrate just the beginning and the general plot.  Here's to the Anniversary of that day!
 
Below will be my 'family tree' within the company.  Every one of these people and many more besides had a great impact and this shall immortalize them.  We all served Him (the Emperor) and we did it well.   Let none question that...

 
28June2001     Signed on with GW 108 (Walden Galleria, Buffalo, NY) as Full Timer
                   Trent, Regional Manager
                   Todd, Manager
                         Shane, Full Timer
                         Phil, Full Timer
                         Dan, Key Timer
                         Bonan, Part Timer
4Feb2002     Transferred to GW 130 (Carousel Center, Syracuse, NY), promoted to Manager
                      Brad, Regional Manager
                      Don, Full Timer, later Manager
                      Grant, Full Timer
                      Terry, Part Timer, later Full Timer, later Manager
                      Steve, Key Timer, transferred to VA
                      Ted, the greatest Part Timer ever
                      Brett, Key Timer
                         Chris, Part Timer
20Aug2003     Transferred to GW 117 (Cherry Hill Mall, Cherry Hill, NJ)
                         Fabrice, TM/Regional Manager
                         Trent, Cell Manager
                         Dave, Full Timer, later Manager
                         Jon, Full Timer
                         Chris, Full Timer, later Part Timer
                         Joel, Part Timer
                         Aaron, Part Timer
                            Jordan, Part Timer
4Nov2004     Transferred to GW 113 (Franklin Mills, Philadelphia, PA), promoted to Senior Manager
                       Fabrice, Regional Manager
                        xxx, Manager Trainee, FIRED (he was terrible)
                       Scott, Full Timer
                       Mike, Full Timer
                       Tasha, Full Timer
                       Michael, Part Timer
                     Mike, Key Timer
                            xxx, Part Timer
                            xxx, Part TImer
                            xxx, Part Timer
20Jan2005     Transferred to GW 108 (back to Buffalo)
                       John, Vice President
                       Jeff, Regional Manager
                       Sean, Regional Manager
                       Adam, Full Timer
                       Hoff, Full Timer
                       Jason, Full Timer
                       Perry, Key Timer
                       Dan, Key Timer (he served awhile)
                       Vito, Key Timer
                           Jack, Part Timer
20June2006     Walden Galleria closed, I'm terminated
28Sept2006     Reactivated and transferred to GW 164 (Layton Plaze, Milwaukee, WI)
                         Josh, Regional Manager
                         Max, Regional Manager
                         Dave, Regional Manager
                         Hoff, Full Timer, later Assistant Manager
                         Ted, most metal Full Timer
                         Mikey, Full Timer
                         Cortez, Full Timer
                         Drake, Full Timer
                         Scottie, Full Timer
                            Jason, Key Timer
18Apr2010     GW downsizes, I'm terminated

If you've read this far and you also served the Emperor (work for GW), sound off!  Let me hear your brief history and we shall commisserate together.

Ave Imperator!